Stevejj

Hi all

I’m currently hold ASEL and almost meet the minimum requirements for AIA.
I think a lot of candidates have couple of thousand hours and military experience so that looks me not have a good qualification to be competitive.
Do I need additional ratings (AMEL,CFI etc.) or flight hours to be competitive?
I think law enforcement job is very honorable because they protect and serve for this great nation that’s why I would like to be AIA.
Please any comments or advice.

Thanks in advance

CL604pilot

Anyone start at the academy since the covid stop?

WacoQCF

He isn’t wrong, but the culture in the two stations I was at was horribly toxic.

Miami (really Homestead) may be the best station by location - but reports on the culture turned even worse following years behind my departure. My own supervisor counted the days to his retirement.

The majority of supervisors in Miami are now Marine / Boat drivers with very little understanding of anything aviation. You can easily find yourself assigned to fly 6+ hours of your 8 hour shift in an empty sector to simply burn flight hours for the budget.

You will work 5 days per week, every week, 8 hours minimum shift. Your days off are assigned, and the job is not commutable. Seniority matters...none. Expect collateral duty assignments, frequent law enforcement specific training qualifications, and frequent computer AKO/NKO style training - just to remind you why you disliked the military.

Every two weeks you will have to enter your time card into the system, then sparking calls to the supervisors office to change every entry accounting for your regular time, availability time, sick leave, annual leave, night pay, holiday pay and travel days. It took a cheat sheet of codes to enter your times in their DOS based system. Any travel claims will be scrutinized to the penny, and probably paid late.

FLETC is okay, but expect to be restricted to living on campus for several months as a geo-bachelor. There just isn’t much time to get out or spend time with family. The academics weren't anything to worry about. OAM Pilots are kind of a target for other agency basic school instructors to complain about - so you kind of have to keep a low profile moving about the campus.

Training is conducted at a vendor such as Helistream or Flightsafety which is pretty good; but then you return to your branch or the National Training Center to get checked again.

Its a government job...survivable, stable, sometimes fun, usually as inefficient as possible. Loads of contact with your 8 bosses.

On the plus side - you shoot a lot of guns (until you tire of qualifying on each extra gun/rifle). Lol...really. Veterans try to cut down to one pistol, and maybe one rifle if required.

And then you might fly planes. . That was the part I liked. 6+ hours with generally good dudes once you escaped the office. Some of my best friends are the sensor operators (like A WSO/NFO), and we actively avoided any animosity among the Pilots and MSO’s - occasionally doing their jobs on a flight. Good people in our crews.

In contrast - (my) Airline life is 15+ days off a month, 50-80 hours of flying a month, two times the pay, commutable, and training is great. Majority of the guys I’ve flown with have been great both at work and on layovers etc. I’ve never met my boss, and block chunks 20+ days off for travel and activities.

WacoQCF

If they open to non dual rated again, you probably stand a good chance of getting the job. They are having difficulty finding applicants. I can’t figure out why people aren’t lining up for the job.

hindsight2020

you forgot the /sarc tag.

AH1W

I’m guessing that there are quite a few people waiting for the assessments to start again in October (guessing the month). I’ve heard that there are typically scheduled weeks for the assessments in OKC. Any idea what the monthly or quarterly schedule looks like in a “normal” year?

ArticPilot

I am looking to apply to the Air interdiction Agent position once things start getting back to normal. However, as to what FLETC is like? How long is it? What is the day to day life like? Do you go through extensive firearms training, taser and pepper spray? What can one expect as a first station aircraft and QOL ?
Thank in advance!

Scubidopapa

Ditto. Gotta do some research. Have fun

WacoQCF

Note:
CBP OAM just put a 3 year commitment/ $100k training contract in place.

Airlines ditched training contracts long ago as they made them non competitive. The contract is in place only after completing the 13+ week FLETC, and triggers if you fail to complete required training or get terminated.

OAM management just took a move to hold leverage over new hires.

I wouldn't touch an airline with a training

efc4life

I laughed at the 3 year service commitment($100k to learn slow flight in a turboprop!) email. Their list of highly qualified pilots with conditional offers is going to evaporate tomorrow.