OTS Application Advice – 17OT01 Civilian Select

Here is some great advice from an Air Force Journey follower.

Good luck and keep fighting!

17OT01 Civilian Select here.  I was officially selected March 2017.  Finally after a LONG LONG LONG LONG time I’m slotted for class 19-02.  I just wanted to confirm your theory that a bunch of us from 17OT01 are going in FY 2019.  We were at the time the non rated board and they rolled our board from December to March to pick up extra packages.  They selected a ton of people to go to OTS.  We ended up with just north of 1,000 people on our board and the selection percentage was very high.  If you’re AD you can go look it’s still up.

In addition to that, the Air Force has a well publicized pilot retention issue.  AFRS took non-rated OTS slot allocations and converted them to rated, and pushed all of us back to the next FY.  So all of that helped back up the pipeline.

We got word in January 2018 that AFRS had stacked everyone from my board into classes and was determined to push us all through in FY 2019, and that’s when myself and a lot of my civilian peers started to receive unofficial notification.  I’ve seen people go two months after they got selected (AFOSI magic required), 6 months for critically manned fields like Nuclear Missiles Officer, and longer than 48 months for guys that get lost in the pipeline.

Supposedly if you apply today and get selected, you’re issued a class date once you receive notification of AFSC.

So for timeline clarification:

• February 2016 – I called my recruiter the last week in February 2016.
• May 2016 – Studied for the AFOQT.
• August 2016 – Didn’t get access to take the AFOQT until August 2016.
• September 2016 – Interviewed and turned in my package September 2016, boarded up, board was rolled.
• March 2017 – Selected officially.
• April 2017 – Official notification.
• September 2017 – Enlisted into DEP.
• September 2018 – Headed to OTS.  That brings my official wait time is 18 months from selection to ship.

The average official wait time for a selected candidate is 12-36 months.  A buddy of mine from the 2016 boards waited 24 months.  I think AFRS is working to make changes to expedite the wait times because it really reflects poorly on the Air Force as a whole.  It amazes me how many active duty officers have no idea how long we’re waiting to go to OTS.

My advice to someone considering the military officer route should you want it:

• Seriously consider ROTC if it fits.
• Always be ready.  Things change all the time but it’s SUPER CHALLENGING to get picked up for OTS right now.  But a month from now it could be 100% different.  Ever since being selected in March 2017 I have been ready any day to get a phone call telling me I got bumped up in the pipeline because the reality for 1% is it happens.
• If you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to be an Air Force officer and are ascending through OTS, accept the fact that it will take a long time.  When my mentor went through OTS in 2001 street to seat wait time was 12 months AND he got to call the Air Force and tell them what job he wanted, HA! (He’s been a pilot for 17 years this August) I told myself a long time ago I would never quit under any condition, someone will have to kill me or forcibly remove me from the pipeline.  I’m 25 and I’ve wanted to be in the military since I was 4 years old.  But, a lot of guys have dropped out because of the wait times.

Get excited about the Air Force, put in a package, get selected, then keep working your current job and forget you ever got selected until it becomes necessary.

If you’re a civilian get connected with other folks in the process.  This is in no way a negative reflection of my recruiter but the Active Duty folks have been clarifying, helping, and keeping us more up to date than a lot of our recruiters have.  The civilians have also been communicating with each other to get a big picture idea of this whole process.

If you’re not married to a specific job with the Air Force consider all your branch of service options, but know that they are just as competitive and are also backed up.  From selection to ship the USCG, Navy and Army I heard are all at 1 year and the USMC last I heard was pushing 9 months delay.

Be your own advocate and educate yourself on the post selection process because it’s extremely likely you will outlast the lifespan of your recruiter.  My recruiter was really good but he’s PCSing in a week.  I know other folks who are on recruiter number three.

Good luck and keep fighting!