LOR from Fam member who was in Military

[bottlenose]

I have quite a few family members who served in the military, mostly Army. My father, grandfather, uncle..etc.. However my Uncle was a O-3 for the Reserves for many years and was in charge of a unit based on Long Island. He is willing to write me a LOR, but can I use one from a family member? I know I should ask my OR but hes sometimes tough to get in touch with.

Also, I trained a Taiwanese guy for his commercial pilot license at my University. We became good friends and both of his parents are Colonels in the Taiwanese military. He told me he wants his father to write me a LOR... I was thankful to him but would a LOR from another countries Military help me out, especially being that hes a Colonel and I trained his son?

 

[Sly1978]

Check the "LOR Megathread" or whatever they're calling it now. Lot's of really great advice there.

Here's my quickhit advice that I'll give to everyone for where your 3 LORs should come from (assuming that's still the number they want):

1. Close family friend. Someone who's seen you grow up and knows about your character and level of maturity. This is also where a clergyman makes a good source if you've known him long enough. If they've been in the military and can use their military experience as a basis for their judgment, that's a good thing. I think that the letter from your uncle would qualify here. Don't worry about the board thinking that he'll be biased because he's related to you. All of our LORs are biased. That's why we got them.

2. Professional relationship. Someone who's worked with you in your professional life. The Taiwanese Colonel might qualify here, but only if he can pull specifically from what you did with his son. Hopefully he was taking a semi-active role in his son's training and so he's seen you in action, so-to-speak. Your post almost sounds like you've never met the Colonel. If that's the case, look elsewhere. Whatever you do, avoid getting the "Canned-LOR.doc" from someone just because they may be important. Why not ask the guy you actually taught? He could probably gen one up for you. If you're worried about a foreign LOR, I wouldn't worry. Taiwan currently is pretty high on our "Good Guy" list. It may actually catch the boards attention enough that they'll actually read it.

3. School. Get a teacher or someone who's seen how you study into the act. After all, flight school is really a lot like an intense graduate school. Have someone who can attest to your study habits and abilities write a letter to the board.

There you go. Hope it helps. Feel free to PM me if you want more advice, but I'll warn you that I'm no expert.

 

[bottlenose]

Thanks.. I'll probably have my uncle write me one then.

I've got some solid ones right now.. Keep in mind, where I am coming from with these, I am a flight instructor at a university (same one I graduated from).. One from the Chief Pilot of the school (aka my current boss), one from my former flight instructor while I was training there, A student of mine who I trained for his PPL (portfolio manager on wall street), and a boss from my previous job which was very team oriented. All can contest for me very well.. Im hoping the aviation related ones say a thing or two about my discipline while I was a student pilot and my ability to succeed through a very difficult program.