justfun

Is there a golf course available?

rickair7777

A few points of clarity...

$200-300K is for FO's. CA's will make $400-700K. That will be reduced for a year or two with covid, and if things get really ugly BK proceedings could set things back for years, time will tell. The mid-tier majors are not far behind that either.

The better majors (including mid-tier) generally have own-occupation disability. If you lose your medical you get 50-60% until age 65. That combined with some other generic job will keep your current lifestyle, if you're somewhat prudent.

I know folks who don't play the boom/bust game... when they get in the money, they bank it hard. I know people who can retire any time after age 50 if the airlines get ugly. Some will, rather than put up with covid-induced schedule and lifestyle disruptions. You only need one boom cycle to set yourself up, if so inclined. Then it's all gravy after that.

Works better if you take some personal responsibility. If you're just along for the ride, you'll be going for a ride unless your timing is exquisitely lucky.

The better majors have pretty good bennies, some of which extend into retirement. A few still have pensions (cargo). If you're military, your retirement medical plan should be tricare, even if you have to run out the clock at a desk in the reserves.

Airlines (especially the better ones) provide a lot of flexible time off. You never have to be at work just because it happens to be during normal working hours. No collateral duties, ever.

I do miss having regular co-workers, rarely do I fly with people I know, who I enjoy getting a beer with, on a schedule that's conducive to beer. May have to volunteer with the union after I retire from the mil... which amounts to seeking out collateral duties.



Yes indeed.

hindsight2020

Sorry to hear about your recent job loss. Based on the years of posting here, I know this industry has not been nice to ya. As someone who endured the TX-MX border for 8 years with no ties to the area (military), I cannot recommend it, absent natural filial ties. I would really have a frank conversation with your loved ones about what it will mean to relocate to proverbial McAllen/Laredo. I know folks in Sierra Vista as well (on the ground pounder side of CBP, though I like to call AMO Border Patrol too since it gets under their skin), and the AZ border locales are not much better. I get a paycheck is a paycheck, but there's more to life than money. I had to get my family out. I was about to geobachelor them, but lucked out with snagging a PCS right as the kid was about to start gradeschool.

Some people geobachelor to San Antonio/Corpus on the weekends from these locations, but most can't do it long-term and the families start disfunctioning, which drives divorces or calls to quit the job. Those with actual experience with AMO can tell you about the expectation management wrt transfers in that agency. I remember everybody who worked at any 3 letter agency in the location I was military was at, was indeed looking for the transfer. The location was known as a junior point of entry where everybody and their mother went to in order gain access to federal employment; from there everybody would inter-agency bail to the first alphabet soup that got them away from the hinterlands. People don't even make a secret about it, so you're not alone in this issue.

Good luck to ya in whatever you decide. If I was forced to seek civil employment away from military flying before I could retire, I'd probably just lean on an ASI gig to a more tolerable location, and fly my private airplane on the side. But that's me at my current stage in life and with a family in tow. The wife made it pretty clear: Other than Aguadilla (I'm native to PR), she's a no-go on MX-border or desert town living anymore. Happy wife happy life. To each their own.

flynavyj

Thanks for the reply - The wife and i had a loose conversation about it, and while I know she doesn't consider it ideal, she didn't threaten to murder me....she did threaten to GeoBachelor me though, but not murder...truth be told, i don't think the family would do well with such a move, between two school aged kids, and a wife who loves her work, I think it's a losing proposition...hopefully one of these other avenues works out, or the airline industry can recover. If not, it'll be trying to go through the rehire process at my former federal agency and moving people around for the next twenty-four years!

kaputt

I know CBP counts Pred/Reaper/Global Hawk time, but what about some of the other (smaller) RPAs out there? Would ScanEagle time be worth anything to CBP?

Scubidopapa

Keep in mind that the guys flying the pred/reaper are doing so as Instrument rated commercial pilots or military equivalent. Most small drones are just cool toys flown by a guy with a controller, not by an actual pilot.

kaputt

Yep, understood. There are a couple defense contractor gigs flying ScanEagles deployed overseas doing ISR work (more of mid size drone, smaller than preds but bigger than the off the shelf amateur things). They require Comm/instrument pilot ratings to get hired to fly them (or military drone Quals). They’re still decently smaller than Preds and Global Hawks though so wasn’t sure if CBP would value that time from a drone perspective.

tonsterboy5

On the qualifications they list what they count, mq1, mq9, and manned time. You can always apply but I wouldn’t put the scan eagle time in the total time. Might just want to list it in a separate category to show that you have UAS time. Im sure if they wanted shadow or scan eagle time to count towards the total they would make a cutout for them.

el_duderino

Whoever "they" is you're referring to, does not require a license to fly scaneagle, I was on the program for nearly 8 years, yes there are rated pilots but there were also everything from former mechanics, interpreters, aircrew, and everything in between flying the scaneagle. They, being Insitu, when I was hired, required operators to have at least PPL written exam done, and they provided it, but that went away. It is only a 50-55lb drone with a 28cc engine, nothing close to the GA products. Now, with ISR being a mature industry now, having a license may make you more competitive for hire, but like the other guys said, it doenst count for much other than "UAS experience."

falconkidding

Does anybody know the vision requirements for CBP AIA. I got dinged on the medical and they need further information. I've never worn glasses but I think vision uncorrected in my right eye was 20/40 when I did the cbp medical. I don't care to get glasses if I need them but wonder what the exact rules are for vision. The hiring site seems a bit vague/general.