Herk Driver

From what I know, the fighter guys typically do an ALPHA tour or two at some point in their careers. This is much more prevalent among fighters than heavies. Most heavies don't do remotes. I've been doing this for nearly 14 years now and no remote for me. I have several friends who have done remotes but most chose to do it. As Scooter said it depends on the airframe. There are alot more things going on right now, like 365 TDYs that are going around outside the fighter world though. These have become more common place since the GWOT started.

I went into UPT knowing that I wanted to fly Herks. I was a prior C-130 Nav so I had some experience with which to base my decision. The other guys in my class in VT-3 wanted fighters. They all got fighters and I got T-44's. I finished #2 at VT-3 and #1 at Corpus. IMHO, the bottom line is that most guys should go into UPT with an open mind and ask a lot of questions. Figure out what the difference in the fighter/bomber and heavy world are and figure out where you think you would fit best. Of course, finishing in the top of your class will typically allow you to pick what you want vs getting what is left in the drop. There are many folks that have done the heavy to fighter thing in my experience. However, that has changed over the years because most people back in the day all did T-38s. That isn't the case anymore and, IIRC, most of the cross-flow boards still require T-38s as a pre-req. If you really think fighters is your thing then best to do it now like Talon Driver said. The opportunities to do it later are few and far between if not impossible without -38s. [ 25. August 2006, 09:22: Message edited by: Herk Driver ]

BS. If you had a legitimate fear that your wife's life, limb or eyesight were at stake then you had a legitimate reason to go to the ER, especially if you're surgeon was telling you to go. It sounds like the Flight doc is standing his ground because you failed to call. In an emergency do you really want to sit on the phone asking permission. Go to your CC and be upfront, see what he says. I, personally, don't think that your CC will have any problem engaging with this topic. I recently (back in Mar) had to go to the ER and had I called to ask permission I would have died. Long story short, I had surgery 12 days earlier. One night, late, I had an internal stitch that busted loose and I was bleeding internally. By the time I realized what was going on, I thought I had time to call my surgeon and did. He advised me to go straight to the ER. I got there and was put in line to see the triage nurse. About 10 minutes later, I passed out in the waiting room waiting to see the nurse. When I got into the ER, my blood pressure had dropped to dangerous lows by the time they got a cuff on me. The blood count showed that I had lost almost half of my blood. I had surgery that night and was in the hospital for about 2 days. I called TriCare when I got out. No problem. So is it that the end result justifies the means? i.e. Mine was a no kidding ememrgency so missing the 24 hour rule is OK versus yours??? I don't see it that way and I doubt your CC will either. It sounds like you have done more to work this on your own than most people would have. Go see your boss and let us know what happens. [ 22. August 2006, 09:58: Message edited by: Herk Driver ]

For a while, the AMC guys were wearing the flag on left, WIC on right. That may have been back in the day, but I remember it being that way. Dudes at OCONUS places were doing Sq. patch on right and WIC on left. I think that most guys have adopted a WGAS attitude and just went with the WIC on the left regardless of what the reg says.

CF, I'm with you on the choice thing. Back in the day when ACC owned the Herks, there were many C-130 folks walking around wearing a flag vice the appropriate wing patch. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. I would agree to let folks choose what they want, but then again when has the USAF been in the choice or making sense business. BTW, wearing a subdued American flag is now verboten by AFI and they actually quote Title 4 of the US Code as the basis. As for the gortex liner, you asked for it and they outlawed that as well in the same AFI. So now the REMFs have it in writing so they can make your day more like hell. [ 21. August 2006, 14:18: Message edited by: Herk Driver ]

I'm not sure of the origins. However, it makes sense if you think about it. What is on the tail-flash of almost every AMC aircraft? An American flag. Why? Not to sound obvious here, but to show the flag. AMC does an awful lot of Humanitarian Assistance, etc. When a plane pulls into chocks and all that people in some poor @ss 3rd world country can see is the tail of the airplane, what do they see, the good ole Stars and Stripes. It would be like sending a carrier battle group and parking them off the shore of some country that thinks they want to mess with Uncle Sam. We fly sorties in international waters and make a bunch of noise, why, to let them know we're there. Showing the flag helps with Pol-Mil relations. The same reason all those HDRs that we dropped in Afghanistan had a flag on them. Let's the Afghans know who there daddy is. Plus, because the AMC rules say so.

Is the guy trying to get you to wear steel-toe boots? I don't know specifically where it is written, but like the others above point out, there are only certain boots authorized in AS 016 and I don't think any of them are steel-toe boots. Could be wrong.

I'm with HerkDerka on this one. As soon as this is released, every person at Al Udeid (that has never left the confines of Al Udeid) will figure out a way to put in for it until it becomes meaningless as well.

Trailmix, Just like shipping HHGs. They ship your stuff over and they ship it back. Am I supposed to walk to work everyday? Of course, they only ship one car and it doesn't have to be the same one you shipped over. The Pacific is a different story. Some places don't let you ship cars, it depends on the locale. Europe is not one of those. But, Volvo at Ramstein, does cover the costs of shipping it back up to a certain point. And EvilEagle is right about the Gov't and the coverage they have for damage. Talk to USAA and if you have the int'l policy still, they cover for most everything as far as damage goes.

OK. I did this from Ramstein so it should be similar. Don't sell the car like someone said above. You probably know this but you can ship for free through DoD or my car got shipped back by Volvo for free since it was only a year old. Check with the folks you bought it from about shipping options and costs. It should be less than $500 or at least that was the case in ETAR. I tried to register in FL, but they wanted the sales tax since the car was less than a year old and a buddy of mine went to TX and the same story. How old is your car? If more than a year, I think you can get around the tax thing in FL, not sure about TX or MO. Call the DMV where you are going and ask what the costs are? Don't offer up the fact that you've never paid tax, just ask them about fees and what are the required documents. You'll need to let them know they you will need a title. If they tell you they want an original bill of sale, then they probably are going to try to nail you with sales tax. If both of them tell you this then go with the cheapest one. The bottom line is that you got a nice ride for a hell of a deal. The longer you've had the car the less likely they are to make you pay tax. (not because they don't want it but they won't think about it on a 2 or 3 year old car) I'm not sure about the 3-way split. Who mentioned it? Have them explain it. I'd be curious since I'm back over here and looking to get another new car before I leave.

Yep, yet another weak excuse. You know I hear that AAFES doesn't advertise and they refuse to sell tobacco these days too.

And they accepted your explanation? Wow....

I really am glad that Mr Gillis is so concerned about what is posted on a private website. I find it curious that he would presume that information contained here was taken from an offical USAF website and posted without permission. Don't forget to not write about or post about anything you do in the AF when you are at home, because you may be on a website that is in violation of an AFI. What? You didn't get the memo. Right. I'm sure there's some AFI that says something about Fraud, Waste and Abuse that would apply to his using government resources while on the job to surf this website.

This is exactly the argument put forth when I was at USAFE around 2000. They actually blocked access to this site for about 3-4 months due to it's "unofficial" nature. We ultimately got access again when we explained how stupid they were. What a bunch of tools.

If the loan was entered into prior to military service then you can get the interest capped at 6%.Here's the section of the SCRA that details it. Section 207 - Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service (a) INTEREST RATE LIMITATION- (1) LIMITATION TO 6 PERCENT- An obligation or liability bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year that is incurred by a servicemember, or the servicemember and the servicemember's spouse jointly, before the servicemember enters military service shall not bear interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year during the period of military service.

Don't know about your specific loans, but it only applies, in general, to loans that were entered into prior to military service. I tried to get my mortgage dropped several years ago and they said, No, since my loan application showed USAF as my employer when I applied for the loan.

Yep, what Cooter said. Yes, there is a DNP. I just finished writing my PRF and double-checked to make sure. Here's the link to the AF Form 709 so you can check for yourself. https://www.e-publishing.af.mil/formfiles/af/af709/af709.xfd

I'd like to know where that particular restriction is written. (Maybe a Chapter 10 thing) Overall, the -130 leadership seems to be able to come up with more petty rules than you can shake a stick at. Next time someone tells you that please ask where it is written and PM me with the info.

If you've been passed over for your primary board, then getting a 'P' for your above the zone board is a show stopper. Actually getting a 'DP' in your APZ board probably won't help a whole lot, either. However, getting a 'P' for your 2 below and 1 below board doesn't really matter a whole lot. What really matters is what you get in your primary board. Promotion boards have all TR's/OPR's and your most recent PRF in front of them. All previous PRF's are not seen by the board, so with all the stuff said above, getting more than one 'P' will not stop you from getting promoted. Someone else said it right, you only get the P, DP, or DNP on the PRF and there is only one of those in your record at a time. With promotion rates to Major running in the 90-95% range, you have to have skeletons in that closet or a messed up record to not get promoted.

Here's the rest of the story: There's this crew who's AC and FE get a package sent by their two wives that is just overflowing with Christmas decorations. There's a tree and lots of lights and tons of other stuff. One day the FE gets the idea to decorate the smoking pit because lots of guys hang out there and play cards and just generally BS. Remember this is back in Camp Andy and the Herk crews are way back in 'O' and 'P' row if I remember correctly. So the FE and a few friends spend nearly an entire Saturday of their free time decorating and trying to livin' things up for the holidays. Well several days go by and this crew goes off on a mission and returns around 6 pm or so. The AC stays behind at Ops while the other guys head back. Wouldn't you know that the fire marshall meets the crew in the tent row as they get out of the van and asks who the lights belong to. Of course, they are turned on and what a sight it was. Well, much to the ACs surprise there is a huge crowd gathering out in the road as he pulls up in another crew van and he gets out to see what's going on. The FE walks over steaming mad and tells the AC that these two REMFS are telling him that he has to turn the lights off and take them down. The AC talks to the two guys and explains that it makes no sense that you can have an open flame and cigarettes in this area but not UL listed Christmas lights. Both of the guys are enlisted fire fighter types, and at the end of the conversation, the senior fire marshall tells the AC that the lights are dangerous and in violation of the WG/CC policy and they tell him that as the senior officer present that it is his job to unplug the lights and take them down. At first the AC says that he isn't going to do it. The lights are in a smoking area for pete's sake. He refers them to the Sq/CC so the two fire dudes ask him if he is refusing to obey the WG/CC policy. The response was hilarious. He looks them both in the eyes and tells them that he isn't about to walk over and unplug the lights but that if they are so determined to enforce the policy that either one of them is welcome to walk over and unplug the lights and explain to everyone why they are doing so. The two guys look at each other and the gathering crowd of about 15-20 people and decide that they aren't brave enough to do so. The lights ended up staying on for about another week while the fire marshall and the Sq/CC and OG/CC worked to remedy the problem. Long enough for Christmas to come and go and then the lights were turned off and taken down. You gotta love the deid.

nkitch, I wouldn't worry too much. I'm no expert on dental regs but I have an overbite and have never had a problem. Like was said earlier, if you have obvious cavities, etc and have good dental insurance then go ahead and take care of the stuff before the IFC1 but if not, don't sweat it. My experience has always been that they will treat the problems that you have to get you to IFC1. Believe it or not, not every pilot in the AF has perfect teeth.