A. Antonio, congratulations on two counts! First, unlike so many young folks who do not develop a career plan, you seem to already know where you are headed. Developing a career plan is much like a flight plan. If you don’t know where you are going, how can you plot a course to get there? Of course, just like a real flight, you may need to deviate from time to time and change career destinations, but at least you have one.
The second bravo goes to you for aiming at serving your country. If you can make the grade as a pilot, you will gain invaluable experience without investing great sums of money and be highly marketable in the civilian world when you do leave the service.
My first suggestion is to meet with an Air Force recruiter. I am confident that the representative will be happy to visit with you and help you develop an action plan. Think about attending a college that has an Air Force ROTC program as well, which is generally a fast track to officer status.
Of the two choices that you have selected, I think aerospace technology is the way to go. Most of the aptitude tests for flying positions in any branch of the military involve rigorous testing in areas such as mathematics, physics, aerodynamics, and the sciences. Unfortunately, excelling in the arts, literature, history, and social studies does not seem to have a place in pilot selection for either the military or the airlines, although they are by no means disqualifiers for the position. If you ultimately aspire to civilian flying, choose a course of study that may help you weather the financial storms that many pilots face—a degree in accounting, medicine, or business can give you a fallback position if you are furloughed.
Whatever you decide, make it a personal goal to achieve outstanding grades. Those As make a big difference when competing for flying slots. Good luck to you!
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