Questions about Bumming

[hindsight2020]

I worked my civilian job from May to October, while flying one weekday local every other Friday on AFTP's, by working 10-hr shifts Mon-Thurs. When I went back to work after my school tour, I told them well ahead of time that as a flyer, my AFRES job would require much more time commitment than the standard "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" Reserve gig. I made it sound like working 4 10s and having every Friday off benefitted them just as much as it benefitted me... and they didn't ask me a thing about it.

BL - it's possible (as stated already), but you WILL have to work at it.

See that's great, but that's textbook min running the unit. I recognize there is a difference in what's expected of booms, but for pilots, forget it, that schedule leaves ya way behind the power curve, not to mention that would only work if you don't commute. If one were to commute then there are the idiosyncracies of getting travel paid, you won't get the unit to pay your travel costs for a double-TP every other week, not gonna happen. You'll get airfare sponsored for annual tour chunks if you get creative, but the aforementioned schedule will not work for a commuter, it won't break even (a young guy won't).

Most people lump a chunk of TPs on the ends of UTA weekend or lump said TPs with a set of man days (x-country trips and such) so the unit will cover their travel, but what happens in both scenarios is that they are burning the periods but physically aren't in the squadron more than 6 times a year, so you're rusty half the year and dead on half the beans anyways, not to mention that's a stretch of days that may spill into the week; good luck selling your 9-5 job you're gonna work a 3-day week this week cause your guard trip spills into Monday... unless you like to drive like a bat out of hell on Sunday just after an 7 hour sortie where you were basically dusting off from being dead for a month. Don't get me started on actually getting your employer to sign off on your annual tour chunk (if you're gonna burn it all at once) without never hearing the end of it...they can't do sh%t to ya legally but it sure is a pain in the @ss and in the world I grew up in someone's gonna shortchange ya at work long term for it and good luck proving it.

It may be physically possible, and workable for some AFSCs, but sure is not economically solvent at all from where I sit. Of course, I will disclaim that I enjoy this kind of flying more than what I could potentially be doing in town in any capacity, and since enough mandays are available I'm hard pressed to invest time in any proposition that would minimize my participation at the squadron or would make me commute at all. To each their own of course I just think short of airline gigs and real estate (the only cases of folks I know who have 9-5s and have enough flex in their schedules to make worth their whiles) there's not much wiggle room for a healthy participation at the unit without incurring in break even or loss scenarios in time and money...and the Guard/Reserves was about QOL right? otherwise gimme my BAH and tricare and we can all be overworked and underested but you can call me good on the 1st and the 15th.....