Tony D Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 "The ironic part of this is that my job allows me time to study sitting in motels, but I have no interest in doing that..." It interested me...but not my supervisor who never let me take the requisite 3 week sabbatical to do course labwork and matriculate. So you just keep taking the classes remotely. Never getting a degree, just continually learning. At least I did. Now, maybe something happened with USAF ROTC, but a History Major in NO WAY qualified you to be a pilot, unless maybe every single engineering major declined every slot available, maybe. Engineering was the sole route to pilot qualification, and if you didn't have 20/20 uncorrected vision that meant if you wanted something in flightcrew you went as a navigator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I do study and learn, but I haven't heard of a degree in "Z"ology yet, so... and I guess that was the whole idea of my post, especially concerning my daughter. It's obvious that corporations(yes the USAF) have their own ideas of what best qualifies someone to do a job. Maybe they don't want someone with any pre-existing knowledge, just someone that has an excellent aptitude and attitude. But, you have to have that degree to prove your learning aptitude. Then you get into the leadership stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Some years ago I had the fortuitous experience of attending "professional military education" with a class full of USAF pilots. They were captains, most with 6-8 years of military experience, most from ROTC but a few from the USAF Academy and a few from Officer Training School. Very few were engineers! The most popular major was political science. Why? Evidently, what counted most was their GPA, and secondarily their extra-curricular activities and "leadership skills". If you kept a 3.9 majoring in English while captaining the lacrosse team and excelling in your ROTC unit, you were pilot material. While the poor schmuck who studied mechanical engineering, got similar grades but didn't play sports or "lead" any student groups - well, he ends up as Acquisition or Maintenance. In other words, knowledge does not matter; raw numerical outcomes (such as GPA) matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Frankly I'd rather have a Hands-On engineer type maintining anything I am flying in, than a head-in-the-skies political science type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 In other words, knowledge does not matter; raw numerical outcomes (such as GPA) matter. At the time I finished my ROTC college career, it was just a matter of filling vacant slots with warm bodies. We all took aptitude tests for pilot or navigator qualification. Missile Launch Officer was another area being pushed. I graduated with a teaching degree and extensive coursework in cartography. My two career choices were Instructor and Cartographic Officer. My orders came shortly before graduation and I was destined to be an Aircraft Maintenance Officer - a career field I had never heard of. A couple years later, I was stationed in the Philippines and had the opportunity to visit the Cartographic Map Center for the Pacific and Southeast Asia. I remarked to the Officer in charge that he must have had way more cartography classes than I did in order to land my dream job. He remarked that he had been a Forestry major and didn't know cartography existed. Military job vacancies - warm bodies. No experience necessary. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I should have been specific, there are plenty of pilots spots in the USAF. There are plenty of driving jobs in the world as well. When I said "Pilot" in my context I meant Fighter Jock and not necessarily C141 Driver. Yes, that was what the Birdy told me in the little discussion before declaring my major as I, too, wanted to be a history major. But in no uncertain terms, he discussed Fighter Slots were not going to go to guys with History Degrees. And I wasn't interested in being a Busdriver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My daughter is stoked to get offered such a great position. She is actually interested in being the "bus driver", since she can have a more usable license if she takes this ride back to civilian life. But I see this in my occupation also---especially in management. I see new managers all the time that come in fresh of their degree, because that is what the company wants. They might not know a thing about railroading, but they might have a degree in logistics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 When I said "Pilot" in my context I meant Fighter Jock and not necessarily C141 Driver. And I wasn't interested in being a Busdriver. Let's not forget the two main qualifications for "fighter jocks". First born male and self absorbed. And how do you suppose they'd get to those fighter planes if it wasn't for Bus Drivers? I speak from a 20 year career. But, we digress...... Dennis, Major, USAF Ret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) As a digression, don't let your daughter get into the mindset that the skills in the military will take her through her natural life. All military careers end and you gotta do something on the civilian side. I've seen it far too often in enlisted ranks where disillusioned guys finish "retire" and are kind of shocked they still have to work. 2K monthly probably won't fly in most metro areas... You retire from Unka Sugar, you gonna be workin! Meaning it's not a matter of "if" she takes that ride to civilian life, but "when"! As for getting to the jets...there's a story floating around about one who missed the metro and jumped the ECP to rue the day he did on my watch... Edited January 31, 2012 by Tony D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Knowing my daughter she will be working on her law degree as soon as she is finished with flight school. I believe she will always have a back up plan. Modern s-30-if your still in on this thread, thought I'd mention that I pass right through Camby on the way to work if you need anything. I do have a few connections at IUPUI if I can help there also. Pic of my daughter and I in front of her soriority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.