Talked to a UPS pilot this weekend

Aaron_Kearney

Aaron_Kearney

New Member
I get typically get the opportunity to fly as an airline passenger once...maybe twice per year, so I look forward to those flights a lot. Anyways, on Friday I flew Continental Express from SDF to CLE for my grandpa's birthday. I had some time to spare before boarding began so I ditched the fam and milled around the entire airport just looking around (like I said, I only step in an airport a few times a year). As I was watching some UPS heavies departing during the afternoon rush, I noticed an old UPS pilot sitting near an AA gate ... apparently waiting on a flight to Dallas.

I'm usually not one to approach an airline pilot out of nowhere because I assume that they're on duty and have something to do ... well, this one was just reading a landscaping magazine and was wearing boots instead of dress shoes (as it turned out, he owned a ranch in Texas). Despite the frown he had on his face while he was reading (probably just from old age) I approached him and asked him about his experiences flying. He originally started flying for the Army (which should give you an idea of how old he is - over 60) and went through the ROTC to get there.

The input I got from him was valuable to me, so when I got home I looked up the Air Force's policy on PRK surgery. From what I read, it sounded like, statistically, over 90% of those in the Air Force that go to Wilford Hall for PRK are able to fly. It also sounded like this waiver was pretty easy to attain.

When I told the pilot (well, he was a 747 FE and his name was Joe) that I had looked into the military academies for college, one thing he mentioned was having political clout. I'm sure a lot of appointments to military academies are purely academic, but I wouldn't doubt that some are influenced by this political clout. The question for me - a HS sophomore - is how to develop this clout when no one in my family (that I know of) has any political affiliations and when my immediate family is the first of the Kearney clan to live in Kentucky.

My grades are ok (somewhere between a 3.5 and 4.0), I'm predicted to get a 28-32 on the ACT and I took the ASVAB a few months ago (all percentile scores were between 95-100 except for a few on Auto and Shop and Electronics), and I play varsity soccer every year. I do some other things of course, but something tells me that this isn't going to cut it for the AFA.

One more thing. Should I choose to go the ROTC route, would I have to start out with one job in the Air Force (since my eyesight isn't pilot qual), then apply for a waiver to get PRK after I entered the Air Force or what?

Anyways, thanks for reading my rambling here and I'd appreciate any commentary.
 
Are you looking to fly for the military as a route to the airlines? Or are you looking into flying for the military because that's what you truly want to do, serve your country.
 
Well one way to gain some political clout would be to find out who your congressmen are and get intouch with their office. All congressmen that I know of, or at least all of my congressmen have email. Why would you know how old the ups pilot is because he flew in the army?
 
This won't really answer your question but I thought my experience could help you a bit?

I grew up in the military lifestyle and had full intentions of just moving back to Colorado once I graduated from highschool in North Carolina. I wanted to to go to the University of Colorado since I knew what a Buffalo was but was pretty much accepted into the AFA if I wanted it. Well I ended up getting into CU and getting a pretty nice grant from AFROTC so off to Boulder I went.

In my opinion, ROTC at a University is by far the way to go. This way you get to enjoy the best of both worlds and it keeps your options open. In talking with cadets at the AFA and other academies you miss out on alot of the college life. Also, if you decide that after 4 years of AFA you didn't really want to do 4, 8, or 10 years in the military, you don't have to if you go the University route. The commitment starts after your second year of ROTC and if you quit you owe nothing and if you continue they pay for tuition and all. At the AFA, I think the commitment starts the day you arrive and the only way to pay it back if you quit is through enlisted time.

And for people out there that say, "well, even though I am 18, I know I want to do the military thing as a career" I said that too and I was 20. I did two years of AFROTC and was totally ready to get a pilot slot and the full 9... Then the day came where they put the papers in front of me that basically would have locked me into doing another two years of ROTC followed by 10 years in the Air Force if I wanted to be a pilot and I couldn't sign it. And no, this was right before 9/11 so I wasn't trying to get out of anything either. I just decided at that point right there that I had given enough to the military and wanted to try a new lifestyle. The hard part was that if I would have signed up, my next week would have been spent at Luke AFB flying in an F-16. Sometimes I still wonder what I would have done if the pilot commitment was only 4 years instead of 10. I think I would probably be in the mideast right now if that were the case.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck applying at the AFA as options are always good to have but ROTC can be a great experience also that you should look into if you are interested in the military.
 
You could say that flying in the military was a childhood dream of mine that died the day I had glasses. This information on PRK, though, has me wondering if I can safely "resurrect" it. Would I serve my country if I couldn't fly? Sure...I've always had a pretty strong sense of patriotism. Would I go to a service academy and serve for 8 years knowing I wouldn't have the chance to fly? That, I'm not so sure about. Right now I'm just looking for information.

Thanks for the ROTC information, Tim.

Well, his flying for the Army isn't the only way I knew how old he was - he said he was over 60 and just waiting on a new contract to be finalized
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Plus the Army only (I believe) flew fixed-wing aircraft until the creation of the USAF sometime in the 50's.
 
"wearing boots"

We can wear boots if we want, on duty, as long as they're brown. I wear boots cause I don't like dress shoes. I don't got no ranch in Texas but you can see Idaho from my 10 acres in WA.

"Despite the frown he had on his face while he was reading (probably just from old age)"

HAHA...now that's funny. Old people just frown naturally. I love the way young people are so brutally honest. You just made my day, Aaron.

I remember meeting this kid once that would crack up every time he looked at me. I finally asked him what his problem was and he said I got hairs coming out my nose. I told him that just comes natural when you get a little older.
 
Old man, Don? Geez, you look about 20 in your "Perspectives" picture!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Old man, Don? Geez, you look about 20 in your "Perspectives" picture!

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I think Don looks like Darrin -

eikenberry.jpg


bowling.jpg
 
Isn't the commitment for non-rated officers only 4 years? It's 10 years for pilot, 6 for Navigator, and not sure about ABM, but your commitment starts after you earn your wings. So if you wash out of flight school, you still only have a 4-year commitment, because you are not rated.

The USAF was created in 1947, but the Army still flys fixed-wing aircraft. They mainly fly the high-brass around in biz jets.
 
Well I can't really comment on the ROTC stuff, but I do have some experience with the Service Academies (all of them).

I decided my junior year that I wanted to go to one of them. Junior year is way too late to decide you want to do that unless you already have top notch grades and play a varsity sport. I had the grades, but not the sports. I did swim at the Y and was also involved with martial arts, but they want to see team sports.

The Academies are very interested in seeing that you can balance your school work with extra-curriculars, and a sport. They want to see you in leadership activities as well. Being an Eagle Scout is a good thing, being on student council is good too, and if you can do both that's even better. Of course do this while playing a sport, and I would suggest a team sport, but any sport that is a varsity sport will help.

Getting the nomination from your congressman is a snap. In fact that's probably the easiest part. I had nominations from my Representitive within a week or two of applying. Most reps have instructions on how to apply for a nomination on their websites.

So, if I were to do it again this is what I would do...

All through High School (or ASAP):

- Play a varsity (i.e. school organized) sport.
- Get great grades.
- Get into leadership roles.
- Talk to every Academy rep that shows up at your school. Talk to any and all seniors who are going to an academy.

Junior year:

- Apply to my representitive for a nomination (I believe you can get this this early).
- Fill out an application to ALL academies (Air Force, Navy, Army, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine), because you can enter any branch of the military from any academy. So better to apply to all of them.

Your senior year will be filled with a lot of medical tests, fitness tests, and interviews. Look professional, speak articulately, and express your interest in attending, but IMHO you should keep any wild ambitions (like commanding an aircraft carrier) realistic.

As I said I started too late to get in. West Point and the Merchant Marine Academy seemed interested in me, but pointed out I needed to shore up my extra-curriculars. Annapolis said the same thing. The AF Academy didn't even bother to call me, they just sent a letter saying I was kidding myself (well, not in so many words, but still). Had I had another year, I probably would've gotten in to one.

So start now and good luck.

Naunga

- You'll have to do a lot of
 
you are not committed at AFA until your Junior year as well. You can come your Freshman and Soph. year then transfer out and owe the AF absolutely nothing....
 
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