Today I am an active duty 2nd Lieutenant Awaiting Pilot Training (APT) at Laughlin AFB (XL). OTS was an amazing experience and pushed me to look inside myself like never before. I learned a lot and have met some extraordinary people. I have become even more humbled by the experience. I hope this blog has served its purpose of providing information that will help motivated and deserving individuals become future Air Force Officers.
For multiple reasons this will be my last blog post. Change is the only constant in life and the military is no different. Since starting this blog the AFOQT has changed to reflect ABM scores, the PCSM has updated to version 2.0 and my family has been blessed with twins. All these reasons coupled with my soon-to-be 12 hour flight training days (plus a few more studying hours at home) have put an end to this blog. I will not be replying to any more comments, making any updates or posting any more entries.
I get emails every now and then asking about specific AFOQT scores, advice on how to study or if I think a person is qualified enough to become an officer. I will give the best advice I can with my perspective: If you can look in the mirror and tell yourself that you did absolutely everything within you power to reach your goals then you should seek peace with the outcome, whatever it may be. Whether that means you become a command pilot with 5000 hours or you get rejected from the Air Force 4 times and decide on a different life path.
Each of us is destined for something, but I think some of us are not willing to sacrifice what is needed to get there. Talent has nothing to do with my success; I believe I have very little of that quality. Throughout this journey the two things that got me where I am today are 1.) Being fortunate enough to have exceptional people help me along the way and 2.) Working so hard that I can honestly say I have no regrets about the outcome. This was true right after I submitted my package and it's true now. I don't know if I'll retire from the Air Force or even pin on wings (I didn't even know if I'd get selected to OTS), but I do know one thing: I'm going to work my ass off no matter what. If you're reading this I'm sure you're putting in that effort and work to reach your goals; don't compromise and don't stop. Just remember to take care of yourself and those who help(ed) you get where you are. Good luck in all you will do.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Class Date Received
Today I was officially given my orders for BOT 13-08. That means I will be leaving for OTS on July 9th. I will be leaving the only car with the family and flying to Maxwell through MEPS. That wasn't my first choice but it had to be done. All that's left for me will be reading the OTSMAN (again) and attempting to max out my PT test before I go.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Security Clearance
Once you have been selected for the opportunity to become an air force officer you must go through a security clearance. This is basically a background check on steroids. They do this so they can make sure they can trust you to keep the government's secrets. Red flags include things like large unpaid debts, multiple jobs you got fired from, references you list that can't vouch for your character, etc... I hope you didn't lie on any forms you signed with the recruiter or MEPS because they will find out, and then you're in trouble. They will do an FBI background check, credit report, and follow many other leads (such as visit your past and present employers, coworkers, references, and family members).
If you do a little research on airforceots.com you will see that many times the recruiter either leaves information off your official forms or messes up dates (or both). The reason you will find this out is because you will be interviewed by someone from the government and they will go over your form line by line. My form was missing both dates and information. It made me feel like a complete idiot trying to remember all the dates I had given my recruiter only to remember a few minutes later that they were wrong. The poor agent had to keep scratching out dates, times and addresses because I couldn't remember them correctly. I never remember seeing the official document that was sent to be reviewed for my application, only the page where I signed. That's pretty bad because that signature is law and any false or misleading information can be severely punishable by law. My recruiter told me to just put down what I remembered and not to worry about the parts I didn't, but the agent that interviewed me was not happy about that advice.
I have nothing to hide but I didn't make a good impression by mis-remembering information. My advice is to keep EVERY form you have EVER given your recruiter so that when you are scheduled for the interview you can just hand them the papers you gave the recruiter. The agency that does the clearance won't make the final decision to accept you into the air force or not. That decision is made by the AF itself. It's better to be upfront about past wrongdoings than to have the investigators find out that you lied about it. So from the moment you sign your first document with your recruiter make sure you are upfront about EVERYTHING!
If you do a little research on airforceots.com you will see that many times the recruiter either leaves information off your official forms or messes up dates (or both). The reason you will find this out is because you will be interviewed by someone from the government and they will go over your form line by line. My form was missing both dates and information. It made me feel like a complete idiot trying to remember all the dates I had given my recruiter only to remember a few minutes later that they were wrong. The poor agent had to keep scratching out dates, times and addresses because I couldn't remember them correctly. I never remember seeing the official document that was sent to be reviewed for my application, only the page where I signed. That's pretty bad because that signature is law and any false or misleading information can be severely punishable by law. My recruiter told me to just put down what I remembered and not to worry about the parts I didn't, but the agent that interviewed me was not happy about that advice.
I have nothing to hide but I didn't make a good impression by mis-remembering information. My advice is to keep EVERY form you have EVER given your recruiter so that when you are scheduled for the interview you can just hand them the papers you gave the recruiter. The agency that does the clearance won't make the final decision to accept you into the air force or not. That decision is made by the AF itself. It's better to be upfront about past wrongdoings than to have the investigators find out that you lied about it. So from the moment you sign your first document with your recruiter make sure you are upfront about EVERYTHING!
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