Junior in High School, Interested in Career as Fighter Pilot.

[MattWSU]

Hey,

I'm a 16 year-old Junior in High School, and I am looking for a career as a fighter pilot. I was hoping to get a bit of information that is specific towards my own situation. During my Freshmen year, I was quite immature and ignorant about the big picture and I slacked, received some bad grades, and ended up with a 1.5 cumulative GPA by the end of that year. Sophomore year I picked up quite a bit and got a 2.7 GPA which brought me up to 1.8 cumulative. First semester of this year, I really started hitting the books and received a 3.2 GPA which only brought me up to 2.0 cumulative.

I looked into the Air Force/Naval Academy but I am far below their standard and meet few eligibility requirements. In the last few days, after basically breathing information from forums like this one about the steps to becoming a fighter pilot, I have decided OCS would probably be my best bet. I am in a program called Running Start where I go to High School two classes a day and Community College two classes day thus receiving college credit and a ton of extra High School credits. Upon graduating high school, I will have to complete one more quarter at the community college then I will be transferring to a four year as a Junior (at age 18).

I'm not sure what I should get a Bachelor's in if I want to go to OCS and then attempt to become a fighter pilot. Who would be the appropriate person to talk to in this situation? I still have not decided on a branch but I am leaning towards Navy. My father was a Major in the Air Force before retiring in 1998 and was in every branch excluding coast guard, would this give me an edge at all in the whole process? If you can counsel me on this please do as I really need to get some information. Thanks for reading.

Matt

 

[HighDimension]

One thing to remember is that a stellar academic record is college is way more important than anything from high school. So keep excelling in school and don't get down about a low HS GPA. Get into a college and shine!

 

[Jameski]

I second that HighDimension! Your college GPA will follow you the rest of your life. I kind of did the same thing in college that you did in high school... first year or so I just had fun and didn't really hit the books...came out with a 2.5 GPA... figured out that wasn't going to do, did some growing up, and spent my last two years trying to pull that up. I did and I got it up to a 3.3 at Temple University, Tokyo Branch but still it took me two years to bring that up. Anyways, lesson learned. But, yeah, your college GPA will be key for OCS (or really any program for that matter)... I don't think I even had to put down my high school GPA for my OCS application.

 

[Thisguy]

Look into a ROTC scholarship. Plus, you may get to do a middie cruise with a squadron and see what life is like on the boat.

 

[super hornet]

You don't have to go to the academy to get a flight spot. I am going to community college right now and am transferring to a 4 year school next fall. I just got my spot in flight school and I am not going to the academy or anything. Just do really well in college, that's what matters. Get in touch with an oso if you have more questions.

 

[MattWSU]

A lot of these acronyms I'm not familiar with. Can someone englighten me as to what they stand for? Particularly OSO.

Super Hornet, do you think you can elaborate a bit more on how you got your flight spot?

Thanks for the replies,
Matt

 

[Chubby]

OSO = Officer Selection Officer. Basically a recruiter for officers as opposed to enlisted members.

 

[MattWSU]

Would I want to get in touch with him now? Or in the near future (university)? And what would be the easiest way to get in touch with an OSO?

Matt

 

[super hornet]

Well first of all I'm going marines. A while ago I was gonna fly navy but the officer I was talking too kept saying how difficult it was to get a flight spot. It was a little discouraging but if you want it that bad you will work for it, it’s definitely not impossible. The navy has programs you can apply for that will guarantee you a spot in flight school but you have to be selected and that is the tricky part cauz there is no shortage of people who want to be pilots. It is very competitive. To apply for the program you have to be at a 4 year university and have a certain GPA. That program is alot like the one I am in right now for the marines. But one of the major differences between the navy and marine programs (besides what happens after you get selected) is that you can be at a community college and apply. So I applied, got selected and I have my spot in flight school granted I get through ocs and tbs.

 

[Chubby]

Depends on what route you want to pursue. Try these to give you a little more insight as to what programs are available.

https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/
http://www.navy.com/careers/officer/

But honestly, as was said before, concentrate on your grades and performance now, get into a good school and excel there. That should set you up to get where you want to be.

 

[super hornet]

Would I want to get in touch with him now? Or in the near future (university)? And what would be the easiest way to get in touch with an OSO?

Matt

The sooner you start, the better. Try calling an enlistment office and ask for the # of the nearest officer recruiter.

 

[zippy]

Choose a major you are interested in- liking your major will make years off classes in it easier to deal with.

If your going to be done with the highschool/community college program at 18- maybe look into a 4yr ROTC scholarship and start as a freshman at a 4yr school. Also, look into 2+3 year scholarships at whatever school you may transfer to as well as BDCP and OCS.

Not trying to discourage you, but have a backup plan, and keep all your options open. There is a huge number of factors that are going to come into play between where you are now and where you want to be- You arent going to be able to control most of them. Apply to All the services as well as think about what you might want to do things do not workout. Keep a positive attitude and keep working towards your goal. You may have to reapply multiple times and take a few detours to get to where you want to go.

 

[Slammer2]

Would I want to get in touch with him now? Or in the near future (university)? And what would be the easiest way to get in touch with an OSO?

Matt

I went to Marineofficer.com and filled out an info thing and got a call from them in about a week or so after that

 

[Snacks]

Don't be brainwashed by the Navy, come to the good side of the Air Force. Try for an AFROTC scholarship. I've been out of AFROTC for a while now, so I don't know how many they're handing out. Can't hurt to take a look, plus you'd never have to do anything crazy like landing an aircraft on a boat. Geez, those guys are dangerous...

 

[MattWSU]

Being a Marine Pilot does seem a bit more realistic. I thought about it but prior to researching did not even know the Marines had fighter jets. I think I'll go to the marineofficer.com website and check it out. The main thing my mom is trying to tell me is that a recruiter will basically say anything to get you to join.

Matt