Hueypilot

Chip's not a bad guy. Outspoken? Yes, and that rubs some people the wrong way. 1,500 hours mostly because he flew fighters to start and hasn't spent many flying tours in the Herk...plus he's been bounced from school to staff to leadership a lot in the past 5-6 years. Definitely better than Rhat.

That's mighty brave of them to lock it down after people start poking around. I bet they get nominated for one of CNN's "Hero of the Year" awards.

You must not be an O-4 with dependents. It went down by about $100.

Last edition I saw prohibited the transfer of tails until 60 days after the USAF submits a report justifying the moves. I'm pretty sure that AFRC and AMC has just such a report and the associated metrics that go with it ready to submit. So theoretically, they could start moving airplanes around in the near future.

One day....one day.

Except no one here actually did that. Google works fine instead of asking the question directly...which was my point. Even AF PA might tell you the answer.

Just pointing out that if you look around, the AF will often tell you without having to have a discussion about it. That's not nearly in the same league as having a "fox news special on it".

Dramatic, much?

Well, PA didn't seem to have a problem with it: https://www.afgsc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123317877

Yep, for the mere cost of $75,000, you too can work your way through a training pipeline with a guaranteed job that pays $25,000 a year! I see lots of people signing up for that. On a serious note, I think I've read that interest in pilot careers among college and high school kids is at an all time low. I have no idea why though. As for the military vs civilian thing...play the game. Yes, there's a fair chance that those interviewing you will have no military flying experience. Be prepared to show them your experience. Have a logbook of some kind. Don't assume they understand what you're talking about. As for the "we have to do a takeoff, approach and landing each month to stay current", that's somewhat true. But just because that requirement exists doesn't mean you're current. Lots of things make people go non-current all the time. Bottom line, don't scoff at the civilian interview pilots. After all, you're trying to become one of them.

Ah, so "buttoning a suit jacket" is now an indisposed hand. Next time I see the wing commander on base, my hands will promptly be zipping my flight suit instead of saluting. All I'm saying is, for a guy who seems pretty big on managing his image (as most politicians are), he sure doesn't seem to care much about stuff like this. And as a guy who's commanding our entire military organization, it would be a very small investment to simply learn how to salute correctly during events like this. Lead by example. Yes, I'm aware that presidents didn't always do this. But for the past 30 years or so, it's been a "norm" and I think a large chunk of our population likes seeing the "Commander in Chief" at the very least acknowledge and respect those he leads with simple gestures like returning a salute.

To be fair and within context...Bush was holding the dog with both hands and clumsily attempted to salute....well-intentioned, but incorrect form. Obama's left hand was free, and could have transferred the coffee to the other hand, but made a limp salute, coffee-in-hand. I think people's "outrage" stems from external perception...and it's fair to state that Obama appeared to salute in a manner that screams "ok, fine...here's your damn salute". We also have to remember that other presidents have paid dearly for perceived outward impressions. Bush during Katrina, is one example. No one knows how he really felt about the victims in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf coast, but the way he came across on TV seemed full of ambivalence, and he paid for it in the public's opinion. With the "latte salute", there's already a general perception among a lot of people that Obama doesn't really care for the military, and that salute only helps cement that image. Personally, as the CinC, he should at least learn to do the ceremonial stuff right. It's not like those Marine's ambush him at the foot of the stairs each time he steps on or off an aircraft...and his people should know there's always going to be a ton of cameras recording the event.

I think the only realistic way regional guys will make money is to get hired at a major and let their regional job dry up. The economics behind the regional model don't allow for much in terms in labor costs.

Probably because the vast majority of the officers/line pilots in an AVN Bde are WOs. Tough to compare an Army flying unit to an AF one. Then again, looking at the Navy, I don't think you'd find many Navy flying squadrons with so many O-5s. One of the squadrons I was in while still RegAF had so many O-5s in it, some were simply doing scheduling (something that LTs do in most other squadrons). Others were "ADOs"...and I put the quotes around it because that was just a title. They mostly sat in the "ADO" office pretending to do some kind of work.

I've seen this too. I know when the Aviation ACUs first came out in the Army a number of years ago, they originally told them they couldn't wear wings...but then that directly conflicted with the regs that require personnel to wear their aviation qual badges.

Have you worn the Multicam aviation uniforms? I like them. Most people that have worn them like them. When it's hot you can take the top off. It's pretty comfortable and very workable. I preferred it over the bag. You can always wear your wings to keep your self-esteem up, however.

An increasing number of people live out in Maumelle and WLR as well these days. Commute from Maumelle to the base is about 35-40 minutes, but you're about 15 minutes from downtown...and it's a fairly quiet town. WLR is a little bit further out from the base, and more crowded but there are some good neighborhoods out there. Hillcrest/Heights has plenty of older homes for sale, but they go for a higher price and lately it's been tough to sell out there. The middle ground is Sherwood/NLR...it's closer to base and there's some new neighborhoods going up along Hwy 107, but it's further from the city if you're the type that likes to hang out downtown, etc. Cabot/Ward/Austin are for the people who are more concerned with time to drive to base and don't care about going into town...it can easily take 30-45 minutes to get to downtown LR from there. Conway is also another place some people live, but it's probably the furthest out from everything...about 45-50 minutes to both the city and the base on a good day...but for people who want a smaller town feel, it's not a bad place to consider. As far as places to avoid, most people that can afford to live elsewhere tend to avoid Jacksonville and certain parts of Sherwood. I'm sure you'll know the areas I'm talking about as you drive around. Anywhere south of 630 tends to not be a decent neighborhood. NLR just north of Argenta (the downtown area of NLR) is pretty rough too. Also consider anything on the south side of the river (LR itself, Hillcrest/Heights, WLR, etc) you have to cross the bridges for work and in heavy traffic they tend to get fouled up pretty quick.

Just curious...why not? Do you have a love affair with the useless Airman "Battle" Uniform? Or would you rather waste a few more million bucks to design an "Air Force distinctive uniform" and keep a separate supply chain for that too? I've worn the Multicams (or OCP, whatever you want to call it), both the ground and the flyer versions. I like them and so do most people who wear them...not to mention you can actually blend in to something other than the foundation of a building.

The new Army uniform should be the standard utility for both the Army and the Air Force. The Navy and MC should use the MARPAT, except take out the globe & anchor from the Navy uniforms to make the Marines happy (although I doubt anyone other than Marines would notice or give two shits). Army and AF heavy/helo pilots should wear the aviation version of the new Army uniform. Ejection seat aircraft continue to wear the bag. Navy/MC flyers can keep wearing their bags since they never developed an aviation version of the MARPAT or whatever the hell that abortion of a Navy utility is called. That way there's plenty of standardization, yet there's some amount of "distinction" (why we need this concept in a utility/combat uniform boggles my mind, but whatever). The Army and Air Force have always been closely related, and the MC is part of the Dept of the Navy, so that's about as much "distinction" you need. To recap: Army & Air Force utility/combat uniform: New Scorpion (or whatever it's called) uniform. Army & Air Force non-ejection seat flying uniform: Aviation version of the above Air Force ejection seat flying uniform: Traditional one-piece flight suit Navy/MC utility/combat uniform: MARPAT or MARPAT Minus the Globe/Anchor Navy/MC flying uniform: one-piece flight suit Seems easy enough and I think most people would be fine with that uniform combination. Except CMSgts, who will scream about not having something "distinctive" enough to remind them they belong to the USAF. Maybe a SGM or two who will bemoan the heresy that Air Force pukes get to wear "their" uniform...etc.

Corporate America in a nutshell. Congrats on opening all our eyes to it.

Money may not be the overriding factor for many, but it always factors in somewhere. People aren't entirely oblivious to financial considerations. If you're fine with being on active duty and aren't immediately sold on going straight to an airline job, why NOT stay till you get to 20? I think most people leave at 20 because, in your early 40s, you can still have a reasonable chance to fit another career in there before you're too old. And I'll vouch for the crash pad life...if you're into video games, you'll generally have plenty of time to do that while waiting for the phone call. In fact, I'm sitting in one now responding to your post.

For all of you "doing the math" and coming up with these "what if" scenarios, realize that people were doing that back in the 1990s and I can guarantee you not one of their predictions came true. Like anything, an airline career is based in part on timing. Some of the guys at my airlines were hired during the good times, made captain and have been in the left seat through most of the "bad years". Other guys got in right at the tail end of the 1980s hiring wave and they've been sitting reserve as an FO for the better part of 25 years, and furloughed 1+ times. The airlines isn't a panacea. It will not cure cancer, make you rich or make you happy. If you love flying, you'll enjoy flying for the airlines, but it is a change in pace, especially in the beginning. The first few years, you won't have too much control over your schedule and you'll be going into work as everyone else around you hits the lake or heads out to see family for the holidays. But given the realities of airline staffing, your schedule likely will get better. Short of a massive economic hit (where we're all pretty screwed), you'll still go up the seniority list. The mandatory Age 65 rule will see to that. Even with us losing about 250 pilots a year to mandatory retirement, we're losing almost as many to medical retirements (it's a lot harder to keep your Class 1 when you're 62-63)...and to that issue, we're still understaffed somewhat, despite hiring constantly. For those of you that don't really care if you're flying an airplane or not, I'd suggest finding another way to make a living, because the first few years are going to burn you out. I'm writing this from my crash pad, having had to say goodbye to the wife and kids on Labor Day while all my other friends are out barbecuing. I'm betting on quick movement up the list to where in another 2-3 years I'll have weekends off and maybe even some holidays off. As for vacation, having a legitimate vacation week off when you want it will still be further down the road, but as they say in this industry, "that's what sick leave is for". My advice...forget the number crunching. Do what you think is best for you and your family. If you can find a AFRC/ANG gig nearby, then it's nice insurance, additional income during those first couple years, and a good way to get to 20 and get something for your troubles while Active Duty. If it would require commuting somewhere else to do it, I'd forget about it because it'll cost you way too much in QOL to make it worthwhile. If you love aviation, fly for the airlines. If you don't, then don't. I enjoy my job even though I'm pretty much at the bottom...so in my opinion, it'll be an awesome job once I have some seniority and relocate to live in-base. As for the bonus...you'll never be happy if you're chasing money. If you stay in, do it because it's the right thing for you and your family at the time, and if the military pays you a little extra for the decision, then great. Otherwise, pass on the money and find the opportunity you're looking for elsewhere.

You'd be surprised...I'm sure they could find all kinds of ways to kill themselves with those.

AETC can think whatever they want. Congress is the one who decides who funds what. As long as MS pull in Congress (and they do), the 53WRS will remain right at BIX. There's really no reason to move a well-established unit like the 403rd. And as others have said, NOAA has it's own aircraft.