olevelo

We lost a great one this weekend, Chris “Hook” Dupin. He was a board member here (although not active for awhile). Hook was a an F-15 WSO, TPS grad, and about to separate to the Reserves (I don’t think it had been finalized yet but I could be wrong). He owned a flight school in Destin and was really building it up, which was one of the reasons he was separating. Hook was flying with a student in his RV-12 (I actually flew with him in it the day after he bought it for the company) and crashed shortly after takeoff. He survived the crash but succumbed to his injuries a few hours later. I’ve been at a complete loss for words since I found out a couple days ago. I didn’t know him as well as many (and it’s obvious from the posts on Facebook about how loved he was), but I knew him well enough to know he was one of the best officers and men that I knew. We started a charity together a couple years ago to help send vets to flight training that some of you may remember us posting about here. He loved flying more than anything (other than his wife, and even she questioned that!). Sometimes I really hate airplanes. https://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20181119/victims-identified-in-niceville-plane-crash-photos Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You are mistaken. You can only use it for “professional programs”, ie a commercial license through a 141 school. There might be some programs that it’ll pay for that would cover PPL through commercial all inclusive, but I’ve never heard of one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This top/middle/bottom bucketing doesn’t help anything other than reducing the time it takes the OG and Wing to nitpick the numbers. How is it fair to the guys in a unit full of rock stars to get stratted as a bottom third guy? That’s even worse than it is now where they just get no strat so you can’t tell if they’re 25% or 75%....or getting an alternate strat (#1/69 mop holders). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You’re making the assumption that those “leaders” intentionally gave you bad push lines, and not that they just didn’t know what they were doing. I’ve been amazed at the O-5’s, and even O-6’s, that have no clue how to take care of people...even Sq/CC’s. They probably got there because they had leaders who did know how to take care of them, but didn’t pass that knowledge along. When I got the news that I was twice passed over, the O-6, who was a former MSG/CC, said she had no idea what the process was because she had never seen an officer get passed over. It’s folks like us who actually know and understand the system, far better than many “leaders”. Of course we had to take our lumps to get that info... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TPS always had the 3 year ADSC. However there was a loophole that was getting exploited more and more recently where guys were punching less than a year after graduating. That caught the eye of AFMC/A3 and was one of the instigators in the AFI change to get rid of the loophole. IMHO, 3 years is nothing to pay back for what you get at TPS, and every single person who applied knew that was the deal, and it was completely disingenuous of them to pull the loophole card to take their patch/degree and run. I know some had some legitimate family issues that came up, but there’s other ways to deal with that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You can separate any day on or after the end of your last ADSC. At that point you’re just a free agent. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So that’s another wrinkle in my situation. I have bonus to 24, because I expected to get continued to then, plus my PhD commitment will take me there. But if I only accept to 20 now, but they fix the glitch on the next board to 24 like they’re supposed to, so they stop my bonus now, or once I hit 20? Such a pain... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yup! In regards to two line PRF’s...I wonder how they would handle those of us in school that have narrative only PRF’s written by our previous SR. Push them through as is, or would they just take the top and bottom lines and that’s all they see? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve never heard of a single employer looking at OPR’s, and when I was briefly out a few years ago, no one ever asked or even hinted at wanting to see one. They look at your resume, and maybe talk to some references. So make sure to give them ones of guys who like you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unfortunately no. Basically everything but. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They gave me the authority to stand up a new test unit and do O-5 things, but that experience doesn’t really matter apparently. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yup. Granted, I wasn’t in the program yet when the board happened, or even have a push on my PRF to say I was going, because it was a very last minute program. So I have a small amount of hope for the next board since supposedly they’re supposed to be emphasizing it more on the boards now (which was the whole reason the program I was I was stood up in the first place). Even more baffling though is that I was passed over with a Sq/CC equivalent position the last two years (no C-code, but OPR and PRF say it), and a #1/69 Major strat from the OG. But you know all those strats I didn’t have as a captain while I was at Test Pilot School are the death knell. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Y’all obviously didn’t actually watch the video.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can’t believe they left all those F-22 Joint Strike Fighters there when they knew a hurricane was coming and they could fly them out of there or put them on a truck... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, as said above it should have been mentioned in the letter if you were 1APZ. You have 60 days to accept. On myPers, under Promotion, then Selective Continuation Information, there’s some general information, then at the bottom a link to the specific 18B Major’s Board for this particular board. That’s where it lists this board’s critical skills, such as all pilots, a couple of CSO’s, engineers, and a few others like folks in degree programs. Those are the folks that are supposed to be offered 24 years, everyone else just 20. However, I fall in two of those critical buckets and my letters only said 20 and everyone’s trying to figure out why. Yes letters, because I got one from my previous Wing CC, one from AFIT, and one from the ROTC Det CC at the school where I’m attached to while in school! And yeah, the 20 versus 24 matters because I’m trying to make sure they don’t kick me out of the PhD program if I’m continued to 20! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Much less than a coin flip. Almost a 1 in 3 chance now. I feel like a couple years ago it was around 45-48%, but maybe I’m thinking of the O-4 board. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True. But you still have the problem of the SR’s who still think APZ’s can’t be promoted so they don’t give them any push at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, you rock! I’m surprised APZ was worse this year than last. You’d really think when you’re short on people you would promote more. Guess they have a different plan. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

By DP I assume you mean MPF. I did and they think they did it right. They said to talk to AFPC. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. Can you post the APZ version of image 3? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was anyone on the critical skills list but only continued to 20 instead of 24? I can’t tell if they just screwed up the paperwork, or if the board actually screwed up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was going to ask the same thing. Can someone take screenshots or something? I don’t have NIPR access for the next 3 years, and RAW isn’t available on the neutered AFPC Secure. I could always ask someone else to email it but figure there’s a bunch of other folks on here who would like to see. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking cool >>>> comfort Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those are all good points, and I was just pointing out that you can get more from moving to GS with less time than some folks realize. But nothing compares to the check of the month club. That’s why when I got un-RIF’d three years ago I chose coming back to active duty to finish out rather than continue as a GS and IMA, even knowing that I was unlikely to make O-5. The math worked out heavily in favor of that path. If there were more potential AGR opportunities for a guy like me (test nav), the calculus likely would have been different. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m not sure why you keep talking about 55. A common misconception about GS retirement is the amount of time you have to serve. After 5 years you’re vested and can collect retirement when you’re 60/62. Even if you worked when you were 20-25. Obviously it wouldn’t be worth much. But if you’ve bought back 12 years of military service, now you’re looking at a 17 year retirement check. For 5 years of work. Just like the military, every year is worth more. And if you hit 20 or 30 years then there are some additional benefits. But 5 years is all you need. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk