So does anyone know if IST's into the AF are still a thing for Navy pilots wanting to go U-2? I can't find any current information on this.
So does anyone know if IST's into the AF are still a thing for Navy pilots wanting to go U-2? I can't find any current information on this.
So does anyone know if IST's into the AF are still a thing for Navy pilots wanting to go U-2? I can't find any current information on this.
Actually, we are again. Airline hiring has dwindled our numbers enough that IST's are opening up again. I believe we have a Marine and a Navy guy already scheduled to come out for formal interviews in the near future. I'll send you a PM with the contact info for the guy in charge of recruiting.
Not to threadjack (though seems like the OP's question has been answered) - when it comes to IST's into the regular Air Force, I've only ever heard of U-2s routinely taking them in significant numbers. Is that perception accurate? If so, why? Dudes bolting for the airlines is hardly a U-2-only problem, but I don't see the AF trying to poach Navy or Marine guys for fighters or RPA (which also have significant manning problems).
Did he have to execute those orders?They were a few years ago. One of my buddies went tried out, got accepted and picked up for the IST in the Airforce side... PERS-43 promptly cut him orders for the disassociated sea tour to prevent his departure.
I've seen guys in other communities switch over. I've also known one guy who went over to fly Pavehawks and bumped into another guy who went over to fly Pavelows (and their other toys they have).
...I just got the impression that it was more common for the active AF side in U-2s and wondered why that was. Or maybe it's just more widely known-about?
...the somewhat truncated career prospects for many...
Having worked with a few U-2 pilots I can say that their attitudes and personalities seemed to be more like Navy aviators than your stereotypical USAF type, it didn't hurt one of them had done an exchange tour with a VFA squadron.
...My wonderment wasn't so much why Navy guys go fly U-2s, or even why the AF approves it. More wondering why it seems like U-2s is the only place in the regular AF where you see a lot of ISTs, especially when they're critically undermanned in many other communities. They're having a lot of trouble filling RPA seats, and hurting for fighter bodies (which is hardly career-limiting in the Air Force), yet don't seem interested in soliciting all the FOSx2 13XX LT's the Navy has these days.
A lot easier to do and explain away to everyone with such a small and specialized community, a lot harder to do on a larger scale and one that would force the USAF some of its issues on a larger, force-wide scale.
Are U-2 guys happier than the rest of the AF?