biggest decision of my life, wanna help?

AlphaRomeo Junior Member

Maybe go CTO man noone has mentioned that yet, there is a school right up the road from you, in Valodsta Ga that gets u a CTO in 12 months, plus everyone is talking about CTI go look at the two announcements for CTI and CTO applicants starting pay for CTI is 17,000 CTO is 37,000 im just putting my opionion out there, and i just heard from a friend whos dad works at the academy that they just put the hiring freeze on CTI students because so many were washing out...its ultimately your decision..


p.s give that school in Valdosta a call and set up a tour cant hurt anything or pm me i am a student there and can tell u about it

dyttam Newcomer

this was an excellent post and I commend you for it. I really enjoyed reading it and it was an eye opening read.

Would you go Officer AF or Navy route? If I were to go Officer in Navy, I'm probably going to go for more than 4 years right? I know AF Officers are 6 min.

Also, I hear it is very hard to get Officer with a degree if you have a low GPA. I have a low GPA.

I was told by my AF recruiter to enlist for first year and then ask to be promoted via panels to Officer, which is more likely to happen. What do you think?

DASAUTO Banned

Your recruiter told you to enlist and ask to be promoted t officer within 1 year via panels? LOL.

He fed you a line of B.S. "Panels" don't work like that. Yes, you can apply, but there are a lot of pre-req's before any panel will ever look at you, and it DEFINITELY wont happen within 1 year.

If you want to join as an officer, that is what you must tell your recruiter, and accept nothing less. It may be that your GPA is too low, or that you dont have a "desireable" degree. Either way, he/she should be honest with you. If your recruiter keeps jerking you around with that B.S., tell him/her thank you for your time, but Im going to talk to a different recruiter.

Its amazing to me how these guys get out of their career field and forget what integrity is...they turn in to used car salesmen.

TimShady Trusted Contributor Chicago, IL

DASAUTO, you're a controller in the Air Force? How limited are controller slots for new recruits? Could you PM me with any info based on your experience? I'd appreciate it.

dyttam Newcomer

He did tell me that my GPA was too low for being selected as an Officer. So he wasn't lying there.

If you know about going enlisted (with a degree) and then doing prerequisites before being selected at a panel for officer then please inform me! If he is lying, tell me the truth. I'd rather hear it from someone than be ignorant and make a big mistake in my life.

DASAUTO Banned

It seems he was bending the truth (very far), rather than lying based on what you just said, then.

If your GPA is too low, then yeah, you're not gonna be able to be an officer off the bat. There are a TON of commissioning programs available to enlisted. Since you already have your degree, OTS (Officer Training School) is your best-bet.

OTS is VERY competitive, so usually enlisted folks that get their degree's and have recommendations from their commanders might get in. That being said...earning that recommendation isn't easy. Usually those that do A LOT of extra volunteer work, win quarterly and annual awards, etc. are recommended. Further, even with the recommendations, the final selection panel will choose the best overall package from what they receive. There are only a certain amount of slots open every year for OTS, and the best of the best are chosen to go.

That being said, I don't have the regulation in front of me, so I don't know if there is a minimum GPA required (but I seem to remember someone saying a 2.5 was required). I do know that your GPA is taken in to consideration for selection. So, if your GPA is low, then you will need to do A LOT of things to make up for it. Many folks that have a low GPA, just sign up for another college/degree, transfer all the credits they can, and take the rest of the required classes and do well to earn a second degree with a high GPA.

So..in order to earn the awards, get in the volunteer time, etc., it will take longer than 1 year. I've seen some do it in 3(ish) years. They enlisted and started a degree from scratch..but they busted their asses like I have never seen anyone else do. Their entire life was school/volunteering/extra duties. I knew one guy that got an average of 3 hours of sllep per night to finish everything.

By the time 1 year of service rolls around, you likely have just been out of tech school for a few months. But..if you WANT to be an officer, and you really have to want it and work for it, then you can become one. People will help you achieve your goals if you are top-notch and demonstrate the want.

dyttam Newcomer

Thanks for the info, Very helpful.

Being an officer isn't that important to me. I'd rather be doing ATC - (I think, since you know... I haven't actually done any yet) and to be honest I do not want to be in the military for more than 4-6 years. Cheers for the info.

dyttam Newcomer

the school in Valdosta does give you a CTO... but what is the point of having it? You cannot work at a contract tower because they require you to have 52 weeks of experience before you even get a shot of checking out. Valdosta gives you 6 months of CTO training and 6 months of school work... not 52 weeks in a tower working. PLUS it's $50k to go... and then you get to apply for CTO with FAA... whoopie!....

Echo_Whiskey Junior Member

Looks like the question is whether you want to control air traffic or be an officer. If your heart is set, for whatever reason, to be a controller then don't worry about becoming an officer. Like I said, officers don't control air traffic, they manage Air Traffic Controllers. I know a guy who enlisted with a degree in hopes of earning his Commission as an officer later on, but after getting a taste for controlling chose to ditch the Officer plan and continue to work traffic. On the same note I've known many others who enlisted with no degree and after years of controlling chose to focus on their career and earn their commission through college programs.
I personally enlisted in hopes of controlling and earned my BS from ERAU in my spare time. After 9 years I was at a point were promotions would pretty much limit my controller time as I would get stuck in an office doing admin work so I considered becoming an officer. The pay is much better and would be great for the second half of my career. In the end I opted out of the military all together when the FAA offered me my dream facility. This allowed me the opportunity to do the job that makes me happy as well as earn better money than even an officer would.

Echo_Whiskey Junior Member

Okay, well you posted a response to my question before I had a chance to post it, ha ha. Good luck whatever you decide.