Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Sierra048
While I don't fly (actually one of my least favorite things to do), it was a passion of my youngest son since he saw his first airplane. When he was old enough, we paid for his private pilots training and eventually he got his license. I believe it was a Cessna 172 that he trained in.
Fast forward a few years and he entered the USAF as a pilot trainee. He ranked second in his basic pilot training graduating class, and during his track select, had his choice of any plane that was then in the USAF. He had back-seated an F-15 with a Colonel, who sponsored him, several times and I thought that was the route he was going to take. He surprised us all by selecting the C-17 instead. When I asked him why he said he just felt the experience flying the heavier plane would enhance his ability to land a position with an airline once he got out. BTW, he absolutely loves the C-17. He is getting a little frustrated with the direction the military is taking and plans on getting out at twelve years of service instead of staying in for twenty. As a father I was hoping he'd make his twenty, get his retirement, and still have a nice career as a private/commercial pilot. There's always hope I guess.
Thanks Astro, and all the others, for your service. May God bless you all.
Thank You!
I appreciate it.
Your son has made his choice, I would have liked to speak with him prior to it. The airlines "weight" time in their application process and fighter time is viewed differently than heavy time.
The C-17 is a great airplane, that's not my point, but he could have flown anything and gone to the airlines, if that was his goal.
If he's looking for the airline gig, there are two critical points:
1. get out and start as soon as possible.*
2. stay in the Reserve.**
* I waited 5 months to start at UAL. That cost me 500 places on the seniority list. Those who were 500 numbers senior to me flew the 767 when I was on the A-320 for several years. When the lists got merged, 500 guys from CAL were added to the list between me and that May, 1997 class. So, were I to have started even 5 months sooner, I would be 1,000 seniority numbers higher in a company of 12,000 pilots, which would make a huge difference in pay, airplanes, and position. I would be a captain easily, and I will have to wait about 3 more years to move up 1,000 seniority numbers. Each of those years (and I've been here for over 17 years now), I would have been paid tens of thousands more. Those are big numbers over a 35 year career.
** The reserve will pay an O-4 (which he will be when he gets out) a little more than the airline. But that's not the point. He has over 4,000 points accrued towards a reserve pension. Even if he does the minimum, and doesn't make O-5, he will retire from the reserve with about 5,000 points, and that will give him a nice pension when he turns 60. This is a hard point for young men to consider, but here's the math. That pension, in today's dollars, is worth about $2,500/month. Not much, you say? Well, you would have to put about $750,000 into a 401(k) to deliver that monthly income. If he does more than the minimum, the amount goes way up. It's based on points and final paygrade. Consider what an O-6 (two promotions) with 7,200 points (another several years of active equivalent service, but reachable) gets, again in today's dollars, over $6,000/month. You would have to have about $1.8 million in your 401(k) to produce that income...
Thanks for the info Astro. We spent a week with him, DIL and grand daughter last week and we talked at length. Assuming something doesn't change his mind to stay a full 20 yrs, he said he will be definitely be taking the Reserve route. He is a sharp guy and he will ultimately make the right decision. I have no doubt.
