hindsight2020

Hey folks,


Currently considering TR employment with one of the associate units under the 340th FTG and one of the more pressing questions in my mind right now is the issue of civilian employment.

If I end up going forward with the position I would be commuting to the gig and as you know, the current policy for the group is pretty much 6 days a month and probably one trip a month paid, which implies a consecutive 6 day stretch a month in order to make it economically viable. An airline pilot probably has no problem flexing the schedule to accommodate pockets of days off the airline and/or dropping trips with mil leave in order to fulfill this requirement. But what about the 9-5 guy? What's our avenue?

I'm currently a trougher in my current unit so I haven't really exercised the option of a true commuting TR before. I'm knee deep in USERRA research right now and my wife thinks I'm up the creek; she contends I'd be essentially unemployable because no civilian employer will be willing to allow an employee to work a stretch of 4-5 weekdays a month and be allowed in their payroll. She also raised the point that I'd never be able to prove I was not given the position because of this service requirement i.e. they can say whatever they want to be the reason I was not offered employment.

Do any of you pursue traditional weekday work and commute to these UPT locales? What is the agreement with your employer?

I'm reading the FAQ on the USERRA website and while it reads pretty clear on the fact I don't have to ask permission to perform military service, the sections pertaining to initial hiring seem weak at best. It essentially does not tackle my wife's angle that I would never be able to prove such discrimination, essentially making me unemployable.

Look folks, I still owe the better part of a decade to the Reserves, so I am somewhat disconcerted that either a potential civilian employer and/or the Reserves itself would implement punitive hiring decisions against my person because of the scheduling impasse inherent with asking a civilian employer for one full business week off a month to serve my country. I still need to feed my family, so am at a loss to the proposition of not being able to find gainful civilian employment because nobody will touch me with a 6-day a month commitment hanging over my head.

Any help would be appreciated. Also any SA on who could answer these questions on base? I'm about to talk to somebody because I don't intend on getting blindsighted by this issue in the near future come interview time.

Thanks folks.