Which would you commute: job or guard

[CrazyErnie]

For those of you who work both airline gigs and military, would you rather commute for your airline job or to your military base if you had to choose? Also, when are the decisions supposed to be finalized with BRAC?

 

[CCDiscoB]

I'd rather commute to work and live near my base. This way you can pick up days when you suddenly have a day off.

BRAC list comes out in May, I think.

 

[kc135ang]

Ditto to what he said. I commuted to both for a while and I was miserable in a few months. Moved closer to base and it made all the difference in the world. Plus when you get furloughed its a no becomes a know brainer.

 

[Steeler Fan]

I'd rather commute to work and live near my base. This way you can pick up days when you suddenly have a day off.

BRAC list comes out in May, I think.

Just make sure you live next to one or the other, because double-commuting is truly awful.

I lived where the Airline was (I grew up there and so did my wife, so it made sense). I used to fly 1-Day and 2-Days, and it was VERY easy to pick up last minute out-n-backs. Plus, bidding reserve for the airline is A LOT easier when you don't commute to it. If you commute to the military, most times you'll be able to stay in billeting (at no cost to you, which is good).

Unless you have strong ties to either location, I think alot of it depends on the mission.

For example, if I were a AF Res T-37/T-38/T-1 IP, I'd DEFINITELY see the advantage of living there (especially if I had a pretty commutable airline schedule).

If I were in a unit that did a lot of longer trips, then I'd commute to it.

In other words, do the math, and figure out which way maximixes your time at home.

Oh yeah, here's the tie breaker. BRAC--Is your unit going to stay there?
Airline--Put it this way, I'm not based in KPIT anymore, and now I get to double-commute or disrupt the kids by moving (not moving was the main reason I left Active Duty).

It's different for everyone, but you have to figure out what works for you.

 

[AlbieF15]

Several guys I know live in KMEM and commute to ANG/Reserve duty, but most do it the other way around.

This allows these guys to bid reserve and stay at home more, or to grab short notice pop-up trips at 1.5 times pay. If you want to fly for FDX, you WILL make more cash if you live in/around MEM if you want to work extra.

I went the other directions--stayed where I love living for family reasons. I don't have the W2 other guys have, but for the first 2 years I made MORE by hanging close to my base than if I'd hung out in MEM. My wife and kids are happy here in their lives, and I have NO regrets about commuting to my airline job. Some days it is a drag but in my situation a happy family is one of the main reasons I work, and making 50k more in a strange new town wasn't worth the tradeoffs. If you aren't that pysched or invested where you currently live, then perhaps moving to domicile might just work for you.

I've never met anyone who LIKED the double commute. A hog-driver buddy recently hung up his flying spurs and went to a non-flying IMA job just so he could be closer to home. Its a tough life trying to do both...

 

[FastCargo]

I'll roll in on that...

Yep, definitely live where you do the Guard/Reserve thing. It's so much more flexible (esp if you're a AETC type dude).

FastCargo

 

[bssthound]

Count me in w/ the live at the base crowd. I've done both and the military pros outweigh the cons, at least for me. For me the best part is that whenever I take mil leave to do UTAs, AFTPs, or local mandays I spend the night at home. Like the other posters, I also like picking up paydays on regular off days. Being a regional guy, I make more at the military, too. The financial aspect is different for all of us, I can speak only for myself. Still, I prefer to rub the ears of the World's Greatest Living Basset Hound when I get home from work and that's more frequent when living near my Reserve job.