Is it better to apply to the Air Force Academy or regular college for an Engineering degree and then join the Air Force after college versus being committed to 3-4 years of military service by attending the Air Force Academy?

Deonte,

Very good question. I am a retired mechanical engineer and did not serve, but as an employee of a large aerospace contractor I had the privilege of working with quite a few current and former servicemen and women while we helped build and launch some of their aircraft and spacecraft. I’ll share some of my observations and subsequent recommendations for you to consider. If I duplicate information from your other answers it would only be to expand on a point.

I commend your desire to be an officer and pilot. As was already said, getting in to the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, West Point is difficult because of high admission standards. If you have the grades, then great. If you have a family history with that Academy or branch of service, write it up and find out how to include it with your application. If you plan to make a career of your service, then it might be better if you go to the Academy, but it is certainly not necessary.

If you decide not to go to the Academy, then I would suggest attending a university that has a good Air Force reserve officer training Corps (ROTC) program. My college roommate did this, and at the time (1970s) the service paid his school costs and he graduated as an officer. It’s my understanding that the Academy and ROTC are the same in that the service pays for school and you graduate as a Lieutenant with a four-year service obligation.

Oh yes, and you do have to take some classes. I see you tagged engineering which is great, and let’s assume you choose aeronautical engineering (I just made that up). So, in both cases you would also graduate with an engineering degree. And if I remember my roommate correctly, he had to take more classes than were required for his degree including a daily ROTC class (presumably military history and other topics), PT in the morning, color guard duty, and off-campus training activities during spring break, Christmas break, some long weekends, and most of summer breaks. I do remember that his major was business which of course is not nearly as tough as engineering, yet he was still very busy.

The third option as you said is to go to a regular public university and after you graduate then join the service. It’s true that you would not have a four-year service obligation when you signed up, but you would have already had to pay for college privately meaning you might have as much as $40,000 in student loans (four years of in-state tuition, room and board, minus a few scholarships and grants that are generally available). Note that with this option you could go to a community college for your first two years and save a chunk o’ change.

Another thought is that no matter how you got your degree, if I remember right, to go to flight school and fly jets requires a six-year service commitment. If that’s true, then the question would be if you could serve out your four-year service commitment for school concurrently with the first four years of your six-year service commitment to fly jets for a total of six-years (as opposed to serving them sequentially which would be 10 years).

The real point I want to make is that one of the most important things you will use in life you can get at the Academy or in ROTC but not at a public university is the ability to lead other men and women in the service, in an engineering job, in an engineering management job, or in any other capacity. All the literature says that America has a serious need for leadership skills in business and govt (along with STEM skills), and one of the reasons is that it’s not taught in our schools. Leadership skills are either given at birth, learned by ourselves in OJT, taught to us from books, or drilled into our heads by example, daily OJT practice, and training under fire. The most successful place that’s done is of course is our armed services, with ROTC as a close second. Maybe that was just a little overdramatic, but it’s a skill set that I wish I’d learned much better.

Good luck any way you go.

Great question Deonte! I would weigh out all factors of choosing either the Naval/Air Force Academy or a regular college. The Air Force Academy is a highly competitive school so not all that apply get in – you can find requirements online. Also, the last I knew the Air force Academy doesn’t charge tuition, the cost is written off as they ask you to the join the Air Force. I would check with the school because how long you have to enlist is based on what your major is and other qualifications that may be needed (example: you will not be able to do a 4 year program and then medical school and only serve 4 years – it will probably be longer). If you go to a regular college and then join you will enlist as an officer anyway. I think any type of schooling along with enlistment is admirable. I wish you all the best! airforcebiased