Are you friggin kidding me?? Cuz I've heard pretty much the exact opposite. With airframes being kept airborne by duct tape and maintenance crews kicking black boxes, I've heard birds and hours are hard to come by currently... maybe it was just bad gouge from bitter war-pig bubbas...
Paging SCOOBER!
Kicking boxes/hitting valves etc... I'd be surprised if that isn't standard maintenance practice around the fleet. And yes I've been asked to leave the flight station to go back into the tube to kick something when the IFT was busy trying to fix something else.
If your going to pick a community based on the amount of hours you are going to get for the airlines- do not pick P-3s. Gone are the days of 40hr months on the homecycle and 1800hr first tours. The norm that I've seen on homecycle is typically between 15-20hrs a month (pilot time). High hours guys are leaving with approx 1300hrs- the norm is closer to 1000hrs. Of course there are exceptions to this depending on how many deployments/surges you get, and where you get sent to. For example. I got about 350 on my first deployment, and know others who got 100 (in 7 months) and mid 400s. All 3 of us were on different deployments. I've also had a couple of 8hr months on the home cycle as well. Its hit or miss really.
Also, if you are picking just for the per diem- don't. The days of every deployment site having great per diem are gone. I can only think of 3 major sites right now that aren't 3.50/day currently... and only one is a full time deployment site- the 2nd alternates between a deployment and surge site, and the 3rd is surge only, and that changes periodically. Once again- hit or miss.
As for it beings the FOs who are ruining the community... its the self sustaining mentality of having to make things more difficult then they need to be out of principle that I find the be the most detracting thing about the community. And its both Pilots and FOs who are guilty of it. Wether it be having 4 full blown NATOPS exams a year and other quizzing, super in-depth training presentations filled with stuff you don't really need to know systems wise, ever increasing GMTs and command surveys, writing hazreps over anything/everything abnormal for "tracking purposes" and writing/rewriting excel trackers to show the same things in different ways to please the wing.
Unfortunately thats the cost of doing business. I'm certain there is bullshit in every community that has to be put up with. With us now having 7 listed core primary missions (or something crazy like that), 18-month "home" cycles, and decreased flight time due to HONA/Red Stripe, opportunity abounds for work to be created for the sole purpose of making people look better and making the community look good on paper.
Like I said, that stuff is the price you pay for good stuff... I'll take an all JO crew and any det site without the front office hanging around-thank you. Drinking with friends/crew mates in random ass places in the world (drinking is a highlight everywhere), sampling local cuisine, checking out the local talent/sites when they exist, watching Coastie helos shoot up drug runners, VBSS teams boarding ships, flying low and rigging ships, localizing and tracking real submarines, international exercises, watching the sun rise and set over all corners of the globe, supporting missions on the ground, combat approaches, and some other stuff that won't be talked about here. Those are the things that stand out in my memories.
If you get selected for P-3s (or any other community that isn't your first choice for that matter) try not to be bitter and make the best of it. There will be times that suck. When they do think of the big picture and remember why you chose to serve. There will be times that make all the bullshit worth it- savior those moments. That is going to be the same whether you want to be in the community or not. It is possible do well for yourself even if you didn't show up wanting to be there. Take care of your Es and don't backstab your fellow JOs. Give the O-4s shit when you can get away with it. Figure out what the big stuff is, and master it. Don't sweat the small stuff- and its mostly small stuff.
... and having hired people @ two airlines while in Flt Ops -- I can say w/out hesitation that this is absolutely correct.
