USAF AD to reserves/guard - and fighter or bomber?

[agziolkow]

I'm currently in the 38 phase of training and am not too far from putting in my dream sheet. I love the aggressive flying that fighters offers....however I also put a lot of value into having a fair amount of time to relax. Basically, I love the aggressive flying, but I don't want every minute of my life to be go-go-go as I hear it is in the fighter community.

So at this point I am torn as to what to put down on the dreamsheet. I thought maybe Bones and Buffs and then try and transition into the guard or reserves and fly a bus for the civilian world as well..but A) when can u transition to the guard/reserves and B) can you even do that from the bomber world?

The other option is of course to still try for my first choice as far as the mission and flying goes..and that's the Strike Eagle. I'm just not sure if I'd enjoy the 12hr days with about 5 hours of mission planning just about every day.

It's not due to a lack of motivation and/or love of flying....but the balance between the flying/work portion of my life and the personal/family portion of my life.

Anyone with any experience around here have any input?

Thx!

[germb747]

Originally Posted by agziolkow

The other option is of course to still try for my first choice as far as the mission and flying goes..and that's the Strike Eagle. I'm just not sure if I'd enjoy the 12hr days with about 5 hours of mission planning just about every day.

It's not due to a lack of motivation and/or love of flying....but the balance between the flying/work portion of my life and the personal/family portion of my life.

Anyone with any experience around here have any input?

Thx!

In the heavy world, once you pin on your wings, the "12-hour duty day" goes out the window. It's more like 18 hours (basic crew) and 24 hours (augmented crew) with 4-8 hours of ground time/mission planning included in that. Just keep that in mind; no matter what MWS you end up with, you're in for some long a$$ days, but I'm sure you knew that when you signed up. I really don't know much about the fighter world, but everyone says it's a much different "high strung" environment. One of the F-16 guard units has offered me a ride; I haven't taken advantage of it yet but maybe in the next month or so. Yes, you can go from AD to the guard/reserve by applying for Palace Chase and depending on the "needs of the AF". I'm not sure how long they're making people wait currently.

[Hacker15e]

My piece of advice is to not even try to game the system with respect to picking an airframe to determine what the quality of life will be like for the rest of your career.

Lifestyle today in one airframe will be different tomorrow.

When I was at my assignment night, it was the heavies that were at home all the time and the fighter guys were always deployed for ONW/OSW in 90-day stints.

By the time I went to my first F-15E tour, I spent damn near the entire tour without deploying anywhere...until at the very end I deployed to participate in the opening shots of OIF.

Today it's the heavy boys that are always gone and deploy on erratic schedules. Fighter guys currently are gone 4 months out of every 18...unless you're in an A-10, and then you're gone 6 months at a time. Who knows what it will be like a year from now with a different person in the office at 1600 Penn Ave.

My work schedule on my first F-15E tour was very different than on my 2nd. I loved my first tour, hated my second.

The bottom line to all this is that when formulating your choices, you have to simply pick a mission you want to perform -- that's it. Everything else around that fact is completly open to change at any time with no notice. It's just not possible to mathematically come up with the right answer because there are simply too many variables that mean one thing today and something else tomorrow, next month, or next year.

[Hacker15e]

By the way...you can't actually count on the fact that ANG or reserve units with fighters will always be there in the future.

Look what happened to many fighter units in BRAC 2005...they turned into Predator units.

Squadrons change aircraft all the time.

[agziolkow]

Originally Posted by germb747

In the heavy world, once you pin on your wings, the "12-hour duty day" goes out the window. It's more like 18 hours (basic crew) and 24 hours (augmented crew) with 4-8 hours of ground time/mission planning included in that. Just keep that in mind; no matter what MWS you end up with, you're in for some long a$$ days, but I'm sure you knew that when you signed up. I really don't know much about the fighter world, but everyone says it's a much different "high strung" environment. One of the F-16 guard units has offered me a ride; I haven't taken advantage of it yet but maybe in the next month or so. Yes, you can go from AD to the guard/reserve by applying for Palace Chase and depending on the "needs of the AF". I'm not sure how long they're making people wait currently.

Well there is a difference between the heavy world and the bomber world.

Hacker, thx for the info..I know that things change all the time, but usually people have something to say about the differences between the lifestyles in general between the two communities...

-Z

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by agziolkow

Hacker, thx for the info..I know that things change all the time, but usually people have something to say about the differences between the lifestyles in general between the two communities...

And I'll repeat that what's "true" today won't be true tomorrow. If you're trying to make career-altering decisions based on that information, I'm telling you that you're wrong for doing it.

I certainly cannot comment on the lifestyles of anyone outside of an F-15E pilot.

Your lifestyle there will depend on so much -- where are you stationed, what rank are you, what is going on in the world.

Your first tour as a Lieutenant-then-Captain in a fighter squadron will be the best of your entire career. You will work long days, spend lots of time mission planning, briefing, and debriefing sorties...but you will love it, not hate it like you might now before you've experienced it. The only ones bitching about life in a fighter squadron is someone on their second tour, who has a little more perspective, who wants to spend more time with their family, but can't because of the demands of the job.

I don't think this is a purely fighter-centric experience, though. I used to be a maintenance officer propr to being a pilot, and I sure pulled my fair share of long, long stressful days in that profession as well.

My understanding based on some friends I have in the B-1 community is that is a poor place to go these days. The manning is such that young copilots do not fly very much at all, and there is a lot of despair among them.

What, really, are your specific questions about the lifestyle?

[germb747]

Originally Posted by Hacker15e

The bottom line to all this is that when formulating your choices, you have to simply pick a mission you want to perform -- that's it. Everything else around that fact is completly open to change at any time with no notice. It's just not possible to mathematically come up with the right answer because there are simply too many variables that mean one thing today and something else tomorrow, next month, or next year.

[agziolkow]

Hacker,

I guess I could ask a million questions...but in general: day-to-day stress levels, tightness of the units (sts), general morale, family life......

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by agziolkow

but in general: day-to-day stress levels, tightness of the units (sts), general morale, family life......

A quick look at my logbook shows that I've flown and average of 2.5 times per week for the last 9 years. The average duration of those flights has been a 1.6, although the numbers are skewed at both ends by a AT-38 tour that averaged about 0.8 per sortie and two F-15E deployments that averaged about 4.0 per sortie.

I certainly flew a lot more in my first tour -- my logbook says it was a lot closer to 3 times a week, whereas now on my current tour I only fly about once or twice a week. Your job will have a lot to do with that. I'm a staff officer now, so I spend a lot of time pushing paper (or e-mail as the case may be).

Morale and esprit de corps are high, just like in every fighter unit. If you've ever been in a fraternity, that's what it's like. Everyone loves the job, especially when it's time to go TDY or on a deployment. Being in a fighter squadron, bar none, is the absolute best experience in the entire Air Force. When it's time for me to hang up the G-suit and helmet for good, that is what I am going to miss most -- even more than flying that big gray jet.

Stress? Well, I think that my definition of daily stress is probably a bit different than yours. This is a high stress job, there's no two ways of looking at it. Every aspect of the job demands lots of attention, there's competition everywhere for everything, and most of what you do is going to be "reviewed" and critiqued by your peers and superiors alike.

The thing about it is, while it sounds like a giant pain in the ass, it's really a huge breeding ground for excellence. That stress and pressure allows you to accomplish things that would otherwise not be possible. Most importantly, it makes you a great officer and aviator.

Family ENTIRELY depends on your spouse. The spouse's attitude about being in the military makes or breaks a fighter pilot's will to live. I am lucky that I married an independant woman who can take care of herself and doesn't need my constant attention. Better yet, she accepts the basic military argument of moving every 3 years to some less than desirable locations.

I have seen some great, great fighter pilots who were just personally and professionally wrecked by spouses who were just not up to the challenge of spending a lot of time alone, sometimes in foreign countries. The fact is, that is an issue regardless of which airframe you fly.

Nevertheless, I have never seen an organization that is more pro-family than a fighter squadron. There are very strong informal spouse groups, frequent family get-togethers, and for the most part leadership does their best to be sensitive to the needs of spouses and kids. It is far better in the five fighter squadrons I've been part of than in any maintenance unit I was ever in.

I think you'll find that every fighter airframe is about the same. When I did my AT-38 tour and was in a squadron comprised of instructors from every fighter MWS, it is amazing how similar the overall atmosphere is. I don't know what the culture is like in the Sheppard IFF squadron these days, but the Moody IFF squadrons were full up fighter squadrons, despite wearing an AETC patch.

Point being, nothing I write here is F-15E-centric. All of the things you're asking about -- the non flying stuff -- is all going to be the same regardless of what type of jet is sitting on the ramp outside the squadron.

[agziolkow]

Thanks Hacker...!

[frog_flyer]

I would have suggested taking a -38 FAIP if one was available, but I just heard that FAIPS are no longer getting (semi) top choice after their FAIP tour.

FAIP -D> UAV -D> Hang myself.