8 year Civilian Pilot interested in Military Aviation

[hambone]

Hello to whoever reads this thread. As the title implies I am interested in becoming a pilot for the military and would like nothing but brutal honesty

I graduated from Florida Tech 3 years ago, and have been flying for a living since then (with breaks due to unemployment). I have a little over 1200 hours of time, however, my GPA from FIT was only a 2.92. I have a year Farmingdale State University in New York, and that one year was a 3.6, and therefore doing the average of the two (.75 x 2.92 + .25 x 3.6), we get roughly a 3.1. First question, is whatever branch I choose only going to care about the graduating GPA or will they factor is the one from Farm (FIT was considerable more difficult than Farm)? Should I really be that concerned about my less than stellar performance at FIT, or will my flight time and a hypothetically good score on the AFOQT propel me forward? This is a confidence thing for me, because I want to know before I put in the effort to putting a good package together if this is a really big thorn in my side.

Side note: I am 26. I have good recommendations including at least 1, possibly even 2 air force officers, and am also a member of CAP.

 

[hambone]

Ah, and one more thing. I got the following usmilitary.about.com:

"
To enter flight training, a candidate must pass a Flight Class I Flying Physical. To become a pilot, that means the candidates vision can be no worse than 20/70 (correctable with glasses to 20/20) in each eye. To enter Navigator Training, the candidate can have vision no worse than 20/200 in each eye (also must be correctable to 20/20)."


I have 20/100 uncorrected vision, and 20/20 corrected. Is there any wiggle room here, or is it good game me?

 

[Superfly7XAF]

I'm on my way to work so only skimmed your post. Saw you were 26 so time is of the essence, age limit is 29 I believe and the process of getting to UPT is long (a few years at least). Also, as far as vision, if you're outside of 20/70 you can apply for a wavier but don't get your hopes up. It's not the end of the road as corrective surgery is an option but there is also a 1 year wait after the surgery before you can complete your physical and get it approved. FWIW, I was 20/200 in both eyes, had surgery, waited and got selected so it's doable. If it's something you really want then I say give it a shot.

 

[drew09]

Look into the Marines, the Air Force is turning people down now just to become officers.

 

[DaveC]

Graduated from FIT in 2007, spent about 18 months in the Marines application process until I busted the anthropometric portion of the flight physical. Now I'm going for the Army WOFT program.


You can get PRK to fix your vision. I got it with great results (better than 20/15 in each eye).

 

[PGT]

Marine OCS Air slots are pretty much cut until May of next year.

Navy is your best bet, not sure on the age. Some dude with a 2.5 GPA just got picked up for a Navy flight slot, he did have some killer aviation test scores, but they look at the whole person concept.

 

[MikeD]

Some dude with a 2.5 GPA just got picked up for a Navy flight slot, he did have some killer aviation test scores, but they look at the whole person concept.

I had a 2.54 college GPA, and ended up flying the Stealth fighter.

So it's not impossible, at least not like they make it out to be in ROTC: "....3.8 minimum GPA to even be considered for flying," as I remember it.

 

[david2000]

I'm on my way to work so only skimmed your post. Saw you were 26 so time is of the essence, age limit is 29 I believe and the process of getting to UPT is long (a few years at least). Also, as far as vision, if you're outside of 20/70 you can apply for a wavier but don't get your hopes up. It's not the end of the road as corrective surgery is an option but there is also a 1 year wait after the surgery before you can complete your physical and get it approved. FWIW, I was 20/200 in both eyes, had surgery, waited and got selected so it's doable. If it's something you really want then I say give it a shot.

Where do you do the surgery at?, and do you have to be enrolled in the air force already for them to allow you to take the surgery? thnx

 

[germb747]

A low GPA at first isn't going to kill you so long as you're showing definite progress at making continuous improvement. A person's GPA as a senior would be much more important to me than a person's freshman GPA, because everyone knows there's growth and maturity that goes on during college. If you've been able to recognize that you weren't focusing enough on academics and make the necessary changes to do your best, that would be a good thing in my eyes.

Good grades show that you know how to prioritize while in school, but it's a small part of the overall picture--we're looking for well-rounded people who can succeed at being a leader in the military. People who are honest, always do their best, have a goal-oriented can-do attitude, the stamina to never give up, and have a drive to work hard and win whether in athletics or extracurricular activities. Another consideration, although subjective, is whether or not the people making the selection feel like they would enjoy working with and/or hanging out with you for an extended period of time.

 

[Superfly7XAF]

Where do you do the surgery at?, and do you have to be enrolled in the air force already for them to allow you to take the surgery? thnx

Got it done by a civilian doc and I was in no way affiliated with the USAF when it was done. I did check in with a recruiter first to make sure I was within pre-op limits to even qualify for the surgery and they gave me a nice post-op follow up guide Brooks likes to see.

Another consideration, although subjective, is whether or not the people making the selection feel like they would enjoy working with and/or hanging out with you for an extended period of time.

This is what I'd be more concerned about, whether I could work with and trust the person I was working with over the course of my career. I've met a lot of really intelligent people that look good on paper but aren't so smart and have no people skills (engineers in particular) that I'd be uncomfortable working with, esp. flying with. I think how well you fit in and can adapt with others is very important and often overlooked.

 

[PGT]

I had a 2.54 college GPA, and ended up flying the Stealth fighter.

So it's not impossible, at least not like they make it out to be in ROTC: "....3.8 minimum GPA to even be considered for flying," as I remember it.

Yea but you're MikeD, they saw the app and said "give him what he wants."

 

[///AMG]

A low GPA at first isn't going to kill you so long as you're showing definite progress at making continuous improvement. A person's GPA as a senior would be much more important to me than a person's freshman GPA, because everyone knows there's growth and maturity that goes on during college. If you've been able to recognize that you weren't focusing enough on academics and make the necessary changes to do your best, that would be a good thing in my eyes.

Good grades show that you know how to prioritize while in school, but it's a small part of the overall picture--we're looking for well-rounded people who can succeed at being a leader in the military. People who are honest, always do their best, have a goal-oriented can-do attitude, the stamina to never give up, and have a drive to work hard and win whether in athletics or extracurricular activities. Another consideration, although subjective, is whether or not the people making the selection feel like they would enjoy working with and/or hanging out with you for an extended period of time.

Great gouge. Also, not sure if this has been mentioned already, but don't put too much stock in your civilian flight experience. I don't know for sure if the AF cares about this on applications, but I know the USN/USMC could care less if you have 100 hrs, 10000 hrs, or 0 hours.....it won't help out your package at all.

 

[Blackhawk]

Man, it's a crap shoot. Apply to all the services including the Army. As someone pointed out look into corrective surgery.
A good example of how things change. In the 1980's the Navy was short pilots. I looked into going to Navy flight school, but my ROTC PMS would not give me a release. I looked into an interservice transfer to the Navy in 1991 as my Army commitment was coming up. No dice. They were overstrength and taking guys straight out of flight school and putting them on the street. Just a few years later the Army was over strength Aviation LTs and the Navy was very short pilots. Some Army pilots straight out of Army flight school who did not get transitions to modern aircraft were given the option of transferring to the Navy and going back to flight school.
Now the Army is short pilots again. It's all cycles and catching them right.

 

[MikeD]

Ah, and one more thing. I got the following usmilitary.about.com:

"
To enter flight training, a candidate must pass a Flight Class I Flying Physical. To become a pilot, that means the candidates vision can be no worse than 20/70 (correctable with glasses to 20/20) in each eye. To enter Navigator Training, the candidate can have vision no worse than 20/200 in each eye (also must be correctable to 20/20)."


I have 20/100 uncorrected vision, and 20/20 corrected. Is there any wiggle room here, or is it good game me?

No interest in USAF Navigator or USN/USMC Naval Flight Officer?

 

[PGT]

Great gouge. Also, not sure if this has been mentioned already, but don't put too much stock in your civilian flight experience. I don't know for sure if the AF cares about this on applications, but I know the USN/USMC could care less if you have 100 hrs, 10000 hrs, or 0 hours.....it won't help out your package at all.

Are you sure? I thought it was the opposite?

Seems like (on AW) that the guys with flight times and lower GPA were chosen over guys with no flight time/higher GPA.

 

[///AMG]

Are you sure? I thought it was the opposite?

Seems like (on AW) that the guys with flight times and lower GPA were chosen over guys with no flight time/higher GPA.

Positive. If you got that impression, then AW is not doing it's job. ASTB scores can certainly make up for poor GPA, as can being well rounded, and having an otherwise solid package. Flight time and prior civilian experience plays no factor in the selection process for USN/USMC types. It's just such a different type of flying than you do as a civilian.

 

[ian]

Are you sure? I thought it was the opposite?

Seems like (on AW) that the guys with flight times and lower GPA were chosen over guys with no flight time/higher GPA.

AF takes into account prior flight time

 

[///AMG]

AF takes into account prior flight time

Well there ya go. I will caveat what I said; I talked to a good friend of mine who did BDCP when he was in college, and he said that there indeed was a place on the app to list civilian flight experience, so maybe they care for those guys. NROTC/USNA/straight OCS, not so much

 

[ian]

Well there ya go. I will caveat what I said; I talked to a good friend of mine who did BDCP when he was in college, and he said that there indeed was a place on the app to list civilian flight experience, so maybe they care for those guys. NROTC/USNA/straight OCS, not so much

Yeah on the AF side flight time only accounts if you are trying to go to OTS....academy and ROTC it didn't matter

 

[Superfly7XAF]

Yeah on the AF side flight time only accounts if you are trying to go to OTS....academy and ROTC it didn't matter

I thought Academy grads and ROTC cadets had to take the TBAS and get a PCSM score just like everyone else that applies via OTS. Unless the rules are different, the flight hours should directly affect you're resulting PCSM score by a couple of points. Not true?