Air Guard

BravoHotel

BravoHotel

Well-Known Member
I joined the Air National Guard yesterday for the great state of California. I signed up for 3 years, as a C-130 crew chief. No boot camp for me, as I am prior service USMC. Go straight to "A" school, probably at the end of the year.
 
Hawks said:
I joined the Air National Guard yesterday for the great state of California. I signed up for 3 years, as a C-130 crew chief. No boot camp for me, as I am prior service USMC. Go straight to "A" school, probably at the end of the year.
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now, how hard is it for a non military guy to get a flight spot in a guard unit?
 
Congrats, you'll "love":rotfl: Sheppard in Wichita Falls. I spent a lot of time there training to be a -16 crew chief. C-130 is a cool plane, hopefully you can quickly get a flying cc job and get to travel with it a lot more. Wish I would've thought of that before I joined my anti-tdy unit.

If you have any questions about what to expect in general pm me.
 
elmetal said:
now, how hard is it for a non military guy to get a flight spot in a guard unit?
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It's not that hard, the last few guys to make it through pilot training for us have been civvie guys. Just get to know some of the pilots and bring a lot of beer to the squadron bar and you'll be set. And do not get frustrated if you don't get the first board, be persistent.
 
cmcvic said:
It's not that hard, the last few guys to make it through pilot training for us have been civvie guys. Just get to know some of the pilots and bring a lot of beer to the squadron bar and you'll be set. And do not get frustrated if you don't get the first board, be persistent.
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that'd be pretty nice. I guess I'll have to meet them!
 
elmetal said:
that'd be pretty nice. I guess I'll have to meet them!
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Bringing beer isn't all you necessarily have to do to get a slot. Make sure you do well on the AFOQT, do well in college, be of good morale standing and what not, but obviously the first time you meet the board members shouldn't be when you're standing in front of them for the interview. It's just like any other job interview. It's a lot easier when you know the people behind the desk.
 
Congrats on getting the CC spot, I hope it works out well for ya. A really good friend of mine is actually a 130 mechanic right now serving in Qatar, he loves being around the -130, they are awesome machines.
 
Okie_Pilot said:
Another Guard guy here crewing -16's out of Tulsa. :rawk:
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Nice! I'm with your sister unit out of Toledo, the 180th. Ive worked with a bunch of your guys when we split tours in Balad and Qatar. A bunch of your guys keep trying to get me to work with them over in UAE for Lockheed.
 
I had a whole flock of butterflies in my stomache right before I swore in.

There are two questions I have.

One, since I am going the MX route, how do I document the school, training and hours I work on aircraft etc for an Airframe and Powerplant certificate? I know it will be some time before I am eligable for it, but it would nice to have all the ducks in a row when it comes time.

The second thing is, what is the max age you can fly in the Guard? I have researched you can be no older than 30 at day 1 of UPT. I am 29 now. But I have read there are age waivers, if that is the case, I should get the ball rolling as soon as possible.
 
You'll have training records that document your time in training and what not. When I went to get my A&P all the FAA asked for was a letter from my flight chiefs saying that I had 3 years in maintenance. Just talk to the FSDO and they'll guide you in the right direction. The fed who gave me the green light to get it was a -135 boomer so he knew all the fine intricacies.

Also it is 30 the day you start UPT, but its waiverable to 31 if I'm correct. It's around a year from getting the slot to your UPT date so you better get moving.
 
What I've read in the guidelines is age waivers are for 2 different scenarios:

1. For (already) rated officers who are applying for training in a position that needs to be filled in a big way

2. Blanket waivers for certain things like displaced navigators

29yo is cutting it REALLY close. Most units won't even interview you for pilot if you are older than 28.5 because of the sheer amount of time it takes to get to UPT from interview day. In my case, when I was still in the running and trying to get my slot back after medically disqualifying, my home unit pledged to "hurry up" the process if I could pass the FC-1. At the time I was 29 and it would have been a marathon to get everything done in time.

Let's say you are 29 and 0 days on the day of your interview. You get selected that day and take the FC-1 physical that day at your host unit. I'd say give the medics one week minimum to finish the form that goes to Brooks. Now you have to go to Brooks to do the physical. Let's say one month later you go down there. You are now 29, 1 month and 1 week. Now you have to go to AMS (this is the way it was in 2007) and they only have 5 classes a year. I'd say 3 months is absolute minimum wait time for that from passing at Brooks and that's your host unit looking into scheduling you the day you were selected (keep in mind, some units wait for each step to be completed before proceeding). You finish AMS and become a 2nd Lt at approx 29 1/2 yo. Now you have six months to get to UPT. It would be a miracle to make all that happen. You can turn 30 on day 1 of UPT and that's as old as you can be w/o a waiver
 
I knew 29 was cutting it close, but its worth asking about. I may be content with becoming a flight engineer, we'll see, one thing at a time.

I currently just got a gig, flying jumpers in a 206 again, but this DZ also has a king air the owner said he wanted to get me checked out in, but we'll take it from there.

I report in August for my first drill.
 
It is definitely worth asking, especially if it helps you plan for your future. Best thing you can do right now is get settled in there and start getting to know everybody. Talk to the pilots and let them know you're a pilot, too and that you're interested. Who knows, things could change and you could end up with an opportunity in the future. Heck, if your unit still uses Navigators, you never know...
 
Hawks said:
One, since I am going the MX route, how do I document the school, training and hours I work on aircraft etc for an Airframe and Powerplant certificate? I know it will be some time before I am eligable for it, but it would nice to have all the ducks in a row when it comes time.
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Here is what I posted in the MX section. You have a training record or in the Army we call it an Enlisted Records Brief. I took my ERB to the FSDO and showed time in MOS and he gave me all 3 authorization "tickets" to take the written exams. There is Army, AF, NAVY, and Marine Corps MOSs listed in the document. Additionally, it is minimum 30 months time in MOS. (after Graduation from AIT, A school etc) There was no letter required, unless your MOS had Airframe or Powerplant as the only authorization. If that was the case, then a letter would be required for the one that was not listed. The letter should show your experience as it relates to you and can be signed by another A&P or training/maintenance officer.

http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?...2577290045480A

Hope this helps. :beer:
 
cmcvic said:
Nice! I'm with your sister unit out of Toledo, the 180th. Ive worked with a bunch of your guys when we split tours in Balad and Qatar. A bunch of your guys keep trying to get me to work with them over in UAE for Lockheed.
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Awesome man! Maybe we'll meet up sometime somewhere.


ryan1234 said:
Are you interviewing with them on Sat?
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Nope, not yet. I still have a degree to finish before I can do that. I'll be a Crew Chief for a while longer. May I ask, are you? Are you in the 138th?
 
Hawks said:
The second thing is, what is the max age you can fly in the Guard? I have researched you can be no older than 30 at day 1 of UPT. I am 29 now. But I have read there are age waivers, if that is the case, I should get the ball rolling as soon as possible.
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Ur too old! Im 29 too and basically no guard unit will even interview you if you are older than 28. I guess age waivers are a pain in the arse no matter how qualified you are. At age thirty you start medicare and depends...so it would be obviously be impossible to fly for the military at that point :cool:
 
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