The Process

I had a great day today: ran 10 miles, did some weights, stretching, and conditioning.

No, not at all. I've been lying in bed all day with mild food poisoning (definitely throwing out that ancient f'ing jar of peanut butter tomorrow...) or Stomach flu. Ugh. My mom, who just had a serious sinus surgery couldn't even come home afterwards because we thought she might catch it. I'm already feeling better though (hence, blogging) so that's a positive sign. I knew that I wouldn't get much done physically these next couple of days anyway, so the rest is somewhat welcome.

I'm going to delineate the process to becoming an Air Force Pilot, and honestly, after learning about this process initially, I had decided to do intelligence instead. There are just so many opportunities to fail along the way, it seemed so difficult, and I didn't want to risk it. What changed my mind? You might laugh, but Tax Accounting. I worked as a tax accountant for just over a year. I never studied taxes in school. I started at this firm in December 2010, and had 2009 tax returns given to me, with the instructions "Do 2010 just like this". I totally panicked. I didn't think that I could do these 100-400 page tax returns AND work papers with NO experience. But I had to. It was my job. I ended up taking one piece at a time, and realized that it was kind of like a really difficult, giant puzzle I had to work through. It took days, weeks, even months, to do one tax return. But I did it. When switching from Intelligence to pilot, I realized that I had to handle it just like a really difficult tax return. Take one piece at a time, and do everything I could to make it work.

There are 4 ways to become an Air Force Pilot, but I'm only going to write about the way I'm going through. The information for the other 3 ways is on the internet if you're curious. :)

College graduates can apply to be in the Air Force by submitting an application to an Air Force board. There are 3 boards: Rated, Non-rated, and Technical. Rated positions are all positions that require SOME flight time. Non-rated positions are positions that require no flight time as part of their job description. Technical positions are very specific positions that require a degree in that field, like meteorologist, physicist, mechanical engineer, etc. If you want a rated position, you must be commissioned before you're 29.1 years old, meaning that you need to start the process between 27-28. For Non-rated and Technical positions, the applicant must be commissioned before their 34th birthday. Applying for Intelligence, one goes to a non-rated board; applying pilot, one goes to a rated board. In another post, I will describe the other positions in the rated board, because there is a fairly significant chance that I might get one of them instead of pilot.

So. To apply to all boards, one must first take the AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualifying Test) the AFOQT is an 11 part test that measures all sorts of things. There is a verbal section (analogies and word definitions) a quantitative section (Arithmetic and Mathematical knowledge) an academic section (Aviation and General science knowledge) and then there is: table reading, block rotation, hidden figures, block counting, and dial reading.
Table reading is insane: 3 minutes to read a massive table, match 2 numbers, find and record the answer. You can't finish unless you're faster than the speed of light. I did as much as I could until the 1 minute warning, and then just guessed. There's no guessing penalty.
Block counting is kind of the same. You need to count how many blocks touch all other blocks, but you have a ridiculously short amount of time to do it in.
Block rotation isn't that bad. You need to rotate block figures in your head, and match them to the corresponding picture.
Hidden Figures also isn't too bad once you've seen and done a few. You start knowing what to look for.
Dial Reading was easy in my practice book (match a picture of a plane to 2 dials showing direction and altitude...) but it was MUCH harder on the actual test. I wish I had found more examples to practice.

The last 5 that I listed get weighted differently and comprise your "pilot score" and your "navigation score". I know you're probably all curious on mine? I got a 74 quantitative score (ironic, because I studied the MOST for it...), 90 academic, 96 verbal, 79 pilot, and 73 navigator. Now, I thought that a 79 was WAY too low to apply for pilot, but my recruiters told me it was absolutely high enough. Your pilot score is just one thing that goes into your PCSM score - Pilot Candidate Selection Method Score.

A PCSM score includes the AFOQT pilot score, the TBAS score, and flight hours. My application as a whole will include not just these, but also my GPA, my letters of recommendation, pilots license (if I have one) and my experience/resume. MY next steps in the process are to take the TBAS and get a physical before I submit my application to the board.

What the heck is the TBAS??? It's the "Test of Basic Aviation Skills". The best info on it is here: TBAS. In a nutshell, it measures your hand and eye coordination, and GREATLY favors individuals who play a lot of video games and/or are already pilots. So my plan for the next couple of months is to play video games and get up in a plane and start learning how to fly. Also, my sisters father in law teaches pilots how to fly in a flight simulator in Atlanta, GA, so I will try to get down there for a weekend or two to practice. There is literally a section on the PCSM that says "speculated score based on additional flight hours" meaning that having flight hours is an easy way to bump up your PCSM score (provided you have the funds to do it.)

I've also been looking up stats of people who have been selected as pilots and share their information (here) Now, if you look at that page, you will see that I'm kind of opposite. Most have very high AFOQT pilot scores, and low other scores. Many also have flight hours and a private pilot license. Now, as nice as it would be to compare myself to all these stats (I'd probably drop my application immediately) I do also have one extra special thing going for me: I'm a female. Currently, 4.2% of female Air Force pilots are female, and I've been told that they're looking to diversify. Even though my scores may not be as high as others, I have a good chance of getting in because I'm NOT a white male. Do I NEED flight hours or a private pilot license to submit my application? Not particularly. But, I thought, why not do EVERYTHING I can to improve my chances of getting selected? It will show the board I'm serious, and if I'm flying, it will also improve my TBAS score which I'll take in April.

So if all goes well and I get selected to be a pilot, I then have another physical, and the Air Force runs a security clearance on me (more on that in another post...) Then I enter Officer Training School in Maxwell, Alabama. If I graduate, then I get PRK surgery on my eyes so that I have 20/20 vision. The Air Force mandates that you cannot start flying until a year after your surgery, meaning that I have an "eye year" between Officer training and before Pilot School. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I DO during my "eye year".

After my eye year is over, I take the IFS (initial flight screening) which is ALSO an opportunity for failure out of the program. It's supposed to "screen, motivate, and prepare pilot, combat systems officer (CSO), and remote-pilot candidates for entry into Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT)." After that, I would start UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training). That goes for 2 years. After the first year or so, you get asked to make a "wish list" of what you want to fly. You chose "lights" (fighters or bombers) or "heavies" (cargo, refuelers, radar planes...) So IF I get in as a pilot, which I will know by September 2012, I have no idea what I'd be flying until 2015-2016. The Air Force will try to match the person who is "best" in their UPT class with their choice. "Best" is the person who scores highest on in class work as well as in flight training operations. All UPT students in a class are ranked, so once the "best" gets their pick, what's left goes down the meritocratic line, trying to match "smarter" pilots with their choices, based on the needs of the Air Force. If you're at the bottom of your class, and you want to fly "lights" but the Air Force doesn't need any more "light" pilots, you're going to get "heavies". Side note: currently, 2.1% of USAF fighter pilots are female.

After you finish UPT, you go through SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) training. This is in case you go down behind enemy lines. I'd have 1 week in class training, then 1 week out in the wilderness, and 1 week in prison camp. Currently, this part worries me the most (the prison camp part) but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I have a friend who went through SERE in the Navy, and he said it was fun because:
"1) Its a physical challenge which will push you harder than anything you've ever done.
2) It's like grown up hide and seek
3) It's just training...not real"

I hope that I come out with the same attitude.
Another friend who is ex-army said that apparently the price of admission for Marines going through SERE is a broken finger (confirmed by my Uncle, who had a marine friend...)
I asked an Air Force Pilot I know if HIS finger was broken, and he said "Nah."
I'm hoping that Pilots DO NOT get their fingers broken because....I NEED MY FINGERS TO FLY! I feel like if a finger was broken, I'd have to relearn how to operate certain things on a plane. We shall see...

So after that, I get to be a pilot and go to my first assignment....if everything goes smoothly, it looks like I would be a pilot in 2016.

My timeline kind of looks like this (if I get in):
Jan 2012 - took AFOQT
April 2012 - take TBAS and initial physical
May 2012 - submit application with complete PCSM score
Sept 2012 - Acceptance by the board
Oct 2012 - Another physical and security clearance begins
Feb 2013 - Entrance into Officer Training School (OTS)
April 2013 - Graduation from OTS
May 2013 - May 2014 - "Eye Year" (must find more info on this...)
Jun/Jul 2014 -IFS and Enter UPT
Jul 2015 - Find out what kind of planes I get to fly
Jul 2016 - Graduate UPT

I know. The time is a little crazy (not to mention a 10 year commitment STARTING in 2016...) I'll have to save my thoughts on that for another blog post.

Side note: Don't you love all the acronyms the military has?
We'll finish today off with a BBC report of SERE: BBC Video

The Beginning

I quit my job two weeks ago Friday. Last Friday (24 February) was my last day of work. This is my first official day of unemployment. It's a bit sad, honestly.

I'm on my way to becoming a United States Air Force Pilot. It's not guaranteed that I will get it, but I'm going to document my progress as I go.

For a lot of people, this decision may seem to come out of left field. However, it does all have a flow. The whole story will come out in the course of this blog, but for now, just a cursory introduction.

I've always wanted to fly. When I was little, I wanted to be able to jump off the roof and soar through the air. If anyone asked me what super power I would pick, I always said "Flying" without hesitation. I loved movies like Mary Poppins and Peter Pan - I even tried jumping a few feet with an umbrella once to see if it would work (it didn't).
I climbed trees with a PURPOSE. My poor mom and dad must have been terrified. For as long as I can remember, if a tree was climbable, I would climb it. All the way to the top, if possible.

The big game changer was probably springboard diving. I had always loved playing around on diving boards, and when I got to High School, the coaches said they needed divers. Since I knew how to do more than one dive (and make it look pretty) I was designated the new diver. With the help of my wonderful coach, who I stayed with for almost 8 years, I became pretty good. I broke the freshman records at Belmont High School, and even won the league meet 2 years later. I decided to stay with my coach through college, and went to Bentley College (now Bentley University) in Waltham, MA. I added 3 meter to my repertoire (I had only done 1 meter in High School). 3 meter scared me at first, but I slowly got used to it. My favorite dives were the ones where I would twist and turn a bit at the beginning, and still have time to enjoy the free fall before I hit the water.

After college, as a birthday present, my then boyfriend bought me a hang gliding ride for my birthday. I adored it, but hated the fact that someone else was controlling the steering! I wanted to do it! I also wanted to bungee jump and sky dive, but sky diving was put on hold due to the fact that I would (again) have to do a tandem jump and let someone else get to have all the fun while I just came along for the ride. With bungee jumping, I just never was in an area that offered it, and I never sought it out.

Life got in the way after college, and I forgot about loving flying. I moved overseas to Prague, Czech Republic, I went to school, I got a job, I traveled. In late 2009, I went to Japan to visit my brother in law, who was (and still is) working in the navy. My first night there, he took us out to a bar, and I met some of the people he worked with. One girls name was "Jacks" - she was a naval fighter pilot. She had also been a diver in college, and started telling me about how much she loved flying because it was so similar to diving. I listened awestruck and wide eyed, drinking in every word. Unfortunately, the next day, I found out that my cat had died back in Prague, so the rest of the trip I was a blubbery mess and mostly forgot about my conversation with Jacks.

When I got back to Prague after the Japan trip, I picked myself up, and tried contacting an Air Force recruiter for the first time. I knew I didn't want to do Navy (deployment on a large ship for many months didn't appeal to me) and I knew I didn't want to do Army (too big and not enough chance to fly). Air Force seemed perfect though. The whole NAME implied planes and flying. I never heard back.

The next time I tried contacting a recruiter (in 2010, after I moved to Columbus, Ohio) I had more success. However, I let the ball drop again because I had just started a new job, and wasn't sure if it was really the right time to pursue another career. Finally, I contacted the same recruiter again in late 2011, and committed. I initially wanted to be an intelligence officer like my brother in law, and there's a whole story behind that which I will later expand on. However, after a VERY intense period of personal thought, I decided to apply for Pilot.

Today was my first day back in Belmont, where I'll be spending the next couple of months getting ready to submit my final application to the Air Force. I'm also using the time to get into REALLY good shape, so that I won't fall behind or drop out of Officer Training School. I joined a gym today, and had an OK cardio work out. I should have done weights, but I had too much on my mind, and just left after an hour and 15 minutes on the elliptical. I'm going to go for a run with my mom later on today. Running is apparently super important for Officer Training School, (OTS). I'm hoping that this blog will provide interested readers with updates on my progress, and I'm also hoping that since I'm writing everything down, it will hold me more accountable for what I do! No more slacking off :)

I went to High School with a guy (we'll call him "J") who later enlisted in the army, and now works as a private security contractor. He does MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and is an extremely fit guy. He was kind enough to create a weight lifting program for me that I actually did last week, but have slacked off this week due to the move. I probably won't be able to start it again until Thursday or Friday, because my mom is having surgery tomorrow and I'll be taking care of her intently for the next 48 hours at least. The bit of down time will hopefully allow me to write more about the background to this process - there's A LOT.