brabus

Not having e-pubs sucks, but you can always do the "you have 1-10, you have 11-20...." That'll cut your time by a lot. IRC sucks...not that you didn't already know that.

I don't remember if they gave us thermals, but I just wore my Under Armour Cold Gear thermals. I've had those things for years and they are the best. You can pick them up at any sporting goods store. I would still try to pick up a pair of the gortex pants, but they MUST be the no shit BDU/ABU pants. A buddy of mine bought some gortex pants at Sportsman's Warehouse and figured it wouldn't be a big deal since they were an olive color...they made him take them off, so he was left with just his flightsuit, in 6 ft of snow. You'll spend a lot of time hiking through shitloads of snow, laying in snow, etc. It would suck to not have the gortex not so much for warmth, but for the waterproof property.

I went in the winter and they were so nice to have. I don't know about summer, but my guess is you'll have a good chance of getting rained on, in which case I think the pants would be worth it. They just go right over your flightsuit, so they're not a hindrance at all. High quality socks are a must for a good outdoor experience, SERE or otherwise. Get Smartwool...they may be $15-20/pair, but they are well worth the money. I've had several pairs of different types for years and they've been awesome through every backpacking, hunting, snowboarding, etc. trip I've used them on. They search all of your shit on morning one. If you get caught, they take away your MRE. You DON'T want that. Suck it up like most people do. You'll be hungry, but you'll survive. Also, most people do sneak food into the RT portion, but they pretty much expect that and ask you to declare it. Sounds like generally they'll let you keep 1/2 or something like that if you fess up. The douche next to me didn't fess up, the guy found it, so as punishment he took all his food and took the beef jerkey he let me keep when I declared it. That fucker costs me 3 beef jerkey sticks! Have fun. I actually had a great time in the field, but I am an outdoors oriented guy. RT blows, no getting around it. Go downtown every night you're not in the field or at RT...Spokane has decent bars and restaurants. I was ready to get home by the end, but overall I actually had a pretty good time, despite RT and some long boring days of academics.

Unfortunately if people don't pull their nuggets out of their asses and realize the importance of this, our boys on the ground may some time in the future have to re-learn what it's like to get shot at by the enemy from the air. When was the last time an enemy dropped on our guys...the 50s? Yeah, good idea, let's just take air superiority for granted...that'll work out for us.

There's several scenarios that could lead to a bad situation for us. Are they going to happen tomorrow? No. Could they happen in a year, 2 yrs, 3 yrs? You bet. Hell, even something going down (sts) 5 yrs from now would still be a bad situation for us if we don't have the F-35s/F-22s that we need by then. None of us can predict what the world situation will be in 3-5 yrs. Can we afford to not be prepared simply b/c we're too stubborn to look further than 6 months into the future and just assume these scenarios won't happen? Preparation starts now, not the first time we get a face full of Flanker.

Why sorry?

Clearly you do not if you're so confident in our ability to maintain air superiority with our current fighters. People seem to think just b/c we're the US we have the greatest shit and we'll rock the shit out of any country that opposes us. That's a dangerous viewpoint to have, especially when knowing what is out there.

We're the best military in the world, but there's a reason we need F-22s and F-35s besides just the age of our current fighters. Skill matters, but there's more to the equation. And that "more" should make you very much want the aforementioned aircraft.

He sure is...well, then those two guys must have been on some other type of program b/c they definitely did ROTC "as normal" with the rest of us and commissioned with us. However, neither went to rated fields, so don't know if that had anything to do with it (they didn't want to fly anyways). Honestly I'd probably just do 2 yrs of ROTC direct to a commission/pilot slot, even if it meant separating from AD and getting a scholarship/working through college like most dudes out of high school do. I don't know about any "go to OTS after college" program, but that just sounds like it'd be less of a pilot slot "guarantee" than ROTC would. Remember your goal is to become an officer and fly...what are you willing to do to achieve those goals?

Are you sure about AECP? I know both guys at my school received SSGT pay (no BAH, etc...just base pay) and they both commissioned with the rest of us. They did the exact program we did, nothing more, nothing less. Also, I would still consider those scholarship programs that you separate with. Yes you're not receiving pay, but you are getting most of your college paid for. These days if you can get your education paid for, do not pass up that opportunity. Even if you had to get a part time job to help pay for rent or whatever, it's still far worth it (and that's something thousands of college students have to do).

Probably not. Plus, would you really want to try and use PFPS on an Iphone? That would suck balls.

Ben, I'd personally recommend ROTC if you're thinking about doing a "normal" 4-yr college career at a university. I knew several prior enlisted guys who had some sort of scholarship from the AF for ROTC that was only available to enlisted (something like SSGT pay while attending college...why wouldn't you go for that!). ROTC will give you a much better chance at a pilot slot than OTS. Also, your major matters ZERO in ROTC when it comes to commissioning or get a pilot slot. Do something you like and DO NOT be another guy who thinks engineering gives you a better chance and end up hating life, failing school, etc. when you could have just done Business or whatever and gotten a pilot slot. Maybe speedy is correct regarding OTS, but that's certainly not the way ROTC is. Food for thought.

We got out of Verizon when we moved to Enid. We had to show a copy of my orders. We also got out of T-Mobile while at Vance based on me saying I got zero signal at work, and I wasn't going to pay for a service I could only use 1/2 of the day. The latter took more bitching and resolve, but I did it. The key is to never give up and being a pain in their ass. I always recommend starting off with the nice route and explaining the situation (moving, won't have signal, need it b/c I'm pregnant and have to be able to call my husband, etc., etc.). Hopefully you get a nice person who understands and does what you want. If not, hang up, try another person. If that person is unhelpful, bring out the "bitch mode" and don't stop until you've talked to supervisors et al...they have to let you out b/c of a mil move, they just may fight you some and tell you they can't. Don't believe them or let them convince you otherwise.

"Rampant Speculation" - Sleep walking + seizure probably means you're screwed. I think you would stand little to no chance of getting a security clearance, plus this is something more than "just a minor condition." Again, speculation, but that's what I'm thinking. Try to talk to a recruiter about it and see if they have any info on what is/is not waiverable.

When will the AF finally get it...the club sucks ass b/c they made it suck ass. Start allowing people to get hammered without fear of repercussion, strippers and porn in the bar, cigars inside allowed, etc. What's so fucking hard to understand. There's a reason we only hang out at our own bars. I'd be all about the club if it was like all the stories I've heard from the pre-90s. If it goes back to that, then the AF might actually get people to go to the club.

BFM is a fluid environment. All it takes is a "small" change in some aspect of the fight to cause one jet to do something which either hurts or helps the other jet's "cause." No fight will ever be the same. I think the problem is you're thinking far too much in a vacuum with constant variables. BFM can be described by two words much of the time: it depends.

That's what I did, except our leader dude didn't give a shit if we had the water bag full if we were filling a camelbak in it's place. Then again, one morning it backfired on me when I pulled on my line to get more "reach" and pulled it right out of the camelbak. Leading to me being drenched down the backside in 20 deg weather with it snowing. Not cool!

Haha, nice.

I've never had problems with life support. But I did have some MX guys try to "encourage" me to take a jet I knew had something wrong with it. I told them no way, I'm going to a spare. It took the Top 3 to get the Super to actually give me a spare. What a jackass...he could care less, it's not his ass in the air. That really pissed me off, but other than that I've never had problems.

Just b/c a MX guy "knows the job" doesn't mean he's always right when it comes to the jet. Two days ago I had to taxi back to chocks to get a "simple" problem fixed, however as I was taxiing out of arming the engine started to surge at idle, engine instruments were fluctuating rapidly...completely abnormal. So I told lead I was just taking the jet back and getting a spare...he agreed (mind you he's a 2000 hr patch wearer). I got back to the chocks and a "specialist" tried to convince me that everything was w/in ops limits (they weren't) and that I should just let them fix the other issue and take this jet. I said no, I'm shutting down and going to a spare. I then go to talk to the MX super and ask him about a spare, his reply: "Sir, I can't just give you a spare b/c you don't feel like flying this jet." I was shocked...I told him, fine call the TOP 3 and see what he has to say. Needless to say I went to a spare a few min later. When it comes down to it, MX plays a numbers game and it's not their asses in the air. I've had no problems with MX until that day, but it just goes to show they're not always looking to do the "right" thing.

Jailbreak + PDAnet (an app) = tethering

And how exactly would the insurance company prove your doors were unlocked when the car was stolen?

Dude, I agree. Like I said, I'm a big proponent of purchasing F-35s as well as more F-22s (than the current buy number). Also, the A-10s and F-15Es aren't going away right away. So if the Govt decides to pull their nuggets out of their ass and buy some more F-22s in addition to the F-35 buy, I think we'll be in a good position. You bet. I'm not blowing up about my resume (hence my "I KNOW VERY LITTLE about..."), however I certainly understand and know a lot more about this general subject than a civilian with no classified access and someone who's not even a military pilot. My problem isn't with the F-22, it's with some guy who doesn't know shit about fighters/military flying and yet still thinks he's right when he says things that are flat out wrong. I have no dog in an argument with dudes like EvilEagle, Buddy or Beerman...but I certainly do with a guy like blackstang.

Maybe just my opinion, but it's not a bad thing to keep cost as a high priority, AS LONG AS you get a good product that meets specs. Remember, the F-16 idea was a basic day VFR fighter that would be "cheap" to build. Don't tell me the Viper isn't a very good fighter. That's just an example of how a project started with such a simple/low cost outlook and evolved into something much more. The same can be said for the F-35. I completely agree that we should be buying both. In no way do I think we should stick to just 187 Raptors...it's retarded. I think we need both and I'm not here for a fighter x is better than fighter y. But it's dumb to think either aircraft is far superior to the other. They're both excellent fighters with mind-blowing technology that will allow us to keep a vast edge on our enemies from some similar standpoints, but also from very different standpoints. Just b/c they differ in some areas does not make one worse than the other. If I took your post the wrong way, my apologies.

WTF was that guy thinking...on multiple occasions. I think this d-bag is the winner for gayest tats ever.