Not getting pilot slot

Pluto2200

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Posting this in the USAFA forum but it goes for AFROTC as well:

Just out of curiosity, anyone who went through USAFA or AFROTC with the goal of flying but did not recieve a pilot slot, what is it like? Are you still satisfied with your posistion in the air force? Is there anything you would have done differently? Thanks in advance!
 
I was told I was my eyesight was not good enough and I was not eligible for corrective surgery the summer between sophomore and junior year. I wasn't 100% set on pilot so the emotional shock was not too intense. Of course it was disappointing for a door to close. I had the opportunity to leave since I hadn't committed yet, but that would mean going back to active duty to fulfill my enlisted contract. I decided to stay the course and focus on other interests.

I am very much satisfied with my current position as an Operations Research Analyst (15A). I can't say there is any one specific thing that I would have done differently. Medical stuff can be completely out of your control. My advice is to cultivate several interests and keep an open mind to various career fields. The Air Force has a lot to offer and often all that is required to be happy is a change in perspective.

If you keep your grades decent, stay out of trouble, and stay medically qualified, then the odds of securing a slot are high.

Please be aware that when I say "stay medically qualified" I do not imply that one obfuscate a medical condition in the hopes that AF doctors miss something during the flight physical exams. The medical standards exist for a reason. Any attempt to circumvent them will put yourself and others at risk of injury and death down the line. Do not be selfish.
 
  • I graduated in 2010 with a pilot slot (and medically qualified).
  • Did grad school for 3 years in CA while my pilot slot was on hold
  • Color vision rules/test changed when I entered UPT in 2014. Long story fighting it but ultimately not allowed to continue UPT
  • Petitioned to separate and did so in 2015
    • I argued that I'd be at the end of my commitment anyway once I reclassified and retrained and so it wasn't worth the resources. Along with a reduction in force initiative at the time, I was allowed to leave. I feel like I almost got the "Platinum" handshake out of it!
Can't tell you how the AF was after being reclassed away from rated but fast forward almost 10 years and things are going great. Keep your options open; be sure to learn and study topics you care about that are not about flying; and have back up option *plans* in your pocket.
 
Building on the real-world experiences above, this underlines the advice seen here often: Attend an SA or do ROTC because you want to serve as an officer first, and want to become a pilot (or infantrymen, or submariner, or what have you) second. If you enter strictly focused on a specific job, and that job doesn’t materialize, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The needs of the service will prevail, and many personal issues you can’t control.
 
Posting this in the USAFA forum but it goes for AFROTC as well:

Just out of curiosity, anyone who went through USAFA or AFROTC with the goal of flying but did not recieve a pilot slot, what is it like? Are you still satisfied with your posistion in the air force? Is there anything you would have done differently? Thanks in advance!
Happened to me. My eyesight was so poor, that I didn't qualify for a flight waiver post-PRK surgery.

Have a plan B (i.e. second choice as a career field) in case you don't fly! Pick a major that you enjoy and that fits your career/life goals. You do NOT have to pick an engineering or technical major to attend flight school. I know English and PolySci majors who won pilot slots and are now flying fighters. Pilot school assumes that - on day one - you know nothing about planes and so they they will teach to the "lowest common denominator" throughout the program.

Do some soul searching your Freshmen and Sophomore years. Attend "majors" night when they schedule it. And ask lots of questions! Great topic....
 
Slightly different take on this story - I went to USAFA confident that I wanted to fly, but when I realized all the other opportunities available and what being a pilot actually entailed (I followed some F-16 pilots around when I went to Aviano AB for ops after my sophomore year), decided I'd be happier not flying and didn't put in for any rated positions.

I absolutely love my job as a 61D (scientist - physicist) but I didn't even know that was a job when I went to USAFA. The point is that I went in to USAFA with an open mind and found a much better path for myself than what the 17/18 year old version of me thought.
 
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I was told I was my eyesight was not good enough and I was not eligible for corrective surgery the summer between sophomore and junior year. I wasn't 100% set on pilot so the emotional shock was not too intense. Of course it was disappointing for a door to close. I had the opportunity to leave since I hadn't committed yet, but that would mean going back to active duty to fulfill my enlisted contract. I decided to stay the course and focus on other interests.

I am very much satisfied with my current position as an Operations Research Analyst (15A). I can't say there is any one specific thing that I would have done differently. Medical stuff can be completely out of your control. My advice is to cultivate several interests and keep an open mind to various career fields. The Air Force has a lot to offer and often all that is required to be happy is a change in perspective.

If you keep your grades decent, stay out of trouble, and stay medically qualified, then the odds of securing a slot are high.

Please be aware that when I say "stay medically qualified" I do not imply that one obfuscate a medical condition in the hopes that AF doctors miss something during the flight physical exams. The medical standards exist for a reason. Any attempt to circumvent them will put yourself and others at risk of injury and death down the line. Do not be selfish.
DS is concerned about this now at USAFA. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other, has astigmatism. I thought as long as your vision was correctable with glasses you could be pilot but he has heard that he may not qualify with sight just off 20/20 but it isn't bad enough for lasik?
 
DS is concerned about this now at USAFA. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other, has astigmatism. I thought as long as your vision was correctable with glasses you could be pilot but he has heard that he may not qualify with sight just off 20/20 but it isn't bad enough for lasik?
The doctors will have the most up-to-date and correct information. All I can say is that I was deemed ineligible for surgery due to a rare progressive eye-condition.
 
DS is concerned about this now at USAFA. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other, has astigmatism. I thought as long as your vision was correctable with glasses you could be pilot but he has heard that he may not qualify with sight just off 20/20 but it isn't bad enough for lasik?
You can look up the FC1 requirements, but if it's correctable, it should be fine.
(E.G. my vision was around -2, but correctable to better than 20/20. Waiver went through just fine.)
 
DS is concerned about this now at USAFA. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other, has astigmatism. I thought as long as your vision was correctable with glasses you could be pilot but he has heard that he may not qualify with sight just off 20/20 but it isn't bad enough for lasik?
20/20 uncorrected is not a pre-requisite to medical qualification. Many cadets I know have significantly worse than 20/20 eyes and are still pilot qualified, as long as they can be corrected with glasses or be eligible for LASIK/PRK. I will say that he will probably not be eligible for PRK/LASIK as his eyes aren't "bad enough" yet but he may be eligible to get it down the road if his eyes continue to decline.
 
How tough are medical waivers, if anyone knows? I know it depends on the situation but do waivers generally take many medical appointments or can they just be given based on the evidence? I know I’ll need a waiver for pilot training since I needed one for admission.
 
How tough are medical waivers, if anyone knows? I know it depends on the situation but do waivers generally take many medical appointments or can they just be given based on the evidence? I know I’ll need a waiver for pilot training since I needed one for admission.
It depends on what it is.
My eyesight one was very easy, as a cadet. That said, there were zero complicating issues...just bad uncorrected vision that corrected to 20/20 or better.
Others are not so simple.
 
Slightly different take on this story - I went to USAFA confident that I wanted to fly, but when I realized all the other opportunities available and what being a pilot actually entailed (I followed some F-16 pilots around when I went to Aviano AB for ops after my sophomore year), decided I'd be happier not flying and didn't put in for any rated positions.

I absolutely love my job as a 61D (scientist - physicist) but I didn't even know that was a job when I went to USAFA. The point is that I went in to USAFA with an open mind and found a much better path for myself than what the 17/18 year old version of me thought.
Could I ask you what you learned about what being a pilot actually entailed? Sounds like what you learned has turned you off of your initial desire to fly. I am curious because my DS wants to fly but he does not know much about the real world experience of it. Thank you for your input!
 
Could I ask you what you learned about what being a pilot actually entailed? Sounds like what you learned has turned you off of your initial desire to fly. I am curious because my DS wants to fly but he does not know much about the real world experience of it. Thank you for your input!
It was a lot of things put together - and much I suspect has changed

1. I learned that "physicist" was a real career field - I had no idea I could lead scientific research while I was in the AF going in, so that was attractive in itself and became a strong competitor from the time I discovered the career field
2. The culture of AFSOC (special ops) and fighter squadrons was just not one I felt compatible with. It was a combination of things, but primarily the constant derogatory/not at all humorous remarks towards women that I saw and experienced in just a few short weeks in a fighter squadron turned me away from the career field.
3. For fighters - much of their time was spent on "queep" - the miscellaneous paperwork and admin garbage- with only a small fraction of time spent flying. For some, that fraction made it worth it, but for me, not so much.
4. The constant travel/ops tempo for heavies was not something I really wanted.
 
It was a lot of things put together - and much I suspect has changed

1. I learned that "physicist" was a real career field - I had no idea I could lead scientific research while I was in the AF going in, so that was attractive in itself and became a strong competitor from the time I discovered the career field
2. The culture of AFSOC (special ops) and fighter squadrons was just not one I felt compatible with. It was a combination of things, but primarily the constant derogatory/not at all humorous remarks towards women that I saw and experienced in just a few short weeks in a fighter squadron turned me away from the career field.
3. For fighters - much of their time was spent on "queep" - the miscellaneous paperwork and admin garbage- with only a small fraction of time spent flying. For some, that fraction made it worth it, but for me, not so much.
4. The constant travel/ops tempo for heavies was not something I really wanted.
That's actually super interesting to hear about, especially with the first and second points. Neither of which I never really heard about before
 
Not a pilot but a father of a pilot. The pilot community does have its own culture and even within the community, there is a difference between the fighter pilots and the transport planes. I wouldn't call it a fraterntiy/bros culture but it isn't that far from it. They do love to rag on the Wizo and CSO and they do like to party. One of my close friends from college was in the Navy and while offered a fighter, he went with another plane because he didn't like the Fighter mentality. So it isn't for everybody. The truth is at least in the Air Force, pilots are the Princes of the AF and are treated as such. A lot if put on their shoulders but they also get the rewards when they arent flying. Its hard to talk what the typical pilot experience is because each plane has its own community with its own lifestyle.
 
DS is concerned about this now at USAFA. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other, has astigmatism. I thought as long as your vision was correctable with glasses you could be pilot but he has heard that he may not qualify with sight just off 20/20 but it isn't bad enough for lasik?
He needs to talk to the Aeromedical Examiner or the Optometrist at USAFA. 20/25 in one eye shouldn't be an issue, but he should ask them for an opinion rather than speculate and spend so much time worried about it.
 
Could I ask you what you learned about what being a pilot actually entailed? Sounds like what you learned has turned you off of your initial desire to fly. I am curious because my DS wants to fly but he does not know much about the real world experience of it. Thank you for your input!
There are a lot of pros/cons and a lot of variety in the flying world. Fighter pilots do a lot of 12hr days for 1.5hr flights. Some heavy pilots are gone from home a majority of the year. Nobody knows what helicopter pilots do or how those things work 😉. "Big AF" demands good administrative and managerial skills while simply expecting pilots to be good pilots (many pilots think this is an imbalanced expectation, as being an expert aviator requires a lot of time and energy, but it's not what gets measured/promoted).
 
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