The Following was posted on a Parents Group facebook page.
"..What is changing for the Class of 2015 and beyond is the process to become a rated officer (pilot, Combat System Officer, Air Battle Manager and Remotely Piloted Aircraft). The Academy, as well as ROTC, now has an 'all in' approach to the rated jobs. What does that mean? When a cadet, your cadet, volunteers for a rated AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code, or job), they volunteer for all four AFSCS: Pilot, CSO, ABM and RPA. So, a cadet may be offered RPA vice pilot or they may be picked as a CSO or ABM. If they don't like that, they will have an opportunity to opt out of that AFSC choice if they want. They then enter the non-rated pool along with all the other cadets and they have up to 6 choices for jobs. They may not get their first choice but chances are good they'll get one of their top 6. How are these choices made? It's complicated but cadets are ranked on a Board Order of Merit that takes into account their GPA, military and physical fitness scores, evaluations from their AOCs and the like. For rated assignments, tests for aviation are included as well as any flying experience. My advice for you to give to your cadet -- always do your best. If you want to fly, enroll in as many airmanship programs as you can. I hope I didn't muddle this up too much. And we'll continue to have about 50% of our grads go to the rated community. David K. Cannon, Director of Communication, US Air Force Academy"
"..What is changing for the Class of 2015 and beyond is the process to become a rated officer (pilot, Combat System Officer, Air Battle Manager and Remotely Piloted Aircraft). The Academy, as well as ROTC, now has an 'all in' approach to the rated jobs. What does that mean? When a cadet, your cadet, volunteers for a rated AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code, or job), they volunteer for all four AFSCS: Pilot, CSO, ABM and RPA. So, a cadet may be offered RPA vice pilot or they may be picked as a CSO or ABM. If they don't like that, they will have an opportunity to opt out of that AFSC choice if they want. They then enter the non-rated pool along with all the other cadets and they have up to 6 choices for jobs. They may not get their first choice but chances are good they'll get one of their top 6. How are these choices made? It's complicated but cadets are ranked on a Board Order of Merit that takes into account their GPA, military and physical fitness scores, evaluations from their AOCs and the like. For rated assignments, tests for aviation are included as well as any flying experience. My advice for you to give to your cadet -- always do your best. If you want to fly, enroll in as many airmanship programs as you can. I hope I didn't muddle this up too much. And we'll continue to have about 50% of our grads go to the rated community. David K. Cannon, Director of Communication, US Air Force Academy"