Regional TO USAF
 

I'm in process of leaving my regional gig for a pilot slot.
I'd like to get some inputs from current AF AD pilots.

Thanks in advance

take a military leave of absence and stretch it for as long as possible before you have to resign. your senoirity will continue while you are out on mil leave. most companies will allow up to 5 years and you never know what can happen in that time.

How old are you? If you have several years to go before hitting 30, I'd go for a guard UPT slot vs AD. That's the way it worked for me and it was great to gain 4 years of seniority while away. USERRA covers mil leave for guard and reserves. If you go AD AF, you will have to you'll have to resign.

They have to allow you 5 years by law. They may choose to allow longer absences voluntarily. Also, the law protects you beyond 5 years depending on what kind of orders you are on.

Just to clarify, take a military leave. DO NOT RESIGN!!!!! Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects your job, even if you have no plan to return, keep the job. PM me for details about the multiple reasons why it is smart to follow the advice as presented.
Congrats!

Some more info might help...what kind of "inputs" are you looking for?

Go Guard or Reserve if you have the chance to do it. You will love having the opportunity to do both, at least I do. It is nice to have one or the other to fall back on. Lots of weird things are going on with AD (TAMI 21 for example). If all you want to do is fly, you may be in for a surprise when Big Blue takes you out of the cockpit somewhere during your 10 year commitment. Doesn't matter how good you are, it is all based on timing. Good luck with your choice.

I've tried Guard and working on reserve but it is not happening. My main concern is QQL. My definition of QQL is more time with my family. That can be anywhere as long as they can come with me.(that’s more during my 10 year commitment) After reading some of your comments from other threads I'm second guessing by decision. I‘d like to do a fighter track and initially wanted to stay for more than 20 years, but I see lot of transport/tanker pilot getting out as soon as their commitment is done. I certainly don't want be in the same boat in 12 years. I’m better off upgrading in current job, move to a LCC or do Fractional flying.

'2' on what magnum said. In my UPT class, we had a regional guy hired by the IL F-16 guard unit. He walked in the first day of class and said, "I fly F-16s"...we hadnt even started tweets! After we solo'd we had a naming ceremony. His two were "2500", because the first thing he told anyone was that he had 2,500 hours flying. And the other name was "IKE", which stood for I Know Everything.

He eventually washed backed a couple classes and flies Buffs now.

Does AD 'hire' fighter guard guys that can't make it through the fighter track.