I'm looking to exit and hit the reserves. Counting on my time as an IP in UPT to help get a job there, but I'm getting nothing but closed doors. Multiple places have said RND took back a bunch of slots and there is no hiring for the foreseeable future. Anyone else run into this?

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AF Guard, flying Guard/Reserve for Army, Navy, Marines, maybe Coast Guard...some other options...

Coast Guard does not have flying reserve slots. I've heard Navy is similar in that flying reservist positions can be tricky to get in these days (but I have not actively verified).

Are you current in an AETC airplane? Current and qualified will get first look/priority. My info is 10 years old, but guys just coming down the hall were easier to hire than guys requiring any kind of requal or full course. Given upt squadrons have probably restocked the airline interview prep lockers like it was pre 9/11, I'd say there's a lot of guys wanting to come down the hall..

Sounds like AETC Reserve is filling up/full. You want what 90% of pilots getting out want, a TFI job in a desirable location with a relatively easy commute. Similar to F-16 squadrons, the southern tier units get inundated with applicants while the northern tier units have to recruit. My understanding is a tanker unit up north lost their jets because of manning. You want your foot in the door? Look North or RPA. Once you're in the Guard/Reserve all doors open!!

As others have said, current and qualified tend to go to the front of the line for the obvious reasons. Almost everyone getting out has a white jet ALFA tour under their belt, so that's not a special discriminator.

Things are generally full up on the T-1 side of the house, less so in the 38, and historically less so in the T6. The dynamic as of late for the bump up in the T-6 manning numbers dealt with the FY13-14 VSP and a bunch of 11M running for the exits. We took advantage of that scenario to fill our T-6 manning. We've also experienced quite a bit of leakage due to the airlines. As GSUs, we understand people lie when they say they're in it to win it, then turn around and drop the GSU job like a hot potato 2 months later when Delta calls. We've got burned like that in the past, but considering the hiring free for all, we have bigger fish to fry than get upset at the individual member playing tag with the Reserves.

There is/was a moratorium on hiring due to the Group re-balancing manning against regAF manning at the GSU locations. That's the purported RND job shifts you are hinting at. That is a true statement and something that will continue taking shape into FY17 and 18.

That said, generally it's important as an applicant to realize, if you come in demanding a job at the 39th and the 39th only, you're going on the s-bag pile. I know I'll catch flak for this again, but if you're a blue falcon, guess what, we are a SMALL community, and we have interservice contacts too, so your history in AD (whether AF, NAVY or ARMY) will come to light. If you didn't do yourself any favors then, there's always a chance you're getting blackballed. Don't shoot the messenger.

In general, having a flaky plan for how you're gonna get yourself to the unit and fulfill the commitment, is not going to be received well. The worse geo locations are going to be more accepting of crazy ivan plans for commute than say RND; that is self-evident and understood. If you're not gaining traction with the UPT Associate program units, my advice is cast a wider net into your current or prior MWS, even if it's not what you want to do. Otherwise as has been said, your best bet is to go latch on to an RPA squadron. That schedule isn't exactly EZ-bake oven either, but if they're undermanned, they should be in a position to play ball with ya. Good luck.


A couple of points. First, "TFI" is not considered desirable. It's regAF AD-lite work. The problem is that everything these days is TFI. That's water under the bridge though.

Second, desirable locations do not describe any of the UPT GSUs, save Sheppard, and that may also be a stretch depending on how uppity you are. 340th GSUs also are not the embodiment of an "easy commute" in the least. So that's also a known quantity. The reality is that most of the true "hometown model" units are MWS units that deploy, which isn't something particularly desirable to people with rapid seniority progression at the airline. If tomorrow the hiring stops, then we'll be back to the time where ART jobs were coveted, revolving-unfilled AGR jobs is blasphemy, and people elbowing each other for a man day was SOP. Today, that's no longer the case... for now. I'm certainly not excited about the prospect of a 16K-large airline seniority list. That screams furlough fodder to me, but that's for another thread. As far as I'm concerned what's going on in the Reserves today is a great manning change in pace that benefits the member's leverage, compared to the last 12 years. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

So my claim was substantiated by a recruiter saying the same thing about a few other dudes. I'm not 'across the hall' as I left AETC 1.5yrs ago. I understand the desirability of dudes that are current. It seems that it's always feast of famine with both the airlines and reserves. On to plan B. Thanks for the words guys.

Try calling the reserve group at RND directly. Some guys I know got hired by the reserve squadron at Sheppard in the last year or two, and Laughlin seems to be perpetually short of IPs of any type. But you're going to have to submit your app through the group and then try to talk directly to them to get the scoop. I'm not confident that a reserve recruiter is going to have the full story on IP manning.

I don't know if the Navy uses reserve IPs at Pensacola but that might be another avenue to explore.

Also... If you really want to fly little planes and don't care where, I know that retiring/separating T-6 IPs with tactical experience have been actively recruited on linkedin for overseas training gigs over the last couple of years. I don't know if those jobs filled up or not but that's another thing to look into if you're not quite ready to give up flying upside down and pulling Gs.

They do, at Whiting, Pensacola and Corpus... They're going to want go you be local or relocate if you get the job to reduce their risk of having you no show... Navy reserve herks in New Orleans and NJ are always short people but, once again you're going to have to win them over by being localish.

Navy reserve units take non Navy and non fixed wing pilots so it won't hurt you to apply to any and all. They say they don't rush like the Air Force, but you're better off with them knowing your face when it comes to selection time.

flensr, I've got several buddies that are currently in each of the aforementioned sqdn's and they said the hiring is tightening down. I will definitely give RND a call, but I don't believe my bro's are making this stuff up. The only reason I give credence to the recruiter is b/c he said he's talked to a few other dudes in my shoes that are having similar issues.

I'm just glad I made this decision 6-9 months out and have a little time to work the angle, dudes punching with 2months PC have got to be feeling the pain.

thanks for the words.