Originally Posted by
Scoop
That would be fraud and I would bet that it is very, very rare. You would have to be an idiot to do that. What is more common is not that blatant, but folks leveraging their MIL to improve their schedule above what their seniority could get them - illegal - No, not if they are doing MIL. Unethical - Maybe? I was the squadron OPs O years ago and I get a call from an airline Chief Pilot. It seems one of our more "resourceful" Pilots had moved an administrative drill to 23 December that coincidentally dropped a 4 day 23-26 December trip. Legal? Absolutely. But this period could have been performed anytime and did not need to be done on 23 December. It was moved specifically to get out of working Christmas when his seniority could not hold Christmas off. This kind of thing always rubbed me the wrong way and is probably the reason MIL Leave is not as easy as it used to be. I told the CP that he would have to talk to the CO since he approved the drill.
Is manipulating your schedule solely to improve QOL and not really fulfilling a Military need legal - Yes. Is it ethical? Much tougher question. Especially if junior folks are getting off forcing more senior Pilots to work.
Scoop
You're going to have to show your math on that one. When a trip is dropped with mil leave, CS doesn't arbitrarily put it on a senior pilot's schedule. It gets there via GS (volunteer) or possibly IA. Technically not volunteer, but pilots treat them like GS#0 and no trigger. In your 23-26 Dec example, what was the outcome? Broken trip for credit surfers (win) or GS for a volunteer (win)? The only way a senior pilot "loses" is if a junior pilot beat them to the IA call.
For preposted mil leave every junior pilot is effectively bidding one number senior because the pilot on leave is passed over. The single exception is for coverage awards where the shxt rolls uphill.
I don't like the optics of aggressive and creative use of mil leave, but for the pilot group as a whole it's a win. The downstream impact is more premium pay and higher staffing with a few pilots complaining about someone else getting a good deal.
One of my personal mil leave stories is when the CP called my to question my use over Super Bowl weekend. "Did the military really need me? and "Could I reschedule my drill weekend?" I gave him the commander's number and asked if he would request my release from drill to work for Delta, which is a legitimate request an employer can make. It was a night drill and my best chance of watching the game was at work on a layover. The CP refused to make the call. It was purely harassment with no intention of actually getting me released to work for Delta. If Delta wanted me at work, they could have asked. The interaction taught me that Delta doesn't care about the staffing impact of mil leave, only the legality. Drop at will!