On 21 Feb 2004 19:42:07 -0800, (AKav8r) wrote:

I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Found this today, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek answer to some of your
questions:

To Lt Col Van Wickler:

Sir, I am DJ Baker and I would appreciate it if you
could tell me what it takes to be an F-16 fighter
pilot of the USAF. What classes should I take in high
school to help the career I want to take later in my
life? What could I do to get in the academy?

Sincerely,

DJ Baker

Dear DJ,

Obviously, through no fault of your own, your young,
impressionable brain has been poisoned by the
superfluous, hyped-up, "Top Gun" media portrayal of
fighter pilots. Unfortunately, this portrayal could
not be further from the truth. In my experience, I've
found most fighter pilots pompous, back-stabbing,
momma's boys with inferiority complexes, as well as
being extremely over-rated aeronautically. However,
rather than dash your budding dreams of becoming a
USAF pilot, I offer the following alternative. What
you REALLY want to aspire to is the exciting,
challenging, and rewarding world of TACTICAL AIRLIFT.
And this, young DJ, means one thing--the venerable,
workhorse C-130.

I can guarantee no fighter pilot can brag that he has
led a 12-ship formation down a valley at 300 ft above
the ground, while trying to interpret a 9-line to a
new DZ, avoiding pop-up threats, and coordinating with
AWACS, all while eating a box lunch, with the engineer
in the back taking a leak, the navigator reading a
Penthouse, and the co-pilot puking in his trash can!

I tell you, DJ, TAC Airlift is where it's at. Where
else is it legal to throw tanks, HMMWVs, and other
crap out the back of an airplane, and not even worry
about it when the chute doesn't open and it torpedoes
the General's staff car! No where else can you land on
a 3000' dirt strip, kick a bunch of ammo and stuff off
the ramp without even stopping, then take off again
before range control can call and tell you you've
landed on the wrong LZ! And talk about exotic
travel--when C-130s go somewhere, they GO somewhere
(usually for 3 months, unfortunately). This gives you
the opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture
enough to give any local population a bad taste in
their mouths, not something those strat-lift pilots
can do from their airport hotel rooms!

As far as recommendations for your course of study, I
offer these. Take a lot of math courses. You will need
all the advanced math skills you can muster to
facilitate the calculation of per diem rates around
the world, and when trying to split up the crew's bar
tab so that the co-pilot really believes he owes 85%
of the whole thing. Health sciences are important,
too. You will need a thorough knowledge of biology to
make those educated guesses of how much longer you can
drink beer before the tremendous case of Montazuma
revenge catches up to you from that meal you ate at
that place that had the belly dancers in some
God-forsaken foreign country whose name you can't even
pronounce!

Social studies are beneficial. It is important for a
good TAC Airlifter to have the cultural knowledge to
be able to ascertain the exact location of the nearest
bar in any country in the world, then be able to
convince the local authorities to release the
loadmaster after he offends every sensibility of the
local religion and culture. A Foreign language is
helpful, but not required.

You will never be able to pronounce the names of the
NAVAIDs in France, and it's much easier to ignore them
and go where you want to anyway. A study of geography
is also paramount. You will need to know the basic
location of all the places you've been when you get
back from your TDY and are ready to stick those little
pins in that huge world map you've got taped to your
living room wall, right next to that gigantic wooden
giraffe statue and beer stein collection.

Well, DJ, I hope this little note inspires you. And by
the way, forget about that Academy thing. All TAC
Airlifters know that there are waaay too few women and
too little alcohol there to provide a well-balanced
education. A nice, big state college would be a much
better choice.

Good luck and see you on the SKE scope!


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8