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There are three primary ways to become an officer in the Air Force:
All of these commissioning sources have one thing in common: a bachelors degree. Only in very rare circumstances does the Chief of Staff waive this regulation when commissioning an officer; therefore, you should plan on entering one of these programs to attain one or already have done so. There are many other requirements to becoming an officer, such as physical fitness standards, having a clean-record, etc. Listed below are some of the advantages and disadvantages to each program, as well as some useful information linked to help you succeed in each. |
ROTC: Reserve Officer Training Corps |
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The ROTC program is one of the most common commissioning sources in the country. At certain universities are "detachment" units that are responsible for training cadets who are enrolled in their program. One much first be accepted as a cadet after completing the appropriate applications, be part of the unit for the majority of their college experience and complete field training between their sophmore and junior years. This program can be somewhat demanding as an additional commitment in college but it does not take up your whole life like the US Air Force Academy. The downside to an ROTC commission towards becoming a pilot is that it is more competitive due to the lack of "slots" coming out of ROTC. You can go on to the ROTC main website here and learn more about specific colleges that may offer ROTC detachment units at their universities as well as more about the program itself. Also, realize there are many opportunities presented to ROTC cadets that do not involve military life. Read this article on just one cadet and his experiences as an ROTC cadet. This is interesting because he is using his ROTC opportunities for something other than flying, which is perfectly fine. This program, like many others can open a lot of doors. |
US Air Force Academy (USAFA) |
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The US Air Force Academy is situated in Colorado Springs, CO and is one of the three service academies (West Point and Annapolis are the other two). Here, cadets spend all 4-years living a military lifestyle and will graduate with a Bachelor of Science. USAFA can be very demanding with many restrictions on cadets due to the miltiary training environment. That being said, the largest advantage that the Academy has to offer is the number of pilot training slots alotted to them. Being the number one commissioning source, the Academy has close to half of its' graduating seniors going to pilot training. So long-story short, if you really want to fly, it might be worth the demanding college experience through the academy to get yourself a pilot training slot. Although it might seem advantagous to go to the academy, it is very difficult to get into. See here on how the process works and all the requirements necessary to be accepted. One shoud be warned that their standards are more strict then some Ivy League schools. |
OTS: Officer Training School
This program is only 12 weeks long and the "sprint" version of the Academy or ROTC. At Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL, officer candidates will go through the rigors of military life in a condensed environment. From a purely time stant point, this is the way to go. From a flying standpoint, this option is not terrible either. Once again, the competitiveness for a slot is high (like ROTC) but there are a lot less people to compete with as well. There are some direct commissioned officers who go through an even shorter course but that route involves enlisting first and can be very demanding.
Here is a link to the Air Force's OTS webpage for you to get more information on the application process and their system.
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