NoDeskJob

Served 10 years on active duty. Thinking of trying to become an ALO.
Figured it would offer good flexibility with the airline gig. And it's obviously a cause that I care about.
Anybody out there have the current gouge on the job? The good, bad, and the ugly? And what you wish you would have known before starting the job?
Thanks.

Arctichicken

I was an ALO almost a decade ago so things may have changed. Although there are a few paid billets, a good majority were not.
If you are just trying get to 20, ALO is a very good job for an airline dude. You basically have to get 35 points for a good year. It's actually 50 points but you'll get 15 membership points automatically.
Every region has their ROI. Typically, you attend a quarterly meeting and have to take the annual PFT. Besides that, you are your own man. Most of my time was spent on counseling, interviewing candidates, doing the write-ups, and occasionally doing a college fair at a local high school. Everything is online so you can do everything at your pace as long as you meet the timelines.
Promotion rate was pretty good as an ALO but I didn't pay attention since I was an IMA and ALO was my "part time reserve job". Just do your PME and keep your nose clean.
Btw, you don't have to be a zoomie to be an ALO :-)

APCForums

Besides the ALO position, CAP-USAF also has about 100 Cat-E reservists and would like as many as possible. Points-only, like the ALO, also with occasional opportunities to get MPA/RPA days. Located across the country, CAP-USAF is an active-duty unit that provides oversight and liaison to the congressionally-mandated AF Auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol.

rickair7777

But then you have to work with CAP senior officers, who resent the fact that you're a real senior officer...

blastoff

Every once in a while there's a story of some CAP Senior parading around an AF base in his blues demanding salutes from every Airman Snuffy he can find. I wish I could catch one in person.

Arctichicken

Ain't them CAP ociffers part of the Boyeeee scouts?!
A friend of mine lasted about 3 months and ended up doing the ALO gig.

LtColSolomonCAP

Hello, I am the Civil Air Patrol’s national public affairs manager. I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with CAP. But today, the Civil Air Patrol today is a valued member of the Air Force's Total Force, along with the Active, Guard and Reserve components, officially aligned with the Air Combat Command’s 1st Air Force. Indeed, AF Secretary James recently said, ‘The Civil Air Patrol has been doing a magnificent job for our country,” and pointed out that CAP provides 100,000 flying hours per year of very vital services. CAP recently received a Congressional Gold Medal. “I still use the lessons from aviation I learned in CAP and the Air Force,” said NASA shuttle pilot Eric Boe, an Air Force colonel who learned to fly as a CAP cadet. He is still a CAP member. The first female pilot with the Thunderbirds, Col. Nicole Malachowski, also learned to fly through CAP. Whether flying air intercept training, counterdrug, Surrogate Predator, search and rescue or disaster relief missions, CAP officers are called upon to follow core values that essentially mirror the U.S. Air Force core values of integrity, excellence in all we do and service before self. But CAP has a fourth value: respect. CAP’s members are volunteers who come from all walks of life. Therefore, it is extremely important that members treat others with fairness and dignity, and at all times work together with our Air Force partners as a team.

thrust

Is an ALO/IMA/CAP/etc position eligible for TriCare in any form?

LtColSolomonCAP

As Civil Air Patrol's national public affairs manager I have heard this "story" too sir, but I never seem to be able to find anyone who has actually seen it happen. I think it is just folklore, retold to get an awkward laugh at the expense of CAP, which is actually older than the USAF. To see what CAP is really all about, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxRd...ature=youtu.be

TSRAGR

So at a CAP meeting (in public) would a CAP LtCol salute a commissioned Maj?