hey guys i just wanted your input. i have been brainstorming on these boards for a while and could use your advice. i apologize if this question has been ansewered already.
would a private pilots lic, a criminal justice degree (2.6 gpa), and a little over two years civilian police experience make me somewhat competitve for flying in the cg? i was looking at the blue 21 program or a direct commision. flying is something i never considered in the military but i am slowly but surely considering it as a career. i am 24years old i think i still have some time to catch up. any advice? is my degree and gpa going to hold me back?
Good questions. Sorry, you are not qualified to enter as a direct commission aviator. You must have prior military flight training for that.
Your degree is not necessarily going to hold you back as we have pilots with degrees in all sorts of things. The GPA may be a detractor. Your pilots license will be beneficial in two ways but it is certainly not a clincher for anything. One, it will show you have done more that just college and two, if you are accepted into OCS, your flight training will help you in the aviation aptitude tests and could be enough to make your more competitive than your OCS counterparts for a flight slot but that is where the advantage will end.
thanks for the advice. i just finished reading about blue 21 which sounds excelent, only thing is my school doesnt fall withing the 25% minoroty population criteria. too bad so sad. I am still joining the CG, just wish there was a way i could factor flying into my plans.
You can. You don't need blue 21 to fly, that is just one way of getting flight school guaranteed after OCS. If you get into OCS the regular way, you can apply for flight school there and if you don't get accepted there you can keep applying to aviation boards for about 4 years.
If you have the time and large amounts of $$$ go ahead and waste it on your private pilots license. I think there are other things you can do to make a strong package.
It is easier to get into flight school than OCS or the Academy, so worry about that first. There were several cats in my OCS class that had prior flight time that didn't get in right away, but they are showing up now. As far as the ASTB (pilot aptitude test), you can buy books to help you study and they cost a lot less than flying lessons. The only benefit that I've seen it give you at flight school is the squadron might accelerate you, but it has also burned students before.
