Military or Civilian

[rjet24]

Hey guys just need some advice. Im currently debating on weather to try and get an air guard flying slot. I am an officer in the army national guard and a regional airline pilot. Would flying for the air guard help me down the road when looking to move on to the majors. Flying for the military has always been something that I wanted to do but would taking the time away from civilian flying be worth it. Also how long would training last? have any of you taken time away from commercial flying for the military? How does it work? Any other advice you have would help. Thanks.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Going guard or reserve is a great deal, especially if you're alreay hooked up (if you wana say that) with a regional job. Training takes about 2 years from AMS/OTS to completing all of your training. During this time, you just take military leave from your airline, and when you come back, you will have the same seniority number, same everything. just like you never left!

It does take a while to get through training, but it's definately worth it in the end if it's something you want to do. Here's what my schedule looked like:

AMS - March 2004 - 6 weeks. Released to civillian world afterwards.
UPT - Late July 2004 - Aug 2005 (you will remain on orders from here until all training is done)
Water Survival - Mid-Aug 2005 - one week course
KC-135 training - September 2005 - Feb 2006
SERE (Land survival) - Late Feb 2006 - 17 day course
Then 45 days of mission seasoning.

From the time I was selected until the time I will be complete, will be about 3 years. It is usually a year (give or take) before you get to AMS/OTS.

Good luck!

 

[rjet24]

MarineGrunt, thanks for the info how was UPT, what are classes like, flying times ext... Also being an officer already in the army guard would I still need to go to OTS. What is AMS? Thanks for the help.

 

[peter185]

AMS = Academy of Military Science (ANG commissioning source)

You would not have to go to OTS or AMS since you are already commissioned.

Classes at UPT are almost always a drag, but you have to do them to fly.

The flying is awesome and is worth the putting up with all of the bull sh$$ to get here.

How long have you been at your airline and how long till you upgrade? If you are a fairly new hire I would not hesitate to go on mil leave to do it. You will probably make more money than staying at a regional. As mentioned your seniority number stays the same, so when you get back 2-3 years from now it will hopefully be about time to upgrade. At a minimum you will be 3 years higher on the payscale at your regional.

 

[rjet24]

Peter185, thanks for the info. I see you are a cfi. Did that help during UPT. How did you go about finding a flight slot? Boarding process? I am a fairly new hire with an upgrade time of about 3yrs. Any other info you can give me would help. Thanks

 

[MarineGrunt]

MarineGrunt, thanks for the info how was UPT, what are classes like, flying times ext... Also being an officer already in the army guard would I still need to go to OTS. What is AMS? Thanks for the help.

Oops, you're right, you wont have to go to AMS or OTS then. Theres a website, www.uptprep.com that will answer most of your questions about classes. They try to make it stressful for you most of the time, but it's not too bad. You should do very well considering your background.

As for flying time, you don't get much. Give or take a few hours, but I have around 90-95 in the Tweet, 110 in the T-1 and when I'm done with KC-135 training next week, should have 50hrs in the tanker. Along with this, you have WAY more sim time than you know what to do with. I think I have about 250hrs in the sim in the past year and a half.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Peter185, thanks for the info. I see you are a cfi. Did that help during UPT. How did you go about finding a flight slot? Boarding process? I am a fairly new hire with an upgrade time of about 3yrs. Any other info you can give me would help. Thanks

I'd say that your chances are excellent of getting hired on with a unit if you shop around. I went to UPT with 500tt and a CFII. I'll admit, that I wasn't the biggest hard charger in the class and regrettably relied on much of my civillian time to carry me through. It works for a little while, but it catches up with you quick. There was a CFII a few classes ahead of me that washed out. Just keep hitting the books and chairflying when you're there and you will do fine.

There are a few ways you can find units that are hiring. Most people direct guys to www.baseops.net where they have postings, or you can go to the Guard or Reserve website and look for unit contact information. It's hard to find out who you need to talk to, but when in doubt, call the recruiter number for that unit and ask who you can contact for information. Most of the recruiters out there are dumb as a sack of hammers, so if that fails, I'd just try calling the unit's generic phone number, get an operator and ask them for the number to Operations for the unit you are looking at. If/when you track someone down, ask them if they are hiring, how you can apply and when the next board is.

The first thing I would do is go take your AFOQT and Basic Aptitude Test. You can call any Air Force recruiter and get the locations where you can take these. You need to have these for any application that you send out. Call your college and get them to send you a few copies of you college transcripts. Get a copy of your RIP (Record of Individual Person) - or something like that. Every branch of the military has a different name for it. I have them my Basic Individual Record from the Marines and that was ok. Most units ask for your DD214. Start soliciting letters of recommendation, as many as you can get. Work on an excellent cover letter and sell your military experience and leadership abilities.

Thats about all I can think of now....

 

[MarineGrunt]

I guess the uptprep.com link is dead, but this may answer some Qs as well... http://www.baseops.net/archive/archiveupt.html

 

[rjet24]

Hey guys thanks for the responses and the help. I am going to seriously start looking for slot. If any of you know any units currenly or soon to be taking applications for pilots slots I would appreciate it. Again thanks for all the help.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Most heavy units hire a few per year. I hear some of the C-17 units are hurting for dudes.