In the midst of asking questions on the Afterburner Club Forum and on Facebook, people have expressed some interest in learning more about the reserves.

I was fortunate to meet some F-16 guys based out of Fresno recently, who all spoke highly of their experience with the Air National Guard with the Air Force. One, Major “Jethro”, was gracious enough to answer a few questions, which I am now passing on to you!

Name: Major Jethro
Squadron: 194th
Based out of: Fresno, CA
Years of experience flying F-16’s: 11 Years

Question: So, first and foremost, what is it like flying an F-16 ( I mean who really cares about anything else)?
Answer: Do you have to ask?

BADASS!!! Yes it’s as cool as you think.

Question: What is different about the Guard verses flying active duty in other branches of the military? Was flight school the same?
Answer: School is the same.

You don’t move every couple of years. You stay at the same base. You don’t have to take staff tours, Predator, or ALO tours. You can stay in the airplane your whole career, which is good. What’s bad, is you fly less every month than active duty. You have fewer training deployments (red flag or others) than active duty. But, you’ll probably be away from home as much or more than active duty.

That comes from guys we’ve hired coming out of active duty.

Another bad thing is you don’t get an active duty pay check because you’re a reservist. Which is tough in your early career because you don’t have enough flying time to get a job outside the guard and you don’t get paid enough to live comfortably?

Question: Are there different requirements for flying in the Guard?
Answer: Yes there are lower monthly currency requirements. As far as getting hired the minimums are the same or higher than active duty. Each squadron has its own selection process.

Question: What’s it like to be on “alert” for a week and trapped in Riverside?
Answer: 99.9% of the time it’s boring. Until the alarm sounds, then it’s panic to get the jets airborne as quickly as possible.

Question: Do you hold another job outside the Guard, and if so, what is it like balancing the two?
Answer: Yes I do, it’s tough. You have to balance the 2 and they both want more time from you. You don’t get a lot of time off and it’s tough to take a vacation.

Question: When you were in flight school, how did you overcome feeling nervous or your fear of failing?
Answer: One day at a time. You just did it.

What did Yoda say to Luke in the swamp, “There is no try. Do or Do not”

Question: What was your biggest motivation for joining the Guard as opposed to going a different route?
Answer: When I was 19 there were only 150 ROTC pilot slots in the country. That sound like long odds too me. So I enlisted in the guard. I figured if I didn’t go to pilot training I only owed 1 weekend a month for a year or 2 instead of 4 years doing some job I didn’t want.

Question: Does your squadron ever get deployed, and if so, how often?
Answer: In the past yes. Currently no, we’re under strength and sit 2 alert sites. So we are not sleeping in our own beds at home 3-4 months out of the year. But we’re not technically deployed either.

Question: If you are deployed, do you fly combat missions?
Answer: If it’s in theater yes you would. But you could deploy on training trips. I was part of a major deployment to Ukraine. It was to help their Air Force spin up on alert operations for next year’s Euro Cup. Or you could end up in Hawaii working with the navy. Last year I deliver jets to Pakistan. You never know where you’ll go.

Question: Approximately how many hours do you get to fly per month?
Answer: Not much, about 9 hours a month. Scary isn’t it.

Question: Overall, are you happy you chose to go the Guard route?
Answer: Yes, I like flying jet and hate flying a desk.

Question: Anything else you’d like to tell us?
Answer: The USAF would eventually like to do away with all guard fighter units that don’t sit alert. However with the current budget climate it’s hard to say when they’ll start cutting alert sites like they did in the 90’s. A-10s are supposedly safe for the next 20 years as long as they get the wing mod done. So I would try to pick a unit that will be around for at least 10 more years.

Hope this give you all the information you were looking for! Let me know if you have any more questions, or would like to talk to one of these guys on the monthly call! I’m sure they’d be more than willing to tell all!