Rated slots out today!

I've been out of training and sitting on my @$$ for about 8 months now. Might be well into next year before anything happens one way or another for me.
Sorry to hear that you are having medical issues. Good luck with the process!
 
Not counting Sheppard, pros and cons of being assigned to the other 3 UPT locations??

Our son really liked Laughlin. Despite the remoteness, there is really a considerable amount to do outdoors in the area. Lake Amistad is great for fishing and boating. The Air Force runs a marina about 25 minutes from the base on the South shore of the lake where they can rent ski boats, fishing boats, pontoon boats and jet-skis. There is also a camping area there. If you are a hunter there is plenty of opportunity for deer, turkey, and boar hunting. Laughlin also has the most days of good flying weather so there is less chance of the class getting backed up due to weather. On a long weekend they can make the 3 hour trip to San Antonio for some night life. The cons of Laughlin is indeed the remoteness. There is no high end shopping. There is a Wal-Mart and an HEB. There are some nice leather shops for a pair of boots or a hat if you want. One small winery offers tours that take about 10 minutes and then free tasting.

Things I've heard about Vance: Only 1.5 hours to Oklahoma City for night life. Still fairly remote and boring. Tornados.

Things I've heard about Columbus: More rainy/no fly days than the other two. There is actually green foliage around. Mississippi Women's College is in Columbus.

Cadets put in their list for base choices and they are assigned based on trying to give the most people their first or second choice. Because they need to balance the load at all the bases it doesn't always work out.


Regarding ENJJPT - Son applied and was not chosen. He had a 3.5 GPA, solo and great grades in each of his flight programs, and a real good stick as they call it, but if you weren't in the good graces of the flight commanders you didn't get in. Being mentored by one of the IPs was a great help. From what I remember, AFA had 35-50 slots each year for ENJJPT. I think PIMAs numbers were high a bit above because ENJJPT only puts 8 classes a year through rather than the 15 at the other bases. Also, more than half of each class are Internationals, so there are actually a lot less than 200 slots for US pilots.

Stealth_81
 
Since I am a mom to both Vance and Laughlin grads, I can speak some to how my kids felt about both bases.

The one at Vance (married, so maybe a different experience than single folk living in the "dorm") loved Oklahoma, and even said he wouldn't mind being stationed there again. (Again, he was a newly wed so everything was rosy for him). There were good, life-long friends made there, and they enjoyed OKC, Tulsa, and going to Dallas for different sporting events on weekends when free. All-in-all, very positive experience.

My Laughlin son lived "behind the Berlin wall" down there, with USAFA friend, and loved the recreational experiences. His good friend had a boat, and they fished Lake Amistad dry! (kidding!) He's also a marathoner and appreciated the warm dry weather, though not the HOT DRY weather. It was VERY HOT on the flight line. The CO at the base was really a great guy, and like at Vance, there was great companionship among the other UPT students.
He enjoyed mountaineering, hiking, and many weekend jaunts to visit the fiancee, also stationed in TX. I think there were several trips to San Antonio (approx 3 hrs away) - and the nearest big airport. He made some very good friends in the church there, which may be an option for some.

I think both of those bases can be great places to make great friends, and especially for young marrieds, there are many social events (parties, dinners, ballgames, etc). For unattached singles, they have to work harder to find their clique/homies/buds... and one may find that s/he has to stretch him/herself a little bit (or a lot) to find a social group.

For visiting family, Vance certainly has Del Rio beat; easy access via OKC and (after an hour drive) good interstate availability. DelRio... not so much.
 
Our DS did not love nor hate Del Rio' he looked at the assignment like how he was raised as an AF Brat....it is what you make it. If you enter as someone that buys a "short" calendar to mark off the days until you get out of there than that is going to be a painful year's. If you enter and say there will be fun times ahead than you will enjoy life.

AHS when you get your rated slot they will than give you an FAA flight class 1 physical, this is different than the DoDMERB exam. If a waiver is needed you will retain that pilot selection, but will not set up up for the UPT pipeline class until the issue is settled one way or another.
~ Hornet has been in the waiver review process for about 9 months now. His is more of a unique situation, but I know of two posters that it took about 4-6 months to get through the waiver system for their FC1. Both eventually were denied and reclassified to a non-rated AFSC.
 
Both eventually were denied and reclassified to a non-rated AFSC.

I thought with all the cuts and stuff that they weren't reclassified to a non-rated AFSC and were discharged. Or am I thinking if you're in the pipe and you "wash out" then it's a discharge.

Or is it just one of those things that it's case by case no matter if it's med or failure to pass?
 
There is a difference that you need to understand.

The FC1 is an FAA flight physical that all pilots need to pass. It has a higher standard required than the DoDMERB exam for commissioning. AFA cadets will take their exam at the AFA. AFROTC cadets will be sent to WPAFB as rising AS400s. It is a 3 day TDY where everything from EKGs to Dental exams are performed. The last day they will meet with a flight doc. At that time they basically are given a verbal yeah I see no problems or the there are some issues.

That is why if that exam comes back in a negative manner, the cadet can still commission IF they passed the portion of the DoDMERB regs.
~Every year flowers will take their annual physical and it rotates each year. One year will be what is called a short physical, @45 minutes. The next year it is the long physical which is a couple of hours, blood work, hearing, etc. By my limited knowledge I have always been told that the long is the required FAA exam.
~~ Believe it or not we know a guy in the Strikes that went for the long, shortly after being selected for Major and the detected a heart issue. He was placed on DNIF. Sent him to Brooks from Alaska. Months later the waiver was denied from an FAA standard perspective. He decided not to accept his O4 selection and leave the AF. Off the top of my cranium, over the course of Bullets career I can't recall one base where a flier didn't lose his medical clearance and placed on a desk.

I don't know of any cadets that were released, but I am sure somebody does know someone.

As for washing out of UPT, that is always unpredictable. Two of DSs close friends washed out at different times. One early on....really early....IFS the other after tracking at UPT. Both of them were offered offered non-rated career fields. I do believe that a couple of students that washed out in his UPT class were given their walking papers. Hence it can roll either way.
 
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AHS when you get your rated slot they will than give you an FAA flight class 1 physical, this is different than the DoDMERB exam..
I believe the process is different at USAFA. You have your FAA flight class 1 physical before you meet the rated AFSC board.
 
That would make sense to me....hence why I stated for AFROTC this is the process, but no matter what all will need an FC1 I knew that the AFA did theirs at the AFA. Since for the AFA the adage if you want to be a pilot you will get it is common, it would make sense to do it prior. They are not paying for a TDY to WPAFB.
~ In this day of budget crunching if they had to send them to WPAFB, I would think they would wait like AFROTC. AFROTC to my knowledge gives the approximately same amount as AFA, but their pool is much larger. It is cost prohibitive to send them prior.

Whereas for AFROTC there has never been that assumption, and now with their new EA/SFT selection where cadets must declare by the winter of their sopho,ore year the % of rated select will probably drop from the traditional 90%+ marker....than again they had only a 53% selection rate for EA, so the pool maybe smaller and the rate may still be at the same rare.

Another reason why the AFA is a great path if.... Fill it in
 
Prior to IFS, I was required to go get a FAA Class III medical certificate. This was a less than thorough exam that involved me going to see a doctor in Enid that was mainly checking if I still had a pulse. So for what it's worth (not much at all since I could very well be wrong), I think the in depth medical exams done at USAFA are more of a military exam rather than an FAA physical.

For the flying, Vance is not a bad place to be. Weather is generally favorable, and Vance has done a good job in recent history graduating classes on time. For pretty much everything else, Enid leaves much to be desired, but I'll hold short on my criticisms I could be at Laughlin!

For those that don't make it through IFS/UPT, it has been several years since I have heard of anyone not being retained in the AF. Those I know personally (2013 year group) who have washed out in the last year have been sent to space, missiles, finance, airfield operations, and even intel. But Pima is 100 percent right that retention and reclassification is unpredictable and there is no guarantee that what is happening now will be the reality a year (or whenever) from now.
 
In the last year, the only people who have separated at Laughlin requested it. I don't know of anyone forced to separate since I've been here. Many people have self-eliminated and were allowed to re-class into their requested career fields. The July re-class board was particularly brutal - almost everyone went to missiles. They sent too many to missiles in the last couple months so the August board this week had no missiles and most people got their top choices (space, cyber, intel, CSO, etc.).

Things change very often, obviously, so ask again next year and it could be completely different.
 
OMG. Shocker they were sent to missiles! :wink: :eek::shake:

For those candidates Hornet brings up a very important point. We all get you want to fly and believe you will, but statistically 25% will not wing and Big Blue owns you. You may REQUEST to go Intel or Cyber, but they can turn and say to you can you spell Minot?

It will always be service before self, so make sure you can spell Minot.

Hornet is also correct it changes every year, not only regarding career fields, but also manpower on whether or not the review board keeps you.

Debbie Downer for a 2nd, but when the AF is on lean times or if your year group is over manned they may hand you walking papers.

Back in the stone age when Bullet went through FTU for the 111 his crewmate was FEBd (Flight Eval. Board). He was an AFA grad. They released him. Bullet in 08 was also President of an FEB at SJAFB for a pilot in FTU. He was prior enlisted and they released him too.
~ Just saying sometimes it is more about timing and your year group. Something you have no control over.

Go forward with all of your dreams and goals, but make sure at every minute you start this path that you can say if my plan A fails, I have plan B in place and if the AF disagrees than I have plan C ready to roll!
~ not taking AFA or ROTC. I am taking about ADAF until you are 27.
 
PIMA, you cracked me up.

M I N O T.... it's a lovely place. For about 100 hours, per year. (Actually I love North Dakota, but for a nice kid from New York City, or Hawaii, it may be a bit on the OMG side of life.
 
As the saying goes: Why Not Minot? at the least...you can work on your Masters degree or two..:shake:
 
I am from Jersey and I am not sure i can spell Minot...if you have never been to Jersey well than let me say...phonetics does not work with us...Water is waHtA, parkway is paWkway....suasage is saWsage!....coffee is CawFEE!...diner is dinaar!
~ We take the pawkway to visit Dina at the dinar where we drink cawfee and eat fries with brown gravy! We will stop at WaWa to get a Boddle of wahtsa on our way to thwirty thwee's street.
~ if you need us to bring choclate from home, cawl and we will look in our draw to see if we have any....notice I said chocolate, not chocolate!

Also, I am not sure we could make it there...NJ is one of only two states where it is illegal to pump gasoline!

Now if Bullet was assigned there I would think that there are amazing sunsets, low cost of living and camping would be amazing!
~ Yes, this Jersey girl camps...it is basically what every one does in Alaska during the summer! I have requirements..camping means a camper not a tentl

You all laugh but for the first decade I was married to Bullet my AF GFs would say Pima what do you call where you pull it your silverware. Pima what do you call what you get out of a faucet! Don't even get me started how long I waited for someone to pump my gas or my complete utter shock when you couldn't use an exit as your identication form of where you live. Ask someone from NJ they don't say a town first they say an exit. After the exit you say North, Central or South. Last is the town I am 8A. Bullet would say he was from 9...and guess what? 9 is not a mile away from8 it is @10 miles...that was à shocker too...you mean exits are mile markers?

Just putting it out there so posters are not offended. Jersey is slammed too
 
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Oh ya! What exit?

Pima your post are wonderful and right on the money

Minot, Sinot, Willnot, Ifnot .... Look at the AFB's and equipment compared to all the other services. Most of what the Marines get are what is disposed by the AF. The AF has more "waterfront" on it's bases than the Navy. Living conditions are outstanding to fantastic.
 
Oh ya! What exit?

Pima your post are wonderful and right on the money

Minot, Sinot, Willnot, Ifnot .... Look at the AFB's and equipment compared to all the other services. Most of what the Marines get are what is disposed by the AF. The AF has more "waterfront" on it's bases than the Navy. Living conditions are outstanding to fantastic.

The AF is getting hand-me-down helicopters from the Marines...
 
I'm not sure where they are now. If they are UH-1Ns, probably.
 
OMG. Shocker they were sent to missiles! :wink: :eek::shake:

For those candidates Hornet brings up a very important point. We all get you want to fly and believe you will, but statistically 25% will not wing and Big Blue owns you. You may REQUEST to go Intel or Cyber, but they can turn and say to you can you spell Minot?

It will always be service before self, so make sure you can spell Minot.

Hornet is also correct it changes every year, not only regarding career fields, but also manpower on whether or not the review board keeps you.

Debbie Downer for a 2nd, but when the AF is on lean times or if your year group is over manned they may hand you walking papers.

Back in the stone age when Bullet went through FTU for the 111 his crewmate was FEBd (Flight Eval. Board). He was an AFA grad. They released him. Bullet in 08 was also President of an FEB at SJAFB for a pilot in FTU. He was prior enlisted and they released him too.
~ Just saying sometimes it is more about timing and your year group. Something you have no control over.

Go forward with all of your dreams and goals, but make sure at every minute you start this path that you can say if my plan A fails, I have plan B in place and if the AF disagrees than I have plan C ready to roll!
~ not taking AFA or ROTC. I am taking about ADAF until you are 27.

25% failure rate? That's a little concerning to me and to probably all the other happy 2015 parents who's kids just got pilot slots.
 
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