Scooter14

My guess is that he is pre-screening to be an STO. If he makes it through the pre-screen, they will accept him into the real program after his commission that following spring. Correct me if I'm wrong...

So, Toro can't get through with a line badge, but Rainman can get through WITH a line badge after showing a legit ID that he won't accept because the chip is punched out and labeled as a "possible terrorist" by the SAME FREAKIN GUY! I bet if you got them all together, they would claim to be "following the rules." I'm glad we don't have "rules" like that. "Hey tanker, why are you flying at 295?" "That's the rules" "I need you to fly at 315" "Why?" "That's the rules" No wonder they want us all to be "on the lookout" and to help out the SF folks. Gotta love the Active Duty cops. Luckily, the ANG cops I have come across got issued common sense at Lackland. I did the same thing Toro did (left my CAC in my computer) and took off. Got alerted the next day and rolled up to the gate. Opened my wallet, and to my dismay discovered no ID and no drivers license. As I start to panic, wondering where my ID is, he says "I've been seeing this alot lately...I bet you left it in the computer. I recognize you, though, come on through ." Personal recognition...what a concept. Walked into ops, went over to the computer, grabbed my CAC and off we went.

I know what not to do in the skies over Vermont...

1 - No 2 - The DO, or Ops Officer at the flying squadron. Some have a POC for pilot hiring, they'll point you in the right direction. 3 - Depends on the unit 4 - Nope 5 - I haven't done it, but there are 4 folks in my unit who have gone rotary-fixed wing. There is no age limit since you are commissioned, which helps the unit out. Do a search on this board for FWQ or Fixed Wing Qual. That is the name of the program that takes rotary guys like you and turns them into AF fixed wing bubbas. It's mostly a Guard/Reserve thing, which sounds like what you want. Most guys I know were heavy guys, but some fighter units participate as well, all depends on what you wanna do. The course itself is about 10 months long at Vance AFB, Enid, OK. You get a set of AF wings before you go, so you're not a UPT Student, but the syllabus is similar. You don't have to put up with the same haze as the run of the mill stud. Lots of guys on this board have way more info. They'll weigh in shortly, but in the mean time use the search and see what you can dig up. Keep posting if you have further ?s and good luck.

SUTAs = 48 per FY = 1/30th base & fly pay-4 hr block AFTPs = 48 per FY (usually broken into 12 per quarter) = same as SUTA - 4 hr block AT Days = 15 per FY = 1/30th base, fly, BAS & Type II BAH - full day School days = same, unless more than I wanna say 120 days, then you get 1/30th of the full Type 1 BAH for your HOR per day. Alert Tours = Some pay 2 for 1, some pay 3 for 1. If they are Title 10, they should pay 1/30th of everything per day, to include Type 1 BAH, but that may be unit dependent. Title 10 trips - Pay 1/30th of everything per day More than 30 days of orders in support of a contingency= full TRICARE for 6 months after you come off orders More than 90 consecutive days in support of a contingency = TRICARE fr 6 months after you come off orders + the ability to buy into TRICARE Reserve Select for the next full year. Hope this helps. Ditto what PilotKD said. The region he's going to and I'm livin in has some pretty high BAH rates/cost of living. Not getting that makes a big difference. It can be done, you just need to know what you're getting and what you are not. Good on ya for planning ahead.

That is a shame. Just so all base housing and married officers don't get a bad rap, I lived in base housing from March 1998- Dec 2002. We had a BLAST. Sure, we had a few oddball neighbors, but the ones that lived right near us were awesome. I mean the still-keep-in-touch-with firends-for-life kind of couples. We'd watch their kids, they'd watch ours, we'd help each other out, and man, did we get hammered. For example, New Years 2000, we took the beds out of a room at my neighbors house and it was wall-to-wall Pack and Plays. We then commenced partying, put the kids down about 10 PM, and drank our asses off. The chaplain that lived behind me stayed sober (he didn't drink), so we knew someone could be the adult supervision when we brought out ... The FIREWORKS! Drunk pilots, navs, JAGs and MX officers, a sober chaplain, explosives and a Zippo. Don't try this at home. We'd sit around and drink beer all of the time around a fire pit made from a beat up old Weber grill and smoke cigars and then we'd go play night golf or something stupid like that. [ 10. June 2006, 20:09: Message edited by: Scooter14 ]

Wow, this is like that big gouge thread we had right after this happened. It's all shades of gray. What's right and what's wrong? Like sleepy said, "I have my integrity, you have yours" There are differences between a foot stomp, a reference, a question bank and the actual test. My opinion is this...if it helps everyone and you are still learning the material, good to go. If it's giving a select few an advantage, then bullshit. A master question bank forces you to study all the material, or at least memorize it. If you are not cross-referencing it in your pubs, you are wrong. I know some people say this is cheating, I don't think it is. A foot stomp is given to the whole class, and it's usually in regards to items that are complex or are so nit-noid that the instructor doesn't want to see someone fail a test and go on CAP or miss a contact hop on a clear day because they had an 85 until they missed the "How many rivets hold the fetzer valve in place" question or a formation go-around question that nobody has even looked at because form is still 5 weeks away (happened to me). The actual test, now you are playing with fire. Crib notes, same thing. That's not gouge, that's cheating. I think (again, my opinion based on no real facts other than AF Enquirer articles and this board) that the problem here was less about the cheating and more about the skewed playing field. Imagine if your flight was struggling, but the other flight was smoking the EPQ's. I know that's not a significant part of your grade, but sometimes the difference between what you want and what you get is less than one percentage point. You either go all in as a class, or you'd better just let it go. Common sense and integrity need to prevail. [ 10. June 2006, 11:31: Message edited by: Scooter14 ]

"live by the gouge, die by the gouge"

I've seen it done. C-5 guy, Tweet IP/Flt CC/Check Flt CC (where I met him) then to KC-135 ACIQ (class after mine). I don't know how long he was in the FRED, but he was a Capt when he went to KC school. I'm not saying it happens every day, but it's been done.

McPeak liked the V neck so much back in '68, he decided to impose it on everyone. He's thnking to himself "Gosh, I wish these flight suits had epaulets...and sewn in creases, yeah! Maybe some zippers on the sides so I can put my hands somewhere else other than behind my back..."

I'll defer to Sneedro and the other guccis, but I have heard them referred to as WARP (Wing Tip Air Refueling) pods and some -10's have them. Is it permanent, or can they be added and removed?

Mambo, It's a small victory they kept it on there. I'm happy they didn't change it. I'm a big fan of the Hap Arnold logo, it's about the only thing we have left that ties us to the Army Air Corps and our past. I was super pissed when they came up with that stupid new logo. They throw it on everything, the new PT uniform, powerpoint slides, etc. They paid some marketing firm 6.9 gajillion dollars to make it up, so I'm surprised they didn't try to throw it in there somewhere. Very poorly timed idea to make the new "heritage" uniforms, but good on them for at least trying to kick it old school.

I saw a rescue crew in the AOR waering the Army desert ABDUs. The straight up tan looked good. I was envious of the ability to take off the top while preflighting when it's 110+ outside. The woodland camo ones, on the other hand, looked kind of messed up, like a set of BDU's that didn't fit right. I wish they would just leave well-enough alone. Better yet, when you deploy, you should be able to pick what you want. Tan flight suit, sure. Two piece flight suit, no problem. Who really gives a damn as long as the mission gets done. Oh, but the Sarn't Majors and the First Shirts wouldn't be able to yell at you or enforce the "Pride Patrol" if we all looked different. Same goes for the Sevice Dress. The current one sucks, but at least we all have it now. I got commissioned right after the sleeve rank went away. I had to buy the new service dress and then a "conversion kit" to put epaulets on it. Leave it alone for a few more years. Divert the funds into the Raptor program/keeping the BUFFS/a new tanker/Thunderbirds marketing/whatever. CH, I hope the new flight suit isn't tiger striped. If they are, just lie to me and tell me they aren't. BTW, did anyone look closely in the pics of the new service dress? All of the buttons have the Hap Arnold logo on them and not the uber electric chicken new AF logo. Small victories. [ 20. May 2006, 14:10: Message edited by: Scooter14 ]

One of my C-130 raised nav school INs told me during a sim that he used that to hang the whiz wheel around his neck so he could look outside but still have it handy. We just looked at him as if he was on crack. I have never used it for anything but spinning it on a pencil while bored. If I ever tried to hang it up, the rectangular piece of metal would fall out.

I'm gonna bet no. "Above my paygrade" is an accepted phrase about stuff that happens that you truly cannot control. "Below my paygrade" is a SNAPs way of saying "I'm too good for that" "Go fill the soda machine then bring these forms to Stan/Eval with two holes punched in them" "Screw you, that's below my pay grade

Wow. That's one hell of a first mission.

Well, I enjoy flying to a point and making left hand turns for anywhere from 15 min to 6.9 hours. I like holding a little longer than we were supposed to and having the Strike Eagle guys thank us for not having to spend the night in Iraq. I really enjoyed holding (orbiting/delaying...same damn thing) above the killboxes the Vipers and Strike Eagles were working and listening to the play by play. It's nice to see the results of you're presence, even if the pointy nose guys are the middleman. I don't enjoy holding while the other pilot and the boom are in the books trying to figure out what's wrong with the plane. [ 30. April 2006, 14:02: Message edited by: Scooter14 ]

rotor/RC12, Our ANG unit just sent an individual to Vance for FWQ training who had the majority of time in the C-12/RC-7. I spent a lot of time on the phone with the folks at ANG that do the slots, and here's my understanding... -There's at least 12 FWQ slots out there for the ANG. When I asked about the slots saying we had a candidate, they said "just get us the info, let us worry about the slot." -Since you went through IERW(?) training, you didn't get spin training like those who went through the Tweet/T-6/T-34, so you'll do an abbreviated syllabus in the T-6 at Vance before going to the T-1 (mil Beech 400A). The T-1 is the full syllabus, but there are many "blocks" of training, each with about 5-7 rides. If you meet the minimum grades before the end of the block, you can "Proficiency Advance" up to two rides per block. This is entirely your call. -The T-6 portion can be waived, but I want to say the cutoff was 2000 or 2500 hours. It saves you time in training, but the fixed wingers I knew had a ball flying the Tweet, and I would think the T-6 would be as fun, if not more fun. Free flight time in an aerobatic plane, and the 8FTS typically only flies FWQ guys with experienced instructors (not FAIPS), and keeps you separated from the day to day UPT BS. -Like Rotorhead said, you will get Air Force wings. Good luck on the transition. There's a member on the board named Patrick who's at Vance now, and he's pretty knowledgeable on the process, having just gone through it. One thing I have noticed about the FWQ process is that it's "scary" for some units, since it's not a common process. Some places just don't want to deal with it. Be patient, keep looking, present the facts and do some of the legwork and that may help you get to where you want to be.

The extra flying is OK sometimes, but when you get called in to give 100K to a C-17 on a scheduled 3.0 and you take off at 288,600, get up to the track around 270,000 GW and the C-17 can't take the gas (happened to me twice since Feb), it sucks. That's about 5 extra hours of flying instead of sleeping, and you probably only brought one sandwich and not enough caffiene for your 14 hour day. Bergman, I'll give you all of those hours. Luckily, both times that happened, there was a local C-5 flying that took 40K off our hands both days. The C-17 broke, and a C-5 bailed us out. Twice. What is this world coming to?

With who? You want them to screw your orders and pay? Sure, I'll trade.

Wow, that's new (probably as of the 21st century, eh?) Kind of like how the Marine Corps does business.

I'll be here all week, folks, don't forget to tip your waitress, she's workin' hard tonight!

-My AD orders ran out on 30 Sep while I was at Altus. I called every week starting on 15 Aug, and every day starting on 15 Sep. Do you know why my orders (and my wife's ID in Enid) ran out? The SYSTEM WAS DOWN The System? You know, I remember when orders didn't need the "system". You just got a piece of paper with a stamp on it. Bam. There you go. Not anymore. We need "the system" or we're helpless. BTW, 1 Oct was a Friday. I was off orders until Mon afternoon the 4th. It was drill weekend back at my unit. That's the only reason I got orders that fast. My son had a medical appointment Monday morning to get new Asthma meds. Guess who got dropped from DEERS at 0001 on 1 Oct. If you said "Scooter's entire family" then you're right. Thank goodness one of my buds wives was a nurse at the clinic at Vance and greased the skids. Props also to the 2Lt at the MPF who made the NCO issue my wife a new ID card and enter her into DEERS that afternoon even though I was not present (geographically separated and trying to complete KC135 school). My wife lugged in the 5 yr old and the screaming infant and the dude at the desk was like "Uh, sorry, I CAN'T HELP YOU" The 2Lt was a UPT studs wife, and she took charge and actually helped us out.

First of all, it's an alternate slot. You're not there yet. Ask Bergman about his alternate slot (not knockin ya Berg, just stating a fact). To be an alternate at age 20 is a testament to your ability to go in there and get your game on in the interview. Nicely done. Now, if you turn that down, you just shot yourself in the foot. Nothing beats military training...nothing. UPT is 54 weeks of top notch instruction. I don't care if half of it is rotary time. It will set you apart. If you are having reservations about it, by all means turn it down. Let the next guy in line have his dream come true. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting an airline job as a Guardsman. The Guard is part-time. You need to sustain yourself. However, when you commit to the Guard, you are committing to your squadron mates that you will participate and you will be there when called upon. You will be the best helo pilot you can be - your crew depends on it. If you're a rescue guy, I might depend on it. If I was in your shoes, I'd "secure" that job now. If you're in training and they offer you the UPT slot, do what you can. Most airlines seem to accomodate military leave quite well. Like Bergman said, it ain't gonna happen overnight. If you just got picked up, it's probably an FY 08 pilot slot. That means the earliest they will send you is 1 Oct 07 to UPT. The latest they can send you is 30 Sep 08. That's a lot of time to negotiate with both sides. Roll with it, but don't half-ass it. If you're not 100% committed to this Guard thing, give someone else a chance. EDIT: If you don't take the Guard job, how are you going to get the time to go fly for the majors? I guess I'm confused on this one. If fixed wing time was the issue, why did you apply to the helo unit, or were you banking on getting the -130 slot? [ 07. April 2006, 22:46: Message edited by: Scooter14 ]

I did a search (whoa!) and came up with... USCG Officer Question and there is a member named CGPILOT in this thread who, oddly enough, is a Coast Guard Pilot.