TacAirCoug

Hmmm...45 pages complaining about the stupid shit our leadership focuses on at the 'deid. Then there's this thread.

It WAS specifically targeted at ALL officers, aircrew were but a fraction of the total number of officers targeted. While there may have been a dozen 11x lines in the matrix, if you looked at the actual numbers involved aircrew did not account for the largest percentage, IIRC. Yeah, the numbers varied within the pilot category, but to the folks that made the matrix 11M's, 11R's, 11F's, etc. are no different than 14N's or 69X's. They were just numbers to those guys, which is the point I was trying to make. Once they figured out what the numbers actually meant, then they sh!t their shorts. All you have to do is look at the FY08 force shaping numbers for confirmation. I don't know where all of this talk of not deploying is coming from. This "special circumstances" mumbo-jumbo likely has been WAY misinterpreted. Let's get all the facts before we jump to conclusions and get pissed off, okay?

No argument here. That may be true, but you're missing one very important fact. The VSP was not targeted at flyers. The VSP was targeted at ALL officers in a specific range of year groups. The bean counters were given a mandate to come up with a simple way to slash the force. They answered with a program that only used two variables: AFSC and year group. First to apply, first accepted. The folks that designed that program probably don't know f*ck all about ops, and therefore didn't even flinch when they started typing in 11x AFSC's into the spreadsheet. My point is, the main body of folks they were targeting probably didn't have the same kind of ops tempo we did (with a few exceptions like Cops, LROs, etc.), and were much more tentative about getting out. They needed a push and VSP served that purpose. The fact that flyers were allowed out the door under the same conditions was a major "oh sh!t" that was probably only realized after it was too late. As a VSPer turned Guard Bum without a civilian job, I have to disagree. I wouldn't trade my AD service for anything, but I'm happy where I'm at. Even if I have to beg for man-days and live a more frugal lifestyle, I'm not coming back and I know a lot of other VSPers who feel the same way. I seriously doubt the VSPers are going to be getting all the good deals...Creech and Cannon will be pretty much the only choices with few exceptions. I will say this, if you resent the VSPers because you're jealous of what we got (and may be able to get in the future) you need to take a hard look in the mirror. Don't hate the player, hate the game. I knew exactly what was going to happen the moment the VSP announcement hit my inbox. The writing was already on the wall WRT the non-vol 365s at that point. Without the VSP I would have happily served out my commitment and then faced a tough choice with 12 years already served. When big blue offered the out, we all knew those who didn't take it stood a much greater chance of "winning" the non-vol lottery. Agreed. If I went back I would expect nothing less.

I'd say it's just the opposite, for Ops at least. Before my Guard unit hired me, I visited during a couple drill weekends. Most of the other recent hires I've seen have done the same. Informal visits serve a couple of purposes. First, you can get a chance to check out the unit and see if you like it. Second, the unit can check you out and see if they like you (outside of a formal interview environment). I think it's far more common for a unit to want you to visit rather than discourage it.

He could just be referring to accelerating the timeline to get you into school rather than the timeline to get through school, i.e. moving up a class start date for IFS or UNT. Like the others said, we need more details about you to answer the question.

Care to elaborate on what's really going on, then? If this whole thing was blown out of proportion, why don't you take the time to re-cage some gyros instead of just "whatever." Until you do, Yeah, dude.

Glad it's not just me!

2 There's also one in Addison, just north of Dallas.

That got me thinking, does the vUSAF have Predators? Now THAT would be funny.

Bottom line, it is a team effort between everyone involved, however from what I've seen, I do think AC's can be a little more proactive about maximizing training in a given sortie. I'm certainly guilty. In my unit, the ARMS folks export the data to an Access(?) database and regularly print training/currency reports which they post in a binder at the front desk. When AC's sign out to fly, we are required to check the GO/NO GO binder for any grounding items for our crews. We also check the currency binder to see what people have remaining (ideally you do this well before you step). If there are a lot of currencies, I just make a photocopy of the pages I need and step. Schedulers use it for their planning, and mission commanders do the same thing before they build their 280's. ARMS makes it real easy for us to keep track of what we need to get done before the end of the half. At least in my unit, you can't claim you didn't know.

Looks like the Saudis aren't going to take this laying down. Read the rest here.

Those balls are huge, I just didn't think there would be room inside her. Apparently I was wrong.

There was a thread about this last year: Irregular Warfare Wing Interesting place for the ball. I shudder at the thought of the first gear up landing in that thing.

Do they know about parlay? That could come in handy when you get over there.

It appears that whole forum is now offline...

In the E/H, you can lose an engine and not sweat too much, unless you're really heavy. However, it's not uncommon to have subterranean 2-engine service ceilings.

2 That's a motivational poster gold mine!

-Grandfather: Army during WWII (Europe), stationed at Beale for a while (which was my first duty station) when it was still an Army post. -Grandfather: Army during WWII (Pacific), also worked for Lockheed making tools that built the C-130 (which I now fly) and the U-2 (when it was still secret), among many others. -Uncle: Worked in the Skunk Works on the F-117 when it was still secret. While I'm the first flier in the family, there was a lot of interest/influence pushing me that way.

That's the bulk of it. Like FF130 said, your unit may have some other additional missions, find out from them. You go where the AF tells you, regardless of whether you are Guard, Reserve, or Active. GPS is integrated into the navigation system on all C-130's, save your money. Most units send their people to Corpus for Phase III, however, there are a few units that prefer to send them through T-1's. If you do the latter, you will complete Phases I-III at the same base. Again, talk to your unit.

I still don't see how you come to the conclusion that the worst studs in phase 2 end up at Corpus. Every airframe has its share of shitbags, including the C-130, but you've got a pretty warped idea about where Herk squadrons get the majority of their pilots. You're right, deploying isn't "cool" like a popped collar or a sweet myspace page. In today's Air Force it's one of many ways you gain valuable experience as an aviator. Going to Red Flag, JFEX, JRTC, and *gasp* on deployments, among other things, are how you grow in your job. Guess what? You're in the military. Your job is to "kill people and break things." Get over it.

Not only that, if we're only talking about T-1 drops, I was under the impression that a relatively high percentage of the Herks that come up on assignment night go to guys who wanted them and were fortunate enough to have leadership who worked to get them in the drop? That doesn't sound like an assignment given to a guy who is one of the "absolute last guys (who didnt wash out)," no matter what airframe it is.

OK, I'll leave it to others to flame, I just want to ask a serious question. When was this ever true? The "heroes" going to C-17 part I get (when the jet was new and there weren't many of them), but I honestly don't recall there ever being a time when the "bottom feeders" went to Herks. The helos usually had that distinction, but for no other reason than the ridiculous stigma attached to them.

I am a C-130 guy. I think C-130's rock. I think Herks are better than Barney. I have a ginormous chip on my shoulder, BFD. Look, the fact of the matter is everybody is doing some cool shit over there. Right now, if you're an airdrop guy in the -17, you're going to do some airdrops. Right now, if you're at Bagram or Al Udeid in a 130, you're going to do some airdrops. Everybody else is just a glorified bus driver. Five years from now, who knows? Have you heard anyone here bash their own airframe? No. Everybody loves the horse they're riding, so the lesson here is this: learn as much as you can about all of your choices, pick one, and I'm betting you won't look back. Barney sucks.

I'll save you the trouble of looking through all 62 pages of comments...the dude isn't really her boyfriend, he just pulled the pics off of her myspace page and the rest is history. He went back later and edited one of the posts with some sh!t about "fraudin," which I gather is meat head for "prank." Doesn't make the thread any less funny, though.