I was checking out the ANG website and was wondering what the feasability of joining the ANG as an officer after I finish my bachelors degree. I would be a CFII-MEI at that point and would love to fly RJs for 15-20 days a month and fly fighter jets for the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. I have always wanted to serve my country but I also want to be an airline pilot. Anyone have experience doing this or know what it takes?? Any input is greatly appreciated.
Flying in ANG and having airline career
- Thread starter jaxpilot
- Start date
I would think it feasible. I don't know how the bidding would work out when it comes to your duty weekends, but I am sure it can be done. Drop a pm to C650Cpt. He is a corporate pilot and currently over in Iraq flying for the National Guard. He may be able to shed some mlight on the subject for you.
[ QUOTE ]
I was checking out the ANG website and was wondering what the feasability of joining the ANG as an officer after I finish my bachelors degree. I would be a CFII-MEI at that point and would love to fly RJs for 15-20 days a month and fly fighter jets for the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. I have always wanted to serve my country but I also want to be an airline pilot. Anyone have experience doing this or know what it takes?? Any input is greatly appreciated.
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Don't believe the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. Especially for fighters, you'll need far more time per month just maintaining currencies, and with the ops tempo of today, you will likely not be part time by any measure.
I was checking out the ANG website and was wondering what the feasability of joining the ANG as an officer after I finish my bachelors degree. I would be a CFII-MEI at that point and would love to fly RJs for 15-20 days a month and fly fighter jets for the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. I have always wanted to serve my country but I also want to be an airline pilot. Anyone have experience doing this or know what it takes?? Any input is greatly appreciated.
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Don't believe the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. Especially for fighters, you'll need far more time per month just maintaining currencies, and with the ops tempo of today, you will likely not be part time by any measure.
flyguy
Well-Known Member
To my understanding, training for the ANG is the same as the AF reserves. According to a family friend who is a B2 wing commander, this means you must go through OTS, and UPT just like any other pilot. This means at least a year and a half of full time training. Then reserve pilots are usually full time for about the first 3 years or so, then the 1 weekend/month, 2 weeks/year stuff starts. You must go through UPT even if you already have all of your ratings as you say you will. Why pay for it if you'd have to start from square one in the military anyway?
Perhaps a better option for you would be to join ROTC if your school has it. This will help pay for college and give you a commission so you won't have to go through OTS. Hold off on getting your ratings until after college, and do it in the military and let Uncle Sam pay for it. Then after you're done with all of the full time stuff you can do the part time stuff and fly for the airlines. By then you should be more than qualified for the regionals and posibly the majors.
Perhaps a better option for you would be to join ROTC if your school has it. This will help pay for college and give you a commission so you won't have to go through OTS. Hold off on getting your ratings until after college, and do it in the military and let Uncle Sam pay for it. Then after you're done with all of the full time stuff you can do the part time stuff and fly for the airlines. By then you should be more than qualified for the regionals and posibly the majors.
aloft
New Member
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Don't believe the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. Especially for fighters, you'll need far more time per month just maintaining currencies, and with the ops tempo of today, you will likely not be part time by any measure.
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White man speakum truth. One of my buds just moved over to the reserves, he's an F-16 pilot and his "one weekend a month/two weeks a year" translates to flying twice a week.
Don't believe the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. Especially for fighters, you'll need far more time per month just maintaining currencies, and with the ops tempo of today, you will likely not be part time by any measure.
[/ QUOTE ]
White man speakum truth. One of my buds just moved over to the reserves, he's an F-16 pilot and his "one weekend a month/two weeks a year" translates to flying twice a week.
bullmastiff
New Member
85% of my squadron are airline pilots. Of that 85%, I would say 55% are the "F" word
bullmastiff
New Member
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Thanks for the info guys. Once I get my Bachelors I will go talk to a recruiter. I wish I would have heard of this before I started flight training but oh well, I get my MEI/II this month.
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Negative. Go talk to the units first, and get the real gouge. Also, you can apply 1 school year out. They will explain everything about your package, but in it, you will show the projected graduation date, and what classes will be taken in the last year
Thanks for the info guys. Once I get my Bachelors I will go talk to a recruiter. I wish I would have heard of this before I started flight training but oh well, I get my MEI/II this month.
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Negative. Go talk to the units first, and get the real gouge. Also, you can apply 1 school year out. They will explain everything about your package, but in it, you will show the projected graduation date, and what classes will be taken in the last year
ROFCIBC
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
I was checking out the ANG website and was wondering what the feasability of joining the ANG as an officer after I finish my bachelors degree. I would be a CFII-MEI at that point and would love to fly RJs for 15-20 days a month and fly fighter jets for the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. I have always wanted to serve my country but I also want to be an airline pilot. Anyone have experience doing this or know what it takes?? Any input is greatly appreciated.
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jaxpilot,
While some of what I'm about to say may be dated, especially considering the vastly increased use of guard/reserve forces in the world today, here's some info you might find useful.
I spent 16 years in the Air Force Reserves with the last 9 overlapping flying for Delta Air Lines.
Prior to getting hired by Delta I was a full time Air Reserve Technician for 9 years. During that time I was a squadron operations officer, commander, and group deputy commander for operations. I was also a flight instructor/examiner in the KC10.
When I was in KC10's we had 60 pilots of who 6 were full time like me and the rest just plain reservists. Of those 54 all but 3 flew for airlines. For a while some were furloughed, but the majority weren't.
The old two week summer drill and one weekend a month is not a player in a flying unit. A MINIMUM of six days a month was needed to meet all flying and ground training requirements! And I emphasize “ground training” as that is a big chunk of the overall training.
Some of these “days” could be a single day involving one flight, or it might be a week long deployment.
There are a bunch of varied flying training events. For example in the KC10 there were specific night events. This means you might have to use two days of your time to make that flight.
The biggest single advantage I used to tell prospective pilots was to live where their reserve unit was located and commute to their airline job. While this may sound a little strange, let me explain it.
When you go off to fly for your airline, you WILL BE away from home and family for each trip. And trust me, I emphasize “FAMILY” as they are IN this WITH you! If you live away from your reserve unit, you also will be AWAY from home and family as you travel to, participate with, and return from that reserve unit. But if you live where your reserve unit is located, while you still will be AWAY with your airline job, you can go out spend a day with the reserves, and be home that night. Deployments notwithstanding, the majority of reserve participation was a day by day thing. True you now have to commute to your airline job, but trust me, the airline job schedule is a lot less subject to change that a reserve schedule.
Remember you will be working TWO jobs. For example, when I flew with Delta I commuted from Shreveport to DFW. Not a big commute, but one nevertheless. A four day Delta trip took five days as I always commuted over the night before I flew. So my time with Delta, my full time job, was usually 15-16 days a month, counting commuting time. Add 8-10 days with the reserves, as that six days was a MINIMUM. Being an instructor/evaluator and having that desk job took extra time! So now it’s 23 to 26 days of WORK each month. Fortunately I lived in Bossier City which is were Barksdale AFB is located. I could kiss the wife goodbye in the morning, go work in the reserves, and be home that night. That is why I say live where your reserve unit is located!
Initially you will spend a LOT of time involved in a military guard or reserve job. As a new college graduate there is officer training and then UPT. This is followed by aircraft specific training. All this time is basically same as active duty, which in fact you will be. And it can last up to a couple of years. Then you have in unit training which again can last months or even a year, depending on the aircraft you are flying.
After that the month by month training requirements and periodic deployments start.
Is it doable…hell yes! Thousands have done it. I watched them, and then jumped in and did it myself!
But I’ll go back and repeat what I said earlier. If you have a FAMILY, they WILL BE INVOLVED! Trust me on this one…I saw it, I experienced it. You will have your full time job, and you will have your part time job. In short you will be working TWO jobs and it will take a lot of your time! If you don’t have the support of your family, it will not work. Period!
Hope this glimpse of what I experienced will be of benefit. I didn’t go into the specifics of how to get that guard/reserve job as I’m sure a lot of the procedures have changed. And in my case, I came directly from active duty. We didn’t have any pilots in our unit who didn’t have previous active duty experience so I don’t feel qualified to get into that area. Maybe some of the others on these forums can address that.
I was checking out the ANG website and was wondering what the feasability of joining the ANG as an officer after I finish my bachelors degree. I would be a CFII-MEI at that point and would love to fly RJs for 15-20 days a month and fly fighter jets for the one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. I have always wanted to serve my country but I also want to be an airline pilot. Anyone have experience doing this or know what it takes?? Any input is greatly appreciated.
[/ QUOTE ]
jaxpilot,
While some of what I'm about to say may be dated, especially considering the vastly increased use of guard/reserve forces in the world today, here's some info you might find useful.
I spent 16 years in the Air Force Reserves with the last 9 overlapping flying for Delta Air Lines.
Prior to getting hired by Delta I was a full time Air Reserve Technician for 9 years. During that time I was a squadron operations officer, commander, and group deputy commander for operations. I was also a flight instructor/examiner in the KC10.
When I was in KC10's we had 60 pilots of who 6 were full time like me and the rest just plain reservists. Of those 54 all but 3 flew for airlines. For a while some were furloughed, but the majority weren't.
The old two week summer drill and one weekend a month is not a player in a flying unit. A MINIMUM of six days a month was needed to meet all flying and ground training requirements! And I emphasize “ground training” as that is a big chunk of the overall training.
Some of these “days” could be a single day involving one flight, or it might be a week long deployment.
There are a bunch of varied flying training events. For example in the KC10 there were specific night events. This means you might have to use two days of your time to make that flight.
The biggest single advantage I used to tell prospective pilots was to live where their reserve unit was located and commute to their airline job. While this may sound a little strange, let me explain it.
When you go off to fly for your airline, you WILL BE away from home and family for each trip. And trust me, I emphasize “FAMILY” as they are IN this WITH you! If you live away from your reserve unit, you also will be AWAY from home and family as you travel to, participate with, and return from that reserve unit. But if you live where your reserve unit is located, while you still will be AWAY with your airline job, you can go out spend a day with the reserves, and be home that night. Deployments notwithstanding, the majority of reserve participation was a day by day thing. True you now have to commute to your airline job, but trust me, the airline job schedule is a lot less subject to change that a reserve schedule.
Remember you will be working TWO jobs. For example, when I flew with Delta I commuted from Shreveport to DFW. Not a big commute, but one nevertheless. A four day Delta trip took five days as I always commuted over the night before I flew. So my time with Delta, my full time job, was usually 15-16 days a month, counting commuting time. Add 8-10 days with the reserves, as that six days was a MINIMUM. Being an instructor/evaluator and having that desk job took extra time! So now it’s 23 to 26 days of WORK each month. Fortunately I lived in Bossier City which is were Barksdale AFB is located. I could kiss the wife goodbye in the morning, go work in the reserves, and be home that night. That is why I say live where your reserve unit is located!
Initially you will spend a LOT of time involved in a military guard or reserve job. As a new college graduate there is officer training and then UPT. This is followed by aircraft specific training. All this time is basically same as active duty, which in fact you will be. And it can last up to a couple of years. Then you have in unit training which again can last months or even a year, depending on the aircraft you are flying.
After that the month by month training requirements and periodic deployments start.
Is it doable…hell yes! Thousands have done it. I watched them, and then jumped in and did it myself!
But I’ll go back and repeat what I said earlier. If you have a FAMILY, they WILL BE INVOLVED! Trust me on this one…I saw it, I experienced it. You will have your full time job, and you will have your part time job. In short you will be working TWO jobs and it will take a lot of your time! If you don’t have the support of your family, it will not work. Period!
Hope this glimpse of what I experienced will be of benefit. I didn’t go into the specifics of how to get that guard/reserve job as I’m sure a lot of the procedures have changed. And in my case, I came directly from active duty. We didn’t have any pilots in our unit who didn’t have previous active duty experience so I don’t feel qualified to get into that area. Maybe some of the others on these forums can address that.
Well guys I am ALMOST a junior in college right now. That is counting FAA certificates toward credit. I am taking this semester off so I can finish up with my instructor certs at ATPS. I dont know what college I will finish my degree at. I was considering the In-college AFROTC program and maybe applying to get that scholarship and hoping to get a pilot slot. How many years do you have to do AF active duty before you can go reserves? If I dont do that, then I think I will go visit ANG units during my senior year of college and try for a pilot slot that way. Which way do you guys think I would be more successful in obtaining a pilot slot? I would really like to bypass the regionals- it sounds like hell reading the stuff on here- and I would like to serve my country while flying. Thanks for all the info so far.
ROFCIBC
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Well guys I am ALMOST a junior in college right now. That is counting FAA certificates toward credit. I am taking this semester off so I can finish up with my instructor certs at ATPS. I dont know what college I will finish my degree at. I was considering the In-college AFROTC program and maybe applying to get that scholarship and hoping to get a pilot slot. How many years do you have to do AF active duty before you can go reserves? If I dont do that, then I think I will go visit ANG units during my senior year of college and try for a pilot slot that way. Which way do you guys think I would be more successful in obtaining a pilot slot? I would really like to bypass the regionals- it sounds like hell reading the stuff on here- and I would like to serve my country while flying. Thanks for all the info so far.
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Both the guard and reserve have UPT pilot slots. The guard does the selections by unit where the reserves have a central board. I don’t know what the active duty commitment is now. Was 10 years after you get your wings but that changes from time to time. Moving from active duty to guard/reserve before your commitment is up usually only happens where there’s an excess number of pilots on active duty.
The key is to apply to EVERY guard and reserve unit there is. Call, write, and if possible visit. Yes you have to meet the physical and aptitude prerequisites, but if the unit doesn't know you by name and face, your chances of getting hired are pretty low.
I was a commander in a KC10 reserve unit. I wouldn't hire anybody, regardless of their background, or experience unless I knew them well enough to know how they would fit into the unit. Each unit has it's own personality so to speak. Plus if you hire someone they may very well be with the unit for their entire career. Getting the right group is essential from a commanders perspective, or at least that's the way I felt.
Bottom line is, you have to decide which way you are going. Active duty, guard/reserve, or straight civilian. Each has pluses and each has minuses. But that decision is one sooner or later you will have to make.
If you're a junior right now it's time to start looking for guard/reserve units if that's the way you want to go. As for ROTC in college, which is how I got into flying, back when I did it, you did your applying in your sophomore year for the final two years. Don't know how it works now. Also don't know if OTS is still an option either.
I guess if I'm going to participate here, I need to brush up on what's happening now!....gahh...when I retired didn't think I'd have to do that....but Doug talked me into getting on his website!
Hope this helps and good luck in your flying career. I just completed 39 years of flying and loved every minute of it. Now a buddy of mine is bugging me to build an RV....gahhhh!
Well guys I am ALMOST a junior in college right now. That is counting FAA certificates toward credit. I am taking this semester off so I can finish up with my instructor certs at ATPS. I dont know what college I will finish my degree at. I was considering the In-college AFROTC program and maybe applying to get that scholarship and hoping to get a pilot slot. How many years do you have to do AF active duty before you can go reserves? If I dont do that, then I think I will go visit ANG units during my senior year of college and try for a pilot slot that way. Which way do you guys think I would be more successful in obtaining a pilot slot? I would really like to bypass the regionals- it sounds like hell reading the stuff on here- and I would like to serve my country while flying. Thanks for all the info so far.
[/ QUOTE ]
Both the guard and reserve have UPT pilot slots. The guard does the selections by unit where the reserves have a central board. I don’t know what the active duty commitment is now. Was 10 years after you get your wings but that changes from time to time. Moving from active duty to guard/reserve before your commitment is up usually only happens where there’s an excess number of pilots on active duty.
The key is to apply to EVERY guard and reserve unit there is. Call, write, and if possible visit. Yes you have to meet the physical and aptitude prerequisites, but if the unit doesn't know you by name and face, your chances of getting hired are pretty low.
I was a commander in a KC10 reserve unit. I wouldn't hire anybody, regardless of their background, or experience unless I knew them well enough to know how they would fit into the unit. Each unit has it's own personality so to speak. Plus if you hire someone they may very well be with the unit for their entire career. Getting the right group is essential from a commanders perspective, or at least that's the way I felt.
Bottom line is, you have to decide which way you are going. Active duty, guard/reserve, or straight civilian. Each has pluses and each has minuses. But that decision is one sooner or later you will have to make.
If you're a junior right now it's time to start looking for guard/reserve units if that's the way you want to go. As for ROTC in college, which is how I got into flying, back when I did it, you did your applying in your sophomore year for the final two years. Don't know how it works now. Also don't know if OTS is still an option either.
I guess if I'm going to participate here, I need to brush up on what's happening now!....gahh...when I retired didn't think I'd have to do that....but Doug talked me into getting on his website!
Hope this helps and good luck in your flying career. I just completed 39 years of flying and loved every minute of it. Now a buddy of mine is bugging me to build an RV....gahhhh!