GoodSplash9

I feel like it would take somewhere between 15-30 murders to put her even with Hilary....everyone else maybe one.

Thanks for the reply nunya. I definitely didn’t intend to come off sounding like a DB.My knowledge base is honestly really low in this realm (didn’t want to say ignorant). I’ve been given advice to only pursue large multi engine jets because that’s the only thing majors are looking for, but the more I’ve learned the less that has added up. I also think C-130s are awesome...was just wondering how/if the multiengine jet gouge really applies. In all seriousness now....Could you put me in touch with the Mach sim guys? I figure with a few of those hours and my drone background, I’m a rock solid Thunderbird lead candidate the airlines would be interested in hiring ASAP. 🤡

So I've got a question that probably doesn't matter to 99/100 (maybe more) of the people reading this thread. With a longer term goal (5-7 years) of getting to a major, would a majority of hours in a smaller multi-engine turboprop (MC-12, C-146 (Dornier 328), RC-26, etc...) likely not lead to being hired? How about the C-130? To my knowledge, FedEx is the only outfit that has a weight limit minimum for counting hours, right? I realize some of these platforms will be logging a lot less hours than other AMC platforms, but my first battle is finding a unit interested in hiring me(background is an 11U UPT graduate that has been flying MQ-9s for 7+ years). I think their mission sets sound pretty cool, and my ISR/RPA background actually might have some relevancy.

Harry's represents me, you, and what real masculinity is all about by giving 1% of our money to fine organizations helping shape a better generation of American youth (https://www.harrys.com/en/us/social-mission). I actually think they partnered with Gillette a few months ago when I saw their home page plastered with the LGBTQ-NGB+++ Rainbow Pride Honor Limited Edition razor. In all honestly, I've heard Harry's razors are great....I vote with my money, time, and feet when it comes to razors and sports. "The Representation Project": Harry’s helps support an Annual Youth Summit that brings together 100 14-to-21-year-olds to expand the narrative around traditional gender roles. "A Call To Men": A CALL TO MEN works to promote a healthy and respectful manhood and shift attitudes and behaviors that devalue marginalized groups.

I'll do a little more digging to get some better details, but I don't think there is a huge backlog in the overall pipeline. Some new Lt's end up on casual for 4-6 months at Randolph before starting URT there, but I doubt that would be an issue for you. At Holloman, the backlog manifests with a 3 month training taking about 5 months. Assignment trends I've seen from the FTU look like Shaw (new ACC MQ-9 OG standing up) and Cannon (obviously AFSOC). This ebbs and flows and will change by the time you show up. The new RPA base (referred to as "Base Y") had been picked to be located at Tyndall, but I'm pretty sure that is way delayed (or likely cancelled) after the hurricane earlier last year. Feel free to shoot me a PM with your .mil email if you have more detailed questions.

Maybe a dumb question. Would interning as a GS-13 technician count for this program hypothetically? Also, is terminal leave just whatever leave you have saved up, or do you get a few weeks to square your life away on top of saved leave?

Seems like you you’ve put some hard work in to set yourself up for success. I’m guessing you’ve also probably had some good advice from a mentor. If you haven’t already, you absolutely need to start hanging out with the fighter pilots in your Wing. Let them know you are seriously interested in being a fighter pilot and want to learn about their mission and airframe. Hopefully you can score some flights if they have two seaters before the conversion, maybe jump into some briefs/debriefs depending on your security clearance, and chill out with them at a few roll calls. If you stay persistent with this, you’ll probably keep paving the way for a UPT slot (probably counts for more than scores). Even better, start asking the airline guys about how being a fighter compares with airline lifestyle/pay. Dont worry about hours and airlines if missing out on being a fighter pilot is something you’d ever regret. From what Ive read, PIC hours in a fighter count for a lot more than most other hours. It seems like most min hour hires at the majors have pointy nose backgrounds. I’m not a fighter pilot or airline guy, but this is my best advice (I’m a rated dude trying hard to find a guard unit and trying to set myself up for the airlines after rpa’s for 7 years). Good luck dude....these aren’t really problems. It’s just an exercise in prioritizing which is part of being a military aviator.

Thanks to everyone for the great information in this thread over the last 15 years, its gold. I feel like I've got a good 75-80% understanding of how this works. Few additional questions: -Is there a quarterly limit to how you can use your 14 (or 15 for Guard) active training days...or could you hypothetically take all of them in a row whenever you wanted? I'm guessing they are for ground/ancillary training and required testing for currency, so it makes sense to use them regularly. -I've gathered that when you are on active duty orders or deployed...you won't be using any of your UTA/AFTP pay periods. Is the 16 AFTP pay periods per quarter a standard across the Guard/Reserve, or is this unit specific? Is there any limitation on how you can use your extra UTA pay periods(i.e. use 8 UTA pay periods in the next month you aren't on active orders)? Can you only double up UTA pay periods on drill weekends, or any time you use them? -It seems like the smart way to work less is maximizing the days that you double up on UTA or AFTP pay periods. Unless, your trying to maximize your flight hours...then you might want to only log a single AFTP pay period each time you fly. Is that logic sound? I've done some quick math for the minimum an O-4 with 10+ years of service would make on 2019 pay charts...I'd appreciate if someone could let me know if my math/logic is wrong: Base Pay: $7,236 / Flight Pay: $1000 / BAS: $254.39 / BAH: $1500 (arbitrary)….$9,990.39/month on active orders. UTA or AFTP Pay Period = ($7,236 + $1,000) / 30 = $274.53 Active Pay Period = ($7,236 + $1,000 + $254.39 + $1,500) / 30 = $333.01 Minimum Guaranteed Pay = (48 x 274.53 UTA) + (48 x 274.53 AFTP) + (15 x 333.01 Active days) = $31,350.03 * Any months spent on active duty orders would essentially add on top of this unless you can't use all of your UTA/AFTP periods due to the maximums for the quarter?

Sorry, I don't know the answer.....either way though, if the Palace Chase is approved that's an awesome Christmas present!

I've read the previous posts about the B-1. Anyone have gouge on the 345th Bomb Squadron (Reserve) at Dyess? How would the Ops Tempo and QOL differ from active duty B-1s? How often are dudes flying home station and what kind of hours are they logging?

So I put in the scroll paperwork with my local Reserve recruiter. Still really unfamiliar with this process....Can someone confirm this is a Reserve thing only, or would it apply for Palace a Chase or Front to a guard unit?

I guess I agree with you (hoping to build my hours in the guard or reserve), but there are definitely a lot of $200k+ stateside drone jobs.

Soupafly, I’m going through this right now as career RPA dude. I’m an 11U, so slightly different situation. I have about 300 hours and haven’t flown in the Air Force since UPT 7+ years ago. Currently reaching out to C-17, C-5, and KC-135 units in places I’d like to move my family to that also have regional/major domiciles. If you qualify, you should really start looking into guard or reserve UPT slots. Way to build time, fly another cool mission set, and you could also go part time to work for a regional or cargo gig. It would also qualify you for the 750 hour military restricted ATP to get you to a regional faster. Ive spent the last 6 months learning about Guard/Reseve options and the airlines. I’d be happy to talk about what I’ve learned to try and pay it forward a little hopefully if your interested. Which base are you at?

Question for dudes at any Major commercial carrier....what kind of travel benefits are there for family? From what I've heard, it's easy yourself to sit jump and travel for free. Can you get discounted tickets for family members? If so, is there a quota or limit? Standby seems like it isn't really that reliable, especially for more than a few people (or is there a way to game it and make free flights work).

You guys are both right, what I typed was wrong. I'd venture to say most pilots (if not all) in the Air Force have made awesome contributions on the battle field and tactically in support of their mission. I've definitely done stuff I'm proud of that I feel like made a difference in the reaper. The bitterness for me and what I should have said comes from the fact that despite what commanders usually say, actions and follow through don't usually line up supporting that "mission first" and "performance in primary duty" are really valued as desired traits for officers. I got tired of VIP/DV visits, change of commands, and other QWEEPY BS that leadership pushes to set you up for award packages, strats, and "desired" jobs. It came to the point where the time required to stay tactically proficient and actually lead the people while doing those things wasn't worth the cost for family and personal life. Nothing new, same stuff driving most pilots out. Viper, you still flying RPAs? I'm a little bit of a unicorn as a UPT direct dude that recategorized voluntarily about 2.5 years ago. I was hoping to "make a difference" and lead some people. The above factors and a medical issue at a bad time led to me re-evaluating. I hit my 2 year mark this month, and my SQ and OG leadership know that I plan to 7-day opt any orders and get out if I can't get back to a real cockpit. I was about 95% there for scoring a white jet gig a few months ago, and my medical status changed only letting me fly a crew aircraft. I'd be grateful if anyone has advice on persuading my SQ/OG leadership and AFPC to consider pushing me back to a cockpit (preferably AMC). I'm already 100% committed to looking for Guard/Reserve flying gigs, but I'd be happy to stay on active duty if I can fly.

Where are you at in the pipeline? PM me your .mil email and I can probably put you in touch with 2 dudes who have done it including the first RPA guy to do it. I can also give you some good insight when you show up to Holloman...I’m an 11U that’s been doing this almost 8 years.

They are definitely gonna need dudes that want to change the system...are you ready to make that sacrifice? I spent 5 years grinding as a Captain to put myself in position for 1 or 2 BTZ for O-5 to hopefully make a difference, and I consider myself (and my family) lucky that I was smart enough to call Knock It Off at this point in my career. To me SQ command is the best opportunity to make a difference for people...I realized in my neck of the woods (RPAs), that every commander I’ve known has been put in an under-resourced situation where they have to surge and treat people like a piece of crap because of it continuously. The fantasy of being a commander that fought the good fight to only do sustainable amounts of work, stiff arm BS by not tasking people with it(CFC, holiday parties, qweep, everyone gets a medal type awards, etc...), focus on quality mission execution, and help retain people died for me when I realized all of this would get me fired and put me at the bottom of the barrel unable to “change things”. I feel like it’s theoretically possible in a vacuum if leaders at multiple levels were ready to sacrifice and fight to do the right things, but the reality that we know is over half (my personal observations are around 2 out of 3) of the commanders up the chain are narcissistic careerists drooling for the opportunity to back stab their peers hoping to “progress” and “stratify”. I hope it works out for you man...Its gonna be tough though if your fighting for “DP” without an influential advocate pushing for you (ask Ned Stark about HPOs). You’ve gotta at least make wing command to start making any difference....it’ll be almost impossible to go farther without a few years BTZ. And unless your a patch, almost none of the efforts on the way up will tie in with being a warrior or combat aviator. On the plus side, Ive been shocked at O-5 and school selects....indicators and rumint keep growing that o5/6 for everyone that stays are feasible. Different thing than being able to make a change though. All of these reasons and 60+ hour weeks for almost nothing that mattered are why I woke up and said no to a Pentagon gig and wing exec before being blacklisted as a nobody. The good part is I’m doing everything I can to return to fly real planes...It’s like they don’t have any cockpits available though...active duty would rather lose a rated pilot than keep one with cross flow. That’s good for the Guard, Reserve, and me though I guess. //Rant complete...feel like I threw up in my own mouth to say nothing new on base ops//

I also think he is a troll...in case you aren't though, thanks for sharing how anxious, unhealthy, heartbroken, and bothered you are with this truly unfair process. You should definitely share these feelings in your cover letter and during any interviews. 🤡

So there is an AFI that mandates how Aero Clubs operate, and I want to say they fall under the Air Force Safety center (spitballing, I'm not sure). I've flown casually with the Holloman Aero Club, and I've enjoyed it (its no where near as bad as everyone on here is making it sound). When you first show up, there are 4-5 hours of tests to knock out for the next 2 years (a club standards test, an aircraft test, and a CAPS test) and you need a local checkout flight (1-1.5 hours). Other than that, your supposed to attend a safety meeting every month (if you don't, you read the slides/minutes for 5 minutes and sign off at your leisure). This is the admin. The good stuff...rental rates and instructor rates are slightly cheaper than local FBOs ($10-20/hr...not substantial) and booking the planes is first come first serve for cross countries for the whole year. There is supposed to be a 2 hour per day minimum for cross countries, but our club is pretty chill and doesn't really worry about it. I think its a perk having cheap'er'ish planes ready to fly 3 minutes away from my house on base.

Innuendo troll? I saw a few other posts of his in the hiring board thread that had the same level of SA.

Is Charleston hiring right now? You going out for a UPT board or just visiting for a drill weekend? Looking for intel on the 130th.

Ugh...first lesson is situational awareness with word choice. Telling a bunch of pilots your "looking to get drilled by everyone" or "hammered by dudes" will probably make the entire board giggle, but they'll also likely think your stupid. I'm personally not a big "STS" guy, but you definitely could have used it 2-3 times. Other than that, this thread already has enough golden information for you to "drill yourself hard, so to speak, with interview prep questions". Take the initiative on your own, highly unlikely anyone is going to spend personal time helping you prep for an interview above and beyond what is already here. You could consider Bogidope's consulting service for interview prep if you have a few bucks.

Any current T-6 IPs at Laughlin? I have an easy question to PM.

Dam....wasn't tracking that 7-day opting prevents a Palace Chase. That's definitely a factor in my calculus. Guard is the preferred option, but my personal situation dictates that I can't really be very picky about taking a job (Reserve vs Guard). My real question was is it likely that AFPC pulls some BS and fast tracks orders for a PCS departure date in the next 55 days to prevent me having a 7-day option even though I'm on the summer VML. I'm tracking the needs of the Air Force stuff that they could send me. I don't think its likely they send me to staff against my will, and a PCS would be expensive and they would lose probably 2-3 months before I finish MQT on top of me trying to get out 6 months early.