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This is what I was getting at.
Side note:
My squadron has three female pilots: me, a captain, and the commander. Coincidentally (or not) we're also the only unmarried pilots.
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Life as a Female Pilot
- Thread starter Hoodlum15
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- pilot pilot slot women
This is what I was getting at.
Side note:
My squadron has three female pilots: me, a captain, and the commander. Coincidentally (or not) we're also the only unmarried pilots.
affighters77
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I know this is incredibly late but I happened across this post while doing some research for a female fighter pilot forum I am attending and wanted to share my personal experience with you just in case you are still considering trying to become a fighter pilot (I flew F-16s). I graduated from USAFA and went into pilot training with no intention of becoming a fighter pilot, I did not think it was the type of flying that I would be interested in doing. My husband, who graduated a year ahead of me, had already gone the T-38 route and asked me to reserve any judgement on what I wanted to fly until I flew formation. For me, that was all it took. I loved everything about formation flying - getting to be alone in my cockpit but still with the support of wingmen. One poster said the centrifuge might be more difficult for women, in my experience that has not been the case but the fuge is different for every person. I have been twice (7.5G profile for T-38s and 9G for F-16s) and I did not see a gender issue when it came to who struggled and who didn't - it was just body type. (those poor 6'5" skinny people had a rough time).
As with anything in the military there are going to be sacrifices. You will deploy, you will be gone on TDYs, you will be away from family - but that is true with any career field. I am not saying that I did anything "correctly" by any means but my husband, who is a fighter pilot as well, and I sat down at the beginning of our careers and said that we would put our aspirations to be pilots first and then later something would have to give in order for us to pursue having a family. We have both fought in combat, we have both had the opportunity to lead both in and out of the cockpit and honestly, I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world. But to do those things, we were stationed apart for 6.5 years and had to put a lot of effort into the care of our marriage.
The time did come when I decided to scale back and put family into the forefront, I requested an assignment flying adversary air so that I could be stationed with my husband. It is a more flexible job in terms of TDY and deployment requirements and allowed us to start a family. It is true that the second you find out you are pregnant in an ejection seat aircraft, you cannot fly anymore. Between the pregnancy and maternity leave, you are out of the cockpit for a year, but you can still help the squadron fulfilling duties that a pilot has to do but does not require flying. Supervisor of flying - supervising flying for the wing from the tower and Top 3, supervising flying of your squadron and coordinating with maintenance/pilots are the main ones. I have not felt left out of the squadron or in any way stifled because I decided to have kids. Most of the dudes in the squadron are pretty happy that they don't have to sit top 3 or SOF and they know how long we waited to have kids and have been nothing but supportive.
I also have a very strong family system where I can call our parents on either side and have someone take care of our kiddo if we both have TDYs or other commitments where we need help.
Sorry that this is such a long post, if you are still interested in flying I would be more than happy to talk with you one on one and please pass on to anyone at the zoo that I am more than willing to chat with anyone interested.
As with anything in the military there are going to be sacrifices. You will deploy, you will be gone on TDYs, you will be away from family - but that is true with any career field. I am not saying that I did anything "correctly" by any means but my husband, who is a fighter pilot as well, and I sat down at the beginning of our careers and said that we would put our aspirations to be pilots first and then later something would have to give in order for us to pursue having a family. We have both fought in combat, we have both had the opportunity to lead both in and out of the cockpit and honestly, I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world. But to do those things, we were stationed apart for 6.5 years and had to put a lot of effort into the care of our marriage.
The time did come when I decided to scale back and put family into the forefront, I requested an assignment flying adversary air so that I could be stationed with my husband. It is a more flexible job in terms of TDY and deployment requirements and allowed us to start a family. It is true that the second you find out you are pregnant in an ejection seat aircraft, you cannot fly anymore. Between the pregnancy and maternity leave, you are out of the cockpit for a year, but you can still help the squadron fulfilling duties that a pilot has to do but does not require flying. Supervisor of flying - supervising flying for the wing from the tower and Top 3, supervising flying of your squadron and coordinating with maintenance/pilots are the main ones. I have not felt left out of the squadron or in any way stifled because I decided to have kids. Most of the dudes in the squadron are pretty happy that they don't have to sit top 3 or SOF and they know how long we waited to have kids and have been nothing but supportive.
I also have a very strong family system where I can call our parents on either side and have someone take care of our kiddo if we both have TDYs or other commitments where we need help.
Sorry that this is such a long post, if you are still interested in flying I would be more than happy to talk with you one on one and please pass on to anyone at the zoo that I am more than willing to chat with anyone interested.
I know this is incredibly late but I happened across this post while doing some research for a female fighter pilot forum I am attending and wanted to share my personal experience with you just in case you are still considering trying to become a fighter pilot (I flew F-16s). I graduated from USAFA and went into pilot training with no intention of becoming a fighter pilot, I did not think it was the type of flying that I would be interested in doing. My husband, who graduated a year ahead of me, had already gone the T-38 route and asked me to reserve any judgement on what I wanted to fly until I flew formation. For me, that was all it took. I loved everything about formation flying - getting to be alone in my cockpit but still with the support of wingmen. One poster said the centrifuge might be more difficult for women, in my experience that has not been the case but the fuge is different for every person. I have been twice (7.5G profile for T-38s and 9G for F-16s) and I did not see a gender issue when it came to who struggled and who didn't - it was just body type. (those poor 6'5" skinny people had a rough time).
As with anything in the military there are going to be sacrifices. You will deploy, you will be gone on TDYs, you will be away from family - but that is true with any career field. I am not saying that I did anything "correctly" by any means but my husband, who is a fighter pilot as well, and I sat down at the beginning of our careers and said that we would put our aspirations to be pilots first and then later something would have to give in order for us to pursue having a family. We have both fought in combat, we have both had the opportunity to lead both in and out of the cockpit and honestly, I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world. But to do those things, we were stationed apart for 6.5 years and had to put a lot of effort into the care of our marriage.
The time did come when I decided to scale back and put family into the forefront, I requested an assignment flying adversary air so that I could be stationed with my husband. It is a more flexible job in terms of TDY and deployment requirements and allowed us to start a family. It is true that the second you find out you are pregnant in an ejection seat aircraft, you cannot fly anymore. Between the pregnancy and maternity leave, you are out of the cockpit for a year, but you can still help the squadron fulfilling duties that a pilot has to do but does not require flying. Supervisor of flying - supervising flying for the wing from the tower and Top 3, supervising flying of your squadron and coordinating with maintenance/pilots are the main ones. I have not felt left out of the squadron or in any way stifled because I decided to have kids. Most of the dudes in the squadron are pretty happy that they don't have to sit top 3 or SOF and they know how long we waited to have kids and have been nothing but supportive.
I also have a very strong family system where I can call our parents on either side and have someone take care of our kiddo if we both have TDYs or other commitments where we need help.
Sorry that this is such a long post, if you are still interested in flying I would be more than happy to talk with you one on one and please pass on to anyone at the zoo that I am more than willing to chat with anyone interested.
I am not in an academy but I am looking at becoming a pilot (speaking to both Navy and AF) and have been hunting for anything that talks about being a mom and a pilot. I already have two kids (4 and 2) and my husband and I are not planning on having more. So it’s a different situation but I’d love to talk more with you about being a mom and a pilot if you are willing! Just really trying to make the most informed choice for my family!
I know I'm late to the game but I'd like some input for my own situation. I'm a single, 30 year old female who is bound and determined to join the Air Force. I was originally looking at Intelligence until my recruiter informed me that the age limit to become a pilot had been raised to 33 and that I had a strong chance (based on test scores/GPA) if I was interested. It really got me thinking. I'd always thought being an air force pilot sounded really cool. However, I've read mixed reviews on quality of life, especially for women, for a variety of reasons. What does every-day life look like? Is it as grueling and horrible as I've read? Given that I'm coming in a bit late to the game, and the commitment is 10 years + training, I'm concerned I'd be pigeon-holing myself into never getting married or having a family. Granted, getting married and having a family isn't something I may have one way or the other. At this point, I'm only slightly concerned...but I could definitely see that changing as I get older and the child-bearing window begins to close.
My initial impression of female pilot life (as badass and amazing as it sounds) is that my chances for finding a spouse would decrease which would, in turn, significantly impact the likelihood of having children. Is this accurate? I appreciate the responses for other women that say "don't make decisions based on a spouse and kids you don't have" but I'm genuinely concerned that I'd be negatively impacting ANY chance of having a family if I were to be a pilot versus another line-officer position (i.e.: Intel).
I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts and feedback.
My initial impression of female pilot life (as badass and amazing as it sounds) is that my chances for finding a spouse would decrease which would, in turn, significantly impact the likelihood of having children. Is this accurate? I appreciate the responses for other women that say "don't make decisions based on a spouse and kids you don't have" but I'm genuinely concerned that I'd be negatively impacting ANY chance of having a family if I were to be a pilot versus another line-officer position (i.e.: Intel).
I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts and feedback.
Addressing the hard facts first:
- Take everything a recruiter tells you with a grain of salt. They generally are truthful, but often sugarcoat or gloss over important barriers.
- Yes, the age limit has been raised, but if you do not have certain qualifications it will be very difficult to enter UPT as a 30 year-old civilian applicant (private pilot's license with some decent hours, and a technical degree would be a start)
- UPT is tough but not insurmountable. Being older has some benefits (focus, maturity, and discipline), and some drawbacks (more prone to injury and fatigue)
- Competition for UPT is fierce, and when coupled with the recent increase in the maximum age of commissioning to 40 years old, you will be up against a lot of fierce competition from established Airmen-- many of whom have enlisted aircrew or aircraft maintenance experience. You will be passed over for those people almost 100% of the time.
- Your only route to UPT is via OTS at this point. That process alone will take at least a year to even enter OTS (assuming you meet the 25 July board date). There are many applicants ahead of you at this stage. Hopefully you just turned 30. If not, then you could potentially be pushing 33 before you even graduate from TFOT.
As for the soft considerations:
- Everyday life for an Air Force pilot is neither grueling or horrible. I have no clue where you read that, but it is not true.
- Your odds of finding a spouse will neither increase nor decrease based off whether or not you are a pilot
- However, some of the UPT bases are in more remote locations that do not have a plethora of potential spouse material nearby (Del Rio comes to mind
)- Your tempo as an AF pilot depends on the airframe you are assigned. In the heavy world (airlift and tankers), you will be gone frequently on 5-7 day trips. In the fighter/bomber/attack world, the trips are usually closer to 1-3 days, depending on what you are doing. If you go RPA's, you will typically not go anywhere unless you deploy.
My suggestion would be to position yourself to try for pilot or CSO, but prepare yourself for a strong Plan B. There are many officer career fields in the Air Force-- many of which are just as exciting (or more exciting) than pilot or CSO.
Frequently when scrolling through these forums I come across a post and subsequent dialog that really gives some needed insight into military life - very needed for non mil dads. This one was todays! I have a DS, not a DD, but I still got a lot out of the sharing here. Thanks!
HuskyPilot
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- Apr 6, 2016
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- 110
It will be what you make it.
pilotgirl4
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- Oct 23, 2019
- Messages
- 3
I know this is incredibly late but I happened across this post while doing some research for a female fighter pilot forum I am attending and wanted to share my personal experience with you just in case you are still considering trying to become a fighter pilot (I flew F-16s). I graduated from USAFA and went into pilot training with no intention of becoming a fighter pilot, I did not think it was the type of flying that I would be interested in doing. My husband, who graduated a year ahead of me, had already gone the T-38 route and asked me to reserve any judgement on what I wanted to fly until I flew formation. For me, that was all it took. I loved everything about formation flying - getting to be alone in my cockpit but still with the support of wingmen. One poster said the centrifuge might be more difficult for women, in my experience that has not been the case but the fuge is different for every person. I have been twice (7.5G profile for T-38s and 9G for F-16s) and I did not see a gender issue when it came to who struggled and who didn't - it was just body type. (those poor 6'5" skinny people had a rough time).
As with anything in the military there are going to be sacrifices. You will deploy, you will be gone on TDYs, you will be away from family - but that is true with any career field. I am not saying that I did anything "correctly" by any means but my husband, who is a fighter pilot as well, and I sat down at the beginning of our careers and said that we would put our aspirations to be pilots first and then later something would have to give in order for us to pursue having a family. We have both fought in combat, we have both had the opportunity to lead both in and out of the cockpit and honestly, I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world. But to do those things, we were stationed apart for 6.5 years and had to put a lot of effort into the care of our marriage.
The time did come when I decided to scale back and put family into the forefront, I requested an assignment flying adversary air so that I could be stationed with my husband. It is a more flexible job in terms of TDY and deployment requirements and allowed us to start a family. It is true that the second you find out you are pregnant in an ejection seat aircraft, you cannot fly anymore. Between the pregnancy and maternity leave, you are out of the cockpit for a year, but you can still help the squadron fulfilling duties that a pilot has to do but does not require flying. Supervisor of flying - supervising flying for the wing from the tower and Top 3, supervising flying of your squadron and coordinating with maintenance/pilots are the main ones. I have not felt left out of the squadron or in any way stifled because I decided to have kids. Most of the dudes in the squadron are pretty happy that they don't have to sit top 3 or SOF and they know how long we waited to have kids and have been nothing but supportive.
I also have a very strong family system where I can call our parents on either side and have someone take care of our kiddo if we both have TDYs or other commitments where we need help.
Sorry that this is such a long post, if you are still interested in flying I would be more than happy to talk with you one on one and please pass on to anyone at the zoo that I am more than willing to chat with anyone interested.
Hello affighters77!
I just stumbled across the thread after making one of my own on this topic, I have a fiance and an almost 2 year old and I am thinking about joining the air force to become a fighter pilot. I am finishing up my PPL now and am currently working on my degree in aviation but how have things been for you and your family since having a baby? Has it been hard to juggle the work life and family? As danipd said I am also trying to get as much information as possible before making a decision because flying fighter jets is something I have been really looking into lately and I am looking for all of the feedback I can especially from other women in the field who also have a family. Any feedback you could give me would be very helpful like now having a baby would you still make the decision to be in the military if you had a child before you were in, like me? I am really wanting to do this for a career at least for a while then retire to the airlines but my son is really really important to me and I would not want to make this kind of decision if I will be absent for a good amount of his childhood and him not even really know who I am.
Thank you!
Not a women so I cant give you a womens perspective. Having said that, being a fighter pilot is easier said then done. It could happen but more than likely you wont. This isnt a male female thing but rather most people who go to UPT dont fly fighters. Your best bet in terms of flying a fighter and controlling parts of your life like where you live is to actually join the National Guard. Think of the Guard as a fraternity/sorority. Your apply (rush) a guard unit that flies a specific fighter. So lets say you want to fly the F-15. You find a guard unit in your state or any state that flies the F-15 and you apply to join their unit as a pilot. If you get accepted and pass UPT, you will fly the F-15. This will result in you knowing what plane you be flying, you will always fly for the guard unit in the same base for the rest of your career (assuming the unit doesnt move, change planes or is closed). What is the downside? First the job at the guard could be part time and not full time. It could start part time and change to full time. Second, you will compete with people who are already in that guard unit, compete with people who used to be AD and finally compete with a whole group of people just like you. Third, unlike AD where you could be a nasty person and still get a pilot spot if you went through the Academy, Rotc or OTS, who you are as a person comes into play when they select who they want to bring in as a pilot. You are going to be there for a long time and they want some one who will get along with the rest of the group. My point being, you could try to get in and never get selected. The National Guards seems like a more flexible place to be specially when you have to have other people to worry about. There is another website called http://www.flyingsquadron.com/ that is made up of AF pilots and those trying to be pilots. Most of the older guys push National Guard as a way to fly, have a stable life and not have to go through many of the crappy things AD pilots have to deal with
Now, what happens if you go AD. One, assuming you pass UPT, a plane willl be assigned to you. Secondly, each plane has number of bases they are attached to. So depending on the plane you are given, you will live on one of those bases. Additionally, the base that trains pilots on that plane may be a different base all together. So you may be stationed therefore for 9 months of training and then move again to your permanant base. However, chances are you will only be in your permanent base for 3 years and then move again. It a somewhat harder when you have a family
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pilotgirl4
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- Oct 23, 2019
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Thanks for the feedback Humey, I have actually read quite a few forums talk about the guard but I don't know too much about it (I don't come from a military family so I'm trying to learn everything for forums) is it the same with the guard as I have to commit for a certain amount of years and after I commit then I can try to apply to become a pilot? Or can I apply off the bat for a pilot position and if I don't get it I don't have to make a commitment? I would be nervous to commit then not get it and it slows my career as a pilot down but I think your idea is a great one from the sounds of it so I can get my itch of flying fast but also not having to sacrifice too much of my family time. And also is that something I can be in while finishing my degree like an ROTC thing and they will help with tuition so I can become an officer then once I finish I can serve?
Great questions. You apply to lets say a California National Guard. They have an opening for a F-16. You apply for the position. If you get acccepted, you got to UPT. If accepted, you are guaranteed that position, assuming of course, you pass the medical and probabably 10 other requirements. You can also say no once they offer the position to you. You dont join the Guard (although you can) and then apply. It all done at the same time. Its either join the Guard as a pilot or nothing. There is no risk to you except maybe failing UPT. Not sure what happens then. You arent going to join and then midway they are going to tell you that you are going to be a mechanic. I have to imagine its the same as AD, but once you get your wings, you owe 10 years to the Air Force. There will be a sacrifice to your family no matter what. You will be send to UPT. You may be there between 1 -12 months on casualty duty. My son's friend spent 2 years on casual duty because his training plane was twice grounded for problems plus his wife gave birth. I think his situation was extremely weird, but you never know. Then UPT class is going to be 1 year long. You are then going to go to SERE training for like 23 days. You are then going to your trainining base to learn how to fly your plane. Thats another 9 months or so. Eventually you get back to your Guard base where you will probably be full time for about a year or so until you are fully trained.
Guard doesnt give money for education as far as i know. You can apply to the Guard pilot position about 6 months before you graduate. Rotc as you know does give money, however, many people in Rotc dont get money. AF mostly (90%) gives scholarship to those with STEM majors. Not advising not to go Active Duty, but the Guard is another way to go. It has all of the benefits without the cons