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I like to post this "fact checker" whenever the real gray beards start opining about their "50% washout rates when I went through UPT in (insert timeframe here)."

You can be cool with abortion and gay marriage and still think that safe-spaces are retarded. Nothing inherently binds you to blindly follow a single party's doctrine.

Hired at a Guard unit. Prior Guard with a different unit Interview - July 2017 Hired - July 2017 FC1/MFS - October 2017 Package sent to J1/HQ - December, 2017 Approved - January 2018 Package sent to NGB - January 2018 Approved - January 18 (same day. Within hours by what I was told) TFOT/MOTS/AMS (w.e it's called now) - April, 10, 2018 UPT - Laughlin, August, 2018 Other dates - TBD post UPT Cheers! and best of luck to everyone!

I couldn't totally follow your timeline but do your best to make a door to door move possible, meaning you can give the origin movers your destination address and be there to receive it without having to put your stuff in storage. They won't always have movers on the destination end available to unload you but avoiding storage should be high on your priority list.

You are correct sir! I got my full private pilots license (I think they only did this 1 or 2 years, it was great) at the Travis AFB aeroclub while on casual status, easiest thing I've ever done in the AF, and in a T-41!. My actually point was that the youngin' who brought it up commented on the attrition rate from decades he wasn't alive and his parents were probably to young to produce, stay out of waters you know nothing about.

Oh yes Gen Grosso's genius I forgot about the missing retention survey... That girl's a real gem.

It doesn’t help that they cranked up the DQ rate with the computer eye test in that exact same timeframe. Tighten the crank too far on one thing and something that matters has to give...that something is aptitude. Sister services aren’t exactly crashing a/c left and right with old school tests. Bros on waivers wouldn’t have made it through the front door today. EDIT: I notice you have a VMFA tag, so not sure what the USN/USMC issue would be unless they did something similar. Point remains for the AF pipeline.

Jimmy Kimmel crying does.

Is that after starting UPT? As in not including people who don’t make it through IFS, medical screening, or SIE before training even starts?

What difference does the cost of the sensor make if they are going to put the same sensor on the prop version? New sensors being developed are already being and tested for other platforms so that part is a wash. The difference is Scorpion can carry MORE...perhaps three with the option federating one or two back to the JOC. You are a bit off on the A-10 speed comparison, T/W is comparable but the Scorpion is slick as shit. The sensors can be retracted and when they are it can be difficult to slow down. The other piece is the design of the wing which is 40 years more advanced than the A-10 and the product of millions of hours of highly efficient biz jet flying. IMHO USAF totally missed the boat on what the speed and altitude capes do to the employment construct. Having an aircraft that can take off and climb to the high 30's, cruise at 400+ knots to the AO, then drop down with 4-5 hours on station (perhaps more depending on how you load fuel), is a game changer in reach and changes the lily pad construct. You can have the exact same (or less) response time from bases further away and have just as much if not more play time. I encourage folks to think differently about the pit on these aircraft. The original construct was to fly host nation folks so they could be trained to provide for their own defense. If employed in a USAF only construct, there is huge benefit to having another brain stem to run the extra one or two sensors...doesn't hurt from a seasoning perspective for multiple pilots. Bottomline, Lite Attack was meant to supplement not replace the A-10 and by all measures except landing in the dirt (when was the last time we did that in combat? What about security logistics etc... If you have a jet that has the range and refueling capability you don't need to land in the dirt), Scorpion is a revolution beyond AT-6C and the A-29. Unfortunately the requirement was written by A-29 guys and evaluated by A-29 guys.

I had my PPL and didn’t have to go through IFT. This is also the case for many of my collegues.

Re: sensor cost... > $1million for the most capable ones that you would want. My understanding is the Scorpion's advertised fly away cost includes it's currently-integrated sensor as does the A-29 and AT-6. For comparison, the MX-15DiD that was fielded on Scorpion for LAE is vastly superior than the old-ass FLIR Brightstar equipped on the A-29, and that sets aside that the Scorpion has been tested with and could field something like the MX-20 or MTS-B that would not fit on the smaller AT-6 or A-29. BL: Scorpion has a much better sensor out of the box and gives you the option to go Gucci in the future with more $$, whereas the A-29 or AT-6 almost certainly lock you in to a 15" class sensor, and at some point you just can't squeeze out more fidelity without larger optics. Re: speed...the Scorpion is much faster in transit than the A-29 or AT-6. The sensor weight isn't super relevant in that statement because transit speeds are compared with a combat load, which includes all fuel/sensors/humans/weapons/etc. that you would want on each platform. Re: backseaters...well that's like your opinion man. AFSOC certainly isn't getting rid of CSOs, and even if you just fucking hate navs, you could fly with another pilot in the back. I mean light attack is supposed to be a component of the new ramp-up of UPT production now right? It's also a moot point because all platforms at LAE were dual-seat, so it's not a differentiator between the platforms.

Shocked she was back in a flight suit. Ask the Thunder Chickens about the time she puked all over their family model.

Only if they’re named Saul Goodman.

He's a SSgt who appears to be giving instruction to the selfie queen...

Dodge the bullet and go off base. I had the same thought process and almost same family scenario but it’s not worth the $1329 you’d fork over. NASP is a very old base coupled with the Navy way of infrastructure updates the “houses” are rather dated. Yes, they’re livable by first world standards but the upkeep by Balfour and lack of customer service just adds unnecessary stress to the UCT situation. The rental market is rather large around PCS season (summer) and they love their military (navy) here so there will be tons of options available off base. May have to pay a little out of pocket for something you really like but you’ll get a decent house for your BAH 10-15 minutes away from the back gate (that opens at 0500)...but you won’t have any left to spare on expenses. Pensacola took a BAH cut on the 2018 rates so the former of paying a little out of pocket may actually be the norm now. Be advised...i ran into a few rental agents who were just sketchy...the company was legit, solid website, prices etc but then the agent showed up in flip flops n shorts to show the house, asked for unusual paperwork to apply, i even shook an agents hand said we’ll take it Friday and figure out how to get the money in your bank over the weekend so u get it on Monday and the guy showed the house monday morning and rented it... Depending on the family and your class going off base could get busy for you if you have a heart haha. Most single folks have to stay in the single dorms so routine study parties at your house could be a thing, again, if you have a heart. DM me if you need more.

Ok, you asked. Fedex 777. Mission is to make the company billions and for me grab some of the crumbs to the tune of $250K a year as a co-pilot(First Officer). Typically work 12-14 days per month either all at once with the rest of the month off or week-on, week-off. Much of that work time is soft time (i.e. not actual flying hours). Typically, I'm paid for 80-90 flight hours each month, but it's rare for me to actually have air under my ass for more than 50 hours each month. Since I'm an FO, many trip are as a relief pilot which involves deadheading around the planet in business or first class to various locations where I will meet up with the crew and act as the "free agent" third or fourth pilot on a long haul flight and then part ways. For the last 10 years straight, I've made the highest level in American Airline's frequent flyer program annually and have 1.5 million miles to use for family leisure travel. I can choose how I orchestrate my passenger deadhead flights using the company money available and any extra $$ is available for various travel expenses incurred in conjunction with any trip. Next month, I will be picked up at my house by a limo (paid for by Fedex) and driven to O'hare to begin my journey to Tokyo. My trip is due to start on a Thursday but since I'm not going to follow the deadhead schedule, I will stay home on day one getting paid. Friday, I will fly from O'hare to Tokyo in a lay flat business class seat sipping single malt and maybe catch a movie. From there, I'll take the bullet train to Osaka and have about 48 hours off before I have to work. My only flight on this trip is a 4-hour leg from Osaka to Guangzhou, China. Once I arrive in China, I'm done. I have a quick 12-hour layover and then I'm scheduled for 3 day deadhead sequence to get back to Memphis. Since I don't want to go to Memphis, I'm going to stick with the original plan of a private car driving me to Hong Kong which will get me to my first flight out. Thanks to my frequent flyer status, American has upgraded me from business to first class on my HKG to DFW flight. Once at DFW, I'll hang in the lounge until my flight back to O'hare. Once back to Chicago, another limo will take me home, dropping me off on Wednesday, 5 days after I was picked up. Since I shaved some time off my trip home by deviating, I'll be on the clock for almost 24 hours after I get home. For my trouble, I'll have about 30K more frequent flyer miles and my paycheck will be about $10K fatter (before taxes). Now the rest of the story........ About the time I'm landing in China after the 4.0 from Osaka, my family will be doing the Christmas morning routine. Being an almost empty nester, that's okay and gives someone with little ones a shot at being home. Hardly as noble as it sounds. I'm just a lazy MFer. Getting paid 10-grand to deadhead in style back and forth from Asia so that I can fly a single 4 hour flight is a fair trade off. That trip plus another for the first 6 days of Dec make up my month. So, that's one snap-shot of the Fedex 777 thing. Believe it or not, I've had better months, but this will definitely be a good one. The bad ones can be tough but with a little seniority, the good far outweighs the bad. Our bad doesn't hold a candle to the long days those of you still doing the job for big blue deal with. So, when you decide to bail, come on over - the water's fine. I usually get a paid commute via private car and first class international deadhead every month. There's lots of "Q" in the QOL and I definitely recommend it. Also, WTF is a "stewardess"?

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.

I think many people are missing the point to a degree. Yes, this is a retention problem. However, there is also a production problem, too, because retention has gotten so bad. This is proposal (of several hopefully) to fix part of the entire problem. And it isn't focusing on culture, support, dwell, or money because this is AETC, the command responsible for producing pilots, trying to figure out how to increase production. Obviously things need to get better, but let's not shit on the people looking at different ways to fix a significant part of the problem.