Balut

I tried to figure out my bid strategy for September, but haven't been able to decipher the contract well enough. Can someone help me understand if protect min days off applies during a month when ITU starts the 4th week of a 5 week bid month? I will likely get a reserve line and plan to put as many R days under the ITU footprint as I can, but of I get stuck with a bunch of R days in the first 3 weeks, will min days off remove them? Also, are training days paid as R days? Thanks for any help you can provide. Here is the section of the contract I think is relevant (25.I.3.e):

The custom line for a pilot who has been removed from a portion of his line due to the beginning of ITU training, shall include a 48 hour duty free period immediately prior to the beginning of ITU training. Any trips on the pilot’s awarded line not in conflict with the pilot’s training or training buffer will be included on his custom line. The number of additional credit hours placed on such pilot’s custom line shall be limited to the following:

Trip(s) CH minus (R-day value times trip days in actual conflict with training) minus 12 CH training buffer.