FINDING A WAY TO FLY

Speaking with four different officers, I was able to gather four different perspectives on how this works. There are a few different things you can be working on simultaneously to eliminate inefficiencies in your transition.

First, for both the Army and Air Force pilots–there are some key considerations you can start thinking about now: Air frame and unit location. These are both very much interdependent and related. Every unit is assigned specific air frames. So if you don’t really care and you just want to fly, this doesn’t matter so much. But if you’re looking to be assigned to a particular geographic location or are interested in a specific air frame, this reduces your options. All four officers I spoke with had an idea of where they’d be relocating after leaving active duty. Because of this, they were able to determine which units were closest to their relocation area and were able to get some clarity and narrow their search.

The way it works with the reserve component may seem a bit backwards from active duty: You identify your unit and air frame first, then you go to flight school/pilot training. If geographic location is a priority and the air frame isn’t as important to you, find units that are located in your preferred area. If you are flexible and willing to move, you can prioritize finding a unit with job vacancies for your preferred air frame. All of these officers initiated contact with units and scheduled a time to speak with the commanding officer to explain their situation, desire to join this unit, and find out if the unit was “hiring.” For one officer who was already a branch-qualified rotary-wing pilot, this was quite simple. For another, who was an active duty signal officer, this meant he still needed to apply, get accepted by the board, and go to flight school. Additionally, the battalion commander informed this officer that because there was a surplus of officers in the unit, he’d likely need to resign his commission and become a warrant officer.

To physically determine what units and vacancies exist, you can take advantage of a few resources. One of the Army pilots had an AGR pilot POC at USARC who assisted him in identifying potential units. Do some Googling and look for POCs on the HRC website. I’d do some legwork for you and drop links, but my CAC has expired! For the Air Force officers, recruiters can provide some assistance by providing you with a master file of all the units that are hiring. For the Air Force reserves, there’s one list. For the Air National Guard, there’s a list for each state. Additionally, there’s a very interesting site called BogiDope that has job vacancies, articles, and useful information related to becoming a pilot. Guard Reserve Jobs also has a job vacancy list you can look through. Lastly, USA Jobs lists pilot vacancies for the Army and Air Force so it’s worth checking it out to make sure you’re not missing an opportunity.

Just to reiterate, these are things you can be doing now. Take the 30 minutes here and hour there to familiarize yourself with all of this, bookmark important sites, vet HRC points of contact so you can filter out the useless people and have a relationship established with an actual helpful POC who is ready to help you when the time comes. DO NOT WAIT. All of these things take time.

Second, you should be researching how to schedule the Army’s Selection Instrument for Flight Training (SIFT) and the Air Force’s Test of Basic Aviation Skills (TBAS) and Air Force Officer Qualification Test (AFOQT). These are a requirement and the specific score requirements can be found on Army and Air Force websites. From what I understand, these were standardized tests with some aviation specific content. They assessed spatial orientation, chart reading, and hand-eye coordination. Both Air Force officers also took private pilot lessons while they began the process.

You can and should be studying and preparing for these exams. There are practice tests, study guides, and handbooks online that can all help you prepare for these tests. A quick Google search will take you to both free and paid resources to increase your chances of doing well on these tests. Again, these are things you can be doing now. Waiting until you are on terminal leave to try to cram networking, research, paperwork, and studying into a couple of months will undoubtedly add stress and likely delay your timeline.

Third, you should be assembling the documents you need for a personal packet that you’ll provide to the units you apply to. Locating and landing one of these jobs is a competitive endeavor. All of these pilots had to do extensive research and work hard to make themselves desirable candidates for these units. The most senior pilot I interviewed suggested that anyone getting ready to start the process should start assembling a digital or hard copy packet with a cover letter, resume, ORB/ERB, last three evaluations, and test scores. You could send this packet to the unit leadership digitally or drop it off in a binder when you pay an in-person visit to the unit. 

Finally, you should be looking into how you will complete your flight physical. For the Army, it’s quite straightforward. As long as there’s a CAB on your installation, you’ll be able to find a flight surgeon who can do your physical. For the Air Force, there are some parts of the physical you can complete with any Air Force flight surgeon. So if you’re stationed at a joint base or near an Air Force base, you can look into partially completing your physical, but you will eventually need to travel to Write Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH to complete your flight physical. Typically, you will not get scheduled for one until you are officially hired by a unit.

If you begin working on these “prerequisites” now, you increase the likelihood of a smooth transition. One of the pilots had a break in service for about a year because he didn’t begin looking into most of these things until he was out of the active duty Army. Start now!