I’ll start this post by saying that I am not an official source so I have no inside look into how all of this actually works. My theories are based on my experience with this process over the past three years and the random info I pick up from the forums and Facebook groups. Take that for what it is.
Tons of Applicants
For the past few years, the OTS board process has had to sift through hundreds of applicants, to the point where the AFRS staff and boards were getting overwhelmed. Just bare-minimum processing all of the applications is a feat in itself, considering the next step of finding outstanding officer candidates is an entirely different challenge. About a year ago they created a rule where only the first 125 of applicants for a board would be considered. This rule was extremely stressful for applicants because people thought they had to race to submit their application in SharePoint. I think AFRS caught on to the fact that this was probably not a good way to solve their problem, so they rescinded the rule a few boards later.
Extended OTS (TFOT) Class Assignment Wait Times
Another big problem that AFRS was dealing with is a massive wait time from selection as an officer to when you would actually attend OTS. Prior to FY2018 when you were selected for a board you were given a list of action items you had to accomplish such as submit base preferences, complete physicals, security clearance paperwork, etc. Once you were done with all action items, you would then be placed on a list of people who needed a class date. This works great if the number of selects matches the number of available class dates but there was a time when there were way more selects than available classes. This meant that the stack of names who needed a class had to wait an extended amount of time before they could attend OTS. It also made it difficult for AFRS to predict the relationship between how many officer candidates they could select for future boards and the number of available OTS classes.
Managing the Numbers
Here is my personal theory on how we got to where we are today. Although they shortened TFOT by a week there is still a maximum number of officers they can train every year. As part of the normal selection process, boards which occur in one Fiscal Year (FY) will fill the requirements and OTS class dates for the next FY. I personally believe they selected more officers during the FY2017 boards than they had FY2018 class dates available. If this happens they have to have some way to manage the pipeline. Toward the end of the FY2017 boards they started including the following verbiage on the FY2017/FY2018 updates they would push out.
Officer Selection Boards are subject to be cancelled once our accession targets are met.
For the FY2018 boards I also heard that they changed the way class dates are allocated. Instead of waiting until you complete all requirements to slot you for a class, starting in 18OT01 they allocated a class date for you upon selection. This created a more predictable wait time for all selects, and it helped AFRS solve the problem of constantly balancing the needed quotas vs. available class dates.
If this is all true the FY2018 boards will fill FY2019 OTS class dates as part of their new policy, and this is consistent with what I am seeing on Facebook. FY2017 board selects would then need to be slotted for wherever they could fit in FY2018 or FY2019, and that is also consistent with what I am seeing on Facebook. After all of this is done they will have a good idea of whether their accession targets are met, and they can then cancel the rest of the boards. I think this is exactly what happened. They finally got a handle on where they are while people were preparing for 18OT03, and this is why they limited it to only rated and cancelled 18OT04. If there are not slots available there is no reason to do a board.
The good news with this new policy is that the FY2018 boards are basically a proof of concept and a clean-up period. FY2019 should be a lot more predictable. Once they start back up the boards in FY2019 the pipeline to a FY2020 class should be a lot more consistent for all applicants.
Weighing Your Options
You want to become an Air Force officer but you are frustrated by the cancelled boards and lack of information. What do you do now?
Continue to Wait
Here are the dates I posted the Line Officer board schedules for the previous three years:
- 2016: 2 May 2015
- 2017: 13 May 2016
- 2018: 28 June 2017
Given this information, I would expect to see the FY2019 Line Officer board schedule in the next few months. This will tell you when you as a civilian or active duty member will be able to apply. Based on what I have been hearing, I personally believe the next boards will be in the January – March 2019 time-frame, but you will have to wait for the official schedule to be sure.
If you choose this option what can you do in the meantime?
- Study for and take the AFOQT. If you are active duty you can schedule this through the base education center. If you are a civilian you can work with a recruiter or contact the closest Air Force ROTC detachment. You will probably have better luck with an ROTC detachment based on recruiter workload.
- Put together an “App Profile” draft, reference my post on the Board Scoring Criteria under “Application/Post Board Feedback,” and work on your weak areas. 9-12 months should give you some time to pad your resume.
- If you are active duty, consider your assignment timeline. If you get an assignment you are ineligible to apply for OTS. Also weigh your Time on Station requirements so you can get a good idea for where you will be when you can apply.
Consider Other Commissioning Options
If you are active duty you can look into commissioning through the Air Force Academy through programs such as Leaders Encouraging Airman Development (LEAD). Perhaps you are interested in becoming a Nurse or a Physicians Assistant, in which case the commissioning path is completely different anyway. If you are civilian and are very early in your degree, perhaps you could join an Air Force ROTC detachment where you would complete your degree and take an Air Force ROTC class and becoming an officer when you graduate. Perhaps you are interested in becoming an Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve officer instead of active duty. If any of these options interest you, send me a message and I will do my best to help you find more information.
Consider Enlisting in the Air Force
Many recruiters are recommending that civilians enlist in the Air Force while they wait, and to be honest, this isn’t necessarily a bad option. As a prior enlisted officer I lean heavily on my enlisted experience. If you enlist you will get a consistent paycheck, medical benefits, and tuition assistance. You will also start the clock on earning your GI Bill.
Lance Snead
Love the website, It’s been useful for the entire selection process. Keep up the good work. I just want to share a little about my personal experience and maybe it’ll help some folks looking into this road.
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 AF 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 alot 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 I called my recruiter the last week in February 2016, studied for the AFOQT to test in May 2016, didn’t get access to take the AFOQT until August 2016, interviewed and turned in my package September 2016, boarded up, rolled, and selected officially March 2017. Official notification April 2017. Enlisted into DEP September 2017. Headed to OTS September 2019 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 AF 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 AF 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 AF 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 alot of guys have dropped out because of the wait times.
Get excited about the AF, 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 alot of our recruiters have and the civilians have 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 AF 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!
airforceotsguy
Lance, this is awesome information, thank you. Do you mind if I drop this into a post of it’s own?
Lance
Certainly not, go for it!
airforceotsguy
Thank you!
Steve
Do you know how applicable this is to the AF Reserve? I’m just waiting to get in for my MEPS screening and then I’ll have my application complete, but my recruiter has already talked to the Wing I want to get into and they have an opening for the job I want.
I guess the Reserve is backwards in that you get approved by a Reserve Unit for a slot before your application gets sent to a board, so they aren’t usually denied. I heard that OTS always holds a few slots for ANG or Reserve, but I don’t how true that is or how this congestion will affect things.
Also, I’m a civilian, so I just don’t know much. I’m relying almost exclusively on my recruiter.
I’m trying to anticipate some kind of timeline for the future, and any advice would be appreciated.
airforceotsguy
Lance,
As I understand it, it should be independent of the AF Reserve process. You may be right in that perhaps you go through the unit first then meet the same board as active, but I am pretty sure it is a different board. The board process and the class selection processes are different. Once you are selected your name is sent to AFRS and then they slot you for a class. This is where the “I heard that OTS always holds a few slots for ANG or Reserve” comes into play… when AFRS gets your name they use whatever prioritization schemes to slot you for a class.
As far as timeline, your recruiter would have the best feel for that. It sounds like once you get through MEPS your application will be boarded, then after that you will be slotted for one of the TFOT classes in FY 2019 (see the schedule on my blog.)
Would you mind shooting me an email with your general experience with applying to become a reserve officer? I am trying to get a feel for how this works. airforceotsguy@gmail.com
Steve
I’m still in the middle of the process, but I’ll gladly share what I am learning as I go. Folks like me are a very small percentage of the force, so it’s hard to find information that is applicable.
This blog is a wealth of information, and your willingness to communicate with everybody will keep it on an upward trajectory. Thank you.
I’ll keep you posted.
airforceotsguy
Thanks Steve.
Ryan
Thanks for the info. I’m currently an enlisted reservist in San Antonio with almost 6years TIS as an aerial porter. I finish with my BSN this coming spring and will eventually try to commission in the reserves with the 433rd Air Wing. I have two years ER experience and have heard from a colleague that the selection process was over 18 months for her. This is discouraging but sounds like it’s worth a shot however, I am curious as to how fast the Army processes. Not too much info out there for reservists going from enlisted to officer, even got pushed to the side by the health professions recruiter. Anyways, thanks for the info.
airforceotsguy
This is a tough decision. From what I can tell as a random active duty office who mentors hundreds of applicants, nothing about the process with the AF is fast. I have heard that they are combining medical and rated/non-rated accessions to the same recruiter so I am hopeful that will help, but it is impossible to tell. What I mean is that it used to be you had a medical recruiter do medical recruiting and a Line Officer recruiter recruit everyone else. Now it will just be an officer recruiter who manages both (from what I understand).
The difference with you is that you are trying to go enlisted reservist to officer reservist, which works a little differently. I recommend you talk to the closest reserve unit and see if they have slots and are willing to sponsor your commission. If so, there is usually a reservist officer or enlisted member within the unit who helps with recruiting, or there is a civilian recruiter who manages the process for you. Do you have any idea what unit you want to work for? I imagine the doctor/nurse/PA needs are fairly high in the AF (I’m not sure what you want to do).
The best way to make this decision is to talk to both an AF reserve recruiting POC and also the Army, then weigh your options after you have all of the facts. As Army you are probably going to see a lot more action in the ER but there are pros and cons to each. I hope this helps! Shoot me an email at airforceotsguy@gmail.com if you have additional questions.