Commitment After USAFA

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LindaTW

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Feb 25, 2016
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Hi everyone,i have been puzzled for sometime now and I need help on some clarifications.
I want to study piloting in USAFA and I'm an international candidate applying to USAFA but I don't know why I have to be committed to my country's Air Force after I graduate from USAFA.....can anyone please explain to me why it is so?
 
Assuming this post is for Halloween, I will play along. Uh, since you are joining the Air Force & with pilot training being expensive, they kinda want you to stick around & fly for them for a while. They seem to be sticklers on this, probably a return on investment sorta thing.
 
And, you can't study "piloting" (in the usual sense) at USAFA.

Wishful, how cynical you are! Thinking that someone who has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their citizen to "study piloting" at our USAFA would expect a commitment afterward!

Is this April Fool's Day? I'm so confused.
 
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I think there is some confusion as to what the OP is asking. I think the OP wants to know why she has to serve for her country -- since she is an international student -- after graduating from the USAFA instead of serving the United States. I may be wrong, but that's what I understood from the post.
 
LindaTW,

You admit you are an international candidate. That is a question to ask to your country, not here.

Now, if you were an American, not a citizen from Ghana I would say this.

1. There is no "piloting" major
2. If you are lucky enough to get appointed to USAFA, you would realize that although you do not pay for college in dollars and cents annually, they expect to collect from you by requiring you to serve ADAF for 5 yrs if not rated (pilot, CSO, RPA or ABM)
3. Do you know how much it costs to wing a pilot? A million+ dollars.
~ Jet fuel is not cheap. Simulators are not cheap. IPs are ADAF pilots that are being paid to train students at IFT, UPT, IFF and airframe schoolhouses...all of that goes into the cost for bringing on each and every new pilot.
~~ Oh, and let's not forget the cost for that student which takes @ 2 yrs to train in just their pay, not including TDY and PCS pay for things like Water and Land Survival.

How many years does Ghana require if you become a pilot? USAF is 10 yrs AFTER you wing. Do not confuse that with 10 yrs after graduating from USAFA. It is 10 yrs after winging. Many grads wait 1 yr before attending UPT. UPT is 54 weeks. Thus, as an American USAFA grad for the class of 2021, if you have to wait 1 yr before you start UPT (the norm now), You would not be able to walk away from the AF until...wait for it...2032!
~ That is not a typo...2032 on the very best day.

My guess, and it is just a guess is that you have not ever flown a plane as a student trying to get a private pilot's license (PPL). If you did than you would know how expensive it is based on the cost from a recreational aspect.
~ In the US it is common for PPL students to pay $150-200 an hr., or about $4000+ plus just for the PPL with the min. hrs. No simulators, no water/land survival and def. a lot less hrs in a plane.

Again, this is not a forum where we can answer the question of why since you are an international student, not an American. Only your country can answer that question, but I would say to you...if you are not willing to PAY with years of obligation for that "free" education and winging as a pilot that your country has set up front, than don't PLAY,

FWIW...I would be more concerned about getting a USAFA slot as an international student than 4 yrs from now with the pilot aspect. International apptmts in my opinion are not a walk in the park aka easy. There are limited international spots. Lets say 500 apply for USAFA, but they only offer 1.
 
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Pima said:
LindaTW,

You admit you are an international candidate. That is a question to ask to your country, not here.

Now, if you were an American, not a citizen from Ghana I would say this.

1. There is no "piloting" major
2. If you are lucky enough to get appointed to USAFA, you would realize that although you do not pay for college in dollars and cents annually, they expect to collect from you by requiring you to serve ADAF for 5 yrs if not rated (pilot, CSO, RPA or ABM)
3. Do you know how much it costs to wing a pilot? A million+ dollars.
~ Jet fuel is not cheap. Simulators are not cheap. IPs are ADAF pilots that are being paid to train students at IFT, UPT, IFF and airframe schoolhouses...all of that goes into the cost for bringing on each and every new pilot.
~~ Oh, and let's not forget the cost for that student which takes @ 2 yrs to train in just their pay, not including TDY and PCS pay for things like Water and Land Survival.

How many years does Ghana require if you become a pilot? USAF is 10 yrs AFTER you wing. Do not confuse that with 10 yrs after graduating from USAFA. It is 10 yrs after winging. Many grads wait 1 yr before attending UPT. UPT is 54 weeks. Thus, as an American USAFA grad for the class of 2021, if you have to wait 1 yr before you start UPT (the norm now), You would not be able to walk away from the AF until...wait for it...2032!
~ That is not a typo...2032 on the very best day.

My guess, and it is just a guess is that you have not ever flown a plane as a student trying to get a private pilot's license (PPL). If you did than you would know how expensive it is based on the cost from a recreational aspect.
~ In the US it is common for PPL students to pay $150-200 an hr., or about $4000+ plus just for the PPL with the min. hrs. No simulators, no water/land survival and def. a lot less hrs in a plane.

Again, this is not a forum where we can answer the question of why since you are an international student, not an American. Only your country can answer that question, but I would say to you...if you are not willing to PAY with years of obligation for that "free" education and winging as a pilot that your country has set up front, than don't PLAY,

FWIW...I would be more concerned about getting a USAFA slot as an international student than 4 yrs from now with the pilot aspect. International apptmts in my opinion are not a walk in the park aka easy. There are limited international spots. Lets say 500 apply for USAFA, but they only offer 1.
Click to expand...


Thank you soo much!! This information has been really useful!! Thanks alot
 
HMCoF2021 said:
I think there is some confusion as to what the OP is asking. I think the OP wants to know why she has to serve for her country -- since she is an international student -- after graduating from the USAFA instead of serving the United States. I may be wrong, but that's what I understood from the post.
Click to expand...
yes please that is exactly what i meant to say.
 
Thanks to all who took time to reply me. I am grateful. I now understand and i think I will find out the obligations from my country. Thanks alot
 
LindaTW said:
Hi everyone,i have been puzzled for sometime now and I need help on some clarifications.
I want to study piloting in USAFA and I'm an international candidate applying to USAFA but I don't know why I have to be committed to my country's Air Force after I graduate from USAFA.....can anyone please explain to me why it is so?
Click to expand...
What "country" are you from may I ask?
 
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