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Burning down the house because the living room is messy isn't my preferred solution, but to each his own. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I've written the first draft of every letter of recommendation I've ever used.

I offered because I finished my TBAS about a week before an application was due. I definitely didn't sell myself short. Maybe it's because I have to do a lot of "self-evaluations" at my current job, but I never tend to leave paper evidence that I'm anything less than perfect.

I was a nav in the RC-135 for 6 years, and I don't think there was really a difference in QOL or deployment rotations between nav/EWO, or if there was then it was better for the navs because we never complained about it! Honestly the two jobs are very different so you should base your decision on which part of UCT you liked best: the instruments and navigation or the beeps and squeaks. Also, you need to consider how much you like Star Trek, and if you're willing to talk to the 2 other EWOs about it for 12 hours at a time.

Found this entertaining Because screw that bitch and her "it's my turn" mentality. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In other news, Raytheon and Northrop both dropped out.

In that scenario the individual was simply detained, not arrested. Big difference. I would not list it if it were me, and normally I advocate listing anything if there is any doubt whatsoever...

I have to do this now :) Listen to Eminem's Lose Yourself 2X, then Rap God 1X, then shadow box in the mirror for 5 minutes... Then break out the agility ladder from high school football and do various drills for another 5 minutes. Next, watch your favorite GoPro cockpit footage video (make sure there is cool music playing in the background and tons of high-G maneuvers to pump you up). Next, do as many pushups as you can in 1 minute with more cool music playing in the background. After that, pull yourself to your feet and wipe the sweat from your brow while simultaneously drinking half a bottle of cold Gatorade with the other first firmly planted into your hip bone--once roughly half of the bottle is empty, briskly slam the bottle down onto counter top, making sure that at least some of it splashes out of the bottle. FINALLY, sit down and write the best letter of recommendation for yourself. You won't be disappointed in the results. :)

I jettisoned any compulsion to be humble in my writing when I started writing the first drafts of my OPRs. You're just giving these people a draft...put in as much detail as you can (actual qualifications, actual numbers, etc), but your opening line should be "Bobsan walks on water" and your closing line should be "Bobsan is the best officer, pilot, and person I know". Let the person signing it make the changes.

I had to write my own, as well, and I hated it. Just how it is, unfortunately. If you're already on active duty, pillage your squadron drive for other letters that other people have used, and then modify it with your information. Otherwise, Google is your friend.

I listed my speeding tickets, even though I probably didn't have to for MEPS.

I don't think you need to disclose encounters with police unless you were arrested or convicted of a criminal offense. Refer to excerpt from form SF86 below, I doubt MEPS checks anywhere close to what a clearance investigator would. Similarly, for medical history, I wouldn't list any doc visits in which you weren't diagnosed with a condition or prescribed medication. And I don't mean the flu or cold medicine. "- In the past seven (7) years have you been issued a summons, citation, or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding against you? (Do not check if all the citations involved traffic infractions where the fine was less than $300 and did not include alcohol or drugs) - In the past seven (7) years have you been arrested by any police officer, sheriff, marshal or any other type of law enforcement official? - In the past seven (7) years have you been charged, convicted, or sentenced of a crime in any court? (Include all qualifying charges convictions or sentences in any Federal, state, local, military, or non-U.S. court, even if previously listed on this form). - In the past seven (7) years have you been or are you currently on probation or parole? - Are you currently on trial or awaiting a trial on criminal charges?"

A not-so-subtle way of saying, "Your move, Kaepernick! If your response is anything like your football skills, we plan to take a bigger chunk out of your reputation than your abysmal quarterbacking already has."

Strong work by FOX Sports.

pawnman and tk, do you proactively offer to write a draft when you first ask someone for a LOR? There's an tough conflict between staying humble and writing praise about yourself.

Exactly what @pawnman said. Luckily, one of the guys I sent my draft to ended up completely re-writing the letter... And to this day, I'm pretty sure that's the best letter of recommendation that has ever existed. I figure I owe him a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue.

Civilians don't wander the terrazzo anymore, post 9-11 (unless something has changed). Civilians absolutely don't wander the dorms, which is where this "encounter" took place. Also, cadets know when it is a reunion weekend so they aren't caught off guard by the "random civilian" roaming the hallways. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I've always thought that Hawaii is the diamond of the Pacific, and Guam is the cubic zirconia.

30,000 hours... Better look at retiring the fleet soon, since we are getting close to the halfway point of our 75,000 hour airframe limit.

The timeline was much closer to well under a year than 1-2 years. One night, two new CPs smack in the middle of their flying training come in and mention that they will PCS to something else and feared it would be RPAs as those were most definitely on the list. A total fucking shit show. So my advice that night was to go fly, do well, and discuss career options during the debrief over a beer. And this was McDew's 18th AF. Out

Somewhere in the cobwebs of officer school I remember learning that military action was an end to political means.

This story highlights exactly why you don't want high level political figures (like Bannon) involved in national security decisions. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/02/04/the-white-house-cabinet-battle-over-trumps-immigration-ban/?postshare=7731486222921115&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.b20f15d565f1 Good on Sec. Kelly for refusing Bannon's "orders" and using the chain of command (i.e. POTUS). Kelly, Mattis, Tillerson, CJCS, are in the chain of command for their various agencies and departments and all report to the President - Bannon or anyone like him is distinctly not in that chain. Re: Rhodes...call him unqualified if you want, but his portfolio was NATSEC issues based on his role as Deputy National Security Advisor. President Trunp has several of those in his admin and they are all appropriate attendees to NSC meetings and that decision-making process. Not as principals (that would be Flynn), but I'm sure they're in the room and they should be. Unless the President wants to dual-hat Bannon as the National Security Advisor, he has no place on the PC. Unless he's also a deputy NSA or NSC staffer of some kind on top of his role as chief strategist, he shouldn't even be in the room, let alone trying to tell the DHS Secretary what to do. In my opinion, W did this right based on accounts of the process he ran. He had his political folks and his NATSEC folks and they had a bright, clear line between those two portfolios. He, as the President, sat in the middle and over everything and alone or with the VP made the appropriate decisions on if and when politics played a role in national security decision making and vice versa. Now, I think Bush made lots of foreign policy mistakes, but FFS they at least ran the interagency process in a logical, deliberate manner and respected and upheld the institutions that exist solely to help the President succeed.

One of the most intelligent military minds to have ever lived.

As many of y'all know, I'm involved in the airshow industry. This photo is the hangar of the Texas Flying Legends, which has a great collection of flying aircraft: Mustang, Spitfire, Warhawk, Mitchell, Zero, and more. The collection's owner, Bruce is a great American, and the pilots and mechanics are just top-shelf folks. Their customized hangar is also one of the coolest places on any flightline. If you've been cross-country to Ellington (KEFD), maybe you've seen it. It seems a lot of the NFL teams, staff, bigwigs, and others will be using KEFD for the Super Bowl, and Texas Flying Legends wanted to make sure those players, owners, and NFL employees knew where TFL "stands" on the issue of Kaepernick and others.

Regarding the vision tests, this is the best advice anyone can offer. If you want to be a pilot, your eye exam at Wright-Patt is the most important eye exam of your life. Prepare for it. Get examined by a civilian or military doc and figure out if there is ANYTHING wrong with your eyes. If so, fix it if at all possible. I can assure you that if BEEPBEEP had not be so proactive, he would not be heading to UPT today. His work ethic and attitude was the difference in passing and failing. Obviously, some things are not within one's control, but give yourself the best chance possible.

What? Cite your source. It was quiet on here until I pointed out the silence, then everyone got back on track with the political discussions on the Internet. Prior Admin got lambasted on here on the regular. For example - inept international diplomacy, to firing CC's for their staff's leaks, to overuse of drones, "gun control" was always a big one. Too much zipper-suited-sun-god up in here to go with the "racism" charge and not get demolished with facts and "go for quals." The lack of self-critical political evaluation you're advocating for because you allege the other admin didn't get it is stupendous. But then, ceding 70 years of American leadership abroad doesn't seem like a big deal to you, so I'm not surprised. We'll all see how it goes. I found your latest portrait:

Hello everyone, I recently got back from my trip to Wright-Patterson and I could not be happier with my experience there. Not everything was smooth sailing for me, as far as my pre-existing eye condition was concerned, but the folks there went incredibly far out of their way to ensure I had every opportunity to pass their tests. For that, I am extremely grateful for their care in what they do and ultimately, allowing me to pursue my dream. A little bit about my experience: I had an eye muscle disorder that I discovered a few years ago after preemptively visiting an optometrist to make sure everything with my eyes were kosher. Upon finding out what I had, I was crushed. Over the course of the next year, I found a specialist, explained to him what my intentions were as far as pursuing this career and ended up having surgery to correct the problem. The surgery went very well, but that still did little to unease the unsettling feeling I had about my chances. I read numerous stories about others who had similar conditions; I read the AFI's, waiverability guide and medical publications; I even messaged a few professionals on these very forums to gain as much insight as possible. From all of these sources, my confidence on passing was extremely low. Nevertheless, I continued to interview all over the country in pursuit of my passion, even with that overwhelming sense of uncertainty. The last few years have been the most trying test of my endurance, mentally. I spent thousands of dollars travelling for interviews, faced numerous rejections, put off career advancement in my fall back career, all for just the chance at a shot for my dream job. I knew, at least for me, that if I had not done this, it would plague me for the rest of my life knowing I had given up. I had engulfed myself with everything there was to know about my condition and how it would be measured/tested. I ascertained that my biggest hurdle was going to be depth perception, as is for most people, even with the best of eyes. I am prior enlisted and have had a history of failing the depth perception years back at MEPS. I spent months researching techniques people use to train their eyes to pass the test to include purchasing the Magic Eye book, as many of you have recommended. Even so, I was still not confident come judgement day that I was indeed going to pass. Once arriving on day one, you are not given an exact itinerary on what order you will be accomplishing all the tests, so I sat there stewing in the inevitable encounter with my kryptonite. It ended up coming relatively soon on the first day and it was not pleasant. I had measured 20/20 uncorrected, but come time to do the depth perception, I could not seem to make it work for me. This revelation that my hopes and dreams just came to an end began to sink in. Nevertheless, they had me do a full workup with the optometrist there to figure out what my underlying problem was. We went over many more eye tests and had very long, comprehensive talks about what they were seeing, what my chances/options were, what their role is as far as having a standardized approach in measuring/testing applicants. All of these things really did a great job at putting me at ease. It was the kind and length of talks from a doctor that no civilian doctor, at least in my experience, has taken out of their day to explain exactly what is going on. They made it abundantly clear that they will do everything in their power to ensure you have every opportunity to demonstrate that if you CAN pass, they will pass you. They ended up prescribing me glasses to retake the exam about mid-way through day two to see if it was simply an acuity problem not being able to see depth perception. I wore the glasses for a few minutes, retook the test, and failed again. This, again, made my stomach turn upside down. I was then given the advice to wear the glasses for a little while longer to have my eyes adjust some more. Day 3: Nearly everyone I was there with had already been given the all clear, having a great time touring the museum there (which is a must). I knew it was my make or break day. I wore the glasses the entire night before and also woke up early in the morning on day three to walk around outside to get my eyes readjusted. I had found out that walking around outside, particularly looking about 3 feet in front of me when walking, seemed to have the most of an effect on my eyes. First thing in the morning, we began to do some more evaluations with some easier to see depth perception tests that they had there. These tests were rated at much higher arcs than the standard needed to pass, but were instrumental in helping me with the technique that best worked for me to bring them out. Personally, I found out that opening my eyes up wide, as opposed to squinting (which I was doing before), and vaguely starring at the entire block of circles was working for me. Miraculously enough, I eventually got to the point to where I could legitimately see all the way through line D. (This was quite the emotional roller-coaster for me at this point). I was incredibly excited at this point that the future that I thought I had lost was slowly coming back to me. However, I was not quite out of the woods. Even though I had gotten through line D, it was a struggle, to say the least. The doctors had long talks with me about their standards and liability they assume by making such decisions and it was in mine, and their best interest, to ensure that this was not a one-time thing. They needed to be certain when you leave there, that you are going to be able to pass it every year after that. They had me do a few more depth perception tests (and passed) and more workups with multiple doctors and they came to the agreement that I met their standards. I cannot describe to you what the feeling of years of doubt being immediately lifted off of my shoulders felt like. I am so extremely grateful for the doctors and techs there at Wright-Patterson for taking so much time to work with me through all of this! Thank you so much!! To those out there still in the hunt or awaiting your turn at MFS/FC1, never give up! Be as prepared as possible. Make appointments on your own so there are no surprises. If you find a surprise, get a second opinion. Research every option. Above all, remain calm and be as polite as possible. I know the former is easier said than done, but it can truly help. Good luck to everyone!

And... If you look a couple posts up you can see me doing exactly that. Sorry ghost of Reagan, I just thought since Obama blamed Bush for everything that went wrong during his presidency, I could blame Obama for everything wrong that Trump will do during his presidency... SH!T... Just did it again.

https://www.newsweek.com/quora-question-what-it-become-air-force-pilot-537415 Favorite part of the article: The Talon is the most beloved plane of all time (IMHO) and you’ll almost wet yourself the first time you take off in one and realize that all this money, this whole base, all this stuff, was to get you up and flying in one of these. (...) So, I’d dive down and turn off my transponder, clearing like crazy for other traffic. Then I’d bust through the bottom, down to about 10,000 feet, slam the throttles into full burner as I pulled it vertical and then started rolling, vertically. The Earth spun wildly about me. I was a solo Thunderbird! Passing 40,000 feet, I’d let it arc over the top, rounding out at 50,000 where the sky had turned a dark purple. Then I’d pull it down and turn on the transponder at about 40,000, knowing that center wouldn’t pick it up until I was back below 35,000.

I would disagree with you. It is so much more than just a trainer. Designed in the 1950s, it has done a fantastic job for 50 years in transitioning pilots to supersonic fighters, and a myriad of high-performance heavies and bombers. NASA astronaut trainers, USAF and Navy TPS usage, test squadron aircraft for chasing cruise missiles on low levels. And most recently, a jet used to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in its F-22 adversary support role. Versatile... and impressive. Did you know it briefly held the time to climb record in 1963? And be thankful: had the T-38 not been selected, it would have been an F-100 variant. I'd bet we wouldn't be flying those anymore. When it came to getting out of Del Rio, Randolph, or Beale on the weekend, the "two-engine, twin-turbine, JP-8 slurpin', dual afterburnin', supersonic bar hopping machine" was the perfect steed. I met a lot of people as a result of the T-38. Even flew six sorties with Steve Ritchie. I got 5 rides in the T-38 in college; solo'd it in 1985; flew it all over the U.S. in some very challenging conditions, and on gorgeous VFR legs through the Sierra and the Rockies; flew my fini flight on 24 Sept 2014. Some trips were solo, some were with my favorite people. Loved it every time I got in it. And I am a substantially better pilot today because of all the sorties I flew in that jet. I've got over 100 types of aircraft in my logbook, including 8 sorties in the Viper (one from the front seat), a smattering in the Eagle, two in the T-45, three in the A-4,... F-18B, F-18F... and plenty more. From my perspective, looking at those other 100 types I've gotten stick time in, the T-38 is pretty impressive. F16 capabilities? Nope. But just because you're married to a Brazilian supermodel doesn't mean every other woman is a let down. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

More pics and videos here: https://www.boeing.com/defense/t-x#/video-player/boeing-t-x-unveiled-in-st-louis

This is great advice. Also don't say anything stupid that will disqualify you. One guy in my FC1 group complained about having a migraine and they gave him the boot right that moment. The look on his face when his dreams instantly came crashing down was sad to see happen. Also, visit the museum BEFORE you get your eyes dilated which usually happens on Tuesday. I went afterwards and couldn't see anything. I tried to take some photos that I could look at later and they all came out blurry. Go figure.

Yeah. And this *insert derogatory term here* isn't even a full mission capable gun pilot yet. She's a non progressed flight school grad serving as a PL who went to Ranger School after graduating. Whatever she does from here out I hope this follows her because she disrespected some extremely good men. Cabby was a guy that would walk on/through fire for you, and there is a lot of rumint coming out of his crash (E model at Campbell) that it was a catastrophic mechanical failure that might ground the Echo fleet. She can stick her opinions up the aforementioned body part referenced in my previous post. On top of that Facebook seems to be doing its best to take it down anytime anybody shares it.