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High School

What high school courses should you take if you're interested in this career? Get your answers from the Government and Public Administration cluster National Security pathway.

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Additional Information

To become a fighter pilot, you have to become an officer first. Here is how you can become an officer in the air force.

You can enroll at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Or you can join the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps while you are in college. Or you can join the air force after college and attend the officer training school to win your commission.

After you earn your commission and are deemed to fit to fly, you have to go through several stages of flight training. From the moment you are commissioned and begin pilot training, it may take up to two and a half years before you are a fully qualified fighter pilot if you can meet the various standards set throughout flight training, says Dave Smith. He is the chief of media relations at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas.

Note that you cannot apply for a specific type of aircraft before you enter pilot training. And once you are done with primary training, you will undergo a selection process that puts you into an advanced "track."

There are four tracks -- fighter and bomber, airlift and tankers, turbo-props and helicopters. And the number of the students selected into each track depends on what the Air Force needs, says Smith.

You can express a preference, but you may not get your wish. It depends on your performance, recommendations from training supervisors and the availability of training spots, says Smith.

Contact

  • Email Support
  • 1-800-GO-TO-XAP (1-800-468-6927)
    From outside the U.S., please call +1 (424) 750-3900
  • North Dakota Career Resource Network
    ndcrn@nd.gov | (701) 328-9733

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