Air Force Officer Training School
[3] During peacetime, OTS is usually the smallest commissioning source in the USAF, producing fewer officers per year than AFROTC and the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA).
However, it possesses the capability to surge when USAF requirements dictate and exceed the combined annual officer production of both USAFA and AFROTC.
Given this reality, OTS has often surpassed USAFA officer production during wartime periods such as during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s or the Reagan defense buildup of the 1980s.
[4] Conversely, OTS can be hard to get into during years of contraction within the national defense establishment in general and the Air Force in particular, such as the mid and late 1970s following the end of the Vietnam War and associated USAF force structure reductions or the post-Cold War era and its associated defense reductions of the early and mid-1990s.
After five weeks, the already-commissioned OTS-A students that have successfully completed the course graduate and move on to either follow-on technical training or their initial assignments.
[7] Interested applicants for OTS typically contact Air Force recruiters specializing in officer (versus enlisted) accessions.
AFOQT scores, college GPA, previous enlisted performance evaluations if a current or former enlisted member, and, if applicable, previous pilot skills as either an FAA-certified civilian pilot and/or as a U.S. Army warrant officer / Army Aviator will all figure into the selection process, although the selection process strives to employ a composite or "whole person" approach.
[9][10] Per Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-2013, personnel attending Officer Training School's 8-week program must have a baccalaureate level degree or higher[11] in either technical or non-technical fields.
Applicants can apply for aeronautically rated or non-rated Line Officer of the Air Force (LAF) positions.
Military bearing includes the ability to write and verbally brief, lead the flight, and perform duties within the Cadet Wing.
The new second lieutenants will be appointed in either pay grade O-1, or O-1E if they have prior cumulative active service as a warrant officer or as an enlisted servicemember in any branch or component of the U.S. armed forces for at least 4 years and 1 day.
OTS-A is responsible for developing medical, legal, and chaplain personnel into professional officers by instilling character, knowledge, and motivation essential to serve in the United States Air Force.
When the Aviation Cadet (AvCad) Program proved insufficient to meet wartime commissioned officer requirements, the United States Army Air Forces established the Officer Candidate School (OCS) on 23 February 1942 at Miami Beach, Florida,[13] its mission being to train and commission members from the enlisted ranks.
OCS moved to the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (now Lackland AFB), Texas, in 1944 and gained the additional mission of training officers directly from civilian status in September 1951.
Concurrently, the Air Force also commenced a phaseout of its long-standing Aviation Cadet (AvCad) Program at Lackland AFB.
For a short period during the build up of the Air Force to meet the demands of the Vietnam War, as many as three OTS Squadrons were based directly at Lackland AFB.
During the spring and summer of 1993, OTS gradually relocated to Maxwell AFB, Alabama, the home of Air University, commencing operations in interim facilities on 25 September 1993.
[17] AFROTC, which had previously conducted its summer Field Training (FT) program for their cadets between their sophomore and junior academic years at various air force bases around the United States, also consolidated its summer FT program at the OTS facilities at Maxwell AFB circa 2008.
