Tag Archives: air force

How do I become a fighter pilot?

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There are reasonably good answers to this question on both the Air Force and Navy websites, including basic qualifications. The short version is:

  1. Become an officer in the Air Force or Navy/Marines.
  2. Apply and get accepted into pilot training.
  3. Compete for a fighter pilot slot.
  4. Complete the fighter portion of training.

There are no fighter pilots in the Army or Coast Guard. Marine Corps pilots wear Navy wings.

The Air Force and Navy have similar means by which you can become a fighter pilot. In general, you must first become an officer, either by attending one of the service academies, completing ROTC, or graduating from Officer Training/Candidate School (OTS/OCS). In most cases, just prior to your commissioning you will be able to request what your desired job will be. If you select and receive the opportunity to become a pilot, you will then have to attend Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).

You may get a “pilot slot,” but, in most cases, you will not know whether you will fly helicopters, heavies, or fighters until well into pilot training in both the Navy and Air Force (except in rare circumstances, or if you are a Guard/Reserve pilot).

(The Navy doesn’t technically fly “heavies,” per se, like the KC-135, though it does fly several large, non-fighter aircraft including C-130s (Marines), E-6s, and a variety of other patrol and cargo aircraft.)

Prior to UPT, you may have to attend a flight screening program.  The Air Force currently conducts Initial Flight Screening (IFS) at Pueblo, Colorado.

In the Air Force, you will have to complete the first 3-4 months of pilot training before your class is split into those who will fly fighters, heavies, and helicopters. Your ability to get the fighter track (T-38s) will depend on your relative class ranking, your instructors’ input, the needs of the Air Force (how many of each type of pilot they need), and the desires of your classmates. For example, if the Air Force needs more C-130 pilots than F-15 pilots, your class might get 2 fighter slots and 10 heavy slots. On the other hand, you could be ranked #10 in your class, but if the 9 guys in front of you want to fly heavies, then you’ll get the chance to fly a fighter.

If you do choose and receive the fighter track, near the completion of the T-38 course you will be given the opportunity to rank-order the fighters you would like to fly. The jet that you get will depend on your class rank, the input of your instructors, the needs of the Air Force, and the desires of your classmates (See a pattern?). For example, the Air Force may need 8 F-16 pilots but no F-15 pilots, meaning you won’t be able to get an F-15 even if its your first choice. It is also worth noting that the Air Force has alternately put bombers into/out of the T-38 track, meaning that you could complete T-38s and end up flying a B-52. The location of bombers (fighter vs. heavy track) has oscillated over the years. At one point, even UAVs were assigned out of the T-38 track.

After you graduate pilot training you will need to complete your survival training and pass the centrifuge. Your next course will be IFF, which is taught in T-38s.  After you graduate IFF, you will then go through the basic course (B-Course) for your fighter.

Once you complete the B-course, you will transfer to an operational unit. Depending on what jet you go to, you will then go through another 2 to 6 month upgrade. At the completion of that upgrade you will be a “Mission Ready” (MR) wingman, able to fly on the wing of a more experienced pilot into combat.

On average, in the Air Force it takes 2 years from the start of pilot training to being a “true” fighter pilot.

In the Navy, you attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Pensacola, Florida, followed by a six week “Air Indoctrination” course. Primary flight training follows (6 months at Whiting or Corpus Christi), and the split track occurs after initial flight training. Intermediate flight training builds on navigation, and advanced training is mission specific. Wings are awarded after advanced training. Pilots then go to Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS) to learn their specific aircraft.

For questions regarding Ed Rush’s Fighter Pilot Power Pack (an aid to becoming a fighter pilot), see this commentary.

US Airman Serves Villages in Philippines

An official US Air Force article documents the story of MSgt Cesar Jurilla and his wife Cora, who have annually volunteered their time for the past 5 years to travel as part of a Catholic mission to the Philippines:

Every January for the past five years, Master Sgt. Cesar Jurilla, of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Reconnaissance Wing, travels to these remote locations with his wife, Cora, as part of a team of doctors, nurses and nonmedical assistants…

The teams visit is coordinated with local priests who help identify needy areas. As with many of the missions in which US troops volunteer, the mission itself is supported by fundraisers and the volunteers travel out of pocket.

The trip is coordinated by the Filipino ministry Read more

General: Gay Pride is About Authenticity, Meritocracy

An official Navy article documented a US military “gay pride” event at Patuxent River, Maryland, on June 2nd that was hosted by BrigGen Tammy Smith — the “first openly gay US general.” While some have said the concept of “gay pride” celebrates sexuality by its very nature, BrigGen Smith said it wasn’t about people’s personal lives [emphasis added]:

Pride is not about anyone’s personal life; it’s a celebration of authenticity. We celebrate pride because we value being a meritocracy, because we want to be an organization that attracts and retains the best talent…We celebrate pride because no one has the right to tell others who they should be or who they should not be.

Gen Smith did not elaborate, so it’s unclear how she views “lesbian, gay, and bisexual pride” correlating with the military’s emphasis on merit.

Her final sentence was somewhat ironic, because Read more

US Army, Air Force Evolving on Transgenders?

The US Air Force announced last week that, while there was no policy change on “transgenders” serving in the US military, it now requires headquarters-level approval to actually discharge someone for being transgender. This mimics a similar decision recently made by the Army.

Air Force leaders announced June 4 a change to the decision authority for involuntary separations for enlisted Airmen diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who identify themselves as transgender.

“Though the Air Force policy regarding involuntary separation of gender dysphoric Airmen has not changed, the elevation of decision authority to the director, Air Force Review Boards Agency, ensures the ability to consistently apply the existing policy,” said Daniel Sitterly, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

The official announcement made a point of saying “self-identification as transgender” does not automatically result in discharge, contrary to Read more

ACLJ Defends General Olson, Criticizes Mikey Weinstein

Skip Ash of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) penned an article last week taking Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to task for Weinstein’s demand that the Air Force court-martial Major General Craig Olson. In the piece entitled “The Radical Assault on Faith in the Military Must be Stopped,” Ash called Weinstein’s allegations “outlandishly wrong” and “hogwash!”  (This comes after Weinstein’s friend, Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, described (PDF) Weinstein’s attack as “hysterics” from an “activist[] with an axe to grind against religion.”)

The ACLJ also revealed that they wrote their own letter (PDF) to Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh with a remarkably clear and simple explanation of the error of Weinstein’s ways (Crews wrote a similar one (PDF)). Referring to Weinstein’s imploring of General Welsh to “take a good, hard look” at the video of General Olson’s speech, the ACLJ said [italics original, emphasis added]:  Read more

Air Force Rebuffs Mikey Weinstein Demand for General Olson’s Court-Martial

The Air Force Times reports that the US Air Force has “rebuffed” the demand by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to court-martial Major General Craig Olson, who spoke at the National Day of Prayer earlier this month:

The Air Force has decided that Olson did not break Air Force Instruction 1-1 by speaking at the “congressionally-supported event,” said service spokesman Lt. Col. Pete Hughes.

“His remarks were his own personal opinions and do not represent the views of the United States Air Force,” Hughes said in an email Thursday to Air Force Times.

The article quotes both Weinstein and his assistant Chris Rodda as Read more

Mikey Weinstein Calls for Court-Martial of General Craig Olson

Update: Franklin Graham came out in General Olson’s defense, while Weinstein doubled down, saying

Olson was “not simply a harmless howdy-doody/’Stepford Wife/Ned Flanders type of character delivering homilies and platitudes to his assembled flock of like-minded fools.” He was, instead, part of a “Christian triumphalist” plan to subdue America, Weinstein wrote.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein published a press release last week calling for the court-martial of Major General Craig Olson, who was the representative for the US military at the National Day of Prayer on May 7th.

You can watch the video of General Olson’s 20 minute talk at the National Day of Prayer courtesy of the MRFF, which recorded the broadcast and uploaded it here. In it, General Olson says:

I’ve been with fellow redeemed Christians who happen to be educators, who happen to be businessmen, who happen to be medical professionals, who happen to be public officers. I’m just a Christian who happens to be in the Air Force. So we all have things we do but we’re believers, when we love Christ and we love this nation. That’s the point of America. We get to be out and about in America as believers in the various places God appoints us.

Gen Olson spoke repeatedly of having experiences that reminded him of his reliance upon God. He spoke of the need for prayer for our military.

This is what Weinstein said in response:  Read more

Chaplain Becomes CGO of the Year, Mikey Weinstein Target

US Air Force Chaplain (Capt) Sonny Hernandez was recently selected as the AFLCMC IMA CGO of the year.

Two days after the announcement, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein slammed the chaplain as “homophobic [and] anti-Semitic.”

Why Weinstein was monitoring the AFLCMC CGO ranking is a mystery. It’s possible he knew of Chaplain Hernandez from the chaplain’s time at USAFA, which was his last assignment until November of last year. Weinstein also has family in the Wright-Patterson area, which is where the 445th Airlift Wing is based and where the announcement would have been made.

Finally, Weinstein came to his conclusions about Chaplain Hernandez from viewing the publicly available sermons he gave to his home church. (As an IMA Reservist, the Chaplain’s primary job is civilian.)

Weinstein slams the chaplain for “putrid, bigoted Read more

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