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Take a Temp Tech Job or go back to civilian job. Advice Needed..

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Foties

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 6, 2004
Posts
51
Here's one for my guard/airline buddies out there.

Current Situation:
-Finishing my last month of being activated (735 days done, finally) at my guard unit.
-Military Aircraft Commander, 2000hours, 500 PIC (A code time), 1500 turbine multi engine, Gulfstream Co-pilot, Part 135, flying a government contact.

I have an opportunity to accept a job at my guard base as a temp indef technician at the GS-13 pay grade starting at 83,000K. I also have an opportunity to go back to my civilian job which would include getting a type rating in the Gulfstream, getting my ATP (all paid for by the company), and flying as a captain building PIC there at a salary of 75,000k a year. The catch is I will be able to build my PIC faster at the civilian job which would mean take a small pay cut. My personal goal is to get the 1000 hours PIC asap and start the networking with Fed Ex, Southwest, and Continental to name a few.

For some reason this decision really stresses me. Turn down the guard job and say the airlines take another dump because (god forbid)of another terrorist attack for example. I would have burnt a bridge there so to speak. Take the guard job, build PIC slower and maybe miss the window of some of the above named airlines that are hiring.

Can some of you guys throw a little advice my way and I thank you in advance.

Later.

40's
 
I think you said it yourself, your pesonal goal is fast PIC time to get on with Fed/SW/CNT, go with what gets you there the fastest, right?

I guess we're all in this same boat to some extent. Hang our nutz out and go for the big job as fast as possible, hoping it'll all be okay, or take a more conservative and stable looking route with a smaller ultimate payout.

What we all decide depends on the circumstances in our own lives. I wish I could shed more light on this one for you, but all I can say is I'm with ya. Could you handle that art job though? That looks painful.
 
psysicx, he was asking for advice, not MORE questions!

1,548 posts, 1,548 questions.

Dude, most guys like answering your questions. Hell, I've even answered a couple. But please start searching threads before asking yet more questions!
 
Stay with the G-13 job, more stability, 1.2 conversion factor for military time, FedEx/UPS like military flight time. Most likely you would also be an IP/EVALUATOR that looks really good on a resume.
 
I’m an ART and it’s not a bad gig. I don’t think everyone is made for the job, but I like it. The stability is nice and the pay isn’t bad. One thing you should think about regarding the 10k pay difference between Civilian and Tech, is the military pay opportunities being a tech. I would guess that you’d probably make much more military pay as a tech than you would in a straight civilian job. You can definitely get all of your AFTPs, Annual Tour and probably some MPA days as a Tech. You probably would miss some of the pay opportunities as a straight civilian due to difficulties balancing conflicting schedules. I would imagine that the pay gap between the jobs would actually be more towards 15k. If it’s not about money or stability, and it is about the getting the airline job, you should probably go for the PIC time. That sounds like it will get you the airline interview the fastest. Be careful closing the door on the Tech job, units tend to have long term memories and the opportunity might not come back. Good luck.
 
Slacker and the rest,

Thanks for the reply's. Every one of you have providied some great insight. The civilian job is on the same airfield as my guard base and it is essentially only working half days. We fly shuttle's in the morning and I would be off by 11am. Or we fly late afternoon shuttles meaning I would have to show at 2pm for example. It is Monday-Friday with every other Friday off. I guess my point is it allows tons of opportunity to max out the AFTP's, take weekend trips, get AD days working as SOF, DZO, etc.

Psycix (SP): The 735 days of Active duty is from being moblized in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. It does not include UPT, that's about 1 year and 6 months of active duty separate from the 735 days.
 
Foties said:
Slacker and the rest,

Thanks for the reply's. Every one of you have providied some great insight. The civilian job is on the same airfield as my guard base and it is essentially only working half days. We fly shuttle's in the morning and I would be off by 11am. Or we fly late afternoon shuttles meaning I would have to show at 2pm for example. It is Monday-Friday with every other Friday off. I guess my point is it allows tons of opportunity to max out the AFTP's, take weekend trips, get AD days working as SOF, DZO, etc.

Psycix (SP): The 735 days of Active duty is from being moblized in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. It does not include UPT, that's about 1 year and 6 months of active duty separate from the 735 days.

Dude, $75,000 salary for halfdays with every other Friday off, flying a Gulfstream and paid ATP??? This tech job is ground duties, correct? I think you'd be crazy for passing up the Gulfstream job to sit behind a desk at your guard unit.
 
Last edited:
I'd agree with KarmaPolice. Since your long-term goal is 1000 PIC I believe you'd get it faster flying the Gulfstream and the Herk. As a tech you will fly a little more than a TR would but you won't always have the A code. Best of luck, whichever way you go. There are a bunch of folks out there who'd love to have your dilemma.
 
psysicx said:
Is it hard for a tech to balance time between his guard job and his reserve job?

What kind of freak are you? You ask these totally off the wall questions everywhere. It is very apparent that you have no knowledge of the mil with the questions you ask. It's not flaimebait, but very similar.

Guard job and Reserve job? WTF.
 

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