El Guapo

I just came back to work after a couple years on mil leave. I'm at an associate sq, and was wondering if the guys that don't have civ jobs will even be able to go across the street and help out the AD to get paid/build time. I figure the AD would love the help, but who knows if there's any coin to fund it.

dudemize

That would be nice, but I think it comes from the same pot of money.

ghilis101

does anyone have any rough estimates for how many total guard/reserve pilots were on mil leave or on long term MPA? Dont these budget scares happen every year or 2? I believe this happened in 2005 or 2006 when funding stopped and a lot of people were kicked off orders. Then magically 2 months later everyone was back on. Is that going to be the case again this time around? I cant imagine congressmen are going to let their local guard units run dry. Im thinking a lot of units will have to play hardball and refuse to fly contingency missions without long term orders. Piece-mealing orders together like the old days is a major hit to the wallet, especially when you live in areas that score you some bigtime BAH and COLA

also dont forget theres a TON of unfilled 6 month MC-12 deployments that guardsmen/reservists will probably jump all over if the funding really does dry up.

reCALcitrant

Without getting too specific, the funding has put a hold on hiring at other "similar" units as the MC-12. Expect ACC to do the same for the Guard/Reserve guys in that program. This will take a couple of months to work out if the cuts are implimented. They will have to get funding to function. Just my 2 cents.

t1dude

I'm one of those guys. My company was great to work with and I've been on mil leave for a few years. Because of the MPA situation, I'm headed back and know lots of others who are doing the same.

scambo1

T1 are you staying with your reserve unit or just pulling the plug?

t1dude

I'm definitely not pulling the plug, just won't be able to be full time. I absolutely love that job. Being a traditional will give me some control over both schedules.

For me, airline flying is for pay, guard flying is for spiritual contentment.

decrabbitz

In my C-17 Reserve unit we'll probably have about 10 guys go back to their airlines by the end of the year/early 2011. We've had anywhere from 16-28 guys on LTMPA in the recent past, and this would be unprecedented to go to zero so quickly. I hope if the AF decides it needs the USAFR (are the money people even talking to TACC?) they decide it quick, because when most of us go back to the airline, we're not coming back in two months when the budget people get their crap together (didn't they see this coming months prior to the newFY?)--it's not fair to the companies (wasted retraining costs) and most members don't like getting jerked around.

Perhaps they are gambling that guys will trough the same number of trips that were being flown on LTMPA. Bad gamble IMO, we're already having trouble filling good trips next month in the new trough model (LTMPA orders end next week) good luck with the kick in the jimmy trips...

On a side note, we've had guys quit the unit to go to Reserve UAVs because that is where the steady income/lifestyle is.

RunFast

That's going to be big for a lot of folks. I'm not going to jerk Delta around by this going/coming thing. If days come down, I might take a month later this spring but that's it outside MLOA for a couple of my reserve days per month.

It's gonna get ugly, AD is already thin, thin, thin.

Ball Breaker

It's going to be a hit to the pocket book, but I see ANG/AFRC crews piecing together trips where they can to pay the bills. Too many furloughed/without a civilian job that need to make ends meet. They may protest this for a while (stand on the sidelines), but need income. The gravy train is coming off the tracks. Those with jobs may pick a mil trip every few months--more so for the camaderie than the $$$. Sucks for those who enjoyed the LTMPAs. The AD will suffer QOL (not that it doesn't suck enough in the grey jet world) and the ANG/RES will suffer $$. I'm afraid we are entereing the new norm.