guard/reserve questions

[Scrapdog]

How much money can a guard bum make flying a C-17? I don't think the F-16 unit out of Carswell hires people.

You're quite wrong - the BRAC has actually increased Carswell's number of airplanes to 20 something (I believe it's 24). They're hiring quite a bit...I interviewed with them this past summer.

As for the guard bum act - definetly don't base your future on that. For one, most guard units will want to hear what kind of plan you've got when you come off your seasoning days so you can feed yourself and your family (if you've got one). That don't want to have to have a dude as a burden always struggling to try and put food on the table. Second, once you're off orders, you WILL NOT have medical and dental insurance unless you go back on orders again for either some type of deployment or you get hired full time (technician or AGR). Guard bumming is not a good future plan.

 

[jherk02]

As for the guard bum act - definetly don't base your future on that. For one, most guard units will want to hear what kind of plan you've got when you come off your seasoning days so you can feed yourself and your family (if you've got one). That don't want to have to have a dude as a burden always struggling to try and put food on the table. Second, once you're off orders, you WILL NOT have medical and dental insurance unless you go back on orders again for either some type of deployment or you get hired full time (technician or AGR). Guard bumming is not a good future plan.

All true....but, if you choose to try and make a living out of it, I would expect that the best you could do is just over 2/3s of the equivalent active duty paycheck each month. This would be in an airlift unit and without too much competition from other dudes trying to do the same.

The ANG/Reserve now has a health care plan a traditional (part-timer) can buy into, but in my opinion it is way too expensive...especially for the whole family.

 

[psysicx]

Well you were already an AD pilot. They told me they never send people to UPT. Hmm will have to dig deeper. Never thought someone would say you can't make enough bumming in a C-17. I know a C-5 pilot who does it and has been doing it for 3yrs with a family and having no problems. Good info thank you very much.

 

[Scrapdog]

Well you were already an AD pilot. They told me they never send people to UPT. Hmm will have to dig deeper. Never thought someone would say you can't make enough bumming in a C-17. I know a C-5 pilot who does it and has been doing it for 3yrs with a family and having no problems. Good info thank you very much.

Let me try to help you understand, it's pretty confusing. As a part time guy, you have 2 ways to get paid during normal training day to day ops. You have drill periods and flying training periods. One weekend a month a guard/reserve unit "drills" - i.e. they get together and fly both Saturday and Sunday while the non-flyers do their jobs on the base. It's essentially like a full up day, except on Sat and Sun. You get 4 pay periods for each drill weekend (2 per day, essentially an AM go and a PM go). You get drill periods for 1 weekend per month throughout the fiscal year. Doing the math with 12 months x 4 pay periods per weekend it works out to usually 48 periods. Even if you're not flying, you can still use a drill period to get paid (i.e. study, help stan-eval, etc...).

Flying training periods are the second way to get paid and are just "pay" periods you can use anytime throughout the fiscal year as well. You get 48 of those as well, and you can use a max of 16 of those per quarter. Since there are 4 quarters per year, you would average about 12 of those per quarter. You must use those for flying solely except for 4 max per quarter, and those 4 can be used for ground duty.

Since most guard/reserve units either "highly encourage" or make it mandatory for flyers to attend drill weekends, we'll take those out of the equation for your weekday events. Now, using an average of 12 flying training periods per month, and you worked mon-fri guard bumming, you could essentially work 2 weeks and 2 days straight before running out of your "average" flying training period allowance. Therefore you would be jobless for a week and a half for normal business weekdays every month without med and dental insurance (besides your one weekend used for drill as well).

If you used all your drill and flying training periods as a lieutenant, I would expect you'd probably make about 30K a year (again, without included med and dental insurance that you would have to pay out of your pocket extra for continuous coverage) and would be sitting on your thumbs every month for a week and a half at home.

Now - all that being said...this set up is strictly speaking from a fighter background and fighter unit. I'm not positive on how heavy units do it, but I think it is very similiar. Fatty drivers can put any additional fill ins as required if they differ from what I said above.

I hope this shows you, the part time pay and work schedule is designed for a part timer - i.e. a guy that has another outside job that comes in and does the guard/reserve solely as a secondary means of income. Guard bumming would not cut it for you long term.

 

[psysicx]

I totally understand but most heavy units let you fly as much as you want. Can you fly 12 times a month in a fighter unit? Fighter bumming is almost impossible unless you live in your car.

 

[CFIIer]

now, i'm not the most experienced person to speek on this subject, as i'm still on active duty orders, getting ready to go to C-17 school. But I have a friend that flies KC-135s, who said that he made more bumming than he did on orders. I've been told by people in my unit that you can make 40-45 a year just bumming, if you make yourself available to scheduling all the time. I'm hoping that's the truth, because i don't have enough time for fedex, and skywest is starting to look a lot more inviting.

 

[jherk02]

I totally understand but most heavy units let you fly as much as you want. Can you fly 12 times a month in a fighter unit? Fighter bumming is almost impossible unless you live in your car.

What is your goal? Are you already a military pilot?

 

[jherk02]

now, i'm not the most experienced person to speek on this subject, as i'm still on active duty orders, getting ready to go to C-17 school. But I have a friend that flies KC-135s, who said that he made more bumming than he did on orders. I've been told by people in my unit that you can make 40-45 a year just bumming, if you make yourself available to scheduling all the time. I'm hoping that's the truth, because i don't have enough time for fedex, and skywest is starting to look a lot more inviting.

I would bet that is true. Apply to SkyWest anyway and then use Military Leave to fly with the Reserves. Talk to the pilots in your unit.

 

[KarmaPolice]

There is NO way you can make more money by "bumming" than on orders. Plus, like Scrapdog said, you won't have medical or dental.

It might be possible in a fiscal quarter to strategically take some orders and also utilize your pay days and surpass an active duty paycheck, but you will be going into the squadron nearly every day of the quarter and working your butt off.

Here's a quick breakdown of ways a reservist in a heavy unit can get paid. (as far as I've been able to find out)

TP's: Training periods. (called Teeps) You'll get 16 per quarter (three month period for you non math wizards). Each TP is good for four hours of work. Eight can be used for ground training (pubs check, CBT's) and the other eight have to be used for flying. They're worth about 180 each before taxes and other deductions to a new Captain. You can do two teeps in one day.

UTA's: Again, 16 per quarter. Can be used for ground or flying and are good for four hours of work. Max of two per day, and pay the same as a TP.

Annual Tour: Two weeks of "orders" per year. One day of annual tour is 1/30th of the monthly salary of an active duty paycheck. It's not exactly 1/30th of the pay because you'll get BAH type II. A "rip off" lower BAH rate since you are on orders for less than thirty days.

MPA Orders: These are like annual tour days, and are paid at 1/30th of the monthly salary per day. Again, if you're orders are cut for less than 30 days you'll get BAH type II and your pay will be less than what an active duty person would get for the same amount of work. MPA orders are subject to availabilty (i.e. if the Air Force needs a mission they'll subcontract the flying out to a Reserve unit and pay you in MPA orders.) I'm not familiar with how available these orders are in a non C17 unit, but they are pretty much unlimited here if you fly a "stage input" i.e., a mission supporting the GWOT. You only qualify for medical for your dependents if your orders surpass 30 days.

"Long Term Orders": You can go "Active duty" in a Reserve unit either voluntarily or involuntarily. Currently in our C17 world these orders are available in 3, 6, and 12 month increments for volunteers. The paycheck is exactly like the paycheck of a person on Active Duty. In a C17 Reserve unit currently you are expected to fly, as a minimum, one ten day trip per month while on long term orders.

By far, the most money you can make is by being on orders. You will most likely get what we call a cha-ching, or tax free/hostile fire pay each month if you enter Iraqi or Afghani airspace. It can be worth about 5-6 hundred for a 1LT or Capt. In addition to that, you can expect about 8-9 hundred per month in per diem from your "stage trip".


To maximize yearly pay, I try to go on three month orders in alternating increments so I can burn all my TP's and UTA's between time on orders. It's hard to say if I would make as much per number of days worked as if I was on 12 month orders when you factor in TF/HFP and perdiem.

 

[psysicx]

Don't you get hostile fire pay either way as long as you Iraqi or Afghani airspace? And how hard is it to on orders and isn't it easy to pick up extra trips if your not? Lastly how much can a guard/reserve bum make if there flexible?