Javichu

Hi everyone,


Reading some stuff in internet I found out how many interesting jobs the National Guard offers. And since I feel like I've had a double vocation my whole life, it would be awesome to work as a pilot, in this case as a flight instructor in the civilian sector, and then to be part of the National Guard.

I know they tell you that it is perfectly compatible, both military/civilian jobs, and my question is about this. Do you know any pilot in the civilian and also being a guard?.

I feel like being in the guard could maybe slow down my civilian job...?. As you can imagine my idea is like any other pilot, in general; learn as much as I can as CFI, build a good experience, and after some years, go regional, cargo, I don't know, just keep going if you know what I mean. And at the same time I feel admiration and passion for the military, so ti would be extraordinary if I could combine both.


Thanks for your inputs!
Javi

rickair7777

One of my reasons for switching careers to aviation was that aviation (especially airlines) is more compatible with guard/reserves than most traditional careers.

There are two reasons...

- The airlines have always had many ex- and current military, so their culture views that favorably.

- If you are absent from an airline they can easily replace you with another trained pilot. In many civilian careers, you are the best (or maybe only) person who can do your job and it can create big problems if you leave at a bad time. By the time you realize it's not a good time, it's often too late...military orders are cut and travel arrangements made.

CFI and Guard should be fine as well, but it will work better if you are at a larger school which routinely rotates flight instructors amongst students.

A smaller school where each student has one primary instructor who takes him through his entire program might be an issue. The students (customers) sometimes get upset if they can't have their preferred instructor. One way around this might be to minimize your extended annual training for a year or two while working as a CFI...but if you stay a CFI longer than that you'll have to start doing AT again.

Nobody can legally fire or discipline you for military service, but an evil and cunning employer might find a way around that. Often this involves discipline for fabricated or overblown "offenses" unrelated to military service, and it can be hard to prove that it was really about the military.

You do have to be careful....getting disciplined or fired in aviation can have far more serious career ramifications than in other fields. Generally you do not need to tell potential employers about your guard participation before they hire you...but in aviation I would probably clear the air on that before accepting the job. Read between the lines...they can't come out and SAY that they don't want a reservist, but if you get bad jibes might be best to look elsewhere. Once you get into larger 135 or 121 operations you should be fine.

Javichu

Good points. I never thought about the possible ramifications in case you're fired/disciplined.

I guess I should focus in the CFI job, because of what you said. I'm still 30 y.o and I have time until my 35 birthday. Once I get more stability in a bigger company I'd be able to join without worrying about being "fired" so easily.

I keep thinking about something though. Once in the airline, for example, if you join the guard or the reserve...you must complete the BCT plus your AIT, wich depending on the job it could get a while. So you just go to the chief pilot and tell him hey!, i joined the guard and i need around 5/6 months to complete all my training. Maybe it is not that shocking, but I just can imagine any employer thinking "ok, time to find a new pilot, one new vacancy here".

It just breaks, let's say the "normal operation", how everything normally works. And if you are new in the company....no comments! lol