Heard back from the company today - my seniority date will be my original hire date, though the time I spent furloughed before requesting military leave won't count for longevity (lose a couple years there, but oh well, it's still a ton more than anywhere else).


Also did a lot of digging on a law review site run by the "reserve officers association" where one of the original architects of the law posts opinions - sounds like I legally snuck in under the wire as far as USERRA is concerned given my original 7 year commissioning commitment for student loan forgiveness and associated pro dev course ADSOs, but my 5 year elective time away is now spent. Either way company is honoring it so I just need to do the 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year thing from here on out or be involuntarily called to active duty.


They also are suggesting 6 months back on the line and then upgrade...which sounds perfect to me.


I'm waiting for my car to get totaled or DT to declare war on China or something. Keep wanting to pinch myself.

Congrats. But I still don't think your elective five years is burned with seven years obligated service, none of that counts. Initial military training doesn't count either.

But in this climate I would just do the mil minimum, fly your butt off, get competitive, and get hired. Once you're settled in at a major then you can consider voluntary orders if desired.

Can't argue with that logic - and don't plan to try to find out about the 5 years elective stuff to your point of getting time and moving on. Thanks for bringing it up - made the decision 10x easier and I woulda kicked myself if I'd found out about this in a couple years after sucking on reserve while commuting!

You are going to be loving life. Hit your 1k hours and upgrade to a whatever you want schedule cause of your seniority. Best way to slide through the regionals.

Just like many mil lost decade guys I worked with. The best thing that ever happened to these guys was getting furloughed, they don't even make bones about it. It's a great deal, I just wish some of these guys wouldn't abuse it (not regional guys, talking mainline type folks) and ruin it for the guys behind them. Congrats OP, better lucky than good.