I just need to brag a little… My son just received an appointment to attend the United States Air Force Academy, class of 2009!!! We are thrilled for him. He has worked very hard for this. He wants to be a fighter pilot and this will certainly help him to achieve that goal. He also just finished up his private pilot’s license.
He’s now got a tough decision to make and I hope he makes the right one. The opportunities from an academy education are incredible. We are headed out to Colorado Springs at the end of the month for an orientation.
Thanks. You’re not kidding. He started his application almost 2 years ago. It’s a daunting process. I think the process itself weeds out a lot of applicants that are initially interested in attending.
The process has been quite a rollercoaster. Last week, the academy sent hiim a rejection letter and today he got his acceptance. He had just enough time to get over the initial rejection and then they threw him a curveball. Now he needs to get his head back in the game and start preparing for basic training.
Congrats! My sister is, in fact, graduating from the Academy in a few weeks. It’s been a hell of an experience for her.
A word of advice, from hearing her talk about it: if he’s made the decision to go, get his boots. Now, or preferably yesterday. Don’t just break them in, but go running in them. They do a lot of that.
And work on the endurance. Basic is brutal (especially once they get out to Jacks Valley), and there’s the extra fun of the altitude.
Thanks for the boot advice. My son will purchase his next week when we go out for the orientation sesion and I’ll make sure he puts some mileage on them.
Congratulations for your sister. That’s quite an achievement. Did she get selected for pilot training?
Congrats, AFAdad! My brother’s in the process of applying to the academies (his preference is the USNA), and getting through all that is an accomplishment in itself. I hope at the end he gets the same news as your son did, but it’s so competitive…
Thanks. It is competitive and there are lots of hoops you need to jump through, but there are ways to make your application stand out. Make sure he does the best he can on the physical fitness test. You want to try for at least the averages in all events if possible.
Also, the leadership stuff is very important. Anything he can do in that area will help. My son’s SAT’s were good, but not great. They were a little above average for the academy. Varsity sports are also very important. They are mainly looking for a well rounded person. Good luck to your brother.
I know (or perhaps knew) two or three guys who went to the Air Force Academy. I guess they’ve probably all graduated by now. For what it’s worth, they were all also Eagle Scouts and played varsity sports.
She didn’t, though she did make it to be a glider instructor ([bragging]one of the very, very few females to do so![/bragging]). Her eyesight is too bad for pilot training, plus, they’d rather have her brains. (current trajectory: grad school in whatever engineering field she’s in for the next two years, then back to the Academy to teach).
