{"id":51986,"date":"2021-07-08T16:33:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T16:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/08\/how-hard-is-it-to-become-an-air-force-pilot\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:17:24","slug":"how-hard-is-it-to-become-an-air-force-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2021\/07\/08\/how-hard-is-it-to-become-an-air-force-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"How hard is it to become an Air Force pilot?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How hard is it to become an Air Force pilot? posed a user on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/How-hard-is-it-to-become-an-air-force-pilot\" target=\"_blank\">Quora<\/a>, the popular question and answer platform. With just <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Air Force has 12,395 pilots, 3,313 navigators and 1,343 air battle managers in the grade of lieutenant colonel and below,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afpc.af.mil\/About\/Air-Force-Demographics\/#:~:text=The%20Air%20Force%20has%2012%2C395,of%20lieutenant%20colonel%20and%20below.\" target=\"_blank\">according to personnel records<\/a>. \u201cThe Air Force has 26,097 nonrated line officers in the grade of lieutenant colonel and below.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a small number, but for those who dream of taking to the skies with the Air Force, it\u2019s not impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe problem potential USAF pilots have is there is such a tiny number of pilot training slots compared to the number of interested candidates,\u201d wrote Jim Howard, a commercial pilot and former USAF Electronic Warfare Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Howard doesn\u2019t believe that should discourage hopefuls from trying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026heck, somebody has to fly those F-22\u2032s! The only way to know if you\u2019re one of those somebodies is to throw your hat in the ring!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another pilot, Michael Wales, described the pilot requirements in a lengthy post on the forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFirst, all pilots in the US Air Force are officers, this means you\u2019ll need a college degree and you\u2019ll need to complete Officer Training School (OTS &#8211; essentially the equivalent of enlisted personnel\u2019s basic training) between the ages of 18 and 29,\u201d he wrote, adding, \u201cif you pass that you might get one of roughly 1,400 pilot trainee slots available each year. You\u2019ll continue through Introductory Flight Training (teaching basic flight concepts common amongst all aviation), you\u2019ll then attend Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training for a year to learn military aviation concepts. From this point, based on your performance\/skills you\u2019ll be assigned a category of airframe (for example, Fighters, Cargo\/Tankers, UAVs, etc) and will then continue on to an Advanced Training course unique to that platform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some on the forum suggest that the barrier to entry has much to do with timing, however. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a supply and demand equation,\u201d wrote John Tringali, who identified himself as a pilot. \u201cIf the AF really really needs pilots desperately (like right now) you can get through and have issues remembering which way is left and which is right. Other times, when the military is drawing down, you fail a single check ride and you get washed out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there was no consensus about the chances of becoming a pilot, training is not easy. And the life of a pilot can be taxing. However, one user suggested that it\u2019s worth the hardships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecoming a USAF Fighter pilot was one of the toughest things I\u2019ve ever done in my life,\u201d wrote user Charlie Alpha. \u201cIt requires 110% dedication &amp; motivation, extreme mental fortitude, resiliency, and a can\u2019t quit attitude. Not every person can do it, and once you do, you realize there are very few things you can\u2019t accomplish if you apply yourself fully.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quora responds to difficulties associated with becoming USAF pilot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":42701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,24,88,89,70,16,26,17,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3291],"class_list":["post-51986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-military-culture","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OKAV4THWXNCJPAHDX5KJQLWPJU","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2021\/07\/08\/how-hard-is-it-to-become-an-air-force-pilot\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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