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The Guard is hiring at Selfridge, Battle Creek

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Wing Public Affairs
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. --  

The Michigan Air National Guard is hiring.

 

Openings exist for traditional, enlisted members of the Michigan Air National Guard - those who generally serve about one weekend per month and two weeks of active duty per year - at both Selfridge Air National Guard Base in suburban Detroit and at the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base in the south central portion of the state. Openings exist in job specialties ranging from Security Forces specialists to medical technical - and include a wide range of technical aircraft and weapons systems positions.

 

"Many of the openings are in career fields that come with substantial bonuses, in some cases up to $20,000 in addition to regular pay and benefits," said Master Sgt. Rebecca El, recruiting supervisor for the 127th Wing, which is based at Selfridge.

 

Michigan Air National Guard leaders said that ongoing budget discussions at the federal level may be prompting some people to believe that opportunities no longer exist in the state's two air wings. While changes are ahead - change is a constant in the military - positions and openings continue to be posted.

 

"Service in the Air National Guard is an excellent way for a young man or woman to launch a career centered around our Air Force core values: integrity, excellence and service," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Dobson, the command chief of the 127th Wing. "The training and opportunities extended to a new Airman over the course of a six year enlistment is second to none. At the same time, the satisfaction a person gets from serving his or her state and nation is an intangible reward that few careers offer."

 

A new member of the Michigan Air National Guard at the lowest enlisted rank earns about $200 a month in drill pay, plus approximately $900 for two weeks of active duty. Annual pay for a staff sergeant with more than 6 years of service is above $6,000 for a full year of 12 duty weekends and two weeks of active service.

 

New members of the Michigan Air National Guard typically spend several months serving in their home unit's "Student Flight." Reporting for duty on those weekends, the new member completes a variety of required paperwork and learns basic military information as he/she prepares to depart for Basic Military Training and his/her initial Technical School training, generally spending several months on active duty status preparing for a career in the Air National Guard. Basic Military Training last about eight weeks. The length of the initial technical training varies by career field.

 

"Education benefits are almost always an area of interest for our potential recruits," said Master Sgt. Norma Gillette, recruiting supervisor for the 110th Attack Wing in Battle Creek. "There are a number of education benefits available that can, depending on the college a person is attending, pay for most, sometimes even all, of a person's degree."

 

Hot job openings at Selfridge include aircraft engine mechanic, aircraft fuels systems, aircraft hydraulic systems and several specialties within the aircraft armaments and munities field.

 

In Battle Creek, openings exist in several "cyber" career fields, as well as for positions related to the 110th's Remotely Piloted Aircraft mission.

 

While the spring is a time of year when many soon-to-be high school graduates or those who have graduated in the past couple of years often contact military recruiters, El and Gillette said opportunities also exist for those who received honorable discharges from prior military service - in any branch of the U.S. military.

 

Among those who recently took advantage of such an opportunity is Daniel Wiseman, a Flint resident who recently completed six years of service on active duty with the Air Force. Wiseman recently enlisted in the Michigan Air National Guard to serve as a weapons loader on an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, the same job he did in the active-duty Air Force.

 

"The Guard is a great way for a person who served on active duty to continue to serve, to build points toward a military retirement, but to be able to do so closer to home," El said.

 

Wiseman, who is now a student at the University of Michigan-Flint, said he wants to continue to work toward a military retirement and utilize the various educational benefits of military service as he works toward his degree.

 

"I decided that I wanted to return home, but I didn't want to walk away from the Air Force all together. The Guard made natural sense," Wiseman said.

 

For information on opportunities that exist at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, visit the 127th Wing's career's web site, www.127wg.ang.af.mil/careers, or call the recruiting office at 586-239-5511.

 

For information on opportunities that exist at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, visit the 110th Attack Wing's web site, www.110aw.ang.af.mil/careers, or call the recruiting office at (269) 969-3234.

 

More than 2,000 Citizen-Airmen serve in the Michigan Air National Guard. The MI-ANG operates the 127th Wing, which flies the KC-135 Stratotanker and A-10 Thunderbolt II, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit; and the 110th Attack Wing, which operates a Remotely-Piloted Aircraft mission, at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. The MI-ANG also operates two training sites in northern Michigan: the 147,000-acre Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, one of four such facilities in the nation; and the Grayling Air Gunnery Range.