Someone knows more info about SANDS program requirements?

G

g041rf0rc3

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I'm thinking build a great career in the USAF as an officer.

I know there's many opportunities (darpa scfp, nasa, tps,afit, weapons school, alfa tour alo,thunderbirds, other demo teams, ip, staff jobs like whfp ,ras program,au schools (sos/bde/o-3, acsc/ide/o-4, awc/sde/o-5, saass )just to name a few).
The only job I don't want is RPA pilot

Yeah it's hard, very hard I know...

SANDS (School for Advanced Nulear Deterrence Studies) is the newest school of the AF.

They looking for the best guys/girls...

Just to know in advance while I'm still young..

1)Only AFGSC members are selected?

2)As a pilot (obviously, I don't know my future airframe, therefore I want become a 11fx /fighter pilot), if I would be subortinate to the ACC, so won't I be seletcted or ,at least, be in their board selection list?

NOTE:
They will accept bomber weapons system officers, missileers and security forces officers.

Thanks
 
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Okay, you are obviously super excited to be a part of the world's best Air Force and I think that is awesome!

But, you are starting to put the cart in front of the horse. By the time you graduate the Academy, such programs might not even exist anymore and if they do there is no doubt that their policies will change. You are asking very niche questions which this forum is not purposed for.

Focus on the short term goals. Get that nomination, get accepted to the Academy. Kick butt during BCT. Once you get in you will have an abundance of primary resources to draw information from regarding your future AF career. I wish you good luck.
 
SANDS is a masters program for 0-4 level officers and above from Global Strike Command. It is brand new this year so I doubt that anyone would have information about it other than what you've read online.

I really don't know what you would need to know about it. From what I can gather, you are not even in college, yet. You've got 14 years or more before you would even be in the vicinity of needing to know about this.

Stealth_81

* Cross-posted with AFrpaso.
 
g041, please, finish high school, get a nom, an appointment, and see if you can make it through Chem 215 before you start making your graduate school plans.

Guess what!?! You may even decide you'd rather have a 5 year career in Acquisitions than be a fighter jock. You may decide to be a doctor, a nurse, an air traffic controller...

And here's the biggest "What If" question of all (one you brought up): what if you are offered ONLY RPA PILOT? ONLY.
 
I know it sounds like we are coming down hard on you, but I think you need to realize there is a difference between dreams/goals and reality.

Here is the true reality here from a very old time poster. I believe out of every poster that came through here (USAFA) entering as a candidate (or a parent of a candidate) wanting a fighter, I can only count on my right hand how many got a fighter.
~ Granted many do leave this site, but still the odds are more likely you will go heavy than fighter from a stat perspective.

The RPA comment made me chuckle. Guess you missed the new UPT drops. They are back to dropping out of RPAs out of UPT. 2 per class for the next year.
~ USAFA class of 14 and 15 did not think that when they got the golden ticket to UPT that they would now have RPAs dropping again!

You can do it, but you are looking at letter T, and right now you are at letter A. B comes with the nom. C comes with the 3 Q and D comes with the BFE!

We are not joking when we say this is a marathon. My best wishes and thoughts. Push forward and watch out for the speed bumps!
 
PIMA is right. From our perspective, you've got your cart very far before your horse.

Dreams are great, yes, but never shut the door to any career if you are looking at the SAs. Why? Simply this: The needs of the Air Force, or the Army, Navy, CG, MMA, will ALWAYS come before your desire NOT to fly a drone. If you cannot accept that possibility, perhaps you need to look a little further into this topic.

You say that can't happen? Dear friend of sons graduated in top 5 (THE TOP 5, NOT 5%) in his class in a pure science, distinguished grad all around (military, athletically, academically). His first slot on his dream sheet was "pilot." Well, he's been to grad school, has a PhD now, and is still not slotted for IFS, has no pilot slot either. So, dream, yes, lock yourself in stone, not recommended.
 
OP, its great you are exploring and learning. Don't lose that enthusiasm. The other folks on here are right, there are so many ifs, whens, qualifications, exceptions, etc that will happen between now and O-4. That is somewhere around 12-15 years away from now. Schools change, requirements change, the service changes. Focus on the near term, day dream about the future, learn as a much as possible. But, none of us can predict what a brand new school will look like in 15 years (or any school for that matter). As the world changes, so do these schools. Also, be prepared to be any type of pilot or other job in the Air Force. Your wants do not out weigh their needs. Its just reality. There are tons of things you can do to try and ensure you don't get RPAs, but again how the world and that pipeline will look 6-8 years from now is an unknown. Also what job is best for your career does not always equal what you want to do, what is best for your family, what makes you happy. At 17 you won't (and shouldn't) grasp what all that means when balancing a career, family and wants vs. needs. As my friends progressed in their careers some passed on the "best jobs for their career" in order to put their family first or to go to a duty station closer to family, or because they picked a job that was more interesting but could hurt their careers. Keep daydreaming and learning.... but none of use can predict the future of that school or others.
 
Both my sons CHOSE heavies because both wanted to marry (one did during UPT, not recommended! ), and chose the life that airframe brings over any other. One flies a C5, the other, with PIMAs son, the C130. Both LOVE LOVE LOVE their job and are leading extraordinary lives, filled with duty, yes, but commitment, and learning.
 
And both of my sons, and probably PIMAs too, will tell you that UPT was the most difficult FIVE YEARS of their lives. OK, it's not five years, but son, it will FEEL like five years, and it may feel like you are living in the middle of the 20th century if you get DelRio.
 
Things change over time. The best advice I can give is to set goals, work toward them, and keep your options open.
It is good to develop long term goals. The next step is to find out the prerequisites to achieve them. Then, work on the things you can influence.

I'll use becoming a test pilot as an example. To be a test pilot, you need to graduate TPS. To get into TPS, you need to be an experienced aviator and have an engineering/hard sciences degree (among other things). So, how do you get a pilot slot? Do well in your commissioning program and be medically qualified. You would already know you need an engineering/science degree, so you would want a college that offers those. Let's say you pick USAFA for that, since it has good engineering programs and commissions a lot of people that go to UPT. Now, you need to get into USAFA. That is your first sub-goal. You'll need to submit a strong application. Assuming you get appointed, you need to do well at USAFA. You can help your academic and athletic preparation now...

So, for a high school student aspiring to be a test pilot, they can work on preparing themselves academically and athletically, and put together a solid application.
 
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