Thanks for having an area dedicated to folks transitioning out of the military.

I am currently a Coast Guard pilot with 2600TT/1300 PIC hours in the HC-130, and have recently upgraded to IP. Although I currently have 5 years prior to being retirement eligible, I'd like to think that it's not to early to start planning what I hope to be my next career. Any input regarding the following questions would be greatly appreciated:

1. What can I do in the next 5 years to make myself more marketable?

2. Do the majors consider Herc time desireable, or should I seek a Falcon/Gulfstream transition for my next tour?

3. I currently manage approx. 100 people, 4 C130's and a fairly substantial budget. Do companies such as Southwest consider this type of management valuable, or are they strictly concerned about flight time etc.?

4. Is there any disadvantage to obtaining an ATP 5 years prior to retirement, or should I wait?

Thanks in advance for the input. The Coast Guard is an outstanding organization of which I would recommend to any one who is extremely motivated and likes to work hard. The wife and kids are just getting tired of moving.

1. IP is good, anything involving the regular evaluation of other pilots performance.

2. Pure Herc time is normally fine, but turbojet (esp glass) gives you a competetive advantage over the other guys. Some airlines are actually starting to REQUIRE turbojet time, due to the available plethora of RJ drivers.

3. For civilian pilots, management/supervisory experience is a plus because most don't have it. In the military, it just comes with the territory, so it's no big deal (a CO tour might help though).

4. The flight part of the ATP is nothing for you, but the academics cover 121 topics that are likely to come up on your airline interview(s). I'd do it immediately before separation so it's fresh...otherwise you'll just have to study it all over again anyway.

BTW, stay in, get your retirement...the airline business is unstable as you know.

Thanks for the valuable input. After reading the plethora of posts within these forums, I definitely will not seperate without a retirement. It's a pretty good pension considering one starts receiving checks the day you retire. After utilizing the pay calculators within this website, the retirement will also be useful when offsetting the early years within an airline.

1. Any benefit in obtaining a Masters degree? I'm willing to invest my own time if it's a worthy cause, but not willing to apply for any Coast Guard programs because the payback tour coupled with the time in grad school will keep me out of the cockpit for 5-7 years, with no guarantee of returning to the fixed wing community.

A masters is a plus at the majors, it is common for military folks to have one because Uncle will usually pay for it. Not sure what the trade-off between cost & time invested vs. benefit would be if you do it on your own.

It might be good for you to get a little bit of "fast mover" time (Falcon/Gulfstream) to make the transition easier going to a major. Not that 2600 hours of Herc time is bad, but it might be a little challenging to go from that to say, a 737.

Any advice for a Navy to Coast Guard transition.

How about an AF to Coast Guard transition in the Herc? How much flying do you do?

The Coast Guard does offer positions for DCA's (Direct Commission Aviators). To find out the exact window of opportunity for these positions, you should contact a CG Recruiter as they of course have the latest and greatest information. I currently only have one DCA at my unit and he is a prior Navy P-3 pilot. The Coast Guard has a plethora of helicopter pilots who were prior service. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure DCA's drop one rank when entering the Coast Guard, and we are also hesitant to accept folks with a bunch of years of service because we inherit their retirement as well. That being said, I know of no one joining the CG from another service who has regretted the decision. I just heard that our retention rate is at 94%.

Flight hours vary dependent on the unit assigned, but it is not at all difficult to achieve 500 hrs a year. I logged approx. 600 hrs two years straight despite turning missions down.

Coastie,what the airlines will like most of all is your excellent attitude.

P-3Bubba,
Whats squadron are you in?
PM me

P3pilot