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FBI vs. NFO/Pilot
- Thread starter Enigma
- Start date
This is probably the first of these should I do X vs Y threads where you really can't go wrong with either choice. Like some other folks on here, I was deadset on going pilot out of NROTC and wasn't really thinking of anything else. Upshot of that is that I have a bit more room to carve out a second career (something to consider for the fence-sitters out there).
A guy I went through GTI with ending up going to the FBI after he got out and is working out of the NYC field office. He was from Long Island and wanted to get back home and the FBI all but guarantees you'll go to that office if you put it number one on your dream sheet. Like @vxc961 alluded to, there are a lot benefits to being part of a civilian organization. My friend enjoys it and said that the opportunities are nearly limitless. You're not writing speeding tickets, but tackling complex criminal activities which I would imagine is quite rewarding.
I think Special Agent retention is somewhere in the neighborhood of 95% and most stay through 20 at a minimum. I'm sure there's the usual complaining and government stupidity, but that's a fairly remarkable stat. Especially compared to the military or even something like the Foreign Service.
VMO4
Well-Known Member
I went pretty deep into the FBI recruiting/applying process during my last year in law school, got to the point of talking on boarding dates, etc... This was early 90's, after comparing the benefits, and what the job was like, I would almost choose being a E-3 in Stumps over what that life is like, I am stunned people actually are debating Naval Air vs that option. For starter's the pension is a joke, unless its changed, there is no early vesting, the retention to 20 is high because if you leave at 18 you get 0. I was told point blank by the recruiter I would never get stationed anywhere near the part of the country where I was from. Getting Long Island on your dream sheet is likely because you make less than a good bartender and have to live on Long Island, don't plan in staying very long, The FBI is good at cubicle based data crunching, not actual street level law enforcement, if that is what you are after, so be it.
A good friend of mine from law school ended up going all the way in, got sent to ass crackistan to interview terrorists, ended up getting skin cancer, could not get sent home for treatment because they took his passport for "safekeeping", and my pension from my small municipal town after 20 years of law enforcement is almost twice his pension amount., Good luck to you all.
A good friend of mine from law school ended up going all the way in, got sent to ass crackistan to interview terrorists, ended up getting skin cancer, could not get sent home for treatment because they took his passport for "safekeeping", and my pension from my small municipal town after 20 years of law enforcement is almost twice his pension amount., Good luck to you all.
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To be fair, that was thirty years ago. Imagine taking advice about joining the military today that was rooted in 1993. Or about joining the military in 1993 that was rooted in 1963.
People have had entire careers in the DOJ and retired since this was relevant advice.
it sounds like you made the right choice for you and did something else.
Holy hot take. Methinks your "gouge" is out of date. People I've spoken to seem to really love it and they do high impact work (not a lot of local cops doing this, or this, or this). Also the story about your buddy being involuntarily held in "asscrackistan" sounds an awful lot like "there I was" stories I've heard on the boat.
vxc961
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Geez, I don’t really have a dog in the fight, but I can’t help myself here.
You’ll start out as a GS-10 (+20%, availability pay). After five years you’re a GS-13. We’re in a high cost area, and my wife has been salary capped (fed law) at like $165k or something for a few years now (she has 17 years in).
Pension is no secret. 1.7% per year until 20years, 1% per year after that. (Prior mil time will be added after 20 years at 1%/year). Also:
5% matching into TSP
Social Security, and since you can retire at 50*, they give you replacement SS payments until age 62.
One of our friends wife is a deputy; she gets paid much less, but will basically 100% salary at 55. I think pensions like that are getting harder and harder to find though.
FBI doesn’t seem perfect to me, but all these “I knew a guy…” stories seem pretty out of whack with my passenger seat view of the job. To the OP or anyone else I’m happy to put you in touch with an active agent; seems to me they’ll bitch and moan as much as the next guy, but when it comes down to it they love their jobs and are happy enough with their compensation.
*you have to have 20 years to retire though.
You’ll start out as a GS-10 (+20%, availability pay). After five years you’re a GS-13. We’re in a high cost area, and my wife has been salary capped (fed law) at like $165k or something for a few years now (she has 17 years in).
Pension is no secret. 1.7% per year until 20years, 1% per year after that. (Prior mil time will be added after 20 years at 1%/year). Also:
5% matching into TSP
Social Security, and since you can retire at 50*, they give you replacement SS payments until age 62.
One of our friends wife is a deputy; she gets paid much less, but will basically 100% salary at 55. I think pensions like that are getting harder and harder to find though.
FBI doesn’t seem perfect to me, but all these “I knew a guy…” stories seem pretty out of whack with my passenger seat view of the job. To the OP or anyone else I’m happy to put you in touch with an active agent; seems to me they’ll bitch and moan as much as the next guy, but when it comes down to it they love their jobs and are happy enough with their compensation.
*you have to have 20 years to retire though.
Just like every military (AD, ANG, Reserve) Pilot I know!
Seriously, this dude can't go wrong.
How do FBI agents have time for both the FBI and the Air National Guard? I thought FBI agents had to go through Quantico training and worked like 50 hours a week?
Wouldn't there be time conflicts between the FBI and the ANG's training, drills, deployments, and TDYs?
villo0692
Well-Known Member
Hopefully without spilling anything.
But I mean, after training and once settled, it’s just like any other job, you’ll be taking military leave as long as your orders dictate. Arrangements are made, etc. at least that’s what my FBI recruiter told me during my process a couple years ago. I was also highly encouraged to not join the reserves or national guard or what have you until being done with Quantico
This is the answer.
USERRA applies to the FBI.
You'd take military leave from the FBI to go to training. It's Title 10 so it doesn't count towards your 5 year total. You'd go to mandatory drills, you'd mobilize when it's your turn to do so, you'd keep flying and splitting time just like every other part timer in drilling status who has another full time job does. Again, taking mil leave from from FBI where required/needed.
Here's the thing about mil leave from your day job- it cannot be denied. They don't have to pay you, but they cannot fire you, they cannot hold your seniority up, they have to have a position for you when you return.
My FBI neighbor, pre 9/11, had to leave the Army Reserve to be an agent. The stated reason was it may present a conflict of interest, or command influence on the military side, since the FBI is the only agency with nationwide criminal investigation powers. Everyone else is jurisdiction limited in some way. But the FBI can take lead on any military crime. Obviously that wasn't deemed a strong argument post 9/11. Makes me wonder though. Can NCIS be Reservists? Back in the day, NIS could not, for the reason above.
A buddy from flight school became a USMC RF-4 RO. Went straight to the Bureau after the Marines. He was in the NY field office as a counter espionage operative when someone grabbed him to be a seat filler for a sick pilot on a surveillance mission. Next thing he knew, he was in pilot training. Went on to fly a variety of aircraft in the FBI stable. Deployed once to Iraq, twice Afghanistan. On one of those deployments he flew ISR.