There are many routes to becoming an officer in the Air Force Reserve.

• If you have served as an officer in any other branch of the service, your commission may be honored and, if it is, you will retain your rank or its equivalent.
• If you are in certain professions, a doctor or nurse for example, you will enter the Air Force Reserve as a Commissioned Officer, but you must attend a special officer training.
• If you are an Enlisted member of the Air Force Reserve or any other branch of service and have a college degree, you may be offered a commission and will then complete Officer Training School.
• If you are a member of Air Force ROTC, you may become a commissioned officer upon graduation.

All officer candidates attend Officer Training School at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, and the course lasts 12 weeks. Those who are healthcare, legal and religious professionals attend Commissioned Officer Training, a condensed course of study.