Leaderboard

Now THIS is what's right with the Air Force. Finally. This guy gets it.

Many moons ago I posted on here asking for advice about juggling my small business while going through UPT. I got a variety of comments and direct messages ranging from "hire a manager" to "I can't see how it would work" to "a friend of a friend did something like that". I ended up hiring a manager to run the place while I was gone and gave up a big chunk of my salary to do it. But I trusted him, and with my wife's help running admin stuff from behind the scenes I was able to keep and actually grow my business. I just pinned on pilot wings a couple of days ago and wanted to come back here to thank everyone for the encouragement and advice. I also am back here to encourage others to do press with their dreams no matter how complicate their situation is. Presumably the core psychographic on the Guard/Res forum is someone who either has a job or plans on going back to one while flying for the military concurrently. UPT is incredibly challenging but it's not impossible while juggling stuff from back home. I had a full-time business that services over 1200 clients a year, have 6 staff that I had to manage and additionally had a wife and daughter that I brought with me to UPT that I had to play husband/father roles for. It was challenging but there are ways to get it done. Some things that worked for me: Compartmentalizing - Being good at this skill is essential whether you are a bachelor right out of college with no commitments or someone like me. I saw a dude break up with his fiancee, a bro's wife cheated on him with another officer in the squadron, another guy in my class who was a fellow business owner lost a partner while writing a PhD thesis...all of these things happened in the throes of UPT. Every single one of these guys shared the ability to switch hats quickly and prioritize and press. Being able to focus on the mission, put out the fire that's immediately in front of you and then go on to the next thing is an essential quality of being a USAF pilot in my opinion, and UPT seems to have a way of weeding people out who can't do it. Delegating - Being able to rely on my wife was the deal maker for this to work. She was incredible. Running the household, taking care of our daughter, running my business admin and ALSO working her job at a software company that she stayed on with when we moved for UPT (they let her work remotely) AND packing the house for multiple moves (4 military moves shipping 11,000lbs of household goods in the past 18 months)...she did it all. She was a champion and having someone that you can rely on is huge whether it be a parent, spouse, best friend, whatever. Know when to ask for help, people in your life will step up and you can't do it all on your own. Setting Expectations - When training my manager at the outset I made it very clear that he was going to have to be self-reliant. There were many days where I just wouldn't be able to pick up the phone and help him put out fires. Often he would forward angry customer emails that I wouldn't see until 3 days after he had already figured out how to deal with it. He had to learn a lot on his own or with delayed responses but it wasn't impossibly frustrating for him because he knew it was going to go down this way. Letting people in your life know (family, friends, colleagues) that you will be out of pocket is an important part of building the space you need to get things done and focus during UPT. Knowing your limits - I carried ORM points on basically every other ride. I didn't care what people thought although I got the sense it's taboo or some bullshit to admit weakness (especially during T6's). I wanted to be honest with myself and the crew in the back of my helicopter or other crews in our flight. I even found that my IPs became more honest and carried their own points when I added mine when they may not have otherwise. Having an honest conversation about the stressors in your life automatically helps make things safer because you can move on and compartmentalize. I also said "no" to rides. I was pressured by IPs to go when I felt I would be dangerous and I said no. It wasn't popular but I finished the syllabus on time and did well enough (#2 out of 8 for daily rides #3 for academics). I think being aware of your limits ultimately creates a culture of collaboration. Within my class, my stud bros and sis became more aware of everyone's inherent limitations and advantages which made us all work better together. We knew what we'd have to do when paired up with certain stick buddies or meshing with other crews on a ride. "Cooperate to graduate" can't happen if you don't know how to cooperate. Again, I am eternally grateful to all the advice I've been given and mentorship by those who've come before me, and guidance from the folks who held my hand at the squadron and had my back...including those who were willing to step up and take ownership when bad things happened (like when I came off orders in the middle of UPT). Thanks to all and hopefully this helps someone who is in a similar situation or someone who is considering going Guard but are worried they won't be able to reconcile all the forces in their lives asking for attention.

Christ... here we go again.

It would require a major culture shift in the RPA communities. Most sensors wouldn't mind being pilots for pilot pay and rank. Most I've talked to wouldn't want to be enlisted pilot with the current pay scale. To much responsibility for to little money. Im a huge advocate for pairing up RPA squadrons with light attack and dual qual for the 11s. I would never leave if I could kill a terrorist or two every once in awhile in the box and go tear up the skies in a AT-6/A-29/scorpion or whatever we might buy. More than likely RPAs and light attack are going to intergrate regularly on the battlefield and it's helps the RPA manning keeping 11s in the community. Hell, you could dual qual sensors to sit in the back seat.

Seriously dude, WTF!? You've got zero street cred to support your personal beef with Azimuth. He's given some value-added posts on this forums, and right or wrong, he's already served his punishment for his past actions. Move on and stop the insanity. Lets act like the professionals we are instead of a bunch of passive/aggressive, bitch-ass teenagers.

Fixed wing opportunities > Helicopter opportunities RPA opportunities > Helicopter opportunities It simply boils down to economics/available choices. It's not at all complicated. Right now we're watching people bail who are being paid $100K+ to do a job (RPA): you can observe that fact. It's happening right now. Nor will "moral" fix it. The suggestion that paying someone ~$60K to do that same job because of "moral" ignores another fact that you can also observe right now: fighter pilots are bailing faster than they can be replaced. "Moral" will only keep you around so long. What I feel like people should be discussing, is why the AF insists upon placing a job that can literally be accomplished anywhere, in some of the worst real-estate the AF has. Want to keep people around? Let them live in Hawaii, Guam, Japan, England, Florida, California, Colorado - don't shovel them off to Creech, Holloman, Shaw, etc.

Good for you. I am glad things worked out at the end. We need people like you to share their success stories here. Good luck on the next chapter and keep us posted.

Your somewhat correct. RPAs are still a dumping ground for the not so great dudes from other communities. It's slowly changing though. There are just as many kick ass 11s as there are shit bags. I can't speak for all but the last round of UPT Ds were not all bottom of the class. I know 4 other guys and myself that were middle or top 3rd from UPT that got non vol'd. I think the dual qual would attract a lot more volunteers of higher quality, which would also help bring expierence to the RPA community. You have a valid argument though. I could see some of the guys a know turn a jet into a lawn dart casket. There would have to be a process to keep the slow swimmers out. Either way, I don't see this ever happening, just a pipe dream on a Sunday afternoon while I sip my whisky.

alright ill be the asshole...i don't think dual qual RPA/light attack makes sense GENERALLY (key word GENERALLY) the pilots sent from UPT direct-> RPA are not your top sticks...i'll just leave it at that throwing that dude into a dual qual to fly light attack would be asking for trouble when he's splitting his time on a robot. light attack ain't flying from point A to point B...CAS deserves specialists not generalists and not guys fcking off half the time just so they can "fly in a cockpit" the guys i've encountered in their post-RPA duties are 70-30 not sharp/low aviation SA-descent stick good SA. that's just my experience. the talent isn't there for dual qual. hurt feelings RPA guys flame away! and +1 for moving RPA bases to cool locations...too bad congress will get in the way.

It's a specific disorder that's swept this part of the world recently, while still in the research phase, neurological experts have given it the name : TDS Trump Derangement Syndrome Said experts warn of its contagious effects. It is highly advised not to attempt to treat said individuals with common sense and logic, you may be labeled a bigot, racist, white privileged patriarch. edit: returned from acronym school, thanks nsplyr; point still stands though.

Don't worry, I'm sure getting rid of the traditional 20-year retirement next year will fix all these problems...

Not funny, try again. The civil air patrol is calling you…..

The RPA community is going to face a similar exodus to civilian RPAs (which pay much more) that we are facing in the pilot community. It's time for enlisted RPA operators. For Fs sake, if we can trust a 19 year old Army E2 to take a 50 cal to the head of a terrorist then we can train at least some USAF NCOs to drop some hellfires from MQ-9s. I know some enlisted have already started cross training but I don't understand why this isn't a bigger push. I could find you dozens of enlisted folks sitting at a computer all day that would kill to fly RPAs and do well at it.

Good try, Bergman. This thread is off the fvcking jacks. ...going to take a whole hell of a lot of poststructuralist discursive criticism to get us back to somewhere recognizable at this point. In the meantime, my penis and I will be over in the NSFW threads... Bendy Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

It is a pod-mounted gun and it's a requirement for the LAE to demo a gun. The one I've seen is a .50 cal; haven't seen the 20mm personally. I fully agree that if I'm giving up a hardpoint or 2 for small caliber guns on a fast moving fixed wing, I'd much rather not and have more gas/laser-guided rockets/bombs/hellfire/etc. Edit to add: LAE = light attack expirament, the new acrynom du jour rather than OA-X.

17-14 1 x MC-130J CSO Mildenhall 1 x MC-130H EWO Kadena 1 x AC-130U Nav Hurlburt 1 x AC-130U EWO Hurlburt 1 x HC-130J CSO Moody 3 x F-15E WSO 2 x RC-135 Nav Offutt 1 x RC-135 EWO Offutt 1 x MC-12 CSO OK Guard 2 x C-130H Nav Guard 1 x HC-130J CSO NY Guard Such an incredible drop for us. 8 out of 11 AD students got their #1 choice, with the other 3 getting something in their Top 4.

you won't buy me a beer cause i'll be too rich rolling around in that airline money son

Rand is goldfien. Finkel is einhorn. Say hello to mr winkie. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I know we don't talk the Enlisted stuff too much on here, but the new CMSAF just shat all over the outgoing idiot's EPME "revolution." Everyone should have gotten that email today.

Duck, you're a tease. If you were a hooker...you'd starve. Bendy Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

How. Hard. Was. That. Holy shit.

"To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now." - Comey on Hillary's e-mail abuse That gave me all I needed to know about our intelligence community... Basically, if you're not a powerful politician, get ready to face the full extent of the law. Otherwise, just repeat "I didn't know" or "I don't recall"... Mention how smart phones and technology are scary and makes your head hurt, and be on your way with not so much as a "now, don't you do that again, you scoundrel you"

He works retail at an Apple Store. A typical day at work as a Technical Specialist at Apple consists of helping customers with Genius Bar appointments, creating/checking people in for their appointments, or delivering completed repairs. It is basically working any other retail job except instead of getting $10 a hour you get $15 a hour.