Posted on 12/19/2010 8:19:37 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
They called it "dozing for dollars." Pilots with the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing based in Fresno had a lucrative arrangement: After their normal day jobs flying F-16 Fighting Falcon warplanes, they often grabbed shifts on alert at full pay.
Alert duty is akin to what firefighters do at the station house, waiting for an alarm to sound. Pilots must be available to "scramble" – intercept enemy air attacks, or intervene in another emergency.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Uh, in the aftermath of 9/11, wasn’t there a bit of a stink about fighter aircraft not being available for alerts?
As I recall, firemen are paid whether there's a fire or not? Tweaking the system? Naughty boys, that might be a bit of a "NoNo," but not that much of one.
May I suggest that illegal aliens be employed at 5/hr to work the standby shifts?
Now if they worked out so that they pulled eight hours before midnight and an alert shift on the next calendar day then that would be fine. I can also see commanders coming up with a paid while racking alert policy when trying to fill out an alert schedule that they aren't manned for.
This is what California chooses to investigate?
They are a little busy.The 144th Fighter Wing’s mission is to provide air defense protection for California from the Mexican border to Oregon utilizing the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter aircraft. The 144th also supports the nation’s Counter Drug Program .
start with enforcing the rules...
then allow people to be able to earn a pension and quit anytime they want...but they don't start collecting until at least age 60...
This is absolute BS.
If the ANG pilots wish to sign up for additional alert shifts they absolutely deserve extra pay.
California has so many blatant featherbedding and public servant fraud scams like the Bell city employee scandal going on and this is what they choose to go after ANG pilots.
Wait till a cell of terrorists crash a fully fueled 747 into Disney Land on a peak tourist day. Paying 4 F16 pilots overtime to man Alert duty will seem like a bargain.
Alert duty is akin to what firefighters do at the station house, waiting for an alarm to sound.Funny they should mention "double dipping" and firefighters in the same article without mentioning firefighters are the poster children for double dipping when it comes to jobs.
Agreed!
Planes were available. NORAD failed to scramble jets from the nearest bases.
Personally, I'm just glad my wonderful DH isn't involved... he's an Air National Guard pilot (currently deployed to Iraq.)
One thing I don't appreciate in this article is the bit about sitting alert, watching TV or sleeping. What the heck are you supposed to do all day. For most reservists there is only so much paper to push. If I'm supposed to sit alert all night, then I am going to spend most of that time trying to sleep.
So its okay for you to work two jobs to pay bills but not firefighters?
Sounds to me like they were working jobs as ARTs (civil service employees albeit in uniform) during day shift and were working as Guardsmen (military under the state of California military department) at night.
The way it works for the full-time ARTs I have known over the year is that they draw their civil service salary for their work during the week and then draw their drill pay during the weekend or for their 2 week annual training. No controversy (although the Bee might see it otherwise)
But this is like two separate jobs. Would the “Bee” have a problem if the pilots were on alert duty at night and then worked at Dominos as a pizza delivery man during the day? Or if they bagged groceries at Vons? Or worked at a bank? Or taught school?
From when I was in, alert duty was simply sitting in the alert facility (or elsewhere on base) playing pool, sleeping, eating, and keeping out of trouble in case the order to scramble came up in the middle of the night. But when you’re not on alert duty, the time was basically your own. It’s been over 20 years since I worked on a SAC base, so my memory may be bad, but I just don’t see the controversy here.
Back in the early 1970’s I was an ART at Carswell AFB. My civil service pay was on the highest scale but my rank was simply assigned (not based on actual career progression) and was an E-6.
Now, with that in mind I was paid civil services pay while on civilian duty and military scale while on military duty. The ratio of civilian pay to military pay was approximately 6:1.
I asked the question “if called up for active duty in an emergency, would I be paid the same (or compensated) as my civilian pay or would I be limited to only military pay. Of course, the answer was that I would be only on military pay.
That’s when I resigned.
The point is that ART personnel are necessary but in times of “call-up” they risk a huge personal financial disaster if the period of duty exceeds any extended period of time.
Double dipping? No...plain and simple.
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