Leaderboard

Hey y'all, I was a little more active on here a few years back when applying to guard units but have lurked off & on since then. I live in Houston where, as most are aware, we had some pretty gnarly flooding from Hurricane Harvey. As shitty as the situation has been for so many in the area, it has largely brought out the best in people. My wife and I were lucky enough to be spared from anything serious, but homes just a few blocks away were inundated with floodwater. Watching USCG helicopters snag folks from rooftops just a few streets over was pretty surreal. The other day, I watched a -130 refueling a couple pavehawks directly over my neighborhood. I grew up around AF bases, so seeing aircraft overhead is something I'm pretty used to. Watching them putting in serious work to help save lives was something new entirely. With that said, I'm sure more than a few of you on here have been involved, either directly or indirectly, with rescue, recovery, and aid efforts in response to the storm. On behalf of everyone in Houston and SE Texas, I just wanted to say thanks. If you've ever in the area, let me know and beers are on me.

A couple of folks have posted about having great jobs, but leave out the specifics. Just tell us what you do, exactly. Provide specific compensation information. The airline info is out there, and really, there's no reason to be vague with the details of these non-airline careers (unless they're really not that great?). No offense, but without specific info, these jobs begin to sound like "ask me how I make $1000 a day working from home" scams. With a fresh MBA in hand, I did my diligence seeking a non-airline career when I separated in 2012. Granted, besides flying, I have a non-technical background (poli sci from the Zoo). Standard GE Junior Officer LP, consultant (Booz Allen, Deloitte), Raytheon, and the CIA were the only bites I got and none fell into "dream job" status. Other than the companies listed above, no one I spoke to was really interested in hiring someone with a non-technical degree (more likely, it was just me). I even sensed a little "military fatigue" from the recruiters I spoke to ("yeah, yeah, leadership, MBA, flying, but what else do you offer"). After considering pay/benefits versus time away from home, the stability afforded with getting in at the front end of the hiring wave (2014), and control of my life, airline pilot was the clear choice. I begrudgingly admit that because to an extent I still equate airline pilot to glorified bus driver (no offense to bus drivers... it's important work). I suspect a detail that's being left out of these success stories (except maybe Huggy's example), is networking or an already established relationship leading into a transition from mil to civ, which is difficult or impossible for AD pilots to build in anything but contracting or staff work. On long-term mil leave now and still searching/resume building for that professionally fulfilling career I can get into (or more likely do in addition to the airlines) after I retire in a couple of years. Great thread, just wish we could get some more details from the few that have found the golden unicorn.

Splitting rated officers from the LAF below O-6 would probably negate the need for two tracks. It would alsokeep random MSG clowns from passing over WOs, SEFEs, etc for not checking all the right boxes.

To be honest, I don't think we really need a fly-only track and a leadership track. We just need to stop punishing people who end up flying the line on promotion boards. At a time when we can't fill cockpits, we're still not promoting the very guys we need to fill the cockpits - the senior, grey beard IP/EP (or, in my case, IW/EW) who has deployed multiple times, worked in safety, worked in stan/eval, etc. These are THE experts that the commanders lean on for flying knowledge, and they're essentially being told they are less valuable due to not going to staff...even though we're also telling them they can't go to staff because there aren't enough people to fill the cockpits. I get that the shiniest pennies will go to school followed by staff...but that's only your top 10-20%. What should be of far greater concern, to both us on the line and the Air Force as a whole, is what do you do with the other 80-90%?

My assumption is that if rated folks split from the LAF, only rated officers would sit on their promotion board. No guarantee that all rated officers would value "the right things" but it sure couldn't hurt.

Take the test again if it's holding your confidence back. But from all the interviews I went to, at the end of the day nobody cared. You may or may not have trouble landing interviews with those scores/gpa but that's about it. If you get the interview with those scores then you have nothing to worry about

$50 raise?

You're wrong. The reasons for omitting some details varies from person to person. Many people do not want to discuss their salary on a public forum. And for many different reasons. In my case, I signed a legal document when I resigned that prevents me from stating much more than I did. Simply be happy with the information you DID get and add it to your list of data points.

I know people that got picked up with AFOQTs in that neighborhood. Given your age, I definitely wouldn't waste any time, better start rushing now. With the hours you have I doubt you'll get a lot of questions about your scores...they already know you can fly.

Take out a loan, get your PPL, and if your PCSM is still low, retake your AFOQT? (You didn't post your scores, so I'm just assuming it's below average?) If a few thousand dollars and some longer hours spent studying are the only thing standing in my way of achieving this goal, it's a no-brainer....

Decent pilot. Everything else is pretty low. Your pcsm should be pretty decent though with the amount of flight hrs that you have. Try another study tactic for your retake and get other scores up. They dont need to be scholar scores, but atleast get them above 50's. Focus on getting the pilot and pcsm score high.

We're in the same boat, OP. I'm 27, turning 28 soonish. Just retook the TBAS and probably will retake the AFOQT. The fact that you'll already have your PPL is a huge plus. Still working on mine. Anyway, if you quit trying, the chances of selection are nil. Have you taken the TBAS yet? Might as well get it out of the way... Good luck!

When I retired 35 months ago, I went straight into an Executive Director position, with the expectation that if I did well, I'd be CEO in ~3 years. The position got me access to CEO's, millionaires, entrepreneurs, and a host of other highly successful... and famous... people. The social events were off the chart. However, after 18 months, I resigned. Entirely too much work, no free time, and high stress led to this. I appreciated the organization bringing me on, but in the end, it wasn't the right fit. It did scratch the itch I'd had for a long time in doing this type of job. Glad I got to go to that side of the business world.. and maybe I'll go back some day. But for now, the airline lifestyle and benefits are a better fit.

$50 increase for the senior pilots/IP/EPs that have been flying their asses off in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and HOA? That's like tipping your barber $1 after she spends 30-45 min cutting your hair. Might as well keep your $1 and go down to the BX barber if you can't afford the quality haircut. Also, CSAF needs to take the reigns on communicating anything related to pilot retention. He does much better than the others. This is a PR nightmare and casts a negative perception to the pilot retention crisis, as HAF is calling it. CSAF needs to communicate pilots that this is not in any way a measure of retention for the guys punching at initial UPT ADSC completion. Be honest and tell us that this is to incentivize the 14yr officer to stay 20 to retirement (because that's the only thing it does).

I don't know if deployments or shift work after retirement are "where it's at" for me.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sordid

"Fox 2!" A kill is a kill, amirite?