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Thanks for the info. Guard MQ-9s is good gig. All the pleasure of killing assholes without the pain of the endless shift work. I was actually surprised how little we work together home station for how frequently we share a stack and target down range. Rumor is the change they made to all the enlisted manned and unmanned aircrew going to one AFSC and the same wings to allow for easier crossflow for RPA and manned guys to switch platforms. Don't how much truth their was to that. Good luck in your transition! Ehhh crossflow. Transition might be the wrong word right now unless you're into that sort of thing.

To be fair, this was during the Korean war and those overnight patrols were necessary to keep the base secure from a possible sneak-attack Chinese invasion

Well, I guess we now know where the airframes are coming from for the VC-25A replacement. https://www.defenseone.com/business/2017/08/russian-air-force-one-boeing-trump-747/139872/

I'm glad you enjoyed it... but wow. The only time I've really thought of SOS in the past decade is seeing this thread. I've had some great TDY's, and none of them were at Maxwell. Certainly not a reflection on you, but the fact that this was the best long-TDY in your career is indicative of "what's wrong with the Air Force".

Nothing is worse than partying with good dudes at SOS and then finding out they got RIFed while at SOS. Flight morale went into the tank and shit got awkward real fast.

Agreed. Although SOS has its faults, it's still to this day the most fun I've had on an 8-week TDY in my career as a flyer (which is really saying something). Lots of camaraderie built up through daily drunken shenanigans and weekend trips to Taladega, Destin, Atlanta and the like.

You wouldn't laugh if you'd stood patrol with a million Chicoms poised to cross the Yalu...

According to the training, if you enter any branch of the military before 2018, (I'm assuming from your question you don't have more than 12 years in) then you get to choose one time, and it's non reversible. Those who enter after 2018 will automatically be placed in the new system. AD to Guard/Reserve will not change your retirement.

U-28s keeps you in AFSOC but gives you a 2/3 shot at HRT vs CVS (with 2 out of 3 ops squadrons being in FL). I would like to think that coming off of several years at Cannon already they would slot you for a HRT squadron but then again that's obviously not guaranteed. Other options you should probably consider are U & J model gunships which are HRT-only. Since you mentioned C-146s, the pilots I've known that flew them have only said great things, other than being based at Cannon. I loved my time flying in the U-28 community and the mission set is probably as close to the MQ-9 as you're gonna get. As long as you're not a douche your experience in the Reaper would be greatly valued. I'm actually in the middle of going the opposite direction as you, former U-28 CSO now future MQ-9 pilot in the guard, and I think the more cross-pollination we can get between those two communities (and the gunships), the better.

Like a FAIP, but for PME? Wouldn't want to interfere with the AF's primary mission.

My commander tried to do this for our guys. Schedule a T-6 CT XC to Maxwell when we had guys there. Allow them to do some Saturday flying, at least once during their time there. It got shot down by SOS leadership. Apparently, that "wasn't fair" for everyone else, along with the risk they could divert and he could miss class Monday.

Back in the Good Ole Days, we were allowed to fly on the weekends during SOS. My squadron sent two jets to Maxwell for one of the middle weekends and I got 2 BFM sorties each on Saturday and Sunday, with the RON at Eglin to hit the Destin beaches Saturday night. It made SOS much more palatable.

SOS is all about how much work you're willing to put into it. That being said, my SOS comprised of flipping feverishly through quizlet cards for a few hours before taking each of the three tests, while I was deployed...worst few hours of my life! ACSC in-correspondence is making me take a better look at the numbers for O-4 vs O-5 retirement.

SOS, as it is constructed today, is a value added course. The material is good, but more importantly, since they changed the way the cadre are selected, the underlying tone for the program is greatly improved. Zero sarcasm. Pilots love to think they are above learning leadership from books and workshops, but this thread has countless examples of how shitty pilots often are at leadership. I hung out with a bunch of people my age, drank a lot, worked bankers' hours having conversations about the AF with people from different backgrounds, spent my weekends fishing in the morning and drinking on crab island till sundown, got to speak to academic power-houses in the field of leadership theory, and all while getting a break from the desk work and sims. I wish I could go every year. If SOS is the problem, I'm no longer interested in y'alls solution.

The man I am today was forged by my time in SOS.

Lots of info (good, bad & ugly) on the AIA job over on www.APTAP.org forum too. I left CBP after almost 9.5 years as an AIA and two duty locations to fly ISR King Air 350s down range on 60/60 rotations. I can now live anywhere in the world I want, work half the year or more if I want to make more $$$, no additional duties, just fly the plane, and have zero interaction with the company for half the year during my time off at home. I'm still tossing around the idea of going to the Majors, but not sure if the 121 world is for me. (Caveat....I'm an Army RC-12 & C-12 bubba by trade.) IMO...CBP is a perfect gig for the helicopter only guy, someone who wants to fly UAVs, someone who loves the Southwest Border or Puerto Rico, or is looking for a pretty stable government job & pension. CBP has it's fair share of "ups & downs" and "pluses & minuses" but it just wasn't the place I wanted to hang around for another 10.5 years to just collect a pension. It was almost the same exact feelings I had & why I left active duty at around the same time point in my Army career. Feel free to ask questions or PM me if you want any info and I'll try to give you my view. Good luck & fly safe!

In regards to the form 215... what do they look for in the bullets? "OPR" type bullets? Or does the board look at my OPRs separately? If so, what should I have in there-stuff about how my leadership and hard work will make me a great pilot? If anyone has an example or two of a good one and would be willing to share I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Well my advice, if you want it, is make an appointment with your senior rater. Bring the print out of your last 3849 with the strats, some recent OPRs, and ask him what you can do to receive his top push on your third look. it sounds corny and I never did that kind of thing. Then I started working for a senior guy and noticed successful O6s doing it regularly. If you want it, ask for it, and it's likely he'll tell you exactly what he wants you to do in order to be his #1 push. Good luck.

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.

You may need to go back to acronym school brother...