USAF Pilot Selection Process

[matt.lee.33]

Hello all,

I am currently a college senior looking to become a pilot in the USAF after graduation. I am pretty far along in the application process but was wondering if someone could help answer some questions about what is going to happen next. Also if anyone has recently been through this process of going from college to OTS to flight school it would be really helpful if you could share how it all worked for you.

My biggest question right now is timeline and how everything will line up. Right now I have my board in May and should get the results from that in early June. From there am I sent straight to OTS or is there a grace period? After that when will you be sent to flight school and when will you know what base you will be going too? Upon completion of flight school what happens next?

Another question of mine is one that everyone asks which are what are my chances of getting a pilot slot? I did well on my AFOQT and alright on my TBAS (with 0 flight hours), I have a good GPA, and am an active leader. My biggest concern is how much weight is put on the fact that I have no previous flight experience? I feel like this is a big factor in the selection process but my recruiter told me not to worry about it so I was wondering if someone else could weight in.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Stealth_81]

I think you’ll need to get some flight hours to be competitive. Remember, the pilot shortage is due to people leaving not a lack of new candidates.

I would suggest you go over to BaseOps.net and read their forums. Especially read every thread in the “Road to Wings” section. All of the questions that you’ve asked are answered there and the information is very up to date.

Anytime I refer someone over to that site I give them this advice: Read everything on the forums and then read it again before you even register as a user. It’s a bunch of AF pilots running it and they expect you to do your homework before starting to post. Good luck!

Stealth_81