Could someone help explain "rated" to me

Moosestache

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
148
My son is a Junior non scholarship student in USAF ROTC. He has decided he didn't want to be a pilot and basically hadn't given much thought to going rated. He was in the top 1/3 at FT this summer and enjoyed it. He just got back his AFOQT results. The Colonel called him into his office and told him he had the highest score of anyone in the detachment, 92 being the lowest on everything except 70's on the pilot part, which he didn't study at all for. The Colonel sat him down and told him he really wanted him to consider going rated, along with some other things that made me very proud.

Now I am trying to find out about going rated, what jobs, other than being a pilot he could apply for, and basically how everything works. I'm sure he will find out about it all, but I like to get as much information as possible so I don't have to bother him about it all. Any information or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!
 
"Rated" is basically a term for officers whose primary job is flying. It includes four career fields: pilots, combat systems officers, air battle managers, and RPA pilots.

Flying units are commanded by rated officers. Rated officers are considered the "operators" in the Air Force with most other career fields being "support".

Its great that your son is keeping an open mind. Picking a career field is a very important decision. He should talk to as many rated and non-rated officers as he can to get as much perspective as possible. There can be HUGE differences between career fields with regard to lifestyle, deployment rates, career progression, post-military career opportunities, etc. Encourage him to keep doing research in order to make an informed decision.

Good luck!
 
For some reason, people on here refer to cadets as "rated" after they select a flying career track in AFROTC. I'm not sure why, as in any other service you are not considered "rated" until you are literally rated as an aviator (at the completion of flight training). I can see how you might be confused.
 
Yes it is a bit confusing. I guess the other thing that is confusing is based on the leadership part. If he becomes a rated officer does he end up with more potential leadership opportunities later on?

Thanks and sorry for the dumb questions.
 
Scout,

I get what you are saying, but aren't you mincing words? This is the AF system, AFROTC calls it a rated board.
It is the AFROTC system.

Moosetache,
Not necessarily.

He actually could have a higher risk by going the rated to be separated from the ADAF. Bust IFS or UPT they can say goodbye.

Many rated officers want to only fly an airframe, by doing so they risk field/flag grade promotions. A flier in the AF won't become a flight commander or chief of a shop until they are a solid O3 because it takes 2+ yrs of additional training to be considered operational compared to a non-rated officer.

The thing is the AFOQT is like an SAT. It doesn't take into account how he handles the "stick". It is all paper evaluation. If his heart and soul doesn't want to fly, than IMPO he shouldn't!

He will shine in the AF as much as a non-rated officer compared to a rated one.

He is happy going non-rated, that is his goal, I am sure he will do just fine!

JMPO, since he is going non-rated and it appears he has command support, has he thought of going AFIT?

AFIT is grad school as an O1 at Wright Pat. The AF picks up the costs, and he is paid O1 pay to be a student in their grad program.

Finally, for rated boards...yes, scoutpilot they are called rated, they use a different formula than non-rated.

He would be required to take the TBAS, this would replace his AFOQT score, and if I recall from our DS's it is 40% of their OML score. This is the breakdown I think it is now:
40% TBAS ---this replaces the AFOQT score. He will have to take the TBAS for rated, but not for non-rated.
20% SFT rank
15% PFT
15% cgpa
10% CC rec.

A tech major gets a bump in the score for the cgpa compared to non-tech.

I won't swear by it, but I believe that is the scoring.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top