Air Force Piolet Essay

Submitted By frozenlove05
Words: 2186
Pages: 9

John R. Snyder
Mr. J. Mason Young
English 9 Period 5
11 March 2013
Air Force Fighter Pilots There are many good jobs in the world today; however, there are those who say there is only one truly great job or goal to have: Air Force Fighter Pilot. Many people would say being a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force is thought to be the coolest job because where else can a multimillion dollar aircraft be flown at super sonic speeds and blow things up; nowhere else. A person cant just walk in to the military and say “I want to be an Air Force Fighter Pilot.” One has to be hard charging, dedicated to serve, work hard and be willing to sacrifice many things in life. Air Force fighter pilots are groomed from high school all the way through their career. There are many things to do to become a fighter pilot such as: earning a college degree, receiving a commission in the U.S. Air Force; selected for a pilot slot, and then completion and graduation from fighter pilot training. Along the way there are many benefits such as locations for assignments, jobs and pay. It is one of thee most thrilling jobs in the Air Force but one of the hardest jobs to achieve. But, if flying jets turns out to not being someone’s dream job, being an Air Force officer is just as prestige’s. Being a fighter pilot is all about taking and using incredible machines and learning how they work, ways they can be used, and using it to protect something very important, “The United States of America.” Every day military “pilots are preparing for their missions by reviewing their goals, obtaining weather information, and understanding existing intelligence” in order to be prepared for every mission they fly. (Wilson 1). Also, when in flight, pilots are not just up their as single individuals but as a team of two or more that are passing information back and forth, having each others “six” and communicating with ground forces for eventual strikes, all while going speeds that are hard to imagine (Loveless 24). Each assignment has its specific mission; one might be to reconnaissance while another might be for targeteering. In order to expand and keep pilots on their “A” game there are constantly being reassigned to new bases and new missions. The military personnel are continuously being moved around. There are different bases built for every military job, and they are all over the place. Some bases are focused on a flying mission while others are focused on a nuclear or a space mission. For a pilot there are various bases to be assigned to but those are limited to the type of aircraft a pilot is trained to fly. For example, a pilot may not be stationed in the same place as a space mission because of the limited resources and in some cases limited location. A good example of this is Diego Garcia, out in the middle of the Indian Ocean and their primary mission is space control. This base and island are too small to even land an aircraft on; therefore, a flying unit cannot share the same location. Some places that a fighter pilot has the option of moving to can be almost anywhere ranging from across the country to around the world. Pilot bases range from fighter bases (F-16/F-22s) to bomber bases (B-52/B1s) to mobility aircraft (C-5/C-17/C-130s) to Air refueler bases (KC-135s/KC-10s) (Air Force Times 72-78). Base locations are worldwide and in the U.S. range from Southern Florida to Northern Washington all with a unique mission set. Most of the fighters are located on the outskirts of the U.S.: Washington State, Florida, and Virginia (Air Force Times 72-78). In some cases this can be a great benefit to some officers because they enjoy traveling and are given the option to perform different missions based on locations. While others may not enjoy the moving, they still get to have an amazing job to go do everyday. Education for Air Force pilots actually starts in high school. Most of the Air Force pilots today knew back in high school what