How to become a Fighter Jet Pilot?

Question

What is the best age to start?
What grades do i need?
Can i join after 9.th class?
How long does it will take to become?
whether it will pay off?
or is too late?
Im 15.

Answer 1

This is tough. they take the best of the best. Your grades should be exceptional and your character outstanding.



Becoming a fighter pilot in the United States military is, by default, becoming a jet pilot. All fighter planes used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are jet planes. Helicopters, employed almost exclusively by Army pilots, are powered by jet engines but are attack, rather than fighter, aircraft. The path to becoming a fighter pilot in any branch of the armed forces can vary, but several common denominators exist--you must be a commissioned officer, you must have a four-year undergraduate degree and you must complete rigorous educational, physical and flight training. Competition for fighter-pilot slots is fierce.



1.Receive your high school diploma, preferably in standard fashion and not through a GED program. Although a GED won't disqualify you from flight school, you limit your options. For example, you're very unlikely to receive acceptance to a military academy without sterling high school credentials--academic, athletic, extracurricular and social.



2

Complete your college undergraduate studies, which is where paths can diverge greatly in becoming a fighter pilot. You basically have three options: Attend either the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., or the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.; attend a college or university that offers an Air Force or Navy ROTC program; or receive a bachelor's degree and apply to Officer Candidate School (Navy and Marines in Rhode Island) or Officer Training School (Air Force in Alabama).



3.Choose the appropriate aviation program upon becoming a commissioned officer. Your

chances of receiving a slot for fighter pilot training depends a great deal on your record during school and training. Your request may be accepted, denied, delayed or you may be counseled to consider other options within a related aviation field.



4

Complete Initial Flight Screening (Air Force) or Introductory Flight Screening (Navy/Marines).



5

Complete (for the Navy) Aviation Preflight Indoctrination and Primary Flight Training at the Naval Air Station in Florida. Fighter pilot hopefuls then must complete tail-hook training (for aircraft-carrier operations). Advanced Strike Training completes your training and qualifies you as a naval aviator. (Marine pilots are naval aviators, too). Air Force personnel follow up their primary training with Euro-NATO joint jet-pilot training or joint specialized undergraduate pilot training (JSUPT, or UPT). Jet-fighter candidates then attend a bomber/fighter component of training to learn fighter basics, before specializing in training with the aircraft of his choice (if so qualified).

Answer 2

As an officers you have to have a college degree, a STEM degree is needed for a real shot at becoming an officers especially a pilot. Getting accepted into one of the military academies is the best bet in getting a slot in military flight school. If that is not an option then do ROTC in college.

Answer 3

@Lost Equation in, indeed, a bit "lost." I can speak to this from having been a Naval Flight Officer who stays in touch with military aviation. Let me address his answers number by number:



1. If you have a GED even with a 4-year undergraduate degree you are not qualified to work toward military aviation. You MUST have a high school diploma from a brick-and-mortar high school and a four-year degree from an accredited college.



2. Good answer, with the exception of the fact that to be an AF pilot you MUST either graduate from the AF Academy or a 4-year AFROTC program. The AF gets 99% of its pilot candidates from those two sources. The Navy and Marines get about half of their aviation candidates through OCS, post-college.



3. Completely in error. If you are not an AF Academy or AFROTC graduate you are not going to get a flight training slot. If you are accepted to Navy/Marine OCS the only service which will guarantee you a chance at flight training before you start OCS - IF you meet all qualifications and successfully graduate from OCS - is the Marine Corps. For the Navy you have no guarantee.



When you are accepted for Primary Flight Training that is ALL you are accepted for. There are no "fighter slots" from the beginning, even for Marines who are guaranteed flight training and continue to meet the quals, there are only slots in Primary Flight Training. If you complete Primary Flight Training at the top or near the top of your class and if there are any slots for fighter seats available when you graduate you can put that first on your "Dream Sheet," but there are no guarantees of that at any point.



4. That was actually Step 3, it is out of sequence.



5. For Navy and Marines, you get your wings once you complete Primary Flight Training...carrier qualification is PART OF Primary Flight Training in the Navy and Marines. THEN you find out what you are going to fly and head down the line to Advanced platform-specific flight training. After that, you still have to go through operational flight training with the RAG (Replacement Air Group Squadron) that actually complete your qualification to fly and deploy in your assigned platform. No matter what, if you screw up anywhere along the line you can wind up flying a less-demanding platform or even being removed from flight status entirely. @Lost got the AF part pretty much correct, but he forgot the mandatory training on how to wear the 6-foot white silk scarf.



@Anonymous is correct about the Academy or ROTC requirement for the AF and the need for a STEM degree, HOWEVER he is in-error in stating that is a Navy Marine requirement. The Navy and the Corps rely on the aviation-specific testing they do which has proven to be a better indicator or aviation performance. The Navy and the Corps DO NOT require or even necessarily prefer an engineering or STEM degree, but you need to have a REAL degree (not Underwater Basketweaving or Criminal Justice) with a decent GPA. That is the way it is and the way it has always been. I spent 10 years as a Navy Airborne Electronic Warfare Officer with my Psych degree, I knew VERY few Navy or Marine Aviators (pilots and NFOs) who had technical degrees, and the only Navy?Marine Aviators (real ones) who post here also have degrees like Political Science, not engineering or STEM.



Bottom line - your chances of flying fighters in any service are less than if you try to make it to joining a SEAL team. The difference is that you can be attrited (failed) at any time over a period of a couple of years instead a few days or weeks.



You want to try to be an AF fighter pilot (Yawn!) then you need to hit the books, get your graduating status in the top 5% of your class, show "community involvement/service," and play a sport or two so you can shoot for USAFA or a 4-year AFROTC program and get your engineering degree.



If you want to go for Navy/Marine Aviation then you flexibility is greater. Do the same things you would to get into USAFA or AFROTC an decide if you want to go to the Naval Academy (where the worst officers in the Navy are created), NROTC, or just do a "walk-on" out of college...and while you should shoot for the best grades, you do not have to have a 3.9 or an engineering degree. Even with that you will have to take a standardized academic test (ACT on steroids). It is TOUGHER to be a Navy/Marine Aviator and the washout rate is higher.



As for sports, I would recommend soccer and wrestling. Soccer teaches you teamwork and situational awareness (great aviation benefits) as well as gets you as fit as any sport can, and wrestling helps develop burst energy and the muscles necessary to better withstand G-forces.



Be realistic and create a plan that allows for changes in your wishes and changes in the needs of the military. Good luck.

Answer 4

Military pilots, whether it's a fighter or a bomber or airlift or rotary-wing or trainer, are extremely competitive. You need to attend the Air Force Academy or the Naval Academy, or AF/Navy ROTC to have a chance of becoming a pilot.



You need to be at the top of your class in high school and in college, have excellent grades, participate in multiple sports, a list of extra-curricular activities (including work history in a management/leadership position), history of near-perfect health, perfect eyesight/hearing, ZERO blemishes on your record. It wouldn't be that far off to say they are looking for picture perfect individuals.



They aren't just looking for applicants who can fly an aircraft, they are looking to groom them into the future leaders of their organization. If all you want to do is fly aircraft and nothing else, then you need to be looking at civilian aviation not the military.

Answer 5

yea but is it possible to get there with a small problems with eyes