is it possible for me to join the usafa?

Have you read German Boy or Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrant's Journey to Become An American Flyer? They're about a man named Wolfgang Samuel who lived through the aftermath of WW2 as a child in Germany, came to America as a teenager, and then enlisted in the Air Force and eventually became an officer and a flyer.
 
no i haven´t, but it sounds interessting. unfortunately im not the person who likes reading books^^
did you say this because you thought it may would be interessting for me or because you want to tell me something with it?

i also have another question: i am not the only one who is in this situation in which i am right now, am i? or have you ever heard of someone coming from germany and joining the usafa successfully?
 
I've known quite a few individuals born in other countries who have immigrated to the united states, joined the military, and became a citizen. Just none trying to go to the academy at 22-23 years old. If you want this, then you graduate high school at 18 years old, you immigrate, you become enlisted, get citizenship, and then apply to the academy. That's your only real choice. Any other option to the academy is not realistic or practical for you.
 
so what is this for:
To be eligible to enter the Academy you must be:
* A citizen of the United States. Your citizenship must be finalized prior to entering the Academy. You must submit proof of citizenship if you were foreign born or naturalized. Authorized international students are exempt from this requirement.
it actually means that students of other countries do not have to meet this requirement, or do i get this wrong?

edit:
i just got a message from the usafa. it is possible for international students to get into the usafa, i recieved some instruction how i should apply. (the maximum of international students which will recieve an appointment is 60)
but he told me that international students were not be commissioned in the air force.
but where is the sense in there?
if you are in the usafa you are, among other things, getting trained to be an officer of the united states air force.
so you are able to start your career in the air force, but you are not allowed??
 
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It was mentioned earlier. International students are NOT being trained to be Air Force officers in the UNITED STATES air force. The international students we have, are there because they were SELECTED by THEIR military; and their military doesn't have an academy of their own. Every international student at the air force academy will return to their military and country upon graduation. They aren't coming into the United States air force.
 
ok i think i got it now^^.
so is this international student program actually the exchange program of each country´s military? does this mean that i can only join if my military selects me? or am i also allowed to join if im not member of my military? if so, would i anyway be trained to become an officer? i ask because after you graduate you could become a us citizen and then join the air force, so you do not first have to become an officer because through the academy you have already been trained for becoming an officer. (understood my question?)
btw. thank you for your patience ;)
 
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The exchange program is a little different. That's when a foreign country HAS an academy, and selected students in their academy and the united states academy will spend a semester studying and learning in the other academy. The international students are there permanently for the entire 4 years. (Except for vacation). Usually, their country doesn't have an academy.

Either way, you have to be a member of your country's military, and be selected to come to the united states academies. Either as an exchange student for 1 semester, or as a full time 4 year student. If you don't want to be in Germany's military, than NEITHER of these options are available to you. And NO United States option is available to you unless you become a United States Citizen first. And no United States Academy option is available to you unless you not only become a united states citizen first, but are also under 23 years old, and receive a nomination.

So, if you are 18 years old now, and really want to be in the air force academy; then your only real choice, is to finish your high school education, if you haven't yet.... Move to the United States..... Join the United States air force as an enlisted person...... Apply for the citizenship process..... Then, apply for the air force academy.

There are NO OTHER CHOICES. You can ask all the questions in the world you want, but the answer is NOT going to change. That is the ONLY way you can get to the Air Force Academy. There is no reason to ask about it again. Sorry, that's the facts. Now, if you want to be an officer in the United States Air Force, and you don't care if it's with an Academy education, then there are other options. But you only have 1 way of getting in the air force academy before your 23rd birthday. There are no other options.
 
ok, thank you.
i think i got enough informations. i´m going to think about what would be the best for me.
because of the informations i have now, my plans changed a bit:

1. getting greencard
2. enlist in the us airforce
3. getting the us citizenship
4. apply for usaf academy, if too old, then apply for rotc.

if i need any more questions i will ask! ;)

thanks everyone again.

btw. what does just-a-mom mean?

edit: i already have a question:
if you are a greencard holder and you enlist in the air force you can apply for the us citizenship. how long would it last until you´ll get it? if you have the us citizenship, how long do you have to stay in the air force where you enlisted? (i don´t think you can just jump out the air force if you get the us citizenship^^)
 
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manu4g said:
hi everyone!
i´m new in this forum and i have a big question.

first something to me:
- i am from germany and because of that a non citizen.
- in 2012 i will hopefully pass my gymnasium graduation - that´s compareable to the us college graduation, i think. (13 years of school)
- now i´m 18 years old and i so much want to join the usaf academy!!
- i don´t know what skills i need to join the usafa... but in the german military i would easily become allowed to join the air force becuase of my qualifications
- after i finished school, i would like to join the german "grundwehrdienst" -> compareable to basic training (6 months you have to pledge by joining it and you can almost go to 2 years voluntarily), with that i want to finance my flight to the usa and the whole other stuff.

why i want to join the usafa??
- because i so much want to go and maybe live in the usa
- because i´d like to study there and to form me
- and of course because of the dream of flying and becuase i like the us military.

questions:
- is it possible at all to join as a german the usafa? if not so, how can i as quickly as possible get the us citizenship?
-> i read that if you join the military and do the basic traning you can get your us citizenship in a few months, and if you join the academy you have to do basic training so this problem would be checked, wouldn´t it?
- what is the age limit for joining the academy?
- what other costs do i have to consider beside the flight cost?
- are there any other things that i have to consider or i do have to know?

thanks for answeres. :smile:
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