skybound42
Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2022
- Messages
- 25
Say your a political science major but want to be a pilot. Does the Air Force place you into a role that suits your major or can you apply for pilot slot upon graduation.
Major question
- Thread starter skybound42
- Start date
Peter2025
Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2021
- Messages
- 663
I believe that your major (with a few exceptions) has little to do with your job selection.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2012
- Messages
- 1,100
Bottom line: For your particular scenario I wouldn't be worried about the AF using a political science degree as justification to assigning you a specific job.
In classic military fashion, the answer is "it depends." In some very rare cases, for jobs which have specific education requirements, the AF might do this. For example, the electrical engineering career is consistently undermanned. EE majors who may not have listed developmental engineer on their job dream sheet might find themselves assigned to dev E nonetheless.
A pilot can have any major. That being said, having certain degrees can open up doors in the future (e.g. a hard engineering degree would qualify a pilot to apply to test pilot school).
If you're curious, you can read more about the notable exceptions @Peter2025 mentioned starting on page 262 of the Air Force Officer Classification directory (AFOCD). This section outlines the "education matrix" of select career fields. Here's an example for the 15W - Weather and Environmental Science career field.
What does this say? First, it is mandatory that at least 60% of new accessions into the 15W career field have an Atmospheric Sciences or Meteorology degree. It is permitted for no greater than 20% of new accessions to have a math, stats, computational science, etc. it is also permitted for no greater than 20% of new accessions have a STEM degree (in a particular class of STEM degrees as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics).
Basically, it's not a strict requirement to have an atmospheric sciences degree to be a weather officer, but you will be MUCH more likely to be selected as a weather officer if you have an atmospheric sciences degree.
There are several career fields like weather which prefer certain majors. I'd recommend reviewing the the AFOCD to see how to align your educational and vocational desires.
AA787DRIVER
Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2021
- Messages
- 293
Poly Sci and Fly is the current slang I believe....
Old Navy BGO
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2012
- Messages
- 4,625
Poli Sci/QPR High at USNA !
I've told the story on the USNA page before, but I went Poli Sci at USNA after a USMC Capt, F-4 driver stood up at a Majors briefing and asked how many were considering Aero Engineering because they want to fly, A bunch of us wide eyed 18 year olds raised our hands, and he looked as us and told us ... "That's Bullsh!t, I'm a Poli Sci major and the best G..D.. pilot in the Marine Corps."
Seriously, you should select your major based upon your interests, not service selection ---- you are more likely to get the assignment you want if you do well , and you will do well if interested in the subject!!)
Back in the day, all USAFA grads who were PQ would get a pilot slot if they wanted it. Times have changed and class rank is a factor in who is awarded a UPT slot.
I don’t think academic major matters as everyone has plenty of STEM courses, but GPA has more significance than it did years ago.
A great friend of mine declared Basic Ac as a frosh, took the least and ‘easiest’ classes he could. He did well in UPT, flew USAF for over 2 decades and now is a United Captain. Ironically, he probably wouldn’t have earned a UPT slot on today’s criteria
In AFrotc, you can have a degree in basket weaving and you can still become a pilot. I would think the academy would be the same. You typically hear that in the academy, if you want a pilot spot, you will get it as long as you medically qualify. They have enough spots for everyone who wants one. Covid may have changed things a little as pilots weren't leaving the AF but from what i hear, pilots are now leaving the AF about the same rate as they did prior to Covid.
Your major has nothing to do with your job selection - 95% of the time. I have a friends who graduated with majors in English and History and went on to flight school. Flight training is structured around the "lowest common denominator" principle where every entrant is assumed to know absolutely nothing about how a plane works. Having said that, there are only a handful of career fields that require an "engineering degree." Those members of my class who applied for Civil Engineering were required to complete any engineering degree. It could be Electrical (EE), Civil (CE), even Aero (AE), but it had to be engineering. There are a few others, but not many. I would advise any cadet to chose that career field that "aligns with the interests!" Don't fly because you feel like you have to or choose another career field because its prudent for future, civilian employment. Seek advice from many sources, not just one person. Someone could have a bad taste in their mouth, be the exception rather than the rule, and steer you the wrong way.