brabus

You definitely do not need it to PCS to/from Japan, however as Champ said, you may very well need it for work trips. Your Mil ID and orders is all the customs guys will want to see; tourists passports with the SOFA thing stapled in them suffices for your family.

Probably the nacelle lights that eclipse the sun when it comes to burning my retinas. Bonus points if they're full bright when we're going in and out of thick clouds at night...1/2 the time it's OK, the other 1/2 my NVGs are instantly 100% washed out and I nearly hit the damn wing of the tanker. That said, thanks for always being cool and turning them down when I ask.

Too bad there's only one dude per MAJCOM with those specific burn rights...and he's on leave for the next 6.9 years.

Honestly you will miss kid milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. no matter what you fly. No matter what MDS, you'll deploy, do a bunch of TDYs, etc...you will not avoid it. So that said, do what CH suggested and go for the dream; do the job you think you would enjoy most, then being gone doesn't seem as bad. Tell your wife in all honesty your aircraft on assignment night does not make your life together better or worse. She should not put a lot of stock in the words of those who are bitter and attempt to make something sound like a bad deal when its not.

Shack.

Lets say on a decent day any given dude has 90% SA on everything going on in the AO. Average a crew of two's SA level and you get 81% SA. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be one man with 90% SA than two with 81%, or even worse, 4 with 66%! SA = Directly correlated with performance. Math, you just can't argue with it.

Definitely interested in any info you can give post-ATP, my plan is to go to Pensacola in Jan/Feb time frame. Are you doing the ATP prep course and then the practical immediately following that? What's the rough total price?

Just one man's opinion: work hard enough in ROTC and you will get a pilot slot (pending medical stuff out of your control obviously). OTS is not a bad route, but it certainly takes more luck/timing and seems more volatile than ROTC. While in ROTC, I saw MAYBE two dudes in four years not get a pilot slot who probably should have, the rest who applied and didn't get one was of no shock to me. There is no guaranteed route without its own set of timing/luck hurdles. Based on your age you really have one (maybe two) shots at this. Personally if you have to throw all the chips on the table, I think ROTC probably offers you the best chance. The "worst case" if pilot doesn't work out, you serve your country for 4 years, probably still have a good time doing it and set yourself up well for a post-military career. If you really want to be a pilot, then I think that "4 year non-flying" thing is a risk worth taking.

I have used VMware Fusion for the windows stuff on my Macbook Air (just google it); definitely recommend it as I've had zero issues for a couple years and it's very easy to use. It's very similar to Parallels from what I've seen on a friend's computer...you probably can't go wrong with either. I just use Win 7 on that when I need to use all the AF secure websites with CAC and Internet Explorer or Lotus.

I agree they are similar, however I think Lagavulin 16 is less intense than Laphroaig. It has some sweetness to it (sherry) that reduces the smoke/peat to a more palatable level. I don't dislike Laphroaig, but I do prefer Lagavulin. Have you tried Bowmore? It's in the same general group, but even slightly less smoke/peat than Lagavulin. If you're worried about blowing 80 bucks on something you're not sure you'll like, I'd get the Bowmore first and then if you're good with that, try the Lagavulin next.

Perfect, one step closer to putting stars on jets again.

Psshhh, next thing you'll tell me is there's a window I can use to look outside. It's all crazy talk!

Done. I was lucky to have met and flown with Moose a few times - great dude, fighter pilot and all around good person. He is a big loss for the F-15 community and beyond. Prayers for his family.

A noble argument, but the reality is the difference in capability requirement and time/cost to train a RPA dude is vastly more than a one-each FSS dude. Additionally, the AF doesn't have a problem filling FSS slots/stand to lose a crushing amount of experience if dude's decide to get out. So in reality, it actually would pay dividends to think about things such as where RPA dudes live/operate. They're not better human beings or above "the suck," but they're job/manning situation cannot be compared to the FSS.

What RAM really meant to say was #13...he can thank me later.

Sounds like you guys did SOS right. Always cracked me up seeing the "motivated" flights studying, organized PT, working on the weekends (I shit you not), etc. while you're drinking your face off and using SOS for the vacation it is.

A mega fuck ton...seriously. Yep, its way over budget, way late and has been terribly managed. It will get annihilated in a BFM engagement against an enemy who has some clue about BFM execution (from a pure Em standpoint anyways). There are downfalls, but it's what we have to work with. Despite some of the downfalls, it still has some amazing capability (coming up in the next 3 years or so) that blows the majority of current fighter capability out of the water, minus the ol' Em diagram of course.

Well in that case, 90% of the Air Force should be civilians.

What the fuck is Mrs. Gearpig into? Nice...

Champ shacked it - the entire MPS building might as well be death and blind. Perhaps we should have a special recruiting push for individuals with an IQ less than 90. The quality of service/work will not change in any appreciable way.

How long have you guys had yours? I've read several reviews about the batteries just failing with no warning (despite the claimed low batt warning), leaving the key as the only entry method until batteries are replaced - something you certainly don't want when it counts. That's one of the things that makes me think something mechanical (ala cipher lock style) would be better. Thoughts?

Any of you guys have experience with quick-access handgun safes? My son is old enough now that loaded guns present obvious problems. However, I want to keep a loaded handgun in the house (bedroom at night primarily) in a locked container, but still have quick access. I've read a lot of mixed reviews on different companies, biometric vs. mech, etc. Just looking for anyone's recommendations/experience with such products. I also plan on putting up some mounts for at least one of the shotguns high enough that my son can't reach them, but my wife and I can. This is the first time I have the opportunity to keep loaded guns in the house for defense while keeping my kid away from them (been overseas for several years until now). Any advice in this department welcome!

A real WTF is why Tank gave no warning of what details were actually shown in the video...Tank, you son of a bitch!

I hope to God this is short-lived; what a fucking catastrophe.

No need for a calculator at all, just do what chim said and you'll be good to go.