John Doe

Yea I guess I was overly optimistic. Yea it seems like before the crisis, 6 was possible but most were around 8 to my surprise. I always thought that it was much less than that. The regionals didn’t mention it was that long in their recruiting info. But that is helpful it looks like the flow will be no factor now. But thank you for the reply!

Hey All, I recently got hired by a heavy squadron and will he reporting to training in late 2021/early 2022 (estimated by unit). I currently have a civilian job, and have about 1100 hours I got through being a part-time CFI. Since I have to wait longer than I anticipated, I am probably going to try to get a regional job at PSA, Peidmont, or Envoy (hopefully hiring picks back up in the spring if not sooner). These airlines have a flow through program to American Airlines. Some (such as peidmont) flow through based only on time at the company and not FO or Captain time or other flying hour requirements. My unit told me that I can be gone up to 3-5 years, maybe even longer depending on what’s available. Does anyone know for sure if my seniority number is up while I’m gone in training, will I be able to flow through into American while I am away? I looked up USERRA stuff but I’m not sure how this would work because technically it is two different companies (kind of). But if I wasn’t in the military I would be at American. Thanks!

Oh okay I understand it now. That makes a lot of sense. But thanks for explaining it!

That is great! So when I return to my fed job after seasoning, I just write a check for my missed FERS pension contribution fees and then the mil time is then added in to my FERS time? Which is completely separated from my military pension I guess then

So my HR department referred me to OPM who sent me this: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/military-retired-pay/ “You cannot receive credit for any military service in your FERS retirement computation, if you are receiving military retired pay, unless you were awarded the retired pay: - Due to a service-connected disability either incurred in combat with an enemy of the United States or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war, or -Under the provisions of Chapter 1223, Title 10, U.S.C. (pertaining to retirement from a reserve component of the Armed Forces).” I have no idea why they have a loophole for Title 10 work (my guess is it is designed to help fed employee/reservist who get called up for deployments). If I can also get this for Title 32 as well even better

That is exactly what I needed thank you!

Hey all, I have been doing a ton of research, but could not find a clear answer. I am a current Federal Government employee working for the FAA. I have been applying to Guard and Reserve boards. If I get a job with the USAF reserves, my federal pension (FERS) with the FAA continues to accrue and build as if I never left while in USAF training. In addition, my military pension will build at the same time (as long as it is Title 10), and thus I can "double dip" and build two pensions for the same time period simultaneously (https://www.fedsmith.com/2013/04/14/retired-reservists-can-legally-double-dip/). I am also looking at the ANG. Does anyone know for sure if your initial training from OTS to UPT to B-School to Seasoning falls under Title 10 or Title 32 at a guard unit? And does anyone know where I can find this in writing to show my employer? I read both Title 10 and 32 statues, and both seem to cover training which makes it more confusing. I will take any flying job I can get, but if I go reserve/title 10 I will have an extra $5,000 a year on my FERS pension just from double dipping during the time I will be at OTS through seasoning time period. If I start collecting at 60 and live to 85, that will be a $125,000 dollar difference over my lifetime. The money by far isn’t the most important thing, and if i can’t double dip I will still apply to guard boards as well anyway, but it would be nice to know. If all things were equal, I would tend to lean more toward the reserves if my ANG initial training was all under title 32 as it is a significant amount of time. Thank you for your help

Awesome thank you!

Hey were you able to find out if UPT stopped or is delaying new classes? Im slated to go to OTS and UPT sometime next year but I was wondering how this virus will affect the dates

I would 100% have a plan B. The circuit is crazy this year, with fighter units getting 200+ applicants for 1-2 spots. You literally have a 1-2/200 or 00.5% - 01% chance of getting a guard fighter slot. Than even if you do get a interview, you will have to spend around $800 on flights, hotel, food, car rental, etc out of your own pocket. And even then they interview 15 guys and pick 1 or 2. If it takes you 12 interviews to get a spot, then 12x$800 and you are talking big $$$$. And that’s not counting all of the flight time you need to buy. You can go active duty, but it is possible that you can get a class with no fighter drops (although not likely). There is a good chance you will end up flying a C-17 active duty when u could have done it in the guard/reserve with a much better quality of life (and more $$$ from the airlines). You can also go navy or marine, but you might get a helicopter or osprey or c-130. Morale of the story is don’t pass up a great guard/reserve flying career flying heavies or something cool because you are chasing something that probably won’t happen. Try for fighters at first and give it 100%, but don’t ruin a great plan B because you chased a job with a 00.5% chance of getting hired. You have to be optimistic but also realistic as well.

Today is suppose to be the day Oregon sends out invites. Did anyone hear anything yet?

I was wondering the same thing if anyone has any info

Ah my mistake that makes sense. My apologies and thank you for the clarification

Everyone else was informed today that the board was moved to February and they are still going through the applications. So you received a interview invitation already?

Thank you for that well detailed answer! You answered every one of my questions. This was exactly what I have been looking to find for some time. I couldn’t really find a good resource for life as a young part timer and this was a huge help. This info will have a huge impact on my future decisions, so again I can not thank you enough!

Hey Guys, I had a few questions regarding lifestyle after a pilot completes seasoning orders in a fighter unit. I figured having this all in one thread might make for a useful resource for everyone in the future to use. The situation would be that a new fighter pilot just finished seasoning orders, no AGR or full time spots are available, and the pilot has to get another job: How many times per month will your unit require you to fly on average while on part time orders (I am guessing 8-10 days/month)? If you commute to your guard base, will the USAF pay for your airfare to commute to the guard base every time u commute? (assuming you can not use airline perks such as the jump seat worse case scenario) Does your guard unit let you pick and chose which days you want to come in to fly each month? If you are allowed to pick your days, can you commute to your guard base, work for 8 or so days straight, and go home until the following month? If you are commuting to your guard base, where do you stay each night? Does the guard pay you while you are traveling to the base (i doubt it but figured I’d ask) Also, if you chose to have a second job as a airline pilot: If you work a typical airline line schedule (let’s say 15 days/month), can you drop upwards of 7-8 days of military leave and only work 7-8 days at the airline without the airline or your chief pilot becoming upset? If not, how many days of mil leave per month can you drop without upsetting the airline or chief pilot? No pressure to answer all of them. But if you guys know the answer to a few, it can really help us out a lot. I hope others can use this as a future resource as well! Thanks

I am no expert, but check out flying Helos in the army guard/reserves. They used to take people generally a little older. But I have heard that they do not have the best quality of life, so that may be worth looking into as well.