The Air Force basically only lets people with engineering degrees become pilots.
They also don’t allow warrant officers to be pilots.
Easy fix if they wanted to.
They are stingy with their flight school slots. Back when I was commissioned in 1992 only one guy got a flight slot from the senior AFROTC class out of 30 or so. I was army ROTC and 4 of us got branched aviation out of about 100 seniors. Of course not everyone wants a flight slot. I think about 15 seniors in the army program requested aviation as their first choice. I know on the air force side about 20 guys put in for flight slots. I also know air force pilots view army pilots as just slightly more competent than retards
Well, since they haven’t had warrant officers since the 1960’s.....
Not so re: engineering. I know a poli sci major,ROTC,good leader/smart kid who got a pilot slot. Now an AF Captain. But he had skills when it came to piloting.
Thats totally incorrect. I’m sure some of the lieutenant Colonels and Colonels I know would be surprised to hear this.
Yep. They want an exclusive club. No mere warrant officers or non-degreed enlisted pilots in the AF.
I’m sorry that is simply not true. As an example the Air Force Academy offers both engineering/science and liberal arts degrees. The only differentiation on posting selection is by class rank and physicals. The largest screen out is that no one without 20/20 (even if corrected) can be a pilot.
This is true at USNA as well.
Yes they encourage more technical degrees, but it isn’t a requirement to be a flyboy.
The Air Force doesn’t even have warrant officers. The last one retired in 1980, and he was inherited from the Army Air Corp. All other services have warrant officers.
My son majored in International Relations, emphasizing economics. He will enter USAF pilot training in a few months. The majority of the pilots I knew at Laughlin, did not have engineering degrees. I think the USAF would prefer engineering, but it is not a hard and fast rule.