Herk Driver

IIRC, vouchers are indeed filed in local time.

And I suppose that keeps you from turning the ignition switch off or in this case, the battery switch, to the O-F-F position?

So, are you saying that Obama = Karl Rove? That's what I thought I heard at about 1:24.

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Good point. Exactly why telling someone to go to the FSO an have them look in AFSAS and get you the info is the right thing to do.

For a PCS typically No. The only thing that I can think of doing is to ask for circuitous travel. Normally that is used to travel Europe and then leave from somewhere other than the APOE that they want you to use. They reimburse up to the amount the Gov't would have spent, but you get to personally procure trans. If you can get that approved, then you can travel where you want and they will reimburse up to what they would have paid. Circuitous travel takes additional paperwork and a little time to get approved. If you have time, it may be worth a shot. Asking the question and then asking TMO the question couldn't hurt. Make sure TMO quotes you the price that you will have to pay (i.e. I don't think they will book uing the Gov't rate, rather a normal fare).

My wife starts off school searches with greatschools.com, IIRC.

Don't need a special flat rate box. The normal flat rate boxes when shipping from CONUS to OCONUS still qualify for the discounted price.

First, "a couple of years ago" was probably a bad choice of words. How about I put a timeframe on that? The Wing/CC that left in July 08. So, 1.5 years ago. Not that much has changed so much so that we can't use common sense since then. There were about 10K people back then too, so scoff if you want, but all I hear is you stirring the Kool-aid and pouring it into the glass for me to drink. I hear everytime this topic comes up that with so many commanders, etc here, blah, blah. When I was deployed there in 2003, that was the same BS excuse people used then. In the end, who does the Wing/CC work for? AFCENT/CC? Funny that the AFCENT/CC visits all his bases in the AOR, so I don't think he is the driving force behind these local policies. If he were, then we would have policies that come and go with the AFCENT/CC. They don't. He doesn't force these policies on any other location that fall under his command. And while we're at it, no one is talking about some small forward location. We're talking other major bases in the AOR. Locations that see nearly every significant DV movement into/out of theater, so let's not be fooled here. This is not about pressure from above. "I have been deployed living in a tent with absolutely nothing except my MREs and maybe one hot a day, so I feel somewhat qualified to spell out that while the 'Deid might not be 'great', it really isn't all that bad either." Thanks for your service. We will agree to disagree on the final part of your statement. I could have written all of that except the last line about the Deid and it not being so bad. This ain't my first rodeo, either. You wrote earlier about being a commander and not wanting to have to worry about all the qweep. I would suggest that we don't have this level of qweep where I am and more times than not, people are wearing their uniforms IAW. Do we still have a few "confrontations"? Sure, but nothing like you see at AUAB. Why? Probably, because most people see that the rules are more along the lines of common sense and they can see a reason for most of them. Reflective belts get worn outside of the area where we live and inside the ECP for the flightline ONLY. It's much easier to comply here so you don't have such a problem with enforcement. Funny how that works. Make it easy to comply and you don't have to work as hard enforcing. BTW, you wrote Yesterday, 2:39, "As you think through your climate survey answers, I hope you remember a couple of things. Kid Rock, Carlos Mencia, Jessie James, Harlem Globetrotters, 3 drinks a night, free internet, ITT trips downtown, relaxed restrictions on downtown travel, building new, larger trailers, renovating the cadillacs, etc. Not trying to convince you that everything is perfect over here but I think a lot of folks focus on the couple of things that upset them and forget that there is a lot going on with constant push towards big improvements vice "that leadership genuinely tries to make being deployed to AUAB as miserable as possible. With all that we have and all that is constantly being done, I find it hard to square your statement with the objective reality." That sounds a lot like you are trying to say that AUAB is a great place to live so shut up and color. Maybe, it's just me. I'm just sayin...

REMF, Interesting to note that several years ago, the Wing Commander, at least got rid of wearing reflective belts in Coalition Compound or whatever the he!! it's called these days. He also allowed some common sense to prevail when an idea made sense. Reflective belts inside the chow hall do not make sense. Funny, how you argue for a policy that doesn't say wear RB's in Ops Town and not other places, because you claim that it is unenforceable. Well, ASAB does exactly that. The flightline and areas around it wear reflective belts and other places don't. Oh, and before you say they must be well lit; I can tell you they are not any better lit than the Deid. So, it is enforceable and I think you would spend no more time enforcing it than you do now. My god, you guys are spending more of your day worrying about this shit than any other place in the AOR. Also, funny that you say earlier that all these great things (USO shows, wi-fi, etc) at the Deid should make everyone think how great AUAB is. Most other places in the AOR right now are saying, "wow, this place isn't nearly as bad as the Deid. I'm glad I'm here with my (name your good deal here) and not there, even if they have beer." Herk Driver

But, the AFCENT Sup is "less restrictive" in that it allows the wear of the watch cap with a jacket or layered clothing (i.e. the mock turtleneck) which is not allowed by the basic pub. Either way, stick to the topic at hand, no jacket, no watch cap. Shorts or long pants don't get addressed here. If it's warm enough for shorts, as long as I wear a jacket, I can wear the watch cap. So, to take it a step further, what if it's cool enough outside to wear a watch cap, but you are going running/jogging? Most people that are going to run for any distance aren't going to wear a jacket, but some do like to wear the watch cap, which is easy to remove and store. No provision for that, but I see it done a lot.

Speak only for AUAB on that one. Some AOR locations actually follow that rule; the one I'm currently at happens to not require a reflective belt anywhere other than the flightline.

Seriously... His quote was "Eglin where I see mission support pukes (Personnel, Comm, etc.) talk about hacking the mission and being a warrior". He's not talking about PRTs or other support people deployed. He's talking about those AFSCs at EGLIN. Nowhere else... Keep it in context. On topic: I hate refective belts...good thing I'm somewhere that only makes me wear one on the flightline.

Actually, the AFCENT Sup allows CC's to authorize sunglasses to be worn by a strap around the neck. Not sure what the AUAB sup says and whether the AFCENT sup can actually authorize this is a whole other discussion. But, I'll take it.

Unless you know something that I don't, it is EOG/CC discretion. Deployed EOG's are the award authority for AMs and AAMs at the present time. They get to make the call. The latest AM/AAM medal eligibility criteria for OIF states in the remarks for the AM "each AM eligible mission has 15 points value. Can be applied towards an AM or AAM. (see note 6)" Note 6 is about UAV operators not being authorized award of the AM. So, in the case you mention above, the OG had the ability to say no and kick them back. However, there have been recent cases of this and it was not for a guy going to staff or non-flying; although, I'll admit, that's what I've seen the most of.

Based on you being deployed currently, here's the bottom line. (C-130 specific) You don't necessarily need 20 missions. You need either 300 pts or 150 pts, AM or AAM, respectively. Points per mission are MDS specific, ref the above website. For illustrative purposes, (C-130 specific) Cmbt spt mission = 7.5 pts and Cmbt mission = 15 pts, so you can have less than 20 missions if you combine combat sorties with combat support in order to get an AAM. Yes, you can qualify under the 70% rule, but the 1st OLC for the AAM has to be 130%, so it really benefits you to go ahead and just qualify under the normal rules to begin with. The UDPU website has all the info. CC's don't have to let you combine the combat and combat support sorties, but sometimes will. You just fill out the Form 1 and 3994 and you're set. Edit: to clarify my case was MDS specific.

The silence from the people at the Deid on this thread is deafening...(post Wing/CC Call)

After a really long and sh!tty day, this thread made my day. I'm still laughing at all the posts.

NATO = Needs America to Operate

OK, so what was the end result; or were you told to stop posting on Baseops and other social networking sites?

It's unfortunate that they plan to try him via court-martial instead of allowing the state of TX to try the case, IMO.

Remember that the state and the feds will sit down together and make a decision about who gets to try this clown. Many times, the feds will hand the guy over to the state especially if the state can get a stiffer penalty. I think you'll see that TX will take the guy to trial.

Cool, but it should not take carrying around an AFI in ones pocket to get the same result. Just shut them off in a normal tone of voice and demand they show the proper customs and courtesies. If wrong, make sure to say thank you for pointing that out. If there was any inppropriate behavior such as calling you down with hey you or not using Sir, then remind them that just because they corrected said uniform issue does not excuse them from exercising proper military decorum when speaking to an officer. 'Nuff said.

Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of "Managing an Air Force Squadron in the 21st Century"

Not typical in the -130, but I've used the technique of having the CP fly and then take over to land the airplane at mins before. Not practiced very much as we tend to fly our own approaches and landings, but it is something that we have (or had) started talking about more in CRM and/or IRC classes. DOn't know very many people that use the technique though.