FliesForLunch

Ex-Army fixed wing looking at ANG fighters. Officially getting honorable discharge in Aug with 9 years of service, last 4 as an O-3 AFOQT: 89/82/66/86/44 PCSM: 96 31 Years old 2,800TT (only 130 in helos, the rest is all Multi-turbine fixed wing) Currently narrow body FO at a legacy airline. Have flown regional and fractional as well in the past. Only 1 unsat maneuver in a mil proficiency ride over 4 years ago, otherwise clean training record. Really hoping to push the angle that since I am fully established in my civilian career, I can put it to the side to just build seniority fully dedicate myself to the Guard. Also, coming in as a senior captain, soon to be major, I am hoping to play the argument that since the AF has a retention problem losing young captains to the airlines, I'd be potentially filling a retention void since I'd be hanging around at the very least until my 20 yr retirement. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

I am curious, anyone ever seen a fighter squadron hire a legacy airline pilot. You always see guys transitioning from mil to airline but just wondering how common it is to see guys go the other way around. 2 years I was incredibly fortunate to get hired by a squadron, but unfortunately due to circumstances out of my control it didn't go through. Now, I am at a legacy carrier and UQR'ing out of the Army and would like to give going to the Air Guard another shot.

Thanks! Truly is a great gig and the best in the Army...STILL doesn't compare to the AF.

Interviewed with a Reserve KC-135 Squadron and was offered the position. I used this forum to prepare myself for the questions and used the resume template from RST airline prep. Board was composed of the Squadron Commander and 5 other O-4's and 5's and a senior Boom. Informal and very conversation-like. -Tell us about yourself (made sure I spoke about me as a person and hit highlights that aren't mentioned on my packet) - You're not used to having an enlisted person in your current aircraft, how do you plan to work with an enlisted boom? - You're rolling down the runway taking off and the boom says "abort". he's not a pilot right? so, what do you do? - What are your plans with your airline career and the squadron? do you plan to live local? - I see you've hooked a ride, how do we know you're going to do well in training? -Where do you see yourself once you're back from pilot training? -What ties you to the local area and will you stay? -Why do you wanna leave the Army? - Why should we hire you? At a point, it became less about answering interview type questions and we talked about my current military flying experience and the pain of transferring branches and how I planned to tackle that process. They also busted my balls for having addressed my cover and recommendation letters to the wrong Squadron Commander (was given an old packet instruction sheet and was told to follow the instructions exactly as listed, and that's what I did). I somehow turned it around into a "I am really good at following instructions" joke. At the end I thanked the board members for the chance to come interview and I handed them a nice bottle of liquor before leaving the room. The board members came out of the board room about an hour later and at noon, they let us know we had been accepted into the Squadron. Luckily, despite COVID, the Squadron did invite a few of us to go meet them and rush the unit. I am convinced I was hired because I was able to meet everyone and fortunately I clicked very well with the guys and gals there. BE YOURSELF. Hang out, be honest and don't pretend to be someone you're not to impress them or force yourself to fit in. They can smell a bullsh*tter from a mile away. Answer the questions honestly and when given a scenario, tell them how you'd actually handle the situation. Don't try to give them Air Force book answer. They wanna know you're the type of person they can spend hours in the cockpit with and grab a beer at the bar. Be the guy that's gonna have their back and treat your crew like family. Background: Army fixed-wing, Regional CA, 2,000 TT