Scooter14

Fair enough.

That's all well and good, but you're going to have to call everyone who's been to Vance AFB from at least 2003 on (to include me) and let them know they need to solder their first pair of wings back together.

Like Toro said, it is a formal course, so there is a start and end date. That being said, I remember when the C-5 school was at Altus, the students had multiple delays in their training due to maintenamnce issues with the aircraft. Not trying to bash your husbands plane, but it does not have the best mission capable rate in the Air Force (translation-she's broken a lot). Now that there are less C-5's on Active Duty, the Reserves are running the school and the aircraft are based at a field where deopt level maintenance can occur, one would think this should help the training stay on a good timeline. You can probably plan on him finishing within a few weeks of the projected course graduation date.

Corsair - grew up watching Baa Baa Black Sheep F-104 FB-111

You know what I'd do...hey, look at that... Damn, I forgot what I was going to say.

Dude, I haven't called you out in at LEAST a month or two. It's been all Rainman, all the time...oh, and Beaver with the whole "dudes in the locker room thing" which I refrained from commenting on in the "I'd hit that buxom Capt in the Short Skirt, Long Jacket video" thread. And I would hit that. No questions asked. Back to the topic at hand... As for the wing king in Manas, he's the reason we're going to Guam again and not his location for exactly the reasons you stated. On my last OIF trip, the AC who flew as our "over the shoulder" learned more from us than we did from him. The AD does it all the time, that's the only thing that gets them the "experience". If they'd let us play instead of ruling the four square court, we'd be experienced, too. Then they'd be out of a job because we can do it better. And cheaper. I completely understood Rainman's point about the Guard buffonery. I think it's the root cause, and it's unfortunate that the Guard has to overcome that hurdle. The solution: Mobilize the units in the AEF bucket for the duration, that gives people an out when it comes to their employer. Very unpopular for many reasons, but you and I have both seen how much they are leaning on the AD tankers and how little they lean on the ANG tankers. I know our unit has been engaged in the battle for a "Reserve component" operation in the AOR. I know other units are as well. Some units are content in doing 3 day guardlifts to Peoria and Hickam runs. Some want to do more and get little satisfaction from Jump Start and other bullshit like that, especially when their Army brothers fly back to their air patch after 15 months away from the USA. If they were smart, they'd run it just like SOUTHCOM or GK, just make it a little longer. Hell, the AD guys do a weekly swapout, what makes the Guard that much different, except time in theater. Also, in this age of the internet, why do we have to sit through three days of briefs in theater. Give it to us at home en masse before we head over, then rotate us through. Hit the ground running instead of hit the grund briefing.

I KNOW you were diggin' those left hand turns in the bozosphere...I'm surprised you didn't cross flow to AMC right then and there.

Coach/ref/umpire your favorite sport. Volunteering doesn't have to be all hard work, although trying to get a bunch of 6 year olds to stop screwing off can be a monumental task. Some sports (USA Hockey for instance) you actually go through a certification process and get a card and patch, if you've gotta have proof. Generally, you don't need to prove it to anyone, but if you work with an organization the head of it may be a good reference to use. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts ALWAYS need help. Habitat for Humanity was one I did a long time ago. Had a blast. Learned a lot, too.

Looking back on my post and pcola's post... Unfortunately, this was not the case for me. I grew up in a year where there were 100 pilot and 100 nav slots nationwide and most of the class that graduated a year ahead of me got to fly a hole in the ground and turn keys. I also did not have the understanding cadre or an understanding coach. Each thought their program was the A #1 thing I should be doing. I had to put more into ROTC to get that commanders ranking to get that slot. You will have to gage your situation when you get there, but now you have many perspectives. Good luck and have fun. Manage your time wisely.

I played 2 years of lacrosse in college and I was a cross-town (had to cross state lines) ROTC cadet. We were a club team that went varsity my junior year. One of my rommates had played in high school, and he encouraged us to try out. I had a stick growing up, but had never played in an organized game. 24 slots, 24 kids tried out. Trying to juggle everything was a challenge. My coach was a cock. He had less lax experience than I did. All he cared about was running us into the ground. He was a hoops star at the school from way back. Scholarship, etc. Rah, rah team. None of us were on a lax scholarship. We went 2-9 the first year, 1-10 the second. Often, I had to choose between ROTC and practice. This will happen to you. Remember who will be employing you after college. (Hint, I'm not in the MLL right now). I rode the pine because of this more often than not. I was too dumb to quit the team. I'm too dumb to quit anything. I enjoyed the game, the team (except the coaching), the trips, running full speed into people, great group of dudes. I wasn't going to quit on them, but I had to put stuff in perspective to get what I wanted out of ROTC - the opportunity to fly. Just one heavy pilot's perspective on balancing ROTC and sports. If I could do it over again, I'd go to a school with ROTC on campus and I'd trade in my lax coach for one that didn't suck. If I couldn't change those two things, I wouldn't change a thing. Two. I'm off to the rink.

Last time I was there (Oct 06) they had Morgan, Jack, Vodka, Gin, Cuervo with the Brit-style shot dispensers.

You betcha.

Why the hell not? Next time there may not be any beer, or you may be somewhere dry. Strike while the iron is hot.

That's hot.

The Guard still gets thrown in the AEF "bucket" however often that happens. My unit is part of 7/8 along with 3 other tanker units from other states. We were scheduled to go to a CENTCOM location, but due to the deployed commander's time requirements, we ended up supporting Guam this year. These are 14-18 day rotations, but you can volunteer to go for longer, if you would like. If they need you for a longer period of time, they will mobilize you. Allegedly, the ANG tanker folks will be taking over an AOR tanker operation sometime in the very near future, but where and when remains to be seen. The ANG units also do quite a few 2-14 day "trips"...Germany, exercise support, Coronets, etc.

Tabletop EP, Tweet Formation "Simulated" radio call... IP - Two ship departure, two's gear won't come up...you have the aircraft. Me - "Sir, I will maintain aircraft......blah, blah, blah. Two, you have the lead on the right." The other student - "Roger, I have the lead on the right. Sir, uh, I think, uh, I'll have two check my landing gear to see if it's a sequencing malfunction." IP - "OK, fine. How would you go about doing that?" The other student - "Reno Two, I uh, need you to do a, uh, battle damage check. I think I, uh, have a main gear sequencing malfunction, so I need you to check that out for me. Oh, AND WHILE YOU'RE DOWN THERE..." That's as far as he got before I looked across the table at the other IP's and the three of us just busted up laughing.

I'll answer the questions XtnderBoom so eloquently extracted... 1 - Ditto. 2 - it's a 40+ year old airplane that just spent it's 6000th consecutive day in the AOR. It's also a -135 with a lot of sensitive stuff on it that needs some infrastructure to be effective. You probably won't be burning your shit in a 55 gal drum if that's what you mean by "hands dirty." I did have friends go do non-flying jobs in some real garden spots, however. 3 - Do a google search for Shane Osborne. Read all about what happened to his reconnaissance aircraft. Go to www.silent-warriors.com and draw your own conclusions. 4 - You could be wrong? Nope. You are wrong. I can't go any details on the course other than you will spend an extra week at Fairchild working with some really "hands-on" people. Think of it as an opportunity to get an extra $3.50/day. Again, draw your own conclusions.

That phrase, my friends, is a HerkDerka exclusive. He's told many on this site (including yours truly on numerous occasions), since he was a lowly T-44 student to go do just that. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle

From the tanker world... 11-2KC-135V1 (the KC-135 training AFI that dictates how much you will fly) does not discriminate (with very few exceptions...9mm training comes to mind) between AD vs ARC (Air Reserve Component - Guard/Reserve). If I'm a new PIQ, and I am going to McConnel, March or Meridian, I still need X amount of approaches, Y amount of landings and Z amount of RV's. Take this next paragraph for what it's worth. This opinion is mine and mine alone and biased since I am in the ANG. In my experience in the ANG, with two trips to the Died augmenting the Active Duty and trips with other ANG units, I would argue that for the most part, the ANG crew force is more experienced. While the AD folks may be more proficient in the AOR due to their ops-tempo, I spoke with many AD crewmembers that spent 2 years in the tanker, were upgrading and had never been on a Coronet, Aeromedical Evac mission, to PACAF or to any other runway other than the ones you use to get to the AOR and back. Guys upgrade faster on AD because of opstempo. I saw some young capts take the challenge and excel at being an AC, but I also saw some capts flying with young 1Lt's making some really bad calls at times as well as some gross buffoonery. Do we buffon things in the ANG? Sure, but I think we do it less since we have older, more experienced, more mature IP's who have BTDT. But, you've gotta start somewhere... So, as I go around and around here, I'll sum it up...don't worry about going to an ANG unit and it being a bunch of long hair yahoos who can't find their ass with both hands and a map. Today's Reserve Components (for the most part) are out there hacking the mish every day. Every C-130 unit that I know of has already been to the AOR multiple times. They will have a cadre of crusty IP's who have BTDT in many different airframes and you will learn a ton from them. On the flip side, AD is a great place to start, gain experience and learn the ropes. You can do that for a few years, stay on AD or jump to the ANG. Your call. Read some of these threads from guys like Bergman, Rainman, Bozz...guys who have seen both sides and make your decision from there. Good luck. EDIT - Seems Bergman posted as I was typing. He's always trying his $0.02 in before me. Bastard.

A Marine buddy of mine spoke of two FNG's in his Cobra squadron named "Chin Nuts" and "Dog Balls." Those have a ring to 'em

Locals Shipyard Export Tuckerman's Yuengling (sort of local) Sam Adams White Ale (Their spring seasonal) Boulevard Wheat (smuggled into OK from KS) Import Bohemia (Mexico - kicks Corona's ass)

Ah, those black and white bumper stickers that were all over the BRA and the laundry area. Oh my God, it's Juan Baca Matt Cahill I Love Matt Butler Stinkin Deputy, second to Knuclehead I have no idea what any of them meant, but I stared blankly at them every day. Still there as of Oct 06.

I think the thread has a lot of good information and opinions all around on how people out apps together. You are right, you can paint a piece of crap gold, and it will be gold crap. On the flip side, you can be one of the highest qualified candidates ever to slip the surly bonds, but if you write your downloadable app in felt tip pen (seen it) and staple it together with two or three staples (seen it), wrinkle it up (seen it) and mail it in past the deadline, you ain't gonna make it. I don't recall seeing more than a handful of units publish instructions on how to bind the application. The ones that do have different requirements...some ask for a manila folder only. Some want more. If you don't know the answer, you are supposed to ask. I collected apps for two UPT boards at my unit. I could tell a Riddle app just by picking it up. Ambiguous cover letter, generically adressed rec letters, a shitload of hours. Generally neat and organized. Cookie cutter. You guys must have a class on how to do Guard apps. Problem was, nothing grabbed anyone's attention. Just another CFII who wants a Guard job "somewhere." We want a person who wants a career flying with US. So, Mr. I have a Guard Pilot Slot man, care to share some wisdom as to how you got your slot and actually contribute to this discussion, or will sitting back and throwing insults and sarcastic comments suit you for now?