Military bro needs a little advice.

kbergren21

New Member
Right now I'm in a jacked up situation. I did all the hard work it took to earn a pilot slot through AFROTC and commissioned in 2006. So I attended to pilot training at Vance AFB in Feb 07 completed Phase I & II then went off to the T-1A all the way to Mission Fam. Got all the way through to having KC135 slot to Fairchild AFB. That never happened! Somehow my SQ CC got wind that I was diagnosed w/child autism back in 1986 and he flipped out over it. (Well he found out because my Flight Commander and I were having a conversation about his autistic brother and I casually mentioned it to him.)

Basically, I was put on DNIF for 2 1/2 months five flights prior to from graduating Phase III. I had to see a series a neuralogists/ [FONT=&quot]psychiatrist [/FONT] to prove that I was not AUTESTIC!!! Yeah, a whole $3000 dollars of AF money to prove something obvious! Anyways, I got back into training after the paper per the pychiatrist's orders. Flew two 88 flights and then had to pass an 89 flight. I hooked the 89 flight and subsequently waited around another three months until they could figure out what they should do with me. I was essentially told that the AF didn't have the funds to give me enough flights to get me up to speed so they would try to cross-commision me into another flight program for another service. (Why waste $1M into a flight training asset right???) That never amounted! Instead I got orders to Pope AFB for Civil Engineering. That being said Ive got 18 months left to serve. Ill be in CE school till December and seperate from the Air Force about a year after that.

I apologize for the long story. It helps explain the situation I'm in and the questions I have to ask from experiance military aviators. I was planning on applying for Army National Guard jobs once put on inactive reserve.Would another service even want me as an aviator for them? Whats the best way to go about this? Would they even consider my Phase I & II certificates to jump into a more advance stage of training for another branch? I do have plenty of good references from flight school. Right now Im serving in the Civil Air Patrol and working on my CFI to keep my proficiencies up. Anyone have any advice on what I should do? I want to give back to the military aviation knowledge and serve in the area that I was trained in.
 
"Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut".

Sorry to hear of your predicament.
 
Man, that really blows. Sorry dude. Why did you have to take an elimination (89) ride to get off DNIF???
 
That ranks right up there with telling a flight doc you have terrible allergies, and that you have a cough because you left your asthma inhaler at home.

That said, I'm sorry to hear Big Blue have you the reverse reach around. Best of luck.
 
I'm always surprised at how badly the Air Force can totally #### someone's life over.

You were not the first, and you won't be the last. Just have to get the message out there, especially to the 18 year old high school crowd.

Best of luck to you, and I sure as hell hope you don't hesitate to resign your commission.
 
I'll take a stab based on nothing more than my experience around USMC aviation for more years than I care to remember and what I ate for lunch.

My gut tells me you have an uphill battle at best. The situation you face is convincing another branch of service to invest money in an officer who did not complete pilot training in a sister service. That will be tough. I think someone with prior service outside of aviation would have an easier time since they don't have the black mark of incomplete training. Sometimes no experience is better than having almost passed.

However, I don't sit on selection boards, and you have nothing to loose by putting together the best package you can and submitting it to everyone who will listen. You might be able to convince someone to invest training in you. You should recognize that you're not an unknown quantity that's probably going to pass training; you're a known quantity who didn't complete training due to substandard performance. Your case should center on why you could pass training if you were given a second chance. Have references talk about your potential and what you’ve learned from the experience: how it will make you a better officer (most important) and a better pilot and the value you can bring to another service.

A thousand people could tell you "no" but all you need is one to tell you "yes" and you'll be successful. Don't give up!
 
Substandard performance? The kid was 5 flights away from graduating and he opened his mouth about a childhood ailment. Then he couldn't fly for 2 1/2 months and busted his next ride; where do you expect someone to be after that long without flying?

He was doing just fine and then said something he shouldn't have and the AF screwed him over for it. End of story.
 
Man, that really blows. Sorry dude. Why did you have to take an elimination (89) ride to get off DNIF???

It was real bad timing. The word got out to my Squadron Commander right after hooking the Navigation check for one item... Its was a hassle. Check pilot said I didn't communicate enough with the copilot. The 89 pilot who failed me said I communicated/coordinated too much that it interfered w/ the mission. Whatever the case arguing w/ IPs isn't allowed so I don't even know what I was kicked out for when I think about it!
 
Substandard performance? The kid was 5 flights away from graduating and he opened his mouth about a childhood ailment. Then he couldn't fly for 2 1/2 months and busted his next ride; where do you expect someone to be after that long without flying?

He was doing just fine and then said something he shouldn't have and the AF screwed him over for it. End of story.

I'm not making a judgment, just saying how the facts might appear from an outsider. If “hooked the 89 flight” means he failed a standardization check ride and was dropped from training because he wasn't up to speed (for whatever fair or unfair reason), then yes -- it is in his record as substandard performance. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

As I said, the way to proceed is to build a case that mitigates this by emphasizing all the strengths of your future potential. Another service could get a big gain from a small investment.
 
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