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What happened to marine reserve aviation?

PhrogLoop said:
When are you guys slated to transition? And will the squadron remain in Norfolk? I can't imagine that being a lone osprey squadron in Norfolk would be any more difficult than being the lone Phrog squadron on the East Coast.
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Last I saw, somewhere around 2014 is when the transition is supposed to happen. As it stands, we aren't supposed to remain in Norfolk. With all the squadrons that are moving up from down south - they want us out. We'll see - they've talked about Andrews AFB, but who knows.
 
I hear the AR scoops up junior Capts pretty quick. I was talking to a Maj about it the other day. But once you're an AR, you stay AR. True Phrogpilot?
 
Pepe said:
I hear the AR scoops up junior Capts pretty quick. I was talking to a Maj about it the other day. But once you're an AR, you stay AR. True Phrogpilot?
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Your AR commitments are per set of orders. If you decide at the end of a 3 year set of orders you want out, you get out. Switching back to active? Probably not going to happen because AR is undermanned - so they need everyone they can get. If you're a Capt and put in for AR - you're going to get it.
 
What about the number of hours you get to fly compared to AD? Promotion rates?
 
Not first hand, but I'm told that AR promotion rates are much better than regular. Same for true reservists.
 
phrogdriver said:
Not first hand, but I'm told that AR promotion rates are much better than regular. Same for true reservists.
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I would say that SMCR is much better than AD on promotion rates, but AR is only a little better. As an AR, you probably have a better chance of making LtCol - but that's about the end of the road for you. On the SMCR side, someone who likely would have been a terminal Major on the AD side, can make LtCol or Col easily.

Flight time is about the same for an AR guy as an AD guy (maybe just a little less). I've been doing the reserve bum thing, and I get about 200-250 hours a year. AR guys are consistently around 250 hours a year.

Pay/Benefits/Retirement for an AR guy is identical to AD.
 
phrogpilot73 said:
I would say that SMCR is much better than AD on promotion rates, but AR is only a little better. As an AR, you probably have a better chance of making LtCol - but that's about the end of the road for you. On the SMCR side, someone who likely would have been a terminal Major on the AD side, can make LtCol or Col easily.

Flight time is about the same for an AR guy as an AD guy (maybe just a little less). I've been doing the reserve bum thing, and I get about 200-250 hours a year. AR guys are consistently around 250 hours a year.

Pay/Benefits/Retirement for an AR guy is identical to AD.
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All that being said, why does anyone stay AD? Or at least why is AR so undermanned?
 
Nobody knows about it, for one.

Also, for a lot of guys, the point when they normally would have the opportunity to go AR, they still want to do "bigger and better" things.
 
Pepe said:
All that being said, why does anyone stay AD? Or at least why is AR so undermanned?
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phrogdriver said:
Nobody knows about it, for one.
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+1. I didn't know AR existed until I joined the SMCR.

If I knew about it before I left AD (and if I wasn't married to PSW), I'd be all over AR like a fat kid on a donut. Let's see, very few deployments, bounce from flying squadron to flying squadron, lots of airshows, and a full retirement?? Who wouldn't want to??
 
Pepe said:
This SMCR?
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How'd you guess??

There's a whole lot of reserves that no one on AD knows about.

IRR = Inactive Ready Reserve. This one is the one that most guys on AD know about. You get out, accept a reserve commission, and you're in the IRR. You get out prior to 8 years of total service, you're in the IRR. You don't do a thing, unless you want to.

SMCR = Selected Marine Corps Reserve. This is the one that most AD guys identify as the reserves. Drilling reserve units that people affiliate with. There's Infantry Battalions, Engineers, Squadrons, etc...

IMA = Individual Mobilization Augmentation. This is the one that almost no AD guys know about. You name it, there's an IMA billet doing it - helping out the active component. Our squadron XO just took a 1 year IMA billet with MCLL in Afghanistan. I know two people flying C-12's on IMA billets. VMR-1 has IMA billets for Phrog pilots flying the HH-46E. HMX-1 has IMA billets. They're everywhere, CONUS and OCONUS.
 
phrogpilot73 said:
How'd you guess??

There's a whole lot of reserves that no one on AD knows about.

IRR = Inactive Ready Reserve. This one is the one that most guys on AD know about. You get out, accept a reserve commission, and you're in the IRR. You get out prior to 8 years of total service, you're in the IRR. You don't do a thing, unless you want to.

SMCR = Selected Marine Corps Reserve. This is the one that most AD guys identify as the reserves. Drilling reserve units that people affiliate with. There's Infantry Battalions, Engineers, Squadrons, etc...

IMA = Individual Mobilization Augmentation. This is the one that almost no AD guys know about. You name it, there's an IMA billet doing it - helping out the active component. Our squadron XO just took a 1 year IMA billet with MCLL in Afghanistan. I know two people flying C-12's on IMA billets. VMR-1 has IMA billets for Phrog pilots flying the HH-46E. HMX-1 has IMA billets. They're everywhere, CONUS and OCONUS.
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Hmmm...I see much research in my near future.
 
Pepe said:
Hmmm...I see much research in my near future.
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If you need any help in the future, let me know. The reason most AD guys don't know about this stuff is because they can't access RDOL (Reserve Duty Online) on MOL. Those of us who are nasty reservists can. We can search for IMA/SMCR billets by state, rank (and you can put in for a billet 2 up/2 down from your current rank), and MOS. So if in the future, you're serious about looking into it - let me know and I'll pull billet lists for you.
 
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