skiddriver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
- Posts
- 405
In an active duty squadron, you'll deploy every 18-24 months and spend 15-40% of your time in garrison deployed to training. As you get closer to deploying overseas, you'll spend more time away from home. Deployed work schedule varies. On board ship, 7 days a week. In Okinawa, 6 days a week. In Iraq, 7 days a week.
In garrison, workday (if you aren't flying) runs from 0700-1630. If you work in the maintenance department, you can count on staying until 1730 or so. If you're a functional check pilot, you can count on staying past sunset. If your Marines are working, you're at work, so if the Maintenance Department is working weekends, you're working weekends. If you're an Admin officer and your have an admin inspection comes up, you're working weekends. Ditto for Ops, Logistics, etc. As a Lt in a squadron, you can also expect to stand overnight duty at the hangar a couple times a month.
If you're on the schedule you come in at proposed landing time minus your crew day limit. Preflight brief goes two hours before flight, preflight planning starts depending on mission complexity. Post-flight debrief can take an hour or more. You'll fly from 10-25 hours a month, more if you're new or if you're an instructor, less if you're qualified but not an instructor. No set times for flights as they revolve around day/night training, aircraft availability, range times, etc. Crew rest is observed, but you can bounce back and forth from real early shows to real late releases.
Some positives (besides the pleasure of wearing the EGA): You're expected to PT daily, so if you like to work out, you're in the right place. 30 days of leave a year, though you may not get to take it when you want. Federal holidays off (unless you’re working). Decent pay. Decent retirement if you stick it out. Great experiences, good guys to work with, respect of a grateful nation.
Good luck.
In garrison, workday (if you aren't flying) runs from 0700-1630. If you work in the maintenance department, you can count on staying until 1730 or so. If you're a functional check pilot, you can count on staying past sunset. If your Marines are working, you're at work, so if the Maintenance Department is working weekends, you're working weekends. If you're an Admin officer and your have an admin inspection comes up, you're working weekends. Ditto for Ops, Logistics, etc. As a Lt in a squadron, you can also expect to stand overnight duty at the hangar a couple times a month.
If you're on the schedule you come in at proposed landing time minus your crew day limit. Preflight brief goes two hours before flight, preflight planning starts depending on mission complexity. Post-flight debrief can take an hour or more. You'll fly from 10-25 hours a month, more if you're new or if you're an instructor, less if you're qualified but not an instructor. No set times for flights as they revolve around day/night training, aircraft availability, range times, etc. Crew rest is observed, but you can bounce back and forth from real early shows to real late releases.
Some positives (besides the pleasure of wearing the EGA): You're expected to PT daily, so if you like to work out, you're in the right place. 30 days of leave a year, though you may not get to take it when you want. Federal holidays off (unless you’re working). Decent pay. Decent retirement if you stick it out. Great experiences, good guys to work with, respect of a grateful nation.
Good luck.
