u/KMG623

Alright. I haven’t talked to a recruiter yet. That’s on my to-do list tomorrow. But, I have a question that I’m hoping I can ask and save some time.

About 9-10 years ago, I tried enlisting in the USAF, Navy, and Marines and was rejected from all three(USAF was acid reflux and Navy and Marines was eczema). I couldn’t get waivers and tried for 4 years to get past it. I provided documentation and letters from specialists saying they weren’t issues and was still denied.

Fast forward to now. I’m interested in trying to go back and try again with the Army this time. Am I still going to be denied even though everything has been resolved for almost a decade now?

So for anyone who saw my last post here, a little follow up. I did a discovery flight and loved it and I want to commit to lessons. My problem is financing and find ways around the other obstacles like time.

I’m a divorced dad(29) and I have my kid every other week. I work full time 4 days a week M-Th and barely make any extra to save up for lessons and it’s not enough extra to pay for them outright. There’s only one school close to me that I know of and that’s still 3 hours away. When I asked about lessons, they said a minimum 2 days a week for good progression but the schedule is as flexible as I need it to be but long term it’ll be cheaper for skill retention to do more.

I’m just curious as to how everyone else did it or if you have any suggestions for me. I don’t have money or connections which is what I’ve seen in other posts in other subs.

Extra Background: The school pricing is
$35,000 for PPL,
$35,000 Instrument rating,
$33,000 CPL,
$17,000 CFI,
and $8,500 CFII for a total of $128,500.

I make like $300/mo extra to be able to save. I work 40hrs/wk and theoretically could get a weekend job but then I wouldn’t have time for lessons or my kid.

I've been looking at nearby schools and researching online about costs and job potential. The big problem that I keep seeing is that there's only two routes: Military or Major Debt.

I spent 4 years trying to get into the military in my early 20s (I'm 29 now) because I had a new recruiter and I didn't know what not to say. So I ended up getting medically blocked for acid reflux even after having it cleared by a gastro specialist with pictures. For the military guys, is there still a way in there or is that door 100% closed?

If military isn't possible and my only way in is debt, how much realistically would I be looking at? I've found some numbers that say $60,000 just to get the commercial license but that doesn't include the flight hours required to get a better job. I've tried to do the math and guess how much it would be and it comes out to like $200,000 and a few years of flying to reach the open job market.

I've been looking hoping to find something that would be like the civilian version of the military contract where they hire, train, and retain you but I can't find anything. Any ideas where I could look or am I trying to find a unicorn?