Gas Man

I just got a 21C. Very nice gun. I recommend the extended slide release. https://www.glockworld.com/category/1762-Glock_Extended_Controls.aspx

This guy sounds like the type that knows how to party!

Yep, that about covers it.

FYI comments like that aren't received very well around here FNG. Just because Rainman is slow and dangerous behind the wheel doesn't mean he can't still serve a purpose. His posts, while blunt, usually carry a lot of wisdom. Usually.

The top 2 guys in my UPT class were adamant they wanted T-1s. They were both told the night before track select they were going to the T-38. One of the guys was damn near in tears the night before track select because he didn't want to go T-38s. Don't know if things have changed but my AD brothers in UPT didn't have a choice, they could only put a request for which track they wanted. Thank god I am in the Guard. (That last comment should carry this thread at least another 5 pages.) It used to be that during graduation the drop came down and they had a teleconference with AFPC. They started with the first place guy who got first pick what he wanted, then on down the line. Do you know why they stopped doing that? Because a lot of the top guys were picking heavy airframes. They were ending up with the guys at the bottom of the class getting fighters. Sometimes not a good thing. Don't fool yourself into thinking every pilot wants to fly fighters. Also don't think that all heavy guys are shitty pilots because they aren't in a fighter. Speaking of SNAPs, Fighters have an equal percentage. As a matter of fact I would consider the dude from my class nearly in tears a very SNAPpy move. He is now an F-15C guy. Every community has them. They are taking over the Air Force. One more thing, Midtown's point was totally missed. AMC pilots are gone 180+ days a year, every year. Not just a 6 month rotation every 2 years. As much respect as I have for all of my pilot brethren, unless you are doing that, you have no idea. Walk a mile in another pilot's shoes, no matter what airframe, and you will gain respect for his airframe. Just like we stupid "herbivores" have no idea how much ass pain and planning goes into every 1.5 hr sortie you guys fly. We each have things we have to do for our MWS that are a pain in the balls. I don't think Midtown was throwing darts at your community as much as he was trying to get you to understand his point of view. So Chill Francis.

Good to know. 95% of the times I have refueled C-130s were on BE's we do to HRT. They aren't taking much if any gas. We always coordinate on what speed they want. 190-200 is usually what they ask for.

We understand your thrust problems. Especially the AC-130 guys. We do all we can to get to a more manageable speed for you guys. I usually try to keep it between 190-195 for you guys. It seems to work the best. Just like with all receivers, we do what ever we can to accommodate. Keep up the good work. I've been in the back plenty of times and you guys look like you are working it back there. The only guys that look like they are working harder to stay on the boom are the Buff guys.

Godfather, There are quite a few things in combat I have let slide. I have stuck around below bingo to give guys gas that were supporting TICs. At a Flag? In training? No. Funny how important little bullshit things are to the fighter community. When I was a crew chief we had guys that would shut their canopy's in unison then crank engines at the exact same time. During debrief 3 will get bitched out because he was slow on the radio all day during check in. You debrief the shit out of EVERYTHING. This whole thread spiraled out of control because guys flat stated they were blowing off a prescribed Air Refueling procedure. Who cares, right? Not like any airplanes have ever crashed during AR because they didn't follow proper procedures and did what they wanted to do or anything like that. If you follow the rules, the tanker won't have to say shit. You may think you are running the show, but in reality my boom is telling me over the interplane exactly what each of you are doing and I am allowing you to do it. So go ahead and keep telling yourself that you are in charge. Fact is, if something goes wrong, I am to blame for allowing it to happen. I am the one that is getting called on the carpet. I am the one that has to live with the consequences if some guy doesn't do what he is supposed to and I don't speak up and something happens. A few years ago one of our guys allowed the fighters on his wing to clip the eastern edge of the MOA at Nellis. The tanker stayed in but the fighters on his wing spilled out. They all got a talking to. The AC of the tanker was grounded. Why do you think that is? Maybe because he screwed up and led HIS flight out of the area. This whole thread is bullshit. Read the Regs. If you don't do what is says, you are wrong. Don't like that, change the regs. Until then, do what you're told. Now you're talking out your ass. So if you are not visual during an engagement you are cleared to continue the fight? I have been to a lot of briefs and I don't remember hearing that.

I guess I should have been more precise with my wording. I have only jumped on the radio one time. We had a new boom that wasn't being as directive as she should have been. All of the other times the boom operator has no problem running the show. On my jet what the boom says is gospel. If the Boom tells me the receiver sucks and isn't following my directions I'm going to send him home, I respond with "Roger". That has happened several times. Beerman you obviously know what the rules are and what you described above concerning the rejoin is exactly what happens 95% of the time. What is "embarrassing", is not knowing/disregarding procedures. In that one Red flag sortie, we had two near mid airs and pretty much all of the of the other flights came in wrong too. 2 to the left wing, 2 to the right... All four to the right wing, ect. Yea I was pissed. My anger comes from dudes not following procedures and putting other people's lives in danger.

Yep. I have quite a few times. I think a bigger deal is being made about this whole thing than needs to be made. First off, 95% of the time guys come in and do exactly like they are supposed to do. They jump on the boom with no problems and we shoot the shit over interplane, and then they are on their way. When there are problems, I just make the receiver do what I ask until they get it right. If not, back to pre-contact. Sometimes they get so frustrated that they decide gas isn't that important and leave. There has only been one time that I have jumped on the radio and strait up denied gas. We had a Greek F-16 Block 62 with the conformal fuel tanks that was very unstable in pre-contact. My boom told him to slow his rate of closure because she was a newer boom and felt uncomfortable. He ignored her several times and she kept saying "back to pre-contact". She told me he wouldn't go back to pre-contact, he was just sitting there. He then told her, "I am fine, just give me my gas" I jumped on the radio and told him he was cleared off. He hung on my wing for a bit while the rest of his flight got their gas thinking I would give him gas. Then without being cleared he came back to pre-contact. I told the boom operator to stow the boom. He still hung back there for 5 minutes while we coordinated with ATC for our RTB clearance. When we told him we were RTB and he wasn't getting gas he saluted with one finger and left. We followed up with a phone call to his Squadron when we landed. Our Detco was an ENJPT IP and many moons ago had trained the Squaron CC. We were assured he would be trained properly on AR procedures when he got back to the base. The rest of the deployment the Greek F-16 guys were great to re-fuel and very polite on the radio. It seems like this is turning into a pissing contest about who is in charge of AR. Let me just make it clear. The tanker is in charge. If you don't do what you are told, you will look pretty stupid in debrief explaining why you didn't get your gas. Most of the time I ask the fighters what they would like and am very accommodating. That is what I'm there for. When I have multiple sets of receivers and start getting busy that is when I get directive.

So it should go something like "Ego 11, cleared pre-contact, recommend if 12 wants gas tonight he goes to the left wing." Something like that? Man, I am making all sorts of friends tonight.

My wife has been driving my beloved Tundra every once in a while while I am over here in the Stan. A few weeks ago she backed my truck into her Honda. The first thing I said was "Don't even try to use that recall BS on me". I love my truck. She knows that and she felt pretty bad. She is still getting a beating when I get home, but my comment at least made her laugh.

Before I get too spun up over Toro's comment, I will say I have been on here long enough to know Toro is actually a pretty smart guy. He is smart enough to know that if he is getting gas and there are no chicks in tow it doesn't matter where he goes, as long as his flight deconflicts with each other. That doesn't mean I agree with him disregarding what the tanker tells him. I have sent flights to the wrong wing before for several reasons. Usually it is usually because some dudes joined on the wrong wing before them and I am trying to deconflict. He is correct in briefing his guys to the left first though. I will give him that. That is procedure. I was at a flag last year and almost had my receivers get in two separate mid airs because they weren't following directions. We gave away 120k to 16+ fighters and logged a 1.9. Busy sortie. We had dudes join on us even before the sally corridor wanting gas. One 4 ship joined on an F-22 at about 20' right and just below that was on our boom. Totally in the -22 blind spot. I will never know why in the hell they joined like that. They weren't talking to us, we couldn't talk to them, in fact it turns out they came to the wrong tanker and didn't have the right boom freq. AWAC sent them to the tanker 3k above us, but since they saw us first they figured the Wacker guys were wrong about the altitude. Couldn't possibly be there is more than one tanker in the same orbit. Then about 30 minutes later I had another 2 ship go right to left after I told them to join on the left and cycle through to the right. Then I cleared them off high and they decided to clear off us low and almost hit another flight coming up from below. If any of you were at that flag you might remember my de-briefing. I was the tanker dude that said in mass debrief "since some of you aren't smart enough to read the fucking regs on AR I brought pictures. You need to follow the tanker's directions or bad shit happens." I also found out that dropping the F-bomb in mass debrief is not a good idea no matter how mad you are. In the future follow the tanker's directions even if you think he is wrong. I know, tanker drivers are a bunch of whiny bitches.

Good enough. I am at Herbie all the time. My next trip down I will bring my bow and let you shoot it.

Well let me respond to your remark by saying there is no thinking about it. I KNOW having all of the fancy schmancy crap on my airplane makes me a better pilot. Why don't you ask an A-10 guy what their SA was like before and after SADL. The jet I am flying right now has EVS on it and a HUD. All of that fancy crap lets me see the runway and legally go below minimums when my co-pilot is only looking at fog out the window. I am not some techno freak, but my SA is way better in this airplane with all of its beeps and squeaks than in my 1957 KC-135. Do I think SA makes me a better pilot? Your damn right it does. ARG, just like with guns there are many schools of thought as to which caliber/gun/manufacturer is the best. I was just busting some fellow archery guys balls. Fixed blade -vs- mechanical blade, compound -vs- re curve, ect, ect. I grew up shooting a long bow. Do I appreciate the simplicity and beauty? Sure. Is it as good as a Mathews???? Tell you what, you go test shoot a Mathews bow and tell me I am wrong. If you still disagree I know a guy that makes some of the best re curve bows on the planet. I'll give you his #.

Isn't that what Robin Hood shot? I compare that to shooting a flint lock -vs- Kimber SuperAmerica 300 WSM. Hell you might as well just throw rocks at the deer. They are even more simple, quiet and effective. Your stick with a string can't in any way competed with my Mathews. Nice try.

Real men shoot Mathews. https://mathewsinc.com/

I brought my Bow to Kandahar with me for something to do. We have had the MPs drive by when we were shooting and never do a thing. Anyone over here right now want to do some shooting PM me. We have a pretty sweet setup.

Thanks for the input Jeep. I ended up going with the Lumix FX65. It is an updated version of the Leica C-LUX. Exact same camera just paid about half and got an updated version. I am very impressed with the pictures I have taken so far. I was in Dubai for the opening of the tower and got some amazing pictures of it at night time without even using a tripod. Even zooming way in on the pictures they are clear. So far so good.

We had some Army dude's wife complain that her husband wasn't coming home right after work because he was drinking after work with his buddies. The complaint made it all the way to the TAG. The TAG put out the word that drinking on any base in the state is vorboten. Army or Air Guard. We thought it was just another order we were going to ignore, but our Wing and squadron leadership are 100% on board. NO ALCOHOL ON BASE. We improvised, adapted, and overcame. Now we all just meet at a bar closeto the base and hang there. They serve us $1 bottles and we take care of the bartender at the end of the night. Also we have a flop house across the street from the bar. No sense anyone getting a DUI.

I just bought a Sony DSC-TX1 point and shoot. After less than a month the touchscreen pooped out. After a very disappointing conversation with the Sony people where they basically told me to go fuck myself, I'm going to get a new point and shoot. Luckily the store I bought it at is going to return it for me. Does anyone have experience with the Leica D-Lux or C-Lux line. I am leaning that direction.

Survey says......... Bullshit! All of the lemmings are starting to open their eyes. https://www.pollingreport.com/obama_job.htm https://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm Before you click on the links would you like to retract your statement about who was the more popular president? What was that last part about partisan goggles again???????

You are right. I did jump to conclusions. What was I thinking. What other countries have school kids singing praises to their leaders? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, let me think........ North Korea, China, Viet Nam, Cuba. I was way out of line using "bad" terms. There is no link what so ever. My bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrsl8o4ZPo Couldn't get the video to embed. Basically kids being indoctrinated. After the song I'm sure they were all given a copy of the Communist Manifesto to memorize. What country am I living in again????

Just happened today over RDU. Over guard some dude starts asking "Alice are you up.......Alice are you up". All of the usual return calls "you are on guard, dude so are you, so am I!" Then some Burley sounding dude came up "This is Alice". Guess you had to be there, it was pretty funny.