Leaderboard

Fix to fix's aren't even authorized in the NAS anymore. Good riddance.

Plus it would kill one of the best flying gigs in the AF, being a T-6 PIT IP.

At END in the T-38 students use the autopilot and FMS....never.

My brother-in-law is a junior in college and recently told my wife he was interested in flying military helos. Anyone have any insight as to whether the Guard & Reserve helo units hire off the street? Thanks.

Yep, jest aside, you just called the emperor naked.

IMHO Automation should be introduced briefly in UPT and be formally taught during IQT of the MWS and seasoning at the first assignment. It's a short year to learn the basics- building a solid foundation of hand flying and a strong ability to interpret raw instrumentation should be the primary objective of the UPT cadre.

M A R S Mars, bitches. We're there.

Dude, TP stalls are intense.

This was just sent to my inbox and I had to read it twice. Don't know if it qualifies to be in the read file but it speaks volumes . https://mickeyinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2013/12/an-open-letter-to-congressman-ryan-and.html?m=1

It's not about the fix-to-fix, it's about being able to interpret the information from the instruments.

It's not that the person doesn't know ahead of time if they are a new hire, although it seems like some folks were not grandfathered into what they signed up for and we'll see how it's implemented on the civilian side. Here's how I think most employees would see it: Bill is a GS-13 program manager working for Agency X. His annual salary is $95K. He has worked at Agency X for 5 years and contributes 0.8% of that $95K into FERS every year, or $760 per year. If Bill works for the Feds for the next $25 years, he will have paid in $19,000. For argument's sake no promotions, step increases, etc. for simplicity's sake. Fred is a GS-13 program manager who shares an office with Bill at Agency X. His annual salary is $95K. He was hired on 6 Jan 2014 (hypothetically falling under the new rules if the budget deal passes). He will contribute 4.4% of that $95K into FERS every year, which is $4,180 per year. If Fred stays on with the Feds for 25 years, he will have contributed $104,500 for the exact same FERS annuity that Bill receives. Same assumptions as above. That is real money and OBTW unlike the changes for military retirements, these changes take effect day 1 in each employees paycheck. Bill's before-tax but after-FERS take home is $7,853 per month. Fred's is $7,568. Fred, congrats on your new job and all, I'm sure you're gonna work out great, but you get to do the exact same work as your office mate Bill and you will make $285 less per month every month for the entirety of your career. So as an O-3 who most likely makes IVO what Fred and Bill make, would you want to do the same job you're doing now for $285 less per month? It's not that the sky is falling, but when you want to raise revenues from a small group of people (Feds, military retirees, or even both groups combined), the pain for each individual person is significant. Anyone with half a brain making $95K annually can figure out how to make it work for $285 per month less, just like any mil retiree with half a brain can make it work with less growth in their expected COLA increases. Neither of those changes are good policy or things I support, don't get me wrong. My entire argument in the first place was just to demonstrate to clouseau that the Fed civilians were indeed getting the shaft right along side mil retirees, and I'd argue more so since the cuts are felt immediately and affect every federal civilian regardless of whether they ever end up drawing that FERS annuity at retirement. To the ~83% of military members who will never retire, the cuts being proposed will not affect them whatsoever and even those who plan on retiring, you likely have years to adjust your plans rather than seeing $285 extra dollars taken out of your Feb 1 2014 O-3 paycheck.

How long have civilians had TSP matching?

You really think that this will keep "flying hour cuts, no TDYs, cancelled Red Flags/WIC classes, and other serious cuts to O&M accounts" from happening again? The roughly $6B proposed savings is a mere drop in the bucket. If we take this with no pushback do you really think that a further erosion of our benefits will not continue? This one is just the tip of the iceberg if it passes.

The irony.

As usual, the Duffleblog delivers! Obama Takes ‘Selfie’ At Fallen Soldier’s Funeral But the sad reality is that Obama would never attend a fallen soldier's funeral. (OK, before Vertigo and/or nsplayr jump in, I know he did once back in 2009; but I suspect that was more for the photo op than anything else. Since then he has proven he really doesn't give a shit about the military...)

So the way I'm reading this is if you're a Major between 15-18 years in non-critically manned career field the Air Force is willing to give you a golden ticket to get out the door early. However if you have the same number of years and just so happen to be in a critically manned career field then you are subject to the RIF. In essense: We don't need you, here's a paycheck for life and a cadillac healthcare plan. We need you but you came up a little short, f--- of and die.

Beale AFB chalk up a jet for the kids...

Would you consider it tacky and distasteful if somebody was taking selfies and laughing like that at one of your family members funeral/memorial? I damn sure would. This is the President of the United States on the world's stage. That narcissistic fuck doesn't know any better. I guess you don't learn manners being a community organizer in a shit hole like Chicago.

And proof that Mandela was a racist...

Hmmm... seems to be a trend in the C-17 community with crossflows. Maybe if we stopped associating crew qualification with career progression we wouldn't be having so many issues.

Noted. That's not really a huge media conspiracy. Were they supposed to cage fight on AF 1?

Proving what, exactly?

I wasn't aware that a two-sentence, 39-word post was outside the definition of 'clear and concise.' Also, it's you're. And college-aged.

Ballsy.... Stupid but Ballsy I will give you that.

Maybe, but your view is very cynical. In this age of technology, you can look at anybody's life and if it doesn't conform to exactly how you want it to, you can rip them apart for it. By using your logic, Mother Teresa can be viewed as a terrorist, Michael Jordan isn't the greatest because he's an asshole, and Elvis isn't the King because of drug use. Mandela did great things and it's easy to second guess every detail in hindsight. I'm not saying these things shouldn't be scrutinized but good deeds need to be celebrated since they're far and few these days.

No one who knows anything about South Africa argues that Apartheid was beneficial and that some sort of economic malaise can be attributed to its removal. In fact, it experienced huge economic gains until the financial crisis, taking its place as the 'S' in BRICS. This is an argument along the same lines as we should nuke the Middle East, or adopt anarchy.

I do not know what you mean by "porking it away" but the Taliban is not gone and I do not believe Karzai has laid the groundwork for reforming and reconciling ethnic tensions among the groups in Afghanistan. No, here are readings you can peruse: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23041513 https://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/nelson-mandelas-legacy-economic-too https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139392/ryan-irwin/mandelas-unfinished-business The last one is tailored greatly for this argument. It is the failure of leadership post-Mandela that has lead to what you use to discredit him. This is Mandela's fault?

^^ How so? I'm genuinely curious as to why you think that.

out of curiousity, how many people on here are actually advocating scrapping the entire budget deal because of the COLA reduction? i'm not happy about it either, and i totally understand the outrage/feeling that there are many other ways to drum up the cash that it will save, but do you really want to go through another year or more of reduced (or "tiered") readiness, flying hour cuts, no TDYs, cancelled Red Flags/WIC classes, and other serious cuts to O&M accounts? i would love to see the Senate amend the proposal but if it comes down to yes/no on this, i will take what i consider to be a relatively minor hit to ensure our readiness. it sucks, but life's not fair. i will certainly ask my representatives to modify this at a later date and try to restore the funding, but i'm not willing to fall on a sword that's going to cut DEEP into readiness b/c of a 1% COLA cut to a pension i won't see for another 10 years, if i even stay that long. just curious how the rest feel...

Bush 41 never attended soldier's funerals... What a disgusting human being he must be! I'm sure you'll agree, right?

That the Obama's, Bush's and Clinton's all traveled together to the funeral and behind closed doors and when politics are set aside, they do get along. Nothing more, nothing less....