Posted on 08/08/2018 8:48:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Way out in Nevada, the secret base from Independence Day — yes, Area 51 — is hiring a pilot for the only airline that flies direct to the secluded destination. Janet Air — as in “Just Another Non Existent Terminal” — flies a nondescript red-striped fleet of 737s from Las Vegas to various sandy, high-security government outposts where, as in Vegas, what goes on there stays there.
The job posting in question is looking for a 3,000-hour pilot with an active Top Secret clearance and little interest in what their passengers do at work. According to salary research site Glassdoor, the average salary of a pilot at AECOM, Janet Air’s parent firm, was $80,454 a year — enough to really enjoy nightlife on the Strip with those wacky scientists you’ll presumably ferry to work in the mornings.
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
Used for testing stealth aircraft, new weapons, and (in popular fiction and conspiracy theories) alien spacecraft, the base also known as Groom Lake — or at least, Area 51, Groom Lake’s most notorious annex — also attracts a fair amount of tourists who are looking to make “first contact.” Most just end up making contact with the highly trained security force that patrols the base’s border.
“The range is used for the testing of technologies and systems and training for operations critical to the effectiveness of U.S. military forces and the security of the United States,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Task & Purpose in a statement, when asked about the purpose of Area 51 and its surrounding environs, probably for the millionth time.
The emailed response from Air Combat Command spokesman Col. Todd Vician, however, was more tantalizing. “There is an operating location near Groom dry lake,” he wrote, but “some specific activities and operations” out there, “both past and present, remain classified and cannot be discussed.”
Hey man, $80K to ferry spooky customers on short hops from Sin City doesn’t sound half bad. But knowing the truth about little green men in the desert? That’d be priceless.
“$80K is not very much for that kind of a job. Even twice that would not be very much. I doubt they get any qualified applicants.”
Yeh, I’m surprised that some Air Force butter bar hasn’t been assigned to the job.
:: Not worth the pay for the amount of scrutiny. ::
Dude...you got Android phone? Too late.
Do you use Google on your iPhone? Too late.
Only until you acknowledge that you're a gay Muslim. At that point the questioning ceases and your application is moved to the top of the stack.
“I’d hate having to fly to and from work every day.”
Did that for a few weeks in the 70s. Twenty miles or so, Kwaj to Meck Island on a Caribou. Night shift from 9 pm to 6 am. They issued us ear plugs. You could walk out of the back of the plane while it was flying if you wanted to. Never knew of anyone that wanted to. Typical Meck landing run was less than half of the 1500 ft runway. I think the pilots were going for a personal record each time they came in.
Why not use AF pilots? Nellis AFB is right there.
“Why not use AF pilots? Nellis AFB is right there.”
Too expensive. The military outsources everything they can these days. Everything from test pilots to aggressor pilots, anything they can outsource to civilian government employees or sub contracting companies. AF pilots cost more than that, even if they don’t make more than that.
“You take this job and your private life and that of your family is over.”
Active secret clearance. Anyone that has one already knows what it means.
“....About 5.1 million people — or more than 1.5 percent of the population — held security clearances last year, up from 4.9 million people with clearances the year before.....”
Its not that big of deal !
Exactly. Not all that invasive... they don’t have the man power to get invasive.
I imagine area 51 requires a double secret secret clearance.
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