Space-Available means you fly after duty passengers. The jet is real. The seat is a maybe until they call your name.
Active duty on leave, some dependents, retirees, and 100% P&T disabled veterans (among others) may compete. Selection is by category, then by signup date and time inside that category. Marking present does not jump you in line.
| Cat | Who |
|---|---|
| I | Emergency travel |
| II | EML (environmental and morale leave) |
| III | Active duty on ordinary leave, and some family on orders |
| IV | Unaccompanied dependents on EML |
| V | Permissive TDY, students, others as listed in DoDI 4515.13 |
| VI | Retirees, unaccompanied dependents of retirees, 100% P&T veterans |
Always confirm eligibility in DoDI 4515.13 and the terminal’s own rules. This site is not the regulation.
Most terminals take email. Send travel documents, not PII like SSN. One active signup per terminal. You can usually stay on the list for a window of about 60 days or through your leave dates. Sign up as soon as you are eligible — that timestamp is your seniority.
AMC terminals publish a rolling three-day outlook. Earlier than that, plans change constantly. Seat codes:
Roll call time is local to the terminal. Be marked present before it. Many terminals will not take you present more than 24 hours out.
Terminals that run rotator missions also post a monthly PE calendar. Travis names it TRAVIS_30DAY_01MMMYYYY.pdf. You get the date and roll-call time, not a seat count — seats stay TBD until the flight shows up on the 72-hour. Those rows are tagged “30-day” on the board.
The 24-hour roll-call PDF is yesterday’s result: seats released, seats used, lowest category that boarded. We archive those after they roll off the terminal page so you can see how Hawaii and other routes actually filled. Outlook-only rows stay until the official used/category lands.
Arrive early. Have physical copies of leave, ID, passports (valid well past return), and dependent documents. Two checked bags, 70 pounds, 62 linear inches is the usual C-17 standard — some airframes are stricter. If they call your category, you’re flying. If they don’t, you were never going to be on that jet, and the next board is already the job.