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Balancing Aviation Officer in ARNG with civilian career/grad school?


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I will be going to OCS and hope to branch Aviation. Besides possible deployments, what kind of additional commitments outside of the 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year could I expect as an Aviation Officer with the Guard? Would it be possible/realistic to try and pursue a PhD program once Im done with flight school and am assigned to a unit?

 

Any information is appreciated!

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From what I'm told expect 1-2 days a week of flying. I'm sure some actual guard aviators will chime in soon.

 

FWIW on the grad school front I think it will heavily depend on your program, how demanding it is, and how regimented it is. I got my JD in a full time program and could easily have jammed 1-2 days of army stuff a week into my schedule. Some of my friends in the medical programs... not so much. I also anticipate being limited in my legal career options given my expected guard obligations after flight school when I have those hours I'll have to make.

 

Mike

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To make your minimums, you should plan on flying once a week. Flying more often than that as a new guy is pretty hard, as you're fighting every other new guy for a slot on the schedule. Ideally you'll want an employer that has a somewhat flexible schedule, or just work for Uncle Sugar, who can't say no to USERRA.

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What exactly are the minimums? Ive heard 48 hours per every 6 months. And do you have the flexibility to get these hours outside of typical business hours and on weekends?

 

Your minimums are aircraft dependent. Your unit will probably have a couple of different flight periods throughout whatever days they fly (likely a morning, afternoon, and night period). You work 4 hours for an AFTP and are expected to fly in the neighborhood of 1.5 hours per period.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I understand that some employers will be more willing than others, but dont all have to comply with USERRA?

 

De jure, yes. De facto, not so much. They do have to comply... if they hire you. There are companies who won't hire you if you're guard because of problems they've had in the past. It won't be an official policy but you can bet your resume will end up round filed.

 

The bigger issue is how much you are willing to twist the arm of the folks that pay your mortgage, when the issue is really that your guard unit accommodates the needs of their own full-timers over the majority of the unit, the part-timers. They are partially hamstrung by Army regulations and policies written with the active component in mind, but there's a lot of things that could make things easier on the drilling guardsmen.

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