Guest street Posted November 30, 2003 Posted November 30, 2003 I was recently sworn-in to the 135thAS in Baltimore. I was told I don't really have a requirement to attend Drill weekends, but I still want to... to get to know more of the guys and get a feel for things in the Guard. What can I expect to do if I come to a UTA weekend? Will they put me to work? Do you think I would be able to ride along on some of the training missions? (That would be awesome if I could!!) Any input would be much appreciated!
Guest jackhammer130 Posted November 30, 2003 Posted November 30, 2003 You will probably sit around and do nothing. I went to MSF with another guy from your Unit and he was telling me the same thing. As far as going on a training mission?? Good luck! In my Unit it's like pulling teeth. However, if you ask the right people you never know what might happen
Guest pistolp Posted December 2, 2003 Posted December 2, 2003 It's nice if you don't have a job. The Guard will pay you for the weekend and you'll end up meeting a lot of great guys you'll be flying with in the future.
Guest WindyCityPilot Posted December 26, 2003 Posted December 26, 2003 You should go in and start doing the paperwork for your mobility folder to be complete. Also meet with the unit training manager and see what ancillary training items you could complete before you leave (CPR, anti-terrorism quiz, law of armed conflict quiz, cultural diversity class, etc.) Go get a gas mask, get it tested at the clinic, and sign up for the NBC initial-training class offered on base (those class times should be on the UTA schedule).
Guest AirGuardian Posted December 29, 2003 Posted December 29, 2003 As WindyCityPilot indicated, there are many training opportunities with your unit during this time of heightened security. Take advantage of this and get to know those who you will be working with as much as you can. Your unit is looking for a long career from you and your potential starts now! Show'm you're doing all you can to integrate with them for future opportunities that may come your way. Your enthusiasm will not go unoticed and the team effort will show. Great to see you have a will to learn and contribute, don't ever let that quality slip. Good luck in Baltimore and they will most likely give you an opportunity to fly in the J-models if they already haven't. Its great to go out and see what they do. Godspeed!
Guest jriggoMOANG Posted November 24, 2004 Posted November 24, 2004 I am currently in the application process to get in with the 139th AW in St. Joe, Missouri. I have taken my AFOQT and am getting the BAT scheduled. My question is what should I wear to the UTA weekends when I visit? Should I go business casual, or something like jeans and a t-shirt? Please help if you know.
herkbum Posted November 25, 2004 Posted November 25, 2004 Be comfortable, but I wouldn't do the t-shirt thing. To be honest, I have really paid any attention to what someone was wearing. I would wear a polo-style or button down shirt with jeans or khaki pants. You don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. As stated in another post, being yourself is the most important thing. Best of luck and be personable.
shiznitobam_allstars Posted November 25, 2004 Posted November 25, 2004 Business Casual. Khakis and collared shirt, no t-shirts, no sneakers. Essentially, look like you give-a-poo.
scoobs Posted February 27, 2005 Posted February 27, 2005 How often do you have to fly to maintain currency in a heavy unit.And is drill weekend required and can you do it any weekend?Also what does drill consist of.Sorry for the dumb questions.
Guest 130Nav Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Maintaining currency is getting very tough unless you are a guard bum...there are so many new NVG requirements that it is really making it tough on everyone. Drill weekends are not required,unless there is something mandatory going on ...ie physical, training etc. But you always have the option of doing RUTAs during the week to accomplish those things. Normally the guard bums will split the drill weekends to save those RUTAs to use with AFTPs during the week. If I have something that I have to attend drill for then I try to get active duty orders. A lot of times drill consists of a whole lot of sitting around. The only people that fly on drill weekends are the out of towners that come in once a month and try to get all their requirements done on one flight. These days it is just very tough to stay current on a traditional guard persons schedule. Hope that helps some.
scoobs Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Thanks for the post.I talked to one guy whos commander make them fly at least once a week.And this is for everybody.
Scooter14 Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 A lot depends on the unit as well. We have mandatory drills in the winter to avoid them in the summer. Also, we'll do one mandatory day a weekend sometimes and save those two other RUTAs for later in the month. Being a mission ready crewdog requires a lot of ground trainng as well. Annual stuff like Chem Warfare, Survival, parachute stuff and other requirements listed in your friendly AFI 11-2MDS-Vol 1 for continuation training will be covered. Remember, the guys administering the training (CE, Life Supprt, etc.) are Guardsmen, too. Easier to get everyone in one place at one time. Most units I have come across expect a flight a week out of their traditionals. I'm actually not sure what my unit wants, but I'm max available right now, and they usually fly me once a week. [ 27. February 2005, 19:33: Message edited by: PAB ]
Guest AirGuardian Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 All the guys who fly tankers are bums. Always teasing me with the boom and all - "you want some gas there hotshot, yeah you with the brand new plane...?" I bet you never thought you'd have not control, but ya don't NOW DO YA? - HEAVYLIFTER BOYEEE, now say please and I might plug ya! You know me PAB, I couldn't resist... This technician thing beats the bum thing only if I didn't have all these measley projects to follow up on ... kinda like AD a bit... [ 27. February 2005, 21:55: Message edited by: AirGuardian ]
Scooter14 Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Depends on what's going on in the world, obviously. Units bid on trips every year and try to spread them out accordingly. Some units bid more, some less depending on what they have ging on (airbridge, Block 40 conversion, runway closures, etc.) Some units bid and can't fill all the lines, so they call other units for help, which is how I got to Guam last month. Right now, we have some alerts, about a trip a week, and the normal daily schedule. I'm kind of a bad person to ask, since I'm on an Active Duty MPA tour right now and haven't truly "bummed" yet, but from what I see, you could get the following typical schdule in any given tanker unit: 1 drill day (2 SUTAS=2 pay days) 1 flight a week for three weeks (3 AFTPs and 3 SUTAs=6 pay days) 1 24 hour alert a week x4(8 days pay) 1 week trip = 5 days pay+per diem 4 hours of CBT's = 1 days pay Special project for the DO = 2 SUTA's - 2 days pay So, you can make about 2/3 to 3/4 of what you would make on AD. This is simplified a bit. The SUTAs and AFTP's pay flight pay but no housing allowance. The alerts, I believe, pay mileage and BAH Type II, since they are Active Duty days, as does the trip. Obviously, the trip pays per diem as well. That's just thie tip of the iceberg. I imagine the opportunities would be similar in any Mobility unit, with the trips, lengths of flights, etc. Again, I am pretty new at the Guard pay system, and I was fortunate as a part timer to roll from my formal school orders to an AD tour. The master Guard Bum around here is AirGuardian. When my tour ends, I can only hope to be as talented as he is. 'Course, he did sit around Maxwell for waaay too long before his single digit days long touch and go at Altus (where I was sitting around waaay too long)... Wait, I just read the above post...you're a technician now? You're one of them? The Dark Side has been joined once again (Me, nah, I'm not jealous :rolleyes: ) [ 27. February 2005, 22:18: Message edited by: PAB ]
Guest CAVOK Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Scoobs, It all varies from unit to unit. Mine has 4 mandatory UTA weekends per year. That is when we knock out the majority of the b.s. that has to be done--like aircrew chem training. And have our blowout parties. Currency is no problem in my unit... 1-1&1 per month (one takeoff, one approach, one landing) 1 full "LPS" local prof sortie per quarter (one per month as a new guy). And that is just about it! There are other beans that have to be counted, but if you fly more then the absolute minimum it is not a problem. No Altus No Little Rock No CBTs No alert No activations (at least since DS1) No rotations No A/R--I used to love A/R, but if you are flying for so long that you need gas in a transport aircraft, you probably flew over a really nice place to stop and visit! No hiring for a while--sorry. CAVOK
Guest AirGuardian Posted March 1, 2005 Posted March 1, 2005 I miss those days CAVOK, Same as you but with the A/R, but we didn't sign on to the Air Drop extra with the 141... 2 hour or less local sorties. A time that will not be revisited anytime soon for us. New jet now with most of the trimmings, but after doing 5-6.0 plus sorties it's quite a chore... Combat offloads, Backing, Local Pattern work, Tanker, Low Level, Tactical ingress/arrival, Assaults, return for more Pattern work or just quit... NVG's a com'in... KEEP AIR D away... Feel kinda bad for our IP's swapping 3,4,5 pilots in and out for currency sake. Proficiency is the key and currency is not really enough. At least we can 3 hour sim time if we need for plug stuff! Flying over a good sites is a bad thing and I appreciate the extra fuel load we have on these ER's... Not super, but good enough to visit the good spots - or get picked off by AMC for the long haul...! :rolleyes: [ 28. February 2005, 22:27: Message edited by: AirGuardian ]
Guest Hops71m Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 I was wondering what platoon weekends where like. I heard from a guy whose going into the Guard that the best way to make connections to get a slot at a certain base is to go to platoon weekends to do drills and stuff. Is this the case yes or no? Thanks
jcollins Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 What is a platoon weekend?? Do you mean drill weekend? And if you want to make connections that is probably the best time to do it.
Guest Hops71m Posted January 10, 2006 Posted January 10, 2006 Yeah Drill weekends. How do I go about signing up for that? Do you have to join the guard to do it? Im sure you just dont drive up to the gate and say, "Hey Can I hang out for drill weekend." Thanks
Guest rumblefish_2 Posted January 10, 2006 Posted January 10, 2006 You'd be surprised at how informal it really is. We don't have any signups at our unit. Dudes just show up now and then and try to hang out. Guys enlisted in the unit definitely get more face time. If you're not already in the military, it might be a little more difficult. You'll probably have to get a visitor's pass somehow...
Guest CAVEMAN Posted August 5, 2008 Posted August 5, 2008 Does anyone here drive more than 2 hours to their drill unit. Anyone fly? On an average, how much do you spend on plane ticket in a month/year?
Bergman Posted August 5, 2008 Posted August 5, 2008 Does anyone here drive more than 2 hours to their drill unit. Anyone fly? On an average, how much do you spend on plane ticket in a month/year? I used to spend $300-400 per month commuting to my old ANG unit. Sometimes I would drive (~1000 miles) and other times fly, depending on what the timing looked like vs. cost of an airline ticket. On a side note, remember that all expenses incurred when commuting to an ANG/AFRES unit (if you live outside 100 miles, IIRC) are tax deductible. Hotel stays, mileage and depreciation on your car if you drive, rental cars (you deduct at the gov't mileage rate of 58.5 cents per mile), plus you can deduct a standard meal rate for every night you are gone from home. It probably doesn't equal the actual cost of commuting, but it's a sizeable chunk of the money back.
Guest CAVEMAN Posted August 6, 2008 Posted August 6, 2008 I used to spend $300-400 per month commuting to my old ANG unit. Sometimes I would drive (~1000 miles) and other times fly, depending on what the timing looked like vs. cost of an airline ticket. That is enough payment for my little rice-burner. $300 - $400, I take it that you probably went in twice on an average(drill weekend and an extra flight). As long as flight pay covers all these, then I should be fine. I am looking at about a 6 hour ride right now and I dread it. As an alternative, rent a little C-152 from the local flying club. It might cost more, but at least I am not driving for 6 hours.
Insubordinate & Churlish Posted August 6, 2008 Posted August 6, 2008 That is enough payment for my little rice-burner. $300 - $400, I take it that you probably went in twice on an average(drill weekend and an extra flight). As long as flight pay covers all these, then I should be fine. I am looking at about a 6 hour ride right now and I dread it. As an alternative, rent a little C-152 from the local flying club. It might cost more, but at least I am not driving for 6 hours. During the summer months, I have a 5.5 hour drive to drill. Let me tell you, when you get off duty at 5 PM Sunday night, and are facing a 5.5 hour drive home, it's not pleasant. Plus, you have to consider that you may get back to base even later from a TDY or annual tour. (For example, I'm gettting back to base from my AT at 9 PM, and have my 5.5 hour drive to face.) Is moving an impossibility? The 152 flight would be a lot of fun to do, but as my airline pilot dad says, "When you gotta get there... drive."
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now