How Do you become Air Force One Pilot? What are the various Paths?

2017-09-06T13:17:38-04:00

Okay - Ive asked questions for my eldest - 18 - currently in Army BCT - englisted.
Ive asked Qustions for my 16 yr old son - desire to be 68W RASP/Option 40 and long term army combat medic/ranger.

Yesterday - on the way to gymnastics, my 13 year old says he wants to fly Air Force One. Wants to know how he gets THAT job.

He is a competitive gymnast. Regional Champion at 13. I told him to
A) Continue being regional Champion in gymnastics and get spot to Air Force Academy.
B) Continue to get good grades through High School - He goes to a VERY small private school (14 students total) but can have his curriculum individualized - it works with his very heavy gymnastics training schedule.
C) get his eagle scout rank - hes currently a star scout in boy scouts.

I just am shocked that he has a long term goal. Up until today his goals where:
A) go to chico and party (he was 11) -
B) become a cop and live at home forever because no women can be better than you mom...(he was 12 and I told him - ummm...you have to move out kid.)
C) Join the Coast Guard because they can hang out with chicks in bikinis and get same Pay as Army Solider in sand storm in Afghanistan. (that was this summer).

Did I miss anything?

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Sep 6 at 2017 1:22 PM

2017-09-06T13:22:26-04:00

Private RallyPoint Member That is a good question and yes, you do definitely need to join the air force, but after that how do you get into that particular program?

Let's see if any of the Top Influencers have some contacts or ideas - afew of them are in the air force or were.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Sep 6 at 2017 1:34 PM

2017-09-06T13:34:24-04:00

Your youngest definitely has a high goal set.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Sep 6 at 2017 1:37 PM

2017-09-06T13:37:50-04:00

The Air Force homepage has information about officer and pilot recruiting. You could ask a recruiter also. I'll give you the basics as I know them.
-Be an Air Force officer, meaning you are a US Citizen, over 21 years of age and under 33 years of age, have a bachelors degree, pass the basic physical, and complete a commissioning program such as Officer Training School, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, or Air Force Academy
-Pass the flight physical (more invasive and comprehensive than basic officer physical)
-No history of asthma, drug use, felony arrest
-Vision at least 20/40 correctable to 20/20
-Score at least 25 on the pilot portion of the AFOQT and 50 on the combined pilot-navigator portion (these numbers might change so check the AF home page)
-Meet AF height and weight standards and be within the overall height and sitting height requirements (again see AF home page)

If you are accepted into USAF Pilot Training, then you start a three-phase program. The first phase is "pre-flight". This phase is conducted in small light-weight aircraft. It is intended to eliminate the students who don't have the basic hand-foot-eye-brain coordination to fly an aircraft. The second phase in taught in the T-6 Texan II. It teaches all the basic flying stuff including instrument flying, acrobatics, cross-country navigation, and formation flying. Sometime in the T-6 phase, you and the Air Force decide if you will be a tanker-transport pilot or a fighter-attack-bomber pilot. If you go tanker-transport, then you continue to training in a Cessna Citation after the T-6 phase; focus on aircrew coordination, instrument flying, and navigation. If you're selected for fighter-attack-bomber, then you complete your training in the T-38. Focus on the same stuff as the T-6 phase, but at a much higher speed and altitude. Either way after successful completion of the third phase of training you get your wings. Next you go to the training course(s) for your aircraft of assignment. This training can take from a few weeks to several months. Finally, you're off to your first unit of assignment.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2017 5:33 PM

2017-09-06T17:33:55-04:00

I wish someone had told me about Option "C" 22 years ago.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Sep 6 at 2017 11:49 PM

2017-09-06T23:49:46-04:00

I imagine that it's much like becoming a pilot in the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds -- only the best of the best, and only the cleanest of the clean. Did you know those teams' members get selected BY the team members themselves? This is unique in the military outside of SOF. The pentagon merely offers up candidates. I would not be surprised if there was something similar for an AF1 pilot. You should tell him that that's a life-long goal -- I suspect only full birds get there...and that'd make it rarer even than BA's or TB's.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Sep 7 at 2017 12:21 AM

2017-09-07T00:21:36-04:00

AF-1 pilot is a rarefied air topic as so few from so many. I'd correlate it to a friend of ours out on Adak. He was a Navy Flight Surgeon that simply stated he was going to be an astronaut. Saying is one thing, but what made Dave different was his singular focus and always connecting the dots as he progressed. That was his life dream and he lived his dream achieving his dream. Had another friend on Adak who played ball at the Academy. He was going to coach NFL. Same focus. Dave and Chuck got great joy out of making their dreams a reality. Chuck never made head coach in the NFL. Near miss as he was the Defensive Coach for the Raiders for several years. And Dave? Lost him when the Columbia broke up. While I was crying looking at his memorial at the Cape last year, I got a little bit angry. All the displays were about what they did, not who they were. Miss Dave. Tell your son that it's great to dream. But to make that dream, or most other dreams happen, you work out a plan, execute, make corrections, but foremost, never quit. If he is miserable chasing that dream, it's the wrong dream. When I was a teen, I'd dream about having a great wife, whatever that was. Had no idea what one was, until she punched me. Another story. Sometimes the dream comes to you. That's very rare. Improve the Vegas odds by working for it, every day.

Response by Col Joseph Lenertz made Sep 7 at 2017 8:50 AM

2017-09-07T08:50:26-04:00

Lt Col Jim Coe is correct, but all that is only the first step. I was also a HS gymnast and entered the USAFA in June 1980. I was on the USAFA gymnastics team for 2 years. I was a VIP-SAM pilot but did not fly Air Force One. Your son needs to focus on one step at a time to get there. Make it into USAFA and graduate with a pilot slot. Graduate pilot training and select a jet airlift aircraft (C-5, C-17, KC-135, KC-10, KC-46). After 6+ years of flying operations and surviving several in-flight emergencies, he may request and be selected for VIP-Special Air Mission service. Once he flies VIP-SAM for 2+ years, he may request and be selected for 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews. There, he starts at the bottom of the pecking order again, and works his way up the 89th. If he has met all the requirements, impressed all the right people, displayed flawless pilot skills and judgment, and worked harder than everyone else, he may be nominated to enter the training pool of Air Force One pilots. A very high goal. One step at a time.