Rohhiram

$14k in 14 years at 5% return is about $28,000

If you could turn 12 months of your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits (100%) into a $14,000 check, would you do it? I got hired by a company where I need to get a type rating, and the employer would pay for the type rating. However, I can use my GI Bill benefits for the course and my employer would reimburse me because it reduces the total cost of the type rating because I'm using the GI Bill for it. Is it a waste of benefits? I'd still have about 9 months left over for an MBA someday. The VA website says it's worth about $33k for tuition, and then another $13,500-30k (depending where I'd go to school) of housing allowance for 12 months. My oldest is 4 years old and I have some serious doubts about the availability and transferability 14 years from now. My wife won't be going back to school, and fairly certain I won't ever go to school full time again. Not the most bang for your buck, but cash today is worth more than cash tomorrow, right??

So in PCARS I'm seeing 5 different kinds of points.. AD, IDT, ECI, IDS, and MBR. Which of these counts points count toward the 1460 points required for O1E? In the DOD Financial Management Regulation (p1-12) it looks like all points that count for retirement (ie, all of the them) count toward O1E as well, NOT just AD points. 1. General. Commissioned officers with over 4 years of prior active service as an enlisted member, warrant officer, or combined service in both grades are entitled to count such service for purposes of computing basic pay for longevity purposes. Such prior service includes all active service, in either the Regular or Reserve Component or both (i.e., active duty for training in enlisted or warrant officer status, annual Reserve training duty, and full-time National Guard duty). Service on active duty or active and inactive duty for training for at least 4 years and 1 day satisfy the over 4 years of service requirement under this section. 5. 10 U.S.C. § 12732(a)(2) service as a warrant officer and/or enlisted member are entitled to the special rate of basic pay for pay grade O-1E, O-2E, or O-3E. Creditable Service for Certain Reserve Commissioned Officers. Effective January 1, 2002, commissioned officers in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3 who are paid from funds appropriated for Reserve personnel and credited with 1,460 points for retirement computed under What do you guys think?

Yeah, that was a big thing for me too when I was looking at them, but I opted for the Guard. If you're lucky you can get an AGR slot and get the normal AD retirement, but that's nothing to bank on.

ANG man (or lady)! Lots of people can either fly as much or as little as they want with the Guard (depending on their airframe/mission). And they say that if you really want to go Active Duty from the Guard, you can. But of course, YMMV.

If you're set on helos look at the Guard/Reserves. I think there's ANG helos in California, Alaska, and New York..Reserve might have them down in Florida.

In OTS, we were only allowed off base in our blues. It was ok to order drinks with our meals, but not go to a bar or order drinks before/after your meal. There were some long meals had...

Google "Fight pilot shortage" and click on any of the first 5 links..

I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but that happened, didn't it..

Are these all based in Florida?

Current enlisted ANG Interviewed/Hired: September 2015 FC1 at Wright Patt: February 2016 TFOT: July 2016 UPT: October 2016

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony

I thought when applying for AD OTS that you either apply to a rated board or a non-rated board? So to me, I don't understand why you'd put non-rated jobs on your app when you're applying to a rated board...But that was a couple of years ago. Have you tried calling another recruiter to get a second opinion?

This site usually has good stuff. https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/ There's also a handful of units that post a topic on this forum when they're hiring. Like the guys above said, it really varies from unit to unit. Some units will only be word of mouth, some units will post on on their unit's website, and some units will post on the above site. Your best bet is still going to be call the units you're interested in and talk to them directly. If they're not hiring, chances are they'll be able to tell you when they will be. Good luck.

Option 3, join the Guard/Reserves. Find a unit with an air frame you want to fly, join the guard when you're 17, get help from them to pay for any college, be enlisted and do your Guard drills all through college, and then apply for a pilot slot with your unit after you get your degree. I know more than a few guys that took this route

Looks like the 176th in Alaska is hiring for a C130, HC130, C17, KC135, and an HH60. Packages due July 1 https://www.176wg.ang.af.mil/resources/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=11898

From what I've heard, Guard bases don't have a problem with you being a traditional guardsman, as long as you "put your time in", so to speak. One C-130 base I was talking said they like you to fly quite a bit, volunteer for crappy trips, and so on, for the first few years right after UPT. But after that, they're OK with you being a traditional. Seems like the same story at different KC-135 base too. Guys with actual experience may want to chime in.

I think he was a Guard guy from New Hampshire.

You're asking a lot of questions that can be found just by searching around on this site. Go to Google and search "Fighters vs heavies site:Flyingsquadron.com" to search specifically on this site. Most people will just ignore you if you're asking questions that can be answered by a quick search, so learn to do a little legwork first, and then ask questions. A little effort goes a long way, and no one likes somebody asking for handouts. That being said, I was recently in the same boat as you, so I guess I'll have a bit of compassion.. I couldn't decide whether to go Guard or Active Duty. But everyone I spoke to recommended Guard (Granted, they were all in the guard, but some were prior AD). Some of those reasons are; Quality of life is better, you'll fly more, you get to choose where to live, UPT is (slightly) less stressful, you get to choose which aircraft you want to fly, most everyone WANTS to be there, and if in the end you still don't like guard you can always transfer to AD or to another guard base. I think it's similar for the Reserves as well. GuardReserveJobs.com will often have bases that are hiring (although not every base posts on there). Some bases post on the forum on this site, while others post only on their wings website, while some you have to call to find out if they're hiring or not. AD and Guard/Reserve all have to go through the exact same OTS (It's called TFOT now), and then onto IFS if you need it and then to UPT. You get paid the exact same rate in Guard/Reserves as you do in AD, except the difference is you only get paid for when you work. If you only work 4 days a month in guard/res, you only get paid for roughly 4 days of work. Almost every Guard/Reserve unit will have full time slots, but I hear they can be pretty competitive to get into. I hear opportunities to Guard Bum are plenty, and even more so in the heavies than fighters. Feel free to PM me. https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/ - There's new jobs every week. https://www.baseops.net/militarypilot/roadtowings.html

Since you asked twice, I'll take a stab. They want to know you and why you did the things you've done. Example: "I finished college in 3.5 years" = Something you've done. "I finished college in 3.5 years because I wanted to save money, I enjoyed the challenge, and I was hoping to get deployed/hired sooner" = Says something about YOU and your work ethic and values. Question that comes to mind is when they say "Tell me about yourself." They don't want ONLY want to hear about where you grew up, where you went to school, what jobs you've had, etc. Your resume tells them that, and they've already read that. They want to know what makes you you. What do you like to do, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, what bugs you, what motivates you, and so on. Sure what you do reflects on who you are, but it's not the whole story.

Couldn't agree more. Meeting the guys before the interviews helped, and they told me they're looking for 2 things. First; Will you make it through training? Second; Can we get along with you? I've had a couple different bases say when I asked for advice "We can teach you how to fly a plane, but we can't teach you to get along with people." I was just selected for a 135 slot. Couldn't be happier. Board was 4 officers, Lt to Lt Col. Questions were basically the same as what's been posted. What's the dumbest thing you've ever done? On a scale of 1-10, how lucky do you feel? Tell us about yourself If you could change anything about your resume, what would it be What do you know about the 135 and it's mission What do you plan to do for full-time employment How do you handle doing work that you don't really want to do Have you ever been deployed Tell us about a leadership experience you had

You ever get that 135 spot?

Have you tried the Jack Daniel's method?

I'm sure most of us have been to this website, but just thought I'd put it up here as a friendly reminder. Great site with UPT slots posted every couple weeks or so. https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/

Roger. I suppose that makes sense. I was just wondering if it would help show them I'm serious about the area and that my wife's on board and all that. Some pilots I've talked to said they want someone that can not only commit to the unit, but to the area as well, and it helps if your spouse is on board. But I guess her seeing the unit isn't really going to affect her opinion at all, more so the area and the town. So you guys would recommend bringing a bottle of booze? Side note; I spent the past 30 minutes watching Kenny Power clips because of you. Thanks for the morale boost.