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Quoted for truth. I flew C21s, KC10s, and C130H3s (all 3 to many Conus and oconus locations, and logged O1 time in all 3)....the Lear was the easiest and most family-friendly, the -10 the most comfortable, and the most widely-travelled, and the Herc the most fun and challenging. The only one I'd volunteer to go fly again is the Herc.

Endangered species, mate.

C-130H at Yokota Take all this with a caveat since the C-130H is going away and being replaced with the J (same mission, just no engineer, navigator and much more advanced systems.) Also, I'm at Yokota which is one of the best flying assignments in the Air Force, so what I say will not necessarily mirror Little Rock or Dyess. Maybe Ramstein.. 1. Ops Tempo/Deployment: We don't deploy anymore but the ops tempo is absolutely crazy. This is cool if you like to fly like me, not so cool if you value family life. That being said most families love Yokota/Japan. Tight knit community here and the Japanese are absolutely wonderful people (although robot like.) We fly about 30 local lines a week, and about 20 off station missions a month as a squadron. Not to mention, exercises (to awesome places like Thailand, Guam, Philippines.) Life is busy. Young guys can expect to fly their asses off and I'm sure that will continue with the J transition. Captain-Major types, still expected to fly the line often (which is great,) but also manage a flight, 18 additional duties, MC for an exercise and be in-charge of the air-show. One thing that sucks about the H is that it breaks ALL the time. Very frustrating to go try to fly the line and the plane has a 3 hour ETIC thus your line cancelled. Your 2 day off station can turn into a 30 day real quick. Not too bad if you are single and like being on the road but very unstable. 2. Lifestyle/ Family Stability: As a young guy it is awesome. I've been to 80% of the countries in Asia in the C-130. While we don't deploy, we go to some very challenging, remote airfields that really put your PIC skills to test. We go to Nepal often and as a bro of mine would say: "there is no way to legally take off out of that place." Mt Everest is 29,000 feet and we can't even climb that high. As I mentioned, most families love Yokota, all families live on base and single dudes/dudettes live off base. 3. Community morale: The base sucks, plain and simple. Worst support service I've ever seen. Not knocking on any one individual, I know many great dudes in comm/finance/etc. but as an organization the base is horrendous. People care more about keeping track of resiliency training/SAPR/w/e than launching planes. 4. Advancements & Future of the airframe: Future? Guard/Reserves or go J. Most H guys are going J so that's cool. Advancements? We get a lot of opportunities here that you won't get elsewhere. Young captain as mission commander of a combined/joint exercise with Philippine/Korean/Japanse/Aussie C-130s flying together in formation? Hauling cargo and people into third world countries? Dropping Cambodian paratroopers out of an American C-130 and planning the whole thing? A lot of advancement. 5. Preferred PCS locations : Yokota or Ramstein. Dude, at the end of the day, I love the C-130. We get to travel the world like our C-17/C-5 brothers but yank and bank like our fighter bros, 300 feet of the ground, in formation, to an assault landing or throw shit out the back like our bomber bros. It truly is the best of all worlds.

For every year that you sign up for the bonus, you are committed. Seems simple enough.

Copy, package desirable.........

Why don't you ask them? Get your on your CC's schedule and talk to him. "Hey boss, now that I'm going to part time status, what do you expect from me? Do you have days and orders to hand out? Should I brush up on that HD resume?" Sometimes, it really is that simple, especially in the ARC. No reason to hide your agenda like an Active guy has to.

U-28 1. Ops Tempo: High but stable for now. 3 gone, 6 home with usually a week in transit on both sides of that. 2. Lifestyle: It's fine but expect hours switching around a lot with night flying and early mornings regularly. 3. Community morale: Good but the older guys are getting worn out. 4. Advancements & Future: This thing evolves all the time so it's always on the cutting edge technology wise. That's a plus. In a few years, the U-28 will be replaced by something else. What that will be, I have no clue. 5. PCS Locations: Hurlburt and Cannon. 2/3 chance for Hurlburt. And in AFSOC, all roads eventually lead back to Hurlburt. Bottom line, if you pick based on mission, this airplane has one of the best in the AF now. If the big one with the Commies kicks off, we will not participate. But in the current counter terror fight, we get to have a big impact.

People are always asking about where the good deals are anymore, well, here's one. AGR position with the Washington ANG, bonus eligible, non-deployable, live in the awesome PNW, and you still get to fly fighters. It's one of the hidden gems not many know about and it truly is a good deal, outstanding work/family life. We're looking for F-15 IP fighter pilots, current and qualified are highly desired with experience in the ONE mission. However, if you're the right fit for the position we may have the ability to be flexible for a requal or to pull from other fighter MDS (i.e. F-16). If you're interested, shoot me a PM with your .mil address and I'll get in touch so I can give you an insight into the job and answer any questions you might have. Job is not posted as of yet but it should be soon. I just wanted to get the information out there for the masses to start the discussion early. Great place to come for 5 years and build seniority if you've already got that coveted airline job and are trying to get closer to, or make 20. Cheers, Sledy

I'm not sure I can help much on this. When I was actively flying them, we had conus bases at COS, RND, ADW, BLV, MXF, and FFO. MXF and FFO were flights under the Sq at ADW. COS and RND were flights under the Sq at BLV. All under the BLV wing. Oconus, there was ETAR and RJTY, as well as MPPA. At least one staff agency (AFFSA) flew them as well out of ADW then OKC. Schoolhouse was Simuflite at DFW and jets at BIX. There were about 86 jets divided up between the locations. We rotated covering west coast and central, south, America and Caribbean. We all rotated iron swaps to desert and exchanging tails with oconus birds for corrosion control and other reasons. We rotated covering 24/7/365 bravo or alpha alert aeromed evac mission (2 units on, 4 off, repeat every three weeks). Near permanent deployment to PSAB. So much for history. As I understand it, only COS, BLV, and ADW remain. Schoolhouse at BLV. AFFSA lost theirs as well, and many went to a few guard units as those units transitioned to other aircraft. Many tails went to AMARG. I don't know if OCONUS units still exist. Now, if the mission is the same, each base offers up x tails for missions daily. A central scheduling agency apportions the missions to the units. A mission supports and lifts whoever can get approved. Could be a courier 2-striper, important cargo, or a 4 star general or a senior SES. Or, BLUE BARKs, aeromed evac, human organs, or you go rescue some other lift who's jet broke somewhere, etc. The important thing is to be on time and fulfill your frag. Each unit also likely flies 1-3 training lines daily. Most missions (60%) are 2-3 legs done in a day. Others include an RON, or a few per month are multi-day trips. Most training lines are 2-3 hr transition style locals at nearby fields, or sometimes out n backs. Occasionally, a unit will take on the enormous challenge of getting a long oconus trip approved to alaska, canada, south america, or a European jaunt (the trip planning is easy, getting it approved is ridiculously difficult). Crews normally showed 3 hrs prior for upgrade sorties, 2 hrs prior for all other missions, except alerts. Both pilots go over mission and brief, then one pilot files, etc and the other preflights. An experienced crew could be airborne (legally) in less than 10 minutes from showing at the aircraft. Lears are fun to fly, can kill you really badly in only a couple ways, and are pretty forgiving, so are excellent airmanship builders. Since you often service the jet yourself, and even make certain repairs yourself, the units expect a very, very, very high level of knowledge about the aircraft and systems, how they inter-relate, and how various malfunctions can affect the jet (think EPs for which there is no checklist). But it's not a difficult jet to learn or operate well. That's what I recall at the moment. If I think of anything else after my ginko-biloba I'll edit the post.

Vipers have the highest number of remotes out of any AF flying community...maybe A-10s are equal at this point with their drawdown (percentage-wise). I know guys who have avoided those, but the vast majority of dudes who do 2+ assignments in the Viper will see Korea, many see it twice when they go back to be a DO or CC. But, that's not to scare anyone, Korea was a blast and one of the best times of my life...that I never want to do again. However, I hear Osan is pretty much a "normal" assignment at this point, and even Kunsan has wives living there (not that way when I was there). So, I don't think it's such a bad thing. 2-3 years on a non-remote. Google the bases, there's a bunch. A lot of Viper dudes have transitioned to the F-35 and that continues to be a likely place to end up. You have to do well, they are by no means taking the average guy at this point - looking at your #1/2 guy on the VML who goes...as a general statement.

Be very careful with this; the ATF ruling from about 18 months ago leaves the door open to you getting in a whole heap of trouble if you don't "manufacture" the lower using tools/machinery that you personally own. To wit: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/ruling/2015-1-manufacturing-and-gunsmithing/download Note the overly general terminology in the last section of the document, especially the phrase "unlicensed machine shop".

Fighters are terrific overall and I've never met a fighter pilot who regretted flying them vs something else. The only bad part of flying fighters in the USAF is the USAF. I've seen a constant erosion of lifestyle fun and reward but it is still the best job in the world....just not as fun as it used to be or "could" be. Once you figure out the USAF game/system and realize the USAF needs you as an 11F more than you need it, the work drops off and the lifestyle quality dramatically increases. If you are willing to stab your bros in the back and sell your soul to climb the exec ladder into rank/school/Job etc. you will be miserable, hated or burn yourself out.

Flying fighters (F-16 for me) is awesome. I've done incredible things I would never had the opportunity to do anywhere else. The flying part: Flying A-B is nothing more than a means to an end...the end being tactically employing the aircraft. Flying the jet is easy, employing it well is difficult. If you want to fly around the world and stay in 69 countries before your first assignment is up, this is not the place. If you want to have "chill" time while flying, fighters are not what you're looking for. That said, I have flown all over this world (for a fighter guy anyways), had countless badass TDYs, and employed weapons in the best (i.e. TDYs) and worst parts of this world. The squadron camaraderie, even under the iron fist of the past few years, is second to none. Squadron life: Can vary a lot depending on leadership, as I'm sure the same is true in just about every walk of life. I have been fortunate to have great leadership, so my general experiences have been very positive. I know guys who were/are miserable because they have shitty leadership. Luck and timing matters. In the CAF, I'd say the average guy works 12 hrs day, 5 days a week. It's not uncommon to come in on the weekend to do 2-6 hrs of mission planning for a Mon sortie (because everyone was too hammered or didn't give a shit on Fri afternoon after academics and pilot meetings). However, that's personal choice; dudes could get it done on Fri and have the whole weekend off. You're expected to work your ass off on the tactical side to be a good fighter pilot, but there is still all of the BS that has to get done. You will have a lot to balance, but it is doable and the reward of flying the mission is worth it...at least for a while. If you go to other assignments such as teach B-Course, test, etc. life can ease up a bit and you're not necessarily working 60+ hr weeks...those are good "break for the family" assignments. Family life: It seems in general we are not on the road nearly as much has the AMC/AFSOC bros. But, depending on what's going on the squadron, those 12+ hr days can lead to a lot of missed dinners with the family, etc. There was about a 4 month period (no TDY, no deployment) where I didn't see my first kid 5 days a week because I left for work before he woke up and came home after he went to bed...I made the weekend family time. Overall, in my time flying fighters, I've been gone roughly 50% of the time (TDYs or deployed). Some guys hit more or less, but I'd say 50% is about the average. Overall for my family personally, we prefer longer time away with less frequency. Other communities do less time away, but far more frequently. That may work out better for other's family situation. Overall, I absolutely recommend dudes look into fighters. I think the best analogy I can think of is it's like playing team sports - very competitive (in a good way), you're very close with the bros (work and leisure), and you fly the jet/work together to win. Or you lose, but you learn and get better so when the big game kicks off, you're ready. It's a constant challenge that I personally would be bored without.

I'll try to keep this short because I don't want to make this a C-17 thread. Pretty fair criticisms here, so I'm glad this thread's seeing some balanced inputs. I hadn't heard anything about Elmo or Hickam closing - that's news to me. I guess the long-awaited "shift to the Pacific" never really materialized. I do know that the Charlotte ANG unit is transitioning from Herks to 17s and the AFRC unit in Pittsburgh is doing the same. The community is still "overmanned" on paper, but only because Big Blue changed the crew ratio in order to magically green up the spreadsheets. I think we're at about 107% as a whole now, using the new ratio, but it certainly doesn't feel that way at the squadron level. Completely agree on the potential to see "excesses" in the community abused for AF benefit a la RPA debacle of the last few years. And lastly, being a pilot. I "grew up" as a young copilot flying Afghanistan lines to fields where, by and large, the biggest threat to the jet was ourselves. The ACs and IPs would let their young guys fly something resembling a 3-3 or 3-1 style approach, provide some input when they did a shitty job, and then congratulate them with some beers in K-town that night for managing to avoid the largely-imaginary bad guys. Iraq right now isn't like that. The threat is real and visible, TTPs have changed significantly, and several fields offer a pretty good test of a guy's skills. For a young dude or dudette coming out of UPT, understand that it's a balance. The C-17 doesn't maneuver like a Viper, doesn't play in the dirt like a Hog, and has the RCS of an aircraft carrier. That said, there is enough of this kind of stuff to balance out the long cruise legs, and to occasionally make you feel like you've done something that might matter after spending your last couple crew rests in Belgium or Panama. I personally like the balance and variety of it all. YMMV.

I am currently in AETC and only one of the Moose drivers I have talked to even want to go back. Personally I loved landing in different locations but the leadership seemed horrible, even from people that worked directly for JQP. I know the grass isn't always greener. Also Elmo is closing the active unit and rumor is Hawaii won't be far behind. Take away the two best deals and it's not as nice looking. The entire community is overmanned but that will eventually lead to a push like 2013 where even gets an RPA to level manning out. I rarely felt like a pilot. I was a systems and teams manager the entire time. Track the aircraft with an external computer, worry about crew rest, do TACCs job because they are fools, and try not to get Q3'd. Now I have the opportunity to put stick and rudder skills to use. I know it's not the future but I love not having an A/P to do my work. Would I go back? If they made me, I'm not going to say no but it is currently number 5 on my ADP. Edit for add: the main reason it's number 5 is the leadership that I have experienced in the communities. Even one of our SQ/CCs are my current location says the same thing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enlisted folks have seen disparities in reenlistment bonuses based on timing, work continued. Everyone understands that getting a bonus is largely a product of luck and timing. Late Rates and priors generally don't see them on the pilot side because big blue figures (usually correctly) that someone whose UPT ADSC takes them past 15 years or so is probably going to stick around for the next 5 years without a bonus. If I was in charge of pilot manning, I'd offer folks the bonus to stick around even if it took them well past 20.

Flexibility: As a Traditional Reservist (and, I suspect, as a Traditional Guardsman), your individual scheduling flexibility is dependent on your currency needs vs. what the SQ has available for locals & trips. The more currency items you need to bang out, the more flexible you'll need to be WRT flying on a day/night/trip that you're really not into. As a for-instance, last year I got a short-notice .civ contract job that was going to keep me away from home and out of the local area for a few months. I was also going to go non-current for a cargo load during that time, and the contract was ending shortly before my desert rotation was leaving. To avoid being non-current for deployment, I had to go on a weekend trip that had scheduled cargo, on my last weekend at home before I left for the .civ job. Wife was not happy (we had already made family plans for that weekend), but it was what was required to maintain currency in the short time I had available. Min participation: Once I became a true TR (after the days of "MPA for errbody" ended), I quickly realized there was no way to stay current in the jet, much less proficient, in just one UTA weekend a month. I averaged two double-teeps (AFTPs) a month in addition to UTAs to stay current & proficient, along with at least one trip per quarter. As a boom, my list of currency beans is a hell of a lot shorter than a pilot's list, so depending on a pilot's particular currency needs & training level, they may need to do 3-4 additional days/month on top of UTA weekends. Or, reschedule their UTA days to mid-week to take advantage of trips, local mission profile, etc. Forced into missions: Not in my experience. As a Traditional Reservist, about the only way you can be forced into duty outside of a UTA or AT period is through a mobilization/activation order. The approval level for that is way too high for someone to pursue that for a training mission; to get to that point you'd have to be violating several SQ/WG policies, and you'd be more likely to be booted from the unit than mobilized solely for a mission for training. This is not to say, however, that you will not get pressure from your scheduler/DO/CC to "make the time" and get your ass on the schedule. The flying Reservist/Guardsman's obligation is to maintain currency & proficiency in their airframe, along with all the ancillary bullshit Big Blue has piled on over the years. If you are unwilling or unable to maintain the *family - .civ job - Guard/Reserve* balance and stay current in the jet, you're gonna have a bad time.

Prior: tell me how I didn't have the same commitment?

C-17s: 1. Ops tempo's varied wildly over the life of the program. Before my time, it was common for guys to be gone at least 250 days a year, but it's not nearly that bad anymore. These days, you can probably expect about one 90-day deployment every 18 months or so, and an average of one 7-10 day mission per month out of home station. As a young guy, you'll also spend a lot of time back at the schoolhouse at Altus. It takes five trips there to go from UPT grad to C-17 airdrop IP. 2. Lifestyle/family stability: highly related to #1. We generally don't get many long deployments, but you'll often be gone for relatively short bursts. Like Jarhead said, it's AMC. 3. Morale: Probably average compared to USAF flying squadrons as a whole. You'll get some amazing opportunities to travel to some really cool places. I've been handed papers before to fly to a country I didn't even know existed at the time (Mauritius, as an example). But the sweet trips are tempered with the usual AF BS. Most C-17 guys who are past their UPT commitments are now based at KATL or KJFK, leaving a relatively young and inexperienced crew force behind to pick up the slack. Like I said, standard. 4. This jet's not going anywhere. Being a newer airframe, she's already got most of the bells and whistles that you want. The jet was designed with a 30,000 hour service life in mind, but several of the tails have already hit 20,000+. That lifespan will be extended well past 30,000 in due time. As far as usage goes, I don't see any real changes coming down the pipe. Wherever the US gov operates, which is everywhere, there's going to be a need for airlift. 5. Besides the FTU at beautiful Altus, there are seven AD C-17 bases: four on the west coast (McChord, Travis, Elmo, and Hickam) and three on the east coast (Charleston, Dover, and McGuire). Charleston and McChord are by far the two largest hubs, each with close to 50 of the 223 tails. There are also some limited opportunities to pick up exchange tours with the Aussies, Brits, or Canadians or to go out to fly with the HAW, a NATO unit based in Hungary. All in all, I've really enjoyed it. If you like to travel and you like working with a team of guys and gals on a crew airplane, you'll have a good time. The mission set is varied enough that it's never the same thing twice. You'll see plenty of Iraq and Afghanistan, but you'll also wake up in Peru, Chad, Myanmar, or wherever else Uncle Sam wants to go that day. Pretty fun gig.

*Edited because I didn't RTFQ* C-12s weren't on your list, but there's nothing bad about them. 1/2 -- deployments are rare (and usually voluntary). Banker's hours most other times and even RONs are pretty unusual. 3. Morale is great because it's a good deal in a good spot and most people asked for it 4. The plane isn't going anywhere soon 5. Elmendorf/Yokota, unless you're with DIA or AFMC. And if you hate it, you only have to deal with it for 3 years.

AC130U 1. Ops Tempo/Deployment It changes from time to time, I've seen it as slow as 1:2 (3 month deployments) but currently the longest dwell is 1:1 (4 month deployments) and multiple guys are on dwell waivers. Deployments are pretty good when we're doing what we're designed for. There's a lot of times recently where we just get used as a dual sensor ISR and that sucks. 2. Lifestyle/ Family Stability There are people/families who absolutely love it and others who absolutely hate it. My family and I are fortunate to be the former. There will be a decent amount of both day/night flying at home and the opportunity to be home or gone a decent amount depending on your personal priorities. In my experience the squadron is willing to work with you for big events to make sure you're home. 3. Community morale Much better than some communities, but there will always be people who think it's the worst place in the AF. The squadron is like the older brother who beats on you but will kill anyone who isn't family and looks at you the wrong way. 4. Advancements & Future of the airframe There are always exceptions, but once you're in AFSOC, don't expect to leave. For some that's a blessing, for others it's a sentence. You can probably count the number of gunship guys that have gone back to white jet tours on one hand. There have been a handful of guys who have made moves to other AFSOC airframes, if that's your thing. I am not the kind of person who is looking to be a commander of any kind, so I don't keep track of people who are. But I can say if you're willing to climb on the backs of others to climb the ranks, it probably won't be a very enjoyable time for you. Future of the airframe - the gunship will be around for a long time. The U won't. As soon as they figure out the AC-J dick dance, the U is on the way out. That was supposed to be FY17, but obviously we're still a couple years out from that. 5. Preferred PCS locations There's only one. So if you like the beach and fresh seafood, you're in luck. If you like Cannon, go to the W because the old transition from Hurlburt to Cannon (or vice versa) is quickly going away as the J comes up. There's still a few guys that go back and forth but any new guys will likely avoid it until the J is solid at both locations, and that will be several years in the making. There isn't a single airframe that is always awesome, but the gunship comes pretty close. Much like what Danger said - if you pick based on mission, you'll like what you get. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk