the other way

[Frisko]

Hope this doesn't go too much against the theme of the board here, but I figured this crowd could give the most insight.

I've been at a regional now for a few years... good job, good company, happy with where I live and the other benefits of the job (ie. travel benefits, days off, flexibility of schedule). I also like that I can leave work at the airport and don't have to take it home. The one problem is I'm bored as hell with it. From here I can see moving to a major (pending the economy) sometime in the next 3-10 years.... probably similar job, more money.

Currently applying for guard slots, if it doesn't happen this year I'm thinking of applying active duty. Don't have much experience with the military side of things, although active duty was my plan before getting hired here and changing my focus to the guard. Is this a big mistake in terms of quality of life? Not so much money, but everything else. Thanks

 

[Ih8AFYesmen]

From reading your post, I wouldn't recommend active duty. QL on active duty was pretty bad when I was in and I don't think it'll get any better for some time to come. Money isn't bad on active duty once you make O-3, especially if you can be stationed overseas (good Cost Of Living Allowance in Japan and OK in Erurope). Here's what I liked about active duty: commaraderie-made life long friends. Flying in the military, no matter which airframe, is more fun and dynamic. Being able to live in different parts of the world. Here are some things I didn't like about active duty: Having to move every 3 years. Too many spineless leaders who couldn't make it on the outside even if their life depended on it. Tons of additional duties or "created" jobs by brown-nosers. Bottomless additional duties. I'll stop here, if you know what I mean.

If you want to be a pilot in the military, I recommend AFRes/ANG. You can just be a pilot, so if you choose. You can even pick the airframe and location of choice, with some luck. Fighter units are a little more hard to come by, but you never know unless you try.

If you choose to go the active duty route, you will owe them 10 years after pilot training. This is only one man's perspective so take it for what it's worth. In my opinion, life and $$$ on the outside is infinite times better than active duty. Good luck.

 

[pony251]

Frisko, Go Guard/Res. Pointy nose airplanes are fun, but most of the slots are in heavies. Still, flying a C-130 would beat an RJ any day. You can always get mil leave from the airline to do your training and still have a job to come back to if you want. AD is a big commitment. Good luck.

 

[CatfishVT9]

I joined the Navy to get trained to become an airline pilot. When the time came to leave, I was having too much fun to bail out. I ended up staying for 20 with no regrets. I only left because that was the end of my flying possibilities in the Navy. My last tour was as the Commanding Officer of a jet training squadron. What a blast! Yes, I did work for some tools along the way, but good people far outnumber the bad.

I can tell you that carrier aviation is a challenge, but absolutely a tremendous amount of fun as well.

The Navy commitment is 8 years from wings, not 10 (about 2 years in training to get there for jets).

You said you are at a regional. Jets or props? If you are flying jets now, you would probably do well enough to get picked for jets in the navy (can't speak for AF).

One last thought. You will always find negative thoughts on this board. Don't use the responses to make your decision. Do your own research, talk to some guys who are in now and make up your own mind based on your own instincts.

Good luck!

Catfish

 

[Frisko]

"Having too much fun to bail out", now that's what I was looking for Catfish. I realize that won't always be the case, but what airline pilot have you ever heard say those words. I can certainly say that about some of the things I've done while working here, but not about my job itself. Right now I'm just looking for ways to avoid going to work as much as possible.
As far as the guard/reserve, I'd love to do it and that would be my first choice, but we'll see what happens with the aplications. Unfortunately, I'm one of those that feels like I need to at least give myself a shot at the pointy nose stuff, so that limits my options significantly.
Too old for the Navy unfortunately, but hopefully there are those that like their jobs in the AF just as much.
Thanks for the feedback, please keep it coming.

 

[AlbieF15]

Active duty is for Academy guys, squadron commander wannabes, guys who want to see the world and travel, and guys who fell asleep in ROTC class when the ANG was discussed (that's me...)

The ANG is for guys who want to serve their country, broaden their perspective on flying, and want to serve but still have a "normal" life living in a certain area (i.e...not moving every three years).

Seriously...I've done both, and they both offer some excellent advantages. However, for the lucky few out there who can manage their time and taskloads to have 2 jobs, the combination of an airline job (travel passes, insurance, income) and a military career (service, pride, excitement...and compared to a regional or year 1-3 pay at a major income) can be extremely exciting and rewarding. It isn't easy, but if you could join an ANG unit you could have the benefits of what you do now with excitement of doing the ANG service too. If you go active duty...well....hope you like it because those 10 years will CRAWL by if you don't and you cannot back up and quit. You'll spend several years full time if you go that route in training and getting seasoning, and odds are by the time you get done you'll be in a great position to catch a future hiring wave beyond your regional. There's more to life than an airline job (I've written several posts on that) but then again there are some darn nice perks too. You may be very close to "having it all...." Going active duty makes it an either/or decision instead of a potential "both".

Just one Guard lover's thoughts...

 

[Frisko]

Albie-
How about you guys just throw an Eagle UPT slot my way and we can call this whole thread off. I'm sure you'll be seeing my application pass through this summer. The dilemma right now is that I only have one more good year of applying for the guard before having to make that Airlines vs. Active Duty decision. I certainly do enjoy my airline benefits, but they're not worth selling my soul for, which is what I feel like I'm doing by not exhausting my military options... even if that means AD. It certainly would be hard to give up that airline i.d. though, we've had some good times travelling for free in the past few years.

 

[RichO]

ditto on all the posts here.......Being a Reservist I'm a little biased....towards the reserves....but, you might have better luck getting a fighter going active duty. The fighters are mostly in the guard, and it's a pretty tight community..(if you know someone in a unit that's a huge plus).....As for the heavies, I personally would go with the C-130 or C-17....I believe the majority of tankers are actually in the guard over active duty so with the current world events you tend to be activated more than the other guys, not to mention flying race tracks is a little dull I would think.....but, what ever your going to do, I wouldn't wait too long, everything can change quickly as far as hiring etc......if you want a board to checkout for Guard/Reserve openings check out the job postings on:

www.baseops.net

oh, also, while your deciding, you should knock out the AFOQT/BAT tests and see if you can get a physical....(that is if you haven't done this yet)....