Toro

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to start your thread with "I used the search function and I couldn't find anything." I've been around for a while and I'm pretty familiar with what's been discussed. If your topic was previously discussed, I'll probably know. 4. Smackdown for offenders: I'm going to lock the topic and send you a PM to inform you that your posting abilities will be disabled until you re-read this thread and the posting rules (these posting rules are all contained within the Posting Rules which are hyperlinked in the registration and required to be read before submitting for an account). Additionally I will increase your warning level (that little meter below your avatar). It’s hardly even a slap on the wrist and barely noticeable, but repeat offenders will get a temporary ban. This isn’t about preventing new information from being posted – it is about getting people to stop being lazy and look for answers that are already there before they ask the question. Before these rules were put in place, I would routinely locked 20-30 threads a month for new threads that had already been discussed. Posting similar questions under the same topic consolidates these threads. This has exactly zero percent to deal with bandwidth – it simply puts all the information in one place to make it easier for people who want to find it later. To help out with sorting through an excessive number of old posts on similar subjects, I have consolidated many subjects. I have merged a ton of old threads dealing with the same subject. Try searching for "LASIK" "Vision", "SERE" or any number of common subjects and you'll now only see one or two threads. However, these threads have 6-9 pages with information going back as far as 2002. In some cases the merge function hiccups, so you may the thread as a whole may be slightly out of chronological order, but the posts within the original threads remain in order (so the posts from a 2004 thread may appear before the posts from a 2003 thread). I've spent a good deal of time doing this, so I'm going to be particularly grumpy if any idiots start a new thread asking for questions on these subjects - PUT IT IN THE EXISTING THREADS! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, here are some techniques to improve your search: - Use the advanced search. If you simply type your word or phrase into the search container at the top of the page, it will only search that particular forum and will bring up every hit with a thread that has your word in the posts (which may be much more than you need). Instead of typing your info in that container, click “Advanced Search”, which will allow to search in specific forums, as well as search only thread titles for your topic. You can also limiting your search to a date range. - Don’t look for words with less than three letters. The search engine cannot handle these, so it will give you zero results. If you use one short word that doesn’t bring anything up, try using a phrase that would likely be associated with what you’re looking for. - Typing in a portion of a word will bring up any words with that fragment (typing "test" will bring up "test", "tests", and "testing") - Don't use quotes - this doesn't isolate words like it does with other search engines such as Google. If you search for multiple words, the engine will only return results with the words in that exact order. If you find a subject that has not been consolidated or you're having trouble searching, send me a PM and I'd be happy to merge the threads.

As the search nazi, I've noticed a problem. Anything that is entered with three letters doesn't produce a result (it shows a similar message as above). I used some very common acronyms like UPT, BAH, and words like "car" - it produces no results in the normal or expanded search. If you do a combined search, it will show returns with the other words, but nothing with the three-letter word. Any ideas?

On the subject, if you are deploying or re-deploying via commercial airline, you can get your family past the security checkpoint to the gate to see you off or meet you when you return. ACC sent the message below to the Family Support Centers.

Going back through my old e-mails, I found this gem. Ironically, it was written by a T-38 FAIP bud of mine who would later go on to be an Albino driver. Less than 10 years ago this occured, but it's a throwback to the fighter pilot days of lore. ***************************** Taxpayers beware; this story involves the combustion of tens of thousands of pounds of JP-8 and the consumption of many of your tax dollars in an effort to retrieve one long-dead aviator. Mr. Bones, or Mr. F. Bones, or Frank T. Bones, is the mascot of the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida (the home of the mighty F-15 Eagle). He has a long and glorious history, most of which I don't know, which started back in WWII when the "Boneheads" (as the 95th FS pilots are called) flew P-38s and generally kicked everyone's butt. He's a full-size plastic skeleton, like you would find in your high school biology classroom, dressed in a flight suit complete with name tag and O-6 rank (that's right--though dead, Mr. Bones has attained the rank of Colonel. Hope for us all.) He usually resides comfortably in his coffin in the Bonehead's squadron bar at Tyndall. Usually. I am proud to say that the 50th FAIPs now have a place in the history of the venerable Mr. Bones. It all started when my squadron commander, Lt Col XXX "Grover" XXX, and my good friend and fellow FAIP XXX "Bob" XXX went cross-country to Mountain Home AFB (that's in Boise, ID) so Grover could attend the retirement ceremony of a friend. Yes, when you're the squadron commander, you can grab a "Seeing-eye Captain" like Bob, take a jet, and travel across the entire country if the mood strikes you. Anyway, Grover, like Mr. Bones, has a long and distinguished history himself, much of it involving the F-15. He found his loyalties torn when, while drinking in the F-15 squadron's bar at Mountain Home (his old unit), he spied Mr. Bones propped nonchalantly in the corner. It seems the F-15 boys from Boise had been on a trip to Tyndall in the spring and had stolen Mr. Bones right from his coffin! Grover's first assignment as a pilot was to the 95th, so being a Bonehead at heart, he decided to stuff Mr. Bones into his T-38's travel pod and wrest him back to lovely Columbus, Mississippi (the Mountain Home Eagle drivers, being both drunk and somewhat dim-witted, were none-the-wiser until it was too late...). On the way back to Columbus, Grover and Bob stopped for the night at Elsworth AFB in South Dakota, just down the road from Sturgis, where a huge Harley rally was underway (apparently it's the biggest Harley rally in the land--who knew?) Since Grover is a Harley driver and Bob had the foresight of toting his video camera along on the trip, the two of them escorted Mr. Bones for several hours through the streets and bars of Sturgis. The resulting 30 debaucherous minutes of video, replete with drunk and sometimes naked biker women, come into play later.... In the meantime, Saw, another good friend and fellow FAIP, had left Columbus to pursue his dreams of becoming a real man and was about half-way through the F-15 syllabus at Tyndall, training with the fine instructors of none other than the 95th FS. Well, word traveled quickly that Grover had acquired Mr. Bones, and since Saw was once a member of the 50th, it fell upon him to get him back to the Boneheads. Saw contacted me to find out what Grover wanted for ransom, and Grover put it into Bob's and my hands. So what did we ask for? RIDES IN THE MIGHTY EAGLE JET, what else? The 30 debaucherous minutes of video were edited down to 20, set to loud music, and sent along with a ransom note (authentically constructed out of magazine clippings, I might add) to the Boneheads. The note demanded "family models" be flown to the land of "pork and catfish," and was signed the "FAIP Mafia," a throwback to days of yore. To my great surprise, Saw called me a few days later with the news that the ransom had been accepted and that four Eagles were on their way up for retrieval. After I got over my disbelief, Bob and I spent two weeks drafting paperwork and assembling agendas for their visit. Grover left everything to us, insisting that we only "make it memorable." To us that meant one thing--lots of booze (yes, there is irony to be found there). Last Thursday, as the four-ship of mighty Eagles was taxiing up to Base Operations at Columbus, Bob and Slaydog and I stood waiting on th ramp with a cooler full of beer. From there we took them to the squadron for a tour, and Ringo (an Eagle pilot) gave an "Eagle Reach" presentation in our auditorium for interested IPs and students. We rolled to Proffitt's Porch around seven, still in our flight suits, and basically took over the whole restaurant. Bob and I had taken Polaroids of Mr. Bones in several unflattering situations, so before everyone got too drunk, we presented the 95th squadron commander (callsign "Gorilla") with a shot of Weed, the pictures, and several vulgar though surprisingly lyrical poems. About one hour and four bottles of whiskey later, the Mississippi woods reverberated with fighter pilot songs, none of which can be repeated here, as my now fairly inebriated co-workers sang at the top of their slurring voices. It was then that I knew that I had done good, though it was a fleeting feeling cause I passed out soon thereafter. And yes, the next morning at eight we managed to brief a three-ship ACM ride (that's Air Combat Maneuvering), and Bob, Slaydog, and I crawled into the back of the Eagle jets and raged for about 45 minutes. 45 minutes of 7+ G's, full afterburner, and a sense that I've made the right decision. When we landed, we all limped out of our jets and were shaking hands when Grover pulled out onto the flightline in his Harley, Mr. Bones riding on the back. We handed him over, a more than fair trade, and watched a little sadly as he was stuffed into an F-15 travel pod and taken back to his coffin at Tyndall.

Highway robbery Still seems steep. I'm sure MPF has some sort of rush fee, but I doubt it's that much -- especially if you can get a sympathetic clerk (oxymoron?) who will hook you up. I don't recall exactly, but I seem to remember it being somewhere around a month.

Barney - Might be a dumb question, but have you tried MPF? I just recently applied for a second personal passport for myself, my wife, and my son as well as a diplomatic passport for myself. At the last two bases I have been at, MPF had a specific individual whose primary job was passports. Go here to enter your info and print out the form (it will provide you a pdf file). Print it out, bring it to MPF, and they'll should do everything else for you. Who in the world says they're going to charge you this much? You're still going to have to pay for a personal passport through MPF, but it was nowhere near $400. Accoding to the US Dept of State Website, it's $67 plus a $30 processing fee. I don't know the actual regs, but I know that when I was in England we were allowed to use our leave papers and a military ID in place of a passport. This was "approved" but nobody did it for a couple reasons: 1) You're travelling around overseas flashing your military ID overseas, which I hate doing. 2) On the off chance you get the OCONUS TSA equivalent who doesn't know about this reg, you're screwed. I have heard of (though never experienced) this happening and guys got shafted for their flights. You can, but only if you have orders to deploy or PCS overseas.

Welcome to the ongoing stupidity of (at least) 10 years. Military Definition of Irony: US Forces stationed out of Incirlik AB, Turkey to conduct Operation Northern Watch in an effort to prevent Saddam Hussein from crossing the 36th parallel in an effort to bomb and commit genocide on the Kurds. But at any given time, the Turks had the power to shut down ONW...and fly into Northern Iraq to bomb the Kurds.

Shack. We had a mormon in my last squadron - dude never missed a roll call and was always willing to DD for us when we went out to the bars. During an ORI, he was climbing out of the cockpit with with full gear (mask on, visor down) and no ladder. He slipped, fell and broke his ankle. In an effort to circumvent getting the "Bone" at roll call for worst buffoonery, he hobbled up on his crutches and gave a peace offering to the bar of a handle of Jack Daniels and basically dimed himself out. Received large applause and no mention if his buffoonery was made.

You may be surprised to receive this message from me since you don't know me in person, but for the purpose of introduction, I am Mr. Kokonza Ngonza, a citizen of Zimbabwe and the son of late Mr.Zak Ngonza who was murdered in a land dispute in ZIMBABWE. I got your contact through the internet, and then I decided to write you. My late father was among the few black Zimbabwean rich farmers murdered in cold blood by the agent of the ruling government of President ROBERT MUGABE for his alleged support and sympathy for Zimbabwean opposition party. Before the death of my father, he deposited the sum of Ten Million US Dollars ($10M) with a security company in Thailand when he traveled to Thailand for negotiation of purchase of his farm machinery equipment. This land problem arose when President R. MUGABE introduced a new land Act, which wholly affects the white rich farmers and some few blacks vehemently condemned the 'MODUS OPERANDI' adopted by the government. This resulted to rampant killing, and mob actions made us to live without delay, the killing and mob action to all farmers involve is a terrible thing to witness because it is bloody, I and my family who are currently staying in Thailand as a refugee asylum seeker, have decided to move this money to a foreign country where we can invest it but we do not have proper documentation to operate legally here in Thailand, we only have united identity which is not enough to move freely and also to do business or have access to the deposited fund. The funds have nothing to do with any form of illegality and all documentations needed to prove the source of the funds were submitted when the funds were being deposited and these documents would prove the source of the funds and authenticate the fact that the funds are clean and has no links whatsoever with either drugs or terrorism. At this point in time, my family is willing to offer you 20% of the fund if you will assist us move out here and also receive this fund and move it to your country. My aim is to use part of the money to invest in your country and some part should be earmarked in purchasing new machinery and chemicals for our new farms in Lesotho and Swaziland which nobody is there now. If you are willing and interested to render the needed assistance kindly send me the followings to my email address 1. YOUR FULL NAME 2. ADDRESS 3 PRIVATE PHONES AND MOBILE NUMBER 4. YOUR COMPANY'S NAME IF ALL, IF DON'T YOU TELL US YOUR AREA OF BUSINESS. Expect your reply soonest. Best regards. Kokonza Ngonza For the family.

E-Pubs works just fine without a CAC reader. I assume you're talking about FLIP pubs, which now requires PKI.

Come on Rocker, you start this thread and don't even tell the newbies who Pardo is. For those of you who have never heard or read it, stop whatever you're doing and read Pardo's Push right now. Reader's Digest version: the guy pushes a dead-engine F-4 out of Laos by the tail hook while shutting down and restarting his own engine that has caught fire. I had heard the story a couple times before I met Pardo in person at a River Rat dinner a couple years ago. He spoke for about 45 minutes and every story he told (he obviously had a few) was amazing. What blew me away was when he talked about what happened after they ejected from the story in question and got back to base. Instead of giving him a medal, the Air Force actually tried to court martial him thinking it was some sort of 'hot-dog' stunt. It took the intervention of a US Senator to turn that off and he eventually received the Air Cross and a Silver Star.

Here you go. Great story - I'd say it ties Rainman's.

Open Book - Know where to find everything in the regs and RTFQ. Closed Book - Print out the MQF and commit everything to memory. All the questions are (should be) from the MQF, so if you can waste a few brain cells and memorize a couple hundred questions, you'll ace it IRC: YGBFSM. If your instructor doesn't walk out of the room with the answer sheet on the desk, you need a new IRC instructor.

Any reason you don't want C-12s to Saudi? I'm there (here) right now and just talked to a couple C-12 pilots last week based out of Dharhan. This place for the most part is a total $hithole and it takes some patience to put up with the customs around here, but there are a ton of perks including pay (combat pay, family separation, tax free), the fact that you're still flying during a remote, very few additional duties, and (generally) a guaranteed follow on. I can't provide many C-12 specifics other than some basics on their missions, but if you want some info on the area and how things run here, send me a PM.

Don't worry about it - I had something very similar happen to me about five years ago when I was at Incirlik. I woke up and had a disgusting red rash all over my body that looked like hives. I went to the doc and he told me it was probably caused by an allergic reaction to something like laundry detergent in my sheets since it popped up overnight. He gave me a shot of something, DNIF'd me for a day or so, and it went away no problem.

The only pilots who I have seen leave the F-15E were to transition to the F-22 (mostly younger guys) or leadership types who went to command at other bases. A former Sq/CC of mine who went on to be an OG/CC went to DM to be the Wg/CC. He was a prior Hog guy. We have a Track 1 transition course for guys coming from other fighters into the Strike Eagle, but I haven't seen anybody come through that in three years. I know of 6-9 dudes who came from Hogs to the Strike Eagle, and four who came from the C model, but they all came through their track 1 a long time ago. The only guys I've seen recently, as mentioned above, are senior leadership types. The former Shaw Wg/CC (Viper guy) came through a senior officer's course to be the Wg/CC at a downrange location with F-15Es.

Heard of it, never done it. As long as Base Ops accepts it into the system (verified before you take off), you should be fine. I doubt they check it against any sort of master list. When I was in England, it worked the same as here in the states. I believe we ran ours through London Military (England equivalent of FAA), which ensured they weren't in use by the RAF bases.

I actually was talking to a guy today who had a similar situation with respect to the surgery and potential for DNIF. While he was lifting, he did something to his right arm that caused him gradually increasing pain. When he finally went to the doc, they gave him an MRI and told him that he had severed a nerve in his arm that would require surgery. He said no way, figuring it would be an extended DNIF at best for him. When the doc explained that he could eventually lose all use of his right arm (verified by some mobility and strength tests), he changed his mind and got the surgery. He's fine now and back flying. Again, not exactly the same thing, but similar. I tend to shy away from the flight doc for anything I can handle with Motrin, but yours is one that could end not a flying career if it gets worse, but your mobility in general. Yup, that would do it for me.

Rotorhead's explanation pretty much summed up the requirements. As for who gets what call signs and numbers, it's up to the individual units. As mentioned, the call signs are requested and assigned (or denied) from the FAA. From that point, they 'belong' to that wing - specifically the wing airspace office. Wing airspace is responsible for assigning them to squadrons, butwe've had plenty of guys make deals to swap call signs. Recently, there was a barter which involved a great deal of alcohol presented at a roll call from one of the ops squadron to us because one of the call signs we had was the same as his personal call sign. Within the squadron, I've seen the call signs assigned to a flight (UPT) which was divided by numbers (Snake 11, 12, etc)., but everywhere else I've seen assigns individual call signs to the pilot. The one advantage to giving call signs to a flight was that all the UPT check pilots used the same call signs, so the local ATC guys knew to give them priority on their requests. If the individual call signs run short, guys have to share and separate it with numbers. The numbers don't matter for the most part - normally we just give the first guy '11', the second, '21', etc. However, we requested the 'Lancer' (squadron 'mascot') call sign a long time back and were denied because there was another unit within a specified range that uses the same call sign. The solution was to limit the associated numbers; they can use everything 51 and below, we can use 61 and above. Wonder if SJ will lose it as well. That's the OG/CCs call sign (or maybe that's why you lost it).

Ditto what Jeep Guy said. Realize that the control tower has an elevator up to the floor just prior to the tower, then it's an extremely steep set of stairs to actually get up into the tower.