"Casual Duty" for 2nd Lieutenants

Bundy

Bundy

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I have a question about the "casual duty" that some (all?) UPT bound USAFA graduates (2nd Lieutenants) are assigned before their pilot training begins. Is this duty at the base at which they will ultimately be taking their pilot training or is it somewhere else?

Our firstie son is trying to decide his options as he also has a chance to be an assistant coach at USAFA for a while (a year?) before UPT (assuming he gets a pilot assignment), but his girlfriend is blowing in his ear about everything she wants to do, complicating his decision. Some facts would be helpful at this point - thanks!
 
Almost everyone gets casual; UPT or any other AFSC, he will end up shuffling papers before he starts training. Usually at the same base, but some 2nd's take a longer "casual" assignment (i.e back at the academy working in admissions, coaching, etc.) Bottom line is that like everything else, you just never know, and usually it is not in your control.
 
My info is for the Class of 2011. As always, things can change.

Casual duty is almost always at the UPT base where they will be doing flight training. The exceptions were for those 2Lts who stayed at USAFA for 6-12 months to do their casual duty there. Most of those were working for different academic departments on projects. Some worked with sports teams.

At the UPT bases the duties can vary greatly. Some are administrative (shuffling papers). Some of the casual jobs were actually on the flightline refueling planes, or working as a spotter in the RSU. Our son worked in the base command post as the night duty officer. He worked 12 hour night shifts, 2 days on, 2 days off. Casual jobs can also be changed and reassigned. Since there is a huge glut of incoming 2Lts in July there may be less jobs than workers so some may only work part time. For the first few weeks a couple of son's friends needed to only go to the placement office at 0800 each morning to check on available jobs and then were released for the rest of the day to do whatever they wanted. No matter what they are all still getting full pay and BAH/BAS. As each UPT class starts (every three weeks), the pool of available labor shrinks and the jobs get more like full-time. It seemed that most of the 2Lts who did casual on base were starting UPT within 6 months of July. Those whose dates were farther out did their casual at USAFA and then transferred to the UPT base around January. Those at USAFA still get full BAH and BAS and pay so they live off base and it is just like any other job.

Most of the ones that my son knew had a choice in accepting a position at USAFA rather than starting UPT right away.

Stealth_81
 
Stealth's info is good.

Casual can be done at the UPT base or at USAFA. For Academy assignments, cadets will essentially apply for open jobs. USAFA wants their Lts for be around for some time, so prospective applicants must have a later start date, February or later, I believe.

Casual experience at the UPT base really depends on how long you have before your class start date. For example, after I was fully inprocessed into Vance, I had about two weeks before I went to IFS, then I returned about two weeks before I started accomplishing checklist items for UPT. This really wasn't enough time to warrant giving me a real job, so my duties involved reporting at 8 to the student lounge, and staying until 1130 if nothing came up. I got the occasional oddball assignment, i.e. urinalysis monitor, however most days were relatively free. That being said OAPTers (officers awaiting pilot training), that had did have later start dates, mid-November or later did get jobs. Those varied widely from command post to working in the medical clinic to marketing, in the finance office, etc.

Personally, I'm very grateful to have gotten an early start date. However, there are plenty of people that don't mind having a little more of a break before starting up. For those with a later start date, I'd definitely try for a USAFA assignment. There, the location is better and you're more likely to have a reasonably worthwhile job while you wait for pilot training...
 
Stealth_81 said:
My info is for the Class of 2011. As always, things can change.

Casual duty is almost always at the UPT base where they will be doing flight training. The exceptions were for those 2Lts who stayed at USAFA for 6-12 months to do their casual duty there. Most of those were working for different academic departments on projects. Some worked with sports teams.

At the UPT bases the duties can vary greatly. Some are administrative (shuffling papers). Some of the casual jobs were actually on the flightline refueling planes, or working as a spotter in the RSU. Our son worked in the base command post as the night duty officer. He worked 12 hour night shifts, 2 days on, 2 days off. Casual jobs can also be changed and reassigned. Since there is a huge glut of incoming 2Lts in July there may be less jobs than workers so some may only work part time. For the first few weeks a couple of son's friends needed to only go to the placement office at 0800 each morning to check on available jobs and then were released for the rest of the day to do whatever they wanted. No matter what they are all still getting full pay and BAH/BAS. As each UPT class starts (every three weeks), the pool of available labor shrinks and the jobs get more like full-time. It seemed that most of the 2Lts who did casual on base were starting UPT within 6 months of July. Those whose dates were farther out did their casual at USAFA and then transferred to the UPT base around January. Those at USAFA still get full BAH and BAS and pay so they live off base and it is just like any other job.

Most of the ones that my son knew had a choice in accepting a position at USAFA rather than starting UPT right away.

Stealth_81
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Looks like your son and I have something in common. I am assigned to CP now until I start in a couple months. Not set on day or night, but always 3 on/3 off 12 hour shifts still.

All the young gun '13 grads are working everything like you mentioned. CP, Public affairs, flight line, gate guards, SDOs, etc. etc.

MY 2 cents is that your son should choose was is best for HIM and HIS career and not what girlfriend wants. If you had said fiancé or wife, I might be more sympathetic. BUT girlfriend? Nope. Cause guess what, USAF always comes first and as Pima says, she is just the mistress.

If it was ME, short of grad school opportunities, I would not delay pilot training. ESPECIALLY with the budget issues and what I've seen in the last month here at Laughlin, the sooner you can start, the safer your pilot slot and future opportunities are.
 
Honestly even if she was his fiance or wife, I would still say to him do what is best for him!

When Hornet said I always considered myself the mistress, it is true, and it is not an exaggeration of the life of the wife. The AF will decide if he will be home for xmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Bullet even said at his retirement, after 20 yrs of marriage to Pima, it is time she is my wife, and the AF is now my ex-mistress. It was always our inside joke.

I get that this is casual status and really has no impact on his career, but it is something she has to get accustomed to when it comes to this life. Bullet would always talk to me about PCS decisions, but I always said to him which one is the best option for your career? Okay, than that is where we will go!
~~~ We had friends that were passed over for O4 because the spouse was very vocal on where she would live. I.E. great assignment to Eilson, but she wouldn't go to Alaska, he would take the eh assignment to Eglin, because it was in Florida and that is where she would agree to go to. Yes, there are spouses like that out there!

Our DS (AFROTC) was casual status for 4 months at Laughlin, he worked the flightline for that time, along with every one else that came in at the same time.

Fencer's DS worked at the AFA during his casual status. I am sure she can give insight on that front.

I also agree with hornet, right now the pipeline is slowing down and nobody knows what the pipeline will be come May 2015 (assuming he does a yr at the AFA). There are people that I know that showed up at their base with a start date only to find out it has been delayed by several more months.
~~~ Remember, sequestration was not just for a yr., it is for a decade, with each yr decreasing the budget by 10% unless congress acts. That means less money to spend across the board, including at UPT bases, which in turn slows down the pipeline.
 
Bundy said:
(assuming he gets a pilot assignment)
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When are they going to find out? I know it was suppose to be last month, have they heard yet the new release date?
 
My son and a few of his friends (all C1C's) stayed at our house this past weekend. None of them knew when it was going to be annonuced. One joked that it might be for 100 nights. One said that the rated slots have been slotted but the non-rated have not.
 
The jobs also vary with how many casuals are around. At Sheppard right now, there aren't many casuals because so many are at IFS or vacation, so they're all pretty busy. When I went through, I worked in one of the squadron offices and did busy work (organizing storage closets, putting together recycling bins and shelves) but usually was only there for 7-8 hours a day, including lunch and going to the gym. I would wait until he's told a projected start date before he decides whether to take a USAFA job or not
 
hornetguy said:
Looks like your son and I have something in common. I am assigned to CP now until I start in a couple months. Not set on day or night, but always 3 on/3 off 12 hour shifts still.
Click to expand...

Yes, you have a lot in common. Same jobs at the same base and starting UPT about the same time of the year. He had a lot great times at Laughlin and still gets back there once in a while since his girlfriend is still there in the weather office. I had one of those "The AF is really small" moments about a month ago when I saw both you and my son comment on a certain redhead's Facebook page at about the same time. Such a small world!

Good luck with UPT and keep us posted on the progress.

Stealth_81
 
hornetguy said:
...
If it was ME, short of grad school opportunities, I would not delay pilot training. ESPECIALLY with the budget issues and what I've seen in the last month here at Laughlin, the sooner you can start, the safer your pilot slot and future opportunities are.
Click to expand...

What is the word down there regarding students getting bumped? I was hearing here yesterday of OAPTs at Laughlin that should be starting about now that have been bumped as far back as 15-07... True?
 
buffalo said:
What is the word down there regarding students getting bumped? I was hearing here yesterday of OAPTs at Laughlin that should be starting about now that have been bumped as far back as 15-07... True?
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The rumors are true. Four from 15-03 and four from 15-04 got bumped to 15-07 and later.

The next rumor I'm hearing is that my class is huge and there's no way we can start with that many (15-05).
 
Why would this just be happening at Laughlin and not other UPT bases?
 
Columbus was bumping people as well. In fact, some entire classes got pushed back (13-15 became 14-01). From my understanding it came down to getting too far behind the timeline, whether that was due to weather or maintenance or whatever.
 
Just messaged a bit from a friend who's doing casual at USAFA before heading to the Rio. He's done with IFS, but got UPT bumped back to June... Ouch!
 
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