cjad1987 Newcomer

CTI is your best option for FAA considering your circumstances.

The ANG recruiter is probably not lying to you but remember his goals are those of the military he may sympathize but he is not obligated to care whether you ever get into FAA or not.

PUBNAT refers to public announcements by the FAA seeking people to apply to take the AT-SAT test "off the street" with no prior experience. Usually you need to have a degree or some work experience or some combination of the two. I have never looked into it heavily. It was easier to get in off the street just 2 yrs or so ago but not so much any more. It is at the point now where you would be waiting a very, very long time if you ever even get selected. I don't have any hard info to be discouraging people with but best case scenario is it remains a long shot, worst case scenario is OTS hiring drops off completely or is only used as a last resort when absolutely needed.

The long and short of it is don't put your life and livelihood on a PUBNAT. You are doing the right thing with CTI. Good luck and keep working at it!