Back in World War I and World War II, flying in the military was something that a few brave guys volunteered for, exploring a whole new arena in warfare with the incentive that they could possibly get an officer’s commission out of it and become a leader of men.
Today, it’s the other way around! You have to prove yourself as a capable potential leader in an officer’s program to even be CONSIDERED for a slot flying armed airplanes.
The reason for this is quite simple, in World War I, a fighter was a propeller-driven biplane made primarily of wood and canvas. The most sophisticated piece of equipment on these planes was a timing mechanism that allowed the pilot to shoot his cockpit-mounted machine gun at the target in front of him without destroying his own propeller. (Before this nifty little invention, no one thought that the then-recently invented airplane would make a practical gun platform.) The cost of these planes was minimal, and training a pilot wasn’t a heck of a lot more expensive than training a soldier on the ground that the pilots were supporting.
Today, however, we have ultra-sophisticated jet fighters that can fly at twice the speed of sound, carry weapons that can destroy a target that the pilot can’t even SEE with his naked eyes (Beyond Visual Range- or BVR) and cost tens or even HUNDREDS of millions of dollars each!
This is why the services want to make sure that the young people they put into the cockpits of these planes have proven themselves as great potential leaders who practice good judgement. Imagine yourself in the cockpit of an F-22. You are holding in your hand the joystick, the control yoke of the aircraft. Pull it back a little, and the houses get smaller. Push it forward a little, and the houses get bigger. Push that little red button on the stick…and the houses disappear!
That’s POWER that you’re holding in your hand. The power that you can literally feel surging in those powerful engines.
The services want to make DARN SURE that they hand that power to someone who will use it responsibly. And so do I.
That is why one of the biggest things we teach here on the Afterburner Club is the importance of leadership. Not only are you going to need it to blaze your way through your competition and get into that cockpit, but you will also need to apply those principle throughout your entire career as you make responsible choices that will benefit your wingmen, your fellow servicemen, and the citizens of your country.
There is no such thing as a “born leader.” Leadership is a skill that has to be cultivated and honed. The services take the ones that show that they have the initiative, put them through the rigors of boot camp and flight school, and see which ones will follow through. The ones that do have the right information to go with that initiative.
Take the initiative right now and show that you have what it takes! Sign on to the Afterburner Club today, get the information you need to serve your country with confident conviction and responsibility. Show the selection board that you can become a leader!