Good day today so far. Pushed myself on weights with legs, abs and back, Ran 3 miles (on a treadmill...yuck) finished with more cardio on an elliptical. I also realized that I can do 5 pull ups with only 10lbs of help. Which I believe means that if I keep my strength and lose 10 lbs, I'd be able to do pull ups on my own. Or, just increase my strength and maintain weight. Or, a little bit of both. Anyway, that was exciting (for me). When I was in middle school and did gymnastics, I was able to do 10 or so pull ups at a time. It made me feel very impressive in gym class, especially because none of the boys could do that many. :)
Below: Me as a bad ass 13 year old catching ducks. and me as a 13 year old in the Czech Republic catching pigs at a pig farm.
Apparently, SERE isn't going to be a problem for me....
Yes, I could have probably pushed myself harder today at the gym, but I also have a free personal training session tomorrow morning with a trainer at my new gym, so I didn't want to be completely dead for that...When the weather is nicer, there shall be more running in the afternoons.
So I've mentioned in previous posts that there are 4 positions that one can apply to if they are applying to a rated board (which is what I'm doing). The four positions are: Pilot, Combat Systems Officer (CSO), Air Battle Manager (ABM) and UAV Pilot (unmanned aerial vehicle pilot). I can apply to one or all four of these. My recruiter wants me to apply to all four. I have no problem applying to the first three, but I do not really want to apply to be a UAV pilot. It seems as if it would be like playing video games all day, and while that may appeal to every guy on the planet earth, it does not appeal to me. I need to GO somewhere when I'm flying...I feel like being a UAV pilot is like running on a treadmill (something I also dislike) - you put in tons of effort and at the end of the day you've gone nowhere.
When applying to the rated board, you list your preferences in numerical order, with 1 being the position you'd like most. I have obviously put Pilot first. Number 2 is CSO, and number 3 is ABM. I'll pull the descriptions from the Air Force website so my readers know what I might do.
Combat Systems Officer:
Air and ground battles move at almost unimaginable speed. Consequently, so do our Combat Systems Officers (CSO). Calling upon their extraordinary level of focus, efficiency and leadership, they become the eyes of their fellow servicemen. Utilizing their expertise and precision in a wide range of high-tech equipment and weapons, they find and eliminate targets. CSOs typically operate from an aircraft, such as a bomber, a fighter or a tanker, but no matter where they are, their job is always to use their skills and accomplish the mission.
Career Tasks
- Master principles and techniques of all weapons systems
- Perform surveillance and intelligence
- Operate in a specific area of specialty
- Develop and conduct training for other Airmen
Basically, in this position, I still go to UPT and SERE, and I'm up in a plane with a pilot. It's essentially a navigator/gunner position. According to my recruiters, the Air Force is phasing out traditional navigators, and replacing them with CSOs. In the last rated board that they submitted applicants to, 6 of 7 were taken in as CSOs (2 had pilot as first choice, 4 had UAV pilot as first choice, and 1 had ABM as first choice - he got his first choice - ABM) The cool thing about this position is that you still learn to fly, you get to ACTUALLY fly every now and then, you learn about ALL the weapons that the Air Force has, and it's a shorter time commitment - 6 years instead of 10. I would honestly and truly be happy if I was selected as a CSO instead of a pilot. Currently, 6.5% of CSOs are female.
Air Battle Manager:
During lightning-fast air combat, every decision makes an impact. And the officers making all of those decisions — right down to choosing the right aircraft for the mission — are the Air Battle Managers (ABM). They use strategy, experience and an intimate knowledge of all aircraft, weapons and surveillance to ensure success. By controlling the battle space and establishing "big picture" situational awareness, ABMs plan and execute the entire theater air operation. Their expertise is also often called upon in an advisory role by other allied military forces.
Career Tasks
- Plan and execute theater air operations
- Analyze national defense strategy
- Develop and conduct flying and simulation exercises
- Conduct, manage, evaluate and improve unit training and readiness
- Create operational policies
This is still considered a flight position, because sometimes the ABM is up in the air, especially in AWAC planes like this:
I believe I do not go through UPT with this position, but I think that SERE might still be a necessity. 12.1% of ABMs are female.
So I HAVE mentioned that there are lots of opportunities for failure along this process. One thing that also keeps my spirits up, in the event of failure, is that apparently intel officers are often ex-pilot candidates. People who burn out of UPT are quite frequently scooped up by intel school. Why? They're clearly intelligent, already have a security clearance, and are already commissioned officers. The military doesn't particularly like letting people with those qualifications go in a snap. So even if I don't get pilot, I still have some pretty awesome other options.
When I first started this process, I wanted to apply directly to intel, the non-rated board. My recruiters wanted me to apply to the rated board because they said I'd have a better chance of being selected. This is why: the last couple of non-rated boards that have come up (sometimes there aren't even any in a given year) about 20% of people submitted by my recruiters were accepted. Now, I think I would have had a really good shot at being in that 20%. The other 5 people I took the AFOQT with were not as intelligent, well traveled, or sharp as I was. Anyway. The last rated board my recruiters submitted to, 100% were accepted (7 of 7). In the one prior, apparently the stats were also the same (close to, if not 100% acceptance). My recruiter said that he has submitted one female to a rated board in the past year, and she was accepted as a UAV pilot (she listed pilot as her first choice). None of the acceptances that had pilot as their first choice had flight hours or a private pilot license.
So in a nutshell, it looks like I will almost definitely get in. The question now is, what will I get in as?
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