Howdy Ags,

So I am a senior in the corps, graduating in a few weeks and after being DNC all of college, have recently decided to consider doing either the Air National Guard or going to OTS to be an officer in the AF. I do want to fly.

Here's where it gets sticky. I am getting married in a month and have signed to start a job with a great company in February.

Should I forget about the Air Force and move on? Is OTS doable with a wife back home? I'll take any thoughts, ideas, or comments! Thanks.

From what you've described, it sounds like you need to speak to an Air National Guard Recruiter.
Assuming that you really do want a civilian job rather than full-time military.
https://tmd.texas.gov/air-guard

As far as getting married and then going away for several months immediately, it's doable. Looks like OTS is only 8 weeks long but remember, it might take some time to get slotted into a class. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Holm-Center/OTS/

When I graduated from A&M, I got married right away and had two months to kill until I went to the Armor Officer Basic Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Because my wife already had a good Engineering job in Austin, I was geographically locked into Austin. An old Ag recommended to me that I look into substitute teaching which proved to be a fantastic part time job (as long as you can deal with misbehaving kids without losing your cool - kind of like The Corps). I could work every day that I wanted to and didn't have to work if I had something going on. Back in that era, substitute teaching paid $50/day and of course there were no cell phone cameras and ADD/ADHD was still a new thing.

I tell you all that because I chose not to pursue a real Engineering job until I got back from AOBC. It took me about 4 months to find a job once I got back from Fort Knox (the economy was terrible, today, it's fantastic). So, I wound up doing more substitute teaching until I found a real gig. In your case, you've already got a real job lined up so, that would definitely make things more complicated as you consider what to do there.

As far as the time away from your new wife, because my AOBC class spanned the two week Christmas break, my class wound up being closer to 5 months. So, I had two months at home, married in a small apartment in North Austin before spending 2 months away at Fort Knox. Back in those days there was no Email and long-distance phone calls were still a big deal. I got to spend two weeks with my new wife over Christmas and then back to Kentucky for a little over two more months still unaccompanied.

So, yeah, it's doable as a newlywed but, you've got to have some understanding. These days obviously you can keep in instant communication on your phone so that might make it easier and more difficult at the same time. Anyway, the 8 weeks for training really isn't that long. It will pass and will become water under the bridge. That would be much more difficult to do after you have kids. When I went through AOBC, we had a couple of guys in my class that were 30 year old National Guardsmen who had kids back home in Arkansas or Iowa. That would have been much harder to do than as a newlywed.

Good Luck with it.

Anything is doable with a wife that understands what she's getting into with a military husband and is fully on board with the nomadic lifestyle. Make sure you and she really get it.

If you get a pilot slot, add a year of pilot training on top of OTS and before your first "real" operational assignment. There will be frequent moves, deployments, overseas tours and probably at least one year-long remote tour if you stay in, too. Can she hack it?

Alarming to me is that the military seems like an afterthought to you--your fallback option. Regardless of how your new wife might adapt, it'll be even tougher if you yourself haven't fully committed to the responsibilities of an officer, because that's what you'll be first and foremost, not just a pilot.

I have to reiterate the above post regarding making sure the spouse is fully on board with the military. It is important to remember that the military is, in many regards, not just a career but a lifestyle. And it is a lifestyle that will go far beyond just impacting you. Her career will most likely have to play second fiddle to your own. And while, initially at least, many spouses are good with this it can after a while become too much to bear and they put their foot down and force an exit from the military. I've seen many friends who were planning a 20+ year career in the military end it early because the wife simply had had enough. When having a discussion about a possible military career with your wife DO NOT sugarcoat it and merely focus on the positive aspects.

Make sure she clearly understands that you will be away for long periods of time, you'll be moving every 2 to 3 years and sometimes those places will be to locales that are far from ideal. Also, she must grasp that it will be hard to maintain a career with that many moves to places that might not have a strong job market. Another factor to remember is that spouses often grow tired of a social life that is military-centric. And as someone who was in the military but is now out but is married to an active duty Marine pilot I've seen this from both sides. Going to social functions, formal or casual, that center around your spouse talking shop with co-workers can get real old real quick.

I graduated as a DNC cadet, worked a few years while I was going to grad school, and realized I regretted not serving in the military.

I went to OCS with a wife and 3 month old baby at home. It was hard, but if this is the life you want to live 8 weeks is not that bad and will prepare you for deployment, field training, etc. I'm a civilian again now, but my wife and I are both glad that we did it. It changed the trajectory of my life and gave us a lot of great experiences, friends, and exposure to new things.

It's totally doable, 8 weeks is really not a long time. Don't feel pressured about the starting a new job thing impacting your plans either. As was mentioned previously you will likely have to wait for a class date for a while, and that is after the accessions process which will also take a number of months. Once you finally have a date you simply let your employed know that you have military orders and they are obligated under USERA to allow you to go do your military training (at the very least in an un-paid leave status) and be re-employed when you are done. Once you start the process I'm guessing it would be at least a year before you actually end up at OTS. So go for it.

Quit your civilian job, go active duty.

Do this thing. You can have a normal job later in life.

If a Guard or Reserve unit will give you a pilot slot... take it. You'll know your plane and where you'll live. You can get on an airline seniority list much sooner. Eventually, the AF will quit on you... the airlines won't.

Good luck.