For a job so specific and with so few people, becoming a test pilot is often times as much luck as it is skill. Army O grades have a very narrow window to get there, generally 2 attempts to apply. Timing, deployments, PCSs, PME, family, and anything else you can think of can factor in to derail your plans. If you don't make it your top priority you'll probably never get there.
Stupid army sayings apply here: You miss all the shots you don't take. Make them tell you no. Apply early, apply often.
What makes you think it's not my top priority? I think it's pretty clear that it takes a certain amount of the right experience to get into TPS, and that's what I've been trying to do all along. I studied engineering for 6 years and I started out with a solid plan in the USAF and that got wrecked. So in the meantime I scrambled to get more experimental test experience as an FTE, while simultaneously finding my way through a medical maze to transfer services to fly. I succeeded and worked hard in training, graduated as DG, and swung a sweet deal to work as a civilian FTE and fly with the Guard. Now I am where I am, and I'm looking to make plans to give up me and my wife's civilian engineering jobs for a chance at TPS. No doubt my life is not the same as when I was a single guy chasing the dream, but my goals are still essentially the same. Some would call me crazy for even considering this.
So before I make another leap, I want to understand my chances, and make sure I put myself in a position that can make it happen. And I don't think it would be smart to go into a job that I would hate with the hopes of getting to TPS, because as you've said, the window is quite narrow. I'm certainly willing to open that window by reverting to Warrant, but that's not in the cards right at this moment; maybe a couple of years down the road. What I learned from my USAF debacle, is that I always need a backup plan, hence why I'm looking into so many options to accomplish this. Even if none work out, there's still a possibility to get into experimental test as a civilian pilot. And if the laws of physics change and aircraft no longer are capable of flight, then I'll just start over figuring out how to make them fly again.
I'll apply early and often, as soon as someone will accept my application. I might even put one together and just send it in although I'm in the National Guard. It will probably land in the trash, but whatever.
