Hi
I was talking to my DS and for the first time he said he was not sure if he wanted to become and air force pilot. He said he was concerned with the extra commitment and then after 10 or 11 years being told it was time to leave. He said the thought of a air force career was attractive. The though of being 32 and told he was not needed to finish his 20 plus was not. He is very concerned that with the way things are progressing more and more officers will not be allowed to get to retirement if they want to stay in. He does not want to be 30+ looking for a new career. Does anyone know what percentages of officers looking to make 20+ are not allowed to?
Regards
John
*WARNING: I'm not USAF*
The threat of being forced out before you want to is very real (see: USMC "career designation" boards).
If your son goes to an Academy, does well, and serves for 10-11 years as an Air Force Officer and pilot...odds are he will do okay on the civilian side. I know of (anecdotally) MANY people who have done just fine on the other side of the fence coming off AD at 32+.
If he's doing well as a pilot and an officer, he probably doesn't need to worry too much about being forced out anyway. If he's not allowed to stay on active duty, he may be allowed to stay in the reserves or transition to the Air National Guard.
Also, if your son is worrying about a career and staying in after his initial pilot commitment as a candidate, he probably should bring his focus back in a little bit. At 17-18, the idea of essentially signing off the next ~15 years of your life is pretty scary and intimidating. I've been there and a lot of posters here have been as well.
But there's a lot that changes between 17 and 32. I can't speak on the back 10 years of that, but my perspective on a lot of things has changed after only four years at an Academy and less than one year on active duty. I can't imagine how much my priorities will have changed as a senior Captain/junior Major.
Your son may decide to not be a pilot, to not fly fighters, that he doesn't like the Air Force and doesn't want to stay in, that he wants to focus on his family...etc. The manning requirements might swing around and a whole other host of things out of his control may happen as well.
So, in short, this is stuff he doesn't really "need" to be worrying about right now. Trust me, I get it, but that's all so far off it's a little out of his wheelhouse.