M2

Oh shit! :eek: You gotta be kidding! Can you confirm that? It would explain a lot, but I need confirmation... Cheers! M2

Who in the hell ever said cars were an investment? Unless you by a Benz or some other classic (like Bergman's sweet ride), cars are not something to drop money on and expect a return. They are a means of transport and in some cases entertainment. If you are looking for a return, then invest in real estate or the market. Cars/trucks/motorcycles are for fun, dudes and dudettes! Sorry, I checked the R&R TV Guide, I thought it had BMW prices in it but I guess it is just the plain R&R Guide. I'll grab one of those this weekend and post the prices for the BMWs. Cheers! M2

Guys It all depends one the deal you make on the car. You can have it delivered to the States, or pick it up here and ship it yourself (the USAF pays to ship one one car, any more come out of your pocket. I shipped our second Passat from Texas, cost around $800 one-way). As for emissions, it isn't an issue as you are buying a US-spec car. Now, trying to buy and ship a Euro-spec car back to the States is a completely different matter altogether. Wax, I can get you a price on that M3, and how much it costs in the States. I will post it later, in the mean time check out Pentagon Car Sales, the main tax-free program over here. By the way, I am not endorsing or promoting any of the above, I have actually never bought a car while overseas. I just know it is a good program that many people take advantage of. There are some downsides, such as "tax free" only means you don't pay taxes on it over here. Some states do require you to pay taxes on the full blue book value on the car when you register it. This happened to my father-in-law in Maryland, and it wasn't what he paid for the car, it was the full blue book value, which was thousands more than what he paid for it. Cheers! M2

Well, after four years of living below the poverty level, and most likely having the first real paying job in your life, a lot of people like to reward themselves with a nice car. Nothing wrong with that! Just a word of advice, if you think you have a chance of going overseas early in your career, you might want to hold off on buying something exotic. You can get some sweet deals on nice rides (BMWs, etc) over here... Cheers! M2

https://www.ramaworld.com/ Cheers! M2

I thought that was a great clip, showing what its sons and daughters are doing in Iraq. God bless 'em all, and keep kicking ass! It's also much better than all the negative publicity that the media tends to hone in on. Cheers! M2

C-Mass If it is bad enough, the system should weed her out, either at UPT or RTU. Notice I said "should," not "will," there is no guarantee, but as you assessment is based on one person's opinion (nothing personal, just a fact), there is no telling whether it will happen or not; but I can tell you for the most part the USAF has its ways and for the most part they work. Also, as discussed on other forums, if she washes out then at this time the chances of her being retained are slim. The AF is going through a "shaping" program to reduce the number of officers it has on AD, so unless she can fill a critical shortage in another career field, she will most likely be cut loose. Cheers! M2

Those USPA/IRA cocksuckers came tracking me down back when I was a lieutenant, I had to finally threaten legal action against them if they didn't stop bugging me. They are annoyingly persistent bastards, mostly retired military who wrongly use that status as an ‘in’. I believe Senator Hillary Clinton was a driving force behind going after these sons of *****es, I am no fan of hers but I have to give her credit for doing the right thing in this instance. There are plenty of legitimate investment firms out there, do your research and approach one yourself, I would strongly recommend against doing business with a group that approaches you unless you have dealt with them previously and trust them. It is your money we are talking about here… Cheers! M²

Tyler frightens a lot of us! Hopefully he does not represent today's youth! If so, Cheers! M2

It's great for IFR! Seriously, I believe you can load any kind of chart info into it, but I will ahev to check with my bud who flies for the IRC in Switzerland, he is the 40 lb brainstem on GPS. Cheers! M2

Concur with ENJJPT IP, the Street Pilot III is one of the best GPS units you can get... Cheers! M2

Buy the CD and don't bootleg, it is worth the bucks and Snooze and Trip ain't Madonna, they deserve to get paid for their music!! You can even buy it from Amazon! Cheers! M2

JJ Clearances are for jobs, not rank. You will get clearances as you need them, and no more. Beyond TS there is Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and Special Access Programs/Requirements (SAP/SAR) which are even more restrictive. I cannot go into detail on what specific clearances are for what types of information, but the extra ones I have are to access intel from specific sources. They are tightly controlled to protect the source. Someone posted this web link on security clearances a while back, it is pretty good and worth reading...it may answer some of your questions. Cheers! M2

JJ I don't doubt you begin the process, most likely filling out the form which is reviewed by your local security rep. Trust me, it is a pain in the ass, and it gets worse over time as when you do an update you have to complete the form for your entire lifetime, not just since the last investigation. BUT, if you can get a TS, do so! It is worth bucks on the outside, should you ever decide to get out or when you eventually retire. Some estimates say it is good for an additional $10-15K on your annual salary.

JJ Some free advice for ya...don't believe anything cadets tell you. Someone's yanking your chain. DSS is way behind the power curve on adjudicating clearances (see this), my five-year update took over three years to complete. They wouldn't be wasting their time following a cadet around or listening to his phone calls (illegal without a court order anyway, read USSID 18). Anyhow, your fellow cadets may have filled out an EPSQ and an initial interview was conducted to make sure it was properly filled out, but at this point in their "careers" it is extremely doubtful that the process would begin. Honestly, they don't even know if they are going to make it through UPT, much less what airframe they will be flying afterward. As I said, unless they have a billet requiring a TS clearance, the SSBI is not likely to be completed. I got my first one when I was tapped to be a B-52 aerial defensive gunner back in 1981 (never got the job, the billets--including mine--were cut), and didn't get my second until I was going through intel school. Cheers! M2

Sorry, can't tell you. Seriously, not all pilots get TS clearances, it all depends on the airframe and mission. Honestly, having loads of clearances is really quite boring, some of my job is so classified that even I don't know what I am doing! Cheers! M2

In this morning's Stars & Stripes: Cheers! M2

Got this from another (RAF) forum, when someone asked if DG was close to the epicenter: Still, haven't heard from anyone who was there. Maybe they are all out surfing? Cheers! M2

Hacker Any shot minus your mug would be better! Sorry, as a habitual smartass I couldn't resist! Happy Boxing Day! Cheers! M2 [ 26. December 2004, 05:11: Message edited by: MajorMadMax ]

Close, but no Cuban...the Fourth Fighter Group logo like Hacker has on his Strike Eagle looks like such... Cheers! M2

Tyler You must really be bored to be doing internet searches on my nickname...but nothing suprising there, just a few of the forums I frequent (including this one and a few motorcycle ones). Go back to harassing Hacker! :D Cheers! M2

This is a better pic of the "real" Shangri-La, with Johnny Godfrey, who usually flew Gentile's wing, taken from the back cover of Airmman magazine about ten years ago. I framed it and hung it behind my desk. Sorry it isn't that sharp, the scan doesn't do it justice! Cheers! M2

Forgot to mention, I went by Debden last October while over in the UK on my motorcycle. The area around Saffron Walden is beautiful, it probably hasn't changed much over the past 60 years. The base is now a British Army munitions base (Carver Barracks), but the airfield is still in tact. You can see it here. There is a memorial to the 4 FG at the gate. Cheers! M2

Yeah, Gentile was buzzing some reporters at Debden when he went a little too low. There are pics of it in Grover Hall's book, which I picked up at Moron AB in Spain while TDY back in the early 80's. That book is coming apart at the seams, it has been read so many times. I have several other books on the 4 FG, including Goodson's and Gover's. Those guys lead some exciting lives, first as RAF Eagle pilot's then later flying P-47's and eventually P-51's. Makes for some great reading! I think the original design of the boxing eagle was on a Hawker flown by Wendell Pendleton, that from The Eagles' War (pg 98) by Vern Haugland. Cheers! M2

Score three for Hacker, your answer came in while I was replying to HD. The tough one to ID was retired four-star Gen Wilbur L. "Bill" Creech, who in the 1970s turned around the languishing TAC and oversaw the development of such modern air weaponry as the F-117 stealth fighter. Creech passed away on 26 Aug 2003, age 76. The picture above was while he was DO for the 37 TFW at Phu Cat Air Base, Vietnam. Later, while TAC/CC, TAC bases were covered in "Creech Brown"...rumour had it that it was his wife's idea... Good on ya! Cheers! M2