Thanks.
Become an Air Force Pilot: Step-by-Step Career Guide
Learn what it takes to become an Air Force pilot. Learn about training and other requirements, along with salary and job outlook info. Also take a look at the step-by-step process.
https://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/pilot?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn4nemsat5QIVjonICh0-VQ-EEAAYASAAEgLJrfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
U.S. Air Force - Career Detail - Pilot
Welcome to the United States Air Force. Learn about great opportunities for enlisted airmen, officers and health care professionals.
All this is info from one of my buddies that went through UPT having already known how to fly single engine planes.
Has she thought about AFROTC? She's going to need her bachelor's to be an officer, anyways. There are tons of AFOQT prep books available - similar to ACT/SAT prep books.
...that, or she can try for one of the highly coveted slots for military flight training.
The advantages of going through the Academy is that over that four years, she'd have time to figure out that becoming an officer is the primary goal-becoming an aviation officer is the second. She'd network with people who are and will be among the career officers in that field. If she decides to go another route, or doesn't quite have the "right stuff" (I hate that phrase actually)...there are other options, and the Academy generally filters folks into the fields they have the best chance of succeeding at (but not always...trust me). That being said, ROTC will give her more of a "real world" university experience...and possibly provide her a more mature, realistic outlook on her options. OCS is a tried and true route to the cockpit...and if flying is her main goal, may actually prove the swiftest route, all things considered. However, she should bear in mind it's a numbers game, and the rules are ALWAYS changing! My class had many flight slots available... the one prior, may not have. Like anything in the Military, it's about being as highly ranked as you can be.
Most folks who don't make it (who have already passed the rather difficult challenges of getting a commission and service assignment to aviation), seem to fall during the initial physical, emotional, and mental stresses of what the Navy calls Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination (API); I'm not sure what the Air Force equivalent is, but I know we had Air Force officers in our classes. For the Navy, water survival is a critical component of the training...I seem to recall the Air Force folks could opt out of certain tests, but most didn't. Some folks just can't take not being able to breathe, panic, and decide this isn't the life for them. Others, can't keep up with the classwork...it's feeding from a fire hose, lots of memorization/recall, and very systems oriented.
In my case, what "broke" me wasn't what "broke" most of my classmates who ended up "washing out". I found API challenging...but made it alright enough. I had a "knack" for memorization, and did very well in briefings. I loved planes, and understood systems well...and I loved flying. I did well enough, initially, that I was even moved into a class that was doing two "X's" (planned, graded flights) per day at one point...and got "talked into" going tactical aviation vs. the "safer" maritime patrol route by my CO.
But navigation turned out being my personal demon.
I didn't have 20/20 uncorrected vision, so NFO was my route...and that means a lot of navigation, radio comms, flight coordination...all the "boring stuff" most people don't really think about when they see their first airshow and fall in love with flight. You're up there with an instructor, being graded constantly, on rather impressive standards of accuracy...to me, it felt like trying to find a flying golf ball in the clouds, at night, with a compass and a stop watch. At some point, I just got to where life seemed like an endless circuit of staying up late practicing checklists, getting up at "O'Dark Early" to revise weather cards, then enduring four hours of non-stop, heart-rending stress trying not to "pink" a checkride...knowing all the while, that THIS was the life I was working so hard to repeat for the next twenty or more years. Ultimately, I decided it wasn't the life for me.
Later on, I realized that I had made the right choice...but I made it too late, and for all the wrong reasons. The Navy never forgot that I DOR'd...didn't matter what else I did well, or what I volunteered for, or how much I "proved" myself elsewhere-As far as the Navy was concerned, I was, am, and always will be a "quitter". I've lived nearly two decades haunted by that...and to this day, am still seeking ways to prove to them, and myself, that I'm no "quitter". Sometimes, I get close...but I doubt I'll ever totally succeed.
I apologize for such a long response...but it's the kind of thing I wish a military aviator had told me when I was trying to decide what to do with my career. Like many things, dreams change over time, and now...at 41, I would rather tackle a winter FTX than I would go back to flying. If this is a passion that will stick with your daughter, I can tell you that I have friends for whom the life has been truly blessed. One of my closest friends retires soon having had two tours as a Blue Angel, headed up Hornet programs, and had a truly distinguished career as a fighter pilot.
See, this is the kind of walk-though I like: Experience beyond an FAQ sheet!
My daughter recently read about the military's pilot shortage, and that has fired her up all the more. I warned her that this may not mean anything in a few years, because the situation may well change (as you alluded to). As for being a commercial pilot, she hasn't said anything about that. And when it comes to whether having a PPL would do her any favors in getting into military aviation, I don't even PRETEND to have an opinion, but she thinks it could help. I don't know whether or not she gave Navy or any other branch's aviation any thoughts, but her exposure to high school AF JROTC is probably why she leans Air Force. She still has a couple years left, so we'll see, but its good to be armed with knowledge.
It's unfortunate that the Navy was a bit less than charitable to you after the fact, but you can still hold you head up high. You did more, and got farther, in your military time than many of us.
Thanks for the insight!
Thank you also for your kind words. Looking back, I don't begrudge the Navy-I actually somewhat endorse how they treated the situation. We're the best Armed Forces in the world, and that's largely because we demand excellence. My only regret is that I can't be seventeen again, and aspire for other challenges that in my "middle aged" mind...I wonder if I may not have had better fortunes in.
https://www.airforce.com/frequently-asked-questions/medical/
Welcome to the United States Air Force. Learn about great opportunities for enlisted airmen, officers and health care professionals.
https://www.afrotc.com/
Offered at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country, Air Force ROTC develops the leaders of tomorrow by preparing students to become officers in the U.S. Air Force while earning a college degree. In AFROTC, you’ll not only build lifelong friendships, but you may also have the opportunity to pay for school through our scholarship programs. Most importantly, unlike many other college students, you’ll have a rewarding career...
While it is beyond me why you wouldn't pursue a STEM degree there, although I am aware that the purpose is to produce officers. However, I will contend that ANY degree from the Naval Academy, West Point, etc, carries a lot more weight than a degree for Morehead State with potential employers, right or wrong.
And Patton repeated his Pleb year and finished 46th out of 103 graduates.
In general, my experience with "Ring Knockers" was generally fairly positive. Only a couple that could be annoying plus one that I butted heads with on a number of occasions. A staff officer that had a tendency to step across the chain of command and on a couple events, wasn't being as "ethical" as he should of been. I called him on it a couple of times that ended up in front of the Commander, who did support me (mainly because I was absolutely correct. I tried not to fight stupid battles). That didn't sit well with him.