ofpr129

I had my contract cut short a year by HRC due to some bad paper from years ago (letter of reprimand, no UCMJ or any criminal charges). I still received an honorable discharge with all benefits. Will this be a topic at interviews or do they just check that you have an honorable? How much do they want to see, do I need to bring in documentation of what happened? I don't really have anything to show since it wasn't criminal.

rickair7777

Depends on the airline.

Most of the top-tier employers know what a normal military career looks like. Some of them used to ask to see your last three or five FITREPs. If they have any suspicions, they'll almost certainly pull the thread.

You do need to figure out how to answer "have you ever been terminated by any employer"? I don't know the right answer, in the past folks who were RIFed struggled with that as well. That may have been more of a grey area because a RIF was more like furloughed than fired. Hopefully someone else can weigh in on that.

Also, look on your DD214. You'll have a separation code... a savvy employer of ex-military will know what the "normal" ones are, and it will raise flags if you have a non-normal sep code. You need to figure out what your code is and what it means. To confound matters, the DoD considers sep codes to be for internal use only and does not publish a list... even worse the codes can vary between services and may have had different meanings in the past.

Even if your sep code is benign sounding, the fact that you don't have the usual one for a resigning JO can be problematic... they know something happened. You could also get an unusual sep code for medical unsuitability, released due to family hardship, etc

Lower tier majors may just want the honorable discharge, and may be oblivious to the sep code. Regionals will only care about the honorable (except the ones with AA flow of course).

Bottom line, you can't pretend it never happened, if you're applying to any majors you'll want to know how to address this at an interview since they probably won't even become aware of it until the interview when they ask why you chose to leave AD, or they see the DD214. Don't lie and claim you resigned... the sep code could give that away.

I would bring whatever docs you have to an interview, but keep them out of sight unless they ask to see them.

You're in a strange situation, unlike the past, nowdays the airlines only interview people they're pretty sure they want to hire. As a winged military guy (assuming you have enough flight time), you will most likely get called, but then you'll have to address this situation. But frankly it's better to have the opportunity to explain and sell yourself, than to never get called.

You should talk to emerald coast or one of the other interview prep outfits.

BrownDoubles

Definitely worth talking to the experts one on one for advice on how to address this. There are many reputable firms that successfully assist pilots with their transition; part of that transition is how to speak civilian and communicate things like this with as successful an outcome as possible. Great advice as usual Rick.

SaltyDog

Did you appeal? Ask for removal? Put in a rebuttal for the record? Request its removal by the commander who ordered the filing?
That may impact how to handle going forward depending on employer.

e6bpilot

My employer called my previous COs and talked to them after I interviewed. You will definitely have to discuss it. This is the type of thing you get interview prep for. My suggestion - own it and chalk whatever it was up as a learning experience. I have seen LORs go out for stupid stuff in the military (guilt by association, bad CO, in place of something that deserved a letter of caution), but nobody wants to hear how it wasn’t your fault.
Aviation and especially mil aviation is a small world. I bet you will get your just due.

ofpr129

Thanks for all the info. I should have added I'm looking at regionals.

They do indeed go out for stupid things. A classmate got one for not shaving and running in to a GO at the gym on base, he was in civilian clothes on a day off.

rickair7777

I do that all the time...

It should not be a problem for regionals. They will likely not even look at the sep code, and will not be familiar with precise mil career timelines (ie won't notice you left a year early). I doubt they would even ask why you left the military, but they might... just to fill time. Then you'll have to be honest and tell about how you learned from whatever it was. I'm confidant they will hire you regardless, since they know something like that will delay a call from the bigs so they get to keep you longer (maybe forever).

AA wholly-owned regionals will presumably more rigorous interviews since that comes with flow to AA.

Otterbox

Was it an misconduct discharge characterized as Honorable? We can discuss specifics via PM if you’d rather. Generally, A LOR won’t stop you from joining an AA Wholly Owned regional provided it didn’t result in an OTH. I know of several folks in worse circumstances who were able to navigate hiring at WO and non WO regionals.

There’s a Good possibility it’s going to be a speed bump on your way to the Majors. How much will be determined in the next few years as the pilot shortage gets worse.

I recommend going to one of the AA Wholly Owned regionals so you’ve got the flow to AA as a backup in case other majors don’t end up hiring you as a result of the application blemish.

rickair7777

Yes. If they take you, problem solved. If not, you know where you stand. Recon by fire.

If you want to tell us what happened, we might be able guess where you stand (or PM might be a good idea for anonymity).