ClearedHot

You are lucky GI, I have six more days until I can have a cold barley soup. I might mention in passing Strep throat sucks, not just for the sickness factor, but when taking antibiotics, you can't drink for ten days.

Before you do, you'll need to submit a request in triplicate and wait 30 days for further dissapproval. [ 19. April 2005, 21:47: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

My first deployment in the Gunship...we departed HRT for Taegu Korea, I was sleeping in the gun positions for the 20MM's which we removed to cross the pond. About an hour after and a half after take off, the Loadmaster (who was killed in the MC-130 crash in Albania) wakes me up and says "hey they need a pilot up there quick!" I shake the cobwebs out and as I am about to go up the ladder, the Sqd/DO comes running down the ladder headed for the honey bucket. After he goes by I make it to the flight deck and see our Sqdn/DOV sitting in the seat looking all green. I don't have a headset, checklist, or anything, so he just points at the left seat and starts unstrapping. As it turns out one of the wives brought in some day old Boston crème donuts...that were left out all night. As the story goes one of the pilots sat on the trash can for the next few hours puking and crapping at the same time. I logged my first left seat time in the gunship solo as I took us to Travis AFB.

One of the old Ravens (Growth Wilson) was still flying A-10's in Nawlins last I heard.

the joke is that MX has to troubleshoot the pod looking for a fault, when the pilot never turned it on to start with....there is nothing worng with the pod,, but he is making the mx guy rip his knuckles to shreds trying to fix it... Dropping JDAM sucks because it doesn't take any skill. Plug numbers in, drive to the box, and pickle. As opposed to the fine art of level/laydown, dive, loft/toss, and dive toss deliveries. These methods took skill and a lot of practice. [ 19. April 2005, 17:38: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

AFSOC promotes at a rate equal to or greater than the rest of the USAF. In the old days there were problems because many viewed Spec Ops folks as cowboys. That stereotype is no longer true. In fact I would argue that the bureaucratic ways of the big blue USAF are firmly entrenched in AFSOC. There are a few communities within the command that have completely cracked the code and thrive at making fast-burners that are on track for general officer. At the risk of pissing folks off you should know point blank that the Talon II's and Pavelows run AFSOC. Many will argue and say there is no Talon or Pave mafia, but the facts speak for themselves. There are several wings in AFSOC but Hurlburt is the king daddy rabbit. Ever single 16 SOW/CC since AFSOC stood up has made O-7. That being said, every single 16 SOW/CC has been a Talon II or Pavelow dude. There is only one base that has gunships, yet they can't seem to get the top job or the Group/CC job for that matter. Now that AFSOC has new wings at Moody and Kirtland, and given the Gunship play in nearly every operation since Desert Storm we are seeing Gunship folks make it to the top job at those locations. It is my guess several of them will make O-7 on the next board, but outside the 16SOW job. I've been out of the loop for sometime, but I do get e-mails almost everyday from folks screaming about the politics. One rumor has popped up several times in the last few years about DP allocations on recent promotion boards, (100% for Talon II eligibles, while the Gunships were lucky to get one or two.) It could be folks crying over spilt milk, but there were only three gunship types at ACSC last year and only two this year. What does it all mean Francis? If you choose AFSOC you stand an equal chance of being promoted, but unlike any other MWS, there are politics that will be in the mix.

Considering I never flew AWADS (or wanted to), I will gladly pay you a frosty I prefer a different delivery system...

AWADS = All Weather Aerial Delivery System.

Most current folks think the scarf is . The scarf has been rammed down our throats (sts) almost non-stop for the past 15 years. A former squadron commander I had would "fine" you if you didn't have it on at the club at nellis. A sure fire way to keep us out of the club.

F-16 Systems Info Site [ 13. April 2005, 17:37: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

I believe you will get dependant rate BAH but single rate Disslocation Allowance. I went to ACSC without my wife and continued to get the dependant rate BAH, but they dropped my disslocation allowance to single rate.

It was very easy and has a lot of uses. [ 12. April 2005, 16:58: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

A lot of folks (like me), are not listed on the global. Also, some of the global listings are wrong or outdated. The best way to find someone is to use the AFportal website and look for his most current e-mail there. Air Force Portal

If you are going to relate your paper to decision, strategy, and economics, I would suggest you check out John Boyd's OODA loop. I will attach a few links and you can find lots more on Google. To summarize, John Boyd was a USAF fighter pilot who built a model called the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Action) Loop, which describes the decision making that happens in air to air combat. In the end the person who can make correct decisions faster wins (hence the phrase….”Inside his OODA Loop”). The great thing about the model is it can be applied to other situations, and I would think you could make a natural transition in your paper to show how it could be used in economics. A good primer on the OODA Loop Graphic of the OODA Loop

When a base gets closed the government actually step s in and provides a buyout program for active duty military personnel. You won't make a mint, but you won't lose your entire investment.

Concur with M2, I managed my own for a number of years and with OPS Tempo, it became impossible. Most companies charge around 10% and it is all tax deductable. [ 05. April 2005, 15:31: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

Let me tag team off what some of the others said. 1. Flight pay – invest it! You earned it by risking your life so make something good out of it. You will earn enough base pay to chase women and swill beer. The best part is your flight pay will rise to a peek of $840.00 per month. You have a tremendous advantage over other non-flying officers in the USAF; Assuming 2005 Rates 24 Months x 125 = $3,000 12 Months x 156 = $1,872 12 Months x 188 = $2,256 24 Months x 206 = $4,944 96 Months x 650 = $62,400 72 Months x 840 = $60,480 10 years x $25,000 = $250,000 Career aviation incentive pay assuming 20 years = $384,592, large portions of this can be dumped into the TSP. You are foolish if you don't do something constructive with at least part of this extra capital. 2. Assuming you stay 20 and make O-5 (not hard these days), your retirement check will be around $3400.00, based on 2005 rates. 3. I took a three-phased approach when I came in. Individual stocks, Mutual funds - IRA (Roth now), and Real-estate. TSP and the Roth are no-brainers, and I always kept another account to manage some stocks on my own. I purchased a home at every base after UPT and when the rates went down in the mid-1990’s I put them on 15 year mortgages. 4. As for not making 1 million by the time you retire…well I would say it depends on how much due diligence you apply. After 12 years I had 1.2M on paper, all before the dot-com bubble burst of course, but it can be done. Thanks to real-estate, I have almost recovered everything. 5. I did find time to enjoy what I was making with vacations and a few toys. I even bought the pilot sports car when I made captain, I still have it. However, I was never one to burn my whole paycheck in a bar over the weekend. 6. At this point I am extremely lucky, my wife works and pulls down nearly as much as I do. We live within our means (in fact, we live off her pay and put mine aside for our retirement home.) I don’t know if I will stay past twenty, but with a little work you too can have the option. [ 05. April 2005, 14:21: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

I took two checkrides in three days in T-38's. Instrument check on Wed, Form Check on Friday.

My wife bought me the Navihawk as a graduation present when I finished the WIC. It looks great, works great and it has every feature you could ever want when you are flying except one, a back light. As a result, I used a G-shock during OEF.

People 1:10, all others 1:1.

1:10

Now you're talkin'. Got any good OEF stories for us Clearedhot?

Man that is a lot of iron....is the jet a pig? Try a combat load of 180 105MM and 512 40MM.

This site has a link to all of the FLIP but it looking like the database is currently down. http://www.mysquadron.com/

I assume GP means DOD FLIP book General Planning.