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Aviation Continuation Pay (ACP - The Bonus)


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From my perspective I think Tricare in retirement is a huge benefit.  I haven’t started at my next job yet but looking at their health options they are all about $3-4K min a year for a very healthy family’s plan. Add in some health issues or surgery it could rapidly go up to $10K+.  Tricare Select has max out of pocket total of $3000 per year, per family, with no premiums, and $300 per year deductible limit for a family. One of the few things that got my attention during TAP was the offer to Airmen separating to buy some kind of Tricare for up to a year after separating:  at about $1200 per month... Go to Tricare.mil for the source data, I’m convinced it will save retired people thousands over a lifetime. 

Edited by LJ Driver
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Private insurance nearly broke me, it was equivalent to BC/BS, when I got seriously ill as an ART.  Get the TRICARE for life, worry less.  Oh yeah, you should also have $1M on your cranium in life insurance, unless you can self insure that.  And only use term.

Edited by matmacwc
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I started Medicare + TFL two years ago.  Before that I had private sector employer’s insurance + Tricare standard.

The difference is amazing.  I feel like I may have won the golden ticket of health insurance.   I have none of the problems with Tricare and private insurance finger pointing, never a copay, and no pharmacy problems.

I did find that Tricare had a better drug formulary than my company insurance.

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SWA has an insurance option with $0 monthly premiums and a $2,500 yearly out of pocket max. The only catch is preventive care (physicals, immunizations) are not covered.
After finding out that cash prices for preventative care can be really cheap, I dropped TRS, which has been working out great so far.


Lots of good reasons to get an AD retirement, Tricare shouldn’t be one of them. 

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Damn, I'm waiting for my OTS and UPT dates and can't wait to get on Tricare.

Most airlines have MUCH better coverage than 95% of civilan employers, so I understand the argument, but for most other civilian jobs the coverage isn't even close.

My civilian job's is at a very large and "good" company. The insurance is $250/mo and has a $1500 deductible before anything is covered. So I would basically have to spend a $4500 out of pocket before I get any benefit. The premium would raise to almost $600 and the deductible would double if I added my wife. I routinely hear about how we have such good coverage at this company and it will say that it is way better than what was available at my previous job. But it's still garbage.

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1 hour ago, Gazmo said:
2 hours ago, K_O said:
Yes, many moons ago.  40% for fixed wing pilots.  Which the AF is apparently cool with. 40 is the new 65.

Yeah well, in theory we are producing more new pilots so it's all good...

AF failed to meet its higher production goals this year and actually produced less than the previous standard rate so... Yep.

I should add that this failure is despite the dedicated efforts of our folks on the line.

Edited by K_O
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4 hours ago, K_O said:

Yes, many moons ago.  40% for fixed wing pilots.  Which the AF is apparently cool with. 40 is the new 65.

Let’s not forget that this number is inflated due to the 11U folks taking it at a higher rate then the rest. Plus most of AMC that took it are all in school or staff.  

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The AF needs to produce 1,400 pilots/year and retain 65% until 2034 to emerge from the aircrew crisis.  That according to the ACTF Maj Gen Mack.  UPT fell short of that by like 200 pilots this year.  Probably going to underproduce next year as well.

It does seem that in a way the Air Force is really just waiting for an economic downturn.  Nobody wishes for another 9/11, but another shock like that would fix the aircrew crisis over night.

Also, according to the ACTF, the AF is overmanned on FGOs and undermanned on CGOs.  You may not see it that way in your neck of the woods, but those are the numbers.

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6 minutes ago, Homestar said:

The AF needs to produce 1,400 pilots/year and retain 65% until 2034 to emerge from the aircrew crisis.  That according to the ACTF Maj Gen Mack.  UPT fell short of that by like 200 pilots this year.  Probably going to underproduce next year as well.

It does seem that in a way the Air Force is really just waiting for an economic downturn.  Nobody wishes for another 9/11, but another shock like that would fix the aircrew crisis over night.

Also, according to the ACTF, the AF is overmanned on FGOs and undermanned on CGOs.  You may not see it that way in your neck of the woods, but those are the numbers.

I think it was said that 1400 to produce out, 1200 something for steady state, and we did 1100 or so.

Sad to hear that we are gambling on an economic downturn rather than creating flexible and responsive retention initiatives.

This has been floating around the squadrons:

 

EB34CD7F-FF2B-441E-9F01-442F0FDAE025.jpeg

Edited by K_O
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49 minutes ago, K_O said:

Sad to hear that we are gambling on an economic downturn rather than creating flexible and responsive retention initiatives.

My biggest complaint with the ACTF is the auto-reponse of "we can't compete with the airlines" when you mention pay.  Nobody is asking that you compete with the airlines.  Just pay more than what you are.  Military members are generally hesitant, I believe, to say that pay is a causal factor in leaving because they don't want to appear un-patriotic.

You join out of Pride, you stay because of Quality of Life/Job Satisfaction, and Compensation.  You cannot disregard the Compensation aspect.  The Air Force continues to cop out when they say that they simply can't compete with the airlines.

I don't mind the initiatives to produce our way out of the aircrew crisis.  But compensation has to continue to be on the table or people will continue to walk.

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4 hours ago, K_O said:

I think it was said that 1400 to produce out, 1200 something for steady state, and we did 1100 or so.

Sad to hear that we are gambling on an economic downturn rather than creating flexible and responsive retention initiatives.

This has been floating around the squadrons:

 

EB34CD7F-FF2B-441E-9F01-442F0FDAE025.jpeg

If anything, those numbers are a little low ... at least for delta. 

Low for gross pay, about right to 5% high for take home ... 

and I’m not a striver nor hard worker (anyone who knows me will vouch). 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not quite the bonus, but relevant; in case any of you part-timers out there want to waste your time trying to participate in our democracy, there's a link to contact your reps at the top of the page:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2953

H.R. 2953: Aviation Incentive Pay Parity Act

To amend title 37, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of a military department to pay an officer in a reserve component of a uniformed service aviation incentive pay at the same rate as an officer in the regular component of that uniformed service.

 

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37 minutes ago, kona4breakfast said:

Not quite the bonus, but relevant; in case any of you part-timers out there want to waste your time trying to participate in our democracy, there's a link to contact your reps at the top of the page:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2953

H.R. 2953: Aviation Incentive Pay Parity Act

To amend title 37, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of a military department to pay an officer in a reserve component of a uniformed service aviation incentive pay at the same rate as an officer in the regular component of that uniformed service.

 

Real question.  Why should a part timer get the same bonus as someone on AD?  Or is this just arguing for rate (pay/day) to be the same?

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1 hour ago, brawnie said:

Real question.  Why should a part timer get the same bonus as someone on AD?  Or is this just arguing for rate (pay/day) to be the same?

Because they are locked into a service commitment and no longer are at will and can quit. It makes managing force structure a lot easier when you know people can’t walk.

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1 hour ago, LookieRookie said:

Because they are locked into a service commitment and no longer are at will and can quit. It makes managing force structure a lot easier when you know people can’t walk.

Yeah I can sort of see the argument.  But in my mind it’s a zero sum solution - money all comes from the same proverbial pot in the end.  Would 10k extra for guard/reservists be a better investment for America/the big AF than 10k for active duty pilots?  What does the AF need more? 

With all the new perceived benefits that already exist from being in the guard/reserves, I feel like this would just be more of an incentive to leave active duty.  I know for me personally this would only make me want to join the guard more.

Unpopular opinion maybe, but we already know that AD can’t compete with stability or homesteading that exists with the guard.  If AD offered better pay, maybe that would entice people to stay.  Make AD bonuses 45-50k.  Currently, the only thing AD beats the guard on is 2BPZ promotions if you are one of the chosen ones.

I say this as someone who is definitely joining the guard for family reasons, regardless of money.

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35 minutes ago, brawnie said:

Yeah I can sort of see the argument.  But in my mind it’s a zero sum solution - money all comes from the same proverbial pot in the end.  Would 10k extra for guard/reservists be a better investment for America/the big AF than 10k for active duty pilots?  What does the AF need more? 

With all the new perceived benefits that already exist from being in the guard/reserves, I feel like this would just be more of an incentive to leave active duty.  I know for me personally this would only make me want to join the guard more.

Unpopular opinion maybe, but we already know that AD can’t compete with stability or homesteading that exists with the guard.  If AD offered better pay, maybe that would entice people to stay.  Make AD bonuses 45-50k.  Currently, the only thing AD beats the guard on is 2BPZ promotions if you are one of the chosen ones.

I say this as someone who is definitely joining the guard for family reasons, regardless of money.

BPZ promotions are going away.

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The opposite is true. ACIP and bonus should be paid at a monthly/yearly rate for part timers the same as active duty. Both have the exact same requirements to be ready to fly. Also for all the complaints about AD pay, the same goes for drill pay: it’s not enough for the skills brought and already invested.


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