Smokin

Email this afternoon from NGB today, blatantly political. Threw the current Floyd issue in with Trayvon Martin (jury found the man that killed him not guilty in case people forgot). Not only blatantly political but also threw out the standards of justice in America by assuming that all the victims he listed were actual victims. Floyd jury hasn't even been called yet, but, reading between the lines, 'the cops are obviously guilty of racism driven murder'. There is a difference between sympathy to an alleged victim's families and community and ignoring the world's best justice system in the name of .... justice.

USAFA - Don't care where he went to school (40 years ago!) as long as it wasn't a diploma mill. Fired from American- Don't care, obviously United saw something different in him. Card counting - that's a plus in my book. Run in with a union? Any good executive in charge of a for profit company that has a union will have run-ins. If he doesn't, then he's probably not doing his job. His job is to make the company money, unions make the pilots money/QOL. Conflict is inevitable. Hasn't been in charge long enough to judge how he's going to do as CEO, but I haven't heard anything yet to merit your take.

No, I'm talking about all formation landing mishaps. And yes, we have been LUCKY to have not had more fatalities. How about the F-16 formation landing at Kunsan where #1 ended up in literally stuck in the fence? Couldn't get out of the jet because the fence went over the canopy. Stuck in a crashed jet with over a thousand pounds of fuel sitting a couple feet behind him. Did skill keep that jet from catching fire and burning that pilot to death? No, it was either God or luck. I work hard to be the best pilot possible. But I also know that I have been lucky. I've made mistakes that could have or even should have gotten me killed. I've had 3 high speed close passes inside 500' in my career, two of them I maneuvered the jet to avoid the mid-air. The third one was plain dumb luck to have not hit and almost identical to a mishap that happened a few years later and killed one of the pilots. I learn from the mistakes and do my best to not repeat them. Doesn't mean that I'm a better pilot than other guys who weren't so lucky making the same mistake. The fact that more people haven't died from something is not a reason to charge ahead like the risk doesn't exist. Again, the argument is as simple as looking at where the majority of Class As happen in fighter type aircraft. If I recall some of the the previous safety briefs correctly, if you combined takeoff/landing phase with midairs, I think you have close to, if not over, 50%. Why combine two of the greatest risks for so trivial of a benefit?

I think we've been lucky that this is only the first fatality on formation landings in recent memory. I stress recent memory, because I have zero doubt that there have been many in the past but our memories are short. However, this is at least the third serious mishap (I think all class A's) during a formation takeoff or landing that I can think of off the top of my nugget during my career. And I'm not a safety guy and don't pay particularly close attention to incidents during types/phases of flight that I don't do (like formation takeoffs/landings) so I'd be surprised if there were not others. I understand your point (at least I think I do) that we need to train military pilots and formation takeoffs and landings are a difficult challenge to master. The fact that the specific challenge doesn't necessarily translate to the CAF isn't relevant and I agree. I remember drawing the fuel system diagram during a T-37 ground eval. I couldn't even pretend to draw a fuel system diagram of the F-16. Also, that T-37 diagram was complete BS and I bet only had a vague similarity to how the fuel system actually looks. But, if you can't memorize a diagram and regurgitate it, you're probably going to have a hard time memorizing other stuff that you need to know by heart. However, as I said earlier, the majority of fighter incidents happen on takeoff/landing phase or in close proximity to another jet. The CAF doesn't require a formation takeoff/landing skill set, so we are teaching UPT students a useless skill set (just like drawing a pretend fuel system). If we are testing their ability to learn and execute a skill set, why not test them on one that won't get them and their IP killed if they mess it up? Fighter pilots occasionally die practicing BFM. BFM is a vital skill-set that you can't exchange for a safer one. It seriously sucks to lose lives, but that's an extremely unfortunate yet unavoidable part of our business. Formation takeoffs and landings is the exact opposite of vital, so why lose lives for it?

Don't think I ever once wrote no sids/no stars on a 175. Just assumed it was standard knowledge in ATC that we would never accept one. Until one day bringing a jet back cross country, clearance was "xwy69 SID." I responded with a very purposefully jacked up read-back including "..umm... SID?" Controller asked if I had a copy, umm,... no. He started to read me the SID, then wisely changed his mind and said "on departure, turn right 090, climb and maintain 10K". That read-back was flawless. I think they got the picture.

Shack. Not once has anyone ever given a convincing argument for the need to do a form landing or takeoff that could possibly justify the increased risk. Given that a significant percentage of fighter accidents happen at takeoff or landing and another significant percentage involve mid-airs, why combine the two risks? I've brought guys back to land who had significant issues at night in the weather, but I dropped them off in the flare. That is nothing more than flying fingertip.

I'd think a high angle strafe type attack would be fairly effective and safe if it were really gun only. Get high, stay high, and attack out of the sun. You can't shoot what you can't find.

Look at the separation reg, forget the name of it since haven't looked at it since I punched. But, if it hasn't changed in the last few years, "normal" separation timeline is between 180 and 365 days. If that works, simple as filling out the form online. Took me about 10 min if I recall correctly. To leave in less than 180 days, took OG/CC level approval, so depends on the climate of your group/wing. I think it'd be pretty tough to get less than 90 days, but if you keep a healthy leave balance, terminal leave could probably get you there. For reference, from when I got my airline offer until my class date was 5 weeks and that was crazy quick. By the time they sent me my paperwork on what all I needed to do, I was already multiple weeks behind for turning stuff in. I think more normal timeline is 60 or more days from offer to class date. So, if you keep a leave balance of roughly 60 days (max use or lose is 120 now for covid), and your OG or equivalent isn't a tool, you should be able to separate fairly comfortably in 120 days. That being said, don't be the guy that puts down an availability date that you're not sure you can make. Probably worth having the conversation with your commander to make sure he'll back you with for a quick exit once the airlines start hiring again. If you're not willing to show your cards, save up the leave and put your avail at six months notice.

One word of caution from a guy who got a full ride ROTC scholarship out of high school for a liberal arts degree; you might think twice about putting all your eggs in the pilot basket. It worked out great for me and I wouldn't change a thing. Been flying fighters for 15 years now and not once have I wished I'd done a technical degree. But if I'd had a medical issue, I'm not sure what I would have done for a living with my degree other than a career in the AF as intel or become a professor. I'm sure some contractor gigs could have opened up, but looking back I basically put my entire life's income on red. As I said, worked out great for me, but YMMV.

Here's some more info from a trusted source. https://www.esgr.mil/USERRA/Frequently-Asked-Questions Specifically interesting in this case for you would be the documents required upon return: DD214 - Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty; Copy of duty orders prepared by the facility where the orders were fulfilled and carrying an endorsement indicating completion of the described service; Letter from the commanding officer of a Personnel Support Activity or someone of comparable authority; Certificate of completion from military training school; Discharge certificate showing character of service; Copy of extracts from payroll documents showing periods of service. ------------ This means you don't actually have to give them any information that would show you never left active duty. You could simply get an MFR from your new commander or the commander of the MPF at your new base stating your service time. You also only need to date the letter starting at or slightly before the day that they would call you back. Given the current environment, I'm assuming that will be after your current no-kidding retirement date. Similarly, your requal school orders and then PCS orders would also suffice and also likely be past the date you would have otherwise retired. Thus there is no way for them to know you never had a break in service since that seems to be a hang up for them, even though that is never mentioned in the law.

Completely agree with HuggyU2. Your employer is full of it. The part I quoted specifically mentions "Active Duty". You would be fully within your rights to drop long term mil leave. That being said, I would follow HuggyU2's advice and talk to a USERRA lawyer first just to make completely sure only because if your employer disagrees, you may need to take legal action afterwards.

Forgot to add, I would probably go back if I were you. If you enjoyed AD for the most part and are willing to go back, that would be the financially smart thing to do. You have your line number, so assuming the airline doesn't go under, you can return at year 3 or 4 pay which is way better than year 1 pay. You'll also keep all the non-rev benefits and such in the meantime. To me, this is not only the smart thing for you, but also helps your fellow classmates. One less pilot on the active payroll is one pilot closer to not having to furlough guys who don't have another career they could go back to.

The entire statute is fairly short. If you are an airline guy and have relied on WOMs, just read it. It'll take you 10 min tops and you won't get bad gouge from a guy who heard it from a guy. https://www.justice.gov/crt-military/userra-statute One notable highlight on USERRA for this case; it says nothing about a break in service: The term 'service in the uniformed services' means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes: active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard, a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the employment for the purpose of performing funeral honors duty as authorized by section 12503 of title 10 or section 115 of title 32.

Have you tried surgery? The waiver for return to fly post sinus surgery was fairly quick. I was DNIF for roughly two months from surgery to waiver approved. Have had WAY less sinus issues since and that was almost 10 years ago.

I don't think I'd fly BFM two weeks later. A low g sortie like CAS or something might be ok, but a friend flew after two weeks and he was in some moderate pain during/after the flight. Based on his recommendation, I waited 3.5 weeks and felt fine, so I'd go with at least 3 weeks. In the scope of your career, what's another week to avoid a potential complication?

Daily Star (not the best source for news) has the crash 10km from "a US military base", so could have been during takeoff or landing, which would explain the condition of the airplane. But, if that's the case, I would have hoped we could secure the crash site faster than the photos would suggest.

The same security forces that put their bullets on my paper at the range. And if your base is guarded by rent-a-cops, there'd better be a defib machine nearby because there's going to be a heart issue if they have to run anywhere. Maybe that's why the sheriff's office got there first at P-Cola.

Between the free advice from friends who are where you want to be, the insane amount of advice on forums like this and APC, and the advice you're about to pay for with interview prep, I bet you'll be fine. I didn't buy or read that book or any other and it worked out just fine for me. But to play devils advocate against myself, it is a huge career money-wise, so another $20 or whatever he's charging probably is a drop in the bucket.

If the guy was always the smartest person in the room, I bet that the interview is what tanked him. Of the roughly 10 guys at my interview that started a group text to keep track of results, only one guy didn't get hired (recently retired AF). Had one of the interviewers pulled me aside as I was walking out and asked "one guy isn't going to get hired, who is it?" I'd have said that guy. It was obvious to a third grader that he was massively stressed. Everyone was stressed and excited, but I think he had psyched himself out. If you are current in a USAF fixed wing airplane and have your ATP, you are very competitive. If you're not current, may need to start moonlighting as a CFI or accept a penalty lap at a regional. Here is a list of things that could tank you in the interview (not comprehensive, but probably close): Lying on your app (most common is padding the hours or avail date) Not doing your homework / interview / test prep Being a douche If you get an interview, the airline has already flown you out to talk to them. They want to hire you. Reinforce the reasons they saw in your app and don't give them a reason to not hire you. It's a big opportunity. Start prepping a full year out for the app and interview for at least a few hours a week building to a few hours a day in the month prior. Do that and you'll be confident enough to be yourself (or if you're a douche, be someone else. In that case, don't apply at my airline).

FWIW, half the guys in my unit (including me) don't even have rank on the old style jackets, let alone the new water proof ones.

Assuming the CA attempted to exit at that taxiway, might have been a good day to let it slow down a bit before taxing clear. Had roughly 7K runway remaining.

I call BS on this. I get that some of the younger generation seem inept and to have no common sense. They seem to have had the easiest childhood and have no real problems to worry about. Everything has been handed to them. But I'd bet that almost every generation has said that about the generation that followed them. I don't think it possible to imagine anyone who can get a passing ASVAB score for even a cop to enter the military is dumb enough to think that the only choices for working out is either to not work out at all or to become a division one athlete. The problem we have with people failing the PFT is that they just don't care. Show me someone who wants to stay in and is actually concerned with passing the PFT and I bet that person could run a single mile a week and end up passing. Problem with not caring is all the training in the world won't help a bit. It's not that hard; our fitness standards are embarrassingly low.

Fill out the off base employment form with your commander, that would protect you from the military side. If the airline goes after you *cough Delta* they would have to go after ALL pilots who have side jobs or they are violating federal discrimination laws as Delta is finding out with a class action lawsuit that Delta is going to lose big time. For the life insurance thing, if you're worried about it, buy your own from AAFMA. Mine is dirt cheap for $800K and they don't care a bit who you were working for or what your orders said. And if you fill out that form with the AF, I don't think you'd have any problem with a line of duty determination. BLAB: You're fine as long as you cover your bases paperwork-wise.

Word of caution, as far as I know the legacy airlines save or print your app the day they send the invite to the interview. We had to sit down and make any changes in red ink, so don't put down an availability you can't make thinking you can change it later. I've heard guys advise to put down one date to get the interview and then change the availability as soon as you have an interview secured. A change of a few weeks would be easy to explain, but if it is significant, that will probably affect your interview results.

If you read any of the threads at APC, everyone says you'll know if you picked the correct airline when you retire. I'd pick based on: 1. first major that hires you 2. a second major that hires you that has a domicile where or closer to where you want to live 3. future plans (i.e. do you someday want to have a chance to fly a 787 to Sydney and make $350K for working 9 days a month or want the option to non-rev to Europe once in a while) As a new hire at a legacy, I picked the first airline that hired me and stuck with it after another legacy offer because of the better possibility of option 3 and they were both pretty similar short commutes.