AFSC Question

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Jul 6, 2015
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Hey guys I have a question about choosing your afsc. I am torn between CRO and aviation. Will I be able to try for both? Also, if I attend the academy I hope to compete for a medical school scholarship so would I be able to apply for that as well? This is all hypothetical of course, as I am in that stage of the application process where I am imagining scenarios (including my backup plans) to plan on what I want to do.
 
Hey guys I have a question about choosing your afsc. I am torn between CRO and aviation. Will I be able to try for both? Also, if I attend the academy I hope to compete for a medical school scholarship so would I be able to apply for that as well? This is all hypothetical of course, as I am in that stage of the application process where I am imagining scenarios (including my backup plans) to plan on what I want to do.

If you are considering CRO, that needs to be your priority, and aviation needs to be your backup. Look up some pararescue class graduation videos on youtube for a sense of how difficult that career field is, and therefore how hard the selection for it will be. The Academy however has the best opportunities anywhere to get prepared for that AFSC (battlefield airman course, army programs, phase zero). If you are not selected for CRO and you have done decently well, you can put pilot as number one on your AFSC list and have a good chance of getting it. If you do get selected for CRO you can still turn it down, but that would be extremely strange. Nobody that is selected for a battlefield airman career field will turn it down, because they all worked very hard to get there. You can attend selection for CRO junior year and senior year. If you are selected junior year, senior year gets very relaxed, because you will already know your career field before all your peers. I was selected for ALO spring of junior year, and my life was very nice senior year.

The academy is not the place to go for med school. It's possible, but extremely competitive, and at most usually only one or two people from each graduating class. Reason being, it will be on the Air Force's dime.
 
That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks whiskey!
The reason I looked into the whole CRO is because I kind of had a heart to heart with myself about the med school thing. I do plan on making CRO my priority if I am offered an appointment. I've been watching a 6 part documentary on the PJ training and I believe I am prepared to make such a commitment. Well, if i can grow some webbed feet for swimming while I'm at the academy at least.
 
If you are selected junior year, senior year gets very relaxed, because you will already know your career field before all your peers. I was selected for ALO spring of junior year, and my life was very nice senior year.

I think if you listen to this advice, especially "senior year gets very relaxed" and you really want to go CRO (or aviation), you are not likely to do well. Please look up what could happen should you be bust CRO training, because it would be very unlikely that aviation (or anything else) would be your "backup."
 
I think if you listen to this advice, especially "senior year gets very relaxed" and you really want to go CRO (or aviation), you are not likely to do well. Please look up what could happen should you be bust CRO training, because it would be very unlikely that aviation (or anything else) would be your "backup."
Thanks for the advice. Didn't know I could get decommissioned for quitting during the pipeline. Nevertheless, I'm not the type to quit, especially when I won't be doing it for myself, but for others.
But the aviation backup was referring to before graduation when cadets choose AFSCs. I was asking if I could select more than one in case I wasn't selected for a specific job.
 
I think if you listen to this advice, especially "senior year gets very relaxed" and you really want to go CRO (or aviation), you are not likely to do well. Please look up what could happen should you be bust CRO training, because it would be very unlikely that aviation (or anything else) would be your "backup."

Not necessarily true. My son had an extremely relaxed senior year. He busted his butt sophomore and half of junior year to get his classes out of the way and then took it easy. He had days his senior year that he only had one class and then headed to the mountains. Snowboarding and mountain climbing became passions. He knew he would have his pilot slot and that is what he wanted. Once at pilot training it doesn't matter what you did at USAFA. He kicked it up again at UPT and graduated #1. I am not saying that everyone should slack off at USAFA, but long as you have a plan and a goal you can take the path that best suits you.

As far as being kicked out if you bust in training, it is very rare. Most of the time they will move you to a "needs of the AF" AFSC for your remaining ADSC.

Stealth_81
 
I agree with Stealth. I hate to burst people's bubbles but what/how one did at the academy/ROTC/OTS has no real bearing on how you'll do in the Air Force and/or formal training. Everyone starts with a clean slate when you pin on those butter bars. Control what you can (ie. studying, physical conditioning, chair flying, mental gymnastics, etc.) but the rest comes down to what you are made of. Some may argue with my opinion but let's face it, you either have what it takes or you don't when it comes to "highly specialized" AFSCs such as flying, CRO, etc. As Clint Eastwood says, "a man's gotta know his limits".
 
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If you are selected junior year, senior year gets very relaxed, because you will already know your career field before all your peers. I was selected for ALO spring of junior year, and my life was very nice senior year.

I think if you listen to this advice, especially "senior year gets very relaxed" and you really want to go CRO (or aviation), you are not likely to do well. Please look up what could happen should you be bust CRO training, because it would be very unlikely that aviation (or anything else) would be your "backup."

As someone who graduated from USAFA and is currently stationed at a battlefield airman squadron, I can promise that having a very relaxing and enjoyable senior year - however you define that - should be the goal of everyone who attends the academy.

fencersmother misunderstood what I said. If you quit during the CRO pipeline, you may not be able to continue in the Air Force. But to get to the CRO pipeline, you have to go to selection. If you quit at selection, you are still at the academy, and aviation ABSOLUTELY could be your backup. And as of right now, 100% of academy graduates that have been picked up at their selections have made it all the way through their respective battlefield airman pipelines, because the selections are absurdly difficult and the battlefield airmen/special operations airmen running them know what to look for.
 
I agree with Stealth. I hate to burst people's bubbles but what/how one did at the academy/ROTC/OTS has no real bearing on how you'll do in the Air Force and/or formal training. Everyone starts with a clean slate when you pin on those butter bars. Control what you can (ie. studying, physical conditioning, chair flying, mental gymnastics, etc.) but the rest comes down to what you are made of. Some may argue with my opinion but let's face it, you either have what it takes or you don't when it comes to "highly specialized" AFSCs such as flying, CRO, etc. As Clint Eastwood says, "a man's gotta know his limits".
Exactly
 
I think if you listen to this advice, especially "senior year gets very relaxed" and you really want to go CRO (or aviation), you are not likely to do well. Please look up what could happen should you be bust CRO training, because it would be very unlikely that aviation (or anything else) would be your "backup."
Thanks for the advice. Didn't know I could get decommissioned for quitting during the pipeline. Nevertheless, I'm not the type to quit, especially when I won't be doing it for myself, but for others.
But the aviation backup was referring to before graduation when cadets choose AFSCs. I was asking if I could select more than one in case I wasn't selected for a specific job.
Yes, fencersmother misunderstood what we are talking about. If you are gung ho about being a CRO, attend selection junior year. If you are not picked up, you can still put in your preferences for other AFSCs, including pilot. If you are picked up, rock on - your senior year is now in fact very relaxed and you will have much more time to workout and prepare for the pipeline, which you will be unlikely to quit, because pararescuemen will have selected you to be their officer during the selection you attended.
 
Thanks for the vid! Selection just looks like a taste of actual CRO training that would occur at Lackland. How long would selection actually last?
 
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