USAF -- RAF

[BFH]

A career in the Air Force; is it a good idea?
I'm 18 years old and preparing to enter a 4 year college for a degree in Aeronautical Science. I plan on having significant flight training by the time I'm finished. PPL/IR/CPL/CFI .

I live in the US, so naturally I would be a candidate for the USAF rather than the RAF. But I assume the same fundamentals apply.

Considering this, do you think I'd be making a wise choice to enter the Air Force as a career after college? IS it true that the Air Force prefers to take in pilots with little or no flight training?

Just thought I'd take the opportunity to pick your professional brains.

Thanks.

[TR4A]

I was a USAF Instructor Pilot at Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). The Air Force takes pilots with any kind of training. Most of the student pilots had no prior civilian time. We saw a few with a few hundred hours to few thousand hours. In my class we had a guy with 700 hours flying pipeline patrol. When we got to the T-38A he could not handle it and washed out.

There are three main ways to get to USAF UPT: AF Academy (AFA), ROTC and Officer Training School (OTS). The Academy has the first pilot slots then the ROTC. If the Air Force would need additional pilots in the short term they would select them through OTS. You need to have a college degree to apply to OTS. The best chance to go to UPT would be AFA or ROTC.

If you go to UPT and graduate you will have a commitment around 10 years in the Air Force. If you are planning to make it a career then it would not matter. If you wanted to go to the the airlines you would be in you early to mid 30's before you could get out.

Another way would be the Reserves or Air Guard.

I went to the Air Force in 1981 when the aviation industry was in a slump and Reagan was rebuilding the military after the Carter years. I had a degree in Aeronautics from San Jose State when I was selected for OTS and UPT. My goal was to be an airline pilot. I spent eight years on active duty.