The squadron ART position

[Mooseflyer]

Hey guys, I'm approaching a decision point in my career and I'm interested in hearing from current and/or former squadron ARTs on what you thought of the job. I've spoken to a few (current and former) in my unit already and, predictibly, some love it and some didn't. Info on the following would be helpful:

Why did you leave? (or stay, if you're still there)
What did you leave for - airline or some other line of work?
Were you on active duty before becoming a reservist?
What you did and didn't like about the job and why.
What type aircraft your unit has.
Did you take the job because you were furloughed? Do you plan to take recall when it's offered?
Married? Kids?
Anything else you feel like tossing out.

I don't imagine I'll hear too much from career ARTs, as they probably wouldn't be surfing this board if they weren't considering leaving! Anything is helpful, thanks a bunch....

 

[McGillicutty]

Forgive the ignorance but, what is an "ART"?

 

[KCPilot]

I hate my ART job, I hate my ART job, I hate my ART job, but the money is not bad!

Mooseflyer-

I'm not sure of what your status is i.e. just coming off active duty or a reserve bum, but being an ART in my unit has seen much better days! We work 9 hr days with a 30 min lunch period so 9.5 hrs a day plus 1+45 hrs of commute which might not seem bad. You can use 3 hours of admin leave a week to work out. But watch out when you try to do military duty, that time card is something else, accounting for every minute and making sure you didn't get dual comp on something! And the work all day, fly night 16 hr day, leave at midnight and back in the office at 6 am gets old, week after week after week, not to mention the Dirty Dozen (work all week, weekend and back all week) like we'll be doing this weekend. But if you where working downtown somewhere, you'd have the samething, and I remember those days.

The furloughed airline guys in my unit that are ARTs can't wait for the day to get recalled or hired by another airline!! The career ARTs try to talk them and me out of it, but after my last 8 years as an ART, I can't wait for the day I leave the program and become a TR again! I miss my bum days!

Pros of the ART program- GS-13 (about 85K with bonus) to start plus mil pay (min run mil about 20K+) is what you can get which is much higher than the airlines starting pay. But as myself and a fellow ART where talking today, a Capt on Active Duty or AGR takes home about the same or a little more than us due to the taxes and has more time off. With that we'd love to be AGRs after it's all said and done and you can retire after 20 yrs verus the 32 yrs I'll have to put in for a retirement (age 50 for FERS). So the pay is not all it's made up to be, but you do get up to 5% match with the TSP which is not bad. As for your medical, you will have to make a small payment and your dental can be done with Tricare in the reserves. Alsoskip the life insurance and find something on the outside it's better and cheaper.

One good thing if you like to be home at night, you will, unless of course you are flying a local or on a week long trip. My unit has tankers so if we are not deployed, our typical trips are a week long, which is not bad.

But the big draw back for me is being there with nothing to do. We have a busy times, but when it comes down to it, you need to be there just in case something happens and time account for and that is what most of us in my unit feel we are there for, the just in case. I can get my job done in say 1-2 hrs and have the rest of the day off to BS, but I'm there for the "just in case" factor and that is what we really get paid for. I'd rather work hard for a week or two and then have the other week or two off.

Also from what I've seen over the last 15 yrs is that most of the career ARTs are those that could not make it on active duty and said yes to whatever the Reserve Command has asked them to do. They have no idea on how the Reserves or Guard work and would love to make it like Active Duty, which it is not! So you have that managment style to deal with.

So again, Moose, I'm not sure where you are and I hope your unit is not as f***ed as mine is now but that is my view of the program.

Also I failed to mention with this latest BRAC, since my unit is losing our planes, we were told that as "ART Officers" we'd be put in a pot and the Command would "offer" us a new position at a new unit and that if we didn't take it, "well that is where your food is so go if you want to eat"! Gotta love that! I'm looking for work elsewhere after that comment, thay can keep my job!!!

Best of luck with your choice. As a once to be career ART, it's a hard job to do and I'd say stick it out for the airlines, that's what I'm hoping for!

 

[KCPilot]

ART- Air Reserve Technician- Full time Air Force Reservist or Air National Guardsman. The Gurad calls them Technicians. It’s a civil service position.

 

[bssthound]

ART is a civilian position, however you have a military reservist position in the same capacity. You can't be an ART without being a reservist. ARTs wear military uniforms while on civilian status, even fly in civilian status.

My squadron, due to having to often come up with several crews overnight during hurricane season, has 10 ARTs per crew position. That does lead to a lot of dead time during the offseason, however, with our recent conversion to the J-Model we've been pretty busy getting everyone trained.

There are a lot of reasons to like or dislike the position. With the paycuts the major airlines have been taking lately the ART position is looking better to a lot of the pilots I talk to. I know quite a few good pilots, who're good guys, and are quite capable that aren't interested in the airlines and like being ARTs. To each his own.

I've been in the Guard/Reserves almost 20 years. During that time in the pilot world, overall, it's been my observation that the ART job has always played 2nd fiddle to the airlines. I've seen the airlines go boom and bust more than once. Whenever the airlines aren't doing well the ART job is more coveted.

 

[afres bum]

I was never an ART; however I declined offers a couple times in the late 90’s... The ART's could not fly missions when they had other obligations (UTA, schedule, training, stan/eval duties, etc.) and it limited their ability to build flight time. Now that I have plenty of hours and a furlough under my belt, the ART jobs don't look too bad! They have a better quality of life than most airline jobs right now and they are making more money with a retirement.

 

[Mooseflyer]

Thanks for all the well thought out replys guys. I spent about 10 years on active duty and have been a reservist for about two years. I really enjoy my unit - great guys, great leadership, and great flying. That's one of the reasons I'm considering more involvement. In fact, I've done quite a bit of research into the GS job already. I agree that the money, by comparison to today's airline standards, is very good. As a matter of fact, I've run some numbers comparing the pay to one of today's quickly growing LCCs, and discovered that the end result is about equal, financially speaking. Of course I had to make many assumptions when doing this and who knows what the future may hold, especially in today's environment. I also find the flexability appealing, i.e. if I'd like to stay in town for birthdays, anniversarys, etc, I can. If I want some extra time off to work around the house, I can go on a trip to build some comp. Thanks again for the input - keep it coming!

 

[Take A]

KCpilot is right on the money.

Every ART I know can't wait to get out of that job.

Most are just biding time, waiting for recall, waiting to interview, start class, etc.

I've never talked to a former ART that says, "Yeah....I'm kind of bummed being back at XXX airline...I really wish I coulsd get that ART deal again!"

I agree that the problem is idiots that want to turn the Reserve into Active Duty..............................unfortunately usually those are the guys with rank and position who have never been an airline pilot and can't relate...although they think they can.

 

[Mu2Driver]

How does pay work for the ART position? What GS level is it?

 

[slacker]

ART Jobs

ART jobs can suck, in fact, most of them come with a built in suck-factor. However, this factor can be overcome by keeping the right perspective.

- I chose my schedule- I can say "no" to trips or local lines if I need to.
- The pay is better than most "renegotiated" airline contracts.
- I can be at home when I want or go on the road when I want.

Tons of flexibilty most of the time. The built in suck-factor depends on your non-flying duties- what's your job in the squadron. Suck, can vary greatly between offices.

Pay scale depends on qualification level. GS-13 instructor pilot, GS-12 Aircraft Commander, GS-9/11 entry level copilot positions. I started as a GS-9 copilot on Sept 10, 2001 (the day before ART jobs were coveted). Now, I'm on the other side of the spectrum. GS-9/11's don't get the "bonus payscale" and are found on the traditional GS payscale. GS-12 and GS-13's are on a different "Series 5" payscale. (I believe table 0558.)

Good luck.