You will need to contact a National guard recruiter or Reserve recruiter who will give you contact information for the unit you are trying to apply for. Following that, you will need to attend a separate hiring process/selection at the unit you wish to attend.

PRK is the only surgical option that will not disqualify you for Special Warfare jobs. 

My advice for someone wanting to be a PJ is doing your research, look at all the missions PJs have done and compare that to what all the other special operations forces have done and talk to all of the recruiters. When you actually make your decision to be a PJ you MUST be all in and BURN THE BOATS. From that point on, every moment you spend awake, Pararescue should be the first and last thought in your mind and should influence the decisions you make. This will force you to do the right thing, such as not partying all night and skipping the gym the next day. If this is something you want, allow it to consume the better part of your life!

The facebook group is definitely a great resource.  Some weeks are more active than others, but typically people go into the group to try and find training partners in their area or give each other advice about what helps them individually improve on certain exercises or workouts.  Sometimes they have info from their friends that are going through selection, or new info from recruiters... it all kind of just depends. You should be able to accomplish the workouts on your own, but if you ever need outside input or have questions about the whole process of becoming a PJ, it's a good place to hear other people's perspectives.  Not everyone in that group will go on to make it as a PJ, but you can safely say that there are definitely people on there you could potentially be working with in the future. So if you ever want to make a profile and check in from time to time, that's fine too.

Absolutely, if swimming is your weak area then you should definitely work on it more. My private facebook group for clients is a really great resource for help too. There is a lot of great swimming advice on there. You could read the book Total Immersion or even hire a swim coach. It's just important to try and get all the distances in. I would even recommend if the swimming is what you struggle with that you spend even more time in the pool and gaining that confidence, water is a crucial part of being a PJ.

So far, there have been a couple of women who have tried but the furthest any have made it was day 2 of training. The two biggest things are upper body strength and weight-bearing activities such as buddy carries and rucking. In order to prepare, I would recommend a stepwise approach to ensure you can attain the standards required. You can look at the old Indoc grad standards as a reference and reverse plan from that. Or you can check out my workout plans as well.

There is not a specific requirement, some people start not being able to do any and use a resistance band in order to attain the numbers they need. Most will repeat the program as they progress and are able to do substantially more pull ups the second go around. Just realize there will be some extra work you need to do in order to

The biggest differences between combat and civilian is that our first job is to eliminate the threat then treat. Additionally, you only have the med equipment that you carry on your back so you need to get creative and be decisive in what you really need to bring with you.

PJs take vitals just like everyone else, palpate a radial pulse, use a pulse oximeter, and count respirations.

The Prior service program is one of the Air Force’s most selective programs. We often have prior Army, Navy and Marines that go years without jobs. Even though they have all passing PAST tests. The Air Force’s priority is new enlisted for pipeline slots, then maybe backfill with AFR or ANG students, and then finally Prior Service. So I would really recommend not going in the Army in general, and just go straight in for PJ if that is what you ultimately want to do. The reason I say this is because there really is not a career field you can go into that is going to make you more prepared, PJs need to be good at all of that stuff including the medical and "ground pounder" aspects of the job. Additionally, you can still attend classes or just do online classes while you are in the Air Force. The biggest advantage you will gain from being in the Army is an appreciation for the Air Force to be honest.   

You can break it up if you need to.  That's not a big deal, just make sure you get it all in. I have many clients who work full time or work 18 hours a day, or 24hr shifts and they break up their workouts too. You have to find a way to make it work with your schedule.

The biggest thing to remember is that you are not working under the same circumstances that you will when you get to selection. You don't have the pressure when you are out at the gym by yourself. If you are finishing the workouts then you are way ahead of your peers, I guarantee it. But this also means you can improve your speed on some of the events. This is where I cannot completely replicate the feeling of being at selection for you. Keep it up and finish the workouts and you will be just fine. If you can find a workout partner, healthy competition will keep you on your toes as well.

The Air Force always needs PJs and it is a critically manned career field.

That is really just a matter of remembering your purpose and buckling up for the ride. A common phrase we use is embrace the suck, it will remind you that we will intentionally make you uncomfortable, because we can only do so much to replicate stress and deployment situations.

I drink it when I wake up in the morning, during the workout and before I go to bed. This just allows for a constant availability of electrolytes throughout the day. (You can find it on my equipment list here)

Keep on working out until 3 days out. At 3 day out you should do 75 percent of what your workout is, on the 2nd day 50 percent and the day before you should really just stretch and practice form in the mirror. Obviously, make sure you are hydrating with electrolytes as much as you can and take some amino acids to make sure you don’t cramp on test day. Lastly, make sure you are stretching and foam rolling every day and wake up with enough time to eat a full breakfast 1 hr before your test.

Obviously saving lives, as well as being the guy in charge of the team and the aircraft. It was a privilege and an honor to have such responsibilities placed in my hands at only 26 years old. I also loved the travel and the fact that every day on the job was different and exciting.

Indoc was really draining physically, and watching people I got to know really well quit was hard. Sadly it was such a huge accomplishment also. People who were way physically stronger than myself quit. Mentally the most difficult part of the pipeline after Indoc was Paramedic, it was like drinking from a fire hose, but also rewarding because medicine is the foundation of a PJ and I knew I would be learning how to make people survive otherwise unsurvivable wounds.

Water confidence and pushups are the things that eliminate most guys. Rucking is a huge part of selection now, so you have to be good at rucking too. Also prepare to be away from your family for a couple months. Make sure all of your affairs are in order and you have as little distractions as possible.

The biggest thing you will need is a pull-up bar of some sort to use at your station. Most of the workouts can be done with limited equipment. Also with the pool situation, I would recommend just doing the swim right before your shift and again after your shift, and a land workout in the middle of your shift. As long as you space it out like that and do all the reps/miles you will be good to go!