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Thought this was funny. 'Course it could apply to any number of Air Force organizations too...

It will be interesting to see what Congress does. Afterall, they haven't shown any fiscal restraint lately and getting re-elected, er, I mean jobs for their districts certainly outweigh any national security or national debt issues.

I know two RC-135 navs who came over to the B-1 about 7 years ago and the way they did was 1) get released by their RC-135 AFPC bubba 2) constantly talked to the B-1 AFPC bubba about taking over the EW school slot of someone who washed out of nav school. In both cases, they slid into the EW school slot of some Lt who washed out late in the program at Pensacola. I've seen one Buff EW cross over too but since those guys I personally don't know of nav who transfered into the B-1. The FTU pipeline for B-1 WSOs was backed up for a long time (not sure about current status) and so I don't think it would be possible to try the aforementioned trick now. Still, it might be worth talking to the bomber AFPC bubbas.

Ticks me off that USAA now charges a 1% overseas transaction fee whereas some other major banks do not. Kind of an odd business decision given how much of their customer base is stationed overseas. Guess I need to get around to canceling my USAA card and get a different one.

I second Dmeg's advice. However, I'd stay away from Korean. It's the hardest language for an English speaker to learn and the reward versus the effort required isn't worth it unless you happen to get married to a Korean. I did DLI Korean and just finished a year at the ROKAF ACSC and still can't speak it worth a damn. It's the toughest thing I've ever tried to learn. PBAR

I believe this is the whole point of Gitmo. How else do you deter people who not only aren't afraid of death, but welcome it? This is the only end-state that they fear and that has the power to cause them to re-evaluate their chosen path...

When I was an intel officer, I at least received the ole' performance feedback session via AF Form 724 twice yearly. After I became a WSO, I received hardly any mentoring. When I was in the flying squadron, I was the only Flight CC who actually used a 724 and did regular performance feedbacks. That should be the absolute minimum with regard to mentoring. Mentoring is so much more than an AF form but it's a good start. I was surprised how many pilots and WSOs I met, even field-graders, who had never seen a 724 and didn't know what it was. It's been my experience if you want any mentoring, you have to seek it out yourself.

Grandfather- WW2 flight instructor (AT-9s), ferry pilot Dad- operating room tech in AF Uncle- infantry, Vietnam (left two days for Tet Offensive) Uncle-retired MH-53M Pave Low pilot Me-prior enlisted Army Reserve, AF intel officer then B-1 WSO bunch more cousins and uncles AF enlisted A couple of my Korean AF classmates asked me today why so many Americans have multiple generations of family in the military. While a Korean's male relatives have all been drafted as enlisted, from what I understand it's exceedingly rare for to have 2-3 generations of officers or NCOs (if you enlist in Korea, you start as an E-6 but if you get drafted you come in as an E-1 and leave as an E-5) in the same family. I said, unlike their military, ours is a good place to serve and family members often encourage the next generation to join. As an aside, my grandfather told me a cool story about how one day after he transferred to being a B-24 ferry pilot, a P-38 landed at the base he was at and he said if could have found the pilot, he would have taken it up for a spin. I asked him if they could do that sort of then back then, and he said, "Easily." Imagine being a B-52, etc. pilot and just hopping into a transient F-16 and taking it for some pattern work spur of the moment...

While we're on the subject of C-130s, I have a question about the differences between the normal C-130 and the stretched C-130. As I'm a bomber type I'm not schooled up on air mobility stuff as much as I should be, but if the H/J-30 stretched models can carry more stuff, why buy the normal version? What are the disadvantages or advantages of each? I notice we bought both C-130Js and C-130J-30s while the ROKAF here uses C-130Hs and C-130H-30s. Why buy both? The only thing I found with the search function is Slacker saying the assault landing speeds are different and not to bang the tail skid. I also looked through 3-3.C-130J but it just mentioned some formation differences but that was it. Can any 130 types here elaborate and educate a bomber puke? Thanks. PBAR

An update...she ran in the 2008 USMC marathon too. https://www.runtri.com/2008/09/marine-corps...results_02.html do a ctrl-F search and you can see her name. PBAR

My uncle, a retired Pave Low driver, told me that MAC (now AMC) spent most of the money for the HH-60D on the C-17 and so we ended up with the G model.

Well, our ratio of infrastructure (i.e. bases, ramp space, etc.) to forces (people, planes, etc) will be even more out of whack now. What they are gonna fill all that ramp space with? Maybe UAV/RC-12/AT-6Bs? Congress definitely won't let us do another BRAC round.

Damn, I've been wearing blues everyday for the last year and was so looking forward to burning them after graduation and not wearing them again. Anyways, maybe I'm paranoid but this whole business is a little suspicious. Could be it be that all of the dry cleaning places around AF bases throughout the country have been bitching to their local congressman about the massive drop in business due to the switchover from BDUs to ABUs? Then said congressmen bitch to the AFCoS and voila!- Blues on Monday... Fine, we have to wear blues, but at least can they change the damned blue shirt? At least give us a wash-and-wear version like the squids have. And make it grey or dark blue while they're at it... Didn't we use to have a long sleeve dark blue shirt? As aside, to those in Korea, don't eat Korean ramyon noodles in your blues, the broth will not launder out of the blue shirt...

I worked for Doc's son about 10 years ago at the Kun when his son was an intel patch there. After reading all of these stories, I feel sorry for him to have a father like this. He was actually a pretty good dude and one of the better intel patches I've run across. Of course, that was ten years ago and I have no idea what's he's like now. Last I heard he was an intel squadron CC somewhere. PBAR

Seems like Guam is cursed lately. B-1 rolls into a fire truck, a B-2 crashes, and now a B-52...

This is definitely why I learned Korean...

Sorry...I meant this tongue-in-cheek. In addition to the 2018 bomber or instead of? Just curious. PBAR

The B-1R was a Boeing proposal a few years ago that came out when the AF was considering a regional bomber. We were considering the F/B-22 at the same along with a C-130 JASSM truck IIRC but that all went away when the AF pressed ahead with the 2018 bomber. The B-1 F-119 re-engining was over $4 billion IIRC and the AF doesn't have that kind of cash laying around. I don't think it would be feasible to equip bombers with AMRAAMs simply due to the amount of training it would take, much to the detriment of our other training requirements and it would only ever be a secondary mission. Plus there would be the problem of every bomber crew ignoring their primary mission for the chance to score the first bomber AMRAAM kill... PBAR

A master's might not be required for making major officially and it might be masked but it's used for a lot of things that go into the major's promotion process. I've seen it used as a discriminator for picking who goes to SOS in residence, who gets a DP vice P for major, going to WS, CGO of the quarter/year, etc. If I were a young LT, I'd get a real master's while I was still a LT as a Plan B (I doubt an ACSC Master's is gonna help with the post-AF job search) and then if you get another along the way from the AF , than so be it. Just my two cents. PBAR

I was told that in order to be competitive to go to the Army/Navy/MC or foreign service ACSC-equivalent you are expected to have completed AF ACSC via correspondence before the IDE selection board. I did so and got picked up for a foreign ACSC. For what it's worth... PBAR

Well said...that is why we are the best AF in the world. We go into debrief and call a spade a spade and tell an O-6 he screwed during the flight without the sugar coating. I was having a conversation with a Korean AF Weapon Schools grad (their WS, not ours) and our USAF exchange professor here (I'm an exchange student at the ROKAF ACSC) and we were comparing instructional techniques. The way they teach is strictly one-way lecturing with the stud just sitting and listening and absorbing. The instructors don't ask questions two-way interplay style to provoke the students to think. He told us that he would feed the students a little bit of info/his techniques at a time so that they could fully memorize it/absorb it. He said his goal was to have his students be as good as him. We in turn told him we want our students to be better than us as we might have to fly in combat with them someday (my first combat sortie was with my FTU instructor). That's why we challenge them with questions during instruction so everyone can learn (including the instructor). Also, I can find out how much he knows/doesn't know and adjust my instruction accordingly. He was dumbfounded and came back a few minutes later and told us he realized he'd been doing it all wrong for the last three years and wish someone had told him this sooner. My Korean classmates are incredulous when I tell them that even the Wing CC can get beat down in a debrief. Never happens like that in their AF (nor according, to my fellow foreign exchange students, in the Japanese, Taiwanese, Brazilian, or Turkish AF...) PBAR

Some more from a recent email chain...

I diverted into Cannon one time and when I got a look at the city, I was thankful to be living in Abilene (Dyess). And Drabilene sucks too. I think all of us joined the AF with the expectation that we might have to sacrifice our lives in the line of duty but I, for one, never considered giving up having a life off duty because we had to live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Even more, having my family put up with the same thing... There are some good points to small towns like Abilene and Clovis, i.e. no traffic, little air pollution, buying a good house for a reasonable price, low crime, etc. but I don't want to rot there for ten years because my jet only has two bases. Anyone know if AFSOC's move to Cannon is going to adversely impact Dyess's and Barksdale's access to the ranges? PBAR

I wouldn't bring a nice car. We brought my wife's Lincoln LS and in six months it's been in a hit-and-run fender bender once and was vandalized last week while parked at the PX on a Korean Army base (I'm an exchange officer at the Korean AF Staff College which is on a Korean Army base) to the tune of $2000 (top of the bumper got smashed by a rock). Thankfully USAA covered all but the deductible. You can find a nice used Korean car for under $2000 and I would recommend having a car so it's easier to travel about. Despite the vandalism incident, we've had a very positive experience here and staying on base the whole time will make for a miserable experience. PBAR

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