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If this is what your WOs are telling you at your base, you have a serious problem. Good tanker planning leverages both off-board capabilities and tactical situational awareness to place you as close to your receiver’s objective area as the CFACC’s ALR permits. Your job is to identify and mitigate risk, not to stay outside the WEZ. When was the last war the tankers were able to remain that far away? Hint: probably not in your lifetime. RWR and LAIRCM don’t make you tactical. Neither does flying low to the ground or using high bank angles. And in our most important missions, you’ll never be able to rely on the AWACS to be able to provide you timely threat information. If you’re a tanker crew dog, you need to get back into the books and ask more questions. The next enemy won’t be polite enough to forgive you your flawed logic—and as far as we know our amazing new fighters and bombers haven’t learned how to fly without fuel yet.

That’s been tanker standard for decades. If we wanted to be tactical we all would have done better in UPT.

Just remember with the Eastern Europeans, it’s not genetics but poverty that keeps them that skinny. Also Germany is the ugly friend of most of Europe.

Contrary to popular belief, stupid questions do exist.

Listen, man, sometimes Army cooks have it tough.

Down range is the best place to get into the books, in my opinion. You fly and workout. That leaves tons of time to get in the books. Maybe that’s just my community but our guys are way sharper and ready to upgrade at the end of deployments. I don’t say that derisively, simply my communities technique that seems to work. Personal note: I’m the son of a tanker pilot and love the entire tanker enterprise. I’m not the only one. Talk to a Thud or Phantom driver that went downtown in Route Pack VI and had his bacon saved by some warrior minded tanker crews. The tanker dudes won’t be able to buy a drink all night.

The option should NEVER be taken away. Green pajamas is what we wear.

That’s because you were probably dealing with WUGs or selected airdrop crews. MG17 we made a conscious effort to not stack the deck and send crews 4 deep on IP/EPs. Only time we picked crews for the most part were when regs drove crew qual positions (formation or package lead qual’d etc). Turns out when you send our line ACs on the road TDY/deployed for 200+ days minimum every year there’s not a lot of chances for them to hone those other skill sets and then GOs act shocked when they go tumbleweed and blow right through a a TACSAM WEZ.

One of my class DGs was a Nebraska Guard KC-135 guy. The rest of us who got tankers were solid middle third. I got exactly what I wanted out of UPT and spent half my career flying the -135. When I was a young copilot the tactics consisted of spiral up, spiral down (dumb tactics) and eventually just morphed into “just fly wings level and brace for impact.” Why do I need to spend any seconds of my life studying the effective range of an SA-69 if there is literally nothing I can do about it? id just as soon trust that all the pilots in my squadron can fly to the CP on time and give an efficient offload.

Sounds like a conversation that needs to happen in the squadron. Building combat capability is the primary purpose of any AF squadron. We can blame competing requirements all day long, but until your commanders take personal risk in order to prioritize what matters, we’ll continue to perpetuate these tactical myths and forget that there’s an enemy preparing to take us out. By the way—no snark intended. It’s a legit question. Though I’d love to see a commander fired for saying no to the queep and getting his crews into the vault. Also, there’s ample opportunity for crews to study downrange. That’s simply a matter of coordination.

You should be just fine on the 3 year program. I know that in the recent past AFROTC has changed the way it works a bit in regards to AFOQT and Enrollment Allocations for Field Training but the nuts and bolts should be the same. Good news is that the first 2 years of Aerospace Studies classes could be taken at the same time (1 credit hour each) class met 1 time per week for about an hour. The second 2 years are worth 3 credits each and were 1 hr 2 times a week. I would guess that your detachment runs in a similar way or else completing the program in 3 years would be impossible. I too did AFROTC in 3 years after joining late (I actually joined during my 3rd year of college and stretched out my degree in order to finish in 5 total years in order to accommodate the AFROTC requirements).

It will be a sad day if we aren’t allowed to wear flight suits; and I get all the “more comfortable” talk. But I’m an Air Force aviator, I didn’t join the Army. I want my green pajamas!

Hahaha nice. My vis recce needs some work, I guess.

Chief, running for 100ft, breathless and not spilling a drop of coffee from his mug. "Sir, I see you're all about ready to board to do that mission. However I noticed one of the SrA linguists in the back was in a A2CU and the rest of the crew was in bags. You're going to have to get everyone standardized before you can take off. If you crash, and survive, what will the enemy think if you're not all in the same uniform." AC - Logic about how stupid that is. Chief - "Sir, I understand how long it'll take him to get back, get a uniform and then have MX adjust the flight times, and all that. If he hustles like a good Airman you won't even have to get a crew rest waiver. Ground forces will have to wait for your capabilities, because if you're not all in the same approved flight uniform it'll be a detriment execution and upholding standards." "After all, if we can't trust you to make sure everyone is in only one of the two approved flight uniforms what can we trust you with?" Chief notices the AC has left, and the hatch is being pulled closed.

That’s General Robin Rand. The AF Global Strike Command CC.

I joined AFROTC after completing two years of undergrad (5 year degree). a) Yes and no. The only area that you will need to catch up on is RSS (Relative Standing Score AKA Commanders Ranking). This is your biggest hurdle to overcome. Depending on the size of your detachment, it can be a challenge. Other than that, it does not make you less competitive for a rated slot. The factors for receiving a rated slot are RSS, PFA Scores, GPA, FT Ranking (Field Training Performance), and PCSM. You can have good scores in your PFA, GPA, FT Ranking, and PCSM just by personal preparation. RSS will take some work within the detachment. Overall, joining a year late has little impact on your rated slot chances. b) Be in frequent contact with your APAS. I would suggest meeting with your APAS during the first 2-3 weeks of the semester and ask for their expectations of you during the semester. Then request a mid-semester eval, and final eval. Your APAS is your connection to the Det Commander (improves RSS). Do well and participate often in your Aerospace Studies class. Participation shows your APAS how you think. Actually prepare for LLAB and volunteer for leadership positions. If you really want to prepare, you can read up on the 2018 FTM (Field Training Manual) and the AFI 36-2203 (Drill Manual). You can start to memorize the Warrior Knowledge that is presented in the FTM. I would suggest going on YouTube and find Det 088 Drill videos, those will help you prepare for drill and give you a nice visual reference. PM if you want more advice, happy to help.

May - 13 days June - 6 days July - 9 days August - 12 days (I'll likely drop my entire schedule and pick up trips on days I actually want to work. So maybe drop that to 9 days). All for between 13-18k Gross, not including 401k/PS/Per diem. Before my last trip I hadn't actually gone to work in 21 days, without taking a day of vacation (to include all of July 4th week off). If you can sit short call from home, WB reserve is where it's at! I'll caveat this with the fact that Jul & Aug are actual lines and not reserve. Another caveat is that my June/July schedules would reflect more days of work, but that's because of deadhead days that I deviate from and stay home. For example, today I'm getting paid to sit at home...my trip doesn't sign in until 1830 tomorrow at JFK, so I'll just DH over there tomorrow afternoon. Also, I don't have a wife or kids so I don't mind going on trips here and there. Spending a few hours sipping wine at the base of the Acropolis or Pantheon isn't a terrible way to spend a day "working." That said, I spend more of my time in Amsterdam, which also doesn't suck. Delta 4 yr WB

We probably need a KC-46 first.

Well deserved.

I had 2 1/2 weeks off into a trip starting tomorrow. I’ll work sun-wed the rest of the month. I’ll gross around 10k. Delta, year 2

https://www.amazon.com/KORE-AVIATION-P1-Aviation-Headset/dp/B01CBJ29C4/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1523414589&sr=1-4&keywords=aviation+headset https://www.amazon.com/KORE-AVIATION-Silicone-Replacement-Aviation/dp/B017ZMU20I/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1523415547&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=ORE+AVIATION+Ultra+Plush+Silicone+Gel+Ear+Seal+Replacement+for+Pilot+Aviation+Headset If you'd like to minimize what you spend on a headset that will easily get you through your PPL and beyond, consider this one from Kore. I have two of these for when I take passengers and have never had any complaints, and the price is hard to beat given the quality and reputation Kore continues to build. The Amazon reviews speak for themselves. The ear cups that come with them are okay, but I'd recommend the gel cups in the link above. With that said, I've worn the same set of DC H10-20s since 2003 and probably do about 30-40 hrs of GA flying each year and they're still going strong. They're comfortable and for GA flying, I actually prefer NOT having noise cancelling due to the fact I can hear subtle changes in power better. In my opinion, spending money on something along the lines of the A20 is overkill, unless you can afford it/think you'll use this headset for a long time or professionally down the road. I don't know what Herk guys fly with, but I believe KC-135 guys are issued A20s. C-17s still fly with DCs but hopefully they'll eventually get A20s down the road, so depending on if/when you get hired with a unit, you may get a pair anyway that you can buy the civilian adapter for.

@Engineer2Pilot Maybe your post was generally good natured I however read it as “you’re being a bitch & here’s why” style of response. Since making the original post your’re correct. Trust the fact I’ve had several honest conversations with my Wife over this topic and lay awake at night thinking of this. If I’m not committed to something 100% I’ve never done them. That last statement is mostly true with exception to a few women in college. The first comment that comes to mind on this statement is I don’t give a shit what you like to hear on any matter but I especially don’t care when it involves my or anyone else’s family. I will agree that the cost of the license isn’t important if it provides you the opportunity to be more competitive for a slot. In a previous post some advice was given to get hired and worry about the details later. My opinion is to be absolutely positive this is what you want prior to ever submitting an app. With the amount of doubt I have it’s growing to be more certain I will not apply. Which is why I made the comment that it would be pointless to drop that kind of coin on the license which would have limited use to me. All in all this wasn’t an opportunity that I wasn’t actively seeking out. Over the years I pondered getting my PPL and applying just never acted on it. I’ve been working in the Fighter Squdron now for 12 years and apparently liked well enough to have pilots approach me about UPT. I’m perfectly fine with sacrifice on my behalf, but I’m fully aware that my Wife & Son will be the ones who are truly bearing the brunt of the sacrifice.

A 98 year old at a nursing care facility who has voted their entire lives, but now has no need for a driver's license or other photo ID is now a lazy ass. Noted.

I didn't say I was anti voter ID, you all just made that assumption. I just said that just because someone may be in a situation where obtaining one is extremely hard for them it doesn't make them a lazy ass. But feel free to keep putting words in my mouth because you can't read something for what it actually says. Also this: https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-01-2012/voter-id-laws-impact-older-americans.html