US Customs?

[celloman]

Any one heard anything about the hiring future of the US customs service?

Is the only way to find if they are listing a job on www.usajobs.gov ?

How about qulity of life etc.

Thanks,

celloman

 

[wishIwasinTX]

Myself and about 60 others were hired over a year ago and none of us have been brought on board yet. We also just found out that there is no money in the upcoming FY 06 budget for hiring so it will be a long wait yet, if ever. In case you missed it, Air and Marine Operations (Legacy Customs) and Border Patrol aviation are being merged together into one unit called CBP Air www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0705/071505kp1.htm


Morale is not good within Air and Marine Ops. With the Border Patrol having tremendous influence in the future of this new organization, I have serious doubts that they will ever hire anyone off the street again, including myself. For more details check out www.aptap.org and look for the ICE Wanna Be Networking thread on the message board.

USAJOBS is where you would find any announcement. Also check the Customs and Border Protection website.

 

[EagleRJ]

From every agent I've talked to, Customs was the pilot job to have, and BP was not.

With Customs getting rolled into BP and falling under BP's management, I've heard nothing but doom and gloom from those guys. Take it for what it's worth, but most of them think the choice Customs pilot job is a thing of the past now.

 

[wishIwasinTX]

Agree. I still would take it over an airline job if it ever materializes.

 

[aveasey]

Does anybody have any more recent updates on the future hiring of CBP Air. Also, does anybody have contact information for CBP Air recruiters?

 

[wishIwasinTX]

Look for an open announcement on the usajobs website. I heard something was posted the other day for a short time before they pulled it. Maybe they’re getting ready to interview again. A bunch of us have been in a pool for over 2 years but it looks like we’ll be starting soon. Here’s a link to a website with tons of CBP Air info.

http://aptap.forumco.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/series_search.asp

When searching on the job site search for series 1881 jobs. That’s the new classification for Air Interdiction Agents. Good luck

 

[aveasey]

Cool, thanks for the info. Its been a frustrating process with how little information CBP puts out now days.

 

[aveasey]

Look for an open announcement on the usajobs website. I heard something was posted the other day for a short time before they pulled it. Maybe they’re getting ready to interview again. A bunch of us have been in a pool for over 2 years but it looks like we’ll be starting soon. Here’s a link to a website with tons of CBP Air info.

http://aptap.forumco.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/series_search.asp

When searching on the job site search for series 1881 jobs. That’s the new classification for Air Interdiction Agents. Good luck

The registration on Aptap is not working so I cant post there. Can any of you current 2181/1881's give me some info on what your day to day job is like. How many days/hours per week do you usually work. How much do you typically fly? When you are not flying as pilot or co-pilot, what other duties do you take part in? Does it differ if you are fixed or rotary wing? I know that it probably depends on the station, so multiple replies are welcome.

 

[trnsprt]

The registration on Aptap is not working so I cant post there. Can any of you current 2181/1881's give me some info on what your day to day job is like. How many days/hours per week do you usually work. How much do you typically fly? When you are not flying as pilot or co-pilot, what other duties do you take part in? Does it differ if you are fixed or rotary wing? I know that it probably depends on the station, so multiple replies are welcome.

Hello;

My experience is from the legacy Customs perspective, keep that in mind as it may vary from the BP view.

Quality of life and actual duties vary alot between branches.

You have to put in 40 hours a week. That is hard and fast. How the branch schedules you varies. There are a surprising amount of variations in scheduling the 40 hour week. On top of the 40 hours you are on the hook for an addtional 10 hours a week to make your LEAP. Law Enforcement Availability Pay. This makes up 25% of your salary and if you don't work leap you lose it and can never earn it back. There are many strategies for earning LEAP and it is not as bad as it looks on paper for interfering with your personal life.

Day to day job. Again, totally different based on your local. But all branches have missions of course. Some locations may go weeks without any significant activity. During that time you will fly (if budget exists for fuel) to maintain proficiency or maintenance checks or even just area familiarity. You will be assigned collateral duties. You could become a firearms officer or take safety classes, there are many collateral duties. The collarteral duties cause travel to and from schools and meetings etc.... Of course there is flight training and recurrent training that keeps you busy as well. Most branches have a workout facility of some sort on site and encourage you to use it within limits. Many branches have kitchen facilities also.

If you get a mission at a low pace branch it is normally going to be some sort of support. Surveillance, contraband transfer etc.... So you may stay busy for a few days and then go back to your previous pace. It is law enforcement and most guys are pretty good about putting in the time when a mission requirement comes up even when it changes the schedule significantly.

Also plan on reporting to the SW desert at least a few times a year to support the Spring, Summer, Fall ramp up of the illegal immigrant mission. TDY's are usually 10 days away from home.

The higher paced branches have more consistent mission taskings. Tucson is probably the highest paced local right now. They are working 24/7 staffing which is a recent change resultant of the new structure. In Tucson you work all three shifts rotating throughout the year. Alot of pilots in the office, many ground agents now mingling into the office, the largest collaboration between the former BP air and Customs air. Helo guys fly probably 12 hours a week in the A-Star, maybe a bit less in the Hawk. Fixed wing guys fly about 8 hours a week in the Citation. I don't know much about what the legacy BP guys fly in a week. I would say they fly 16 hours if not more.

Why the flight time difference? BP has less pilots than aircraft, Customs has less aircraft than pilots. Why? The Legacy Customs guys used to work in the back of the BlackHawk and the back of the Citations and A-Star on the various electronics packages and as bust team members. Since the merger that is happening less and less as BP ground agents are being tasked with the bust team duties. However manning still reflects the overage of pilots to work non-flying positions and available flight time is obviously limited. You should see the Legacy Customs guys doing more flying. Especially as almost 50% of the Legacy Customs guys can retire in the next 3 years and pilots are cross trained on the BP fleet and vice versa.

That is it in a nutshell. The smaller the branch the more involved you will be in the day to day running of the place. I have done everything from assembling gear lockers to flying VIP's. You never know what is going to happen next. But like most Aviation jobs it is usually hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of excitement. World events can change a slow branch to a high paced branch overnight. So be ready for anything. Pay is on the GS scale starting at 11. Add 25% for LEAP. Top out at GS13 unless you go into management.

Good Luck

 

[aveasey]

Hey thanks a lot for the reply. That is some great info. I was hoping I would get to work on the bust teams and back seat electronics as well. Hopefully they won't totally eliminate those opportunities for pilots. But if they do, I'll just wait 5 minutes because I'm sure it will change.