FINALLY Heading To My Own Truck!

Victor: I would think long and hard about your plan. You have struggled in the last year just to land a job driving a truck. Now you want to land an airplane.

I always wanted to be a rockstar when I was growing up....guess what...didn’t happen. Now I’m a truck driver who enjoys rock music.

You should be a truck driver, who enjoys aviation. I implore you to rethink your approach.

Good luck!

Victor only you know what you're capable of and I'm not familiar with the military so I wont touch too much on those subjects. However, joining and having the military pay for that schooling probably would be best financially. What happens if after you've enrolled you dont like it, or it's too hard? What I will touch on though is your idea of driving part time or only during the summer. Doing so is going to be quite tough not only finding somebody to hire you but also being able to safely do so. Most companies want somebody to take a refresher course after a few months out of the truck and with your skills still being relatively new it may not be the best option. I've been driving about 2 1/2 years and somedays I still struggle, we all do. Ive been off work about a week now and not looking forward to doing a couple backs I have tomorrow. Given what happened at swift and leaving western express before you've got a year in won't look that good. If you follow through with your dreams and go through that school would doing weekend driving work be an option? For instance, my employer has 1 driver that only works Saturday and Sunday, and about 20 part time drivers that aren't regularly scheduled but they will call them the day prior to see if they're available to work when we are short drivers for the day. The competitor grocery chain in the area does the same. Penske and Ryder have on-call positions but I believe they're required to work if they're called in. Neither are OTR but its atleast income and will help keep your skills relevant.

We wish you the best in whatever life holds for you, I just don't want you to hurt your chances in this industry if things don't work as planned. Planning on joining the military, along with all that served or are currently serving have a ton of respect from me. It's something I never had the courage to do.

https://sofrep.com/fightersweep/ask-a-fighter-pilot-what-are-my-chances-of-making-it/

Not to discourage you (trust me, we’ve all been there), but you will defy the odds by becoming a fighter pilot. The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2019 had 16,101 applicants and admitted 1,191. If history proves accurate 1,100 will graduate in three years. Of those, 240 will select Navy pilot and 80 will enter jet training. By the time the Class of 2019 reaches the fleet, maybe 50 will be fighter pilots.

0.3% aren't promising odds to risk going more than a hundred thousand dollars in debt up front for.

Victor - I preference this post as that I am not a current CDL holder or driver, but have about 28 years of work history.

Please Please Please take the advise of those that have posted prior to me. I was going to write a long response, but decided to pass as my response did not seem politically correct.

Victor.I do not mean to squash your dreams of being a jet jockey.But you need to look at the reality of it actually happening.I think the fact you were home schooled puts you at a huge academic disadvantage.I do not mean this as a slight against your parent's ability.Jet pilot's are the cream of the crop in pilot world.Just like flatbedders in trucking.If your heart is set on flying maybe check into being a army helo pilot.They allow you to come in as a warrant officer without a B.A. Also maybe just go to to a navy or airforce recruitment office and take a asvab test.I would think that would be an easy way to tell if you have an aptitude for the academics of being a pilot.When I was in the navy I almost went into the pilot program.They had a program at the time that took associate degree sailors and turned them into pilots.But after thinking long and hard about it I realized I didnt think I would be able to pass the program.For some reason I have always tested well but I am not as smart as my testing seems to think I am.Best of luck to you.And just to reiterate I am not trying to harsh your buzz ,but want you to think hard about the journey you are going on.

I am already at a real disadvantage because I was homeschooled full time and did not have the opportunities afforded to me as a private or public school student would have had. So I did not get a chance to enroll in the academy or into college early.

Howdy young man,

You are making excuses. Having lived in s.e MT where many kids were homeschooled, I personally know of a number that joined different branches of the Military as enlisted after graduating from high school and three that went on to college to get their Bachelors. Of those three, 2 joined the Army as officers and one was in helicopters. If you want something bad enough you will find a way to do it without excuses.

You have had all kinds of opportunities that I didn't have back in 1972. Women were in very few career fields in all branches. When I got out in 1975 to have my son and came back on active duty in 1976, many career fields had opened up, including LE, which I wanted to get into. However, since I had not been overseas, my retraining was denied numerous times. I finally got a "remote" (1 yr) assignment to a NATO base on the island of Sardinia, Italy thinking it would be enough and I could get into LE.

At the 10 year mark, I stopped trying because it would not be approved. I could blame an ex-husband in personnel for me not getting into LE, but I don't. It was my lack of knowing how to get around his road blocks and not trying to find out that was my problem. That's okay because at my 14 yr mark Congress didn't give the military a pay raise but DOD did. So all branches had to discharge people and the Air Force had to get rid of 22,000 stateside individuals. I fell in that group, got out 31 Mar 1988 and went to driving for May Trucking after going to a fly-by-night school. Life is what you make it.

This was written in 1998 and if I figured your age from your different posts, you are 24-25 yrs old, so in high school about 2010-2014. Should a home schooler wishing to enter a military academy take certain academic courses? Yes. A strong foundation in math and science is a basic requirement for any applicant. Taking community college classes during the junior and senior years of high school would be a good way for a home educated student to demonstrate competence in the appropriate course work. It is important for a home schooler to have taken laboratory sciences and one or more calculus classes. Are there specific admissions policies for home schoolers? No. Home schoolers are treated in the same manner as public schooled students. However, each student is handled on a case-by-case basis, so the admissions process varies slightly with each applicant. Admission requirements are similar to those of most four-year colleges, but parents and students are encouraged to call the admissions office of the service academy in which they are interested to discuss their situation and address their questions directly to a counselor. While no specific policies for home school graduates exist, the Air Force Academy has issued guidelines which offer suggestions for home schoolers who want to tailor their high school education towards an appointment to the academy.

Rob T. I would definitely consider weekend work. For sure. That would be a big help. Yes I have thought about all of that and its definitely a mountain. Im going down there today to work on things with them and see what I can do to improve my likelihood of being successful.

Victor only you know what you're capable of and I'm not familiar with the military so I wont touch too much on those subjects. However, joining and having the military pay for that schooling probably would be best financially. What happens if after you've enrolled you dont like it, or it's too hard? What I will touch on though is your idea of driving part time or only during the summer. Doing so is going to be quite tough not only finding somebody to hire you but also being able to safely do so. Most companies want somebody to take a refresher course after a few months out of the truck and with your skills still being relatively new it may not be the best option. I've been driving about 2 1/2 years and somedays I still struggle, we all do. Ive been off work about a week now and not looking forward to doing a couple backs I have tomorrow. Given what happened at swift and leaving western express before you've got a year in won't look that good. If you follow through with your dreams and go through that school would doing weekend driving work be an option? For instance, my employer has 1 driver that only works Saturday and Sunday, and about 20 part time drivers that aren't regularly scheduled but they will call them the day prior to see if they're available to work when we are short drivers for the day. The competitor grocery chain in the area does the same. Penske and Ryder have on-call positions but I believe they're required to work if they're called in. Neither are OTR but its atleast income and will help keep your skills relevant.

We wish you the best in whatever life holds for you, I just don't want you to hurt your chances in this industry if things don't work as planned. Planning on joining the military, along with all that served or are currently serving have a ton of respect from me. It's something I never had the courage to do.

While I agree that I may have been making excuses, I also did not think I would be able to anyways. So I did not push it. Maybe thats an excuse too. All I know was I was told I would not be able to and now knowing I could is why I am trying. I know that, it is a hard fact that I am a late hitter, but I also know that I can come out of school with a bachelors in flight and fly commercial jets at the very least or fly for corporations. Yeah I have thought about this a LOT and still am.

I am already at a real disadvantage because I was homeschooled full time and did not have the opportunities afforded to me as a private or public school student would have had. So I did not get a chance to enroll in the academy or into college early.

Howdy young man,

You are making excuses. Having lived in s.e MT where many kids were homeschooled, I personally know of a number that joined different branches of the Military as enlisted after graduating from high school and three that went on to college to get their Bachelors. Of those three, 2 joined the Army as officers and one was in helicopters. If you want something bad enough you will find a way to do it without excuses.

You have had all kinds of opportunities that I didn't have back in 1972. Women were in very few career fields in all branches. When I got out in 1975 to have my son and came back on active duty in 1976, many career fields had opened up, including LE, which I wanted to get into. However, since I had not been overseas, my retraining was denied numerous times. I finally got a "remote" (1 yr) assignment to a NATO base on the island of Sardinia, Italy thinking it would be enough and I could get into LE.

At the 10 year mark, I stopped trying because it would not be approved. I could blame an ex-husband in personnel for me not getting into LE, but I don't. It was my lack of knowing how to get around his road blocks and not trying to find out that was my problem. That's okay because at my 14 yr mark Congress didn't give the military a pay raise but DOD did. So all branches had to discharge people and the Air Force had to get rid of 22,000 stateside individuals. I fell in that group, got out 31 Mar 1988 and went to driving for May Trucking after going to a fly-by-night school. Life is what you make it.

This was written in 1998 and if I figured your age from your different posts, you are 24-25 yrs old, so in high school about 2010-2014. Should a home schooler wishing to enter a military academy take certain academic courses? Yes. A strong foundation in math and science is a basic requirement for any applicant. Taking community college classes during the junior and senior years of high school would be a good way for a home educated student to demonstrate competence in the appropriate course work. It is important for a home schooler to have taken laboratory sciences and one or more calculus classes. Are there specific admissions policies for home schoolers? No. Home schoolers are treated in the same manner as public schooled students. However, each student is handled on a case-by-case basis, so the admissions process varies slightly with each applicant. Admission requirements are similar to those of most four-year colleges, but parents and students are encouraged to call the admissions office of the service academy in which they are interested to discuss their situation and address their questions directly to a counselor. While no specific policies for home school graduates exist, the Air Force Academy has issued guidelines which offer suggestions for home schoolers who want to tailor their high school education towards an appointment to the academy.

For me this a great piece of advice, go after your dream .... if it doesnt work you can say i tried rather than spend a life full of regrets beating yourself up that you wish you would have tried...m i spent a good part of my life trying to become a doctor rather than follow my own dreams of sales and marketing...i finally did and boy am i having fun doing it.

I am already at a real disadvantage because I was homeschooled full time and did not have the opportunities afforded to me as a private or public school student would have had. So I did not get a chance to enroll in the academy or into college early.

Howdy young man,

You are making excuses. Having lived in s.e MT where many kids were homeschooled, I personally know of a number that joined different branches of the Military as enlisted after graduating from high school and three that went on to college to get their Bachelors. Of those three, 2 joined the Army as officers and one was in helicopters. If you want something bad enough you will find a way to do it without excuses.

You have had all kinds of opportunities that I didn't have back in 1972. Women were in very few career fields in all branches. When I got out in 1975 to have my son and came back on active duty in 1976, many career fields had opened up, including LE, which I wanted to get into. However, since I had not been overseas, my retraining was denied numerous times. I finally got a "remote" (1 yr) assignment to a NATO base on the island of Sardinia, Italy thinking it would be enough and I could get into LE.

At the 10 year mark, I stopped trying because it would not be approved. I could blame an ex-husband in personnel for me not getting into LE, but I don't. It was my lack of knowing how to get around his road blocks and not trying to find out that was my problem. That's okay because at my 14 yr mark Congress didn't give the military a pay raise but DOD did. So all branches had to discharge people and the Air Force had to get rid of 22,000 stateside individuals. I fell in that group, got out 31 Mar 1988 and went to driving for May Trucking after going to a fly-by-night school. Life is what you make it.

This was written in 1998 and if I figured your age from your different posts, you are 24-25 yrs old, so in high school about 2010-2014. Should a home schooler wishing to enter a military academy take certain academic courses? Yes. A strong foundation in math and science is a basic requirement for any applicant. Taking community college classes during the junior and senior years of high school would be a good way for a home educated student to demonstrate competence in the appropriate course work. It is important for a home schooler to have taken laboratory sciences and one or more calculus classes. Are there specific admissions policies for home schoolers? No. Home schoolers are treated in the same manner as public schooled students. However, each student is handled on a case-by-case basis, so the admissions process varies slightly with each applicant. Admission requirements are similar to those of most four-year colleges, but parents and students are encouraged to call the admissions office of the service academy in which they are interested to discuss their situation and address their questions directly to a counselor. While no specific policies for home school graduates exist, the Air Force Academy has issued guidelines which offer suggestions for home schoolers who want to tailor their high school education towards an appointment to the academy.

Okay so I got a temporary truck. International Prostar LT flattop, number 29370. They are going to work me towards Nashville, Tennessee to get a better truck unless I decide otherwise. Which it look like its in good shape. As far as Liberty goes. I went down on Monday and I got financial check in done, I went and spoke with Residential life and she broke down the differences living off campus versus on. Then I went to Air Force ROTC and spoke with an instructor about ROTC and my chances. I told him that I was in my mid-twenties and that did not seem to bother him. What he did say was that I would need to sign up a week before orientation and then do the course for the 4 years. I plan on doing well. He says they do a physical assessment before continuing so I am going to make sure I stay fit. They have Navy ROTC but I did not have time to talk with them cause it was later in the day. I sort of got lost in the school lol. I am excited. Like I said before, if I dont think I will be able to do Airforce or Navy I will be able to fly airlines. They are still jets😁😉. He said that there is no guarantees in any branch of the military to go to officer training and be able to be a fighter pilot. You have to get a pilot rating which consists of your asqt and flight skills. Praying I do well!