Okay, my bad. Sorry, if I offended people by speaking in acronyms.
This is an AFA forum, so things like FAIP for UPT are common terms.
FAIP: First Assignment Instructor Pilot.
~~~If you are not going into the AF UPT world than this acronym would be as others have felt...mind boggling.
However, we were discussing a cadet who is looking at UPT and AFIT. Thus, my intention was to address that issue, and I took the leap he/she knows what a FAIP is.
"Patch":
Means WIC. Weapons Instructor Course, it was known yrs ago as FWIC, Fighter, but the program changed and now it is no longer a FIGHTER only school.
Again in the flying world "patch" wearers means WIC, but I do get how non-military do not get the tern "patch". That was my bad.
PME= Professional Military Education. This will start to occur as an O-3 and never stop with each rank/promotion.
AFIT = AF Institute of Technology, which is their AF grad school program.
Again, we are talking Grad school in the AF world, so I took a leap that on this thread people understood for AFA grads it would mean AFIT...shoot me!
OPR= Officer Performance Review
Now with that all being said, I will not apologize if this went up and over your head, since, IMHO you are putting the cart before the horse. If these letters/acronyms mean gibberish to you, than you should spend your time getting the best grades possible to be competitive in this arena. If they make sense to you, than now is the time you step back and look at this opportunity from a career aspect.
I said it before, and will say it again...
You must decide do you want the be the best flier that is a leader or the best leader that is a flier...nothing else matters, nothing else should matter.
Answer that question and you will know the path to follow. There really is a difference. I won't speak for cadets that I know who were given this option, except to say it wasn't easy decision or option.
If you are only a candidate, throw this thought of grad school in the circular filing cabinet. Life is going to change over the next 4 yrs. You need to not only graduate, but graduate at the top and fight for these positions. Right now as a candidate all you should think about is getting in and graduating. 3 yrs from now, this can become an issue, but until then your only concern should be the BFE!
Honestly don't live your life plotting a course, because if you do you will miss out on the greatest gifts of life.
My best thoughts and wishes!
Anybody else who has issues with me for my acronyms or explaining in AF terms please feel free to pm me. My intention of the military is shown on my tag ..."This has to be the central fact of our lives: gratitude for the men and women who make this great life possible, who wear the uniform and cover it with glory." ~ Ben Stein
If you ever think I give a rats butt about one service over another, or one career field over another, than you will never get me. I love the AF, but I love every single solitary person who put their arse on the line to defend me and my family. Unfortunately, I have started to come to the belief that the branches have lost sight of this fact, and it is all about defending the branch. To me it is becoming apparent that serving our country means less that posturing like a peacock on which branch is the best.
That is the saddest thing.