Rmarsh

What would be selling out be? Re-cat to 18x from 11x? I get it, I really do, a follow-on to a cockpit is the best case scenario for those in RPA's that still have that option, but what about the meantime, "###### it, I really don't want to be here"? I've been in an a community where I flew twice a month and wanted more, and I've spent 40 hours a week in the box and wanted less, but I guess I don't see how you can set yourself up for those greener pastures by saying "a cockpit or I'm out"...

If Big Blue's only concern was caring for the wishes of cadets, there would be 10,000 fighter slots, and we wouldn't have a Mission Support Group. Getting the last assignment on a dream sheet is unfortunate, but it has to go to someone, and sitting in a fetal position outside the O-club on drop night is missing the forrest trough the trees. Driving the goat bus at Tinker or flying preds at Cannon is still better than sitting behind the customer service window at Hickam...

Well the AF has already made the fix in my opinion by standing up the 18X training pipeline. Lt's in UPT no longer need fear the reaper on drop night, you go through the RPA undergrad program knowing full well what happens at the end. And these kids aren't butt-hurt, they're eager, trust me. You act as though every new 2Lt is a fragile baby bird who needs coddling, lest we crush his lifelong dream of killing MiGs...

I just bought a '14 Tundra, and have previously owned an '05 GMC Sierra and an '07 Tundra. I love it, but I also bought it because the 4x4 with some extras is almost 15 grand less than a similarly loaded Silverado Z-71. They really aren't in the same class, but for the money, I wouldn't have bought anything else.

I think it's relevant, if there are 3 O-5's in the SQ, everyone knows the deal, everyone knows where they fit, but the rest, are they being prepped for command or just put out to pasture? Who knows, and I can see why so many would get out.

It will be interesting to see where the loyalties lie when the Gulf/Arab states start to weigh in... In my experience the Saudis are primarily interested in maintaining the Status Quo but who knows when a Caliphate is on the table. And then there is Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Lebenon...

Good grief, this is all what I'm railing on about, the Air Force never owed anyone a trophy or an F-16 or an assignment to Germany... Oh no, a guy dropped reapers in front of a room full of his friends... Pretty sure by that point in UPT you've overcome the fear of public humiliation. What about the guy that got services out of commissioning? Give a shit about him? I certainly don't, and neither do you...And I've seen both sides of the fence and there's the ones who bitch and those who couldn't be happier, it's all perspective. There are plenty of guys who can't wait to get into that shipping container and pickle off a couple AGM-114's, I mean, that may be the best part about Clovis...

So have I, I'm not just saying "suck it up", with no perspective on the subject.

Yep, and now look what happened in Oklahoma, a recently converted Muslim man chopped off a coworkers head. The media is calling it a case of "workplace violence", but I'm fairly sure that he didn't remove his colleague's head because she didn't fill out her TPS reports correctly. And 2 years ago when I lived there the Oklahoma State Legislature passed an anti-sharia bill in response to the cases in the United Kingdom... The libtards were up in arms about how "culturally insensitive" and pointless it was, and now here we are, a Muslim Oklahoman cut off a woman's head in the name of Islam. And people still think it's a religion of peace?

^ This. This thread is the dumping ground for gripes against RPA assignments and I get that, it's valid. Every community has it's things, the viper guys bitched when they were in Clovis and breathed a sigh of relief when the BRAC gave it to AFSOC. Guys at Creech live In North Vegas and don't like the commute, guys from the Midwest don't like Hickam because they get island fever, guys that got C-17's don't like Charleston because they wanted an Eagle.... Either the juice is worth the squeeze, or it isn't.

Nice, I stand corrected... Love me some Oklahoma, enjoy OKC when you get the chance

Airlines, Customs and Border Patrol, whatever... We'll still be here

Well as one of them I can certainly relate...I agree with you and maybe I wasn't as clear as I could have been. I only meant to say that as a former manned pilot- turned-RPA-pilot, everyone that I work with now is just as willing and eager to do their best working 24/7 at home as I and many others worked 24/7 deployed, only now we aren't, we get to drink booze and bang it out when we get home. Again I agree, morale matters and the toll on RPA crews is as obvious to me as anyone else, but I was only comparing our community to the flying Air Force at large. All involved give very much in the flying game.

These are first world problems, pilot problems. Nobody asks the FSS troops if they get any respect, because nobody cares. RPA crews do their jobs just like everyone else, and 'giving a damn' about them isn't really important...Herk guys don't get too ruffled when people call them 'trash haulers', and the -22 guys don't get too bothered when people call them 'Air show queens', do they? Same thing here.

Chris was a fellow Tough 20 Troll at USAFA. Sad day for the Air Force. Here's a toast.