Well I may have misspoke about this being the perfect job for you if you lose your mind flying up and down the same road for 6 hours. If that bothers you then you aren’t going to like the job. If you can get past that and flying a C-206 or UAS for the next 20 years doesn’t bother you then go for it. The information you seek is all over the internet. Do some research, talk to a recruiter, and make the determination on whether the job will work for you. You will have a steady check (May have to wait for backpay when the government is shutdown), descent benefits, and a retirement. As far as your own bed most nights that is really location specific. Until you know your branch assignment it would be difficult to determine how much traveling you would do.

I’d ask some pretty pointed questions if you do talk to the recruiter. They will tell you exactly what you want to hear. I’d start with your initial duty location. Most people would consider it a less than desirable location but I wouldn’t worry about that because you can transfer in 3 years. It only took me 6 years to get out of my first duty location and it happened quickly because instead of continuing to chase prime locations I accepted another less desirable local.

You would have to write a novel to explain everything that is wrong with this agency in one place. I wouldn’t let these message boards and the fact that 100s of people have fled the place in the last couple years deter you. This job might very well work for you. You’re the only one who can make that determination. Good luck with the job hunt! If you do decide to pursue the job and get hired please come back in a few years and let us know how it’s going!

BAJ135 I really appreciate the feed back. That traffic watch job was a LONG time ago. I’ve had the opportunity to see a few boarder missions, and If I had to choose between that and traffic watch. Definitely not traffic watch. I think I’ve flown almost every type of CBP aircraft out there except for the Dash and MQ-9 and any of them are better than that traffic watch C-172. That was a great time builder job though.

I’ve done more research on this AIA job than most. A lot of things have to fall into place for this work out.

I've had continued interest in flying for CBP for awhile now. But something that I've seen as a big detriment is the fact that there seems to be no clear path to moving on to other air-frames with other mission sets.

I personally could probably manage a Southern Border location and a C206 assignment if there was the possibility of upgrading into one of the King Air's Dash-8s, PC-12s, P-3s, etc... down the road. But every time I've spoken with someone in CBP, they can't guarantee you would ever see one of those aircraft.

I'm not at the point yet where I can make the jump to any real aviation job (still on active duty and still low flight hours), but as of right now I'd say if you have an interest in law enforcement and also flying, the FFDO program might be something to consider. I will continue to keep my eye on CBP though for any possible improvements.

I'll also add, that it does seem that the job may be a better fit for Rotor Wing guys. For obvious reasons, the helos do a ton of work for CBP.

No operational details about FFDO (or FAMs) please.

All,

Apparently there is a new proposal of a 35% cola / special salary rate.

Good news. Any idea how long it may take to get approved?

Also, would multi turbine time be competitive to getting assigned the Dash in Puerto Rico? And how many hours a year do the guys down there fly?

Years... if ever.

CBP is spinning this as a 35% pay raise. It definitely is NOT. I live in a high cost of living area and this "raise" would make almost no difference whatsoever. Your local cost of living is basically subtracted out of the 35%........so for some of us that means 6 or 7% raise. Additionally, The bi-weekly and annual pay caps have not been raised. So basically you will just hit your pay cap every two weeks (but don't worry, they will be sure to show you how much money you would have earned.....also known as money you are giving back the agency or amount of time you worked for free.)

Its been said MANY times before on this message board but I cant over state how incompetent our leadership is. They are completely unwilling to do the work necessary to get us a real raise and they don't even bother to hide their disdain for the pilot group.

There are definitely worse jobs out there but there are also a lot of WAY better jobs too. Once you are in the system here it is hard to get out......mostly crappy flight time that wont set you up to move on to better things. Most of us that are flying multi-turbine here are planning our escape.

Well sir, I couldn't agree with you more. However, since I'm one of the minions under "RUS," I'll gladly take the 19.63% raise of base pay. With that said, the AC recently said that pilots are all the same and that they should be compensated the same. So, let's pay a C-206 copilot the same as a P3 aircraft commander. What a joke!

Anybody here currently working in any of the new hire locations?
Can you tell me what your QOL and schedule is like at your location?
I’m not really intrested in flying drones, so Arizona is out of the question for now.
What’s it like having your family in Puerto Rico? I see they have a DoD school for your children, so that’s good. Beaches look nice.
How do you move from GS-11 to GS-12? How long does it take? And from GS12 to GS-13?
Can you get hired on as a GS-13 or GS-12? Can you get hired on at higher than year 1?
What’s it take to get to supervisor or director or whatever GS14 and GS15 are?

So retirement is 1% or 1.1% for every year of service and based on your highest 3 year average, right? So 20 years of service gives you 20% and 30 years gives you 30%, right? Somebody on here mentioned 50% but I don’t see how that’s possible.

I see a lot of negative in these forums, anybody feel positive about this job?