Originally Posted by
fishforfun
How sure are you that you will be able to Palace Chase? I just read a memo that came from AFPC and said all 11X career fields were inelegible in FY13 for Palace Chase. Not 100% sure of all the details. Me personally, I would take the guard part time job and keep your options open for the airlines if thats your ultimate goal. From everything I hear timing is everything and it would suck to miss the opportunity if it comes. 2 years of seniority is huge.
If you're referring to the recent PDSM that just came out regarding FY13 Force Shaping programs, notice the difference between that "version" of Palace Chase and the traditional Palace Chase. For the "special" one for FY13, they're waiving the 3 years of every year of ADSC remaining to 1 for 1. Hence why that's not open to 11X AFSCs.
The "normal" PC is still very much alive and well. I've heard mixed results to whether or not the ARC would even hold you to the 3:1 rule, and nothing about it says you have to do the 3:1 full time... being a bum counts. My guess is he'd get 1.5 years waived no problem. I've personally seen people with 1.5-2 years left of ADSC successfully PC over the past few years. If this is something that interests you, please apply and let the rest of us know how it goes!
For the OP, I'd look at it this way... if you take the AGR gig for two years, that's basically two more years of full pay and benefits to go with two more years towards your AD retirement, and it's almost the same amount of time had you not PC'd and stayed til the end of your ADSC. Two more years to build hours and make yourself more competitive, without any of the AD BS that everyone hates. And you might make more airline connections in the process. Good luck, and let us know how your PC goes!