Interested to be an Air Force Pilot

[Kawsar Arafat]

I am not sure if it's the right place to drop my question. But I need some information on this.
I am interested to join the Air Force of any country. I have already finished my high school and also have a PPL license and I have logged around 100 hours in a single engine prop.

Does it make me eligible to apply in an Air Force of any country as a foreigner?

[salad-dodger]

If you do write to any of those foreign air forces, try not to be quite so vague.

S-D

[Tankertrashnav]

I think you will find that having a PPL shows an existing interest in aviation, but I think few air forces, of whatever country, would require their applicants to have any pre-existing qualifications, in deed very few prospective RAF pilots have any flying experience.

Read the the thread above, OFFICER and AIRCREW 'CANDIDATES' PLEASE READ THIS THREAD FIRST, which has loads of advice for those wanting to join the RAF - a lot of it will apply to other air forces.

[Courtney Mil]

I'm probably one of the least qualified here to advise, but my thought would be "it depends which country".

You may find that there are citizenship and security issues, not to mention legal hurdles concerning pilots with foreign passports being involved in another country's operations. You'd need the policies of the countries you're interested in.

But I do wish you luck.

[Wander00]

Wish you luck, but IMHO "interested" won't cut it, you need to be "determined" or "enthusiastic" to get a look in.

[Fareastdriver]

If you fly full time for an air force in another country that has no connection with your own country or your upbringing you could be regarded as a mercenary.

Countries don't train mercenaries; they hire them.

[newt]

Guys! There seems to be a small problem with this thread! Who wants to be a pilot with any Air Force that will train him? The rest I leave to your imagination:ugh:

[tarantonight]

Guys! There seems to be a small problem with this thread! Who wants to be a pilot with any Air Force that will train him? The rest I leave to your imagination:ugh:

Got it one Newt😁.

[KenV]

USAF, USN, USMC, and USCG require pilots to be officers, which means US military pilots are required to have a college degree. You don't necessarily need to be a US citizen, but you need to at least have a green card (be a full time legal resident). Citizenship would be a big plus. It takes 4 years to get a college degree and 5 years to become a naturalized citizen. So assuming you can get a residency visa, get into a college, earn a degree, and get accepted by and graduate from OCS (officer candidate school), you can then become a citizen while attending flight school. Good luck with all that. And I'm a naturalized US citizen and former USN pilot, so it can be done. But I started the process much younger.

[Courtney Mil]

Newt, slightly harsh, but understandable. And dark thoughts had occurred to me too. Assuming Kawsar is asking a genuine question, he may well be looking for wider opportunities than the Philippine Air Force, although that should be the logical starting point.

I think a little more detail about Kawsar's background and aspirations might be useful. Not the least to indicate that this is a genuine question and not a fishing trip. I can see both possibilities.

Kawsar, please tell us little more.

[Robert Cooper]

This guy has a similar strange post in Aviation History and Nostalgia.

Bob C :confused:

[newt]

It was not harsh at all CM! Just pointing out that it was a very odd topic put up by someone with no profile!

[Kawsar Arafat]

I am sorry if the topic is odd because I am new to this forum, probably I have little understanding of where to post.

Now the story about myself as CM asked is I am from Bangladesh living in the Philippines and I finished my PPL from Philippines and flew extra hours as I enjoyed flying with a total of 103 hours logged. Of course I paid for it, now I have this problem financing myself and still keep on flying.
But I still want to enjoy flying which at the moment I can't because of financial issues. So, I was thinking of any Air Force where I can apply as foreign citizen.

I can't try for Philippines Air Force because they won't take foreigners. But i still want to enjoy the beauty of flying.

[Chugalug2]

KA:-
i still want to enjoy the beauty of flying. I'm sure that all here who fly, or like me used to, can empathise with that. Air Forces though are not about that, they are for carrying out the will of a nation's (hopefully) democratically elected government by bringing force to bear upon its opponents. That, in short, can mean killing people.

The only reason that I say that is because I too had a desire to experience the beauty of flying and was fortunate enough to do so in my Air Force. It was only in training and as I grew older that the penny dropped, that the purpose of an Air Force, like all Armed Forces, is to go to war. Seems a rather pedantic point to make, I know, but one that should be made nonetheless.

I had no trouble with the concept, after all it would be my country's enemies that I would be fighting if need be, but you are looking to join another country's Air Force, indeed any Air Force that would take you it seems. Would you happily go to war for that country? I don't see how you can commit to that, but that is indeed what you would have to do unconditionally.

Think on.

[Jayand]

Quite honestly it's a wonder to me why anybody bothers asking any questions on here! The answers are so rude and hostile, if it's not the grammar police it's personal insults and derisory comments.:ugh::ugh:
Good luck Kaswar.

[Courtney Mil]

I don't think our replies here have been hostile, Jayand. There are are some hard truths, which mean not all good news, a couple of necessary questions and a couple of observations about the subject. I don't think we're being rude, though.

[newt]

Another one without a public profile Courtney! One has to wonder?

Jayand! Nobody has been hostile just using common sense in a very different world!:ok:

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Fact: To join the military you need, generally, to be a citizen of the country in question. If you're Bangladeshi then that's your first port of call.

However, some countries do occasionally offer training to citizens of their colonies (eg. New Zealanders and Canadians in the RAF) but you have to have the right credentials and aptitude.

I would first ask the question of the Bangladeshi Air Force and then focus your attention in that region.

I wouldn't hold out any hope though:ok:!

Bloggs

[TaranisAttack]

@Jayand
The answers are not rude or hostile. They are telling you the truth, even though it's a difficult truth to tell. If you want to fly, become a commercial pilot, then you'll get to do it all the time. The air force is not about flying, it's about using planes to fight a war. Think of it from the perspective of the air force. They are investing millions in you to make you a pilot, and then trusting you with their 80 million Eurofighter.

RAF

1. To meet RAF residency requirements, you should have been a UK Resident for a minimum of five years immediately preceding application, and have spent no more than 28 days per year outside the UK within those five years.

2. To be a pilot an applicant needs be one of the following: British Citizen, British National

3. Age Requirements: 17.5 – 25

4. Educational Requirements: 2 A-levels (at grade A-C) or 3 Highers or equivalent, plus 5 GCSE/SCEs at Grade C/2 minimum or equivalent including English Language and grade B/1 in Maths or 5 SNEs at Grade 5 including English Language and Maths. Please note: the RAF does not accept A-levels in Critical Thinking or General Studies at any grade.

5. Fitness Requirements
2.4 Km Run (Minutes) 11.11 mins
20 pressups
35 situps

6. SC clearance (probably DV in reality)

http://www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment/how-to-apply/eligibility-check/

[Jayand]

"Guys! There seems to be a small problem with this thread! Who wants to be a pilot with any Air Force that will train him? The rest I leave to your imagination:ugh:"
"This guy has a similar strange post in Aviation History and Nostalgia."
"If you do write to any of those foreign air forces, try not to be quite so vague. "

Yeah, very welcoming not rude at all!
"Another one without a public profile Courtney! One has to wonder?"
Wonder what exactly??
Clearly the guys first language isn't English and therefore he might not be able to explain as clearly his determination or desire to be a pilot, and a love of flying is what attracts 99% of people to Airforces the world over, of course youhave to be accepting of the fact that your job will be to enforce the will of your political masters but nobody joins up as a pilot not loving flying!!!!
"The air force is not about flying" :D:Dlol.Even with all the wars and conflicts we have been involved in over the last 30 odd years the RAF was and even though lesser so now is still essentially a great flying club full of people who LOVE flying.
The guy came on here and asked a genuine question and was pulled and picked apart, had his identity questioned and his motives, all from one simple question.
If only you'd have spent as much effort just replying to the question!:mad:

[newt]

The comments were made with security in mind. Nothing else. So get back in your box and close the lid Jayand!:E:E:E

MODs please do us all a favour and deal with this!

[Jayand]

Security? how is the rude responses he received got anything to do with security?? lol
Mods????

[Courtney Mil]

Kawsar, thanks for explaining your personal circumstances a little more. I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I expect you will find that a lot of nations are going to say "no" on the grounds of citizenship, for both security reasons and the risk of conflict of interests in future operations - see Chugalug's point, which he makes very well. I'm sorry to say that may well be a show-stopper for anywhere except Bangladesh.

Second, I have formed the impression (I may well be mistaken in this) that your motives may mean you are more suited to a civilian career than a military one. You will certainly have fewer issues with nationality in that area of aviation.

If you were to apply to any air force they are going to want to know why you want to fly and fight for them. Saying that you just want to fly and that they are just one of the armed forces that you thought might take you is probably going to get you shown the door.

Hopefully, you will have seen the previous comments about required qualifications - a PPL and 100 hours is not one of them as TankerTrashNav correctly points out.

I doubt any of that is really what you wanted to hear, but I really cannot see a way round the ciitizenship issue. Again, Bangladesh if probably the only place you stand a chance. I'm sure you'd love to stay in the Philipnes and pursue a military flying career there, but you already know that is a non-starter.

On the subject of this forum (and pretty much any other that deals with these sort of topics) I would offer that you need to understand that you will raise suspicions if you ask unusual questions or make unusual statements, especially as a new comer and especially with no visible profile. Apart from people's understandable concerns about motive, being more forthcoming with information would also have made your unusual request a bit easier to answer.

[Courtney Mil]

Jayand,

I seriously believe you are massively over-reacting. I have no intention of responding to your post #20, although for a moment I was sorely tempted to direct it line by line. I will say only that you have taken a number of quotes out of context and I would have thought that the suspicions that Kawsar's unusual request and lack of background raised are blatantly obvious.

There is nothing rude or hostile in this thread.

If only YOU'D have spent as much effort just replying to the question!:mad:

[Jayand]

CM, ""Guys! There seems to be a small problem with this thread! Who wants to be a pilot with any Air Force that will train him? The rest I leave to your imagination:ugh:"
You don't consider that rude?
I don't see anything unusual or suspicious about his question, he's new to the site and he's asked a reasonable question in a second language.
Is this not the place to come to ask these questions?
How on earth can that be a risk to any kind of security????
I didn't realise you had to serve your time and explain to everyone you full background before anyone was allowed to ask questions?
It is symptomatic of this and other threads where some people are keener to point out people's faults in grammar, question their motivation or background rather than just give answers to the questions being asked.
Very sad.

[Kawsar Arafat]

Thank You very much for your kind reply. I really appreciate your support.

[newt]

Jayand! I suggest you read your posts on this thread again! Seems to me that You are the only one being rude and angry! :D:D:D

[wiggy]

TBF a lot of folks (especially those of a tender age) really really genuinely don't understand that your nationality/passport can very often restrict (sometimes severely) your ability to pick and choose your place of work.

I'm sure we've had the "I'd like to join any Air Force" question before, just like we routinely get the "I'm British, how do I get an interview for a job with an American airline " :sad: questions on the civvy part of the forum.

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Jayand,

I don't see anything unusual or suspicious about his question

That's because you've probably never served in the military and are a complete Wannabe but with nothing to back up any of the antagonistic statements that you have made in your posts here. You sound very much like a troll to me who could have an argument on your own in a darkened room!

Now, as my mate Newt says, 'close the lid' and leave us in peace!

Finally, as it states at the top of this forum:

A forum for the professionals who fly military hardware. Also for the backroom boys and girls who support the flying and maintain the equipment, and without whom nothing would ever leave the ground. All armies, navies and air forces of the world equally welcome here.

So if you are none of the above what the f*** are you doing here other than to cause trouble and get up our noses!

About Jayand

Location
The real world
Occupation
Greener grass grazer

That profile says it all!

Now that's rude!

Out!

Bloggs:cool:

[Out Of Trim]

Yep, that's rude! :ok:

[Rossian]

.....I happen to know Jayand. He has served both in the Royal Air Force AND the RNZAF up to retirement age.
So, F/O Bloggs, you made a lot of assumptions there and they were all wrong. Maybe a "sorry" might not go amiss??

As it happens, I disagree with the points Jayand made in his earlier posts.

The Ancient Mariner

[SLFguy]

the RNZAF up to retirement age

That explains it..

Well balanced peeps Kiwis, a chup on each shoulder.

[Rossian]

....thankyou for your considered response to this thread. And you're as wrong as F/O Bloggs was.

The Ancient Mariner

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Lost your reading glasses Rossian?

That's because you've probably never served in the military

Ah well! If he has served in the military he definitely has a very jaundiced view on life now. Was he aircrew? If so, I doubt he would have lasted long on a FJ squadron!

Oh there I go again! Making bloody assumptions!:mad:

Tsk Tsk!

I notice that he is now unable to speak for himself or maybe it's just the time lag between here and Tharg!

Bloggs!:ugh:

[newt]

Well done Bloggs! I love a good punch-up! I wonder if Jayand will contribute? Maybe he will cheer up once the rugby starts and the Kiwis are winning!:ok:

[Rossian]

....these pissing contests.
Bloggs - yes he was aircrew.
He's not saying anything because it's the middle of the bloody night in NZ.
My old USN captain used to say "never wrestle with a pig - he enjoys it and you get dirty".

I sometimes wonder if I was in a different air force from the one some of you guys were in.

Jayand can look after himself from here - I'm getting out.

The Ancient Mariner

[Jayand]

Rossian, I'm afraid you don't know me as I most definately have never served int the RNAZ, am pretty sure I would have remembered lol.

Bloggs I have however served in her Majesty's finest for nearly 25 years but I don't have to justify that to you or anyone, you'll be familiar I'm sure with the saying never assume, check! or my old favourite assume makes an ass out of you and me? except not me:p
And putting up my profile proves or indicates what? amateur psychology is big on here I see, although sadly wildy inaccurate.

Newt, "Another one without a public profile Courtney! One has to wonder"
What expansive and insightful information do we suppose is contained within your public profile? Location - North Pole. Genius!

So for my benefit Bloggs because I must have overlooked it in my 25 years, what was suspicious or unusual about his post, and what possible answer to the question could have compromised security?

[newt]

Well Jayand still out of your box! What fun! The reason a lot of us have little in our profile is most of us know each other from our time in The Service so little point! We don't know you or what you actually did! Maybe you could enlighten us then we might just understand where your coming from!

In the mean time feel free to comment! We just love winding you up! It's soooo easy:D:D:D:D

Oh and just to give you an inkling! Lightnings Jaguars Hunters and Hawk!

[Jayand]

You're right Newt you don't know me, and I have no interest in you or your clues as to what you did so many, many years ago.
A lot of guys on here are very knowledgeable and some not so much, neither of which makes the slightest difference to a person's manners.
I couldn't care less and am certainly not wound up by whatever you think or believe of me, but then I'm not the one coming on here looking for advice from what should be a supportive, welcoming forum.
Incidently nobody has still said why the question was strange, suspicious or a threat to some sort of security?

I was once told that you shouldn't go into a battle of wits with an unarmed man, and for that reason I will bow out.
Now that I'll give you was a little rude.

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Jayand, old chap! Welcome back!

Well first off, when I try to view Mr Arafat's (now there's a name to conjure with) profile I receive this message:

Fg Off Bloggs, you do not have permission to access this page.

Yet I can access every other person's profile on this forum. So why? Has PPRuNe given Mr Arafat some kind of secret cabinet to live in or does Mr Arafat not want us to know anything about himself!

Now that makes me very suspicious.

Second - who thinks that you can just rock up at the front door and ask to come in! Nobody who has ever truly wanted to be a military pilot, for sure!

Third - his name's Arafat (maybe a pseudonym but I'm not as naive as you appear to be and so I am instantly suspicious) and he wants to join any air force in the World - of course he claims to be from Bangladesh, living in the Philippines but I claim to live in the East Midlands but do I?

Fourth - He's a Registered User * Whatever does that mean - nobody else on this forum is a Registered User * Is this something sinister that gives him a more secret existence on PPRuNe?

Fifth - Not everything is what it seems in this life, Jayand, and certainly not on PPRuNe! There are dark forces on the internet who would do our culture serious damage and one of Mr Arafat's possible ancestors was at the heart of it some years ago!

Sixth - He started a thread in Aviation History and Nostalgia with this:

Why pilots chose to be a pilot?
I was thinking about this earlier today why pilots do what they do?

What is so exciting about flying?
Why did they even want to be a pilot in the first place?

I hope for your reply so that I can write about it in my blog.

Now call me old fashioned and a misguided old fool but I find a lot of that suspicious - add to that the fact that he can't write coherent English (the first language of the air, I recall) and my suspicions grow even more!

Now whilst I've been writing this I see you've been refusing to own up to what your qualifications are and have promised to retire into your cubby hole but maybe you should enlighten us just before you close the hatch. You said:

I have however served in her Majesty's finest for nearly 25 years

Now which finest would that be and why such a short time?

Me? 38 years RAF and 20 of them fast jet (Bucc and GR1)!

Now, c'mon, Jayand, we are all being honest with each other here!:{

Bloggs:cool:

[newt]

Love it Bloggs! Bet he can't resist!:ok:

[Herod]

This is becoming ridiculous. Of course, no one has answered the question "What is a "Registered User" and why can we not access his profile?"

[Ron Manager]

I don't know about the Registered User part, but my guess is that he's set his profile to be visible to Friends or Contacts only.

[ExRAFRadar]

I call it an Arrser on what they call a wah.

For those who have yet to visit the site go and look at the NAAFI forums.

Officer types are advised there is bad language, disrespect to, well just about everything, and some very, very rude posts. RAF Regiment tends to take a kicking as well.

The story of the Dog Handler working with THEM is quite simply one of the funniest Ex-Forces memories you will ever read.

Army Rumour Service (http://www.arrse.co.uk/community/)

[JointShiteFighter]

OP, being an air force pilot is difficult even for naturalised citizens. Even if you met all of the eligibility checks and your application made it to the first interview, you would still have to convince the (understandably) very cynical interviewer that you are prepared to die for his or her country. If you love flying, and want to be a professional pilot just for the love of flying, then join the airline business. The pay is a lot better, you will fly more and the chances of you dying in the office are a lot less. You will also find it easier to get a job in another country.

[ShotOne]

Security..not a dirty word, Blackadder! What a festival of self-importance poor Kawsar has triggered."...my job is so secret even the entry requirements can't be discussed!" Get over yourselves! Even the intelligence services publish their requirements, aptitude tests even, online. Entertaining though!

[Pontius Navigator]

A relevant question to the OP is why not apply to your home country air force?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Air_Force