CBP Air Interdiction Agent (Pilot)
05-13-2025 | 06:35 PM
#844
On Reserve
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 141
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07-07-2025 | 09:54 PM
#846
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 547
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1. "anywhere from 50 to 100 hours a month"- Not likely- I averaged 227 a year over a 25 year career
2. You won't have a choice when you get hired, you will be going to the southern border
3. "FLETC is a pretty rigorous training environment but also well-organized"- not difficult compared to all your avaition training.
4. "The culture can vary a lot by location"- mostly true but your first few years you aren't going to have a choice. Also, a branch that is bad can turn good quickly with a new Director. But the more likely is a good Branch can turn bad with a new Director (this is usually the case, poor quality in management these days).
5. Don't know that I can recommend it as a career anymore. It was good for the the first 15-20 years I was there and then started getting progressively worse due to being part of DHS and crappy management. The spiral continues. Maybe a possibility for improvement with the new administration (at least they can do their jobs) but unlikely because of poor management.
6. Real aircraft (especially helos) won't go away but drones are also there to stay. If you get stuck as a drone pilot, good luck getting out of drones.
2. You won't have a choice when you get hired, you will be going to the southern border
3. "FLETC is a pretty rigorous training environment but also well-organized"- not difficult compared to all your avaition training.
4. "The culture can vary a lot by location"- mostly true but your first few years you aren't going to have a choice. Also, a branch that is bad can turn good quickly with a new Director. But the more likely is a good Branch can turn bad with a new Director (this is usually the case, poor quality in management these days).
5. Don't know that I can recommend it as a career anymore. It was good for the the first 15-20 years I was there and then started getting progressively worse due to being part of DHS and crappy management. The spiral continues. Maybe a possibility for improvement with the new administration (at least they can do their jobs) but unlikely because of poor management.
6. Real aircraft (especially helos) won't go away but drones are also there to stay. If you get stuck as a drone pilot, good luck getting out of drones.
07-08-2025 | 03:09 PM
#847
On Reserve
Joined: May 2025
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
also, how is life as an MQ-9 pilot? Does it completely suck or is it worth it to accept a UAS location in hopes to move into an airplane in 3 years
07-10-2025 | 11:35 AM
#848
On Reserve
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
It’s a turboprop, advanced piece of machinery that requires a professional aviator mentality and experience to operate safely and effectively. The box is climate controlled and fairly comfy compared to a C210: moderate turb, can’t feel it, need the bathroom? No problem, get up and stretch you legs and etc
It’s a great tool but despite requiring professional credentials to fly it you will get no credit for it whatsoever.
Hand-fly an MQ-9 from parking to the flight levels, traverse multiple FIRs, utilize multiple advanced sensors, prosecute targets in urban environments, RTB, land and be told that your aviation experience is worthless and that doing power on stalls and steep turns in a C172 100 times requires more ADM, more skill, and more airmanship
3 years is the minimum time on station: I wouldn’t plan on moving at the minimum time. Others have said it’s a few hundred hours per year of flying: and the AMO people I spoke with reiterated that they have plenty of pilots and that flight hours can be hard to come by compared to other flying gigs.
This really doesn’t seem like an interim job: particularly for people who don't have many other aviation opportunities who are impatient, or hoping to resume wash/wait it out to the next step. The hiring gauntlet of CBP alone seems to take several months minimum: followed by several months of training/on boarding including FLETC
It has been pretty funny watching this particular thread become much more active every time the other pilot markets slow down their hiring. During the good time it’s crickets here
07-10-2025 | 06:14 PM
#849
On Reserve
Joined: May 2025
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
I fly MQ-9s for another organization: there are a couple things about it
It’s a turboprop, advanced piece of machinery that requires a professional aviator mentality and experience to operate safely and effectively. The box is climate controlled and fairly comfy compared to a C210: moderate turb, can’t feel it, need the bathroom? No problem, get up and stretch you legs and etc
It’s a great tool but despite requiring professional credentials to fly it you will get no credit for it whatsoever.
Hand-fly an MQ-9 from parking to the flight levels, traverse multiple FIRs, utilize multiple advanced sensors, prosecute targets in urban environments, RTB, land and be told that your aviation experience is worthless and that doing power on stalls and steep turns in a C172 100 times requires more ADM, more skill, and more airmanship
3 years is the minimum time on station: I wouldn’t plan on moving at the minimum time. Others have said it’s a few hundred hours per year of flying: and the AMO people I spoke with reiterated that they have plenty of pilots and that flight hours can be hard to come by compared to other flying gigs.
This really doesn’t seem like an interim job: particularly for people who don't have many other aviation opportunities who are impatient, or hoping to resume wash/wait it out to the next step. The hiring gauntlet of CBP alone seems to take several months minimum: followed by several months of training/on boarding including FLETC
It has been pretty funny watching this particular thread become much more active every time the other pilot markets slow down their hiring. During the good time it’s crickets here
It’s a turboprop, advanced piece of machinery that requires a professional aviator mentality and experience to operate safely and effectively. The box is climate controlled and fairly comfy compared to a C210: moderate turb, can’t feel it, need the bathroom? No problem, get up and stretch you legs and etc
It’s a great tool but despite requiring professional credentials to fly it you will get no credit for it whatsoever.
Hand-fly an MQ-9 from parking to the flight levels, traverse multiple FIRs, utilize multiple advanced sensors, prosecute targets in urban environments, RTB, land and be told that your aviation experience is worthless and that doing power on stalls and steep turns in a C172 100 times requires more ADM, more skill, and more airmanship
3 years is the minimum time on station: I wouldn’t plan on moving at the minimum time. Others have said it’s a few hundred hours per year of flying: and the AMO people I spoke with reiterated that they have plenty of pilots and that flight hours can be hard to come by compared to other flying gigs.
This really doesn’t seem like an interim job: particularly for people who don't have many other aviation opportunities who are impatient, or hoping to resume wash/wait it out to the next step. The hiring gauntlet of CBP alone seems to take several months minimum: followed by several months of training/on boarding including FLETC
It has been pretty funny watching this particular thread become much more active every time the other pilot markets slow down their hiring. During the good time it’s crickets here
07-10-2025 | 07:19 PM
#850
Line Holder
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 1,768
Likes: 28
the million dollar value at CBP or these other govt flying jobs (FAA, FBI, etc) is not in the salary. It is in the TSP (govt 401k) at the end, in the ability to retire at age 50 (assuming you have 25 years), and in the FEHB Federal Employee Health Benefits, which stop only after you are declared dead, and cremated (or buried six feet under). Then they stop.
ask the airline boys about their heath insurance plan after retirement.....
this thread, and the airline industry, is like the West Texas oil field. when times are good, everyone is driving dually Powerstroke pickup trucks and has a fresh trophy wife. When times are rough, folks are bankrupt and the truck is for sale.
the real "play" here is get hired at CBP etc, retire w/pension at 50, and go to the airlines as a "retirement gig" / "part time job"
ask the airline boys about their heath insurance plan after retirement.....
this thread, and the airline industry, is like the West Texas oil field. when times are good, everyone is driving dually Powerstroke pickup trucks and has a fresh trophy wife. When times are rough, folks are bankrupt and the truck is for sale.
the real "play" here is get hired at CBP etc, retire w/pension at 50, and go to the airlines as a "retirement gig" / "part time job"
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