AirGuardianC141747

Same General wrote this on his white board as well... Let’s issue 1 copy for all the families to share!

Good to see the hornets getting out of the hive. Keep it up! Go to your Commanders, be a Commander, push your State HQ, press your TAG! If your young in the game and you don’t know what a TAG is or who, TAG is not doing their job... *Work with neighboring units (initially select parallel mission units), states, connect the dots with data/ impact statements, monthly reports, do your due diligence if not for yourselves but for the others coming up thru the ranks. Everything else leads to separations or units unable to fulfill their doc statements and that will lead to an undesirable event however defined. Its always an uphill battle with bean counters, budget and self-proclaimed we know best Bureaucrats (Bureau). Do something and something might happen. If you do nothing, expect nothing. Fight for honor and good sense. (I chose honor as American English, don’t get hung up on it below 😉 ) Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. ... - Never Give In. - Winston Churchill

P-8, very good choice and most likely with the 737 type rating to boot. Whats not to like as a great transition to the airline community as the most successful platform ever produced (sales). 10,000th delivered as of last year I believe. Had a tour on a P-8 and it was impressive. Very nice, but definitely still too tight of a tin can to be loitering around on/with long legs (both meanings). Great for many, but interstate hopping would be miserable as well for my fat @ss. My buds flying the Airbus A320s seem to have a much more enjoyable/spacious/ergonomic experience. Good advice alwyn2d, get that lite twin rating for future prospects.

While this 2 cents may belong on a retirement thread I will state a viewpoint that has reinstated itself during the past decade plus of increasing AD retirements and “I have 20 good years” by the Guard & Reserve. Increase pay types such as AFTPs gains more proficiency for our forces without any backpay towards retirement. Very smart bean counter strategies. If you achieved an AD retirement via the separate point system, then your other points are thrown on top of your total AD points and it is a significant increase of retirement pay dependent upon how many you have. As supporting info, the DoD will not offer or change retirement systems to benefit the individual. Giving you cash now without any strings attached (not having to pay you til you die) is a business model. Hence, only one makeup RUTA is a screw job... More AFTPs not RUTAs = cost savings, Redux, Blended retirement system, RIF, etc. Military spends money, civilians make money - but the military is getting better at their oversight and starting to parallel the civilian sector regarding cost savings, but forgetting we are here to break sh*t...

Maybe your life insurance is in question. Some airlines have stipulations via insurance companies regulatory policies. Life/limb catastrophic issues demand payment, but airlines are good at circumnavigating this arena so be aware. Makes sense that is your time and many pilots fly recreationally as well and do more high exposure activities if you will. Your a loss Manning wise, but the insurance might be a plausible note. One of our folks had an issue/death on the road and it seems there was much contention regarding payment of insurance. Company time vs off company time (flying), but the issue was he was on a trip. I hope to believe this wouldn’t happen in the Big 3 or other biggies. I am not going to say beyond company... Many know though. Just some thoughts... While your an asset, you can be a liability as well.

If that is the case, then it seems it’s unit dependent. GAZMOs post indicates units have Carte Blanche to give bonuses out so that may have or still bleeds into hiring wage practices as well. I am just trying to put the Humpty Dumpty pieces together from several of the previous posts to gain a better picture. Not the source here, just a historian at this point.

ANG units are the focus of discussion I believe, NGB probably not as they are either AD folks or Guard folks on Title 10 AD orders for a set period or have earned career status which brings them to a minimum of 20 years at higher headquarters. Our unit was Co-Piglet GS-11, Aircraft Philander GS-12 and the Destructor Pilot & Devaluator Pilot GS-13s. Several of us were grandfathered in as GS-13s prior to this mandate so we were lucky. Now it looks like it’s MDS hours driven vs position, but most likely both since the GS-13 isn’t listed on Jetpowers post. 750 hours total time (waiver required at the time since those hours included UPT was the issue) was one of the lowest thresholds I had seen transition thru the school house during AC upgrade so that tier level of experience seems to fit as a graduating scale of pay and experience. I recall many folks pushing for AC and then IP hard to get the pay increases despite not really being ready to perform. You must have a good prep process within the unit prior to sending them to upgrade school. At least get your Co-pilots some hands-on supervised tanker time prior to upgrade.

Instead of throwing rocks at them like seagulls to get them to fly, throw $$$ at them. Nice millennial adjustment. Cool, my stranded buds can focus on other things finally. Good stuff.

Someone has got to be at Admin/Finance right now or at least by tomorrow as they are “Closed for Training” or it’s an “Off Monday” 10hr working day unit... Too big of a retroactive clam bake not to check it out... Bueller? Maybe Tomorrow Guardian, I’m pulling for ya!

Thanks Bergman! That is refreshing as it paralleled witch hunt proportions during that timeframe. We squelched 99% of their stack of names and were fortunate they were easy to substantiate. It was a bit eerie how pointed the questioning was by that specific airline. That explains a lot Bergman - Appreciate the info on the new world order!

Time will tell cuz Uncle Shuga don’t give deals without an unknown side event. Someone will always take a back seat. That bait & switch was horrible. We tried for more RUTAs back in the day to secure valid points, but it seems the 72 was shifted to the AFTPs which isn’t a total loss by any means. Great for the Bums, but I doubt the 3 year and beyond large airline folks will capitalize on this encouragement regarding $ value, but the ability to pop holes in their schedules will definitely be more enticing, especially if they live near their unit. If you happen to be at both domicile and unit, more power to you - well done! Hopefully your CC’s aren’t Richard Craniums and all goes well... *If you are held to one makeup drill only, that ain’t pretty, that hurts, that’s wrong!

Max limit EBT Card? Or does it have a better trade value? Don’t destroy me, but I was curious.

The unit may have some opportunities in other areas you have not considered. You have the gift of gab and can write like mwa - I revamped all the OPRs within the squadron. OPR system definitely different now. Back in the day I updated all the regs (books) - not a today thing. We had readiness inspections; therefore, checklists were right down my alley. Check with XP or whatever they call the plans shop, they are always working on something. Understand this - look around and see what’s not getting done or everyone despises to accomplish and offer up your services. Temp AGR is almost perfect as some benefits are lost, but I managed to pick up extra man days, especially as we get closer to the end of the fiscal year.

True, hahaha very true - I didn’t pop up below 100knots unless stateside with the proper numbers of course. Since 03 and well beyond it was fantastic leaving our two primary AOR lengthy runways on just enuff fuel to the tanker/no cargo and back to Europe. Not that were speedy, but 250 was nice to ignore and bleed the speed on the pull, oh boy 2.3 Gs - stop laughing pointy heads. Great memories behind me as well as plenty of wheel barrows full of bs. MooseAg03, you will miss it, you will miss flying with your buds, granted they will disappear as time drives on, but Chapter 2 ain’t bad flying for whatever reasons: $$$, lifestyle, great locations both foreign and domestic (see what I did there) or like me looking forward to good eats that really can’t be matched stateside. I also fly with my former mil friends a few times a year which is fantastic. Whether you fly light twins, heavy twins, pax and/cargo, international or domestic or both, it seems to be the first time a pilot can choose their desired location prior to their so-called dream airline if they so choose. Pick backwards, be my guest. Fly your military jet folks and do it well. Those memories will never be paralleled outside of the “Force!”

Now that was some very spot on information. I would truly use these pros above like Shaft34 to further investigate this particular niche working group. Along with my civilian counterpart in D.C., (he was the master of the interweaving of USFS, BLM, CalFireSmoke jumpers, TACPs and MAFFS) we were constantly in Boise NIFC working support funding/reimbursement/Feds involvement and lines of authority during Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) to include value of reconnaissance assets both manned and unmanned. Granted the NNC oversight has added yet another layer of sensitivity but that has rare effect on the civilian side. Some really challenging/rewarding flying by those heroes. It’s definitely a niche mission with true mission accomplishment. Good luck on your future endeavor.

Delta is one of the most vilgilante on tracking the Reserve/Guard component. They always have had the most pointed questions when visiting the Headquarters, while most of the other leads at other airlines watched and took notes. They actually had lists of names in various military order sets to confirm. I am sure they have algorithms by now that calculate trends per individual whether it’s sick, vacation or mil leave since they did have mil member by name specifics when they showed up in 2013/14. We were able to data mine and confirm legitimacy of orders provided and duty performed. It’s the perception value of same names/same dates annually that they were trying to answer vs lawful orders. Plenty of units switch manpower near holidays to give reprieve to those deployed, full-timers working non-stop/min manning/taking vacation or on alert cycles. Use the part-time force to send folks home while it still benefits the part-timer in some form or fashion if you will. They have the right to ask questions, they are a business after all. Military spends money, they make money.

True, 17 is such a high demand expensive asset, it’s not thrown into just any situation. The Charleston SOLL II guys definitely are the blade in the real significant theaters of interest that demand bang for the buck, especially on 24hr or less worldwide notice. We had bullet holes in the 141 vs none during my 17 worldwide tour.

A couple of examples of abusing the system... Planting Mil Leave status every other day or so (I mean for weeks); thereby creating an unscheduable flyer for your airline and maintaining your guarantee. Mil requirements can be pulled together much more efficiently than the obvious seagulls who require rocks thrown at them to fly. Worse yet, being on long term orders where you fly 2 weeks for the Gov, then you fly your commercial gig during downtime. You work for one or the other by law. One of our unit members was removed from orders when this came to light. Lucky he wasn’t discharged. Several other types of scud running out there, but it is black and white in your gut when you hear about it. You have your requirements on both sides and it can be beneficial - that ball is in your court. Common sense is the key, but that’s lost on a few unfortunately.

Concur with ihtfp06 and Goblin. Just an insider view to logging EP time as IP time = PIC time. Example: EP lets aircrew being evaluated land without a clearance. (No GA initiated obviously) EP gets tanked and it’s far worse on the paper trail if recorded properly. It gets better as now your squadron has to send out another crew to recover the jet/mission, etc. Just a once upon a time story. Basically, you need to be able to answer the mail if asked. Have a common sense approach and justification if anyone dives deep.

Here we go, best I can offer: There was disability regarding Gen 1 possibly Gen 2 NVG’s usage/hrs, nothing related to the vastly improved equipment of today or even 20 years ago. So Gen 3, 4 and beyond do not qualify. CPAP machines don’t tell on you per say. No direct link to the FAA is what one might have been led to believe. You submit your data to the FAA (Sleep Study, Titration Test and your Sleep Doc/Specialist written letter of compliance/effectiveness), they review it and stamp it with stipulations. They give your AME authority to review annual documentation for 5 years as a special issuance and then they do another record review. For insurance purposes (they pay) the requirements are an average usage rate of 4 hrs per night using the device 60-70% of the year depending on your insurance company. You don’t meet these standards and you may end up paying for it all. For the FAA, (at least my documentation), I must have an average usage rate of 6 hrs per night using the device 75% of the time. Think of it as using it 3 out of every 4 days to be simple minded like me. It is a pain to carry all over the world, but for myself it works wonders and I actually dream after 20 years of disrupted sleep patterns. Otherwise try to lose weight which helps with a few of my friends, but it’s not all weight related. Tinnitus is a real thing and it’s very annoying for myself. I fortunately do not have the endless ringing others may have thankfully. I have back problems, neck problems, knee, ankle, foot, etc... like many. While a desk jockey I had Flexoril at my disposal, but I had to change to an FAA accepted anti-inflammatory pill to be able to fly after their review. Know your substance, know your career! My AME was very helpful. I was schooled by one of my Pentagon buds who assisted in the gathering of VA documentation for service members. Best said by him: “Understand this, you throw whatever ailments at the dart board, they (VA) determine what sticks, not you.”

Former C-141 and C-17 guy as well. 141s were like airline flying, point to point throwing in Air Refueling (AR) from time to time just to be challenging. Never airdrop as we were not a SOLL II unit, but still basic fun. C-17 currency painful but plenty of hand flying like the Herc. HUD was a necessary cheat, but dumping a heavy aircraft into a short strip and stopping her (lightweight) before the Thrust Reversers (TR’s) were out was a kick. She is all brakes (Bugatti). I never really enjoyed the max rapid descents with TR’s out, preferred the non TR rapid descents personally. Departing the field at well less than 3000ft, suck the gear and continuing to accelerate, then pull (playing Fighter dude, that’s are best try) was another kick for a true heavy. She turns on a dime for a big girl and makes you look good with all the bells and whistles. I will say, unless you're doing Air Evac at .78/.80 smooth, trucking around at AMC .74 was dismal at times in the jet world. Flying an airline fast jet now and restricted to .90 max over the North Atlantic Tracks or customer restrictions to save gas/$ is still a lot faster than the C-17 ever was, so I now enjoy taking off after them and landing an hour prior to their arrival or more with normally more crew to split the task. I will say I do miss those hand flying challenges, or sneaking into dark airspace from 30K+ feet and reminisce over the few double AR days. Long and tiring, but incredibly rewarding getting that burn victim back stateside or whatnot. Flying to shattered places around the world with relief supplies and Rescue personnel is extremely rewarding as well. Bottom line, you will have some fantastic memories in the heavy world (Herc included) flying with your best friends taking the party to wherever you go = priceless! Sounds like if your after flight hours the KC is the way to go, but you will get hired in this climate regardless if the commercial gig is what your after. I suspect the KC world would be easier to juggle both. You can save a fighter dude or one of us heavy haulers who need to get somewhere and I was always greatful for Exxon on time! Beers and cheers to all of you @$$ kicking gassers out there. One of you fellas had to toboggan with me to help me out, great ✊ respect! Note: This was Air Guard flying.

OK, go with that. Haven’t interviewed in awhile. Good info to know.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but other time (as a pilot crew member) is compiled in the total time so that counts. If your military they know your running an augmented crew and it’s a requirement for the 24hr duty day. We have 3, many times 4 pilots on board to ensure the trip is captured within duty limits so that’s nothing new to them. So they’re looking at jet/turboprop/turbofan total time and searching for that PIC time as key factors. A lot of outfits don’t require the 1000 hrs PIC now that things are getting dicey with retirements, but shoot for that 1000 hrs PIC time to better your chances despite the “1000 hrs PIC preferred.”

All piloting experiences when shared are invaluable to our learning process. While instruction varies depending on outfit (GA vs military as previously mentioned), basic skills are required to maintain rubber side down. Military has more than our share of accidents, but we did or do what others do not depending upon the platform. While flight is a perishable skill overall, military skills are extremely perishable; therefore, repetition is required for proficiency. We have always argued the difference between being proficient vs current as more and more currency items have been pushed to a simulator. Hand flying must stay in the game. GA has the lead statistically in the accident arena based on number of accidents; commercial hits the radar due to the number of lives lost per hull loss despite the lowest number of accidents. Make what you want of it, but I have flown with some exceptional folks on both sides of the fence. I run across some great information from the original GA folks who hit the line with us in the big jet world. Some of the best from the GA world were those who started as Alaska Bush Pilots who became extremely proficient once they grasped the automation world. I will say I wouldn’t have made some of their decisions since I would have never dared to fly in their worst environment - pretty impressive stuff. It’s that niche stuff previously posted. I am less bold and more old like that “bold vs old adage” for pilots, but those who rely on the magenta line vs dumbing things down when necessary concerns me. I must admit to doing a low pass near a water tower to read the town placard to gain my bearings, but that’s what we do or fall back on when you don’t recognize the 2 lane highway... probably wouldn’t hurt to carry binoculars now. Overall, you can learn from anybody with right attitude, but while you trust you must verify unfortunately. In my case, I have tried to learn something new every flight (long haul carrying dog crap out of HKG/actually in HKG right now) as long as I am not learning too much which equates to not doing my job. USAF Proclomation once stated: “Safety is paramount!” If safety was paramount we wouldn’t be flying was my thought. It’s what are you willing to risk, how to mitigate that risk in order to accomplish whatever the goal or endgame. Exposure is a risk! Lucky is better than good, tried and true is better than guessing until your cornered. BE-400, aaaah that Mitsubishi was a fun ride, but so was the Legendary Tweet.

Doh - Good one Marine! I have the same mindset. Since it’s all in good fun, I don’t believe he’s an Airmen just yet. You’ve corrected a civilian is my guess. Enjoy the ARC (Air Reserve Component) Jetpower, while a few things will frustrate you I truly believe you will enjoy the change. We had a few Marines come over to the dARC side and they settled in quite well. I truly enjoyed our multi-service comrades. Thick Rhino skin is a good quality to have as we jab each other and actually creates that intestinal fortitude, granted things have softened a bit. Timelines have decreased quite a bit from decades ago, but the end of fiscal year (Oct-Sept DoD budget) last minute inputs is where you can make your money. If your UPT drop/start is Oct or well beyond and you want to charge ahead try this: Let your units know you are immediately available and I mean immediate! (Not a 2 week thing, I mean you’re notified Friday night - show up Monday deal or even quicker) Hopefully your unit has Good connections with Guard Bureau/ANGRC or Reserve Command and can slip you in if/when there will be a no-show due to unforeseen circumstances. It happens! Godspeed to everyone.