ANG Fighter Pilot Lifestyle

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Originally posted by scoobs:

I know it depends if its a FW or heavy unit but is that hard to do?

It is not easy.

[Bergman]

Originally posted by Rainman A-10:

It is not easy.

[scoobs]

Wouldn't it be harder with a FW because you have to fly more?And Bergman are you planning on moving closer?Do you fly or drive?

[ 20. April 2005, 12:13: Message edited by: scoobs ]

[Scooter14]

I think scoobs is a spy, or he will eek out a living as "unauthorized biographer" to the baseops.net nation.

[Bergman]

Originally posted by scoobs:

Wouldn't it be harder with a FW because you have to fly more?And Bergman are you planning on moving closer?Do you fly or drive?

The feedback I've gotten from the guys in my squadron who were there when we had F-16s is that things have gotten easier with the -135 since there are less requirements.

At some point in time I will move closer to home. For now, I made a commitment to my unit and am honoring that. I fly if I can, but have driven quite a few times as well.

[scoobs]

Wow I have never been considered a spy.For some reason people don't like my questions.But all I'm trying to do in learn as much I can.If you have any questions about me just ask.

[Guest flecth033]

Are you a spy ?

[Guest dumaisj]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! flyguy, you would have earned 5 stars for that one if you had it enabled on your profile.

[Scooter14]

Just flipping you shit, scoobs. If you sit back and read these threads, at the tail end of every discussion you ask about 4 or 5 loosely related questions.

Bergman do you fly or drive?Do ou take the same route every time?Who do you have your frequent flyer account with?All your base are belong to us.

[Bergman]

Originally posted by PAB:

Bergman do you fly or drive?Do ou take the same route every time?Who do you have your frequent flyer account with?All your base are belong to us.

Both. Yes. Delta.

[Guest dumaisj]

I think I made scoobs mad; my rating just took a dive. I can answer those ?s as well though: Drive, Yes, Continental.

[ 22. April 2005, 10:09: Message edited by: dumaisj ]

[scoobs]

No I'm not mad and I'm not a spy.They might sound like crazy questions but it doesn't sound like you fly for an airline.So I was wondering if you space A flight since a 1000 miles is a long way to go.

[scoobs]

Can you even make it being a bumming in a fighter unit?

[Guest pilotapplicant]

I am still at UPT on my way to a fighter unit so my info is just based on talking to guys at my unit(take it with a grain of salt). Fighter guys don't usually have as much work but they are required to train more which can add up to quite a few days. An inexperienced pilot (I think until you have 500 hours in the jet) will fly 8-10 times per month. My unit has mandatory UTAs so that is two more days. For all the work discussed so far you will be getting drill pay which is base pay only (no BAH or flight pay). The upside is that a drill period is only four hours so you can sometimes get paid for two in one day. My commander told me that if I come to work on drill status I should always get paid for two drill periods.

Most new guys will get to go to a Flag or something once or twice a year which should be worth a couple of weeks AD orders once or twice a year.

If the fighter unit has an alert mission then bumming can be a GREAT deal. The part time guys at my unit each sit alert for a couple of 24 hour periods and usually one long weekend good for another 72 hours. You get one day of active duty pay for each 8 hours so by working six around the clock shifts you get 18 days of active duty pay. This means that you get flight pay and BAH for these days. This mean you get 5/8 of what an AD guy makes for six "days" just sitting alert.

Best case scenario you could work about half time and make full time wages. More realistically you would work about twelve to fourteen days a month and make about 20%-30% less than a dude on AD.

Talking to guys around UPT from units that deploy a lot is sounds like opportunities to bum are pretty easy to come by.

It is also worth mentioning that the process from AMS through RTU is worth about two and half years of orders then you will have two sets of 256 day orders (another year and half) for seasoning when you get back to your unit. By that time most of stuff I have written may have changed.

Cheers,

Pilotapplicant

[Guest skipro101]

Anyone out there flying fighters in the guard or reserve and fly for an airline care to share some insight on how you manage the 3? Especially interested if you have a family too...

Thanks!

[Guest 12XU2A3X3]

hey pilotapplicant,

how far will you be living from you base? are you going to be flying for a civilian job?

[Guest pilotapplicant]

I plan to live about five miles away. I have a civilian flying job working as a government firefighting pilot at the same airport to go back to when I come off active duty.

My unit has a 50 mile rule: Pilots have to live within 50 miles of the base. From what I can tell talking to guys from other guard units maybe half the fighter units have a similar policy. There are a lot of reasons for these policies but the squadron commander said that the primary reason is that it makes it easier for the leadership to fill flying lines, have some flexibility, and to keep everyone current. The idea being that if your unit is in CA and but you live in NY and someone falls out of a flight because their kid wakes up with a stomach ache you may WANT to come in and fly but you CAN'T. Now if everyone lives within 50 miles you won't have to go very far down the phone list to find someone who would rather come in and fly a 1v1 BFM than mow the lawn.

[Guest 12XU2A3X3]

interesting, that makes good sense. i had always assumed it had to do primarily with whether or not the unit had an air sovereignty mission. that's why you ask i guess!

[bottlenose]

if your unit is in CA and but you live in NY

Are there people who are actually in this circumstance? If so, you have to wonder, how would someone even make that possible?

Edited February 27, 2010 by bottlenose

[Marco]

One of our guys flew here in Florida, but lived in Michigan. BUT, his wife was in med school there, and he was in law school. He has since moved back to Florida upon both him and his wife graduating.

[hindsight2020]

Are there people who are actually in this circumstance? If so, you have to wonder, how would someone even make that possible?

Funny you should ask. In my unit, ALL the TRs live out of state. Some sooo out of state it would give the AF audit agency a freggin' heart attack. Not a fighter unit though. And yes, most of them do min run the unit severely. Yes, it is a source of tension. And no, I don't know how long it will last now that TFI is here.

What follows is not a PC thing to say and I shouldn't be airing the dirty laundry in front of guard wannabes, but fighter units can and do tell their dudes: "bro, you're putting 8-10 days a month and you'll like it, you're flying an F-16 and that comes before your wife and kid". That's why they get away with the 50-mile rules et al. Because flying an afterburning jet part-time still beats sitting airport reserve in Newark for 20K/pop or working cubicle city on a lack-luster job; most dudes gut-check and do it. But when you're in a heavy unit flying 50s equipment, turns out, that threat goes in one ear and out the other. You try imposing a 50 mile rule and good luck. You'll get people lined up for the job for sure, there's plenty of wannabes chumping at the bit, but you won't get the quality of people you would if you back off the commute restriction. Like everything else in life, there's no free lunch.

Simply put, people with leverage and options fly F-16s for the sake of flying F-16s; people who fly noisy rattle cans fly noisy rattle cans for QOL, job security and travel flexibility. You'll get people relocate the wife and kids to bum fok north dakota, at a wage loss no less, for an part-time F-16. For the privilege of driving a '57 caddy with chittier avionics than a 1970s piper cherokee? It just doesn't happen...

Edited February 28, 2010 by hindsight2020

[scoobs]

I plan to live about five miles away. I have a civilian flying job working as a government firefighting pilot at the same airport to go back to when I come off active duty.

Is your firefighting job full time or seasonal?

[Guest 12XU2A3X3]

is flying for a museum any kind of a means of subsistence? is it even a paying job? there are a fair amount of museums with flying collections, many of them touring. has anyone done this type of flying? is it a paying gig?

[BlackKnight]

Here's the bottom line guys. Before you depart for UPT have a plan for what you are going to do full time when you get back. A Guard unit is a part-time gig and will not pay your bills overall. I suggest looking at it that way, therefore preparing for it, rather than the (what I've seen as) standard attitude and lack of planning of new guys coming back who ALL want that cushy full time job at the unit, and with the about-me SNAPS even a touch of expecting a full time position, doing every weasely thing to try and get one, then pissed and "I got screwed" if they don't. Sure, it's great and sometimes the timing works out. But your unit doesn't "owe you" a full time position and as a new guy in a Guard unit is usually a bad move (unless attitude/potential to go to WIC or all around ass-kicking guy, and a full-time guy leaves). The 2 years (roughly) you are gone plus the 1.5-2 years of orders you get upon return may seem like a long time, but it goes by quick. Again, have a plan. Worst is to NOT have one, then you are scrambling for money/jobs at the same time trying to get to the Guard 8-10 days a month, you're new and suck, you're flight commander is on you because you're new, suck, and aren't around, etc.

HAVE A PLAN.

Barney

[Guest TBear]

For all the work discussed so far you will be getting drill pay which is base pay only (no BAH or flight pay).

You should get ACIP (flt pay) on UTA or AFTP status. No BAH though.