How do I become a fighter pilot?

loganjvx

loganjvx

Filing Flight Plan
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piperpilot
Hello all,

I am a 17 year old private pilot who recently passed my checkride. At the conclusion of my senior year, I plan to go to a part-141 college program and get my R-ATP. While doing that, I will enroll into the ROTC program, so I can join up after college and become a fighter pilot. What do the steps look like for that route? What are alternate routes I can take?

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am an open ear and I want to learn how to navigate this big world of aviation.

Thanks,
Logan
 
Get straight a’s, take ap classes, work to be top of your class. My friend’s son did that, got a recommendation from his rep for the naval academy, got in, was near or at the top of that class. Was 1st or second in his flying class, is now flying f18s.

Probably the most sure way to get into fighters. Doing well academically and staying in good shape are important. Hopefully others who have done it will pipe up.

There’s a YouTube guy, last name Lemoine, who has a few videos on how he did it. One of his best imo is a video where he explains not to take no for an answer.
 
USAFA. But if you haven’t started that process yet, that ship probably sailed.
 
Well you’ve already outlined your broad steps to becoming a fighter pilot. Didn’t mention what service though. Probably want to narrow that down. Then, all the pertinent information to apply for the OCS programs can be found on their recruiting websites.

A lot of hurdles between now and then though. Good friend of mine went to the USNA, got flight school, was like 5th in his class and got helos. No guarantees to get fighters or aviation for that matter. Personally, after college I’d apply to all the ANG units that have fighters. Make them tell you no.
 
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There's no guarantee you'll get a fighter out of pilot training. If you're not willing to get assigned heavy aircraft (or helicopters, in the case of the navy), don't go active duty.

There are dedicated military forums where this question is addressed every day, this forum is more recreational ownership leaning, or airline career aspiring.

The closest you'll get to a guarantee, is getting a UPT slot from a air national guard or afrc unit that flies fighters. That's the route I opted to pursue, but I suffered from bad timing and never got hired after 3 or so years of trying after undergrad. So I went the unsponsored afrc route and had to grab a bomber spot or stay out forever. Bombers now no longer drop from t38s (b52s dont), so that avenue to retain crosstrain ability (what i tried to do) is not even available anymore. I still have zero regrets having gone the reserve route over AD. I still recommend it as an option, even for heavies.

If you decide to go the active duty route, ROTC thru regular college would be my recommendation. ots as an off the street candidate is possible (presumes already complete with college) but the numbers are very small compared to the availability provided thru the rotc route. Good luck.
 
Academy, ROTC, active duty, reservist, there are plenty of ways to get from A to B. Through outright determination, a habit of refusing to give up long past when I should have, and a bit of pure dumb luck, I've been "fortunate" enough to experience all of them, though I never did make it all the way to a flight suit job while serving. Only advice I can offer is don't accept no whenever you hear it, there are so many ways to accomplish what you want, it might just require taking a step back and readjusting. You already have a decent plan that many before you have used to get there, it's pretty proven. It just depends on you and your determination more than anything else.
 
I would prefer the navy, but branch isn’t important to me. I just want to serve or fly. Heavy aircraft and helos are fine, I’ve just grown up on the 104th guard base and fallen in love with the F-15. Basically College ROTC and OCS is my plan as of right now, but I really don’t know much of at all about what that process looks like and if there are alternatives to going that route.
 
FWIW, the don't accept no part applies to applying for a commissioning program. After that, you'll be committed to the "needs of the service" (whatever that service may be). Things you can control right now: 1) doing well in college.

The rest of the stuff is pretty far down the road. In maybe 4-5 years, you will be in a position to apply for acceptance into flight school. So don't screw up college, get good grades, choose a major that interests you.

I can only speak very intelligently on the Navy, but it is similar to active duty USAF. Your flight school grades will matter, and the needs of the service will matter more. I was fortunate to do well in the primary phase of flight school, and also finished on a week that they needed a few tacair people. So I got selected for our strike/jet pipeline for intermediate and advanced phases of flight school in the T-45. Ended up getting F/A-18C ("Legacy Hornets") on the day I winged, and the rest is history. It was a combination of really hard work, and dumb luck. I could have just as easily finished primary on a week they needed no jet pilots, and ended up in a P-3 or an MH-60.

FWIW, we don't own any F-15's in the Navy :) (though I agree, it is a nice looking plane)
 
35 AoA said:
It was a combination of really hard work, and dumb luck. I could have just as easily finished primary on a week they needed no jet pilots, and ended up in a P-3 or an MH-60.
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QFT. I am very glad to read/hear fighter-assigned chiming in and providing the perspective you just did. It is rather typical for some of the "winners" of life to circle the wagons around the myth of meritocracy when it comes to this topic. To wit, I could provide the young man the same historical perspective you did with respect to how much fates hinge on cold timing and universal Needs of the Department of the Air Force/Navy; but my perspective will always be discounted/dismissed as sour grapes because I didn't get my desired assignment. Appeals to authority notwithstanding, I think it's important for folks to remain humble and provide that perspective to aspirants. :thumbsup:

-brk brk-

What Mover meant with Make them tell you no, dealt with medical no's. Not the notion of telling the Service to pound sand if you don't get what you want out of pilot training :fingerwag: . Some people are misattributing the spirit of intent behind the quip (I would know, I read all about it as I'm one of the mods in the original MTTYN FB page he created).
 
1.) Go to Baseops.net

2.) Resist any temptation to ask a question because they have ALL been asked many times. (search function is your friend)

3.) Read. A lot.

That site is def geared more towards the USAF/ANG/AFR but there is a TON of good info there for free.

PM or ask here when you have more specific questions.
 
Start smoking a pack a day. Start drinking heavily. Chase women relentlessly.

Oh wait, that was my Dad’s era.

What has already been said, but I’ll repeat it: Military specific forums for research. STEM classes, good grades. Obtain a good degree to fall back on. Do some flight training but don’t worry too much about getting lots of certificates, you will be taught their way to fly regardless. I tell those that ask me that they should rush AF Guard / Reserve units of choice, even though I have Wings of Gold. Again, break through the barriers placed before you, and hope for some good luck along the way when your own efforts fail (I relied heavily on both of those concepts).

And realize that your present world will be someone’s Good Old Days (service life extension program? Eff that!).

When you get out, buy an RV-8. :cool:
 
hindsight2020 said:
-brk brk-

What Mover meant with Make them tell you no, dealt with medical no's. Not the notion of telling the Service to pound sand if you don't get what you want out of pilot training :fingerwag: . Some people are misattributing the spirit of intent behind the quip (I would know, I read all about it as I'm one of the mods in the original MTTYN FB page he created).
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Certainly wasn't how I meant it. There are always multiple paths to get from here to there, as well as how important timing is. If one way doesn't work out, step back, readjust, try again another way and another time.
 
Another thing I’d add, if you’re set on fighters, I’d get a healthy dose of acro prior to flight school. Old friend of mine was NROTC, did a summer trip to NPA, went up in a T-34 and spilled his cookies. That was enough for him to switch from NFO to an underwater EOD. I also worked with a Capt in the Marines in ATC who was kicked out for air sickness. He even made it to T-45s. Just couldn’t get past the air sickness issue. Think he went back to fly C-130s though.
 
Do the college thing, sign up, when the opportunity presents it's self, sign up for flight training. Do the job that you are assigned, when sign up comes back around, do it. Do the job you are assigned. Sign up again, get notification to report to flight school, pass physical. Go through flight training. Get assigned to C-17s. Keep at it, sign up again. By that time you're too old, keep flying C-17s until you retire as a Col. living in HI. at the ripe old age of 43. All said "tongue in cheek". But don't be dissapointed if they put you doing something other than what you want. The military is quite fickle that way, and they'll put you doing the job that they need you to do.
 
bluerooster said:
Do the college thing, sign up, when the opportunity presents it's self, sign up for flight training. Do the job that you are assigned, when sign up comes back around, do it. Do the job you are assigned. Sign up again, get notification to report to flight school, pass physical. Go through flight training. Get assigned to C-17s. Keep at it, sign up again. By that time you're too old, keep flying C-17s until you retire as a Col. living in HI. at the ripe old age of 43. All said "tongue in cheek". But don't be dissapointed if they put you doing something other than what you want. The military is quite fickle that way, and they'll put you doing the job that they need you to do.
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It's possible to fighter crossflow via hen's tooth pop up programs, or the AFRC/ANG via personal networking/favor/PFA basis, but in the aggregate is a rather low percentage play. Not a recommended path as a primary COA; more heartache and bitterness than it's worth, especially if you get identified in your heavy community as "that guy".
 
Only thing I think I can add is expanding on the “don’t take no” thing.

You might HAVE to accept the no… BUT… that is mitigated by NEVER GIVING UP.

So there I was… 9 yrs old decided I wanted to be a professional pilot. If you’re gonna fly for a living, may as well be military. Cooler funner faster. If your gonna be military may as well be navy, get to be cooler funner and faster off a carrier!

Gonna be Navy, may as well go to the Naval Academy.

SOMEHOW I managed to pull off the Naval Academy thing. Dumb luck, I applied EVERYWHERE (which I recommend, also mitigates the occasional “NO”), turns out Navy ain’t as competitive in Nebraska as the Air Force is… so I got lucky. Good for me.

BUT… would like to say if I tried harder, I’d have done better, but the fact is, trying as hard as I could barely got me in the top 90 percent. Yep, I graduated at THE VERY TOP (of the bottom ten percent). Meh…

In 87 and 89 if ya had eyes, you could fly. In 88 you needed a modicum of grades, which I didn’t have. Watch “Mr Roberts” sometime, that was me. Driving a ship is a culpable result of going to the NAVAL academy, who knew?

BUT… I didn’t give up, out of nowhere a hens tooth program popped up and I managed to get a flight school slot. How I found it is a story for another thread…

And so I got to fly jets on carriers, albeit not fighters (mighty war Hoover!). Was a LONG ROW TO HOE. People kept telling me no… hell, my high school counselor even told me I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of getting into the naval academy. He was pretty surprised when I informed my high school the night before the honors banquet a Navy Captain would be attending to offer an appointment, would that be ok? HA! By a REALLY WIDE MARGIN it was the best scholarship awarded to anyone in my class, they were ****ED I never even told them I applied.

Moral is, they ARE gonna tell you no. Smile and move on… it’s usually a reflection of their realization they gave up on their own dreams, and now want to share the misery.

I’ve said it here before. There is NO SHAME in not making it. But there sure as hell is shame in not trying. Try and fail, but don’t fail to try!

My roomie on the ship (who also wanted flight but didn’t get it) gave up when I found that transition program… EVERYONE who applied got accepted. Too bad for him….

You will be at peace with yourself if you try your damnedest, no matter how far ya make it. Fair winds and following seas!

Tools
 
Skip the 141 program. It'll be a waste of money and it won't help you get a pilot slot; if you do get a pilot slot they'll train you far more thoroughly, and for free. And being free to focus on your studies without the distraction of the additional flight classes means you'll likely get better grades which increase your chance of getting that pilot slot.

Also the college 141 programs are usually bundled with some sort of useless "aviation science" degree. Better to major in a subject that interests you and provides a fallback career if flying doesn't work out.
 
EvilEagle said:
1.) Go to Baseops.net

2.) Resist any temptation to ask a question because they have ALL been asked many times. (search function is your friend)

3.) Read. A lot.

That site is def geared more towards the USAF/ANG/AFR but there is a TON of good info there for free.

PM or ask here when you have more specific questions.
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www.Airwarriors.com is the Navy equivalent to baseops.net and all the same caveats apply.
 
Not all rainbows and unicorns either. A lot of this is whining for the sake of whining but they do have a point in comparing today’s military vs the past. All the services are having to give bonuses to keep people these days.

 
I crewed with a guy who was in the Air National Guard. He married the base commander's daughter. The dad then sent him to Fighter School.
 
kgruber said:
I crewed with a guy who was in the Air National Guard. He married the base commander's daughter. The dad then sent him to Fighter School.
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It doesn’t work that way.
 
Velocity173 said:
Not all rainbows and unicorns either. A lot of this is whining for the sake of whining but they do have a point in comparing today’s military vs the past. All the services are having to give bonuses to keep people these days.

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yabut, our esteemed colleagues are not talking about what the OP is asking. People misunderstand the nature of the so-called pilot shortage and retention crisis of the AF and Navy.

I know you know this already, this is for the benefit of the peanut gallery:

TL;DR version: Bonus/reasons/retention issue discussions are a complete non-sequitur in the matter of pilot accessions for an ab initio aspirant like the OP.
**Most can stop reading here***


Long version:

There is a bifurcation in this job, and it occurs exactly at the conclusion of the pilot's initial UFT Active Duty service commitment, when these bonus programs kick in. When they mean "shortage", they mean shortage of pilots willing to stop being pilots and fill middling staff jobs. The reason those programs exist is precisely because after the initial flying commitment, the service does not want you to be in the seat, which ostensibly was the reason you joined in the first place. It's the reason my career duty history is eschewed by Active Duty and lampooned by active and reserve components alike, as dead-ender scutwork. I would have never been able to stay in the service as long as I have, had I tried to do this in Active Duty. It's not conjecture, it's right there in the fine print.

So they throw money at people, and most people don't take it, shocker. Those who were going to stay in anyways, take the free money, and the Service gets to claim a measure of retention. It's bad faith arguing all around, but the borg is too sclerotic to address it. Congress has bigger fish to fry, crappy excuse, but it's the truth.

The rest (which the video touches on most of the common threads) is merely a discussion of all the second tier effects of that occupational bifurcation thrusted by the Services' senior management.

The fundamental folly behind not understanding that distinction, is that these cluebird aspirants then think the AF/USN is somehow in Spirit/Frontier hiring mode, trying to push the equivalent of "Basic girl" 1500hr CFIs worried more about their clients' social media footprint threatening their FMS-monitoring dreams (too soon?), than the fact they themselves can't fly their way out of a wet paper bag single pilot. To say nothing of demonstrating the aptitude to employ a fighter under G strain, and RWR "you're-gonna-die-soon" tones effing with their head.

This would be akin to asking two airline pilots about "dUh DrEem" but one guy is a lifetime commuter, the other has never done anything but drive to the airport. You're not gonna get the feedback you think you're getting.

The irony is that these days, if you actually want to get air under your @ss, fighters and bombers would not be the place to go. As Gonky highlights with his experience in the lost Decade in the hornet, what those guys are getting today is downright North Korea Plus+. I have tons of younger co-workers, arriving with nothing more than 500 hours in their fighter, and that's all they'll get in their entire career. It's a short shelf life, at least in AD, for most people. That's why Guard/Reserve is so desired. If all you live for amounts to 125 hours a year, might as well have a true-part time schedule to go with it. Digressing.
 
hindsight2020 said:
yabut, our esteemed colleagues are not talking about what the OP is asking. People misunderstand the nature of the so-called pilot shortage and retention crisis of the AF and Navy.

I know you know this already, this is for the benefit of the peanut gallery:

TL;DR version: Bonus/reasons/retention issue discussions are a complete non-sequitur in the matter of pilot accessions for an ab initio aspirant like the OP.
**Most can stop reading here***


Long version:

There is a bifurcation in this job, and it occurs exactly at the conclusion of the pilot's initial UFT Active Duty service commitment, when these bonus programs kick in. When they mean "shortage", they mean shortage of pilots willing to stop being pilots and fill middling staff jobs. The reason those programs exist is precisely because after the initial flying commitment, the service does not want you to be in the seat, which ostensibly was the reason you joined in the first place. It's the reason my career duty history is eschewed by Active Duty and lampooned by active and reserve components alike, as dead-ender scutwork. I would have never been able to stay in the service as long as I have, had I tried to do this in Active Duty. It's not conjecture, it's right there in the fine print.

So they throw money at people, and most people don't take it, shocker. Those who were going to stay in anyways, take the free money, and the Service gets to claim a measure of retention. It's bad faith arguing all around, but the borg is too sclerotic to address it. Congress has bigger fish to fry, crappy excuse, but it's the truth.

The rest (which the video touches on most of the common threads) is merely a discussion of all the second tier effects of that occupational bifurcation thrusted by the Services' senior management.

The fundamental folly behind not understanding that distinction, is that these cluebird aspirants then think the AF/USN is somehow in Spirit/Frontier hiring mode, trying to push the equivalent of "Basic girl" 1500hr CFIs worried more about their clients' social media footprint threatening their FMS-monitoring dreams (too soon?), than the fact they themselves can't fly their way out of a wet paper bag single pilot. To say nothing of demonstrating the aptitude to employ a fighter under G strain, and RWR "you're-gonna-die-soon" tones effing with their head.

This would be akin to asking two airline pilots about "dUh DrEem" but one guy is a lifetime commuter, the other has never done anything but drive to the airport. You're not gonna get the feedback you think you're getting.

The irony is that these days, if you actually want to get air under your @ss, fighters and bombers would not be the place to go. As Gonky highlights with his experience in the lost Decade in the hornet, what those guys are getting today is downright North Korea Plus+. I have tons of younger co-workers, arriving with nothing more than 500 hours in their fighter, and that's all they'll get in their entire career. It's a short shelf life, at least in AD, for most people. That's why Guard/Reserve is so desired. If all you live for amounts to 125 hours a year, might as well have a true-part time schedule to go with it. Digressing.
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Well I agree, the OP wants to know how to become a fighter pilot and not the BS involved once he’s there. Knowing what’s in store is also important though. Maybe not enough to change his mind, but be realistic about it.

I find irony in the fact Mover has a channel mostly dedicated to motivating prospective fighter pilots but then makes a video like that. A fair assessment but I can honestly say I had mostly good leaders in both the Army and Marines. But, doesn’t matter what you do in the military, it’s the never ending bureaucracy of the job that gets you down. That’s not the fault of leaders though. Nothing they can do about the establishment.

Thing is, everything gets old in time. When I joined the Army, I was motivated about flying but do a few field exercises, deployments, PMEs, etc., and that motivation wanes. You start to see how you can make far more money in a new job without the BS and you look elsewhere. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing. Like a relationship that’s gotten old, I was more than ready to leave after 12 years. Kinda like my current situation. After 12 years, I’m looking for something new.
 
Tools said:
Only thing I think I can add is expanding on the “don’t take no” thing.

You might HAVE to accept the no… BUT… that is mitigated by NEVER GIVING UP.

So there I was… 9 yrs old decided I wanted to be a professional pilot. If you’re gonna fly for a living, may as well be military. Cooler funner faster. If your gonna be military may as well be navy, get to be cooler funner and faster off a carrier!

Gonna be Navy, may as well go to the Naval Academy.

SOMEHOW I managed to pull off the Naval Academy thing. Dumb luck, I applied EVERYWHERE (which I recommend, also mitigates the occasional “NO”), turns out Navy ain’t as competitive in Nebraska as the Air Force is… so I got lucky. Good for me.

BUT… would like to say if I tried harder, I’d have done better, but the fact is, trying as hard as I could barely got me in the top 90 percent. Yep, I graduated at THE VERY TOP (of the bottom ten percent). Meh…

In 87 and 89 if ya had eyes, you could fly. In 88 you needed a modicum of grades, which I didn’t have. Watch “Mr Roberts” sometime, that was me. Driving a ship is a culpable result of going to the NAVAL academy, who knew?

BUT… I didn’t give up, out of nowhere a hens tooth program popped up and I managed to get a flight school slot. How I found it is a story for another thread…

And so I got to fly jets on carriers, albeit not fighters (mighty war Hoover!). Was a LONG ROW TO HOE. People kept telling me no… hell, my high school counselor even told me I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of getting into the naval academy. He was pretty surprised when I informed my high school the night before the honors banquet a Navy Captain would be attending to offer an appointment, would that be ok? HA! By a REALLY WIDE MARGIN it was the best scholarship awarded to anyone in my class, they were ****ED I never even told them I applied.

Moral is, they ARE gonna tell you no. Smile and move on… it’s usually a reflection of their realization they gave up on their own dreams, and now want to share the misery.

I’ve said it here before. There is NO SHAME in not making it. But there sure as hell is shame in not trying. Try and fail, but don’t fail to try!

My roomie on the ship (who also wanted flight but didn’t get it) gave up when I found that transition program… EVERYONE who applied got accepted. Too bad for him….

You will be at peace with yourself if you try your damnedest, no matter how far ya make it. Fair winds and following seas!

Tools
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One of the most brilliant posts I've ever read on PoA. "Try and fail, but don't fail to try!" Goes for any worthwhile life goal, fighters or not.
 
hindsight2020 said:
People misunderstand the nature of the so-called pilot shortage and retention crisis of the AF and Navy.

There is a bifurcation in this job, and it occurs exactly at the conclusion of the pilot's initial UFT Active Duty service commitment, when these bonus programs kick in. When they mean "shortage", they mean shortage of pilots willing to stop being pilots and fill middling staff jobs. The reason those programs exist is precisely because after the initial flying commitment, the service does not want you to be in the seat, which ostensibly was the reason you joined in the first place.

That's why Guard/Reserve is so desired. If all you live for amounts to 125 hours a year, might as well have a true-part time schedule to go with it.
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Along with what Tools said, this is insightful and accurate career guidance. My own experience parallels somewhat. Being commissioned in the Army is generally a ticket to a desk after a few short years. You have to become aggressive to keep flying, or at least I had to. Included stints in Guard and Reserve. Hard balance but worth it. Then came time to hang it up, and I did, with a victory lap challenging the IP to 180 degree autorotations at the same Army airfield I had my first flight as an Aviator, 22 years before. Good career, but had a lot of potholes in the road. Just keep dodging and driving, and don't slow down.
 
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To keep flying as a RA Commissioned Army Officer I reverted to Warrant Officer for five years….as my joke goes they found out my parents were married and they made me go back to the commissioned side. I declined promotion twice to stay in a flying job. I actually had 20 plus years of continuous flight duty and retired on flight status. Not a suggested plan for a future career.
 
After college nephew joined AF in hopes of getting a flying gig, preferably fighter pilot. They put him in communications, and sent him to Iraq. He kept applying for flight school every time the opportunity arose. I'm not sure how many tours he served in the middle east, but after about 10 years or so, he finally got into flight school IIRC he was a 1st lieutenant by then. After primary training, they transitioned him to RJ type airplane for further training, not fighter trainer. Then on to C-17 where he spent the rest of his career, with a short stint flying Drones in the middle east from a base in Las Vegas. At his retirement he was still flying C-17 as an instructor.
So The point I'm trying to make is this; You'll never fly fighters if you don't join, and even then, you may not fly anything for a while.
But apply every chance you get.
 
Remember however that there are two types of aircraft. Fighters and targets!
 
Blah blah blah. Lots of people will share with you how to do it the hard way.

I teach kids how to get bachelor degrees with 4.0’s as a hobby. In record time. College choice doesn’t matter.

On principle I got one recently, 145 semester units at a brick and mortar college, in 1 year and 1 summer.

No degree, no flying. Get that knocked out first while you work out. Stick your nose into reading before you look up at the clouds again.

You can finagle an appointment to the academy- ok.
You can go to ROTC, obligate yourself for 2 years for every year of college they pay for, get derailed by a Warrant Officer army helicopter commission which doesn’t meet your goal, or just accelerate yourself into electability by having a 4.0 GPA college degree in a fraction of the time others do it in, starting this winter.

You also need to RUN. Marine Corps OCS is no walk in the park and neither is The Basic School. Slowest guy in my class ran 3 miles in 21 minutes and he was a behemoth- I was doing it in 15:05. Navy AOCS isn’t easy. The Air Force is much more comical but they are still selective.

As many have said, from your first t-34 / t45 flight to being assigned to a fighter RAG is many months in between and many ways to fail.

Get your degree.
Get in SHAPE.
Just get a private pilot’s license - buy an airplane with your parents if you can or want. I buy them today for a living and you can find some for 4 digits if you’re enterprising but low teens will get you a flying plane.

As an extra credit item, you can try to find Navy “flight training instructions” once you’re ready for college graduation. Fun light reading.


Get your degree, get in shape.
 
Velocity173 said:
Well I agree, the OP wants to know how to become a fighter pilot and not the BS involved once he’s there. Knowing what’s in store is also important though. Maybe not enough to change his mind, but be realistic about it.

I find irony in the fact Mover has a channel mostly dedicated to motivating prospective fighter pilots but then makes a video like that. A fair assessment but I can honestly say I had mostly good leaders in both the Army and Marines. But, doesn’t matter what you do in the military, it’s the never ending bureaucracy of the job that gets you down. That’s not the fault of leaders though. Nothing they can do about the establishment.

Thing is, everything gets old in time. When I joined the Army, I was motivated about flying but do a few field exercises, deployments, PMEs, etc., and that motivation wanes. You start to see how you can make far more money in a new job without the BS and you look elsewhere. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing. Like a relationship that’s gotten old, I was more than ready to leave after 12 years. Kinda like my current situation. After 12 years, I’m looking for something new.
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I think what you and @hindsight2020 say is mostly applicable to the USN as well. I will say that the Super Hornet and Growler communities have career paths, where if you stay "on track" (on active duty), you will likely stay in the airplane for the first 14-16 years of your career. First sea/JO tour, then shore tour typically as IP in VT-J or FRS or weapon school, "Super JO" or Training Officer second sea tour (back in your fleet aircraft), followed by operational Department Head tour (fleet aircraft). 3-4 years of flight school and FRS, plus 11-12 years of those tours, all in an airplane. Post DH is typically the first time a VFA or VAQ person who is tracking in their carer will leave the cockpit, and that is typically only for a year or two as they await selection for CO/XO and slating to a squadron. Then back to the cockpit. So it is pretty reasonable to do 20 years with only a year or so out of the cockpit, even today. Actually, particularly today, given the shortage of O-4's we have in this community. That all being said, the average flight hours during those tours have probably decreased between when I was a JO, and what current JO's are walking away from their first couple tours with. We have guys right now where I work who are getting out as senior O-3's/junior O-4's who don't quite have regular ATP mins. That wasn't the historical norm. But again, that varies. If you deployed a bunch of times in your first tour, you probably got a few hundred extra hours over that average.
 
Everyone is telling what you should do to get a fighter slot. This may be obvious but you should guard your medical with your life! NO marijuana. No uppers. No downers. No DUIs. Take nothing that a qualified MD hasn't prescribed. Get a consultation with an AME to find out if you can obtain a First Class Medical. If the result is positive, live you life to protect that status. If not, get that MD or your own MD to design a program to improve your health to the point you meet the standards.

Remember, you are asking to play with their toys. They can say no for many reasons.

Wishing you luck!

-Skip
 
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So there I was, in line for the simple eye chart test at NAMI…

Kid in front of me… “a, b, c, uh d, e, f”

NAMI whammy dude: “you squinted, 20/25, you’re a NFO now. Next!”

Me: “aaaaaaa, beeeeee, ceeeeee, deeeeee, eeeeeee …” whilst very deliberately wide eyed!

Dayum… and that was that for that guy. Horrifying.
 
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