They are all looking for pilots because there will be a pilot shortage due to airlines hiring at a fast pace...search the threads here regarding this aspect.
My DS was a non-tech major (govt/poli sci dual major with International Relations).
Tech will give you an edge, but it is not the be all end all. Nor does it mean as a tech aka STEM major you will wing out of UPT. It really comes down to a lot more...academics. sims, check rides. living in a pressure cooker for a year.
Marines are a totally different world. I can be wrong, and kinnem can correct me, but as far as I know you have to go through their Marine course (PLC) even if you commission via ROTC. AFROTC, you commission with a pilot slot and a PPL you go to UPT as long as you pass the FAA FC1.
PT (physical test) for AF is nowhere near Marine. PT in the ADAF world is run 1 1/2 miles @ 7 - 7 1/2 minute mile....not a 3 mile run like Marines .
AF has the most fixed wing airframes compared to any other branch. If he wants rotor (helo) AF is not his best choice.
Now, let me be honest, straight up truth, the following comment bothers me in many ways.
We'll discuss later today specifically what he really want to do. Be a pilot or serve in the USAF.
JMPO, but he has to walk in with the knowledge that be it ROTC in any branch or OTS/OCS he will serve 1st as a military officer and secondarily a pilot.
Just saying it is not one or the other. It is both. If he wants to be a pilot and a pilot only. Get ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars out for his ATP rating so he can go directly commercial. He will spend years climbing up the ladder for the airlines due to flight hours.
~ Airlines love military pilots because they have the hours and experience in stressful situations.
Not saying if you pay for the hrs, get the multi engine rating, ATP, FAA FC1, that they will not be a left seater later than any military pilot. However, what I am saying is that financially there will be a difference. Networking there will be a difference.
~ Financially, he can pay for that multi-engine rating. Hours upon hrs. AD members have it after their 10 yrs.
~ ~ He will most likely spend yrs flying puddle hoppers from Dallas to Abilene to get the hrs. Many AD members skip that step. They apply to AMerican for right seater 737 with 10 yrs and 8K heavy flight hrs via the military while your DS applies with 9 yrs American Eagle and 6000 flight hours, well being an employee is usually not going to give you an edge when they look at it overall.
~ Take a look at how little they make at first as a commercial airline pilot. It is scary.
~~ Our DS has many years to go, but he is now saving every single penny he can because he knows if he bolts at the 1st option, he will not make a lot for the 1st 5 yrs. He is married and will be having his 1st child next month. Never in his mind as an 18 yr old did he think at 26 he would be married, own 2 cars, a house and have a baby on the way. Yet, here he is. My DIL will not be working once our granddaughter is born because they can afford for her to stay at home. Honestly, I think if he went puddle jumpers via the airlines that would not exist.
This is not an easy life in the military. It is a great, amazing life, but it requires more than being a bus driver in the sky or a line number. It demands you to devote your life to them 24/7/365.
~Bullet, my DH served 21+ yrs. We owned 5 homes, moved 11 times. Lived in CA, NM, ID, England, NC, AK. NC, KS, VA. NC, plus we would ive back in NJ while Bullet was at schools ( 3 times for at least 3-6 months). Kids went to no fewer than 9 schools (k-12). Our favorite anniversary dinner was at a Denny's while we moved from NC to AK...not the fancy ones just him and I, but the one where we were starting a new adventure when they were 5, 3 and 1.
~ I spent more important dates with my military friends (spouses) or my family than I have fingers and toes on my body.
~~ DS1 (C130J pilot) was Communed in the Catholic Church when Bullet was deployed. DD's 1st Father Daughter Dance had my FIL stand in for Bullet because he was again deployed. Bullet took DS2 as a 5 mo. old for Halloween and was not home again until he was 7 (deployed every yr at that time). I could go on and on, but I think you get the drift.
Do I regret or resent any second? NO! Do my kids? NO! Or at least not what I can see.
~ DS1 is an O3 in the AF now (commissioned 2012). His wife is also an AF brat.
~ DD's 1st job choice was to teach for the DoD in Europe....didn't get it, but keeps applying.
~ DS2 is a Bio Chem major and applying for govt. jobs instead of drug companies.
They had hatred toward us as young teens...I hate you because you are making me move again. However, when they got to college it all changed. All of the sudden it was thank you! Their friends were amazed because for my kids when the Iditarod happens they have memories of being at the starting line. They remember living through a tornado in KS. They have gone to the beaches of NJ, VA and NC because that is what we did on the weekends wherever Dad was stationed. They are probably closer to their cousins than most kids because when Bullet could take leave we went home for 2-3 weeks and saw them everyday and did sleep overs. Same is true for their relationships with their grandparents.
~ Think about it. If you see them every Sunday for 2 hrs, that is 104 hrs a yr. You take it for granted that next week you will see them. 3 weeks, and you condense a years worth of time together. You make memories, like going to the park. Reading a book together. Buying ice cream from Cold Stone, eating it outside and talking instead of going into the fridge and pulling out Good Humor ice cream cones and than saying...eat it in the kitchen!
Sorry for going off track, but I really think it is important to see the bad and the good. AD military life is not for everyone. If he doesn't want to be an officer 1st and foremost, than I would say pay for his multi engine rating and go commercial.
~ See my last post ...there has never been 100% of UPT students wing! However, there has been 100% of UPT students being OWNED by the branch, EVEN if they bust/wash out of UPT.
Getting into the weeds now, but if he does not wing, be it USAFA, AFROTC, OTS, they will send him to an FEB....Flight Evaluation Board. They can turn to him and say...FLY be free, you owe us nothing! Or they can say, you will now be an Intel/Maintenance/MP, etc officer for the next 4 yrs.
~ Just saying for the umpteenth time...they OWN you.