IMA versus Traditional commuter

[olevelo]

Looking for advice/comments on a couple different Reserve routes. I have a traditional Nav job lined up. However I still don't have my "real" job locked down. One option is about a 3 hour drive to the unit, so very doable. All of the other options are a cross country commute (no direct flights either). Obviously the nearby job makes sense for the Reserve job, but it may be that one of the cross country jobs is too good to pass up. The other option I may have is several IMA opportunities within a couple hours of where I'd work (possibly in the same local area for some of the jobs I'm looking at).

Besides the obvious difference in flying versus non-flying, what are some other factors to look at? It seems the traditional job allows the opportunity to collect more retirement points, but if I have to travel and take time out of my real job then I'm not likely to be able to collect as many days anyway. I haven't done many calculations, so I'm not sure how much difference those points would make. For reference, I have 12.5 years of active duty.

For non-airline pilot commuters, ie folks who work normal jobs and commute long distance to your Reserve/Guard job, do you find the travel wearing? Are you able to keep current? Would you switch to IMA job if you had the opportunity?

Thanks!

[JarheadBoom]

** Third-hand info **

From what I've seen after 8 years in my Reserve SQ, the non-airline commuters start with the best of intentions. They come in for 4-5 days, usually with the UTA somewhere in that block, do some flying for currency, bang out some ground currency items... then we don't see them until the next month. This usually lasts about a year. It's been my experience that a fair number of these folks are merely "current" in the jet; they're not very "proficient".

Then, the downhill slide begins. Weather somewhere in the commute made it "not worth the hassle this weekend", or "last-minute tasking at work", or ________. They start going noncurrent for little stuff. As time goes on, the noncurrent list gets bigger as they show up less frequently; pretty soon they need to fly 4-5 times just to get current on everything (and this assumes no wx/MX/customer CANXs, which almost never happens when someone has an epic "need to reset currency on everything" plan). If it keeps up, you see these folks ending up in CC-directed requal... or they finally reach their personal breaking point and retire/go IRR/separate.

The last two commuters to retire from my shop were both non-aviation guys - one from northern CT, the other from TX. Both wanted to keep flying and earning points, but both said the asspain of the commute, justifying time off from work/away from family, and constantly going noncurrent, just wore them down.

Don't get me wrong, we do have a few non-airline/aviation commuters who do manage to make it work, but they'll be the first to tell you it's HARD to do.

[olevelo]

Thanks. That sounds pretty similar to the info I got from my pending Reserve unit. Luckily I'm a known commodity to them as I flew with them while AD and so they're still willing to give me the chance.

No IMA experience around??