Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 9/14/2009

Question
Mark,

I am a junior at Berea college.  My plan and dream is to fly in the air force.  I just received my Private pilot license.  My first question is how many hours of flight time is necessary to have a good shot at receiving a slot? Do i need all my ratings? Do OTS officers have a good shot at a pilot slot.  And finally is there any way i could get help financially to get more hours.  I worked endlessly just to cover my private.  Its expensive.  Sorry but i cant get these answers anywhere.  I have the determination and I know for sure this is what I was born to do.  I love it, and ill do anything to get that slot.

Answer
Joseph,
The Berea just south of Lexington?  Nice school.  I wish I'd seen your question earlier.  I was just there yesterday, working to get an ROTC program or aerospace program.  But the college seems firmly grounded in Liberal Arts and isn't interested in "possibly producing warriors."  I'm at Ft. Knox today.  I plan to retire in that area someday.

First off you do not need a pilot's license at all to go to AF OTS.  Since you do have one, it's going to be a big benefit to you.  I know how expensive it can be.  I had my private, commercial, single-engine land, single-engine sea, multi-engine land, multi-engine sea, and instrument rating before I joined and thought I'd go broke.

Yes, OTS officers have a very good shot at pilot training.  As I'm sure you've probably discovered through research, all you need is a Bachelor's degree in anything.  However, your competition for pilot slots come from the AF Academy where every potential pilot receives a degree in aeronautical engineering.  Still, you've got them beat because they've never flown anything other than gliders.  They've never experienced a power-on stall or an in-flight engine outage like you have.  When you talk to a n OTS recruiter make sure he makes a copy of your pilot's license and includes it in your OTS application package.  You will also need at least 3 Letters of Reference from people of importance when the time comes.  If you can get a letter from your CFI saying what a good pilot you are, it will help a lot.

Don't worry about buying more hours, you have a license and that's enough to put you over the edge when it comes time to select pilots.  Concentrate on keeping your GPA up and I think you'll do just fine.

From one pilot to another, I think you have a good chance.
Thanks for wanting to serve.
Colonel H