military reserve AND airline pilot worth it?
02-05-2016, 09:32 AM
#42
On Reserve
Joined APC: Feb 2016
Posts: 13
It seems the general school of thought on commuting to an airline job is you want to be within a direct flight to minimize the pain, but what about for guard or reserve units? The way I understand it, you cannot get travel benefits for a typical drill weekend, is it any different if you are on flight orders?
02-05-2016, 05:02 PM
#43
Permanent Reserve
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,677
Originally Posted by nsavandal09
It seems the general school of thought on commuting to an airline job is you want to be within a direct flight to minimize the pain, but what about for guard or reserve units? The way I understand it, you cannot get travel benefits for a typical drill weekend, is it any different if you are on flight orders?
it is totally job/unit dependent. Being on flight orders has no bearing.
The good news is that if you live more than 100 miles from your Guard/Reserve unit, all unreimbursed expenses are tax deductible (above the line - not subject to 2% rule)
02-05-2016, 05:53 PM
#44
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Center seat, doing loops to music
Posts: 825
...and some units you plain cannot staff without covering paid expenses/allowing liberal commuting allowances as a perk. Ask me how I know. The idea that the "Reserves" is based on the "hometown unit" model may be an assumed fact of life for the ANG, not so for the AFRC. Of course, that just adds to the difficulty when attempting to explain to senior leadership that, well: "freedom ain't free".
Generally if you split your annual tour in chunks, you get 4 AT travel days you can use towards travel and lodging reimbursement. Lodging is always reimbursable whether direct billed (when in IDT status) or AD/MPA/RPA (travel voucher reimbursed).
Some units have the aforementioned "IDT travel only" where people get $300 actual cash value reimbursement 6-12 times a year. All in all, unit dependent indeed. The nicer the location for homesteading, the more they're going to ask you to travel for free. The less desirable, the more the unit is gonna have to pay to travel their people to get them to show up. Kinda like life in general.
It all depends on what's most advantageous regarding where do you expect to be most of the time. If junior pay is an issue and you rather spend time at the unit, being local to the unit might be best. Once you're senior enough that money at the airline is better, it might be better to commute to the mil unit instead. Many combinations and every family will have a slight variation to the "unit vs airline" domicile question. The real poor bastards are the double commute people. Noooo thanks.
Generally if you split your annual tour in chunks, you get 4 AT travel days you can use towards travel and lodging reimbursement. Lodging is always reimbursable whether direct billed (when in IDT status) or AD/MPA/RPA (travel voucher reimbursed).
Some units have the aforementioned "IDT travel only" where people get $300 actual cash value reimbursement 6-12 times a year. All in all, unit dependent indeed. The nicer the location for homesteading, the more they're going to ask you to travel for free. The less desirable, the more the unit is gonna have to pay to travel their people to get them to show up. Kinda like life in general.
It all depends on what's most advantageous regarding where do you expect to be most of the time. If junior pay is an issue and you rather spend time at the unit, being local to the unit might be best. Once you're senior enough that money at the airline is better, it might be better to commute to the mil unit instead. Many combinations and every family will have a slight variation to the "unit vs airline" domicile question. The real poor bastards are the double commute people. Noooo thanks.
02-05-2016, 06:27 PM
#45
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,503
Originally Posted by navigatro
generally no but there are exceptions. some ANG units will fund travel and/or lodging and some AFRES jobs are critical skill and will pay travel/lodging (up to $300, 6 times per year).
it is totally job/unit dependent. Being on flight orders has no bearing.
The good news is that if you live more than 100 miles from your Guard/Reserve unit, all unreimbursed expenses are tax deductible (above the line - not subject to 2% rule)
it is totally job/unit dependent. Being on flight orders has no bearing.
The good news is that if you live more than 100 miles from your Guard/Reserve unit, all unreimbursed expenses are tax deductible (above the line - not subject to 2% rule)
02-05-2016, 07:31 PM
#46
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2014
Posts: 208
It is all about time in your own bed.
Living where you drill, AFTP, AT, etc. will buy you time in your own bed.
As a Delta pilot, and a 13 year reserve component guy, I suggest living where you drill. Commute to where you work. Certainly don't commute to both. If you chose to live where you work, the commute to drill/aftp/adsw/etc will be on your own dime...there are some exceptions, but nothing replaces time in your own bed.
Good luck!!
Living where you drill, AFTP, AT, etc. will buy you time in your own bed.
As a Delta pilot, and a 13 year reserve component guy, I suggest living where you drill. Commute to where you work. Certainly don't commute to both. If you chose to live where you work, the commute to drill/aftp/adsw/etc will be on your own dime...there are some exceptions, but nothing replaces time in your own bed.
Good luck!!
02-06-2016, 04:35 AM
#47
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2014
Posts: 338
I'm actually one of those that commutes to both, and it's really not that bad. I'm part of a great unit that pays for my airfare to drill, provides a rental, and a hotel room while I'm there. There was a time I was thinking of doing a Cat E job, but I'm still making more doing this job with my airline job at second year pay, than if I was doing airline alone. Plus the TRICARE, and the furlough protection more than makes up for it. Oh and I still get to fly upside down once a month. Just my two cents.
02-09-2016, 12:04 AM
#48
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Position: 767 Captain
Posts: 3,988
Originally Posted by TexanDriver
I'm actually one of those that commutes to both, and it's really not that bad. I'm part of a great unit that pays for my airfare to drill, provides a rental, and a hotel room while I'm there.
If someone has to jumpseat using airports with lots of competition for the seats or a small outlying airport with limited daily flights, their commute is going to be very, very different from yours. Figuring your opinion of a double airline/military commute into the mix, considering the circumstances, really isn't a valid data point, IMO.Frankly, I'm amazed that setup you have has passed the sniff test. Is your unit located far away from a traditional civilian airport or are there some other extenuating circumstances involved? Are you guys hurting for pilots? How long has that been going on in your personal case and how many other individuals in your unit exercise the same option? Can you come in multiple times each month and still get the airline tickets and rental cars? You're basically on orders minus the per diem (unless you're getting that too). Though I admit I'm not a travel pay expert, it seems like it would be difficult for the unit to "pay" for airline tickets and rental cars using traditional methods. You definitely have a very unique situation based on my experience.
I did a double commute for about 10 years. Our unit did not have a radius required for anyone's home of record, so they authorized hotels for anyone who resided outside of 50 NM. Beyond that, you were on your own for travel and transportation. I either jumpseated from home or domicile depending on circumstances. Calling someone at the unit for a ride or walking after jumpseating in was just part of doing business.
The biggest downside to commuting to your guard unit is probably re-flowing your personal schedule in situations where you lose sorties to mx or wx. Sometimes you don't have the flexibility to stay an extra couple of days to get your counters for the month if things go south on the days you already allotted. Now you're either eating into the few real days off you have or dropping additional airline days (which usually means losing more $ off your bottom line for the month). You also lose some of the flexibility to pick up some extra mil days when sorties open short notice and you're not within driving distance of your unit.
Overall, the double commute can be done but it definitely makes the whole process more difficult (even if your unit buys you a ticket and rental car). If that's your only option, it is still worth it for all the previous reasons stated.
02-09-2016, 04:48 PM
#49
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2014
Posts: 338
Originally Posted by Adlerdriver
My first thought as I read this post was: "Of course "it's really not that bad" in your particular case. Your military "commute" logistics are completely covered by the US taxpayers. If someone has to jumpseat using airports with lots of competition for the seats or a small outlying airport with limited daily flights, their commute is going to be very, very different from yours. Figuring your opinion of a double airline/military commute into the mix, considering the circumstances, really isn't a valid data point, IMO.
Frankly, I'm amazed that setup you have has passed the sniff test. Is your unit located far away from a traditional civilian airport or are there some other extenuating circumstances involved? Are you guys hurting for pilots? How long has that been going on in your personal case and how many other individuals in your unit exercise the same option? Can you come in multiple times each month and still get the airline tickets and rental cars? You're basically on orders minus the per diem (unless you're getting that too). Though I admit I'm not a travel pay expert, it seems like it would be difficult for the unit to "pay" for airline tickets and rental cars using traditional methods. You definitely have a very unique situation based on my experience.
I did a double commute for about 10 years. Our unit did not have a radius required for anyone's home of record, so they authorized hotels for anyone who resided outside of 50 NM. Beyond that, you were on your own for travel and transportation. I either jumpseated from home or domicile depending on circumstances. Calling someone at the unit for a ride or walking after jumpseating in was just part of doing business.
The biggest downside to commuting to your guard unit is probably re-flowing your personal schedule in situations where you lose sorties to mx or wx. Sometimes you don't have the flexibility to stay an extra couple of days to get your counters for the month if things go south on the days you already allotted. Now you're either eating into the few real days off you have or dropping additional airline days (which usually means losing more $ off your bottom line for the month). You also lose some of the flexibility to pick up some extra mil days when sorties open short notice and you're not within driving distance of your unit.
Overall, the double commute can be done but it definitely makes the whole process more difficult (even if your unit buys you a ticket and rental car). If that's your only option, it is still worth it for all the previous reasons stated.
If someone has to jumpseat using airports with lots of competition for the seats or a small outlying airport with limited daily flights, their commute is going to be very, very different from yours. Figuring your opinion of a double airline/military commute into the mix, considering the circumstances, really isn't a valid data point, IMO.Frankly, I'm amazed that setup you have has passed the sniff test. Is your unit located far away from a traditional civilian airport or are there some other extenuating circumstances involved? Are you guys hurting for pilots? How long has that been going on in your personal case and how many other individuals in your unit exercise the same option? Can you come in multiple times each month and still get the airline tickets and rental cars? You're basically on orders minus the per diem (unless you're getting that too). Though I admit I'm not a travel pay expert, it seems like it would be difficult for the unit to "pay" for airline tickets and rental cars using traditional methods. You definitely have a very unique situation based on my experience.
I did a double commute for about 10 years. Our unit did not have a radius required for anyone's home of record, so they authorized hotels for anyone who resided outside of 50 NM. Beyond that, you were on your own for travel and transportation. I either jumpseated from home or domicile depending on circumstances. Calling someone at the unit for a ride or walking after jumpseating in was just part of doing business.
The biggest downside to commuting to your guard unit is probably re-flowing your personal schedule in situations where you lose sorties to mx or wx. Sometimes you don't have the flexibility to stay an extra couple of days to get your counters for the month if things go south on the days you already allotted. Now you're either eating into the few real days off you have or dropping additional airline days (which usually means losing more $ off your bottom line for the month). You also lose some of the flexibility to pick up some extra mil days when sorties open short notice and you're not within driving distance of your unit.
Overall, the double commute can be done but it definitely makes the whole process more difficult (even if your unit buys you a ticket and rental car). If that's your only option, it is still worth it for all the previous reasons stated.
But yeah, having a bought ticket or being reimbursed mileage definitely takes away from the pain of double commuting. However, it doesn't take away from the fact you're still away from your loved ones an extended period of time i.e. minimum of six days in a row for us commuting TRs. I did originally live close to my unit, but my wife wanted to move closer to her parents creating the double commute. However, life is so much easier and less stressful for her and our kid when I'm gone (especially when the lil' one is sick) so the double commute is worth it for me. What's that ol' saying, "happy wife, happy life?"
02-10-2016, 06:21 AM
#50
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2010
Position: Baja Vermont
Posts: 5,171
I've been a flying Guardsman (F-100, A-10), a reservist (C-5) with both corporate and airline jobs and a technician and commander. Finally, I'm now a civilian chief pilot with a Guardsman, so I've seen it from just about every angle. Live at your unit, commute to airline, if you can't combine both. Double commutes are he**. Choosing your weapon system is also HUGE. Fighters and special ops are really tough, transports are probably easier, if bad because the mission takes you away from home. UPT would be great, if they weren't located where they are.
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