JS

Yeah, I heard the same thing from some fighter guys - "man, you guys eat your own in your community." I do think that it seems more systemic in the Herk/C-17 world than in other airframes. I have seen a lot of Q-other than 1's for what usually amounts to an honest mistake being made in a busy, task-saturating environment - flap overspeeds, shifting cago/platforms coming loose on the ground, stall indication in the final turn (not actual stall) after a random shallow, setting the wrong mins for circling, and not being able to land the second time out of an assault. I even witnessed a Q-3 (I think, maybe Q-2) for a post-checkride ground eval that wasn't that horrible, from what I heard second hand. I have heard the Q-2/Q-3 being used in this community in the name of "accountability" for people's mistakes. I am not sure that I totally agree with that - to mar someones permanent record due to an honest mistake such as overspeeding flaps or accidentally unlocking a palette on the ground (no injuries or damages in any of my examples....but, well, could be worse, I guess). On the bright side, our last two guys to bolt for the airlines - both stan eval types at the squadron and group level - both had plenty of marks on their records. I guess (or hope, shall I say), that the guys on the other side of the interview table at the airline hopefully have some perspective about how we dish out the Q-3 and Q-2 in our community easier than they give out lashings to a thief in an arab country.

Yeah, I noticed that too.. Not only did they spell his name wrong, but the only E-M diagrams attributed to him are for the slowest, non-fighter-type aircraft out there. And to add insult to injury, the E-M diagrams are in the appendix of the C-130 3-3. I brought that section up to a few senior guys/IPs a while back, and none of them knew what the fuck I was talking about, nor had they heard of Col John Boyd or Col John Body. After all, the E-M charts are in the appendix for a reason, right - so nobody will read that part of the book or understand those concepts. Here is to Boyd - great visionary and great officer!

Excellent point! I kind of noticed this happening to me, but never really put 2 and 2 together until reading this. A friend of mine who flies corporate automatically assumed I would want to fly for a living, and immediately started making phone calls and setting up lunches with guys around the airport (I am leaving my options open, but I never actually said or implied that I would want to fly corporate, or fly in general, when I grow up). Next thing I knew, I was at lunch or drinking coffee with guys at the airport because they all assumed that I was going to fly for a living since I was currently flying for the Air Force. Another friend of the family was trying to set me up with some contacts that he had at Southwest, again automatically assuming that I wanted to be an airline pilot. Because I have a technical background, my other friends and contacts around town automatically assume that I want to do that for a living. I have had several people try to set me up with opportunities in engineering or technology jobs around town - all without my ever saying "this is what box I am in - I want to work in a technology field." Finally, a friend of mine tried out the financial planning thing with a "military friendly" financial planning company whose name shall not be mentioned here. I toyed with the idea of giving that a try since I had a business background too (MBA). After mentioning it in passing, I found myself at lunch with a friend of my wifes and a different coffee meeting with two other family friends trying to point me in the right direction about getting into the financial world. All this was without my saying that I was actually going to pursue said career field or was really even seriously interested. So, again, first define what you want to do for a living when you grow up, or what "box" you fit into. This will make life easier, so you won't be frustrated if your plans are to use your accounting degree to work with one of the Big 5, but have family friends bombarding you with ideas and contacts in the aviation industry, for example. The worst thing you can think/say is "I don't know what I want to do - I will do 'anything' - but I am looking for a $100K job in 'something' in the private sector based on my experience as an Air Force officer."

You raise some good questions, and there are some good answers in this thread. My perspective, coming from working 5 years in the civilian sector until joining the Reserves and then working part-time as a civilian is as follows. As others have mentioned, it depends, of course. Some employers will not care about an online degree and won't give a shit about military experience. Others will give you instant credibility as a military vet and appreciate that you have a graduate degree in anything. A lot of it will depend on how you do in an interview, if you can even get one. One recurring theme that I read about and have discussed with business-type guys in my home town is that employers value communication skills - written and verbal - as well as a self-starter mentality. I read that 80% of all workers in the US have to be "managed" and told what to do as opposed to being given a fire-and-forget task like we are usually given in the military. I would imagine an employer would value those skills if you could convey them in an interview. Back to getting an interview. As Pitts mentioned above, the job boards are a total waste of time - the majority of jobs are not advertised. Networking is by far the most important skill you could possibly bring to your search. It's not what you know, but who you know, And as much as I value knowledge and education, if I absolutely had to give up one of the two, I would give up "what you know." Keep in touch with that crusty college classmate of your father-in-laws, or that guy from Church who works for ATT downtown. Remember those letters you keep getting from your alma mater about alumni meetings in your city or flyers about guest speakers coming to talk to the local MBA alums - I would consider attending those meetings. There should also be some other general business networking groups in the town that you decide you would like to work in (see OL Patch's post above - he is dead on about deciding where you want to live, how much quality of life you want to sacrifice or cost of living you want to endure for a certain job or lifestyle). Do your research in your town and get plugged in through church, the local business alliance, chamber of commerce, BNI, or whatever. But in the end, be aware that the $100K job is not going to come knocking in your doorstep simply because you are a military vet. You might have to start smaller, with a more "normal" salary for someone entering the industry. Don't be like some and keep getting more education or keep passing entry level jobs because you think you are worth more - you might not be. Finally, as others have sort of mentioned, realize that the $80K you currently make in salary and tax-free housing in the military is probably already equivalent to a straight $100K salary in the civilian sector. That's not even including tax-free deployments or TDY money. Plus you could be on the hook for quite a healthcare bill in the private sector. Good luck.

I was thinking the exact same thing. I am already guilty of several of those same "crimes" from over the past few years. Late to a briefing - come on. And doesn't pretty much everyone get at least one no-notice in their career? I hope I never get exposed in the AF Enquirer like that. Can't they find real news stories - like writing about Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan or some shit?

Ahhh. The War Between the States began.........still going strong in some corners even to this day. Ha ha.

I think it is a grand idea - throw all the education kinds in a few small cubes down at Maxwell or some room in the Pentagon, while letting the people with real warfighting experience move up in the warfighting ranks so they can continue to fight the war. Brilliant - that's probably why the Air Force doesn't do it that way. On a side note, it seems that the more these manufactured leaders come into the Wing or Group leadership positions, the worse they are in the plane, which gives them even less credibility amongst the grunts or line fliers. But in the end, you are right, only the ones who game the system of the day and kiss ass are the ones who get promoted. Or, to put it more eloquently, only the douches get promoted in most cases.

Classic. From a relatively short-tour desert standpoint, 0,1,1,1. The next big question to make news is, what would all of their "preferences" be to a picture of four dudes - 0,0,0,0 after DADT is repealed.

Yeah, I, unlike some I guess, don't see the disconnect between using my credit card and using cash. If I quickly "swipe" away a $100 dinner or a $200 piece of electronics online, I start to think about how many days I have to work to pay that off, or I think about how many $20 bills are coming out of my pocket. I guess not everyone thinks that way, but to me, plastic is the same as cash. But I can easily see how some simple-minded people would spend more using plastic as opposed to if they were counting single dollar bills out for a purchase.

I never did the airline card because I heard they were a scam and the tickets were very hard to get. Plus, why pay an annual fee just to get the equivalent of 1%"cash" back in the form of airline miles, when you can buy a decent roundtrip ticket these days for $300-350? Maybe I am missing something, but I would rather pay for my airline tickets, and just get straight cash back from my other cards. About Dave Ramsey - I could not agree more. Most people don't have math or finance backgrounds, and he does write crap for the dumbest Americans - that is why so many more people read him as opposed to reading, say, the advice on this thread. I used to passively take in what he had to say when a friend would relay it tome, but I lost all respect for him when he told me about Ramsey's plan for getting rid of multiple forms of debt (if you are foolish enough to have stacks of loans and credit cards piling up interest on you): He said to rack and stack them from smallest to largest balances, and then pay off the balance, as opposed to highest to lowest interest rate. He says it helps build "momentum," or some shit like that. Basically, it is a crappy mind game for people who can't understand simple interest rates. In other words he would prescribe you pay off your debts in this ass-backwards order just to make yourself feel some sense of accomplishment for paying off the small loan: $1000 (1%) - special Best Buy loan for a TV $3000( 3%) - good car loan $4000 (8%) - average rate on student loan $8000 (20%) - typical credit card $9000 (22%) - another typical credit card Of course, while you are dicking around with the $1000 and $3000 loan, your credit card stuff is putting you in a death spiral. Anyone who passed freshman math should be able tosee that you should devote every single penny you have to knock down the 22% first, and then work your way down the list completely opposite of what Ramsey recommends. So you won't feel good about yourself for a while because it will take longer to pay down the $9000 loan, but in the end, you will save a shitload of money and have more dough in your pocket to pay off the piddly 1% and 3% loans down the road.

BINGO! The fact is that the credit card fees - usually 1-3% of the purchase price - are already built into the price of virtually everything we buy. Therefore, those who are not using credit cards are in essence overpaying for most of their goods. Champ is right, the credit card companies will get theirs, and they are not "giving" anyone anything for free with these rewards. It is just that the cost of the credit card rewards are indeed spread out over all of those late fees, interest payments, and the 1-3% they charge at the time of sale. But to answer the question, I use several different cards. I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon (books, music, baby formula, toys for the kids, gifts, etc), so I have a Chase Amazon card that gives back like 5%. I also have a separate card for gas that pays 5% back on gas. In the end, a large portion of my monthly expenses fall into these categories, so I am able to break even on them. Everyone else who does not use a gas card at the gas station and an Amazon card at amazon.com continues to pay 5% higher than they have to. At least that is the way that I look at it (oh, and of course, I have never carried a balance or paid a late fee - I have the website rigged to automatically pay the full balance each month).

I kind of agree with most of what he is saying. I mean, Qatar, Bahrain - come on!!! Maybe officially making Qatar the non-combat area that it has been since the war started would take some of the stupidity out of that place and get people out of the fake "combat" mindset there (wishful thinking, I know).

You mean does the US borrow from China, to give to Russia, and then to pay for an annual study of China's military? Probably so.

Finance_Guy, I have been trying to get some clarification on Rate Protection, and how it applies to the Guard/Reserve. The only section I see in the JFTR that you have quoted a few times in this thread is the following: "U10004 BAH RATE PROTECTION The monthly BAH amount actually paid a member (i.e., BAH Rate Protection) must not be reduced as a result of changes in housing costs in the MHA, changes in the national monthly housing cost, or a member’s promotion. If the member is demoted, or loses authorization for BAH, then the member’s BAH rate protection at the current amount ceases on the date the member’s eligibility to BAH for a given MHA terminates. The current BAH rate at the current duty location becomes the member’s new protected BAH rate." So I guess I have two questions: 1) Does Rate Protection apply to Guard/Reserve members? 2) If so, what is the interpretation of someone who "loses authorization for BAH?" In other words, given the nature of how we in the Guard/Reserve continually come on and off active duty orders where we are entitled to BAH, does coming off those orders constitute losing authorization for BAH? The story behind my question is that although I have been living in the same zip code for several years (and paying the same mortgage payment), my BAH has dropped twice in the past two years. During that time, I have deployed twice and have done several months of miscellaneous active duty, thus coming on and off a status that pays me full BAH. Thanks.

In my experience, most of the time the shoes are respectful and just trying to enforce the queepy rules that the failed leaders dreamed up. I was once told "sir, can you please take your sunglasses off your head?" What else can you say or do? Now, if they are disrespectful or lack customs and courtesies, that's where I have my layered strategy: 1. "As an officer [identify myself as an O] also interested in good order and discipline, I must ask...where is that written?" If they produce a paper copy or quote the Dress and Appearance Reg... 2. "OK [if I have to comply with the letter, and not the spirit, of every little rule], then why are you not complying with section 8.2.2 of AFI 34-1201?" 3. "Since you can't comply with simple, written AFI's, let me have your ID in accordance with the local 36-2903, and your commanders namer. We have to enforce standards here, and respect for senior officers comes before enforcing sunglasses and reflective belts." Probably not going to really work, but worth a try.

If I remember correctly, the little Shoe Douches have an ID scanner or a sheet where they write your social in order to enter it into some computer system that tracks whether or not you attended this meeting. More than likely, they were not going to process his ID and he would not have gotten "credit" for attending the dumness of Right Finish. If you haven't attended Right Finish by the day you are stepping to the jet to get the hell out of clownland, there could be trouble. I hate to say it, but this is what things have come to, and we are left with little choice but to play along and make it home. Agreed - know your rights and your powers. I believe it was someone on this board who pointed me to this AFI on protocol. The following section puts in writing what us officers should be enforcing every time a Shoe E (or junior ranking O) tries to enforce some form of nitpicking queep: "8.2.2. Juniors shall stand at attention (unless seated at mess or unless circumstances make such action impracticable or inappropriate) as follows: 8.2.2.1. When addressed by an officer senior to them." Last time I was there, I took the 3 minutes out of my day to print that page out and carried it in my little ID pouch, along with the page on the local Dress and Appearance reg that stated that anyone E-5 and above can ask anyone for their ID in the interest of maintaining good order and discipline. You should have seen the look on the Chief's face when he got interrupted by my loadmaster while "Chiefing" someone. The loadmaster asked to see his ID, and the Chief was incredulous. He wanted to know why someone (junior to him, nevertheless) was asking for his ID. My take - if you are authorized to hassle someone by asking for their ID, why not take advantage of it and make life for the Shoes a little more difficult while they are making life difficult for others?

Just finished watching a PBS Frontline special called "Frontline: Behind Taliban Lines." As the name implies, it is a documentary taken behind Taliban lines from their perspective. A reporter was somehow able to tag along for a few weeks with a small group of Taliban who were attacking a road between Tajikstan and Kabul. It was very fascinating seeing their motivations, determination, tactics, communication, and so on. I highly recommend it to anyone who has 50 minutes to invest in better understanding our enemy. It is available on Netflix via DVD or streaming.

I would have swore that there was a thread on here in late 2009 discussing the new 2010 rates, and in that thread some guys asked if rate protection applied to Reservists. After searching for 20 minutes with no luck, I am going to re-ask: does anyone know if the rate protection rules apply to reservists, and if so, have it in writing? I noticed that my BAH dropped about $200 from 2009, and when I get regular BAH (30 days of orders), they are paying me the lower rate. I seem to remember someone even citing a section of one of the pay regulations that spelled it out. Thanks.

Well, not exactly under the topic of "Latest," but I couldn't find a better place to post this: I just finished watching The Battle of Algiers. It is a 1966 French film about the revolution and counterinsurgency in Algiers. As many of you know, the Battle of Algiers, along with the Malayan "Emergency," the Philippine War, Vietnam, and several others are commonly studied cases of counterinsurgency. This insurgency is also mentioned throughout several of the counterinsurgency books that were on the CSAF reading list, including Counterinsurgency Warfare and Beating Goliath. About the movie - well, since it is a foreign "classic," that means that it is entirely played with English subtitles, and the acting, effects, and scenery are all pretty bad. But overall, I would say it was worth the 2-hour investment to get a brief introduction on this important conflict. I think it did a very good job or portraying both sides of the conflict. I must admit, at times I was "rooting" for the Muslims based on what the French were doing to them. At other times, I was totally empathizing with the French and what we are going through right now in the Middle East. Also, according to IMDB, this film was screened by the Pentagon and shown to certain officers as a case study in how not to conduct counterinsurgency warfare. Edit: you can get it on streaming netflix

Thanks for crunching the numbers and saving me the the time and effort of posting the same thing. I briefly worked in the financial planning (read: life insurance sales) business, have a good friend who did the same, and our maid-of-honor from our wedding is currently a CFP. Bottom line - whole life is a huge scam and a waste of time and money; it benefits the insurance salesmen very well, however. Like you said, you pay, on average over ten-times the rate of term, only to get marginal "returns" on your cash value "investment." Stick to term life insurance (probably why SGLI is term and not whole).

Actually, from what a C-17 guy told me, you might want to bold the "slats retracting" portion of this text as opposed to the rudder stuff. Losing an enormous amount of lift (and increasing stall speed by dozens on knots) in a middle of a max performing turn is not a good thing, and probably had something to do with this one being an accident as opposed to the dozens of times that they successfully performed this maneuver.

Along the lines of JAOPC/CWPC, has anyone taken the CATS course at St Joe's? From what I have read and heard, it is a 2-week course that sets you up to officially run a mobility tactics shop in a deployed location. It sounds similiar to JAOPC and CWPC, except it focuses on your own tactics shop as opposed to working in a planning cell in the CAOC or on some staff.

I just learned a new technique from an IP that sounds pretty neat (have yet to try it). Instead of creating auto-delete rules in Outlook, he gets creative with the Outlook rules options and rigs it so if the letter is from XXXX, then send a response to XXXX with some smart-ass, anti-spam type message. For example, he has a rule that anytime he receives a letter from the CGOC, it auto-replies to the entire CGOC mailing list with some sort of message like "This is an automated email. I am not a CGOC member and would never consider being part of such a group, etc." I would set up a similar rule for emails from PA. Just think, if 20 or 50 guys had auto-response rules like that, every time the CGOC or PA sent out an email, they would immediately receive 50 pieces of SPAM in their box. Would work even better of hundreds were on board with the concept.

Driving through the Southeast near the Georgia/Alabama border I passed a nice, shiny, mean-looking jet-black 2009 Camero with dark tinted windows and the Alabama license plate "HK 45." Could be someone's initials and the year they were born, but for some reason, I don't think so.

I found a few posts about IWB holsters, but didn't see anything on the SmartCarry holster. Anyone have any experience with it? There was also a good review of it here, and the guy seemed pretty happy with it. It is almost like a catchers cup with a little pouch to hide the gun in front of your package. I was thinking of something along these lines, along with a KelTec PF-7, as opposed to the basic cheap, clip on IWB holsters, since I think they would tend to bulge out more from the sides or make sitting very uncomfortable.