Riddller

I've been married for 5 years. 1.5 years of that was enlisted as C-130 aircrew, and the rest has been at school (I'm going back in 5 Jan). I was gone at least a few days a week, sometimes a few weeks at a time, on flights. I hit the bars with the boys, had a good time. I even jumped on a grenade or two and danced with the friend of a chic that my single buddy was trying to work. But when when it came to closing time, I went home... alone. I NEVER went out without my ring on, it was on display for all to see. My wife went out to bars with friends while I was gone. She got hit on, she accepted drinks from guys, whatever, she never went home with them. Part of it may be that the two of us can't hide a guilty conscience for $hit, but its mostly just trust. Do I have a good time on my own? Of course. Does she like the idea that it is possible for me to have a good time without her next to me? Of course not. Most women I know don't, but hey, that's the job. I'm not going to sit in my room when my planes broke for 3 days in Bermuda, I'm going to have a good time! Bottom line, do you trust him? If so, that solves most of your problem. Me personally, I'd say finish your degree, you'll never regret it.

Actually, from what I hear, the test is more similar to the BAT (I don't know anything about the TBAS). They will gaurantee the opportunity to go to pilot training, if you pass everything, but I thnk that is for the PLC program. But remember, you go that route, you'll have to go through 10 weeks of OCS (think FT times ten), then go to The Basic School (TBS) for 6 months, THEN get stashed for at least a year as a SNAK-O before starting traning, with lots of down time between the phases. I had Marine pilot buddies in for 4-5 years and STILL not done with training... and they weren't $hitbags either. Something to think about... Talk to a member of the the Marine "cadre" (they're actually called MOI's) at a school w/ Navy ROTC and they'll point you in the right direction... try to stay away from the recruiters.

I don't want fighters. I don't want bombers. Like Herk Driver said, though, I'm a prior -130 Nav, so have some experience to talk from. I have nothing against those airframes or the people who fly them. I've just been-there done-that when it comes to military flying, and I think PilotKD summed it up: For me, I KNOW this would happen (lose its novelty). But, living out of a suitcase, in a different country every night, flying for weeks at a time accross numerous time zones, THAT's what I did, what I love, and what I want to get back to. I won't kick and scream if given -38's, I'll fly whatever the AF tells me to. I just know what my first choice is. My 2 cents...

Yeah, you can be married to do ASCP, but no kids.

Unfortunately, to apply for the current ECP's, you do need an ACT/SAT scores (but I'm not sure about the highschool stuff). Out of curiosity, does the AF refer to prior-E zero's as 'Mustangs' also?

Wow! I didn't know you could make an entire country out of dirt!

11,000 fpm??? no $hit?!?! I'm impressed! The max I ever saw in the Herk was 6000 fpm in a hell of slip! I don't think we were normally supposed to put it in that bad of a slip, but ATC told us to expedite our descent if we didn't want to get put in holding for 2 hours. The AC (the Sq./CC at the time) grabbed the controls, yelled, "Everyone hang on to something!!" and stomped his right foot down like he was running from the cops. I was a new Nav at the time and didn't even know what a slip was until all my crap went sliding off my table! That just makes me want to fly the C-17 even more!! [ 20. September 2006, 17:12: Message edited by: Riddller ]

Or look here

Mmmm... Mekhong... Maybe someday I'll be back. Do C-17's go to Utaphao? As for the rita's, I'm with Chuck:

7.5 years prior service Marine. 3 years of AFROTC down, 6 months to go. My advice: You already know what to take serious and what not to. As for the ribbons, yeah, regs say they're a no-no. I didn't care, they're more of a pain-in-the-ass than anything. I didn't wear any until a few months ago when our "Cadet Col" took time out of her busy schedule to come down off her high horse and inform me that it was in the regs that I had to wear the cadet ones when in Service Dress. Whatever. For the most part, my experience has been good. I've met a lot of cool people and had some good times. Some asked for my advice, and I gave it to them. Many didn't, and I didn't offer it. Nobody was really the better or worse for it either way, but you could tell the people who knew how to use their resources were going to go far. I think the biggest skill I got from enlisted which is severly lacking in the cadet world is quick decision making. As the quote goes, most of the time a good decision now is better than a great decision later. I may not have always had the right answer, but I always had AN answer. And let's be serious here, how much can a bad decision really fvck things up in the cadet world? My $.02

LMAO! I actually tried to find any part of the island that looked like that movie and couldn't. I lived there for 2 years, rode my crotch-rocket all over the island, and never saw stuff like that. It was either big city or psuedo-suburbs that looked like a bunch of concrete blocks had been dropped on the island with the dirt roads that sprang up between them being paved over... they're VERY narrow in places!!

Okinawa rocks!! My advice: get a motorcycle and get certified to scuba dive! Anyone who doesn't ride a motorcycle over there will tell you you're CRAZY for riding one, but everyone who does will tell you it's the ONLY way to get around. Traffic is HORRIBLE there, but you can 'white-line' on a bike, so you don't have to worry about it! The diving is fantastic, and its CHEAP to both get certified and to go diving on the weekends there compared to the states. You're looking at $250-$350 to get certified in the states, it was $130 when I was there. To grab a couple tanks and all the gear for a day of diving would run you about $50-$75 in the states, it's like $15-$20 there. If you buy your own gear (that's cheaper over there too!) it'll cost you $2 for a day of diving. You can't beat it!! Biggest thing: Hang out with people who are enjoying themselves over there. You'll meet a bunch who hate it, but all they do is sit around their rooms, drinking beer, and playing X-box. The people who like it get out a DO stuff!! If you do that, I promise you won't want to leave!

We actually had our own Nav school. The AF didn't like the idea of having enlisted right next to their officers doing the same thing I'm guessing. That, and the Marines probably didn't like the AF way of doing things either. Either way, its a moot point. The Marines shut down the Nav school a few years ago. Due to the J model, no more 130 Navs will be made. The ones who are still in get to stay as long as they want though, they still have T-models that need Navs at the reserve squadrons, so they'll have a job for a while. We all got the CR-3 at school, but like I said, when we finished we got the CR-5 'cuz it was more portable.

I think that one's a navy-ism, but I'm not too sure. We were issued small e6-b's when we got down here, but the CR-5 is what we're being taught to use. Funny thing though, we were told specifically not to wear them around our necks.

What, nobody uses the CR-5 any more? They fit great into one of the chest pockets on the flight suit, to be whipped out (STS) whenever needed!!

Uhh... out of curiosity, how much time do you have in the Marines? First, The Basic School (TBS) is six months long, not a year. Second, if you make it through UPT, be it AF or Navy version, nobody is just going to 'drop you'. Third, the reason fewer Captains are made in the Marines vs. AF is there are like 10 times more officers in the AF! The promotion rate to Capt., by percentage, is the same in every service. If you can fog a mirror, don't get a DUI, don't shag the General's daughter, etc..., and do a halfway decent job, you'll get Capt. As for Major, that's all time and job specific, similar to the AF. All initial training sucks, its just something you have to get through, in any service. I never met an officer who regretted doing whatever it was he was doing, in any service. Many may get out after their commitment because its just not for them, but I'd be willing to bet even they would say they wouldn't trade their time in the service for anything. EDIT: The promotion discussion was NOT taking into account specific force reduction measures, i.e. the thousands of Lt's currently getting booted from the AF [ 27. April 2006, 11:16: Message edited by: Riddller ]

Sorry, most Marines don't use it either. At least, after almost 8 years in, I never heard it used except when talking about what the Navy does, but then again, being on Herks meant never going on the boat.

Sorry Hydro, I took this comment: as meaning it was OK for an instructor (not the one in the video) to be a screamer. I agree with you that in the case of this video, the IP would fall under my #2 rule. I think your next post summed it up: Soooo... [ 18. April 2006, 11:49: Message edited by: Riddller ]

I couldn't disagree more. If the IP is considering jettisoning his canopy, there's a serious problem. That goes WAY over the line of "just f*cking with someone."

Are you kidding?? If those guys were off altitude by like 4 inches, the gear digs in and they're nothing but an oil slick left on the water!! And just because you DO have the sack for it, doesn't mean its NOT dumb!! The internet is full of videos of people doing stuff that 'seemed like a good idea at the time' and ended up with extended stays in the hospital or pushing up daisies! I'm not saying it doesn't look cool as $hit, and impressive as hell, it does and it is, but Darwin has a way of keeping too many people like that from reproducing.

Wow! I heard of us cutting corners a few times when I was still on AD, but I never remember it being THAT bad! He must have been in Harriers or working on the Osprey to have lost that many Bud's! If that was really his life, I guess I can't fault him for the letter! If it's real, to all of them.

A DUI is a DUI, don't count on them looking into it. I think brabus was a bit harsh about it, but I think he's mostly right. One thing to remember though, if you don't apply, you have a 100% chance of not being selected, all they can do is say no.

The jump wings you get from the AFA are 'rated' (whatever that means) and you wear them on active duty. [ 29. March 2006, 09:42: Message edited by: Riddller ]

On the original topic, does the AF give crazy names to stuff like they did to us in Marine Bootcamp? Examples: ink-stick hot-rock go-fasters moonbeams translation: pen iron sneakers flashlight We actually had to use these terms at all times!

Well, he's right! Don't get me wrong, coming from 7.5 years as a Marine, we all know the AF has better living conditions and hotter/more chicks, but operationally, the other services think your bass-ackwards. The AF way is that you CAN'T do something unless there's a reg that says you can vs. the Navy/Marine way of you CAN do something unless there's a reg that says you can't. It really takes the latitude away from an aircraft commander to accomplish the mission using their best judgement. Back when the cycle test was around, that didn't help either. Neither do the bus driver outfits. Plus, the Navy/Marine Corps has traditions dating back 200 years, while the AF seems to be making them up as they go. I'm not saying ALL traditions are great, but it does make you feel you're proud to be part of a fighting force with 200 years of history vs. almost 60 years of tradition and feeling like you work for a corporation. Before anyone starts a flame war hear, I'm just pointing the general opinion of another service, and I'm not saying they are right or wrong. Besides, I'm in the AF now, so all that stuff must not have been THAT important to me, right?