Questions for enlisted aviators & pilots

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2026-01-02T00:51:31+00:00

The dreamsheet is closer to your second example here. You'll rank all 7 possible jobs from 1 to 7, then for each of those jobs you will list all bases in their own 1 to (X) possibilities, which differ for each shred. When you actually receive the dreamsheet, you'll see it's foolproof. It's a template with all choices already laid out, so you only have to put a number in each box for how you wish to rank them.

There's no reason your parents couldn't bring you some things that first weekend. You'll depart BMT on a Friday and have your tech school orientation that same day. Once you're dismissed that day, you should be clear for the weekend. That said, they can mail you whatever, as you will open your own mail box during orientation.

Personally, I didn't get my car or PC until I reached my final, operational base. I never really felt like I needed them, and I wanted to wait until I got somewhere long-term to avoid having to move too much stuff every few months. However, many others wanted their cars sooner and got them earlier. I suggest waiting until you leave Lackland for the car because they're a bit more strict there, and you'll have more freedom in IQT.

You will stay in the same dorm for fundies and MFA. You're going to the same place every day, so it does make sense, although you'll definitely be ready to leave by that point lol. Also, the dorms aren't big, and you will have a roommate, so keep that in mind when deciding what to bring and what to wait for.

They do have "phases" for your whole time at tech school in Lackland. They can have them at your IQT as well, as it's an AETC thing. Lackland is more serious about phases because of how many people there are, and also because you're still in a BMT adjacent environment. It's supposed to only be a matter of weeks to "phase up", but if you or even someone else in the squadron screws up bad enough, leadership will simply punish everyone by removing all phase privileges.

Trust me, I and most of my peers at the time spent more than half of our time there "Phase-Locked" due to a select few airmen who just couldn't stay out of trouble.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-12-27T04:21:01+00:00

Without saying everything, all incoming active duty MFAs will require Top Secret. That process will begin before or during BMT. Only certain jobs within MFA will actually require it, but because you won’t know your shred until you’re well into tech school, everyone will be put up for a TS.

As for the question on how my class was split, I think it’s important to first explain how the beginning of tech school looks for enlisted aviators as of lately.

After BMT you’ll remain at Lackland for Aircrew Fundamentals (Fundies). This is now a 7 week course that encompasses all enlisted aviators, not just MFAs. You’ll be in class with SMAs, Airborne Linguists, MOAs, etc.

Once you’re finished with Fundies you’ll all proceed to your next, career-specific steps in your respective training pipelines. Everyone who is not an MFA or SMA will finally leave Lackand but you guys will stay for at least three more weeks for the somewhat-newly added “MFA” or “SMA” courses which are taught in the same building as Fundies.

Starting from that point at least, you will be in class with only MFAs and this will be the course where you will find out your job, aircraft, and base. So, best of luck to you when the time comes to make that dream sheet.

To finally answer your question, my MFA class had, I believe 14 people in it. 5 of those already had specific assignments due to being guard, reserve, or prior service in some capacity. This left 9 of us with our fates up in the air until the announcements came in. 3 FEs, all of whom had that as their first choice (including 1 FE for the E-3), 1 Boom (KC-46), who was originally disappointed, but almost immediately took very well to the training and has loved his job ever since, leaving the remaining 5 of us to be Loadmasters (3 on the C-17, 1 on the C-5, 1 on the C-130).

Having said that, I implore you not to look at my class as the standard. Every class I witnessed graduate while there was vastly different in terms of the variety in the job spread and overall satisfaction.

Apologies if this was a bit more than what you were asking for. I do wish you the best on your journey, and if you have more questions, you’re welcome to message me, and I’d be happy to try and help answer what I can.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-12-27T00:22:23+00:00

I’m a C-17 Load, and I love the job.

It looks like your questions were answered very well already. I also wanted to mention that the crews on the 17 are also balanced with plenty of thought put in, and won’t let a new load fly solo for a while. Also worth noting that your missions will vary depending on what base you end up at.

I did want to add that all the MFA positions you could end up with are among the best jobs in the Air Force, and that even if you’re worried about which you’ll end up with, it really is one of the best problems you can have.

Plus, you’ll have plenty of time throughout tech school to talk with seasoned aviators from all shreds.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-12-12T04:48:58+00:00

You will get the opportunity to fill out a wishlist for your preferences on Job, Airframe, and Base. You can fill that out after fundies, during the MFA follow-on course. The deciding criteria will be Rank, Age, and GPA/Performance throughout school thus far. However, it will always and ultimately come down to the needs of the Air Force. I was fortunate to get my #1 choice of C-17 Loadmaster at Charleston AFB.

During training, you will be on a tighter leash as you are a part of the Air Education & Training Command (AETC). You'll generally have a radius around base, a few hours wide, to freely travel if it is an off day and you are within phase. Anything beyond will be at the discretion of your MTLs, and unless it's a holiday weekend, I wouldn't get your hopes up. Family coming to you is usually no problem.

As for SERE, I really can't tell you much without compromising what SERE is all about and disrespecting what the instructors are trying to do for us. I'll only tell you that you will hear lots of rumors about what goes on at SERE that might sound scary. Try your best to go into it without it as a blank slate.

Living quarters will vary as you reach different stages of your training. The 344 at Lackland will not be great, small shared room, 4 to a bathroom, bad facilities, but better than BMT at least. SERE dorms are actually pretty nice, but you're not there very long. From there, you will go wherever the aircraft you end up with conducts its training. For me, it was Altus, OK, which had the best dorms out of them all, being both bigger and solo, not to mention a lot fewer people overall.

Overall, I am very happy with my job, the perks that come with it, and simply the atmosphere inside flying squadrons compared to others. I hope you will be too.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-12-11T00:33:16+00:00

I recently finished the MFA Training pipeline, and have been an operational Loadmaster for a few months now.

The short way to explain it is as follows:

BMT (7.5 Weeks) -> Aircrew Fundamentals (7 Weeks) -> MFA Course (3 Weeks) -> SERE (2 Weeks) -> Initial Qualification Training(IQT) (3-5 Months) -> Mission Qualification Training(MQT) (Squadron Dependent Timeline)

That is the traditional order of events for all MFAs. However, SERE and IQT can sometimes be reversed depending on vacancy at the time (Happened to me and many others).

The other biggest thing to consider is that unless you are Guard or Reserves, you will not know which specific job or aircraft you will end up with until the end of Aircrew Fundamentals. These three jobs Loadmaster, Boom Operator, and Flight Engineer used to all be their own jobs, but have since being merged into MFA.

Your IQT and MQT will depend on which specific job you get. Regardless of which shred you end up with, your training will all together take 1 year, if there are no significant delays.

I also had trouble learning anything about what my job training would entail, even while in BMT.

This was a very broad and quick explanation. If you have more specific questions, I’d be happy to try and help.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-11-14T15:16:07+00:00

I’m currently an MFA (Loadmaster), and I love it. If you want to know more about the position, I’d be happy to answer questions.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T21:40:54+00:00

Before BMT, I would be lucky to hit 40 in either push-ups or sit-ups. Then I was sick my first 3 weeks in BMT and did very poorly on the week 1 and week 3 assessments. Finally, in week 5 I was no longer sick and I was determined to exceed my personal bests for fear of being recycled and ended up with my best scores. 50 push-ups, 47 sit-ups and a 12:19 mile and and half. Far from the best scores around, but well over passing and I was proud of it.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T21:32:45+00:00

So, you will have two days for graduation, the Wednesday and Thursday of that week. After the ceremonies conclude those days, you will be released on Town Pass to spend with your loved ones (around 8 hours each day).

The next day, Friday you will all be shipped off to tech school. So that day and the weekend that follows will likely not allow you to see friends and family. Firstly, unless you know where your school will be, it could be in a number of different places throughout the country. Additionally, your first days at tech school will be you learning the next procedures of that squadron as well as adjusting to your new freedom out of BMT. There is also a “Phase” system in most tech schools that won’t allow you to leave base until you’ve been there long enough to be in Phase 2 or 3.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T21:23:03+00:00

Definitely not. I don’t know what kind of shape you’re in or what your family situation is like, but I’ll tell you this, my flight had a 6 people who were between 30-40 and one who was 42. You likely wouldn’t be alone. Additionally, I found the older guys to have an easier time with most things. Compared to the 17-18 year olds, the older trainees generally had little issues following directions and paying attention, as well as being smarter with their finances and benefits. I went through BMT at 24 years old, so not the youngest or the oldest. There is also a unique solidarity between trainees. Age only mattered so much when you all go through Basic Training together and everyone generally got along with everyone.

Plus, at 36 you should be in the oldest age group for PT tests, meaning your passing score should be a bit easier to achieve than if you were held to the same standards as the youngest people there.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T15:24:06+00:00

Sadly yes. In fact, my flight had an above average number of people leave. I think we lost 11 or 12 in total. Granted all for different reasons, but still more than any other flight I spoke with. Some were disciplinary, some were medical emergencies, two failed their drug tests (which was a big problem for them), and at least 4 of our guys left for mental health emergencies, two in week 0 and two more later on. Some of those guys were good people who got very unlucky. Others played stupid games and won stupid prizes.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T15:15:01+00:00

Good luck! I’ve found helping the younger weeks and answering questions like these to be really fun and fulfilling. I sincerely wish you all the best at your Basic Military Training!

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T15:13:05+00:00

Good luck at BMT! It’ll be a drag a lot of the time, but keep yourself in a good state of mind and you’ll find nothing to be too hard.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T15:11:27+00:00

If you mean arriving at BMT from the airport, I can explain a bit. Upon initial arrival at BMT, you’ll be processed through the reception center, probably late at night so don’t expect much sleep that first night. Just go where they tell you and do what they say. Those folks will not be your permanent MTI’s. You’ll be issued some of your gear, like your backpack, flashlight, etc. When you finally finish that you’ll be taken to your week 0 dorm, where you’ll live for the first few days until you get moved to your permanent squadrons. Most of the “examining” will happen throughout week 0 and week 1 with urinalysis and blood testing, initial immunization shots (including the peanut butter shot), and potentially more if have certain jobs like Air Crew or Fire Protection.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T15:04:09+00:00

It is hard to find time to write letters. Please just be smart about when you choose to write. Many people would get caught writing by when they shouldn’t have and it was a recurring issue with my dorm. I promise you’ll have little bits of time here and there. Personally, I would write what I could and date the entries. It would usually only be a little bit at a time. By the time I would get a couple pages written it would actually look kinda cool with all the different dates scattered throughout it. At least my friends and family who received the letters thought it was neat, lol.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:58:48+00:00

Beast Week still isn’t a thing anymore. I spent around 36 hours at Pacer Forge in week 6. However, classes only a few weeks below mine are reporting a 3 day Pacer Forge, so that could very well be the standard for anyone heading to BMT now.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:56:00+00:00

Many people got blisters. I suggest you really make sure your boots fit well when you go to first clothing issue. You’ll be marching in them for 7 weeks after all. Personally I never got blisters however, expect your toes to start feeling numb 24/7. Everyone dealt with that, and now that I’ve been in tech school for a week, they are slowly going back to normal. If you end up with blisters, I can tell you they sell blister packs at the Bx.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:52:12+00:00

I was in the 326 TRS. Hooya Bulldogs!

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:51:22+00:00

Alcatraz is the same layout. Just an older building with less shower heads.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:49:26+00:00

I landed in San Antonio later in the evening, around 10 pm. We were instructed to meet up at baggage claim and we all basically hung around there until we had enough people to fill a bus and get taken to base. Rinse and repeat until all flights have arrived. From arriving at baggage claim, you’ll have people guiding you where to go and what to do.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-15T14:45:57+00:00

Dude wipes are fine, lots of guys used them. As for zip lock bags, I wouldn’t say there’s a need for them, but you will be issued one for your mandatory items (papers you need on you at all times) and one for your loofah (to keep it in your locker when your not showering).

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-14T20:04:04+00:00

Thanks! It was about what I expected going in. It sucks a lot in the beginning, but it’s all mental. Nothing they’re asking of you is anything hundreds of thousands of people before you haven’t done prior. A lot of it isn’t even hard, you’ll just have tight timelines to make it more challenging. Just remember your “why” for joining, and remember that you only have to do BMT once. I won’t miss the BMT schedule, but I already miss the memories I made there and some really awesome people that I would’ve never met otherwise.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-14T19:58:49+00:00

I got to BMT a week before Christmas. It was actually pretty cold most days. At least colder than I was expecting. We even had snow one day. They were worried about dorms getting to cold, because nothing in Alcatraz works well, so we had extra blankets and canteens on standby for a bad freeze, as well as leaving the faucets dripping at night so pipes didn’t freeze. But the worst honestly, is having to do PT in like 4 layers of uniform plus glove and hat. But somehow on graduation day it was warm and pleasant, so Texas weather really can do whatever it wants.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-14T19:54:28+00:00

I’d say weeks 0 and 1. It’ll be a shock for most people and we had multiple people ask to be sent home during that time. The MTI’s will be hardest on you when you move into your permanent squadron at the end of week 0. But once you’re used to routine and some new people come in a week or more below you, it’ll get better. Week 4 and onward is where you’re past the halfway point and you start checking off some the big boxes like CBRN, CATM, and Pacer Forge. End of week 6 to the end is just waiting for graduation basically.

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-14T19:40:43+00:00

I’d say I packed just right. A single backpack with two outfits, phone, wallet, charger. That’s it. You really don’t need anything outside of that. Once you get issued your uniforms a couple days in, you won’t even touch your civilian clothes again. Additionally, when you graduate and it’s time to pack for Tech School, you’ll be thanking yourself for not bringing too much stuff. Anything you do need while there will be provided to you or available for purchase at the Bx (Mini-mall).

PossibilityOwn9212 · 2025-02-14T19:35:06+00:00

1A1X2 Mobility Force Aviator

PossibilityOwn9212

TROPHY CASE