brabus

Academics are the smallest part of your MASS (including stan tests), but realize that doing well on these things looks good on you. So in the end, while they may be only 10%, they also might impact your flt/cc ranking (positively or negatively). Academics is something you can control...so don't be the guy who barely passes test and/or keeps failing stan tests. There's no excuse...especially w/ all the "help" out there.

That kind of stuff depends purely on leadership, regardless of the base. So whenever you go, it will be up to someone in the OSS how long you wear blues in academics.

Hours will only help you in UPT UNLESS you let hours go to your nugget and thus have a bad attitude...then you're fucked. It's true no one cares about how many hours you have or what ratings you have, but guys with flight time definitely have at least somewhat of a leg up.

One flightsuit, swimsuit, PT gear if you don't want to change back into your flightsuit after the water (I just changed back into the flightsuit...no big deal), shower sandals and clothes to go get hammered in every night. That's all you need.

Out of the 38 track you're not going to get a tanker/transport (unless you wash out of IFF, then maybe). SocialD brings up a good point...ENJJPT may not be the best choice if you think you might end up wanting to fly C-17s, -10s, etc. I think "38 pilots have way more options" is kind of a skewed point. If you think you may want to fly tankers, but just want the option of a fighter crossflow if it ever happened again (which it probably won't), that's not really a good reason to go 38s. Only go 38s because you know you want to fly fighters/bombers...anything else can be had from one of the other tracks.

Don't bullshit us Osh! You know it makes you gray out a shitload! All I can say is, ouch.

Define instant. There's obviously a max g-onset rate, but my pure guess is that it's close enough to "instant" to not matter from a pilot's perspective.

I've heard all the -22 roll calls are super lame, but I guess they sort of have to be considering their high vis.

Also, rooms at the casino are a little over $100/night...it's worth it to get a room, split it, and be able to hang out all night at the casino/resort gambling/boozing and then drive to El Paso the next day to leave. Just get a flight out that doesn't leave before 1 or so.

LJ, I could probably record a real stand-up session. One of my buds has a nice HD camera and probably wouldn't mind showing up for one of the flight's morning briefs/stand up. Do you have preference on who the cameras looking at, or just a shot from the corner of the room while it goes on?

Must be thinking of a different casino...this one's definitely far from shady: https://www.innofthemountaingods.com/

Look up Inn of the Mountain Gods casino/resort. It's about 45 min up the road (opposite direction of El Paso from Holloman) and is a great time. Great place to drink, gamble and have a good time in general. El Paso seems to be one of those places that sucks unless you know the "good spots." Unless you have really good intel on El Paso, fuck that and go to the casino. It's a great time even if you don't gamble; I've been twice. And also, whatever you do, fuck the stupid shuttle and get a rental car, regardless of what your orders say.

Got it...I guess I just read your original post wrong. I definitely agree with the above.

What's wrong with that? You should have that attitude towards anything you really want to do. Now, I completely agree that being the guy who has a shitty attitude because he doesn't get #1 is a BAD idea and usually does land him a worse assignment in the end (due to said shitty attitude). However, it's good to focus on a goal, and if you don't get 38s, then realize it's not the end of the world and move on. But to sit here and say the attitude should be: "Man I really want to fly fighters, but I probably won't make it based on statistics...oh well, lets look at option 2"...even before starting UPT. That's just stupid.

Guard is separate and in no way affect AD drops. The Guard pays the AF for the 38 slot in a basic sense, so it really is just an "extra" 38 slot owned by the Guard. Now if the Guard guy doesn't make the 50% cut, I'm not entirely sure, but I swear I've read of an AD guy possibly being able to take that slot. Don't quote me on that though.

I saw cadets who thought they were the shit as soon as they got a pilot slot/could wear a bag. I also saw plenty of cadets not act like that. Point is, there's always a few douches...don't let their crap affect a policy that also affects good dudes. If a couple cadets think they own the place b/c they wear a bag, fuck 'em...I'm sure there's more that wear a bag and don't have a shit attitude.

I wish we lived off base now, but am still really glad I lived on base during UPT. Kayla is spot on about the 5am shows and 12 hr days. That 3 min walk to/from work vs a 15 min drive really will make the difference, especially for the first few months of UPT. I have a few friends who moved into a house together during Phase III and it worked out fine/wasn't too big of an asspain (just a weekend of moving). I say get into the dorms and during Phase III when you're used to the UPT thing and the BS nut crunching is to a minimum, think about moving off.

Don't fly. I flew once even when I could just barely clear my ears and the sinus pain was really bad. No flight is worth that. Just suck it up and don't fly for a few days.

1. Don't go bitch about not being allotted "PT Time." UPT takes a lot of time, and if you don't have time to go to the gym b/c you know you have to study for your checkride, too bad...suck it up and press. 2. Even on formal release you should still be able to go to the gym. Don't you guys have a sign-out board or something? Yes formal release means you can't go home, but they should still allow you to go to the gym, get some lunch from the club if you have to, etc...AS LONG AS it's not going to interfere with a sim, flight or academics. They don't have to give you a specific PT time slot, but they should allow you to go when able. If this hasn't been brought up at all, talk to an IP and just confirm if it's OK to go to the gym if you're not going to be flying/simming. But, don't try quote some reg that they're obligated to give you 3, 90-min blocks for PT. That's just going to be bring unwanted attention.

Same here, except it's officially the SQ/CC who sent out the email. I'm glad some leadership have some sense.

I remember some guy in ROTC bloused his blues pants once with boots...and he did find a reg that said it is allowed. I would think the boot color wouldn't change that...either way it's worth a shot. How great would that be if every dude in the squadron walks in with pants bloused with boots.

I ended up giving mine to my brother. He's 3 yrs behind me and on the same track, so I figured it would mean more to him since he has the same dream. Plus, I decided it made more sense to have the two halves in different places instead of in the same house the rest of my life...that's sort of the point of breaking them in half.

Hahaha, I think that has to be the best part.

I had some airline employee pull me out of the security line at OHare to tell me my carry on bag was too big and needed to be checked. I have flown on literally 15+ flights w/ this same bag...no problems fitting it in the overnugget compartment or just "checking" it plane side if it's an RJ. So she finally agrees to let me measure it in the little red square thing and the handle sticks out about a 1/2 in outside the red line...had to check it. Thanks for being a bitch. On the lock/ipod thing: I always put any valuables in a backpack and carry that on. I don't see any reason to put something valuable such as a laptop, IPOD, jewelry, etc. in a checked baggage. If someone steals your clothes, at least you're not out a ton of money (hopefully). Plus, I doubt anybody is looking to steal clothes.

That has been done in the past, but not too many have done it, and with the growing scarcity of fighter cockpit slots, what's the AF's incentive to allow a crossflow when there's already too many fighter-trained guys who can't even get (back) in a fighter cockpit? I just don't see it as a good idea to go the U-2 route just so you can be 38-qual'd and go for a fighter crossflow.