Flight time requirements are negotiable if they need pilots it can be done. With additional training and a good attitude it can get u on board . Then the AST academy is fun. Then you are a AST Trooper. Good $$ and good retirement. And more flying all over Alaska then u can imagine...........

DonC wrote:Flight time requirements are negotiable if they need pilots it can be done. With additional training and a good attitude it can get u on board . Then the AST academy is fun. Then you are a AST Trooper. Good $$ and good retirement. And more flying all over Alaska then u can imagine...........

Don,

The sweet retirement program went away several years ago. Legislature thought Troopers were getting too good a deal....pricks.

Current retirement isn't great, a 401k style, but better than nothing.

MTV

mtv wrote:

DonC wrote:Flight time requirements are negotiable if they need pilots it can be done. With additional training and a good attitude it can get u on board . Then the AST academy is fun. Then you are a AST Trooper. Good $$ and good retirement. And more flying all over Alaska then u can imagine...........

Don,

The sweet retirement program went away several years ago. Legislature thought Troopers were getting too good a deal....pricks.

Current retirement isn't great, a 401k style, but better than nothing.

MTV

Seriously? We run a small excavation business and could only dream of offering a benefits package that would equal what our government employees are getting.
So, feeling like we are equals.....not much sympathy from me or our employees.
That being said we have great respect for those protecting us and defending our flag.

Terry wrote:...Seriously? We run a small excavation business and could only dream of offering a benefits package that would equal what our government employees are getting. So, feeling like we are equals.....not much sympathy from me or our employees. .....

Kind of like when the airline guys I know gripe about pay, vs my pay as a union construction worker, or my pension benefits now that I'm retired. KInd of tough to feel their pain.

Terry wrote:

mtv wrote:

DonC wrote:Flight time requirements are negotiable if they need pilots it can be done. With additional training and a good attitude it can get u on board . Then the AST academy is fun. Then you are a AST Trooper. Good $$ and good retirement. And more flying all over Alaska then u can imagine...........

Don,

The sweet retirement program went away several years ago. Legislature thought Troopers were getting too good a deal....pricks.

Current retirement isn't great, a 401k style, but better than nothing.

MTV

Seriously? We run a small excavation business and could only dream of offering a benefits package that would equal what our government employees are getting.
So, feeling like we are equals.....not much sympathy from me or our employees.
That being said we have great respect for those protecting us and defending our flag.

Well, do any of your employees have to get in an airplane and fly to a bush village, often with nearest backup a hundred miles away to arrest a drunk with lots of guns who just assaulted a villager?

MTV

Didn't know about the change Mike. Oh well hope it didn't affect the already retired folks

Law enforcement races forward to confront what everyone else is running away from. They are the end of the line...no matter how nasty or dangerous or revolting a task, LEO's don't have anyone else to call...they're it. That's worth something.

And statistically LEO's have very short retirements. Thirty years of adrenalin cycling is not good for the body.

To top it off, it's an extremely difficult position to get. Most people who apply to an academy will not be accepted or will not pass background investigations. On average half the people accepted into academies will wash out. A large percentage of those who make it will wash out in field training or the probationary period. The attrition rate for vested LEO's is surprisingly high...it doesn't take much of a hick-up to loose an enforcement job.

Anyone who makes it through thirty years of dealing with the absolute scum of society deserves their pension, and a generous one at that.

Hammer wrote:Law enforcement races forward to confront what everyone else is running away from. They are the end of the line...no matter how nasty or dangerous or revolting a task, LEO's don't have anyone else to call...they're it. That's worth something.

And statistically LEO's have very short retirements. Thirty years of adrenalin cycling is not good for the body.

To top it off, it's an extremely difficult position to get. Most people who apply to an academy will not be accepted or will not pass background investigations. On average half the people accepted into academies will wash out. A large percentage of those who make it will wash out in field training or the probationary period. The attrition rate for vested LEO's is surprisingly high...it doesn't take much of a hick-up to loose an enforcement job.

Anyone who makes it through thirty years of dealing with the absolute scum of society deserves their pension, and a generous one at that.

As a kid, I didn't understand why LEOs all retired well under the "normal" retirement age. But after dealing with many of them most of my professional life, I understand very well why some leave after only a few years, only to return after trying something else for awhile, and then still retire at a relatively young age. It's obviously something that gets into their blood, but also eats away at them, moreso than many other careers.

Of course, when I was younger, I also thought I'd stay in practice into my 80s. But when I retired at the ripe young age of 71 almost 3 years ago after 46 3/4 years, I was very much ready. The stress of trying to solve others' problems, most of which they'd caused themselves and often enough, problems that occurred because they failed to follow my advice, finally took its toll.

To paraphrase an old saying, one shouldn't judge another's occupation until he/she has walked in the other's shoes.

Cary

DonC wrote:Didn't know about the change Mike. Oh well hope it didn't affect the already retired folks

No change to Troopers who started in the old system or retirees, yet. At the same time, the Legislature changed the teacher retirement system drastically. Now they're having trouble filling bush teaching positions.

MTV

mtv wrote:

DonC wrote:Didn't know about the change Mike. Oh well hope it didn't affect the already retired folks

No change to Troopers who started in the old system or retirees, yet. At the same time, the Legislature changed the teacher retirement system drastically. Now they're having trouble filling bush teaching positions.

MTV

Not sure how it was before but I do know that the school districts' contribution (aka the taxpayer) to TRS and insurance is approximately the same as the salary. What the teacher gets for it, I have no idea. This is after several years participating on district budget committees and seeing the numbers.

Teachers are not hard to get here in rural Alaska, but good ones are impossible to keep and poor ones are impossible to get shed of. It's still a parade.

Agree on the LE jobs. Tough duty. AST has a good percentage of pros in my experience. Be a shame crappy retirement packages change that.

gbflyer wrote:

mtv wrote:

DonC wrote:Didn't know about the change Mike. Oh well hope it didn't affect the already retired folks

No change to Troopers who started in the old system or retirees, yet. At the same time, the Legislature changed the teacher retirement system drastically. Now they're having trouble filling bush teaching positions.

MTV

Not sure how it was before but I do know that the school districts' contribution (aka the taxpayer) to TRS and insurance is approximately the same as the salary. What the teacher gets for it, I have no idea. This is after several years participating on district budget committees and seeing the numbers.

Teachers are not hard to get here in rural Alaska, but good ones are impossible to keep and poor ones are impossible to get shed of. It's still a parade.

Agree on the LE jobs. Tough duty. AST has a good percentage of pros in my experience. Be a shame crappy retirement packages change that.

My wife is a retired Alaska teacher. Her health and defined benefits retirement program is excellent. Teachers, like Troopers, lost the defined benefit retirement. That was a good program, and hurt teacher recruitment in many districts. Try recruiting teachers for Fort Yukon.... Some districts are having a tough time, but not all.

Good teachers are every bit as important as good police, believe me, and there a lot of districts that are having a hard time getting ANY teachers now.

MTV

I'll take your word for it. We homeschool this one so I've been away from it for the last 3 years. All I know is that we have probably the sorriest district in SE and we have no problem getting new teachers. They just come and go. Can't speak to the villages.

Platinum's temporary...six weeks....teacher departed Friday... no teacher here now..not tomorrow...not the day after...no clue if LKSD has hired or has forced a teacher to relocate to Platinum?


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Cary wrote: ..................
......................................... finally took its toll.

To paraphrase an old saying, one shouldn't judge another's occupation until he/she has walked in the other's shoes.

Cary

Amen, Brother. Actually walking in the shoes changes your perspective. Everyone plays a part, and deserves respect for doing so.

gunny

Terry wrote:
Seriously? We run a small excavation business and could only dream of offering a benefits package that would equal what our government employees are getting.
So, feeling like we are equals.....not much sympathy from me or our employees.
That being said we have great respect for those protecting us and defending our flag.

You have great respect, but not so much that you feel bad that their retirement has been gutted?

Kind of like when the airline guys I know gripe about pay, vs my pay as a union construction worker, or my pension benefits now that I'm retired. KInd of tough to feel their pain.

This one hits home, if you'd like to have a real discussion about this I'm all for it. Do you still have a pension? Not many airline guys do.

To paraphrase an old saying, one shouldn't judge another's occupation until he/she has walked in the other's shoes.

Cary and Gunny get it...