USMCFLYR

Yep - crushed doesn't begin to describe the feeling!
I thought it was bad enough for someone to get E-6s out of the Strike/Fighter pipeline.

We are full bore luvin' over here. 11 days though and MANY changes in the daily/weekly operations have come down.

atpcliff

At atlas air u have to meet the minimums. Then, they do take uav time into account. They are considering altering their applicant questionnaire to account for uav experience. They like mil pilots.

Opteryx

...in this war. Wait til the next one and it's a non-permissive environment. All the UAVs shot down the first day and the troops screaming for fighters with speed and iron. Definitely agree FAIPs are important - though I think there should be no such thing. I think all UPT IPs should have at least one or two tours under their belt already. But I digress.

HuggyU2

Opteryx,
Did you ever do an IP tour in ATC?

Opteryx

Yes I did. After two (short) tours in the F-16. Went back to fly tweets for a few years. I had a choice between Tweets and 38s and I chose Tweets. Loved the job (teaching newbies) hated the airplane. Wish I could have done it with the T-6 because I think I would have loved it even more. The whole time I was there I kept seeing that although FAIPs were technically proficient in flying, they didn't have the ability to relate that to the students well for real-world Air Force application. I also saw how they were abused by "the system". Coming out near the top of their class, getting "screwed" and then being forced to work their tails off for 5 years to get that dream fighter, and then often getting screwed again. And therein lies much of the origin of my opinion on FAIPs.

HuggyU2

Fair enough.
And I agree on the T-6: I got one orientation flight in it, and it seemed really nice.

highsky

I was off the street into an AFRES C-5 squadron, full-time bumming 1994 - 2006; OEF; OIF.

Northwest Airlines DC-9; 2001 (pre-911). Now UPS 744.

I'd wait until after the shooting gets started on WWIII here NLT this Fall. Think about our epic and endless Battle against Muslims that HAS been going on for DECADES already. Imagine the chain of WORLD events that is going to happen the moment PM Netanyahu executes the GO Order.

This Crusade we are in is just getting started. Everything up to this point has just been a work-up for the main event.

There will be plenty of Strat Airlift bumming available to you for decades to come I imagine GI.

Either way, you can't go wrong though. Before the UPS job, I considered the same thing you're considering. I was going to try for full-time RPA flying out of March ARB. Mostly because I wanted to settle in SoCal, but also because I thought it would be satisfying, after having spent a number of years getting shot at, to actually return some fire to the MFers. Kill bad guys and blow sh!t up, while sipping my Venti from the comfort of my cubicle. Yeah, I'd be up for some of that.

Good luck with your decision. Thanks for your service Sir.

For God and Country.

highsky

If possible, try and get 1000 AMC Heavy-Jet Transoceanic PIC (A-code) before switching to the RPA program.

I don't know what your career goals are, but this kind of time will open some very exclusive doors for you. You will need this time as a MINIMUM if your plans include employment with UPS, via the IPA. Everyone in my class had Heavy-Jet PIC, and a lot of it. No RJ or fighter-only pilots. All AMC or Polar/Atlas. One F-18 squadron commander, but he was also UAL furloughed with 76 experience.

For God and Country.

swampfoxviper

Good points. Had buddies that were O-5 and O-6 with 3000 hours in the Viper get laughed at by UPS back when they were hiring.

Who had it hacked were dudes who got off the fast movers asap and slid over to be AMC guard dogs/AFRC. I unfortunately did not make that decision..

New here, by the way! Hey.

e6bpilot

This is actually a great idea. If you haven't already, go get your mil comp instructor and fly for a mom and pop part time or with some of the other RPA guys to stay current (there are bound to be guys looking for a cheap/good instructor to fly with on base there).
This would allow you to take the UAV job and stay current in case netjets doesn't call for a while. Your FAIP time should make you a shoo in for this.