Originally Posted by
Name User
Unfortunately there are quite a few ex mil guys that play shenanigans like that. There are also a bunch that are super cool. That being said I'm not sure why the company (AA) has such a hardon for exmil guys, or reserve guys, etc. with all their scheduling issues and potential to play the system.
1. Military is a known quantity, both from a pilot and employee perspective.
2. It's illegal to discriminate against them, and it's very easy for the Fed to deny various government contracts to employers who don't comply with rules regrading vets and current mil. Also the PR would very bad, intolerable for a large brand like AA (or any other legacy).
Originally Posted by
Name User
Everyone knows it happens but federal laws don't allow for investigation of it.
What happens?
The only "abuse" is where someone goes out on mil leave but does not actually serve mil duty while on leave.
ANY other military duty where the military pays you (or even puts you in a very rare non-pay duty status) is 100% legit. That includes purely involuntary orders to deploy overseas, as well as "voluntary" orders at your local home station. Typically if they need a body they will ask for volunteers first, so as to avoid doing an invol on somebody who might be in a bad position for that (family, career) at that moment. Just because it's mutually agreeable in no way makes it less legit.
If there is a duty status or orders in hand, than there's nothing possible to investigate. Period, it's black and white. However, if someone takes mil leave and is NOT on duty, any airline will throw the book at them, rightfully so. And when the airline is done, the military will throw their book at him too. A CO can (and will) terminate someone's career for that with the stroke of a pen.
As a leader, I encourage my people to do one year at an airline job before volunteering for orders. But it's their call, out of the goodness of their hearts, and in NO way mandatory.