Days of availability guard/reserve

[gear3green]

Asking for a friend because I am not experienced with the heavy side of the house. 

Trying to get a feel for how much time are units asking out there.

 

"My current unit (heavy) wants 8  days a month. I have seen other units as little as 2 days.  I am losing a ton of money with the airlines at this point (CA at a legacy) but still have a  service commitment. "

 

Thoughts? 

Edited February 28, 2023 by gear3green

[nunya]

IMA

[SocialD]

8 days a month!?!?  How do they even have enough pay days for something like that?  Are they forcing them to only log 1 pay card/day...if so, bail asap.   I guess they don't understand the "part-time" idea behind the Guard/Reserve.  I wouldn't even work in a fighter squadron that required 8 days a month.  My squadron (fighters) only requires 4 days/month, but most guys do 5 or so.  Most of my heavy brethren are only required to work 2 days/month.  

I'd recommend he try to get hired at a unit that is actually part-timer friendly, or look at an AOC or IMA gig.

[nsplayr]

My RPA unit is Drill + 1 fly day where you can log 2-3 sorties to (kinda) maintain RAP.

8 days a month...sheeeet...I'll work ~16/7 a month and I'm a full-timer!

Especially if you have a lucrative civ job where you're giving up a lot of money to serve, I would do what others have said, find the min commitment required via an IMA or a unit/airframe asking less of it's DSGs.

[TheNewGazmo]

8 days!? Yeah, I am wondering where they get the funding for all of that as well unless they are counting a few days of AT. I averaged 4-5 days a month in a tanker unit but have recently tried scaling it back to 3. I go to drill and fly once, but that hasn't been easy being in a DSG "leadership" position. I am on 5th year pay with the airlines, and yes, I lose money going to the unit even as an FO. My answer? I grabbed an IMA job with promotion potential (O-6). I bail from the ANG in the next few months. I could retire as an O-5, but I wasn't quite ready to hang it up yet, especially if I can grab another promotion. Instead of going to UTA and flying, I will pick up another 2-day trip and do AWC in my room.

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[hindsight2020]

6 is standardish for afrc fighter or upt. Which is to say, 8 would be an outlier footprint for a heavy unit, even in afrc (and by extension, almost always tfi).

[FLEA]

I couldn't imagine giving a guard unit 8 days a month. That's a literal part time job at that point. But this sounds very much like a negative experience I had talking with a KC-135 unit that wanted all of their DSG's to live within 50nm of the base so they could be called in as DNIF coverage during the week.......

[TheNewGazmo]

I couldn't imagine giving a guard unit 8 days a month. That's a literal part time job at that point. But this sounds very much like a negative experience I had talking with a KC-135 unit that wanted all of their DSG's to live within 50nm of the base so they could be called in as DNIF coverage during the week.......

Hahahaha..... Wow. Do people really still have their heads in the sand these days? My unit has O-4's that don't even want to stick around anymore.

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[gear3green]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Could anyone in the C5 community give us what a typical availability looks like? I hear at some C5 units you do a TDY every few months and that's good enough. Is this correct? 

[herkbum]

I couldn't imagine giving a guard unit 8 days a month. That's a literal part time job at that point. But this sounds very much like a negative experience I had talking with a KC-135 unit that wanted all of their DSG's to live within 50nm of the base so they could be called in as DNIF coverage during the week.......

The unit I retired from has a 1 hr commute distance for crew, and it has nothing to do with DNIF coverage. It allows alert to be pulled at home.



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[TheNewGazmo]

The unit I retired from has a 1 hr commute distance for crew, and it has nothing to do with DNIF coverage. It allows alert to be pulled at home.



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Our "DNIF coverage," which has never really been a big problem, has always been to grab the nearest full-timer. If that didn't work, the sortie would cancel. Not really a common event. We would definitely not lean on DSG's to the point we would make them live within a certain distance.

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[herkbum]

Our "DNIF coverage," which has never really been a big problem, has always been to grab the nearest full-timer. If that didn't work, the sortie would cancel. Not really a common event. We would definitely not lean on DSG's to the point we would make them live within a certain distance.

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I never heard any real discussions on “DNIF coverage” over my 29 yrs in the ANG. If someone went DNIF, someone else would, as you said, fill in or a canx.

Of the 3 units I was in, only 1 had a commute distance requirement and that was due to the alert mission.


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[SocialD]

5 hours ago, herkbum said:

Of the 3 units I was in, only 1 had a commute distance requirement and that was due to the alert mission.

 

 

 

I've only ever heard of one unit that had a distance requirement and it certainly wasn't for alert.  We have alert on our base (fighters), but I can't imagine having a distance requirement.  Many years ago, an OG/CC made a push for this, but he couldn't find a legal way to institute such a policy.  Thankfully that dude was 100% by the book and since he couldn't find legal grounds to make it happen, he gave up.  In all actuality, it isn't a big deal for my squadron because 95%+ of the squadron lives within 10 miles of the base, with a vast majority of those living within 5 miles.  We're an odd spot where the area near the airport is actually the nicest part of the city.  

[herkbum]

 
 
I've only ever heard of one unit that had a distance requirement and it certainly wasn't for alert.  We have alert on our base (fighters), but I can't imagine having a distance requirement.  Many years ago, an OG/CC made a push for this, but he couldn't find a legal way to institute such a policy.  Thankfully that dude was 100% by the book and since he couldn't find legal grounds to make it happen, he gave up.  In all actuality, it isn't a big deal for my squadron because 95%+ of the squadron lives within 10 miles of the base, with a vast majority of those living within 5 miles.  We're an odd spot where the area near the airport is actually the nicest part of the city.  

I should have stated that it was a tanker unit without a true alert facility.


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[Polar Bear]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:39 AM, gear3green said:

Asking for a friend because I am not experienced with the heavy side of the house. 

Trying to get a feel for how much time are units asking out there.

 

"My current unit (heavy) wants 8  days a month. I have seen other units as little as 2 days.  I am losing a ton of money with the airlines at this point (CA at a legacy) but still have a  service commitment. "

 

Thoughts? 

Sounds like a dream for the bums. Is that such a thing anymore.

[Fly4five]

I'm trying to decide on whether to get out at my 10 year mark now or push it 6 more years to retire to get that active retirement. Any suggestions? I've heard I can get out get an airline gig and pick up enough orders over the next few years to still get the retirement.

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[Sua Sponte]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:20 PM, FLEA said:

I couldn't imagine giving a guard unit 8 days a month. That's a literal part time job at that point. But this sounds very much like a negative experience I had talking with a KC-135 unit that wanted all of their DSG's to live within 50nm of the base so they could be called in as DNIF coverage during the week.......

Washington ANG requires flyers to live within two hours of Fairchild. Non-flyers can live where they want.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Sua Sponte

[brabus]

3 hours ago, Fly4five said:

I'm trying to decide on whether to get out at my 10 year mark now or push it 6 more years to retire to get that active retirement. Any suggestions? I've heard I can get out get an airline gig and pick up enough orders over the next few years to still get the retirement.

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Get out, get a line number, piece together full time orders to make up 6 years…or you may end up deciding not to go for the FT retirement. Maybe it sounds crazy now, but it won’t sound so crazy once you’ve tasted life outside the mil (not to mention 6 years at the airline will massively outpace a mil retirement earnings-wise).

Edited May 7, 2023 by brabus

[ViperMan]

Do what @brabus said.

The mil retirement is worth a lot, so if you can get it, I recommend it. It's inflation protected, not subject to 15.3% payroll tax, and as such is worth a substantial bit more than its apparent paper value.

[HossHarris]

3 hours ago, ViperMan said:

Do what @brabus said.

The mil retirement is worth a lot, so if you can get it, I recommend it. It's inflation protected, not subject to 15.3% payroll tax, and as such is worth a substantial bit more than its apparent paper value.

Tricare standard is usually FAR superior to any plan an airline offers and will save you about $600/month or more. 
 

 

[SocialD]

4 hours ago, brabus said:

Get out, get a line number, piece together full time orders to make up 6 years…or you may end up deciding not to go for the FT retirement. Maybe it sounds crazy now, but it won’t sound so crazy once you’ve tasted life outside the mil (not to mention 6 years at the airline will massively outpace a mil retirement earnings-wise).

 

Says the guy on long term mloa...    But seriously, do what Brabus said.  You may actually find that being a DSG is just way mo betta.  I just finished 6 months of full time MLOA and it was like dragging my balls through a mile of broken glass...FT just isn't for me.  Being within 6 years of an AGR retirement makes that a tougher call. 

 

If you want orders, you'll get them, especially if you're willing to travel.  We have one guy on indefinite orders at USAFE and we just got an e-mail asking if anyone wants indefinite orders at Hickam.  We get requests all the time asking for bodies to fill orders.  

[brabus]

Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. I’m waiting for when the hallway of nut-dragging broken glass appears, then this shit is over and it’s back to Big D I go!

[ViperMan]

9 hours ago, SocialD said:

We have one guy on indefinite orders at USAFE and we just got an e-mail asking if anyone wants indefinite orders at Hickam.  We get requests all the time asking for bodies to fill orders.

Background? MWS? You have my attention...

10 hours ago, HossHarris said:

Tricare standard is usually FAR superior to any plan an airline offers and will save you about $600/month or more.

Of course there's that, too. Didn't even consider the value of that bene.

[SocialD]

1 hour ago, ViperMan said:

Background? MWS? You have my attention...

 

PM inbound.

[Fly4five]

I'm 4 years out from being able to go guard/reserve and now having to make the decision earlier due to this supposed "50k" bonus at 3 years out. Sounds like I can get an Active retirement in the guard by just hanging around the unit getting on orders? I've heard some units say they could give me years of orders right now while others say they are hard to come by. I'm a 135 dude for SA

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