military Pilots

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Getting is competitve but possible.If you have good test scores and a decent gpa you have a good chance.If you are able to select the C-5,your lifestyle would be awesome.

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Due to some C-5 going to the Boneyard and units switching, getting into the C-5 is getting increasingly difficult. My unit isn't hiring any new C-5 pilots, only taking qualified C-5 pilots. It isn't impossible though.

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Fred only flies into nice places and they are only gone for 3 or 4 days because they break.

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I don't consider Baghdad and Balad "nice" places, and a vast majority of our trips are longer than 3 or 4 days. Usually 2-3 weeks because of the war. During peacetime, they are usually a week.

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No living in tents and usually nice hotels.If you have more ?'s just ask.I know a lot of C-5's because its my favorite also.

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Usually we are in nice hotels, but we get the tents sometimes too. Overall, the C-5 is a great plane with 6 bunks.
 
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I've got a friend who flies the C-17 and hasn't said a syllable negative about the airframe.

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The C-17 is great when they use it for what it was designed for (intertheater airlift) unfortunatly, they like to try to do long haul with it and it either needs a tanker or the cargo load is greatly reduced.
 
ya i guess you have a point with the just being glad to get into the AF as a pilot that would be kick ass flying any aircraft i guess! as for college does the AF let you chose where you go or how does that work? as for my GPA i think its at a 2.6 or something in the 2 range
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guess i should concentrate on getting that up before i even start thinking of becomming a pilot in AF
 
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Third, getting a PPL will help somewhat in any of the above cases, but it's not a deal breaker. Plenty of people go to UPT without a PPL.

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Not anymore; in the post-Flight Screening Program era, if you don't have a PPL, the AF pays for you to go get one while on casual status. If you don't git 'er done within a certain timeframe, you don't go to UPT. (This according to a bud of mine currently in the T-6 phase at Moody who very nearly didn't git 'er done in said timeframe).

To be honest, I don't know how the Riddle/USAFA thing affects this.
 
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C-5s are doing better than they have been lately. The biggest cost for them during their life was the re-winging of the fleet, and the troublesome TF-39 engines thet had. Supposedly, C-5s might be getting re-engined with CF-6s,

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The C-5 is getting re-engined with the CF-6. There is already at least one that has been switched and it is going through testing. The C-5 is also going to a glass cockpit, which should make it even more reliable.
 
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ya i guess you have a point with the just being glad to get into the AF as a pilot that would be kick ass flying any aircraft i guess! as for college does the AF let you chose where you go or how does that work? as for my GPA i think its at a 2.6 or something in the 2 range
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guess i should concentrate on getting that up before i even start thinking of becomming a pilot in AF

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Theres a few ways to do it. There is the academy in Colorado Springs, Co. It is extremly competitive but if you get selected you get a completely free education, but like I said, it is extremely competitve. Your 2.whatever won't cut it. If you want even a chance to get into the academy aim for a 3.0+ do alot of extracurriculars and kiss some senator ass so he/she will give you an appointment. Then there is ROTC which has scholarship and non-scholarship. With ROTC you can chose from a huge number of schools which have ROTC detachments and if you get a scholarship you can save alot of $$$(I think the AF will pay up to $250,000 if you are on a 4yr scholarship.) Then there is OTS or Officer Training School.(All the other branches call it OCS or Officer Canidate School) OTS is basicly officer bootcamp and this is where everyone who didnt go to tbe academy or do ROTC go to get there commission. OTS dosent give any money for college. And remember in a few years when it comes time for you to decide which path to take, it dosent matter where you got your commission from, in the end everyone ends up in the same Air Force.
 
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it dosent matter where you got your commission from, in the end everyone ends up in the same Air Force.

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Supposed to be that way. Come promotion time in the higher grades, it seemingly becomes different Air Force's that the different commissioning sources join.....
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Viper, are you a loadmaster? If you are, how does the Air Force dictate what a/c you will work on after tech school?
 
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Viper, are you a loadmaster? If you are, how does the Air Force dictate what a/c you will work on after tech school?

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Yeah, I've been a C-5 loadmaster in the reserves for the last 5 years. Guard and reserves interview for the job, so they know what plane they're on. Active duty loadmasters get assigned a plane based on the needs Air Force and personal preference, just like when you get assigned a base.
 
k i did a little research to find my GPA and i guess im a 2.8. Now for the extracrucutar stuff, what stuff would that fall under? I am currently in a program at school called Mentor 1 you had to apply for it and out of 16 people only 9 got in i was one of them. I heard if you go to Civil Air Patrol that helps a lot on applications to colleges and so fourth, With all this said id like to hear all of your opions on this question, Would someone have a better chance of getting into the military as a pilot or going the civilian route(ill be just glad to fly any plane any where as long as i can fly!!!!!) An viper how much longer do you think the C-5 will be around?
 
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k i did a little research to find my GPA and i guess im a 2.8. Now for the extracrucutar stuff, what stuff would that fall under? I am currently in a program at school called Mentor 1 you had to apply for it and out of 16 people only 9 got in i was one of them. I heard if you go to Civil Air Patrol that helps a lot on applications to colleges and so fourth, With all this said id like to hear all of your opions on this question, Would someone have a better chance of getting into the military as a pilot or going the civilian route(ill be just glad to fly any plane any where as long as i can fly!!!!!) An viper how much longer do you think the C-5 will be around?

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Extracurriculars are things like school sports, clubs etc. That mentor one thing sounds like a start. CAP is also good if your into that kind of stuff. Plus some community service/volunteer time would look good also. A 2.8gpa isnt really to bad and since your only a freshman you have plenty of time to get it higher. And I really dont understand what you mean by civilian route thing so I cant help you there, lol.

Edit: Also heres some links you might want to check out:

United States Air Force Academy
Air Force ROTC
United States Naval Academy
Navy ROTC
 
Maybe its different for reserves.Here is an email I got recently from a Fred driver.And this is with the war going on.Hope it helps.

I got my C5 assignemnt to the west coast 2 years ago. It was my third choice after C-21 overseas and C-17 McChord. For the amount of bad press Freddy gets, it's actually a pretty good deal. For one you don't deploy. The infastructure required to keep Freddy flying and the fact that it has a huge range allows it to fly out of home station downrange and back in 2-3 days. No staying in tents, the per diem is great, and crews stay nice places (with the exception of Moron which sort of sucks). Also, Freddy tends to only break in non-crappy locations. The mission is neat and the fact that it only fits at a given amount of airports, it keeps you out of some god forsaken locations. The reason why you are probably not seeing that many Freddies in drops is because of the plans that are being arranged for the airplane. There are in the process of sending quite a few to the guard / reserve but those numbers are still being worked out. Also, at least in the West coast the two c5 squadrons are merging into 1 to make room for Barney (c-17) moving in next year. That means that the one squadron will be overmanned with c-5 pilots based on the number of Freddies they retain.
With the modifications coming down the line, including a new all glass cockpit, and new engines, Freddy will stay out of the bottom of people dream sheets. By the way... I was 5 out 13 in my class.
 
God willing that my medical paperwork comes back with the thumbs up for my waiver, I'll be flying the great C-5 Galaxy. Beautiful thing is, the C-5s are coming from Dover which is where I grew up ... so again, God willing, I will be flying the aircraft I grew up watching back home.

Tack on a wife, as well as a child on the way, could life get any better?
 
After being in E-3's(constant deployments to tens somewhere in the Middle East) I definetely wouldnt want C-17's Great A/C but that baby goes to the same • places I have already been. C-5 always seems to break at the nicest TDY locations. What a coincidence
 
Ok thanks for that letter
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and with my GPA at 2.8 and with my mentor program i guess i get a grade for mentor and that goes into my GPA which should make it good
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heres another question i thought of, If you want to be a pilot in the AF do you get a gairented slot or do you have to wait untill done with you 4 year college to see if you can get in? If you had to wait till after college to find out if you could become a pilot, you might have the chance of not being acceptede so how does that all work out?
 
I think that if you join USAFA and you pass the flight standards, you will begin flight training and in the 4th year at the academy you will get to bid based on your class standings. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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k, but how about if i just join a regular college then how would that go?

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Regular College with no ROTC is probably one of the toughest ways to get a pilot slot. You'd have to go to OTS which most of the time gets the fewest pilot slots. Acadamy and ROTC guys get first chances at the slots and OTS usually gets whats left over. If you went this route, just prior to or after graduatng college you would go see an Officer Recruiter, I belive the Air Force calls them OSO's. You basicly just tell him/her you want to be an officer. They will set you up to takes the AFOQT(Air Force Officer Qualification Test) This test is what they use to gauge on where you will be the best benefit to the Air Force. If your scores and college grades are good enough you send your package into the pilot selection board. And, basicly, if they like what they see off to OTS and UPT you go.
 
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