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Gimme a break. No one acts like it's their "right" to live in a good location. But what's wrong with wanting to live in one? Are you even married? Wives don't get to fly every day. They don't get to do things that "contribute directly to the fight." They're stuck trying to raise the kids and/or find a job in the local area. Pretty tough to find reasonable employment relative to education in some of these places. So they end up facing down the majority of the "suck" at places like Cannon while we go off and do the j-o-b. They at least get the right to complain about it.

I just had my AFSC drop and although I received 38F1 (Force Support Officer ), I have a lot of bases to choose from. There are very few bases that I can't be assigned to, so with that what are the best bases for a single Lt to be assigned to? Not that it matters what I request anyways... I was thinking in this order: Hickam (long shot?) Vandenburg Travis Charleston Aviono Incirlik

Revival! How does the process of getting the enrolled in DEERS and on your orders work? We're looking at adopting domestic, but we live overseas currently. I would guess the adoption has to be finalized before the kids can get into DEERS, but since the process of getting your orders amended to include the children probably takes a while, is it possible to start that process before the adoption is final? Since we are international and planning on adopting from the states, will the AF pay for the kids to fly back to our OCONUS location once the adoption is final?

How about we let civil authorities enforce civil laws? Why does the military establishment think it should add more punishment? If A1C Snuffy, MajGen Bigguns, and Joe Blow wallstreet analyst get DUIs, they should all pay the required fines and work the required community service. But that is where the punishment should end. If the civil authorities say that Mr. Snuffy can drive his car to work, why do we in the military only allow him to drive to the edge of the installation and then walk/bike the rest of the way? Mr. Blow can drive back and forth to work at his discretion. My frustration lies with the fact that I've had two individuals subordinate to me get DUI for partying on the weekend, driving and getting caught. They were both just barely over the limit. I do not think that fact exonerates them, but I want to demonstrate that they are not necessarily bad people and they don't have drinking problems. They made a bad choice and need to pay their debt to society. They did. In both cases, the civil court said that they could drive to and from work. We (the AF) however said not only could they not drive their cars on the base, but they could not drive military vehicles on the base. Both were pilots and both had to drive a car for their primary job. Yet, they could fly airplanes but not the car that follows the airplanes in line with their primary job. Asinine- Kuma

Dude, Vandenberg is not that great. Santa Maria and Lompoc have nothing to do. The nearest entertainment is in Santa Barbara or SLO, about an hour away. The only thing I liked about being stationed at Vandenberg was In-N-Out. As a force support person you can go anywhere in the world, and like everyone else I would recommend trying to go overseas.

THE COST OF BEING A PILOT.. But then what? Once you pass the check ride and get the license, what comes next? Often it is the desire to get an Instrument Rating. But then how do you justify another $6000 - $8000 in expenses to get there? How do you get past the almost $9000 in expenses to get that Private Pilots License. Most people answer the good old fashioned way, save up or get two jobs. We do a great job promoting General Aviation to get to the Private Pilot level..but then what? How many of you have had that pilot as an Instructor or Check Airman with 4 or 5,000 hours and they are in their 60’s. So this is why I am writing about this topic. Those pilots, the experienced ones who have been around forever..They are like encyclopedias and full of information. But when the book stops flying all that knowledge leaves with them. We can celebrate when they retire, or give them a plaque, but when they are gone they are gone. I ask you as a community how are we pushing/promoting the pilots we already have to become better? The answer is too often we are not! We get them to Private Pilot status and then maybe one or two will become Instructors someday. I could promote my site some more and ask for funding/donations at fundapilot.com. But bottom line is, so far only $36 has been donated. How many pilots currently can find a source of funding to go to the next level? How many options are there for our general aviation community to take it to the next level? The economy is freezing funds for things like this. But the community is and will be in the need for Instructors and Check Airman for as long as we fly. I can’t pretend that my idea or website will fix the problem. However the more I read the less I find or read about guys going to the next rating or level. I know one thing; I am going to keep writing about this every place I can find. You get booted from Blogs like the Professional Pilots Rumor Network for bringing up the idea or problem. So how do we fix the future, before it really gets out of control? The LSA category has brought a great new excitement to our community, and I am thankful! But let’s start to get some guys moving up, to train the Instructors we will need for the future. Do any of you have better ideas? I know it seems crazy, but if 39,000 people donated a dollar..one flight instructor would be created. If 6,000 people donated a dollar an instrument rating would be created. We can as a group make changes, and the change can be of little pain for everyone. IN the end the Aviation community wins and continues to grow. If the 1500 hour/ATP requirement goes into effect..how many young people will be looking to Aviation as a future?

Cannon may suck, but Santa Fe and ABQ are a good time and Lubbock isn't far away either. Not to mention, the AFSOC mission is legit and you'll be directly contributing to the fight. If you want to live on a beach, go work for IBM. Not saying you should be a martyr and volunteer for Cannon, but it's amazing how many people act like its their right to live in a good location, spouses especially. There are positive aspects of every location, but some people will find something to complain about anywhere they go.