Regionals before AFRES

[tuckthemuck]

I have a quick question about flying for the regionals before joining the Air Force Reserves. I am coming out of the University of North Dakota as a CFII here pretty soon and the regionals are offering some pretty healthy sign-on bonuses and pay packages as well as cadet programs. Looks tasty to me, but I have always wanted to go the Air Force Reserves route. That's my main career goal is to become a heavy guy in the Reserves. 

 

Would it be a bad move to get my feet wet in the regionals as a line pilot before applying to the Air Force Reserves and going through UPT? Do units look unfavorably upon regional pilots? 

 

I talked with a reserve pilot and he said it may be a bad idea because the unit wants you to dedicate a year out of UPT to upgrade to aircraft commander. They want their return on investment. I have no problem doing this but a regional might be fighting for my time coming out of OTS/UPT/SERE. 

I want to make myself look extremely favorable to a board. I have all the boxes checked; flight hours, GPA, AFOQT, TBAS, PCSM... just this one piece I'm unsure about. I'm thinking it would be better to start my career at a regional and make some money while I'm jumping through all the hoops to join a reserve unit. Thanks in advance for any responses. 

[Stoker]

I don't think any Reserve unit would look at being a regional pilot in a negative light. The regional isn't really going to be "fighting for your time," you'll just drop mil leave when needed to meet your Reserve commitments (including training and initial seasoning, which I don't believe count against the five year total of mil leave you're allowed to drop without any repercussions).

I do think that you're probably better off just getting onboard with a Reserve unit ASAP. Work for a regional in the meantime, but I wouldn't delay a shot at UPT just to fly an RJ. Better off to go to UPT, then do regionals, and get to the majors as soon as you can.