How to avoid the regionals...

[Bai B Nai]

Have you thought of the Air Force??? Go in, fly tankers or bombers, do your eight years, come out and go straight to FEDEX. What could be better? Wish I would have done that.

 

[mhcasey]

Yes, I've thought about the Air Force, but if I'm flying for our country, I want to be flying Uncle Sam's coolest stuff, so if I go into the Air Force or Air National Guard, I want to fly F-15's if possible. The only thing holding me back right now is the thought that I might have to go bomb mounds of sand or even worse, mounds of sand covered with women and children and a few terrorists. Don't get me wrong, terrorists piss me off, but trying to find the a-holes (I don't know the rules on this board, so everything is g-rated) half way around the world is proving to be a very interesting endeavor.

Anyway, I'm looking into it. I hear the "Don't do it unless you want to serve Uncle Sam" thing a lot. Rest assured, I do. I just don't know if Uncle Sam is making the best decisions right now.

Either way, I'm trying to get in contact with an Air National Guard recruiter (surprisingly difficult), and I'm calling up good friend's brother later this week to find out how he worked his way into the cockpit of an F-15.

 

[mcjohn]

Not all of the regionals are 'crap' either. There are a few good ones out there (just a few). Don't whore yourself out to the lowest or bidder and keep your standards high...

All I want to know is who these regionals are. Do tell!

Also, for the other dude, it shouldn't be hard to contact an ANG recruiter. What state are you in? Don't contact just your state. Talk to all your neighboring states as well. Some states have an online messaging thing where you can ask questions. Here's the response you can expect to receive when you finally find someone helpful on the other line:

"There are guys with way more military experience lined up for the flying opportunity that have been in the ANG for years. There's just no way you can jump into it without military experience. You need to sign up and start getting that military experience."

Well, don't forget we are at war. The experience an ANGuardsman may get is the grunt work in Iraq just to "get in."

Again, I must ask the other guy. Who do you consider the few good regionals?

 

[rickair7777]

That is the dumbest thing I have read in a long time...

I have 10 years of Corporate experience and I say different... From your profile it looks like you don't have ANY Corporate experience...

If your own hiring practices are even-handed in that regard, then I applaud you.

About half of my CFI friends from back-when do corporate...the female half. The guys had to go regional, whether they wanted to or not, but the girls all seemed to get snapped right up by the small local operators. I'm also an airport bum, so I know d*mn-well what goes on.

I'm not venting about that situation, but realistically, if you're just some random young guy looking at going that route, you need to understand the reality so you're not surprised down the road. My venue is SOCAL if that makes any difference.

 

[rickair7777]

bestest is not a word chief

That was a literary liberty. If you can't tell from the rest of my post, I do posses the basic language skills.

 

[mcjohn]

My venue is Western N.C. and I agree. I see very beautiful women (F/Os) on a good bit of the citations, leers, beech jets etc.....
My wife came by the other day and saw one sitting on the bench out front and got jealous because we have similar uniforms on and assumed I knew her. :laugh: