Toro

The pseudo-thread hijack that started in the no more position and hold thread got me thinking about the responsibilities and training involved with Air Traffic Control that few aircrew (unless you've been SOF) get to see. I'd like those familiar with the ATC rules and regulations to chime in here. I already know some of these answers, I'm asking mostly to get discussion started and answers from those who are qualified in the subject matter. 1 - Just like we train our pilots through UPT, IFF, and FTU, the controllers have a training upgrade flow. Where does that occur (are there primary initial training bases) and how long does it last? 2 - Just like we can be Q3'd, controllers can be decertified (I have been on the receiving end of control from someone to whom this happened once). What happens as a result and what does this do to their career? 3 - Just as we can transition to civilian (airline) flying, controllers can transition to civilian ATC. How is the quality (pay, working conditions) compared to military and how often does it happen? That should get the ball rolling - any other questions for controller-types?

Back to the original topic - Along with this article, we had a memo come out several weeks ago basically telling us to conserve fuel by any means possible. I want to say it was a COMACC memo, but it had stuff like flying fuel conserving airspeeds to and from the area, not dumping fuel unless absolutely necessary, and not flying sorties unless necessary.

Ditto schokie - tell everybody who wants money to pound sand. Our snacko started to go into the red because everytime somebody organized a first friday, squadron social event, etc, they demanded the snacko pay for it. We changed the mentality on that: first Friday food = task flight members with bringing the grub. Having a squadron BBQ? Snacko might foot the bill, but then the bill gets split between everybody in the squadron.

FINES! Fine for any sort of buffoonery - appropriate for your squadron ($5.55 fine for anything stupid done at the 555FS, for example). Most fines are for minor infractions like not signing out a flight plan or not erasing your boards after brief/debrief. It's cheaper if you're somewhere like the 494th, but the price gets hefty for more serious offenses - my last squadron commander imposed a $49.40 fine on four aircrew who left classified materials unsecured -- and they paid without one bit of complaining. Not only do the fines raise money for the squadron (with an aggressive Top 3 who has an eye for detail, we can get about $100 in $3.33 fines on any given week), but they make aircrew keep a little closer attention to detail. The fines are generally maintained by Top 3 and logged in a book that resides behind the Ops Desk. They are read at the weekly roll calls, and the snacko tallies them up and adds them to the monthly snacko bill. These are in addition to the fines given at roll call (not wearing Friday shirts or patches, not having an RMO, or other breaches of etiquette).

I would say YGBSM, but nothing in AETC surprises me.

Not sure exactly what kind of 'rulebook' this supposedly is coming from, but the only thing I've ever heard like this is a lodging rule - they're not supposed to room you together or put officers in enlisted rooms (which share a bathroom). I never shared a room in UPT, but I've had to share a room on more than one occassion for F-15 XCs.

Based off something that happened yesterday, I thought I'd open it up for the best 'Wedge' story. For those who don't know, the wedge theory basically says that if you screw up and get in trouble for it, eventually somebody will come along and wedge you out of the spotlight with something equally as dumb or dumber. I'll start with yesterday's occurence. We flew four student lines cross country yesterday and an instructor crew in a jet that was to follow them around and act as a spare at the out base since we weren't taking maintainers. The spare's one and only job was to take off, fly the jet straight to the out base, and get it on the ground Code 1. They decide that they'd like to delay in the airspace and the conversation probably went something like this - Pilot: Well, what do you want to do? WSO: Hmmmm....I'd like to practice my break turns Pilot: Gee, that sounds like a great idea! Okay, you have the jet. WSO: Let's see - how did the mechanics of this go? 430 knots and slam the stick back to the seat pan..urrgghhhh B!tchin Betty: OVER-G! OVER-G! So they bring the Code 3 jet back to base to the wrath of Top 3, the DO, the CC and the wedge theory.

Volunteer for as much as possible and perform those duties well.

Ditto Hoser on the flyby thing. I did a T-38 flyby at an Atlanta baseball game and when we got to the field and were walking to our seat, a whole section jumped up and started cheering. We thought we had missed a great play, but it turned out they were cheering for us. Best flyby response was for the opener of the Tampa Bay Bucs versus 49ers last year. After we finished the flyby we were driving to the stadium and listening to the radio when they announced that Joe Jurevicius had just scored a touchdown and " he handed the ball to one of the pilots who did the flyby" Turns out the pilot was our ground FAC - the twin brother of the guy leading and a Tweet IP at Sheppard (you SPS guys might recognize him). At any rate, they brought us onto the field at half time and I swear I have never felt like more of a rock star - 50,000 people on their feet and cheering. I've had people catch my tab on several occassions. Every single time, they've seen me and my buds walk into the restuarant in uniform and said nothing to us - they went directly to the waitress, paid for our meal, and we didn't find out until they were gone. As mentioned, just ask - even if you're not in a military town - you'd be surprised. On more than one occasion as I'm paying for something and the merchant sees my military ID, they'll offer up a military discount. On a related note, check the Services magazine at your base club - they list all the places in town that offer discount to Club card holders.

No way. The A-10 FTU is six months compared to the 9 month Strike Eagle FTU. MQT is essentially a very condensed recap of the B course with more tactics thrown in -- the F-15E MQT is only three months. Bozz?

You shouldn't have to explain what you're drinking. But if you feel like explaining why you drink beer, this might help.

I'd take a Bacardi and coke over a $hitty draft beer any day. Seriously, it doesn't matter. You don't even need to drink alcohol to 'fit in' - if you're taking shots of water or chugging a Pepsi in the corner, then you're probably the designated driver...and AOK in my book.

Nope. The two Viper guys who bombed Canadian friendlies a couple years ago claimed that the AF forced them to take go pills, which contributed to the incident. Total BS.

It's not airframe dependent, it's based on total military flying hours and pilot hours. From AFI 11-402- Senior Pilot - 7 years rated service as a pilot, and 2000 total pilot hours or 72 (gate) months. Command Pilot - 15 years rated service and 3000 total hours or 144 (gate) months. You can switch airframes and even services and have the cumulative number of hours apply to your rating. From talking to MPF, they said most people hit the gate months before they hit the year/hour point. First off, don't confuse 'Operational tour' with 'Flying tour.' UPT is a flying tour, it is not operational. 4+ operational tours is rare to non-existent. 4+ flying tours is not unheard of - I'm on my third consecutive flying tour (not including UPT or FTU student). I'm sure most people would rather fly than go to a staff job, but it's not good for career progression. If your objective in the AF is to fly as much as possible and retire as a major, then that would suit you just fine. If you'd like to make it to O-5 and above, you'd better be willing to accept a staff job.

I'm sorry, you're trailing off - did I catch a niner in there? Were you calling from a Walkie Talkie? No - we don't say 'Niner' on the radio.

What are some cool assignment night themes guys have had? I'm trying to gather ideas for something good. For the last class, we did a Price is Right theme. Guys were told to "Come on Down" as crews to the front of the room, then an F-15 item was put up on the screen that they had to guess the price of (GBU-12, AMRAAM, Gallon of JP-8, etc). Whoever got the closest to the price without going over was chosen to step up to the screen and a "Wheel" of sorts was spun that went through all the bases and stopped on their assignment. What are some other good themes you've seen?

Incirlik for ONW. Right outside the front gate was a row of shops we called "The Alley" that absolutely loved the Americans....or rather, their cash. You could get unbelievable deals and AWESOME food. I personally never got the screaming $hits, but it would have been worth it. You could get a full meal and beer for like three bucks. One of the stores was Pop's Leather were you could get great deals on backpacks, jackets, and leather jacket liners. I got a liner for my jacket that included a blood chit, cold weather liner, expansion pockets for the arms, extra zippers and pen/pencil slots for like 20 bucks. I showed up there in February of 2002, when things were just barely cooling down from 9-11. They were just starting to let military guys off base to go to the alley...the place had nearly shriveled up and died as a result of the Americans not being able to drop their coin. We got an intel report that a suicide bomber was rumored to be seeking out a large group of Americans in the alley as a target. A day after that, we were told that the Turkish mafia had put out a $1 million price on the cranium of any suicide bomber -- that's how much they appreciated our business.

My current SQ/CC did an exchange tour with an Aussie F-18 squadron. A bud of mine just took off to do an exchange tour with a Hawk squadron at RAF Leeming in the UK. About four months ago a spot opened up to fly Tornados in Italy. All of them are awesome deals in more ways than you can count. The biggest is being able to fly with another country and experience their way of doing things. In addition, and along with that, is the fact that (in the case of the Italian job), you get paid to go to Monterey, CA to the Defense Language Institute to learn the language. It's a ton of hard work, but I'd love the opportunity.

Here's some soldier girls with (I believe) whip cream and bullets. Disclaimer - the one on the left is a bit of an ugh and it is NOT WORK SAFE. Whipped Cream soldier girls at EHOWA.com

I asked a tower controller about that once - it's required for them to say that, even if you've already reported gear down. If she's around still, Kick Chick could give the definite answer. So you're cool with your wingman potentially being lost on your ATC frequency? Hmmmm. That's great until my wingman goes back to trail, lost wingman, or takes the lead and doesn't know what our clearance is because he missed the radio frequency. I suppose you'd just let your #2 fly around in $hitty formation all day, then fix it in the debrief. Bull$hit - fix it on the spot. If #2 doesn't check in right away - or if he clips his check in - he gets checked in again.

Rotorhead, Good points - I am guilty of 2-3 of those on a regular basis. I'm so old and dumb now that I doubt I'll be able to change my ways, though.

Here, exactly, is where the problem is. UPT...DO YOUR F*CKING JOB, GODD@MN IT!

Our corn popper actually has a recipe posted on the outside ala 781 - complete with notes warnings and cautions. One of the warnings is to drain the excess jalapeno juice before adding them to the oil - something to the effect of causing excess smoke, coughing, and extreme eye irritation. Ops tested...drain the extra juice.

IRC test? You mean the annual IRC test that is open book? You mean the IRC where the dude giving the test generally leaves the room so all test takers can collaborate for answers? You mean the IRC that is correctable to 100%? No, sorry, don't have any gouge.

Hmmmm...I seem to recall buying my own.