Aviation Continuation Pay (ACP - The Bonus)

[Majestik Møøse]

Does congress have to approve reenlistment bonuses and other career pays?

[Bigred]

‘Restricted to airmen within 365 days of UFT expiration’. I read that as +/- 365 from UFT expiration, but that also reads as leaving out contract expired/no-contract post UFT ADSC folks. 

[Lawman]

Does congress have to approve reenlistment bonuses and other career pays?

Covered in the NDAA they pass yearly. Which is part of the problem since we seem to slip further and further right as far as date the thing gets passed through Congress and signed by the President.

Lines of funding are worked out afterward, so although a bonus may be authorized to say 35k, the total allotted funding for the program may only exist to pay a portion of the available service members.

The last two years the Army aviation bonus has run out of funding around the start of Q4. It pays to be in the front of the line if you’re going to pull the trigger on it.


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[mcbush]

On 1/10/2022 at 3:22 PM, Smokin said:

Overall, your guard opportunities open up drastically the less picky you are about your job and your status (DSG vs AGR).  NGB (the Pentagon for the guard) is almost always short staffed and looking for people.  Sounds miserable to me, but if you live near the beltway or can find one that is telecommute-able, that would be a feasible option.  Get your foot in the door somewhere and once you do I think you'll be surprised at the variety of random guard jobs there are for someone willing to move or just not fly.

Apologies for derailing the bonus talk again, but anybody know where to find a list of openings at NGB HQ? No issues tracking down most state ANG openings, reserve IMA opportunities, etc., but I can't find anything at NGB (which I suspect is operator error). Closest thing I've seen is https://www.ang.af.mil/Careers/ which contains a link to a CAC-enabled careers site, but I don't actually see anything on there that fits the bill. Is this just something where you've got to start making phone calls?

[Guardian]

https://www.flyingmag.com/air-force-strategies-chipping-away-at-pilot-shortfall/

[FLEA]

10 minutes ago, Guardian said:

https://www.flyingmag.com/air-force-strategies-chipping-away-at-pilot-shortfall/

“The improvement was due to a slight increase in production coupled with successful retention efforts,” Air Force spokesperson Capt. Patrick Gargan told FLYING. “FY21 undergraduate pilot training production was 1,381, up from 1,263 in FY20, despite COVID-19 continuing to impact production. The Air Force is working diligently to meet the needs of both its Airmen and those of the Air Force.”

 

 

Man, apparently COVID was a successful retention effort. 

[HuggyU2]

For having 7 paragraphs, that letter didn't have much information.  

Though I'm sure they meant to say that 11R's were on track for a retro-bonus to make up for being forgotten in 2021.  

Edit:  $35,000 is equivalent to $26,000 in 2007.  And the take-home after taxes won't buy you a used car.  Is that the best the "Aircrew Task Force" can do?  The bonus was $25,000 in 1992 when I took it.  That $25k is worth about $49,700 today.  

Edited January 17, 2022 by HuggyU2

[goingkinetic]

I’m going to have 5.5 yrs of bonus @35k in the reserves. 

Step 1. Go Reserves/ANG

Step 2. Get airline job

Step 3. Mil leave/AGR

Step 4. Reserve Bonus

Step 5. Make fun of all the AD suckers that took the bonus

[SocialD]

On 1/17/2022 at 6:10 PM, goingkinetic said:

I’m going to have 5.5 yrs of bonus @35k in the reserves. 

Step 1. Go Reserves/ANG

Step 2. Get airline job

Step 3. Mil leave/AGR

Step 4. Reserve Bonus

Step 5. Make fun of all the AD suckers that took the bonus

 

 

Scratch steps 3, 4 and 5 and you have the best gig known to man...going on mloa and back full time just ruins that.  For step 1, go ANG (preferably a unit on its own base) over Reserves if at all possible.  If you can't do that, avoid a reserve wing that's embedded in an AD wing, because all you'll get is a slightly different flavor of bullshit.  

Edited January 19, 2022 by SocialD

[BashiChuni]

14 hours ago, SocialD said:

 

 

Scratch steps 3, 4 and 5 and you have the best gig known to man...going on mloa and back full time just ruins that.  For step 1, go ANG (preferably a unit on its own base) over Reserves if at all possible.  If you can't do that, avoid a reserve wing that's embedded in an AD wing, because all you'll get is a slightly different flavor of bullshit.  

checks.

[FourFans]

https://www.flyingmag.com/air-force-strategies-chipping-away-at-pilot-shortfall/?fbclid=IwAR2i0AtmUoerhsr_xcvmMvRG_Hyyc4ODNsfjFzOMjVupTU9TXqlJT7U2XFw

Apparently retention is working.  Who knew?

[Royal]

On 1/17/2022 at 3:10 PM, goingkinetic said:

I’m going to have 5.5 yrs of bonus @35k in the reserves. 

Step 1. Go Reserves/ANG

Step 2. Get airline job

Step 3. Mil leave/AGR

Step 4. Reserve Bonus

Step 5. Make fun of all the AD suckers that took the bonus

Step 6. Watch the junior O-3s point and laugh at the AGR as he processes their rescheduled UTAs while they make $30k/mo.

[hindsight2020]

5 hours ago, Royal said:

Step 6. Watch the junior O-3s point and laugh at the AGR as he processes their rescheduled UTAs while they make $30k/mo.

 

Don't worry buddy, I'll always get you that glove save MPA so you don't have to lie to your wife about the airlines not loving you back....again. But you'll have to ask me nicely. 

 

[Royal]

1 hour ago, hindsight2020 said:

 

Don't worry buddy, I'll always get you that glove save MPA so you don't have to lie to your wife about the airlines not loving you back....again. But you'll have to ask me nicely. 

 

Hope my comment was taken as tongue-in-cheek. You're spot on though: People have short memories and tend to forget that the feast can turn into famine instantaneously...And the scheduler they were hassling isn't looking so foolish anymore. Can't tell you how many times I've seen it.

[Majestik Møøse]

The Instagrams and Pilot Network FB page got awfully quiet in March 2020, now they’re back to scoffing at anyone staying on AD. Short memories.

[SocialD]

3 hours ago, hindsight2020 said:

Don't worry buddy, I'll always get you that glove save MPA so you don't have to lie to your wife about the airlines not loving you back....again. But you'll have to ask me nicely. 

 

The best stories are the guys who shit on the airline bros as full timers, then go to the airlines and become some of the worst DSGs you've ever seen.  Then they decide to go back full time and crack down on the very shit in which they were the worst offenders!  Meanwhile I'm over here trying to live my best airline/DSG life and getting caught in the crossfire.  

[Royal]

1 hour ago, Majestik Møøse said:

The Instagrams and Pilot Network FB page got awfully quiet in March 2020, now they’re back to scoffing at anyone staying on AD. Short memories.

Which brings us to step 7: Watching the thrice passed over O-4 who's been furloughed twice (and somehow keeps getting a continuation letter) pointing and laughing at the O-3s who just got furloughed that were pointing and laughing at the AGR on the bonus who was pointing at the poor bastard who's on active duty.

[WheelsOff]

Another “interesting” thing to behold is the growing number of retiring O-6s I’m noticing—many of whom for the last 6-9 years have been talking down on the dudes leaving AD early for the airlines—are now quietly appearing out of the woodwork in the many different airline hiring WhatsApp and FB groups with interview dates/CJOs…

 

[Lord Ratner]

12 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

The Instagrams and Pilot Network FB page got awfully quiet in March 2020, now they’re back to scoffing at anyone staying on AD. Short memories.

Scoffing is never the right answer, but if you stayed a free agent, you could have been in the November class at AA, with over 2000 pilots to be trained behind you in one year. 

 

Anybody who thinks the airlines will be all boom times is clearly a fool. But anybody who thinks that it will be all bust is also silly. You have to catch the boom times to make up for the bust times, otherwise it's definitely not the right career fit.

[Majestik Møøse]

There’s a whole lot of people out there who evangelize about the life decisions they made, which often seems to be rooted in insecurity about said decisions. The “Bro why would anybody want to be in the Air Force,” guys are almost as bad as the blue Kool Aid drinkers that scoffed at the guys who constantly deployed and got no strats. The most opinionated on both sides just seem to be fishing for reinforcement from the crowd. It never comes across as understanding of a different guy’s perspective, and it certainly isn’t humble.

At the end of your life, the amount of money you have doesn’t really matter as long as your family is safe and secure, just as your personal list of military accomplishments will seem pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

[QAZqaz]

18 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

There’s a whole lot of people out there who evangelize about the life decisions they made, which often seems to be rooted in insecurity about said decisions. The “Bro why would anybody want to be in the Air Force,” guys are almost as bad as the blue Kool Aid drinkers that scoffed at the guys who constantly deployed and got no strats. The most opinionated on both sides just seem to be fishing for reinforcement from the crowd. It never comes across as understanding of a different guy’s perspective, and it certainly isn’t humble.

At the end of your life, the amount of money you have doesn’t really matter as long as your family is safe and secure, just as your personal list of military accomplishments will seem pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

This. There comes a point where you gotta ask: How much money do I need? And once you reach that, it is then up to you to honestly decide if it is worth continuing to work. Maybe you got the FU money and like the job--great. Maybe you get the FU money and decide it's not worth it so you have the ability to walk. Personally I've decided I will LIKELY have my FU money when I retire at 20. Even though the pension is small by comparison to raking it in at the airlines, I just don't need huge sums of money at even this point. Part of it was luck and it's a 12 year Bull market (aside from the bloodbath yesterday), but even in a downturn I figure I can manage with my personal risk tolerance.

The value of a pension/medical is heavily discounted here, but the truth is there is extrinsic value beyond monetary value. 

All that said I've never seen the other side WRT airline life and my situation was different than most. I just don't have any interest in trading in time for huge sums of money if I don't have to.

[Guardian]

Pretty awesome. What pursuits are you going to fill your life with QAZqaz?

[1:1:1]

Money may not buy happiness, but financial security is a real thing. Being able to send your kids to any college they get into is a real change in your quality of life. Knowing that your wife won't be impoverished if you don't make 20 years and Lt Col is also a real difference in your life. The air force may not be able to compete dollar for dollar with a lot of jobs, but pretending any money above $100k salary and tricare is unnecessary is asinine and insulting.

 

 

[RASH]

Money may not buy happiness, but financial security is a real thing. Being able to send your kids to any college they get into is a real change in your quality of life. Knowing that your wife won't be impoverished if you don't make 20 years and Lt Col is also a real difference in your life. The air force may not be able to compete dollar for dollar with a lot of jobs, but pretending any money above $100k salary and tricare is unnecessary is asinine and insulting.
 
 

You do you, bro


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[Guardian]

1:1:1 he didn’t say you should do that. He said for him it’s enough. For you to say it’s insulting of him to say that to you means you didn’t read it and are easily offended even when someone’s not talking to you. Be happy for him. He seems to found happiness. So what if it’s different from yours.