Carpetbagger

I think this link has been posted here before, but it provides an interesting interactive tool for looking at some Electoral College options for both the 2016 and 2012 elections. Take a close look at the drop down that shows "optimal Republican" and "optimal Democrat"... very interesting outcomes. It would be interesting to see these multiple options run with the "Wyoming Plan" factored in as well. https://www.270towin.com/alternative-electoral-college-allocation-methods/

Those who opt in... Will the matching TSP not start for 4 additional years of service or will those members be "grandfathered in" based on having at least 4 years of service already behind them? Anyone have any intel on that part of the deal?

Anybody have any new info on when they will open the gates for AFRC/ANG guys? I called Beale and AFPC and we are still not able to apply without a valid exception to policy letter in hand. AFPC said to keep waiting as the tides "may change" but nothing definitive.

Any idea when the Aviation Jobs site will be back up? Unable to access via Safari.

Posted this exact plan 2 years ago Great plan that uses an existing structure that is acceptable. Gives the beneficiary both the pension and the 401k. The other workable part of this is the Tricare for life issue. Considerable cost to the government that can probably be remedied by a modified TAMP program of 3 years benefit, followed by subsidized access to a Tricare Reserve Select type plan. ALCON, Send these good suggestions up through your congressional reps and senators and prevent bad solutions by presenting acceptable ones. Go back and read the defense business board report if you think they won't completely ruin the military retirement system without touching the civil service system already in place for ATC, firefighters, law enforcement... and congress.

Anyone else with a Mac getting a malware warning when trying to access the Baseops.net jobs page at www.guardreservejobs.com?

Any ARC Pred folks out there getting the pilot bonus? What is the latest word on the bonus for RPA operators?

:beer: :beer:

U-2 Application Any visibility on whether the Air Staff is going to lift the moratorium on ANG/AFRC applications?

Nice assumption. You obviously missed my point. PM me if you want to discuss it further. No sense flaming out over this one - my popcorn machine is broken.

Nope. But I do own property near an airport that I'm trying to persuade to move somewhere else... How can I build a house there with all that airplane noise...[/sarcasm]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Our country has rapidly moved from a "Freedom OF..." country to a "Freedom FROM..." country. The one "right" people seldom talk about is their "right" to leave, walk away, move, turn the channel, etc. These arguments are often started by the same type of folks who buy a house next to an airport, then ask the airport to move because they don't like airplane noise... Humanism and Atheism are "religions" unto themselves.

Any folks moving into the AFRC jobs over at 22 AF/Det1? What is the timeline and plan for that transition?

Agreed. Well said. Agree. It is the "intentional" part that should be hammered. Stupid mistakes happen, and accidents happen, but stupid accidents are often a result of poor leadership and accountability. Most folks don't aileron roll a non-aerobatic aircraft unintentionally. Spatial D is one thing, "hey, ya'll watch this" is another situation entirely. BLUF, it comes down to asking the right questions: Poor leadership and accountability = what if I get caught, what will this do to my career, etc... Good leadership and accountability = does this help the mission, does this save lives, does this set a good example of professionalism, etc... I had an instructor one time tell me a story from his Vietnam days. The story involved a non-standard, combat situation and the conversation went like this: Pilot: "Open up the NATOPS manual to page xx, and sit on it." CP: "What?" Pilot: "Look, we are in a bad spot here, and what I'm about to do isn't in the manual, but if this doesn't work out, I at least want the crash investigators to know that we referenced the book the best we could, and your seat cushion will probably be the only thing that survives the crash..." Instructor to me: "Sometimes things happen that aren't in the book, and that is when you have to leverage your experience and judgement to get the job done, save lives, and bring your crew home." Dumb, dangerous, or different. We've all be in situations where we have to push it up, think outside the box, and take some additional risks to save lives and get the mission done - and not everything is in the Dash-1 or NATOPS. That is why we've been entrusted with the job and rely on good judgement and experience to bridge the gaps. Taking those same risks when NOTHING is on the line but "showing off" is unacceptable.

Agree with you on the safety part and the lowest level part... However... Taking someone's wings for a SLOJ may be EXACTLY what prevents a mishap. A LOT of folks have lost their wings and jobs (civilian) for making "honest" mistakes (i.e. landing at the wrong airport) that in and of themselves were not a breach of the "public trust" that accompanies flight discipline. As was stated by others, there are a LOT of dead people out there who are dead because of the second, third, fourth, etc. breaches of flight discipline by particular individuals. Not taking the appropriate action (there is room for objectivity here) the FIRST time SLOJ and breaches of flight discipline occur is EXACTLY what gets the leadership and any other responsible parties fired after the funerals ceremonies and investigations are completed. A lot of occupations have "one really stupid mistake" clauses that bring about the termination of employment. All of us that have signed on the dotted line to fly these machines should know exactly where we stand and what will and will not be tolerated. I had a former commander show us a video detailing in his words, a specific pilot's "last flight in a military aircraft" for a "seemingly innocent" breach of flight discipline that didn't hurt anyone or anything. It was this person's first, and by default as they no longer fly military aircraft, only offense. There was absolutely no question in anyone's mind who attended that briefing where the boss stood on flight discipline and professionalism in the cockpit.

BLUF - Subjectivity among voters will determine the BCS title game - OBJECTIVITY CANNOT happen with the current system. LSU - AL: Arguably the two best teams, hence the conundrum... LSU - OSU: Both won their divisions - valid point Stanford: Lost to a good same-conference team, bumping them out of the PAC championship Oregon: 2 losses - thanks for playing "Earned the right" doesn't even belong in this conversation as the system isn't built that way. If it were so, the only way some teams could "earn the right" (aka Houston or BSU) is to move to a better conference and play better teams. Until we get a playoff there will always be chaos. The big schools won't play the "little" schools with good programs for fear of messing up a good season right out of the gate. Face it, a team like LSU stands to gain nothing from beating Houston in September, but Houston stands to make great gains the other way around. Solution - 6 x 16 team conferences (96 teams, public math...) The WAC, SB, MW, ConfUSA and MA conferences have no business playing in a playoff in their current state. The handful of good teams in those conferences and all the independents should make a choice - join a real conference and play with a solid chance every year, or join the FCS and duke it out there. 120-96=24 teams, good luck in the FCS - thanks for giving it your all. 6 x 16 team conferences with ALL conference champions and 2 wildcard teams (don't really care how they are chosen) should play an elite 8 style playoff with 2 games before Christmas and the final 2 games after. Disclaimer - yes, I know that won't happen because "its all about the money" but if that is true, then the whole thing is moot. This format would initially benefit the weaker big conferences, but eventually, conference moves would even out the playing field, and the best 2 non-champions would still have an opportunity to make a "statement." Let the winners win it on the field like real champions, not contenders chosen by a computer with human influence and human voters who "decide" the fate of the bowls. Without a playoff system (basketball), Gonzaga, UNLV, Providence, et al, would have never been heard of by the majority of NCAA fans. Final tally... LSU-AL, if for no other reason than the pure chaos it throws into the mix. Here's hoping for a playoff.

[Trial balloon...] If the military retirement has got to change... why not make it more like a current federal retirement system that INCLUDES a pension AND a matching TSP, instead of ditching the entire program for a Wal Mart plan. Doesn't make sense to take away the guaranteed annuity for the military, but leave everyone from Congress down to your local postal employee with a guaranteed annuity (for a minimum of 5 years federal service no less) in place. For starters... What if the military retirement system was modified to be more like the Federal Law Enforcement/ATC/Firefighter/CBP etc. plan AS A COMPROMISE TO PREVENT THE TRAINWRECK DBB PLAN FROM BEING VOTED IN. Bare Basics: Matching TSP up to 5%... Annuity at age 55 based on 1.7% of highest 3 years pay x 20 years = 34% of base pay (numbers change for year groups, but this is after all a trial balloon) Modifications could be made for the military, such as 2% per year in an annuity + more matching TSP + a healthcare plan, etc... Thoughts? [/Trial balloon]

Most excellent! I love this forum. Where else can freedom loving Americans collaborate about beating a ticket? CB radio doesn't hold a candle to the internet! Thanks Al Gore!

"2" Phenomenal organization. To those that man the castle walls who gave their lives today... :beer:

Look on the OPM sight under special salary rate tables and look for table 0558. This is the GS-12 and GS-13 with 30% additional pay scale. Remember that ALL of your ART pay (minus the obvious healthcare deductions, 401K, etc.) are taxed as opposed to your 10 year Major pay which has a significant tax advantage. ARTs do get matching 401K though. As far as "double dipping," it is really no different than any other job that gives you paid leave. I can work 40 hrs per week and get paid for 40 hrs, or take some sort of leave (comp/credit/mil) and get "paid" my civilian salary on top of my military pay. I am still working the time or taking leave - nothing is truly free (except the 15 days of paid military leave each year). Some other civilian jobs have similar options. Double dipping is a misnomer. In reality, it is not getting paid twice for the same work - that is called dual compensation, is illegal, and is perhaps one of the FASTEST ways to lose a government job and go to prison. $450 for BCBS Federal is a little high (usually closer to $250-300), but that also depends on where you are in the country. Federal employees (including ARTs) are INELIGIBLE for Tricare Reserve Select (those who qualify for another gov't sponsored healthcare plan... yadda yadda) Buying back time... Good deal anyway you slice it. Caveat - you cannot take an AD retirement AND buy that time back. You CAN take a RESERVE retirement (i.e. 30 years of service with around 17 or 18 years worth of "points") AND take a civilian retirement that gives you credit for those points, but you cannot receive an AD annuity AND a FERS annuity that credits you the AD time. Best part up front with no buyback required = you get "credit" for your AD time towards your leave accrual rate (4, 6 or 8 hours leave per two week pay period) depending on your total time, which can accumulate up to 26 days paid vacation (not including weekends or federal holidays) per year. You can usually stretch that into about 6 or 7 weeks off per year if you plan correctly. Example 1 - AD person with 15 years AD time, and 15 years of civil service time = 30 years of civil service time with buyback program Example 2 - AD person with 25 years AD time, and 15 years of civil service time = AD annuity (immediately) and 15 year CS annuity upon reaching an eligible retirement age (depends on several factors - see OPM FERS retirement pamphlet for more info) Example 3 - ARC person with 25 years ANG/AFRC time (15 years of AD "points") and 15 years of civil service = AFRC/ANG annuity (age 60), 25 years based on IDT and AD time combined (15 years of points - new math, squirrelly, I know) + 30 year CS retirement with buyback. Bottom line = you cannot qualify for a full AD annuity/retirement AND count that time towards a simultaneous CS retirement. I think there is a way to convert your AD retirement to a Civil Service retirement by waiving the AD annuity, and thus being able to buy back all the AD time into CS time, but you'd have to contact the experts for that one. Here is a site with some good info. Adding an ARC retirement to a CS retirement is definitely the way to go if you are not really close to 20. The FERS retirement also assumes different criteria. For example, AD gets roughly 2.5% per year of service as an annuity, immediately. Civil Service gets 1%, 1.4%, or 1.7% (depending on career field and length of time in that career field) per year + matching TSP. 20 years AD = 50% base pay; 20 years federal Law Enforcement = roughly 34% base pay + TSP + SS; 30 years ART = roughly 34% base pay + TSP and Social Security at the appropriate ages. Hard to beat an AD annuity if you can get one. Do the math. ART is a good gig as far as civilian employment goes, but as you know everything has a cost/benefit.

"2"

We have a VERY difficult time getting folks into the reserves from AD who: 1) Non-selected x 2 - Requires an AFRC waiver that takes a good bit of time to accomplish (not impossible, but don't expect to leave on Friday, switch patches, and show up on Monday as a reservist.) 2) Retirees looking to draw their AD retirement while serving in the reserves - Also requires an AFRC waiver that will almost always get denied (we've gotten a couple of folks through this program, but it took years [literally] to gain them.) Recommendation: If you want to come to the ARC, make the decision early and either Palace Chase, or transfer BEFORE your second non-selection. Then finish out your 20 in the reserves, get a retirement at 59, or immediately if you have 7300 points (explained somewhere else...) We've had several folks "leave on Friday and show up on Monday" who either 7 day opted or just separated without being non-selected twice. Guard may have an easier process than AFRC.

I've heard positions are already dropping, but I haven't seen anything official posted anywhere, including USAJOBS.

"2"... Dave is good for the masses because he helps folks get out of debt that would otherwise have wallowed in it forever. When you think about it, what is better, putting $500K away in a savings account WHILE you have $500K in unsecured debt, or paying off that debt and learning to live within your means, while removing the obstacles to wealth, i.e. debt and spending problems. Dave Ramsey is a good means to a STABLE financial future for most folks... But I agree, those who want to take their "portfolio" to the next level should move beyond Dave, once they have their debts and spending habits under control. "2" on the Bogleheads!

Nice.