Will USAF Be There For My DS At The End?

Life after AF

Hi
I guess I have been hoping for my DS a good and productive 20 year run and then possible flying for a major airline 2 or 3 days a week and having a good life. I guess we will all see how it works out in the end.
Regards
John
 
Hi
I guess I have been hoping for my DS a good and productive 20 year run and then possible flying for a major airline 2 or 3 days a week and having a good life. I guess we will all see how it works out in the end.
Regards
John

And that is quite possible. I have quite a few friends who flew in the air force and are now, after retiring 20 years later, are flying for major airlines like United, Delta, Southwest, and American. But there are going to be some that don't want to fly any longer. They don't want to be away from home 2-3 days a week.

Again; this is where skills come in to play. A pilot is an excellent example. If you want to continue flying after 20+ years of flying skills in the air force, then that's great. What if you don't want to fly. You have a degree from a great school. You have a lot of management experience. But depending on what you want to do when you get out of the military, that may not be enough. What if you were a medical surgeon for 20 years and wanted to start a NEW career. Your education and experience will get you so far.

The point is, in the military, there are many "Military Specific" type jobs and experiences. If you can find a job in the civilian world that is similar and requires the same experiences, then you'll have no problem. If the job you do is military specific, or you don't want to have anything to do with that job when you get out of the military, then you better develop more and different skills. That's why when people ask: "What should I major in at the academy". I always say: "It should be in something you want to do when you get out of the military". Remember; to become an air force pilot, it DOESN'T MATTER what your degree is in. It can be english, engineering, behavioral science, chemistry, history, military studies, etc.... So, how will this degree help you when you are no longer flying for uncle same. Same if you get a business or economics degree and are a supply, financial, personnel, etc... officer. If you want that similar career when you get out; great. What if you want to get into computers, telecommunications, hotel management, physical fitness, mechanical, etc... You better learn new skills while you're in the military.

Here's a small example. One of my degrees when I was in the military, which was related to my job, was a degree in electronics. However; in my 20 year career, my minor was Psychology. I learned computers from scratch to hardware, software, networking, etc... (Eventually, I received a 2nd degree in computer science/IT networking); I learned how to drive Tractor Trailers and even got a CDL license; learned AUTOCAD and how to draw and design blue prints. Learned how to write contracts, proposals, etc...; Got an NEC electrical license; got an RF FCC license; learned how to do construction; took classes in Quality Control; and many other skills. All of this was done WHILE I was still in the military. When I was ready to retire from the air force, I only had to decide WHAT AREA I wanted to get a job in. Take any/all of the skills and then add the various college degrees; management experience; personnel experience; financial experience; technical experience; etc.... and qualifying for a good paying job was not ever a problem.
 
John,

FWIW the 2-3 days a week in the airline world doesn't happen overnight. It takes yrs.

People tend to forget or don't know when you start in that world, even with 20 yrs of experience you are at the bottom of the pile. It is all about your line number. For some they may be sitting on call in for days. They also might miss every holiday because of their line number. Than add onto it that their start pay is low.

It took our friend @ 5 yrs to move from the right seat to the left, and now because he was the low one on the pole for the left seat, it equated to not get the 1st picks.

He has been with SWA for over a decade now, and it has only been the last 5 yrs that he has started to rake in the money.

I know many who also have never gone that route because as they say they don't want to be a busdriver in the sky.

The beauty for fliers is that they have the ability to go many routes...busdriver, defense or corporate. 20 yrs in the military your undergrad is not going to matter as much as your work experience. Let's be honest even as an engineer major in the AF, you won't hold an engineering job if you are a flier.
 
John, Pima is dead on. While going the military route would allow your son to skip the horrors known collectively as the regional airlines, he would still start at the bottom of the totem pole at one of the majors. The first few years of first officer pay stinks, you may be reserve, you won't get good bids, and you'll fly on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. until you get some seniority ( <-- What the entire airline industry is based on). Adding that fourth stripe just puts you right back at the bottom of the seniority list again and you might make less money before you begin to make more. Not that it's all bad, because it isn't, but the airlines are absolutely not what they used to be. Don't forget that there are other flying jobs other than the airlines. UPS and Fedex are where all the money is right now. Corporate flying and fractionals are other ways to keep flying with their own pros and cons. If you have any questions about some of this stuff, feel free to shoot me a PM John.

FlyingFuzz
 
+1 to flying fuzz...the fallacy needs to be removed that at 43, and 20 yrs under your belt you will fly 2-3 days a week, and make that O5 salary you were making.

I recall when our closest friend retired and started with SWA in 2001. His starting salary was 38K and his retirement pay was 37K. He was on call and his home base was Baltimore (they live in NC). He had to pay for a crash pad for those on call days.

With SWA when he made Captain, for the 1st yr or so, he still bidded on the right seat assignments because as flying fuzz stated you are on the bottom of the pile again, and pay is usually tied to the routes, so it was financially better to bid on the right seat flights because his line number was the top of the pile and he wouldn't need to be on call again.

Too, too people think that they will enter the airline world, make 6 figures off the bat, and fly a couple of days a week. It takes yrs to get there, and for some it will never happen.

Another friend at the same time went to United, 9/11 occurred, and so did furloughing, he was able to stay above the cut line for a couple of yrs., but eventually it happened...he was furloughed. He still is, but because he left as an O4, he was able to jump back into the AF. He is now 50 yrs old flying RPAs. He was an 86 AFA grad. His biggest regret was he left the AF before retirement. He spent yrs going nowhere, came back in the same yr Bullet retired, as an O4. There was his asst. flight commander retired with 50% pay starting his 2nd career, and here he was back again, but now not even flying an F15E.

It is a crap shoot, and that is why some never fly after retirement. They would rather go corporate and make the 6 figure income right off the bat working for a company like Lockheed where they can still be part of that flying world without all of the hassles of passengers and being gone 3 or more days a week. They spent 20 yrs of TDYs, they know a hotel room is not the same.

OBTW, we went to visit our SWA friend for Xmas in NC. He flew in 10 p.m. Xmas Eve, got home at midnight. Left Xmas day at noon. He was lucky, he was high enough to get a layover in Raleigh, otherwise he would have missed Xmas. He was flying New Yrs eve, and day.

He loves the life. He likes the fact that the system is a line number. Just report do your job, and you will be promoted. No politics or game playing.

FWIW there is another fallacy...families can fly free whenever/wherever they want. They can fly free, but it is like space A for the AF, you are standby, so peak travel times it is highly unlikely you will be able to fly for free.
 
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