Air Force announces OTS selection results

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Air Force announces OTS selection results

Posted 6/1/2011

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6/1/2011 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- A total of 63 men and women from across the U.S. have earned an opportunity to become Air Force leaders following their selection for an officer's commission, officials here announced today.

Air Force Recruiting Service officials considered 971 applications as part of Officer Training School Selection Board 11OT02, which selected 63 individuals for a 6-percent selection rate. Of the 63 selected, 22 enlisted members earned the chance to attend OTS and trade their stripes for gold bars as second lieutenants.

As part of the selection process, board members review both objective and subjective factors. Objectively, the board considers each applicant's academic discipline, grade-point average and Air Force Officer Qualifying Test scores. Subjectively, board members evaluate work experience, accomplishments, adaptability, character, leadership ability, potential for future growth and other recommendations. For active-duty enlisted members, performance reports and commanders' recommendations are also evaluated.

Three colonels review every application. The selection process is similar to an officer promotion board. No single factor leads to an individual's selection or non-selection, according to OTS selection officials.

People selected can expect to attend Basic Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in later part of 2011 and into 2012.

For more information concerning OTS and the application process, active-duty members should contact their local education office. Civilians should contact the nearest Air Force recruiter.

Enlisted members earning a commission as part of the OTS Selection Board 11OT02 include:
Tech. Sgt. Jacob Bailey
Tech. Sgt. Jason Boyd
Tech. Sgt. Denise Caspers
Tech. Sgt. Roy Cruz
Tech. Sgt. Randall Davis
Tech. Sgt. Michael Hartson
Tech. Sgt. Nathan Lett
Tech. Sgt. John McKinney
Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Moselle
Tech. Sgt. Aaron Summers
Staff Sgt. Timothy Benifield
Staff. Sgt. Sean Bruderer
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Burnett
Staff Sgt. Jennifer Gilbert
Staff Sgt. Jason Labelle
Staff Sgt. Jacob Maywald
Staff Sgt. Paul Mellon
Senior Airman Eric Cicero
Senior Airman Jared Fairchild
Senior Airman Fanciso Manitas
Senior Airman Benjamin Williams
Airman 1st Class Carlos Rosado Garcia

Civilian applicants include:
Christian Alf
Andrew Baker
Daniel Beuthien
William Borowski
Theron Brower
Robert Brown
Matthew Carter
Laura Caroll
Michael Ching
Jeffrey Cumber
Jonathan Fong
Michael Hall
Joshua Harris
Elizabeth Hampton
Keith Hudson
Daniel Johnson
Pavel Khazron
Michael Kraft
Haley Lain
Chad Lee
Charles Lowrey
Anton Martyn
Scott McCloud
Andrew Moran
Jason Myrick
Nathan Nash
Jason Panus
Randi Peak
John Penaranda
Jason Sanchez
Dawn Sanderson
Christopher Santos
Jeremiah Specht
Barron Stone
Daniel Richardson
Bethany Rowlings
Jessica Rush
Emily Walters
Marcus Williams
John Willis
Jacob Zamzow

(Courtesy of Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs)

Comments

6/13/2011 10:02:38 AM ET
Here is what I did: Back in the 90s, when the AF was not hiring, I buckled down, got in shape and applied to an Army ROTC program. I spent one year in green, then, what do you know, the AF was desperate again and I crossed back over. Never give up; look at all options.

DidItMyWay, USofA

6/9/2011 1:29:30 PM ET
Get Real AF. 6 percent on this board and the latest rated board had a 3 percent rate. It's madness. OTS is the cheapest way for the AF to get LTs. These folks come to us with degrees in hand. OTS should be used as the largest source of new gold bars. As for the prior-E pay, it's only tens of thousands of dollars versus the million dollar USAFA route. Every enlisted member that holds a degree should have an automatic OTS slot, if that's their desire.

FESNO, Florida

6/4/2011 11:10:09 PM ET
Ya know JB, I'm all about perspective 19 years of it 22 if you care to count three years AFROTC. OTS is not the only way enlisted members OR civilians earn commissions there are enlisted members who get accepted into AFROTC and USAFA. With those programs the AF loses these trained Airmen for FOUR YEARS as they learn all over again how to salute march all the stuff they learned in BMT. They bring real world USAF experience to new cadets, but they're gone for years. And if OTS is for filling shortfalls, selecting from the civilian world will accomplish that without taking too many trained Airmen from the current force. And OTS is a choice available to more potential officers than USAFA. You need to understand that not every potential officer has AFROTC as an option. And CR, As one who did AFROTC as a grad student studying with undergrads I can say for a fact that such people DO have life experience beyond school. We lived outside of bases held jobs were not as immersed in mil ...

DMPI, Al JBAB DC

6/3/2011 10:53:15 PM ET
Not to take away from the accomplishments of those selected but I would say that selection is truly based upon the needs of the Air Force regardless of what your accomplishments may be. As an active-duty non-selectee, I can confidently state that I thought winning an AF level award within my specialty, being a 12 OAY candidate, winning the Levitow award in PME, and accumulating many more accolades in various other venues would have made me a prime candidate. Unfortunately a BS in Criminal Justice and transforming from an Intelligence Analyst to an Intelligence Officer is simply not what the Air Force is looking for at this time. As a recommendation to those looking to apply to OTS prior to preparing a package seriously weigh-in what the Air Force is looking for right now currently it's electrical engineers. While I'm disappointed, I definitely look at it as a loss to the Officer Corps and a continued gain to the Enlisted Corps.

B, CONUS

6/3/2011 5:09:17 PM ET
Congrats to the selects. My guess is were bringing in just enough folks to keep the OTS doors open and only taking technical degrees. Many enlisted folks cant get into a technical degree program due to current ops tempo or choosing other degree programs limiting this options for commissioning. Any recruiter that sells enlistment as a way to get into OTS easier is selling a pig in a poke. When one factors in training minimum time on station requirements and the fact that the member needs a commander to put the troops future ahead of hisher own manning roster may find themselves disappointed. My current advice Im telling my troops desiring commissioning is to get out and apply to ROTC and if they already have their undergrad to do it while working on a Masters. Bottom line is the eating isnt good all around so its going to be tough no matter which path one takes.

OTS 2000, ACC

6/3/2011 4:02:37 PM ET
DMPI: Can't say I agree with the statement that civilians have more life experience. More than likely they are recent grads with no experience outside school. Advantage - Enlisted. Also, enlisted are valuable trained assets. If selected, it will take years to replace them. With that being said, that is why more civilains are selected than enlisted. The Air Force isn't losing anything.

CR, Lower AL

6/3/2011 2:29:22 PM ET
@Jason: Right now there are no more non-rated boards scheduled for the time being. They will probably announce the schedule for FY12 in the next two months. My word of advice is start early on your package. It will take a solid three to four months to put it together. Get with your base education office and they can give you all the information that you need.

SrA, Shaw

6/3/2011 12:48:28 PM ET
When is the next non-rated board? Can any selectess/non-selectees offer tips for preparing a package?

jason , cannon

6/3/2011 11:35:15 AM ET
My fiance and I are enlisting with college degrees with hopes that it will bolster our chances for OTS. Could it be that less enlisted folks apply than civilians, which results in less enlisted selections overall? But it may be pretty even per capita.

D. Torres, N. Carolina

6/3/2011 11:30:53 AM ET
Capt P. and others... I am prior enlisted but I understand why they bring in more civilians. If you talk with any assignment officer they will explain better but it comes down to years of service. The fact is that if you bring in 50 civilians versus 50 prior enlisted you're going to get more colonels out of the civilians and that's what it's all about, growing colonels. An enlisted member with 10 years service only has to do 10 more then retire, and even though some of us will do more, the fact is, most don't and it really messes up the assession pyramid.

Lt, Colorado

6/3/2011 10:35:40 AM ET
OTS is a primary commissioning source. It's a fast track for top quality individuals who have already paid for and earned degrees versus the other, more costly commissioning sources. Promoting from within has advantages -- AF training time, security clearances, acclimation to military service; however, during this fiscal crisis it also has a major downfall: prior "E" pay. I know first-hand what that is worth because I'm a prior and retired after 10 years of commissioned service, and I'm pretty sure every prior enlisted officer plans to stick around to retire. Prior civilians will need to stick around twice as long to collect retirement. So the Air Force will get a lot more use out of them and save money in the long run. Congrats to the selectees and a word of advice: Don't waste time. As soon as possible volunteer for leadership positions and projects. You want to be recognized by your group and wing leadership. Start work on your master's degree. Anything that sets you apart.

JB retired, Eglin AFB

6/3/2011 8:10:47 AM ET
It was a non-rated board. The next rated board is coming up in July. I agree with Capt P. It makes sense with the budget problems that we have to utilize enlisted members that already have degrees. The AF doesn't have to pay to educate us and it will take much less time to get us spun up.

SrA, Shaw AFB

6/2/2011 8:53:55 PM ET
Does anyone know if this was a rated or a non-rated board? Congrats to those selected.

Phil, Provo

6/2/2011 6:24:02 PM ET
It is true that civilians can bring experience from the Air Force. However in the day of "do more with less," it would make sense to reduce not eliminate ROTC and Academy accessions in favor of OTS which is a cheaper commissioning source. If preference were given to prior enlisted then the Air Force would get more at less cost. Win-win. Not trying to be insulting, just practical.

Capt P, F. E. Warren AFB

6/2/2011 6:23:58 PM ET
I also was a non-selectee. BS in Computer Science, GPA was 3.7, lowest AFOQT category was a 93, firewall 5 EPRs for all my 7 years, group Airman of the Year, Brig Gen recommendation letter etc... Applied for comm/intel. Congrats to those who made it. Wish I were joining you.

RP, CONUS

6/2/2011 4:53:04 PM ET
There may have been twice as many civilians selected as prior enlisted, but you also have to consider that there are generally A LOT more civilian applicants than prior enlisted. There are also those of us who were enlisted in another service who show up as civilians on these boards. If you want more enlisted to become officers, then they need to get the backing and encouragement from their leadership. The other reality is that a package of papers will never give a good representation of how good people are, but how else can you do it? I have met plenty of officers in my short time who make me wonder how they got in when I knew other people who were far more qualified. If the system really is broken, then how should we fix it?

Dave, NAS Pensacola

6/2/2011 4:38:25 PM ET
Is this rated or non-rated? My husband was told the rated board for 2011 was cancelled so he enlisted instead. Any information or which selection this was out of would be great. Thanks. Congrats to the OTS selectees.

DMC, Boston

6/2/2011 4:13:33 PM ET
DMPI: You need to get perspective. Promoting from within provides a very thoughtful solution to two problems. Lest we forget, first of all OTS is a tertiary commissioning source intended to meet SHORTFALLS of the other sources. The problem of needing leadership and meeting end-strengths is supported best by enlisted in OTS because it gains leaders without detriment to overall end-strength requirements. If we are perspectively in an overage across the board right now, then there should be no need for external OTS sources because we have all the people we need, and then some, internally. You can use re-classing and promotion as a means to optimize the force with the numbers we have. It's not to say that civilian OTS gains aren't value added. But in reality, OTS is not supposed to be a primary or secondary commissioning source. It supplements commissioning shortfalls. And if I have the choice to build a force of officers from seasoned enlisted versus a staff with less cumulative training

JB, Colorado

6/2/2011 1:57:53 PM ET
Hey Capt. P, why should all OTS selectees be former enlisted? Should AFROTC be abolished as well? I've heard that 'they should all be prior enlisted" bull for 20 years, and while it's true that former enlisted personnel bring military experience to the officer corps, civilians also bring life experience that the enlisted force may lack. For whatever reason, like AFROTC wasn't an option at their college or they didn't get USAFA appointments or merely personal choice, OTS is a valid route for civilians to join the AF as officers. Get over it.

DMPI, Al JBAB DC

6/2/2011 1:46:34 PM ET
Why is the selection ratio 21 civilians to 1 military? It floors me that we don't promote stronger from within the ranks. Enlisted experience leveraged into leadership positions is win-win for the AF in both quality of force and retention. We're doing a grave injustice to our internal force with upward aspirations.

JB, Colorado

6/2/2011 8:04:25 AM ET
D CONUS: Your observation about a super-low percentage is on the mark. My observation, over three decades of enlisted service and beyond, is there has long been a glass wall that only the fewest enlisted members have been able to pass through on the way to the officer corps. I supervised a few fine enlisted members who eared their way through that glass wall, and they were just as good a commissioned officer -- and still are -- as they were as an enlisted Airman. I've often thought that we probably lose future chiefs when we commission NCOs as second lieutenants.

The Old Retired Guy, San Antonio

6/2/2011 7:57:40 AM ET
I was a non-select for this board and was disappointed at the horribly low selection rates. I, too, wish that the Air Force would give enlisted members more of a priority for OTS. It seems logical to pull from the already proven enlisted corps rather than bring in complete newbies. It gets discouraging for enlisted members who are trying to advance.

SrA, Shaw AFB

6/2/2011 7:42:31 AM ET
I was one of the many non-selected, but I keep hearing this nonsense that enlisted have the same opportunity. Even with very low numbers, civilians carry almost a 2-1 advantage. During normal accessions, I've seen a 5-1 ratio. Enlisted have a chance, just not a good one. I've had a great career 3.8 GPA and extremely high AFOQT scores, so what does it take? Army is in my future. Thanks, Air Force.

Michael, Sheppard AFB

6/1/2011 11:01:45 PM ET
It just seems strange and a waste that our experienced junior officers are facing a second RIF in a year's time, yet new people are still coming in the pipeline. Congrats. I hope you have a few years in before they do a RIF that will affect you.

Suzie, Japan

6/1/2011 4:12:26 PM ET
Congrats to the selectees. With OTS pushing so few through, they should all be prior enlisted. That way the Air Force could capitalize on their experience.

Capt P, F. E. Warren AFB

6/1/2011 1:22:45 PM ET
Congrats to the selectees. A 6 percent selection rate out of almost 1000 applicants Wow that must be a record low percentage.

D, CONUS

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