billy pilgrim

This. Seeing TAMI-21 happen as a Lt in a CAF SQ made me significantly reassess my view of big blue. Passed on the bonus.

Any recommendations? Ideally looking for something that is dual output, white/bright for walk arounds but also can use in the cockpit to augment / backup those little NVG fingerlights. Preferably green and fairly dim etc... I was looking at the new surefire aviator, but I had the old one and it was way too bright to use in the cockpit. Anyone using something they like?

https://www.aerotrader.com/listing/1957-Lockheed-Hercules-C-130A-123297990 Perfect for a weekend getaway to your favorite dirt landing strip.

This. Saw this firsthand in a fighter squadron. Decided then and there that I would not extend my ADSC via bonus / GI Bill etc...

I am not 100% sure what you're looking for, but I would say go to UPT. There is a lot of sport bitching on baseops so take everything on here with a grain of salt. If you spend a decade flying jets in the AF you'll likely end up with more memorable experiences than most people will have in their entire lives. That part has been awesome. Either way - good luck!

Any guys on the forum flying for these guys? Is it a full time gig? I.e. are guys also flying for the guard / airlines? How's the quality of life? Looks like Draken has a location in Nimes France - anyone fly out of there? Thanks.

Probably just reminiscing about the last "cruise".

Just wanted to confirm that the shorter bonuses are not being offered to uncommitted types? My UPT ADSC expired last year and I didn't take the bonus. Never got an email from AFPC and it looked like the email sent to a friend who's ADSC expires this year is worded so that I wouldn't be included. Any data on this?

Do they charge any foreign transaction fees on this card?

That jet is like a sport bike - clean it would be like a dream to fly. Tell ACC to stop pimping your ride. AK is the best flying I've ever done. And probably will ever do.

But can robots make corn??

Watching several guys in my squadron get tapped with TAMI 21, I second this.. (Made a conscious decision at that time never to let my ADSC get extended bast my UPT one). Gross mismanagement of personnel is the root cause of this retention problem that the AF is experiencing. Don't want to derail this thread though - hitting your first ops unit after 2+ years of training is an unforgettably awesome experience.

Shack with the hydration. Haven't found sleep to be a big factor, but everyone's physiology is different. Avoid alcohol the day prior. Are you asking for the centrifuge (0/10 would not recommend..)? Get AFE to get your g suit as tight as you can stand for that. The new G suit (ATAGS) helps a ton. Don't run, lift. I wouldn't sweat it too much as resting g tolerances vary greatly and you won't really know until you're there. G tolerance also builds with experience. I've heard an F-35 can sustain well over 3.5g's (at low fuel weights) so make sure you're ready! Cheers.

I could see this at the FTU - but not in the CAF...

I say it's LO to get studs ready for their fifth gen follow on. I nominate LM to build it! Kidding aside, it would make a lot of sense to have a fly-by-wire with similar wing-loading to current fighters.

OP, Tons of solid info in this thread from dudes that have been there, done that. I was in a similar situation at your age and went mil. Now I am a post ADSC (bragging!!) 11F, with some docs in my family so I have seen both sides of this. AD vs Guard - lots more opportunities on AD and lots more REALLY bad deals. Hence you are going to get wildly varying opinions on this. Mil vs. civilian - again, very unique experiences available on the mil side, however you will work your ass off for no guarantee of anything. Oh, and you'll be committed for 10 years as a pilot. Another option is to become a civilian doc - then do a stint with a fighter guard (f15/16) unit as a flight surgeon. Both of your career paths will take a ton of work. The doctor route will have a much safer return on the time and effort you invest. That being said, some of the stuff I've seen and done flying in the military I literally would not trade for anything. The military route offers (potentially) greater rewards but at orders of magnitude more risk. Not sure if I would do it again. There have been a lot of incredible experiences and a lot of really bad ones. YMMV. Good luck!

Yeah, the standard IDLE / MAX reaction. My AFSC is critically manned but the increased production is only creating more problems. Now we should have a lot of popcorn (mentoring in progress) but only three guys to lead as blue one. Of those, one is sitting SOF, the other is TOP3 and God forbid someone has to take leave because the CC is at standup and is unavailable to fly.

I hope so. Can we please kill MICT while we're at it?

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. These people have SA because they ARE the mission. The Air Force is short on manpower and funding. I get that. Until the F-35 abortion gets sorted out, this money MUST go to the human capital that execute the mission of the Air Force. There are no bigger "fish to fry". What does that look like? 1) Bring back support personnel so that fliers can focus ON THE MISSION. Being well rounded and having a wide berth of experience is something that we simply cannot afford in this fiscally constrained environment. I spend OVER HALF OF MY TIME DOING SUPPORT TASKS FOR THE SQUADRON. Free this up, and I can fly 2-3x more a week, stay smart on 3-1, current tactics and TTPs and my proficiency goes through the roof. This is a common theme coming from CAF squadrons PLEASE SOMEONE LISTEN TO THIS. 2) The root issue here is that instead of placing resources in technology and new aircraft (which are important to an extent) we need to place those resources back primarily in the pilot corps. Throughout history the USAF has been kicking a ton of ass with near parity in equipment. Why? Aircrew culture and training. From F-105's (designed to deliver nuclear weapons) doing the SEAD mission in 'Nam to B-1's and B-52's doing CAS(!!!) in OEF, the 11X corps figures out a way to get 'er done. A highly motivated, highly trained 4th gen force (preferably 4th + 5th gen FI) flying some legacy aircraft in a reasonable fleet size (this is key) will be able to do so much more than a hollow fifth gen force. Yes there are hours to fly in our FHP, but I also agree that the squadrons are not even close to where they were a decade or so ago. Invest our limited resources in our pilot crops (flying hours, training, exercises / TDYs / squadron support staff) and big blue will see long term returns.

But this is different than Blues Monday's...

Is it just ENJJPT? I'm not 100% on how the process works - but if it's not, it should be 1 for the entire 17-01 class AF wide.

Where is this posted? Thanks..

A longer commitment will retain pilots at significant costs of work force quality, morale and future recruitment. (Quality will continue to be sacrificed for quantity.) There is substantial survivor-ship bias occurring at the senior leadership level. This causes the perceived long-term consequences of this to be unrealistically discounted.

I think that's in 11-205?