Chicken

Officer.. I finally talked to someone at MPF. According to him if I receive orders I can just apply for retirement up to a year from that date. So if I got orders today.. according to him.. I can apply for retirement 1 March 2023. He also said that you can change that date up to 30 days prior? Seems like that applied to a DOS.. not sure on really changing retirement dates. If I found a great job on the outside would I be able to retire earlier?

I had some questions with regard to establishing a DOS that folks at my MPF couldn't really answer. I have over 20 years and an ADSC for a bonus until this August. I would be hot for orders (Cannon) which means I would have to 7 day opt IOT stay at my current location. I'm in the process of finding a job.. getting certifications, education .. all that. My concern is that I get orders, have to 7 day opt with no job on the outside. If I got orders, would I be able to request a DOS at that time? Or has that ship sailed at that point? Is it a safer bet to establish a DOS for a year from now and move it as required based on finding a job and when I'm ready to get out?

WSO or CSO? Eventually everything will be ACJ. The 16th will be the last to convert and that timeline continues to shift right. However, if your concern is whether or not you'll go cannon someday...gunships are not for you. I used to go to pcola graduations but got tired of the "do you get any cool TDYs, will I go to Europe, how do I stay away from cannon, what's the easiest thing to fly in AFSOC" questions.

From what I was told 3+ years ago... not much of that matters to be honest. The awards should be a mechanism to push you to a senior rater strat. With no strat they don't mean much by themselves. The board cares about strats period. Who they are from.. what kind of strat... etc. Your flying has little to do with an O5 board. They care about leadership potential.. so evaluator, combat hours, checkrides... matters for not much for your O5 board. Not my words.. just what I've been told.

And that's what I'm getting at.. there are folks that simply do not belong here. Yet they wanted a shot so we waste time and resources on them. From what I understand, AFSOC did't take people out of the pipeline initially but either manning of feelings drove that to change. Now, we are not allowed to screen/interview or anything of the sort.

Not sure if....serious...

Honestly something nothing I've ever understood is the idea of "not allowed to screen" prior to entering training. We've asked for years to be able vet people coming to gunships but were told that we are not allowed to screen people any longer. Everyone gets a chance at the trophy. So if that's the case.. how is it U2s can hold interviews yet other communities cannot?

I think it was 96%? Either way...

Any details on any of you getting passed over? P? DP? I'm a 4 APZ with a DP..

Yes please!

I pulled out a DP for my O5 board 2APZ... Noticed that 2017 LAF APZ DPs were a 96% selection rate. Anyone have any specific numbers or what the 4% non-selects were?

Based on the inadvertent discharges of M9s I have heard about.. I don't need/want a crew full of people with grenades.

Is there a specific process that anyone knows about or has been through as far as having them removed as a VA approved builder? VA doesn't have any great info on it it seems and am getting transferred to every department.

What do you mean a RIF board? RIF everyone at 20 years type of thing? Or RIF based on something else?

Great... so now passed over folks will have multiple OPRs with no strats on top because they were cast aside after getting passed over. So.... not everyone will reallllly be treated like they are all IPZ... so.... nothing changes.

My wife and I are currently trying to build our house in FL... pretty much the most miserable experience ever. Looks like we might actually close this time but have a question on our storage. We moved here last week of Oct and put most everything in storage. We got the extension until 1 May I believe, but the house won't be done until about September. From the few folks I've talked to, building a house is not a good enough reason for more storage time. He said he's currently paying $750+ a month for storage and the government is no longer liable for damages. Are there any reasons that an additional extension could be granted?

I did do a RoV.. they came back saying they supported the first appraisal. However this helped us. We looked at different builders and found one that would do it for a lot less...and we are building 3400 sq ft vs 2650.. We didn't even realize the builder was rolling their in house RA commissions into the cost. So we did learn, and it did protect us, but there are still a few things that are funky about the VA appraisals. For example.. we have a covered patio that spans the entire back of the house. A comp the appraiser used had 2 covered patios on the back. Less square footage, but because there was a break in the patio it counted as 2.. so if I cut out say.. 4 feet in the middle of our patio and made it 2 smaller instead of one long patio it would add $5000... see what I mean? That's just dumb.

I do understand this.. the the VA appraisal helped us see what we should be paying for this house. However, some of their values they place on things are BS. For example, we had 4 garage doors...2 in front of the house and 2 in back. Because the 2 in back were not connected by a driveway (piling house), they called the garage area only a 2 car garage (even though it was 1500 sq feet of garage space) and deducted $10,000 from the value. So basically... 2 more garage doors = $10000. So we added to garage doors on the side to recoup that. That's the question I was asking or trying to ask.

I'm not sure how you're doing your pushups, but I've had the same issue. I used to get those flare ups every couple months, and they were painful. Have not had one in years but have done pushups on my knuckles ever since 2010. If I keep my wrists straight I have no issues... and I rather not have unneeded surgery if I don't need it. Plus it makes the boys at Cobra Kai proud when I do knuckle push ups...

Are there any suggestions out there for getting past a difficult VA appraisal. My wife and I are trying to build waterfront in Gulfbreeze and the process has been a nightmare so far. The first appraisal was way low so we had to go back to the drawing board. What are some things that appraisers look at? We're trying to add things that might raise the appraised value considerably while keeping our cost down. For example, we have a huge loft that we can close off give a closet and make it a bedroom. We also noticed that while the area under the house was the EXACT SAME amount of space as a comp the appraiser used, the comp had 4 garage doors while ours had only 3 making our house worth $10,000 less. Thanks!

Wife and I are getting ready to PCS to FL and looking to possibly build a home. We sold a couple house, paid some things off, and have little left other than a low car payment and a couple credit cards.. currently have a low DTI ratio. We are trying to see what are options are as far as what we can build/buy. Using my own spreadsheet we could actually afford upwards of $750k but I know the banks don't see what I do sometimes. Is there a good method to determine what a bank will pre-approve you for instead of applying to numerous banks that want to run your credit? We will be using a VA loan with a good amount of money down. Thanks!

Just reduced ...$274,900

Basic description below. PM me if you have interest. Flexible on price... especially if you don't have a realtor. Zillow Site with Pics and more info: https://www.zillow.com/postings/PostForSaleByOwnerStreamlined.htm?cid=1471041673221&edit=2136779150&form:postings/PostForSaleByOwnerStreamlined=ZH4sIAAAAAAAAAFvzloG1XJyBgYGNgUEgrSg%2F17GgICCxKDE3tSS1qLiIQTArsSxRLycxL13PKT8%2FJzUx76xCUcPVOb%2FeMTEwRjGwliXmlKZWFDCUCwP1F6cml2Tm58H1F5SLMjAIJefnlaRWlHimIJvLhzDXJz8v3br7yYQz%2Fcr3gYZ6wQwtYhBAKPIrzU1KLWpbM1WWe8qDbiYGBqCdDIxhDa9msJYLMDDwVhVkpuBwtyfQ%2BvTUIqFHC5Z8b2y3AFrhCbOikKGOgbk%2BZmVfORcDA3tqSmZJZl56MUiUgRFsLEgIbixInA0AJtS4MjEBAAA%3D&fromapp=false&postingSubmitCallback=false&zpid=2136779150 $279,900 - Amazing open concept home in the Raintree subdivision. This 2117 square foot home has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms with a huge open granite kitchen plus a formal dining area, and large family room with a wood burning fireplace and wired for surround sound. 6" baseboards, granite counter tops, hand-scraped hardwood floors and tile are throughout this custom built home. All cabinets are hardwood using top quality hardware. Check out the large master suite with huge jet tub surrounded by fabulous tile work and his and her walk in closets! Enjoy the huge backyard (almost .3 acre) with a large covered 1000sq ft patio that is perfect for entertaining! Custom built waterfall and professionally landscaped, this yard will be hard to beat! Close to schools, shopping and more!

Great example of what is making this AF what it is. Devote your promotion and energy on payback......wow.

Not sure about what you're looking at specifically, but when it says MAJCOM I believe it's referring to the promotion rate for that MAJCOM. For example, a P in AFSOC got you what was really a 22% promotion rate (or close to it). Other MAJCOMs do better. Some worse. AFSOC doesn't take care of people and if you are new to the command and not an AFSOC baby you are f'd.