Air Force, ASVAB test

[badboy_fern]

So I'm in 23 and been going to college and still not sure what to do. I want to be a pilot for the Air Force but got tired of school and are getting an easy Bachelors in Spanish. Will that affect me that is not a technical degree? I will also be a minor in Computer Science and got math up to Calc II, but decided that computers were boring that is why I quit. I really want to fly so hopefully I will get a PPL soon. I guess my question is how hard is it to become a Fighter Pilot? I've taken practice tests on the net and they all seem too easy, are they realistic?

Thx for the input.
Fern

[spyder003]

hey badboy, i'm in the air force although i'm enlisted. from what i hear becoming a fighter pilot is fairly difficult, although not impossible. first you have to have a bachelor's. then if you want to come in commissioned you'll have to go through OTS. then you aren't necessarily guaranteed a job in the career field you want (same for enlisted). a neighbor of mine just went through OTS, he had a bachelor of computer science and he ended up in airfield ops, go figure. as far as i know you have to be selected to get into the flying program, then you would most likely start out on a tanker or a heavy. but i don't know much about all that officer crap, i just order parts for the planes, i don't fly them lol.

if that's what you want to do i'd say go for it. i love watching the fighters fly. i know a couple of people who have gotten incentive flights in 15's and 16's and they say it's just amazing. i'm at a base now that just has big, slow bombers. in january i'm going to a fighter base, i can't wait to watch those things fly all the time.

[Jester]

Trust me spyder im at shaw and you get real tired of fighters taking off all the time trust me. Badboy to be a fighter pilot you have to have a Technical degree and an aviation background of some sort. To be an officer in teh air force you have to have a technical degree.

[Confused]

I don't know what the requirements are for sure, but if you are serious, then I suggest that you talk to a Air Force recuiter. They will be able to tell you the qualifactions required.
Chas

[badboy_fern]

I just called a recruiter yesterday. She said that I need to take the AFOQT to be an officer. She did say that most of the people that get accepted into flight school have technical degrees but she also said its not the only thing they look at. She said that most also have some flying experience and that most score in the 90's and high 80's on the test. Also, she did not say that I had to have a techical degree to be an officer.
As anyone taken the AFOQT?

[crjdriver]

It has been a long time since I was in USAF, however some advise.

Do you now have a pilot certificate? Do you have any flying experience [no I do not mean on an airliner]

If you do not have any experience, I would go and take a demo ride at the local airport. It will not cost you very much and you will get some insight into whether or not you will enjoy flying.

As for having a tech degree, I did not have a tech degree and they took me [however things have changed since the 1970s]

Good luck

[glc]

No offense intended, crj, but gaspasser drivers are lower in the pecking order than fighter jocks, the whole acceptance procedure is very competitive. It's hard enough being accepted as any pilot candidate, and fighters are at the top of the list, you have to have all the right tickets punched and be at the top of everything.

badboy - no offense intended toward you either, but the attitude towards getting an "easy" degree shows a tendency that won't get you far enough up the ladder towards being a fighter pilot. You are also starting to push the age cutoff.

I'm speaking from the Navy aviation standpoint - and I don't see where the Air Force would be much different.

One advantage to driving tankers and transports is - this is where the airlines get their pilots from, they don't really want hotrodders, they want safe, conservative drivers for their buses. I was in a reserve P-3 (4 engine turboprop patrol plane) outfit in the Navy, and the majority of our pilots also flew for the airlines.

[crjdriver]

None taken; it was different back in 1975 [they needed bodies and the military was not popular after Vietnam]

Before embarking on a long and difficult career path I think he should find out if aviation is what he really wants to do. Military flight training is difficult and intended to be so. Before spending all of the taxpayer’s money training you, the powers that be want to make sure you have a reasonable chance of graduating.

[badboy_fern]

I know that I am pushing the age limit and that is why I rather get a degree ASAP and start working on getting the other things that I need to get in the program. I do have some flying experience but I do not have a certificate yet, I should have it in the next few months.

[glc]

Good luck - this would be the time to go to a recruiting office and talk to the recruiter that handles officer programs. Yes, they are going to BS you, but they do have quotas to fill and will try to get you what you want and tell you what you have to do to enhance your possibilities of acceptance.

[ammo]

I'm in the Air Force right now. Like glc said, the recruiters will BS you all day long so make sure you read all the paperwork that they show you. To be a pilot all you need is any kind of bachelors degree. You can even join the Air Force and they will send you to the Air Force Academy to get your degree as long as you pass the test and the MEPS tests. There was one guy that wanted to be a pilot at the MEPS, but he took their tests and said he was color blind. There went his dreams. I was lucky that pretty much my whole family is in the military. My cousin just became an officer in the Navy. They sent him to school for his degree.