Choosing a date??? Air Force Pilot Training

honerlmc

So my FI is in the Air Force and will be starting pilot training sometime between July and September. We are trying to set a date for next Labor Day but no one can really tell us if he would be able to get off for a weekend to go to his own wedding! (Since the training is usually about 12-13 months) Can anyone tell me if this is something they encountered and if they would let him off for a weekend?

jessa92010

*Usually* they will gets some time off for holidays like that, but whether he'll be able to actually go anywhere is another story.  Deployment is one of the reasons we are only having a four month enagement.  No point in planning something that may need to be canceled.

kyrgyzstan

The military doesn't care about getting people time off to go to their own wedding. Get all your contracts with military clauses about not securing leave, etc.

Most pilot spouses will say that it's a gamble to plan during training. 

pennylane786

It's going to be a huge huge gamble to set a date in the midst of training. It may work out, it most likely will not. 

In my experience, they have called my husband to tell him he's starting whatever phase the day before. You aren't given much notice of when things are going to start or end. At least here, they will allow flight students to take leave, as long as they aren't in the midst of training. So if it works out that he's in limbo waiting, he would be able to take leave. 

I do know a couple who got married in between API and Primary, but they had to change the date at least 5 times. And then they moved up his Primary start date so they had to shorten the honeymoon they had booked. 

MilitaryBride2Be

My fiance is currently in pilot training. We're not getting married until hes finished but there have been several other guys in his flight that have gotten/are getting married during training. What they did was chose a date near a holiday. One of them is getting married over the 4th weekend because they are getting Friday and Monday off. Don't expect to be able to take a honeymoon, but if you plan over a holiday and make sure you have military clauses you would most likely be ok.

shan87

We were in a similar situation. He was to start between Aug-Nov. He left Aug and then he started 2 days before thanksgiving.  My Fi is also in UPT Flight training in Oklahoma and it took us about 1 month to figure out a date. Getting married during Pilot Training is very tricky. My FI found a Military blog about it if you PM I can get you the website. We decided to plan for Memorial Day wknd next year after his finishs pilot training because you really get NO time off.  Even then he will still be new and its up to his commander.
Depending on your style and what you want there are not very many options.
No Matter what you are most likely going to have to get married on a holiday wknd. My FI was only able to get emergency leave to attend my fathers funeral. Yours  will be able to take leave if it doesn't mind being bumped back a class. (Still needs to be approved) If you are really set on getting married BEFORE he finishes pilot training your safest and best bet is to do it over Thanksgiving or Christmas break. Note** Your FI when he starts to actually fly he will have to have 12 hrs of rest before he flys that means traveling to and from base.

Good Luck! HTH

Spunkchin

Wait until he's finished and pick a holiday weekend. We did the 4th of July weekend two weeks after he graduated. It worked well because the AF usually gives people a 3 day weekend and one additional "family day." Keep in mind though, graduation dates can get pushed back because jets break, people get sick, injured, maintainers go on strike, etc. Mentally, post-UPT is better because he wont be studying his butt off for his next flights and will actually be able to relax and enjoy everything.

Have your vendors add a military clause to all contracts and make sure when you pick a date he lets his instructors know. They're usually pretty cool and will try to make sure the date will work out as long as it doesn't interfere with training.  Keep in mind as well that depending on the jet he gets assigned to, he may have to PSC to that particular training base immediately.

Good luck with everything!

montsgirl

We're going through the same thing right now  My Fiance is down in Corpus Christi with the Air Force right now finishing up his UPT training.  He's supposed to pin his wings at the end of October but then he'll be off (hopefully) to Little Rock, and then again (hopefully) to Florida.  With the amount of really quick moves it was just unrealistic that we would be able to get leave approved for our wedding. We're waiting to set the date until after he pins his wings and then we're going to pick a holiday weekend or something right before the Christmas holiday where leave is usually (fingers crossed) approved.  I think it's better just to hold off, as hard as that might be, and make sure you can pick a time that will work for sure.

HC121309

My fiance and I got engagd in December of 2009. Due to his Pilot training and the uncertainty of time off, we planned our wedding during the Christmas break. They get approx. 2 weeks off at the end of December through the beginning of January, the dates are typically December 26-January3. We agreed to have our wedding during this time so we could atleast  get somewhat of a honeymoon. We plan on taking our official honeymoon at the end of Pilot Training. Good luck to you!