Originally Posted by Excargodog

What is your state and do they have any flying positions in their guard or reserve? I have to admit, I’ve never been an actual infantryman, but I’ve seen enough of them on deployments in my previous job, and can’t say I see the allure.

That said, USERRA:

https://www.esgr.mil/USERRA/What-is-USERRA

Gives you rights to reemployment. That said, it’s kind of regarded as ‘dirty pool’ to sign in at indoc and then immediately leave on orders. It starts your seniority, but it also kept someone out of that seat and sort of wasted that slot. And the further along you go the worse it gets economically. Unless you can stay around until consolidation (100 hours after award of your type rating), they are essentially going to have to retrain you from the start if you have any prolonged absences.

That being said, I’d still try to get the first slot available at your regional and try to put off military orders until after consolidation. But That would also give you substantial clout applying for an ANG or Air Reserve flying slot. That would be a whole year away, but your regional seniority clock would be running the whole time.