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Question
Hey. I am currently a sophomore at USC and I want to be a navy fighter pilot. I’m in great physical shape and my academics have always been very strong. I was wondering how much if at all not attending a military academy or ROTC program will hurt me from achieving my goal. I know that these two paths are preferred for getting into flight school but will going through OCS hurt my chances of becoming a fighter pilot once I’m in flight school. Thanks and I appreciate your time.
H Chris,
The program is competitive. It's "competitive," both for OCS slots, and for "aviation" slots.
First of all, you'll have to compete for various OCS slots available. For example, let's say that there are 1,200 OCS slots available for the next year, and 5,000 college graduate applicants (that's about the "standard."). You would be competing against those 5,000 applicants to get one of the 1,200 available OCS Slots. As an aviation applicant, you would also be competing against those applying for aviation positions.
There are several factors that the selection board takes into consideration to determine who gets selected for the limited number of slots, and who doesn't. The primary factor is GPA. The higher your GPA the better your chances. Another important factor is your scores on the Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB). This test is required for all Navy OCS applicants, whether they are aviation applicants, or not. For more information on this test, see the book I wrote, "Barron's Officer Candidate Scool Tests," available in any major book store.
If you want a decent shot at becoming an aviator, you'll want to score very high on the "aviation" portions of this test. It also wouldn't hurt if you had a private pilot's license.
Keep in mind, however, that even if you make it though all of this and get selected for Navy OCs, and get selected for aviation training, the Navy has lots more types of aircraft than just fighters. Your class standings in flight school determine what type of aircraft you will be assigned to fly.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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