Before I retired, I felt bad for the times I took mil leave on drill weekend when I couldn't bid my schedule around it. After thinking about it for a minute, it dawned on me that every day I was on mil leave, meant every pilot junior to me was bidding one position higher in the category. A senior pilot wasn't being forced to fly on my drill weekend, it was a junior pilot who had a line that month vs. being on reserve. If I was just hired, I'd be praying that every pilot in my class went out on mil leave the day after indoc.

It seemed a bit unfair that some pilots who were out on extended mil-leave, came back and slid right into the category senior to me. It turns out they had done me a favor, because while they were out on orders, I was bidding one position higher in that category. They didn't just appear on top of me in the category, they had stepped aside and let me bid one number higher in the category while they were gone.