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I wouldnt want to take someones spot(if i got one) if all i want to do in the long run is be a pilot in civilian.
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I know everyone probably wants to kill me now as I'm probably repeating a lot of the same that everyone has said... I'm glad you didn't take my last post as a blast against you.
There's nothing wrong with taking someone else's pilot slot if that's what you want. If you want it then it's YOUR pilot slot, not theirs.
Just make sure that when you make your decision, that you make it with the best information available to you and that you understand and accept the risks, benefits, consequences of that decision. As long as you get that info, by asking questions, doing research - researching the civilian route and the military route, then you're making the best informed decision for you...
Sometimes you won't have the time to gather the info to make a decision, but that's not the case here... You've got the rest of high school, well at least until your junior year to decide.
Get those grades up. If you want to go to the academies, you can't really apply for an appointment now as a freshman, but you can find out who you need to go to for an appointment, start with your US Representative and your two Senators. If you have any other connections, don't be afraid to use them to get an appointment.
If you want to do ROTC, get those grades up, start applying for the ROTC scholarships the fall semester of your senior year. The application process closes out Dec of your senior year. I've seen too many high school seniors come in Mar/Apr/May of their senior year looking for ROTC scholarships... they've all been given out by then. For now, start investigating which colleges you want to attend. There are Air Force and Naval ROTC units all over the country.
If you're not in shape, get in shape. Don't have to be a stud, just be physically fit. And know how to swim if you're going Navy or Marine Corps enough so that you can drag someone across the pool both you and them clothed ... As an aviator in the naval service, you'll need to swim with all your flight gear and helmet anyway (I thought Navy PT would be easy, because I mean like they're the Navy... I was never more wrong ... it's run by the Marines. So before the end of the first week of my freshman year in college, I had three strikes against me finishing Navy ROTC successfully... and I was ready to quit ... I was clueless, I couldn't PT, and I didn't know how to swim... the PT and swim got forcefully remediated in the next few weeks.)
About academics, if you go Navy - Academy or ROTC, you need 2 semesters of Calculus, 2 semesters of Calc-based Physics (not the watered down physics) and a foreign language, so at the minimum, at least get familiar with calc and physics in high school if you can. It will help in the long run.
Be flexible with your decisions, but not waffly or wishy-washy, but be prepared to change the decision if new info or circumstances come up that warrants changing your decision.
Don't be worried about things being hard, things that are worth having are hard. Do you have the preserverance and character to succeed when things get tough? Persist, work through it. It helps in civilian or military life.
Although I make it sound as though officers in the military are dedicated, hard-working and always take care of our people, we aren't and don't. Officers are people too, and the military has our share of idiot officers, just like every cross section of life. But unfortunately it's the sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines that have to live with the fallout of a bad officer.
These are just my opinions and my views, I have one just like every one has one.
Stay clean, but don't forget to enjoy high school and teenage-life while you're at it.
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