ExplorerCY

Hi. I'm a high school junior who wants to do aerospace engineering for defense contractors like Lockheed Martin or Boeing. Right now, I'm looking at Purdue, UMich, UIUC and GaTech (should get into to most of those).
Anyway, will doing AFROTC help my chances of getting a job in the military aircraft development field after I serve my commitment (or more)? Would it matter at all?
I know it is a very high goal, but you have to through your hat over the wall to force yourself to get to the other side.

Thanks in advance!

ExplorerCY

Again. Thanks. Really looking forward to the advice.

Panglossian

AFROTC for what? What kind of commission do you want? The AF has a whole myriad of officer communities, many that don't have a lick to do with engineering or development. If you're going to go the military route first, you'll need a pipeline like pilot or aviation maintenance, which are right now not in very much demand.

ExplorerCY

there is only 1 afrotc. if i could choose my assignment after rotc, it would be developmental engineer, code 62E1A. it would also be cool to go to test pilot school to be a flight test engineer.

Panglossian

Thats what I meant, getting an occupational specialty code like that. If you meet the requirements for entry and are willing to devote the time to the military, thats about as good a foot in the door as you'll ever be able to get.

As for the test pilot route, you'll need to put in quite a bit of time to get to that point, as most of them are O-4s and above, which takes about 10 years time to get to. As with anybody that wants to use the military route, remember always that you will be subject to the requirements of the service, and that things might not always go as you planned them.

Final note: Navy > Air Force, haha!

ExplorerCY

thanks. my overall goal is to be in skunkworks or something in 25 years.

Gasdoc

Air Force Academy grads comprise 20% of new officers but are allocated 50% of the pilot slots, essentially half of each graduating class go into flight careers. Aero and astro engineering are two highly regarded majors. The test pilot route requires an engineering background.

ExplorerCY

thanks. but will letting the af pay for my college and serving for a few years help me break into the private defense sector more easily?

ExplorerCY

go bump bump bump

Treetopleaf

I hope someone more informed answers your question, but my take on things is that time in the AF will help you only if you actually do development work while in the AF. I don't know how available those jobs are within the AF. I do know that they contract out aircraft design. You should have no problem breaking into the defense sector with an engineering degree from the schools you mentioned fresh out of school, without the USAF experience. Make it plain on your resume that you want to do aircraft development.

Look at it this way: four years after your BS you can either have 4 years of development experience at a defense contractor, or 4 years of something, perhaps not development, in the USAF. At that point, if the USAF experience is in program management or some other non-developmental activity, defense contractors may view your experience as non-applicable and therefore you as less desirable.

I don't mean to discourage the USAF years, by the way. Do that if you want, but make sure you tell them what you hope to do upon your discharge.

ExplorerCY

Thanks. That was helpful.

Columbia_Student

You don't need to go to the airforce to join these companies. These companies need software engineering skills like cs/ce/ee.

ExplorerCY

how difficult would a double major in ee and ae be?