The Beginning...In retrospect.

First, let me wax philosophical for a bit and regurgitate the old addage of "anything worth doing is worth working hard for." My response:

Yeah. No shit.

I will spare the readers of this the common lengthy background story and abbreviate it thus:

- I have 10 years in the service to date.
- My scores on the AFAST and ASVAB kick ass.
- I have all my pilot's licenses
- I have my degree.

Prior to getting selected for WOFT with the guard, I had a bit of a process to jump through. You will see that this is the theme for the entire selection ordeal, and what I had to do to get picked up...all to fly for the military. However, timing is indeed everything...another constant theme throughout all this.

I first tried for WOFT in February of 2006 but was shut down due to my Wing Commander at the time refusing to sign my DD 368 and give me the conditional release. Now that I think about it, it actually ended up working out in my favor because it allowed me to build a stronger packet. So, I chilled out for 6 months with the Air Guard marking time and building a foundation. I did one AT with the Air National Guard (ANG), and decided that this was not for me. Once we got on the truck to finally go home, I made up my mind that was it. I was putting in the paperwork to leave and get on to better things.

FALL 2006.

With paperwork in hand and a leap of faith, I decided to go ahead and enlist in the Army...AGAIN. I must say that the guard recruiters here are VERY good at what they do. I didn't get any BS along the way with the administrative process. Not at all. Everyone knew my deal, knew that I was coming over to fly, and was perfectly fine with it. I guess that worked in my favor, seeing how the unit I was joining was literally busting a nut for pilots.

Oh yeah...good timing.

Enlisting was a real leap of faith for me, because I left the Army with a bad taste in my mouth from that armpit of an MP CO in Hawaii that I left....58, YOU SUCK!! I had the impression that I couldn't trust anyone and was literally out on my own because no one gave a shit about my career but me. But, all that considered, I still took the leap because of the way these guys presented themselves, acted professionally, and seemed concerned about my career path and what I could bring to the unit.

I find it really interesting that in almost 7 years in the real army, I had to come to the guard, who has always fought a stigma of lower standards and second class citizenship, to get treated like an adult and true solider. Active Duty (and especially 58MP)...take a page, make notes, and adjust accordingly.

So I start attending drills with the ARNG. I feel like a bit of an outsider for about the first month or two, but then things start settling in and I am back to leading a squad, being around soliders and trying not to choke them when they do and say stupid things, and back to a service that feels a little more like it has a mission. All the paperwork in my packet is together, I am just waiting on the flight physical.

THE DREADED CLASS 1W.

Overall, the physical is not too bad. It is pretty in depth and inobtrusive, except for the prostate check which I was not expecting.

After 4 months...4 F**KING months of waiting, taking time off of work to go to appointments that I already thought I had, waiting for signatures, more tests, etc., the bastard finally gets signed off two days before the board meets. TWO DAYS! Nothing like waiting until the last minute...glad to see that hasn't changed.

THE BOARDS

I think my opinion on the series of boards that you will hear about is a little biased since I have always interviewed well. The problem that I have had is getting to the interview as was the case with employment in 2004. But, I am number 2 in the pattern for interviews, and I am ready to knock them dead. (NOTE: I am going to take a page from another blog that I have read and put what i was thinking in a different color, just so the reader can see what I was feeling.)

Walk in, report in the usual fashion and take a seat.

Sweet Jesus, these guys are going to eat my lunch

Question 1 after introductions:

So, tell us about yourself.....

NOTE: This is a pretty standard but dreaded question. You are supposed to have your bio prepared but the dilemma arises as to how much is enough, and how much is too much. DO you spend all your money on this question playing yourself up and regurgitating your resume' because you might not get a chance to later, or do you shutup, say the basics, and wait for the closing statments to address any points that you miss?

Hmm....my advice: Spend the money early because you may forget what the hell it is you wanted to say in the first place after being grilled by your board. Plus, you may already answer some of the questions that they were going to ask you in the first place thus shortening the time you are under the microscope. Ah, the method to the madness.

Question 2: Why do you want to be a Warrant Officer?

Gotcha...I had a speech prepared for this too!

Keep in mind that they did not ask me right off why I wanted to be a pilot. They asked about being an officer first. One should seperate the two duties of being a WO and pilot and not make the newbie mistake of thinking that they are one in the same. Address them seperately, but perhaps in the same questions. Reseach what exactly a WO is and does and apply that to your personality then end with a combination statement about how that applies to flying.

Question 3: What are your career goals with regards to being a pilot?

Glad I did the research on this one too. Hmm, PC first, then track to a specialty. Well, I am already a flight instructor so let's go with that.

I answered exactly in that fashion; Make Pilot in Command (PC) then learn all I can about being an operational pilot, then consider IP/SIP/IFE. I would kick around coming full time if the option was there.

Question 4: What are your educational goals?

To be honest, I thought I was done with school. I kicked ass in college, graduated Cum Laude, and I want to be done. However, knowing myself, I know that I am going to get bored.

Master's Degree in Aeronautics, or Physics. Moron, could you sound anymore pompous or stuck up? Quit trying to show how smart you are because these guys might think that you are an insufferable know-it-all and won't want to fly with you. STRIKE 1.

Question 5: Tell us about a time where you had an ethical dilemma and what you did about it?

Question 6: What are you going to do if you don't get selected?

Does ball up on the floor and cry like a little girl count as option? Standard answer: Seek improvement advice, regroup, and reapply.

Question 7: What do you think will be your greatest strength in flight school? Your greatest weakness?

Aw, hell was not prepared for this. Calm down, take a second. What do we know already...stop looking confused, answer moron (strike 2), ANSWER!!

Since I am already a rated pilot, I think one of my greatest strengths will be my situational awareness and knowledge of airspace procedures. Good. That was a good answer. I think that my greatest weakness (careful) will be unlearning what I have already learned (nice, who was your flight instructor, Yoda?) and making the adjustment to the Army way of flying.

Question 7a: So, you understand that there are significant differences then?

Yes, Sir. AR 95-1 has some more restrictive limitations than the civilian sector and I will have to bone up on those.

STUPID MOVE.

Question 7b: Really, so you have looked at 95-1. Tell me a difference you noted.

Son-of-a.........deep breath. Breath? Breath. Oxygen.

The o2 requirements start at 10,000 feet. In the civil sector, o2 requirements start at 12,500 and above (NO MORE PLEASE!) .

Good. That's good. (AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!!)

The rest of the questions had to do with PT scores, and little things that they wanted to clarify that were more of a personal nature. Family support, the understanding of being deployed, etc. etc. Key thing: Be highly motivated and get all the experience you can early. Volunteer for deployments and missions because that is where you are going to get your flight time and the most valuable experiences.