2017 AFROTC Rated Selection Thread

What are your top two career choices?

  • Total voters
    41
Humey said:
I read another post about going or not to IFT if u already have a pilot license. His point was that there are a number of people who fail IFT for whatever reason . Why put yourself in a position where u could be thrown out of the program when U didn't have to be there in the first place
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If you have a PPL already the Air Force does not give you an option, you won't attend IFT. Here is my $.02 on the risk of failing IFT:

If you fail IFT, you would probably have the same result in UPT. First, they do not wash out a lot of people from IFT since it changed from a screening program to a training program. If you are trying yet still struggling, they give you many opportunities to succeed. They are very good at getting students who struggle with hands up to a passing level. Second, the DA-20 is incredibly easy to fly compared to the T-6. The pacing, the cross check, the trim are all much simpler at IFT. If a student is unable to solo the DA-20, skipping IFT and being thrown right into the T-6 would yield a similar result.

The value of being introduced to the military style of flying along with practice with Stand Up EP's (Which are a very important part of UPT) outweighs the very small risk of washing out of IFT.
 
Congrats to everyone so far! Unfortunately I have to wait till next Spring to find out and have a question. For you all that had very high PCSM scores would you mind sharing your AFOQT Pilot and Flight Hours? Trying to figure out just how much of the PCSM is determined by the TBAS.
 
Emory4llstate said:
Congrats to everyone so far! Unfortunately I have to wait till next Spring to find out and have a question. For you all that had very high PCSM scores would you mind sharing your AFOQT Pilot and Flight Hours? Trying to figure out just how much of the PCSM is determined by the TBAS.
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My PCSM is 96
AFOQT Pilot-95
Flight Hours-200+

Hope this helps!
 
I was on last year's board (RPA) so results may vary but.....

PCSM 56
AFOQT Pilot 82
Flight Hours 0
 
My son had a 95 on his AFOTQ Pilot
Had 202 hours
PCSM 98

And yes got a pilot spot
 
Thanks for the info y'all. I am working with a 99 Pilot AFOQT and over 200 hours so I am just curious how low my PCSM could really be if I bombed the TBAS for whatever reason.
 
Emory4llstate said:
Thanks for the info y'all. I am working with a 99 Pilot AFOQT and over 200 hours so I am just curious how low my PCSM could really be if I bombed the TBAS for whatever reason.
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I would assume that the PCSM score is much like a 3-legged stool. If you "bomb" at any one of the three legs (AFOQT, TBAS or flight hours), it won't matter how strong the other two legs are because they won't yield an adequate score. Your numbers are great from what I've seen on this forum. As far as your own PCSM, stay focused on your TBAS... that's one of things that only you can control.
My DS had a 95 AFOQT, 21 hrs, and a 78 PCSM and was awarded a pilot slot. Good luck to you.
On a related note... I'm curious to know how many cadets took the TBAS twice and if those that did felt they did significantly better the second time.
 
Mayville-Cardinal said:
I would assume that the PCSM score is much like a 3-legged stool. If you "bomb" at any one of the three legs (AFOQT, TBAS or flight hours), it won't matter how strong the other two legs are because they won't yield an adequate score. Your numbers are great from what I've seen on this forum. As far as your own PCSM, stay focused on your TBAS... that's one of things that only you can control.
My DS had a 95 AFOQT, 21 hrs, and a 78 PCSM and was awarded a pilot slot. Good luck to you.
On a related note... I'm curious to know how many cadets took the TBAS twice and if those that did felt they did significantly better the second time.
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I took it twice and went from 68 to 75 PCSM. (97 Pilot, 11 hours). I've never heard of someone doing worse the second time
 
Same stats for me pretty much. Had a 68 PCSM with 97 AFOQT pilot and 11 hours. Retook the TBAS and PCSM went up to a 77.
 
I had improved my PCSM score by 5 points after my TBAS retake, but I retook the AFOQT and raised my Pilot score from a 70 to a 98, which bumped my PCSM up by over 20 points.
 
SqwincherSquad said:
I had improved my PCSM score by 5 points after my TBAS retake, but I retook the AFOQT and raised my Pilot score from a 70 to a 98, which bumped my PCSM up by over 20 points.
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When did you retake your AFOQT. I'm thinking about retaking it myself.
 
Emory4llstate said:
Congrats to everyone so far! Unfortunately I have to wait till next Spring to find out and have a question. For you all that had very high PCSM scores would you mind sharing your AFOQT Pilot and Flight Hours? Trying to figure out just how much of the PCSM is determined by the TBAS.
Click to expand...

I can't recall the breakdown, but there is a formula out there that tells you the exact % of the PCSM that is tied to the TBAS score.

To the best of my knowledge the real big bump for the PCSM comes with flight hours. Flight hours help in multiple ways...AFOQT testing for pilot section, TBAS and of course the bonus points for the hours.
~ Think about it for a second, if you have some flight experience than that AFOQT score will bump up, just like your TBAS. TBAS more so because you cannot study for that exam, whereas you can study for the AFOQT like you do for an SAT/ACT since there are test study guides.
 
Pima said:
I can't recall the breakdown, but there is a formula out there that tells you the exact % of the PCSM that is tied to the TBAS score.

To the best of my knowledge the real big bump for the PCSM comes with flight hours. Flight hours help in multiple ways...AFOQT testing for pilot section, TBAS and of course the bonus points for the hours.
~ Think about it for a second, if you have some flight experience than that AFOQT score will bump up, just like your TBAS. TBAS more so because you cannot study for that exam, whereas you can study for the AFOQT like you do for an SAT/ACT since there are test study guides.
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IIRC PCSM is an unknown formula.
 
Emory4llstate said:
Congrats to everyone so far! Unfortunately I have to wait till next Spring to find out and have a question. For you all that had very high PCSM scores would you mind sharing your AFOQT Pilot and Flight Hours? Trying to figure out just how much of the PCSM is determined by the TBAS.
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Ive got some insight from the lower end of the spectrum haha. My original PCSM score was a 31 from a 69 afoqt prior to any flight hours and would have gone all the way up to a 75 if I had the 200+ flight hours you have.

With that many hours Im sure you could bomb the TBAS and still be competitive.
 
a400831 said:
Sure thing. First things first, everyone who got selected should just focus on graduating and commissioning. I saw individuals stumble during their last semester and they lost everything. As many sim IP's have told me, shoot the closest alligator.

However, once you graduate, re-cage on the next event. For many individuals, that is IFT. Even if your dates are months out, get your hands on boldface/ops limits and as much current study material as possible and start prepping. The more you prep, the less you need to worry on general knowledge while you are there and can focus on learning how to actually fly. Also, you will have a LOT more fun because you will be ahead of the curve, thus less stressed.

Same goes for UPT, once you're done with IFT, re-cage on the next event. Work hard early on and keep that momentum up. Eventually, you will find yourself looking at your track sheet feeling confident that no matter what you put #1, you will get it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I am currently in phase 3 of UPT (T38 track), so while I am not the most experienced member of the board by a long shot, I can give some input on everything up to my current position.
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Quick question for you and anybody else who went to UPT. How much time were you on casual status before reporting to your UPT base?
 
One of my friends just left for Columbus last weekend and he graduated May 2016. Just a single example but most of what I have heard is about that same time frame. Someone else can provide more insight haha
 
It is not uncommon to start UPT @9 - 15 months after commissioning. Our DS was sent to Del Rio 5 months after commissioning and was on casual status until April (11 months after commissioning). The majority of his classmates also started UPT around the exact same time.
~ In his class he even had USAFA grads that waited a year before starting UPT

Kevster here went casual in Jan. if I recall and did not start UPT until @ Nov. He was a May commission too and only winged a few months ago. He was a 2014 grad.

UPT is pretty backed up and has been for years. They are working at 110% and still have a long wait for start times.
 
Juelz320 said:
Quick question for you and anybody else who went to UPT. How much time were you on casual status before reporting to your UPT base?
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It is actually speeding up a bit. I graduated in May, got here in October, started end of June. Now people are graduating in May, reporting in October, and starting in Feb.
 
It's also luck of the draw. I graduated in May, EAD in October, IFT in November and started UPT in December. I am more of an exception rather than the norm though. Casual time can range from 2 weeks to 9 months for all of the October EADers. I've seen more common for those that EAD after October to wait around 3-4 months in casual.

With UPT classes increasing from 24 to 30 students expect a faster turn time in casual status though.
 
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