Champ Kind

Pics of cheerleader or it didn't happen.

PIs all around.... no big deal.

I think the closest he comes to airdropping these days is sitting at FL380 coupled-up, looking out his sweet t-top window and daydreaming about dropping a bag on Cole/Lucky DZ.

Hope the Iraqis give us overfly. Wouldn't that be some shit...?

For you young guys worrying about having to stuff like Masters/SOS/whatever and worrying it will interfere with upgrades.... don't. Here it is from a MAF (pilot) perspective: Roughly two years after you get the squadron, you'll upgrade to AC. Say 10 of you arrive at the same time. One of you will be regarded as shit hot and probably upgrade a month or two early. One of you will probably get a shitty reputation for sucking and will upgrade a few months past two years (notice I said you'll still upgrade, though). The rest of you will upgrade "on time". It just happens. After that, about 12-18 months later, you'll be going to instructor school. Again, unless you completely suck. I've seen this happen time and time again. My point: just get the Masters done. I wish I didn't have to say it like that, but it's the truth right now. Your flying skills have less to do with upgrades than you think. Experienced dudes are getting out/shuffled to non-flying assignments/hit with 365s left and right. Guess who the AF thinks they will be able to replace them with? You. So, your AC/IP school dates are all but pre-determined the day you report to your squadron. All that you can do to fuck it up is (A) be the dude that no one wants to fly with, and (B) make it look like you don't give a shit by not banging out your Masters and SOS.

So does this mean that as an "enabler" I will still have to listen to shoes bitch about "AEF Changeover" as to why they're sucking and fucking up my timeline?

Is it wrong that I LOLed?

I would've thought that the Guard would have figured a way around doing that a long time ago.

Good that they are taking responsibility, but disgusting that it happened in the first place. As a Herk guy that has moved his share of human remains in the AOR, I got sick to my stomach to find out how some of them were handled once they arrived "home", especially after seeing the priority, care, and respect they are given down range. To me, this is far beyond accidentally flying nukes across the country.

Welsh > Schwartz Sorry AFSOC/Talon (and fellow Herk dudes that rejoiced when he was announced).... We got a shoe clerk when he was made CSAF. The consummate "yes man" that Gates felt was needed at the time. "Fix nukes." "Yes, sir." "More UAV orbits." "Yes, sir." "Save money, you are overmanned on paper." "Yes, sir." Change will be good. Let's hope Gen Welsh doesn't have an inner shoe clerk just waiting to trash the AF more than it already is.

Official? Any other bases out there following suit?

Anyone else hear the rumor that FACs were going the way of the black boots?

So who gets the beer, CH?

I'd say you are the ideal participant for that program. I can't imagine they wouldn't let you enroll if you are SOS-complete (whether it's corresp. or in-res).

PCS is a PCS man. I think what you are describing above is one of the inherent risks of military members purchasing homes. It is not the government's responsibility to cover our mortgage when BAH is derived off of suitable rental rates in your area. Make sense? I think the only way to swing what you are suggesting would have been for you to be on unaccompanied orders to UPT. You would be getting BAH for where your wife was, and you would be living in the UPT dorms. I have not ever heard of that occurring though.

T H I S. There is your reality, young guys. If you don't listen to me, listen to this guy who is living it. Making a 4% gain on a starter loan over a couple of years is NOT WORTH IT when you are losing a significant chunk of your paycheck to do it. There are such better things you can do with 500 bucks.... Like put it aside for a rainy day. I'm not even talking investments. I'm talking about $500x12 = $6,000 in a year for your emergency fund. Now, when you have to pay that insurance deductible -- no big deal. Have to buy 4 new tires for your car? No big deal. I could go on and on. There is something liberating about funding expenses out of pocket that you lose when you have loan payments. Brewskis, thanks for sharing in this thread. Best of luck to you. Like I said earlier, I did some of the very things early in my career that I am specifically saying not to do now. I got past it and so can you. Dave Ramsey's book and radio show were big helps but ultimately it took me realizing (after several years) what you have already figured out.

I just came across this thread 9.5 months later, and I just wanted to close the loop on this for anyone that might read it in the future. Thanks everyone for the advice, and I can sum it up with these simple words for anyone that has something like this come up: Talk to you commander. Mine made it all work out for us. He was able to, on short-notice, have us PCS early to ensure we'd be in-place at our new base (after the TDY en route) well before the due-date and doctor recommended "no travel" time.

There are mortgage lenders out there who don't rely solely on your credit score when making determinations. You can get a mortgage loan with a "0" for a credit score by proving you are in good shape financially by providing copies of your pay stubs, W2s, bank statements, and portfolio/assets. In other words, you're saying, "Yes, my credit score is non-existent, but here is what I do with my money, and it is not borrowing it from other people." That's all that a credit score is: a rating of how well you borrow money. If you don't need to borrow money in the first place, then who cares what some algorithm spits out with regard to your credit score? Couple that with applying for a mortgage for a house you can afford, and you should be all set. A rule of thumb is that the total payment should be no more than 25% of your monthly income on a 15-year fixed rate mortgage, with 20% down at closing. You offer that up with all of the financial information above, and if a lender is still dumb enough not to give you a mortgage, you probably did not want to deal with them anyway. You can plan for this by taking all of that money that you are saving by not having loans and subsequent payments and putting it away and making your own emergency fund in the process. A target should be 3-6 months of your expenses. That way, when something out of the ordinary happens, you can take money out of that emergency fund to pay whatever you need to pay, and then eventually put money back into it when things calm down. Yes, you are somewhat vulnerable while you are initially saving up for this fund, but if you do it once, while you are young, and keep up with it as your income/expenses increase, you will be in incredible shape, and never have to rely on someone else to loan you money if times get tough. KWings, I am not trying to debate you by going tit-for-tat with you here. I am not sure if you're in the AF yet or for how long, and it doesn't really matter here, but I saw this topic about "career starter loans" and it just made me a feel a little queasy. I took the very same loan, as do many others. It's been long paid off, but I wish I hadn't taken it and I wish that I had known that you really did NOT have to be in debt when I was 21. I'm hoping that some guys read this and that maybe a lightbulb goes off and they start off their professional lives right.

What does one need a credit score for if they are going to live within their means and not borrow money? Start out your professional life with that mentality and you will be doing yourself a service. That's my point here.

Advice you didn't ask for and probably don't want to hear, but I wish I had heard it when I was a new Lt: Do not take out any kind of loans. Period. If you want something, save for it. If you need a car, get something you can pay cash for, and then take what you would be paying on a car payment and save that away until you have enough to "upgrade" at a later date. Contrary to popular belief, you do not HAVE to have a car loan/personal loan like it's some sort of pet. Avoid debt and use that sweet income you are going to be making to pile up cash. Start maxing out a ROTH IRA ($5,000/year = $416.66/month). Avoid credit cards like the plague even if they offer sweet sounding "rewards". I know this involves some delaying of pleasure and sounds boring but you are only cheating yourself if you don't start right away. For those of you that would talk about the ridiculously low interest rates and how you can take advantage of them -- well, probably not much I can say to you other than people who are millionaires (which you can be) didn't get there by taking advantage of low interest loans and credit card rewards. If you do insist on borrowing money, pay it back ASAP (like, double-triple payments at a minimum). As a borrower, you are slave to the lender. Finally, the most valuable book (in my opinion, and no, I don't work for him, but I am a huge believer in his ideas) is Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover". Go buy it off of Amazon. Yesterday. Seriously. It's the best thing you can read this early in your career. Best of luck and congrats on making it this far.

They go to https://www.va.gov/

Same. Oh well.

Refer to the "Force Shaping - VSP" thread. Should be pretty close to if not at the top of the most recent topics list.

T H I S.

Neither do your condescending replies. Glad you get wifi/3G all the way up there in the ivory tower.