Ang

[C-5 MEM]

We have the same benefits as that of the reserves.

 

[JungleJett]

Thanks man! Months of therapy and now I am right back sleeping in that freaking tent across from the crappers (near the beer tent) and it is 1 billion degrees out..and its only 9 am!! Soon I will be waiting for Izzy's love bus run downtown! One day your on the beach and the next your dodging SAM's over Baghdad!

Yeah, you guys are a good bunch and as much as the time there kind of sucked, we had a "good" time. I feel like that I should be back doing what we can to help the folks up north.

We are losing 4 airplanes over the next few years and were told you guys were getting two and the others were going to Boise..maybe not. Anyway, if you do, you will be getting some good birds..but you know that. They may be missing some parts..

Let me echo what others are saying here. Joining the Guard or Reserves is like joining a huge family. Its a great family too! I would not trade all the crap holes (I have been to 52 countries) I have been too for anything. It has been an awesome ten years and I have loved just about every minute of it. You will be hard pressed to find higher morale in the active duty.

Go Guard!

JungleJett,

I'm in the 182 AW (Peoria) and thanks for the complement. Were you at Minhad with us? If you were then sorry to bring up bad memories. You guys made it fun for us, especially when it became an all ANG base. We are getting new Herks but not from you guys. 40 year old Herks to 10 year old Herks. Not Bad!

BabyDoll,

Go Guard!!! It is the best deal in the military. Right now our operations tempo is high and we do go to all the garden spots. But when it gets bad, we can always say "We are in the ANG and this is just temporary".

If you have any questions about Peoria e-mail me.

CLAMBAKE

 

[HueyPilot]

You will be hard pressed to find higher morale in the active duty.

Ah, yes. The active duty Morale Supression Police were in force in the AOR. I flew into OMDM a couple times, but never long enough to do much. The Guard folks took good care of us when I was there.

 

[qmaster3]

Ill.

My cousin was active duty and from IL. He and others said that you get 100% education provided by the state. Don't know the details, but hear guys from Texas and IL brag about the free college. If one of the state colleges has a flight training program, and it's free. Well, there you go. Just pi$$ed I enlisted in IA I would look into this. Who knows you might just get to bank your GI money on top of the free tuition.

HueyPilot,

I am using my GI bill for Instrument, Comm, and hopefully other ratings. I know a lot of old timers got all there ratings, and CFI's off it. Is it that they only pay for one program, or one program at a time? Couldn't find out on the site.

Cheers,

 

[flyf15]

How difficult is it for someone who has no prior military experience to get a pilot slot in the air national guard? Anyone have a brief list of what all happens? What kinds of things give you the best chance?

Thanks much!

 

[psysicx]

It depends if you want Army or Air Guard.Right now you can get on with both without prior service.The Army usually only want to send people already in there unit but with the war they don't care as much.The Air Guard is more popular because you get to fly big jets on the weekends and they pay for all your ratings.Its very competive but doable.Go to baseops.com and click on jobs listings,and find units your interested.And there units not listed but still try if thats what you want.And Huey the reason I was asking about Pro Pilot course is you fly helos in the Guard but want to fly fixed you would need those additional ratings.

 

[HueyPilot]

It is a bit easier to get a pilot slot from inside a particular unit...they know who you are and have a good handle on whether or not you'd be a good risk to use up a training slot on you. But that's not to say that they won't hire outsiders. I was an outsider when I got hired by the ARNG...granted I was in the ARNG, but I wasn't in the aviation unit. I was an engineer operating construction equipment for an engineer battalion.

ANG units typically hold interview boards. In order to get into the game you need to send them a packet, usually consisting of the application paperwork plus a resume or something similar. Contact each unit individually to find out what their requirements are. Once you are selected for an interview and get that behind you, they decide on primary and alternates for however many slots they have. If you're a primary, they will contact you and tell you which slot you're slated for. If you're an alternate, then hope that one of the others withdraws or gets sick (withdrawing happens...sometimes people get hired by, say, a tanker unit and then later get picked up by a fighter unit and tell the tanker unit "thanks but no thanks". If you're the alternate, now you are going to UPT).

And Huey the reason I was asking about Pro Pilot course is you fly helos in the Guard but want to fly fixed you would need those additional ratings

I no longer fly helicopters for the Army Guard. I have a Learjet type rating and currently fly C-130s.

Even if I stayed in the Army Guard, you can still get commercial MEL ratings for free if you fly the C-12 (Beech King Air 200), which most Guard units have.

 

[babydoll]

Go to baseops.com and click on jobs listings

It's actually baseops.net and yeah i've obvioiiusly already been to that web site. And Somebody mentioned that IL an TX guard pay for 100% tuition, that is absolutely 100% wrong, TX ANG only pays 50%. and from what I am told, they dont pay for all of your ratings in the ANG, they only pay for one rating. But anyhow, i've made up my mind and i'm going down to Peoria (182nd AW) and signing up. Medical is finished as well as the ASVAB. So im in good shape. Thanks for all the help guys!

By the way, I'm joining as a Crew Cheif on the c-130 getting my degree, and then cross training to a flight engineer, and putting my UPT packet in and hopefullly fly for the military.

 

[JungleJett]

If I may recommend something. If you really want to be aircrew, get a flying slot in any crew position. I would be willing to bet that they have openings for Loadmasters. You can cross train from that position to FE. I have nothing but respect for the MX folks as they are truly the forgotten folks. It can be difficult to go from MX to flying...it really depends on the unit.

Find out who the LM Chief is (I think it is still CMSgt. Barnick) and contact them directly. You will eventully have to go through the recruiter but your best bet is to go directly to the folks in charge. Trust me on this.

Loadmaster school is about 4.5 months plus survival. All C-130 training is done at Little Rock AFB and I had a pretty good time. You really need to take a look at becoming a Loadmaster. You will be part of the crew and be in a better position for a pilots slot. Plus, the money you can make by flying can be pretty good and will certainly help out with school! You have more opportunities to make money as a crew member.

Just my two cents.

Go to baseops.com and click on jobs listings

It's actually baseops.net and yeah i've obvioiiusly already been to that web site. And Somebody mentioned that IL an TX guard pay for 100% tuition, that is absolutely 100% wrong, TX ANG only pays 50%. and from what I am told, they dont pay for all of your ratings in the ANG, they only pay for one rating. But anyhow, i've made up my mind and i'm going down to Peoria (182nd AW) and signing up. Medical is finished as well as the ASVAB. So im in good shape. Thanks for all the help guys!

By the way, I'm joining as a Crew Cheif on the c-130 getting my degree, and then cross training to a flight engineer, and putting my UPT packet in and hopefullly fly for the military.

 

[qmaster3]

Go to baseops.com and click on jobs listings

It's actually baseops.net and yeah i've obvioiiusly already been to that web site. And Somebody mentioned that IL an TX guard pay for 100% tuition, that is absolutely 100% wrong, TX ANG only pays 50%. and from what I am told, they dont pay for all of your ratings in the ANG, they only pay for one rating.

Good Luck. So what does IL pay for?? Does the state pick up your tuition bill at a state college? I am assuming this is a STATE thing, and is separate from the Veterans Affairs. It may not apply to weekend warriors though.