SocialD

Delta life insurance is something like 875k and we only pay tax on an "imputed" income based on "gracious" nature of our life insurance. I use TRS, with delta dental and vision.

I agree with your first paragraph, I'm talking units that have a min of 7-8 days/month for every month, that's just crazy...if you want to keep pilots anyway. You end up like the squadron that I deployed with (before airlines starting hiring), that required 9 guest help just to fulfill a combat deployment. They also needed more guest help to man their ACA mission during the deployment. Also, I've either sat alert for or been TDY with three other squadrons that needed guest help for ACA just to go TDY or deploy. We have nearly as many DSGs as some of these squadrons have total, and one of them will basically hire anyone who has stepped foot near a fighter in the last 15 years. Mind you all these squadrons live within driving distance of multiple airline gigs, so they should not have a hard time filling the LOXs. I agree wholeheartedly about not losing out on the debrief. That said, there are plenty of phases (BFM/BSA/CAS/etc...) where a FtF, FpF or even a red to blue double turn are manageable while still getting a good debrief/maintaining skills. We also don't require (though we highly encourage) our part-timers to sit alert, so that's not another day required of them. If they choose to do so, we'll usually get them a practice scramble. This also requires good leadership who is willing to take the "risk" of waiving/scoffing as much queep as possible while also working to remove extraneous BS for the DSGs. When I say queep, I mean anything not directly related to flying/killing bad guys. Example...the extent of my DTS work is emailing receipts, then next time I'm at work, I log in, do quick scan and sign the voucher. This has been a HUGE savings wrt time wasted by our DSGs. We also do a wing-wide day of training that knocks out all the yearly required bullshit like, green dot, cbrne, yearly CBTs, etc... Side bar... Do you require guys to sit alert because you need to spread the requirement, or is it simply to keep them engaged in the mission? Also, how do you pay guys to work 6+ days/month? Do they have to only log one pay card/day? That's pretty much a non-starter for our DSGs. If only we could crack the nut of letting DSGs roll off alert into CT AND log pay cards that day. @Burger, suffice it to say, there are numerous views and/or requirements based on the squadron. Any squadron I was looking into, I would want to see the scheduling policy memo and the LOXs...this will tell you A LOT. If you're going to have to commute to either job, then I would take a good look at what you think is realistically manageable. We once told a great dude no because his plan to work a contracting gig over 3 states away from the guard (not an airline guy) was not sustainable long term. He got picked up elsewhere and later realized we were right...he now lives local to his guard unit and is happily full time.

Hate to hear this brother. Been there, thankfully mine was super easy as we didn't have anything together (no kids), and she actually had a pretty level head and didn't want anything. Annulments are very cheap. All I can say is enjoy the single life...it's been/continues to be a great run for this guy. It seems like chicks can actually smell the divorce on you and they come out of the woodwork. Also from here on out, a pre-nup will be mandatory for this guy. I'm buying all my assets and toys now, and they come with the package. If she don't like it (toys or pre-nup), there are plenty more fish in the sea. I may be slightly jaded, but I'm living life the way I want and on my terms from here on out. Life's to short. Great advice above. Good luck brosef!

In this case, the "beer-holder" is the leadership that thinks 8 days/month is reasonable...my guess is that beer is being held after chugging a handle of jack, to make such a policy. I don't care what airframe you're flying (we're Vipers w/ alert), that is WAY too much to expect from a DSG and is indicative of leadership who has never been part timer. 6 days/month is the absolute upper limit of reasonableness. Personally, I think anyone how serves as SQ/CC or above should have spent a few years as a part timer...or better yet, be a current part timer.

Varies wildly depending on the squadron and whether you commute or not. Are you going to have to commute? I have seen squadrons that require beyond ridiculous participation such as 7 days plus a drill day....8 days is unsustainable and is NOT what we were meant to do. I'm not even sure how they get guys to sign on for that. When your rushing a squadron, ask what your required to work a month...anything over 5 days, RUN! If you show up and the there are more jets on the ramp than pilots on the letter of X's....there's a reason. I know of at least 2 squadrons currently like that and my guess is leadership at both are not friendly to the part-timer/airline guys. My squadron requires 8 periods of availability (4 days) and most months that works...some months I find myself at the squadron 5 days. You just have to realize that you won't always meet RAP and that's OK. If leadership isn't cool with that, move on. I happen to be fortunate enough to live 10 minutes from the Guard and 1 hour from the airline...this is about as good as it gets. Now that I'm on a WB, it's about as easy as it gets. I generally work 12 days at the airline and 4-5 days at the Guard....16-17 days of work/month is very sustainable. When I was was on the NB, I tried burning the candle at both ends, working a full month 15-17 days, plus 4-5 days at the Guard and it was unsustainable. I was much happier when I just dropped one of my 4-day trips and did my Guard those days (16-17 days/month). Sure it's a pay hit, but it's worth it for your sanity. Working the Guard on top of the airlines shouldn't preclude you from having a good QOL and days off to enjoy your family and/or doing the things you do.

I like talking to interesting people.

"Volunteering." In our case, we get told the squadron is being mob'd, so in theory the entire squadron could be told your going (or backfilling our alert det while the squadron is gone). We then "get" to pick our flavor (vol vs invol) of being mob'd...which is akin to asking if we'd like a reach around while we're being bent over.

Flew with a guy once who has a twin brother at DAL (actually flown with both now). One was hired at DAL and his brother was hired 3 months later at NWA. When the seniority list integration happened, they ended up 1,900 numbers apart. One has been a WB Captain for the last 15 years and the other is stuck as a NB Captain.

I know you know this, but there is absolutely a benefit of attempting to salvage some morale for those allowed to swap. I know we're talking AFRC vs ANG (as well as tankers vs fighters), but we were given more swaps than we needed on our recent deployment. We also pressed to test on taking the absolute min number of pilots required...surprisingly they approved our plan. Oh man, the bigger issue we've run into was deciding who has to go and who gets to stay home, especially since we have a home station alert tasking. For a minute I felt like I was watching a group of high school girls fight because Karen kissed Johnny (who is dating Susie) under the bleachers after the football game. How I would handle it is to allow anyone who wants full time to do that. Everyone else gets a swap...if guys turn into teenage girls bickering over first/last half, do damn lottery. Anyone who doesn't go this time is on the next one, no questions asked. There really is no other way to do it without dealing with petty bullshit. This is predicated on the idea that local leadership is willing push it up the chain that they must have as many swaps as needed. It needs to be conveyed that the swaps are a small price to pay to keep valuable experience and avoid being unable to fulfill future taskings due to lack of pilots. We all love to bitch, but until more guys start voting with their feet, nothing will change. To many guys love the uncle sugar MLOA trump card to massage their schedules and get holidays/weekends off. That alone will keep many in, at least until they hold holidays/weekends off and/or they have enough numbers below them on the list.

In all fairness I do see the good you're talking about, but losing dwell protections is a kick in the nuts. It's kinda like what we have in the Guard where we have to pick between 12301d (vol) vs 12304b (invol) for our deployments. Invol gets you USERRA exemption and dwell protection but no early retirement credit. Vol gets you USERRA protection (not exemption) and no dwell protection but doest get you early retirement credit. You say, contingency orders get you USERRA exemption, and you'd be correct. BUT, when they keep sending us to NON-contingency TSPs (my last two "deployments), you do not get that exemption unless you choose to go voluntary. Supposedly this is supposed to be fixed, but the checks been in the mail for over 3 years now.

Paragraph 1....YES! They're finally getting it! Paragraph 2....blacked out for second. 3a....WTF!?!?! LONGER deployments?!?! 3d....So I get to pick between the blue pill or red pill, but the blue pill means losing dwell protections...

Put your date of separation as your earliest available start date, then take the earliest available class they offer. Like speed, seniority is life! Get hired, through training/OE/consolidation and maybe off probation, then worry about the FTU. It sounds like you have a good SQ/CC willing to work with you on dates...capitalize on that opportunity. My OG looked at me funny when I walked into his office and told him I'm giving up my IPUG class date to start training at the airline...he's now at the airlines and I think grasps my reasoning.

Lol funny enough, any time we have AD inspectors on our base, they send out a base-wide message asking us to not talk on our phones while driving on base. They want to avoid having to explain it to every inspector after the first few complained . Guard bases are actually State property thus we're allowed to talk on our phones while driving on base.

LOL right! Not sure why we had 45,000 lbs of cargo on my flight today. 🤔 PM sent.

As you can already see it depends wildly based on what airline, what aircraft and even what base (here at DAL anyway). My category mostly has 3 and 6 day trips, though we occasionally see a few 7-9 day trips. The 7-9 day trips usually have DH days on both ends, so guys deviate from them and knock off 2 days while still getting paid. As a super junior guy in my seat, my typically awarded line is 2 x 6-day trips (12 days worth 68-72 hours of pay). Each 6-day trip is 4 legs of flying with 3 layovers (22-30 hours each), the middle one is somewhere in the US and the other two somewhere in Europe. Since I don't particularly care for 6-day trips, after the schedules are published, I drop them both (or give them away to other pilots) and go fishing in the open time (uncovered trips). What I usually end up with for the month is 4 x 3-day trips (12 days worth 85-95 hours of pay)...sometimes I just do 3 x 3 days (9 days worth 63-74 hours). If you're ok with wild swings in pay from month to month and/or willing to accept the occasional "low month," it's a great strategy (I live locally)! When I say low months, I mean still 4-5k more than you'd make as an AD O-4. On months I bid reserve I usually work O-6 days (non-summer months) and 3ish to 12 (summer months) for 72-80 hours of pay. - Up to 12 hours - 3-man crew (1CA/2 FO) with 3 even breaks...same math as tree. - 12+ hours - 4-many crew (2 CA/2FO) with 2 breaks per pilot. Usually short/long/long/short like was mentioned above. Short being 2-2.5 hours and the long being the remainder (usually 3+ hours). - Unless it's a odd, "one-of" type event we don't do 2-man crews across the Atlantic (under 8 hours). Always staffed with 3+. I would not get into the job for the travel benefits. Load factors are extremely high an even when they look good, they can change at a moments notice. Went to bed one night with my preferred flight having 60 open seats...woke up and the flight had been subbed with a smaller jet and was now oversold. This is not necessarily a "one-of" type thing. If it's just you (and/or a adventurous significant other), it can be great! That said, as a guy who has flown for a regional and now DAL, I can not think of any situation where going to the regional would be a better choice.

Oh man, TSPs...aka go fly CT on the other side of the globe. These have done more to kill morale in our squadron than anything. After multiple TSPs and potentially another one down the road, even our young guys have become jaded and said fuck it, if we're not going to do anything while, might as well go to the regionals to gain hours for the majors. Hard to disagree with their frustrations.

Smokin nailed it with his response. I guess you just have to ask yourself if you want the ability to fly WB international? As someone who flew the 737 for a few years, I am happy I had the choice to jump off of that jet. It's actually a pretty fun flying jet and very easy to hand fly, I just found it extremely archaic, uncomfortable and noisy...especially on 5+ hour transcons. I've since jumped to the 330 (all international) and I can't even begin to explain how much of a difference it is wrt to QOL. It's like I work for entirely different airline. Jets are always fixed, you're never in a rush, always start both engines on push, 3 to 4 pilots, 1 leg a day (between 7 and 14 hours), decent meal every leg, naps every leg (2-6 hours worth), no layovers shorter than 22ish hours, and 90%+ of the trips sign-in well after noon and sign out between 1300-1600 (if you're into commuting). In months I bid a line, I usually can work my schedule to get 9-12 days of work worth 74-96 hours of pay. When I've bid reserve, some months it was zero and one month they really busted my balls and worked me 13 days (outlier...average is ~6 days/month) for 72-80 hours of pay. If you can sit reserve from your house, it's about as good of a gig as I could ever imagine. I can sit short call from home, but often choose a line because I find it pairs better with my Guard schedule. I don't see myself going over to NB capt for a LONG time as I don't see the relatively small pay increase as worth it for the added work/responsibility. Not all, but many of the guys I fly with plan on staying in the right seat until they can hold the left seat. I've ran across more than few guys who bid over to NB capt only to come back to WB FO ASAP. Goodluck with your decision.

Couldn't agree more. I think the biggest issue out there is the expectations some squadrons put on their part times. I would argue that, outside of TDYs, anything over 5 days/month is excessive for a part-time force...especially if one day is a no-fly drill day. Some squadrons want up to 7-8 days/month which is beyond ridiculous and unsustainable. What you end up with is group of full timers who think that's OK and consider anything else min runners. I assume some squadron also got accustomed to this during the "lost decade," when everyone was begging to days/dollars. We're just finally trying to get back to the way it should be...even part time SQ/CC and OG/CC are making a come back.

HS2020 is not completely wrong wrt the hiding out comment. How many dudes do you know that got hired, consolidated then bounced to 2-5 years of orders? Guys that can't be bothered most of the year, but have no issues finding themselves some orders during the holiday season? Or never providing scheduling solid days of availability, but they sure know that they'll be out on 22Dec so they can drop that Christmas trip? That said, in my experience, some of the loudest full time airline bashers end up twice as bad once they themselves found an airline gig. I too was junior in the "lost decade." The only cycle I've see in my 18 years is a steady decline that seems to be continually picking up steam on its way down the hill. Things ARE worse and I'd venture to guess those types would still complain if they needed to come back on orders. Having a job where shit just works and you get paid properly/on time has a way of doing that to a person.

Honestly, it's really none of our business, and I think he's handling it rather well. I've heard from multiple people in the bro network that both the Col (even after O6 lobotomy) and the Capt are solid individuals, so I'm willing accept it at face value. People fuck up, but don't deserve the have their names drug through the mud over any misstep. It's a welcome change from the standard AF (or mainstream media in general) blast the accusation on the front page of every major news source, then retract it a year later....on the bottom left of the back page of the Sumter gazette. Here's hoping it's something that is recoverable careerwise and everyone can move on. I'm guessing if it weren't for threads like this, people would have already forgotten about it.

Why would it get sporty? The 2 conversions we just did were rather seamless and has left only 2 techs as the lone holdouts, but even they will convert soon enough. We've been hiring dudes off AD/Navy/Marines straight into AGR with the gentlemans handshake (or bonus) that they'll spend a few years AGR. We simply have no more room for part-timers.

I've ran a board or two and been on 6 or 7 hiring boards. Biggest piece of advice I can give is read each squadrons instructions thoroughly and do what it says...don't try to church it up thinking they'll appreciate it. We used to say place a single staple in the upper left corner and no protective covers. You wouldn't believe how many people would send there app in a spiral binding and plastic covering. We want the single staple because all we do is rip it out and run copies of your app for everyone on the board. Don't overthink it, I would just put it all on the same paper. More advice... - Be sure to double check your cover letter and recs. I've received more than one app that had a cover letter talking about their dream to fly a F-15s (or KC-135s)...I appreciate that, but we fly F-16s lol. Personally, I don't mind it because I remember being there and it shows me there applying elsewhere and this is probably someone who really wants it. - If you can go visit the squadron, do so! Multiple times if you can swing it and they're ok with it. Face time is great so all the guys can get to know you...puts a face with the app. - During the interview, be yourself. Don't tell us what you think we want to here (it's obvious), just answer the question the best you can. - Know the mission of jet you're applying to fly...not just that the F-16s shoots missiles and drops bombs. We don't expect you to recite doctrine, but have a little more understanding than just we go fast, pull-Gs and bomb bad guys. - Be prepared for an oddball questions or even to tell a funny story. Best of luck!

From what I can tell, the closest thing she has to part time is 3 years as an ART, in a unit attached to the AD...lol! I think the SQ/CC and/or the OG/CC should be a part time position. If you want to work your way up to state/national leadership that road should go through a stint as a part-timer with another job. On the flip side, not many part timers willing to take on those roles without a serious shedding of BS requirements that have accumulated since we've gone to a mostly full time leadership force. Fighter squadrons would have to bring back the AOO and assign a full time ADO, to share the workload of the OG and SQ/CC respectively. Whew, good thing my next paycheck is just from 15 days of mil orders and not from my next 3-day trip. I bet it was discussed and I have zero doubt that there were some that spoke up against it, but were ultimately shot down. Until people start voting with their feet, it's not a true problem. I'm not in the tanker community but I can see that having a few ARC wings switching to the KC-46 will cause some pain and understand something needs to give, but the decision to lengthen deployments AND deny swaps is just mind-boggling.

I think it was Huggy who said he fairly recently retired and never had a GTC, so I guess anything is possible. Start blazing that trail!

Based on some recent events I have gained a little bit of belief that ANG will tell the AD to pound sand on certain issues...but they still have a long way to go. Wrt manning, I know of a few squadrons who are sub-20s on the LOXs...these are units that also have alert. When the Montgomery dudes went on their 6-month to Afghanistan they got ZERO swaps. Fairly certain they lost a few dudes over that trip.