I want to be a fighter pilot, help me on what i need?

Question

i also need to make it into the USAF academy

i have a 2.7 GPA (pretty bad i guess) and thats all i can think of so far, im also a 10th grader so is it too late to start working on being a fighter pilot.

i want honest answers because i want to guarantee myself a pilot slot.

Answer 1

Get strong in math, chemistry, and physics--regardless of what college degree you want to get.  

Try for an Air Force college scholarship, so you'll at least be on track if you don't get into the Air Force Academy.  

Go into AFROTC in college--with or without an AFROTC  scholarship.  

Show a few very good semesters and you can get into the scholarship program.  

Do well enough and you can then get into the Air force Academy.

Answer 2

Study hard, maintain good health and have loads of determination. Try your best to get into the air force and opt for a fighter squadron. I have known lots of people who were not very outstanding in academics, yet had the determination and they all went through.

Take my advice and apply yourself hard enough and you will surely succeed. I sincerely wish you all the luck.

Answer 3

Need to study harder and keep doing it. The USAF academy can afford to be very picky; especially in todays times.

Good luck, you can do it if you really want too!!

No way to guarantee a spot but with enough determination you can succeed................Oh and you will need very good vision!

Answer 4

Thank you for wishing to serve your country.  I fully believe in the "no BS/la-la/Discovery Channel" answer-so I think we're tracking.

Nope, it's not too late.  I'll explain how the Academy works, then I'll give you some options.  Then I'll add how the USAF generally picks its crews for various weapon systems.

The Academy normally accepts about 400 (it varies according to the "needs of the AF" more on this later) freshmen/year.  Realize that over 2000-3000 people apply, so they can be picky.  Normally you'll need:

1- Great (not necessarily perfect) grades.  It would help if you pursue math, science classes as far as you can.  A foreign language would be a plus as well.  Looking at roughly 3.5 average or better (the type of classes you took are taken into consideration BTW).  

2- History of participation in extra-curricular activities.  Stuff like student gov't, sports, debate; even language clubs.  Anything that shows your leadership and initiative.  If your HS has it JROTC would be VERY positive, also membership in the Civil Air Patrol's a good thing.

3- Recommendation from your congressional rep.  This is probably the toughest part.  Your guidance counselors can probably assist you with this.  

It's possible that upon review the board doesn't accept you into the academy, but into the prep school.  This is for students who have all the right blocks checked, but maybe are a little low on their GPA.  It's a firehose of information thrown at you but is another route.

Assuming you don't get into the Academy you still have two options:

1- Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).  This is available on nearly every state university campus.  ROTC also offers 2/4 year full academic scholarships.  Here's another area where your HS GPA matters, but your coursework and the school you attended are taken into consideration (some are harder than others).  They will look at your SAT/ACT scores, plus your other activities.  There are 2 and 4 year programs available; you take it like any other College class.  Some people will say any major will work; maybe but for scholarships you need to have a major in:  Engineering, Math or CS/IT.  

2- Officer Training School (OTS).  This is primarily for prior-enlisted troops aspiring for a commission, but there are limited non-prior slots available.  You apply for this when you're within 1 year of college graduation.  

Since you want to fly, you also have to be accepted into the program.  The flying selection board's are looking for someone with "rated potential".  This means you aren't going to quit, or washout of training; you also have the desire to excel.  There's three aspects to this:

1- Your application/AF Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) test scores.  This is an assessment of your aptitude to fly.  You gotta take this regardless of commissioning program BTW.

2- Your flying history.  Ideally a private pilot's license would put you WAY ahead of other applicants, but of course they are expensive.  A student license or copies of your logbook (this is what I did) also show your "rated potential".  Above I mentioned Civil Air Patrol-it's a great way to get some free flying.  You don't absolutely need this, but my view is anything that puts me ahead is what I want.

3- Recommendations from active-duty/retired aircrews.  This might be hard to get if you don't have much to do with military people. But if there's a base nearby, go to open houses, speak with the crews stationed there tell them your desires and KEEP IN TOUCH.  A quick letter from a pilot/nav is very powerful.

4- Physical.  Here's where I'm going to be straight up with you.  Here's the latest from a friend of mine who just retired as a flight surgeon:

Vision 20/70 correctable to 202/20

            No Depth perception problems

            No astigmatism

            No nightblindness

            No colorblindness

Med History

            No history of diabetes in you (family history's OK)

            No history of cardiac problems

            No periods of unconsciousness >5-10 minutes since age 12 (medically induced is OK)

            No high/low blood pressure (low BP is sometimes waived)

            Sitting height <= 50" an ejection seat limitation.  This is usually not a problem...

             Obviously no HIV, cancer etc

OK, you've watered the eyes of the flying selection board, and are in a commissioning program. After that you'll be off to Undergraduate Pilot Training.

To get a fighter you will need to be selected for the Fighter/Bomber "track".  To get that selection you've got to excel at flying and academics.  Three things are considered when it's time to decide your aviation fate:

1- "needs of the AF". What this may mean to you is, you could be at the top of your class and still be sent to heavies.  Because the AF needs top performers in those weapon systems.  Also, your class may not get any fighters, while the next class could get quite a few.  

2- Instructor recommends.  You are being evaluated the whole time you're there.  Instructors have a considerable say in your future.  This is why you want to impress them -above.

3- Your preferences.  Yes, those are taken into account.  The best way to get your preference is to be high enough in the class to get your choice before they're gone.  In other words, if you're number 11 in a class of 60, the first 10 will get their 1st or 2nd choice. When they get to you if there were 7 fighters available and #'s 1-7 picked them-you're outta luck.

That's basically it.  Please PM if you have other questions.

Good luck, you can do this-heck I did and my HS GPA was around 2.9....

Answer 5

You need to watch the show Jetstream. It gives you a real good look at what air force training is like. Basically, you need to have a lot of endurance, and be able to learn A LOT fast. It's pretty hard and I don't think I'd be able to do it to be honest. The show's not on anymore but it might come out on dvd, you have to see it.

Answer 6

Sounds like you know what you need already.

Get into the air force, then into the special flight programs that they offer.

That's how my father did it.