Congrats mhcasey!!!

Crockrocket94 said:
What was the process like?
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Man I got really lucky and was in the right place at the right time. I've been wanting to do this for 2 1/2 years but couldn't apply until graduation last May to most units. Then I was an idiot and didn't get my tests done before leaving for a 70 day bicycle trip to Anchorage, so I missed several boards including Active Duty when I got back. The Wing Commander at the 457th FW in Fort Worth helped me out a ton in getting some contacts where I got picked up, so after that it was just a frustrating waiting game sitting around trying to find work while waiting for the interview. Let me know if you've got any specific questions about the process.

BCTAv8r said:
Great job! Interested to hear your stats if you don't mind sharing.
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Man I had pretty good scores but I can tell you that most of these dudes really don't care. It's a good way to weed out some applications and it weighs pretty heavily on the AD apps, but guard/reserve guys really look for the whole person concept. I had way more questions in my interview about leadership experiences and "How do you feel about killing people?" than "Dude what did you think about those instrument interpretation questions on the AFOQT?"

99/98/97/87/99 Blew the verbal section...woops.
99 PCSM
~700 TT, CFI, CFII

BCTAv8r said:
Look into age waivers.
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:yeahthat: And do it quickly because if you're not prior enlisted it's going to be tough. The forums at Baseops.net have like 3,000 posts on this, so UTFSF.

ASpilot2be said:
Congrats:rawk:

So I take it you wont be coming up here next month then.
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Not too likely anymore. Assuming my physical is fine, definitely not. Although I won't go to OTS until March at the absolute earliest, so when things warm up out there I'd like to get my float rating.

BCTAv8r said:
Impressive! No prior service?
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Not prior, but I really doubt I would have gotten the position had I not made it clear that I:
  1. Had seriously considered AFROTC
  2. Had surrounded myself with prior and active servicemen, including my courses at school
  3. Planned to apply everywhere including active duty

Some units may be different, but these guys were not looking for a weekend warrior or some clown that thought pulling G's looked cool. This will be an ART position by the way - Full time for the foreseeable future.

scoobs said:
What unit?
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419th FW, 466th FS at Hill AFB

Hacker15e said:
Congrats.

Remember, it is a marathon and not a sprint. Many, many hurdles to bound on the way, so take the journey one hurdle at a time.
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I appreciate it, Hacker. I've never been this stoked before, but I've got a hell of a lot of hard work between now and the Viper. Wish me luck on my flight physical.

Thanks again to all, and do not hesitate to contact me with questions.
 
mhcasey said:
Not prior, but I really doubt I would have gotten the position had I not made it clear that I:
  1. Had seriously considered AFROTC
  2. Had surrounded myself with prior and active servicemen, including my courses at school
  3. Planned to apply everywhere including active duty
Some units may be different, but these guys were not looking for a weekend warrior or some clown that thought pulling G's looked cool. This will be an ART position by the way - Full time for the foreseeable future.
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The girl who got selected for C-130's was based in the AFR for about 8 yrs, but she was the only one out of 5 (I think) selected that had ANY prior experience. And you are correct in saying that Guard/Reserve units typically look at the person as a whole vs. test scores/ratings.
 
I can tell you right now that I doubt I would have gotten selected had I not had my 'range' of scores and my flight experience.

I flew myself to my interview. That may have helped :) But it truly is the whole person concept. One guy that was not selected had much better scores than mine (sans pilot and PCSM), and had twice my flight time and ratings up to CFII.

Every board is different. Some are laid back (IE - the head of the board is dipping), or they can be drilling you and make you sweat balls. Some are in the middle. Just really think before you answer. You can dig yourself a whole very quickly.

Which units are you looking at? So Niagara is the BRAC'd -135 unit that's now -130s? Heck, if I had to live in NY to fly -130s, I'd for sure fly for the skibirds. Awesome mission.
 
mhcasey said:
Man I got really lucky and was in the right place at the right time. I've been wanting to do this for 2 1/2 years but couldn't apply until graduation last May to most units. Then I was an idiot and didn't get my tests done before leaving for a 70 day bicycle trip to Anchorage, so I missed several boards including Active Duty when I got back. The Wing Commander at the 457th FW in Fort Worth helped me out a ton in getting some contacts where I got picked up, so after that it was just a frustrating waiting game sitting around trying to find work while waiting for the interview. Let me know if you've got any specific questions about the process.
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So don't wait till' graduation to start working on stuff? I'm about a year and a half away from graduation. When should I start?
 
Ahh I thought it was the DFW since thats where your profile says your from. Did you go to any drills? Congrats Utah is awesome.
 
Congrats, dude!

Wow, that's three of us who were selected in 2008 for AFRC and no prior service.

Good luck at FC1 and as Frog knows, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. (I'm currently waiting on a 100% certain on my OTS dates.)

Good luck and congrats again!!
 
BCTAv8r said:
So don't wait till' graduation to start working on stuff? I'm about a year and a half away from graduation. When should I start?
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Two thoughts:
  1. You should have started long ago by displaying leadership, doing well in school, getting some flight time, etc. You've got some time, so find some things to do that make you look like a bad@ss leader and cool guy to hang out with. When I went to the squadron Christmas party after the interview, most guys just wanted to hear about my bike ride to Alaska.
  2. I'd take the AFOQT/TBAS in the not too distant future. I scheduled mine at the local AFROTC. You can only take them twice, your most recent score counts, and you have to wait 6 months between retests. There are solid study books for the AFOQT. TBAS info is on wantscheck.com, but give me a shout before you take that one. I can't give you the details, but I can offer some tips on studying

scoobs said:
Ahh I thought it was the DFW since thats where your profile says your from. Did you go to any drills? Congrats Utah is awesome.
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The 457th FS in FW is having a hiring board in March. I would love to be a part of the Spads, but the Diamondbacks are sick too and it's money in the bank so I'm sticking with Utah.

I went to a drill at the 457th. The guys that ended up hiring me (466th) called over there to see what kind of dude I am.

I went in a day before the interview in Utah and hung out at the squadron bar that night. I didn't realize it, but I was sharing drinks and "war stories" so to speak with every single guy that interviewed me. For reasons I can't fully comprehend, not a single other interviewee did this (though most had visited or worked at Hill AFB at some point), and a few didn't even go to the Squadron Christmas Party.

Bottom line: Guard or Reserves want to see you outside the interview. Some units more than others, but regardless it put my mind at ease having met my interviewers and had some time to BS beforehand (and fortunately I didn't say anything stupid).
 
mhcasey said:
For reasons I can't fully comprehend, not a single other interviewee did this (though most had visited or worked at Hill AFB at some point), and a few didn't even go to the Squadron Christmas Party.
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Because a fair amount of people applying for ANG/Reserve jobs haven't figured out that you're really rushing a fraternity.

The fact of the matter is that military flying units spend the vast minority of their time together in the air. That means the majority of that time is spent on the ground.

So, it is vitally important that a unit hire someone that will fit into their group socially as well as all the other stuff.

The "informal interview" process is pretty standard in the fighter community...not sure about the rest of the AF, but I suspect it's the same.
 
You'll dig Utah, man. If you like the outdoors, this is a great place to be.

Oh and flying F-16's should be decent too :)
 
scoobs said:
The hardest part seems to be finding a day job on top of being a guard pilot.
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I'll be an Air Reserve Technician...it's a full time gig.

I'll be back out in January sometime and expect some of you SLC goons to actually respond to my meet and greet proposal this time!
 
mhcasey said:
I'll be an Air Reserve Technician...it's a full time gig.
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Is this a temp ART job or can you keep it as long as you want?

I'll probably be bumming at my unit after I'm off of orders. That involves sitting around being worthless until a trip or an odd job comes up - IE, entertaining UPT interviewees while they wait their turn. :)
 
Will that be after your training as well? I know full time gigs are hard to get for newbies. It porbably varies from unit to unit.
 
congrats! :)
I tried to get into warrant officer program, my age waiver got denied...
too old...:crazy: such a pitty...but best of luck to you man.
:nana2:
 
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