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LOL, perfect...I guess I've personally stopped 6-9 months worth of kickbacks for my base. Well not me, finance and their inability to unfuck themselves and actually pay out my vouchers. Made even more funny by the fact that they had to amend my vouchers to pay for the late fees.

Been in the Guard 18 years with 10 years in the squadron as a pilot. I would say it varies widly by squadron and even from year to year. 9 years ago, I would say our "camraderie" was rather low...today, MUCH higher. The big detractor is that most guys are from the local area (various burbs...with family/friends close) so we're kinda spread out all over the city, the kids are in different school systems and most of the wives have jobs. With that, everyone has their own thing going on and busy lives. Another factor is our average age is higher so most guys have older kids that have them going non-stop...not to mention many of us have other jobs. I don't think we could ever hold a candle to an overseas fighter squadron who mostly live on base and/or in the same neighborhood. That said, I've flown with the same bros for 10 years and they're truly like brothers to me. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Another unique thing about the guard is that many of us are prior-E and many people stay on the base for 30+. Our tightness is expanded grately outside the squadron. Example...when I was a SrA, I had an awesome E-9 who always took great care of us. Fast forward 13 years and I'm the projo for a a two week TDY. That same E-9 is my NCOIC for the trip...what a humbling experience to have that guy call me sir and be my right hand man for the trip. When I walk out to my jet, a buddy from my crew chiefin days is launching me out. When I walk over to the expediter truck, it's my buddy Bill and not just MSgt Snuffy. When we go TDY we ALL party together. We know our crew chiefs, weapons loaders and avionics guys by first name and we know their families. When we want to buy a car we talk to one of our part time AFE guys who manages a local dealership. When I need HVAC stuff done I know a guy in a Mx backshop who has a side business. If we want property management, we have a part time E-9. We even had an enlisted dude recently kill it on Shark Tank and is doing very well for himself. On the flip side, we can be like a small high school...everyone know everything! We're a giant family...sometimes a dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless.

Oh man they actually have guys going through with that? They talked about that here (ANG) a few years back and we all agreed that it's really not enforcable and why would we do that to our own guy's. If seasoning days aren't enough then they should be pushing for more orders...not putting a band-aid on it by giving their bros a paycut.

So based on DTS/finance success rates...no base has ever been awarded the payout?

Watch a documentary about F-16 ops titled “Iron Eagle” and focus primarily on Hades bomb employment.

For fighters Social D nailed the ANG life, AD is tighter and younger (sts), I really enjoyed the comraderie on active duty. That being said, I wish I was a ANG baby.

Am I the only one that smirked at that? Nobody? Ok then.

You're right, I emailed afpc accepting and they sent a reply back that essentially said "you're an idiot leave us alone" 🙂

AMC mixes Os and Es. It's a different dynamic than being in an all O squadron with 6-9 support role Es. Certainly impacts the brotherhood vibe.

F-22 1. Expect to deploy either to the desert or to the Pacific for 6 months at a time once every 1.5-2 years (home for 1-1.5 years between deployments). While in garrison, expect 2 x RED FLAG-Nellis/Alaska that take one month away from home each. Also expect 1 x COMBAT ARCHER trip and 1 x COMBAT HAMMER trip in there for 2-3 weeks each. In between all of that, expect 4 or so night surges for 4-6 weeks that will throw home life off, a few one-week CONUS simulator trips, and upgrade surges when none of that other stuff is going on. The community is minimally manned due to poor TFI mix calculations, causing the various shops (training, stab/eval, UDM, etc.) to be one man deep. You're busy. 2. Family stability is all about expectation management (this is true of every military family): if your family expects you to be home for dinner most nights, they have bad expectations and will be frustrated. If they expect you to work 14 hours a day and a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday, they will be pleasantly surprised about 2-3 times a week. 3. Community morale depends on the year group: all of the young guys absolutely LOVE life! It's the most dominant fighter jet in the world and you're getting to fly it every day. Throw on top of that, just about every bro in the community was top notch to get in, so they are awesome selfless individuals who will stay several hours late multiple nights in a row if needed to help a bro out. The oldest guys are usually the SQ/CC or SQ/DO; every now and then there is a Lt Col ADO who stuck around. They all love to be there because they chose to stay plus all of the stuff mentioned about the young guys applies to these guys (even leadership will stay to help out). I would be willing to bet that some of the best leaders in the USAF are in the F-22 SQ/CC seats. I've never once had even an average one. The guys who've been in the USAF for 6-10 years are a mixed bag. They've always been the best at everything they've ever done...until they got into the F-22. The ones who go to WIC, typically love life until after their first WO job when they get burnt out and punch to the Guard/Reserve (VERY few stay longer). Those on leadership tracks still love life. The ones who didn't get either are often cynical and looking to get out ASAP. 4. It's the Raptor. It'll continue to get upgraded and be the USAF's top A/A fighter. 5. There isn't a single bad location: Anchorage, AK; Yorktown, VA; Honolulu, HI; Panama City Beach, FL; and Las Vegas, NV. Expect to go Ops-to-Ops indefinitely unless you go to IDE. That's about the only way you reach escape velocity from the community, but you'll go right back after school/staff. Very very few go on 365s, and none are getting picked up for 180s anymore now that Schwartz' ridiculous "all-in" mentality has been purged (I digress). I have absolutely loved my time in the Raptor.

https://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/January 2019/Donovan-No-Buy-of-Light-Attack-Yet-More-Experiments-More-Types-to-Consider.aspx I’ve stated it before in this thread; the AF does not give a fuck about this program and does not value it highly when viewed alongside acquisitions like B-21, KC-46, F-35, next gen ICBM, 6th gen Air dominance, KC-Z, new advanced trainer etc. SOCOM/AFSOC will not pursue acquisition of this by themselves; AFSOC is prioritizing-130J, more CV-22s, and next gen ISR. Anyone who spontaneously ejaculated in excitement about the possibility of a “jet type light attack” reading my previous post missed the point, the AF is going to continue to drag it’s feet and make vague statements until this goes the way of the dodo.

Anyone here currently a ANG fighter pilot? On a similar path here and trying to get a sense of what it's like to be a fighter pilot on base and so forth.