Son is rising freshman in college majoring in International Business and German. Was going to follow his big sister to the USAFA to be a pilot but wanted to wrestle for his club coach who just got the head coaching job at a college here in NC. He got a pretty good wrestling scholarship. We spoke to the AFROTC commander who advised that the collegiate wrestling commitment with a full class load would not give him enough time for AFROTC. He recommended that we apply to OTS after his junior year. Just wondering is this sound advice if his goal is to be an Air Force pilot?
OTS Pilot Route
- Thread starter jeffinNC
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Bigrod
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Not bad advice but getting one of those minimal slots is going to be extremely difficult. If he really wanted pilot USAFA was the way to go but he clearly chose a different route because of wrestling (which is fine) but he will just have to play the hand he’s dealt when the time comes.
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That’s about the only path left, unless he chooses to give up wrestlng/scholarship, joins the AFROTC program and tries that route. Ditto applying to USAFA as a college applicant. If he loves that sport and is committed to that coach, then that is his chosen path, and he trades that for a bit more risk trying for pilot via OTS.
Now, there have been several threads here over the years about varsity athletes who do participate in a varsity sport and somehow succeed in ROTC as well. I think much depends on the sport, the academic load, the ROTC program and the human factors of the load-bearing skills of the student and the willingness of the unit to work with him or her. Both his coach and the unit would want their full pound of flesh. He could try joining as a non-scholarship cadet, and his life would be essentially academics, practice, competition, ROTC course work and activities, and constant juggling. He could ask the coach if there are any ROTC athletes on the team, as someone he could talk to. Note the AFROTC commander did not say he couldn’t join, but that he would not have enough time, in his opinion.
The link below is an article with some interesting stats, including acceptance rate to OTS is <20%. If he does well academically, becomes a leader on his college team, starts talking to an OTS recruiter his junior year, stays healthy, has a flawless conduct record, he can probably put together a good competitive package.
Battle tested
Applicants overcome numerous barriers during their journey to OTS. It can take several years and multiple OTS boards before an individual is selected for the program. In class 24-07, one Officer
www.aetc.af.mil
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