ImNotARobot

Anyone able to explain "Rule 44" or "44 leave" to me like I'm 5? Not exactly on topic with the alert thread, but certainly in line with maximizing ART pay. I understand the concept of using the most restrictive rule first, but not familiar with this 44 leave (with respect to overseas military orders). Thanks.

Hell yes to both. But mostly the former. I have a family member who is a high level HR executive in the private sector. Over the years, I’ve learned that outside of government jobs, the pay disparity between positions can be extreme, with employees earning more than their bosses in some cases. It all comes down to the “pay band” concept. The HR department boils your resume/qualifications into a salary range, and then your negotiation skills after being hired determines where your eventual salary will land within that pay band. So at some companies, salary numbers are tightly held to prevent discontent in the ranks. But at a government job, my experience is everyone expects we’re all paid the same based upon our rank or GS level (and if you’ve put in the time for GS steps, you have those appropriate pay raises). So if everyone before the newest hire had fought for a higher step as the link above suggests "Agencies also may want to ensure that pay-setting determinations are consistent with how pay has been set for similarly qualified candidates in similar positions.”, then it would be no problem. But when the older head ARTs see some new whipper snapper gets hired above Step 1, wouldn’t that breed discontent? It’s shitty to think that way, because all it would take is one bold negotiation, then everyone after that would expect that same standard. But since the link above specifically states the negotiation is only for new hires, it would never be retroactive for the older guys. I don’t think that’s a reason not to negotiate, as Guardian has done, but if the older ARTs are already looking toward the airlines, I wonder what the effect would be for the unit. Anybody have experience with that scenario?

Wait... confirm you found the CLT?

I can't deny any of that logic. It all depends on where a particular guy is in life. If I was a young Lt growing up in AFRC, that ART money makes a lot of sense as I build hours toward the airline minimums. Why not get paid more (although it does come with some type of desk job) while you're waiting. What I don't understand are the Lts who choose to slug it out at a regional airline while building those hours. I do see your point about potentially getting into a major sooner, but holy crap, in the balance of effort vs money, the Reserve squadron flight line seems like a no brainer. I don't know of a single regional where it's anything more than a temporary pain endured to build hours. I guess if the trough at Reserve unit X isn't paying the bills, I would understand. I'm also seeing ARTs picking up more admin queep duties, driving almost every ART I know to keep those airline apps up to date. If the timing were perfect and every one of those guys got hired in the next year (which is possible), the ART corps, which is already hovering at around 60% AFRC-wide, would be decimated. Those few left behind would most certainly get an increased workload while listening to those newly minted airline guys talk about the good life once a month during UTA. What's the incentive to stick around? Your 5-year "too late" argument holds water there.

I will say it's nice to have options. For an IP making $100k as an ART plus however much military time I can handle is a totally sustainable career. Just pointing out that after the 20-year civilian retirement is secured, kids may be out of the house off the college, then might be time to start jumping into an airline career. I understand that the ART jobs were the best deal going directly after 9/11, and now with this airline hiring boom that has reversed (depending on the individual family situation). I'd also say that the ball is in AFRC's court on determining queep levels that will drive guys away from the ART jobs. If the ART job starts to smell too much like Active Duty, I'd have no problem reverting back to TR status, especially if I waited to have an airline job in hand. To me, the ART retirement, @ 1% per year, is not the golden egg around which I'm building my future. The ability to make decisions and tell the AF to back off is exactly why I got off AD. AFRC is a comparatively great deal (no sarcasm).

Not directly on topic, but applies to the discussion I think. Last UTA, my Reserve base just had a visit from the AFRC/A3 to brief the ARTs on retention. The picture did not look good, and they are bouncing any potential ideas to (1) keep the current ARTs attracted to stay, and (2) continue attracting potential baby ARTs. The core problem from my perspective is a simple numbers game. The older ARTs who already have 20+ years of federal service are doing the math (adding 1% for each additional year to the already secured civilian retirement vs. starting an airline career in their 40s). The potential new ARTs are doing even more lopsided calculations where they'd had to stick it out for 20 years as an ART to realize any retirement, vs the beauty of starting an airline career possibly in their late 20s. There is no golden carrot that a government job could possible offer that counters becoming a millionaire while progressively working less for more money. As a former Active Duty pilot, I'll say that the great thing (which totally works against AFRC) about the Reserves is the openness in which we discuss careers options that ACTUALLY benefit ourselves and our families. We have airline cockpit posters up all over the squadron, most of the TRs fly for major airline X, the TR squadron commanders are airline guys. So the discussion about doing what's best for your family is open and honest. On AD, these conversations do not exist. Every pilot with the potential to jump is playing those cards close to the vest until the very end due to overbearing leadership forcing everyone to project a false facade of loyalty to the company. It's total bullshit, with fake "support" coming from AD commanders that everyone knows is not genuine. There is not one person in my Reserve unit that would ever say "Oh, FedEx just called you? Before you take the interview, let's talk about how wonderful your ART job is and the impact on the unit if you left." All (including commanders) would actually say "You're an idiot if you don't take the interview and the job if offered. That's what I would do."