The head of Air Force Reserve Command likes to recruit Active-Duty Airmen, because if they switch over to the Reserve at the end of their Active-Duty service commitment, it means AFRC doesn’t have to pay to train them.
“Our business model for the entire Air Force Reserve Command is a 70/30 mix, so 70 percent of all [Air Force Specialty Codes], we prefer to take from Active-Duty, and thank you very much for training them,” Lt. Gen. John P. Healy said March 5 at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “It’s a dollar issue: if I’m 30 percent non-prior service, that’s a much more manageable bill on our behalf.”
That’s especially true for pilots, who cost tens of millions of dollars to train. If they come over to the Reserves at the end of their 10-year Active service commitment, chances are the Air Force will get much more bang for its buck: Healy said 91 percent of Active pilots who switch to the Reserves stay in uniform for 20 years, and 86 percent stay in 30 years.
“So now we’re really talking about a return on investment for the money spent, the training and the experience that was involved in those pilots,” the general said.
Making the switch, however, is no sure thing when airlines are awarding conditional job offers two years before pilots’ Active-Duty commitment expires, and when the process for joining the Reserves takes a lot of time and red tape.
That is taking a toll: Healy said about 67 percent of Reserve pilots are prior service, shy of that 70 percent goal.
“We need to boost those numbers up,” he said.
AFRC is rolling out two programs meant to do just that. The Pilot Concierge Cell (PCC) helps guide Active pilots through the affiliation process, while Total Force Shared Service (TFS2) helps pilots serve the tail end of their Active commitment in the Reserves, giving them the flexibility to start an airline career without impacting the readiness of their Active unit.
Pilot Concierge Cell
Healy compared the PCC to VIP treatment at a hotel.
“As you’re walking into the Gaylord, you see a line of 26 people to check in to the hotel,” Healy said, referring to the resort where the symposium took place. “But on the right you see Platinum Elite, ‘please come this way.’ And I walk over there, and they’re like ‘General Healy, can I get you a Prosecco, and upgrade you and maybe give you 1,000 points?’ Yes to all.’”
Likewise, the PCC aims to put pilots at ease while transitioning to the Reserves, where the biggest challenge is finding a Reserve squadron to fly with, explained PCC program manager Gordon Olde.
“The AFR doesn’t typically assign pilots to squadrons the way Active-Duty does,” Olde said. “Reserve squadrons ‘hire’ their pilots through a process called ‘sponsorship.’ Every Reserve squadron manages its own sponsorship requirements on different timelines, which creates a challenge for pilots trying to secure unit sponsorship.”
Just finding the right contact information for each squadron can be a challenge, but PCC should help with that. Located at AFRC headquarters on Robins Air Force Base, Ga., the cell will soon have four members, each of whom specializes in a certain area such as mobility (tanker and transport aircraft), or fighters, bombers, and other combat aircraft.
“We are going to hold the hand of the pilot who is looking to affiliate and we’re going to introduce them to units directly,” Olde explained. “We give them a warm hand-off so that the biggest burden of trying to figure out who to talk to in our units is overcome.”
Finding a sponsor isn’t the only step. Pilots also must decide between full-time and part-time service, brush up on benefit and bonus programs, and decide between Palace Front, where Active members switch to the Reserve or Guard after completing their Active commitment; or Palace Chase, where they do so before completing their Active commitment, which requires special permission. The PCC can help pilots make those decisions.
Officers also have to be “scrolled,” where the President formally nominates them for confirmation by the U.S. Senate and adds them to the Reserve scroll, a process which can take six months or more. That’s why the sooner pilots get started, the better, so they don’t get caught flat-footed by a fast-approaching separation date or any administrative hurdles.
The PCC augments, but does not replace, the in-service recruiter, who is still the expert for handling the administrative details of affiliation, Olde said. But since PCC is at AFRC headquarters, it can usually help find a solution to administrative issues.
“Our goal is to make our customers happy, if you will, and have them want to affiliate and spread the word that ‘hey, this is not as difficult a process as I thought, and the PCC really did make a difference,’” which will hopefully bring in more pilots, he explained.
The PCC acts as an information hub, so other Active rated aviators with questions about the sponsorship process can reach out with questions about the Reserves, Olde said. Aviators looking to move to the Air National Guard should contact an ANG recruiter.
“Even if they just want information on what life might be like in the Reserve, they can contact us at any point in their career,” said Lt. Col. Michael Holden, a senior member of the PCC.
TFS2
Toward the end of their Active-Duty service commitment, pilots may want to switch to the Reserves or the Air National Guard early. Maybe their spouse has a good job nearby and the pilot doesn’t want to move to a new assignment, or maybe they want to start working at an airline, where seniority is critical, as soon as possible.
Pilots in that position can pursue Palace Chase, which lets them affiliate early. But Active squadron commanders may be reluctant to sign off because of the Air Force’s ongoing pilot shortage, said Lt. Col. Brian McGinnis, project manager for the Total Force Shared Service (TFS2) program.
TFS2 is a form of Palace Chase meant to give Active pilots more flexibility to switch to the Reserves or the Guard without short-changing the Regular Air Force. For now, the beta test is limited to five bases where a local Active unit flies the same aircraft as the co-located Reserve or Guard unit:
- Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
- Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
- Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
- Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
- Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
So-called associate units “are already working closely together in most cases,” McGinnis said. “There’s not a separate flying schedule for the Reserve or the RegAF: there’s just one set of airplanes and they all schedule and fly together.”
There are two TFS2 options, both of which allow Active pilots to separate with one year left on their Active-Duty service commitment in exchange for a three-year Guard or Reserve commitment. So as to not short-change the Active unit, those three years include a 12-month tour on Active-Duty for Operational Support (ADOS) orders, meaning the newly affiliated pilot works full-time for the Active unit they just left for a year.
In the first option, the newly affiliated pilot immediately serves the 12-month ADOS tour. Once that tour is over, they become traditional Reservists or Guardsmen working for the Reserve or Guard unit.
Under the second option, the pilot can put off their ADOS year for up to 12 months while they serve as traditional Reservists or Guardsmen so they get their line number and start training with an airline, for example. That option “is designed for members seeking to get started in an airline career who want to remain in the Reserve as an insurance policy for economic downturns,” AFRC wrote in a press release.
“It’s kind of a career intermission almost,” McGinnis said. “You can go take a year off, get your line number and do your airline training, but then hop back in and finish your commitment while you’re building seniority.”
That option should help address an ongoing struggle between pilot retention and airline hiring. At the symposium, Healy said that when airlines are on a hiring spree, AFRC sees a dip in its full-time force and a surge in its part-time force, and the opposite for when airlines furlough pilots.
The PCC and TFS2 programs work together to try to increase affiliations into the Reserve. For example, pilots who reach out to McGinnis may not be eligible for TFS2 because they’re not at one of its five starting bases, but McGinnis can forward them to the PCC, who can still help set them up for a Reserve career.
Many aspects of the transition process, such as scrolling and administrative hurdles, are outside of TFS2 and PCC’s control, which is why the managers of both programs encourage pilots who are interested to get in touch with them sooner rather than later.
TFS2 aims to take initial applications in fiscal year 2025 for the first pilot transfers to the Air Reserve Component in fiscal 2026.
To reach the Pilot Concierge Cell, email hqafrc.a3rb.pilotconciergecell@us.af.mil. To reach the TFS2 program, email brian.mcginnis.2@us.af.mil, aaron.husk.3@us.af.mil, or matthew.russell.1@us.af.mil.