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This... failed one as a young Captain because the FAC civilian discounted 10 push-ups and I had a bad run time. At the time the wife just birthed a set of twins and I was on 4 hours of sleep a night and yup I hadn’t hit the gym in a solid three months because she was on bed rest the two months prior to the blessed day. Nobody gave a shat about that but here’s the rub. When I was fortunate enough to command MX ops at Cannon and had an Airman butting up against a PT due date with some life events that had kept them from being prepared I happily filled out the ole commanders exemption and told them to keep in touch if they felt they couldn’t pass after the exemption expired. Dialogue with me, but if life is keeping you from PTing there is probably some other causal factor outside of fitness to blame. To this day every time I have to take a PT test it takes me several attempts before I nut up and go take it. And no it’s not because I struggle. I’ve scored 83-85 consistently along with a couple of 90s. I have no similar problem with I/Q or MSN check rides. My point in this long rambling post is that commanders have been empowered ever since they have had the call to sign a ccs exemption. If captain x has gained 20 pounds and can’t pass the test there might be reasons other than physical that are causing these issues. Maybe some other reason... like an impending divorce, alcohol abuse, anxiety disorder or some other traumatic event. Sign the damn exemption, give your airmen the time to deal with life and if after an appropriate amount of time they can’t perform the person is lazy or unfit... you are on g series orders for a reason.

I love all the badass PT bubba's here. I get it your fit, you pass the test no problem. Not every one is like you nor should the be because honestly that would suck. I also never struggle with the test, but I am also blessed with a small waste and can eat Pizza every day and likely not see much of a change in my overall body composition. I am lucky and I know it. I hate running, I dont have a bum knee, I don't have a problem with my back, I don't particularly have any reason to not excel beyond the fact that I to this day have yet to set foot into a gym other than for a PT test (okay not 100% true but close enough). Should I be working out? Sure, but you know life. I spend that extra time with my family, with my kids, and more importantly posting bull$S#$ on this forum. If the AF truly gave two craps about our physical fitness they would mandate time out of the duty day for it, period. The few locations were I had it scheduled for me I gladly spent that time at the gym. But when you ask me to knock out 12 hour days and then ask me to find my own time to work out then your full of it. Granted now I do not have that issue, my days are generally max 10 hour, with many closer to a what I would consider acceptable 8 hour day I have less of a time crunch to lean back on. But still if it is part of my employment it likely should be part of my expected work day and build into it as such.

Abort!

I'm surprised that nobody has copypasta'd the post the DO of the CAF unit involved made on the day after the accident.

What’s a good age to start the weezing on lap 4? Asking for a friend....

I always shake my head a little bit when folks hand out the "don't enlist" advice so quickly. You can't underestimate how important it is for a guard unit to find people that will be a good fit for the unit. That is why you hear certain units "only hire from within". If you are a junior in HS, set yourself up to go to basic right after you graduate. Enlist in something that involves the aircraft like maintenance or life support. At a minimum, either of those career fields gives you a head start on knowing the aircraft and its systems. Yes, your tech school will eat into your first or second semester but you can always CLEP classes or take online courses while you are in tech school to keep college credits coming in. If you get medically DQ'd down the road or don't get picked up, at least you will have served your country, been a part of the guard, worked with great people and probably got college paid for. Being a pilot isn't the only way to serve. If you think otherwise, you aren't a good fit anyway. The E's make it happen and deserve the most respect. With that said, the best guard officers I have ever worked with are prior Es. Hands down. There is a reason for that. They have earned the respect.

So I can just say Pcola said it, so i cant get an adsc from it.

You do you, boo. I've had 2 back surgeries, crushed disc at 19 and then a bone spur compressing the sciatic nerve at 35. I got addicted to narcotics to deal with the pain while the AF figured it out. PSA - Withdrawals suck. Now I've got bone spurs in both heels that look like eagle talons on the x-ray. I've never failed a PT test, but I've come close. I can't depend on my body to not fuck itself. I also carry all of my weight in the midsection, so the tape is a constant struggle. Every time I get to a place I consider acceptable for PT another part breaks. I do what I can, track food, diet...workout as directed by the medical hobby shop. The stress that hits me for PT testing is unlike anything else I've ever done (CDC or promotion testing enlisted, undergrad/grad classes, alone with SrA Hotness, etc.).

I consistently score around 90 and have never failed a PT test. I get nervous before every single one. There is no other measure that has so much ability to impact someone's career. I know people who have failed a PT test ten years ago who were then prevented from going to WIC. Meanwhile, I know people who had run-ins with the law who were still allowed to apply. Even if it's something you can do in your sleep, the stress of knowing every test could end your career is still present and significant.

Wouldn’t be an aviation forum without people going full rage mode with notional or incomplete data.

Facts can be inconvenient admittedly without being personal: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/10/irs-apology-conservative-groups-2012-election/2149939/ WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for subjecting Tea Party groups to additional scrutiny during the 2012 election, but denied any political motive https://www.npr.org/2017/10/27/560308997/irs-apologizes-for-aggressive-scrutiny-of-conservative-groups In a legal settlement that still awaits a federal judge's approval, the IRS "expresses its sincere apology" for mistreating a conservative organization called Linchpins of Liberty — along with 40 other conservative groups — in their applications for tax-exempt status. And in a second case, NorCal Tea Party Patriots and 427 other groups suing the IRS also reached a "substantial financial settlement" with the government. (Please note that I used left-friendly sources so the facts should be the focus not the venue) Yes, the original Patriot Act was signed by President Bush. Written and passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. And renewed several times since then on a bipartisan basis. Unfortunately. It's not something I liked then or now. Bush was a big-government president. He did much to accelerate the growth of big government and the diminishing of individual liberty in the wake of 9/11. Barry took that start and ran with it, consolidating executive branch power immensely. With the Democrats' in Congress concurrence. (I still can't believe Harry Reid went along when Barry made a recess appointment despite the Senate being in session. The Supreme Court later tossed those appointments as being unconstitutional, but Reid didn't challenge the appointments). If Obama's policies/actions were so 'very centrist,' he could've gotten buy-in with Congress albeit with compromises as is the nature of politics. But once he lost his super-majority in the Senate, he went full-on "pen and a phone." Which makes it easy to undo as is happening presently. Think for just a minute - Why did Trump beat 16 conventional GOP candidates and a conventional Democrat like Hillary? Why did/does a GOP-led Congress put up with a special prosecutor investigating this President? Threaten the status quo beast and it's gravy train and the reaction is swift.

They ride each other...

What about eagle pilots and crew chiefs?

Don't need to provide a receipt for less than $70. Claim as taxi on voucher. Problem circumvented (albeit not solved long term as you pointed out). Why did you guys lose variations authorized?

A regional will call you within 24 hours of applying, assuming you apply during the week.

I think you might be suffering from bulimia bro.

You worked on getting people to work at their home job while deployed, you sir, are the devil.

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Finance guy, are you still on here? Maybe others have figured out a work around? This is WAY down the list on bitches/gripes/complaints, but something I'm currently dealing with. FG or anyone know why we "must" have to have a car on our orders to be reimbursed for rental car gas? Shouldn't anyone on the TDY be able to be reimbursed w/o wasting man hours on amending orders? Since we lost the ability to blanket "variations authorized" our orders, this has become an ass pain. Inevitably we end up with a 4-ship in a car that needs gas (thanks LTs) and noone has a car on their orders. Sure pay cash and turn over the receipt, but half the time noone has cash anymore. Seems like we're unnecessarily handcuffing/creating more work for ourselves. Hell even planning who gets a rental car is a pain. Has to be a AGR or someone on AT orders only (no split AT/ST, no technician status, no half time AGRs, and no part-timers)? Why can't it just be a single fucking account labeled XXXFW rental car? I'm sure there is a valid reason somewhere, but it makes planning much more of a PITA when we have swapouts, people showing up at different times/locations (flyers vs airline, advon, etc...), and guys going in AGR/Technician/ST/AT/Part time status. In the grand scheme of things nothing major, but seems like this would be an easy way to make TDYs a little less painful. Might not even be an issue for AD types.

I remember you saying that you passed your fitness test after having hip surgery. And you still beat airmen around the track I maxed out my fitness test with a herniated disc pressing against a leg nerve. I only had to do the push ups and sit ups. Then I limped my butt out of the gym after maxing those components at 38 years of age. The doctors later figured out what was wrong months later. Point is that I still maxed everything with an injury that required surgery. When a person fails, I have no sympathy for them.

I recommend enlisting. It worked for me and many others. There is nothing wrong with an enlisted career if you were medically DQ’d later down the road. Just my 2 cents.

I love how the rules of poker can change mid-hand. This is certainly changing my decision matrix on going back to flying next summer with 1 year of UPT ADSC left. If I decline a PCS, sit in place for an extra year I'll have been out of a jet for 4 years. However, with a solid flying record and ATP in hand, I think/hope a regional will let me buy them a drink while I wait for an interview.

So can you now 3 day opt all 365 deployments within 4 years of your ADSC, since the return requal will trigger this new ADSC which will put you beyond your UPT commitment?

It's not about "return on investment", it's about keeping people forever. If it was ROI, then you would owe a lot more time for the 8-month/69-sortie B course than you would for a 6-week/12-sortie T-X requal course, which would be more than you'd owe for a 2-ride post-DNIF in house requal. This is just gonna force people's hands into either 7-day opting earlier than they wanted or being stuck forever.

Say you’re going to sign, get a free trip to STL, then right before signing tell The Bobs that you’ve changed your mind for needs of the family and don’t sign. They can understand need changes. Make a note of any CC who gets upset with you so once you’re flying with the majors, you can help blacklist them.

I hope this is true! Nothing yells buffoonery like allowing in house flight evaluations to see if you’re safe to fly a multi million dollar airplane, but have a “fitness cell” at each base to administer PT tests because they don’t trust commanders.

Thinking of you this day. 🍺🍺🍺🍺

Here's about as specific data as I can get you: 50/50. As of this morning, my logbook has my Purple flying time with 732.2 hours, 365.9 is day and 366.3 is night. This is the context: I have been at FX for just over 2 years, so still quite new in the grand scheme, but at 80-ish% seniority at the company already due to the constant hiring in the last two years and the steady retirement flow. I'm on the A300, which is nearly all domestic flying, with a little international that goes very senior. I am at about 69% (NS-TFS!) seniority in the right seat, and for some perspective the Bus is a relatively senior airplane because of the domestic-only widebody flying: the top half of the A300 FO list is very heavy with senior FOs who have been parked there for years and are not moving. The bidpack for the A300 is about evenly split between day flying and night flying, with a lot of variations of it (out-and-backs, multi-day trips, hub-turn overnights etc) of both day and night flavor. My seniority progression (in terms of schedule bidding) has been rapid, to say the least. - After completing training, 3 months of reserve, most of which was A Reserve (night flying). - Could hold secondary lines at month 4 out of training (secondaries are flying lines made up of scheduled trips and sometimes reserve days. Some months had nights, some months had days) - Held commutable night flying lines at 12 months at the company (9 months out of training) - Can hold commutable day flying lines at less than 2 years at the company. The interesting thing is that night flying doesn't necessarily always go junior. Over the last two years, my day/night balance has pushed over into 60/40 days and 60/40 nights, depending on what I bid and what I can hold, but up to this point it always trends back toward the center of 50/50. We shall see what it brings in the future now that I can consistently hold commutable day-flying lines, and that's what I intend to keep bidding. For some further context, I had originally intended to bid over to the 777 as soon as I could, due to a bunch of factors that @JeremiahWeed has posted about in these threads before. However, the last two system bids at FX have seen a lot of A300 FOs leaving for greener pastures (either 777/MD FO, or 75 Captain, or even A300 Captain) and very few FOs coming *to* the Bus. This is mostly because the guys coming off the 757 have a much easier transition training difficulty & footprint going to the 76 than to the Bus. What this means is that my seniority continues to rapidly advance in the right seat of the Bus -- in fact, scheduled to go up 30+% in just this next 12-18 months. So...I kicked back the plans to leave, and am instead going to enjoy a little taste of seniority (rather than "juniority") here this early on in my career at Purple.

I think I went a 3-4 month stretch once without having a night landing. It just all all depends on the lines you bid.

FDX only: I’d say it’s at least 50/50, maybe closer to 60/40. That’d be 60% nights. Techniques on getting paid are widely varied. Some will move to Memphis to sit reserve (day or night) at home. Some will take the line awarded and fly that exactly, so they will suffer more nights in the beginning and eventually move to days. When is eventually? Depends on which airframe. From my bidpack observation, the 757 is the heaviest on nights, and multilegs on those nights. The 777 is like its own airline on the other side of that spectrum, almost exclusively rocking long haul, never really seeing a hub turn, day or night. The 767/Bus are somewhere in the middle. The MD is a jack of all trades...days/nights/short/medium/long/domestic/intl. The company appears to hate the MD. Bad accident history, no one will ever purchase them again. It’s a battered wife scenario with the MD. They sure hate it, but they simply cannot retire them due to the unique lift they provide. Like a gap wedge...somewhere in between a 777 and a 767. But an ugly rusty old gap wedge they’d rather recycle with something sexy and new...that doesn’t currently exist. My point is, that night percentage is dependent on the fleet. 777 will eventually watch the sun set on a 12+ hr flight unless they’re going with the sun. With all those nights and multiple legs per duty period on the 757, one can hold CA @ 100% in less than two years. And fly 100% nights. Or be in the top 25% of FOs on the 75. And probably fly mostly days. But compared to the rest of the company’s nights schedule, it’s brutal. Or you can stay a WB FO for your whole career. Or you can wait til the 5+-8 yr point to hold 767/Bus/MD left seat. Not real sure how many years the more junior 777 CAs have on property. But all the seniority gravitates to the triple. It’s a simple math problem...most $$ for least amount of work. Some triple FO posted the straight up TRUTH about his average trip earlier in this thread. He’s totally ruined to do any actual “work” for the rest of his life...and why should he? From PJs/catering/airborne naps while hitting the cycle for every soft money stipulation in the contract is hard to walk away from. My point of going into all that extra crap is your nights % question is a red herring to decide cargo or not. I’ll let a UPS guy weigh in with what Brown can do for you...but at FDX, if they give you nights, aggressively search open time and change your fate after you’ve cut/slashed/burned/proffered every dog shit trip you were awarded. Someone out there is totally OK with flying nights. I’m thankful that those exist...I’m guessing about 60% of the company if the bid packs are accurate. Me? I’m not interested in flying nights. Unless it’s one leg into a beautiful trip with day flying and long layovers for the rest of the pairing.

Definitely scented and pink. I prefer coconut scent.

I'll bite before this is closed, your WG/CC cannot do much to get you hired into a (ARC) fighter wing. This process is delegated usually to the OSS/CC and an interview process, sure, they can call and recommend but that does not have to be taken into consideration. You need to rush and apply to units, there is no hiring unless there is a hiring announcement that you qualify for by the closeout date. No college, no luck, no ASVAB, no luck, douchebag, no luck. A lot of this applies to active duty as well, just think of UPT as your interview process. You are guaranteed nothing, you are entitled to nothing. I had 50 hours and a private pilots license going into UPT as an active duty dude, I did better that some 2000 hour CFI's, and did worse than some 0 hour, non private license students. Attitude can be 70%, but there needs to be some ability, and you don't know if you have that yet. If you pass the FC1, you could parlay that into a backup slot, lots of people lose their physical, and you could be on the next bus to UPT. And before you ask and not search (damn millennials) I flew fighters for thousands of hours, and taught UPT (T-38s).....all very recently. Now close this ridiculousness

Abandon thread.

This could be epic if the above really happened.

I'm glad you said so. Just skip UPT then and join us in the CAF, brah! Didn't you hear there's a fighter pilot shortage? Would you mind PMing me your name and contact info so I can get your orders hooked up for Weapons School? Thanks, brosaurus-rex.

No you don't.