brabus

I've only heard the Eagle guys use that name widely. But damn it's funny to see the look on their face when a 16 guy says, "you're right, you do have a mission...someone's gotta be red air for the Raptor."

I guarantee the people you'll be around in either ROTC are NOT going to give you a good sampling of which service is best for you. The best thing you can do is find out info about each service, their programs, etc...and not from some ROTC kid. Then make a decision. Secondly, I would highly doubt you'd even be able to do both. Not only do they probably do their lead lab BS on the same days, but even if they didn't, there's no way you could have time to mix both and do decently at them. One ROTC is enough bullshit to deal w/, don't even think about doing two (even if it was possible). If you're after flying (which I sort of assume since you're on here), either service is great for that in their own ways. My biggest thing against the Navy is I didn't want to sit on a boat for 6-9 months out of my year. But honestly their flying is pretty awesome and in a lot of ways way cooler than the AF...as far as rules/regs go. However, the AF offers many more aircraft to "choose" from and is still a shitload of fun to fly in (from my limited experience), just the AF has a different viewpoint on flying ops. The Navy has a lot of helos, so if you are dead set against helos than the AF is probably a better choice. Just some quick things...hopefully you can find a flyer from each service to talk to personally who can give you some good face-to-face insight on each branch.

I'll admit I still have a bit of gray here and there...usually due to fatigue/dehydration, which generally leads to a weak strain. The whole point of the GX is to show you what your limits are. Some days you'll feel like a champ and can take 69 Gs, other days you wish you could just do 3G wing work and call it good. It's not unusual to have a little gray on the outside when you just didn't get on your strain quick enough or strong enough. You have no reason to worry and just need to acclimate to the high G environment. I can't speak for dudes w/ a lot of experience, but maybe Toro, Rainmain, etc can chime in to share their experiences. I'm willing to bet they've had the slight gray happen a ton of times over their career. There's a big difference b/w a little graying where you just strain harder and it goes away and the no shit you can't see anything b/c the tunnel just closed up. If you're not the latter, you really shouldn't worry.

The fuge aero phys dude said your calves actually don't really do much at all, but you squeeze them b/c it's a natural way to lead the rest of your lower body into the g-strain. So if you're only squeezing w/ calves and just a bit of leg, that's definitely a big part of the problem. Don't forget your ass...that's actually a pretty big muscle and the only big muscle that's not covered by your g-suit, so if anything, squeeze that shit like you're sharing a room with

Just another quick tip...my biggest problem I had to overcome was you need to relax your upper body while straining (besides your abs). Your shoulders, neck, arms, etc. should be relaxed just like when you're flying 1G. It was really hard for me to overcome this b/c it's just natural to tense up your whole body, but in reality you need to squeeze the shit out of your legs, ass and abs. Close off the airway and breath properly and that's it. Let your shoulders, arms, neck relax and that'll help you...it definitely helped me.

With a bad strain, you can actually screw yourself and you'd be better off just sitting there and not straining at all, seriously. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go ask the Aero Phys dudes for some tips on your G-strain. I honestly didn't know shit until I went to the fuge and really found out how much is actually involved in a G-strain. Most people have a resting G-tolerance of around 4-4.5. Yours may very well be down around 3.5...but that's not really a huge issue. If you have a proper strain, get on the strain before you're playing "catch up" you'll be fine. Drink a shitload of water. Fatigue and dehydration massively lowers your G-tolerance. I was tired as shit and definitely pissing yellow today before my 2nd flight...5.5 felt like 9. Some days you're just not as good b/c of those two factors mostly. So, you just have to strain harder than usual at a certain G to compensate. Biggest tips are work on your G-strain, don't just blow it off like 99% of us do/did in Phase II. Get as much rest as you can (probably the least in your control) and drink a lot of water all the time, especially in the summer when it's hot as shit...like now. You'll get more tolerance naturally as you go on, so don't worry too much...but definitely don't start telling people you're graying out all the time...at least unless it becomes a serious safety factor down the road.

Sounds like a good idea scooter, I'll get that started...because I just know those assclowns are going to tell me I owe them $$$ in 6-9 years.

So after reading this, it sounds like it'd be a good idea to save all claimed receipts for every TDY in a file cabinet. Guess I'm a TDY behind, but better safe than sorry. Is there any reason to get copies of the travel voucher or are the receipts good enough?

I didn't say they were gay like TIB...that would be overboard. But, being the honor guard commander is still something I would not want to do. I'm not questioning the patriotism of it all, the need for their services, etc...but when it comes down to it, it's about marching around. I do admit the stuff those guys can do is impressive, but seriously, it's still just marching/throwing rifles around. I'm glad someone likes to do it, but I sure as hell don't want to. Thanks for the enlightenment.

The guy who did the check at vance a while ago was in a King Air. But, sounds like they're also using other stuff...just wondering. That's not what I said LJ. Don't put words in my mouth. It would be incredibly gay to march around for Generals and blah blah. I have nothing against the funeral/presenting flag side of the job and think it's a great thing. But that's only a part, all the other stuff is gay; that's the part I was commenting on and that's my opinion.

Alright, fair enough. Obviously I'm biased towards my side of the fence. Seriously though, I'm sure being in OSI is a hell of a lot better than being a standard shoe in any other job. I just sure as hell wouldn't want to deal w/ the sick crap those guys have to deal with. Just me though. Good luck on the board, I hope it works out for you.

It seems that 98% of OSI is queep and spending the other hours dealing w/ some fvcked up cases...again, from your desk. The other 2% is freaking out when I tell them some dude has more than one beer in a sitting. Holy shit, say it ain't so! I don't see how people think that job is so awesome.

They're nice people, it's just they're horrible at their job...or at least they're horrible w/ my stuff, but I'm sure there are many more here w/ similar problems as I. It's frustrating when perfection is expected out of the Ops side of the house (as it should be), but mediocrity seems to be the goal on the support side (as far as Finance and MPF go). It's good to know level-headed people who don't suck at their job exist in the Finance world, just apparently not at Vance.

I'm always very polite to them. I've never been irate and it's true I only bash them on here or in the SQ. I firmly believe being nice gets you a lot farther than blowing up at people, even if it's completely warranted. However, it just makes my blood boil that EVERY time I deal w/ them, they lose something, completely screw it up, things magically change (for the worse of course), they never have a good reason for why somethings screwed up, etc. Yes, they're using DTS, but for some reason we had to do the old school way this time (I heard it was b/c Holloman wasn't in DTS, which is where we went TDY...but I don't know for sure). At least w/ DTS the screw-ups are minimized.

Just a friendly update...Finance is still batting a 1000. Went in the other day to ask why the fvck I hadn't been paid for my TDY over a month ago. Their answer: "uh, we lost your paperwork." And of course they didn't think to tell me about this...apparently standard procedure is to just wait till I go in and ask. Finance Guy...you know anyone who can get these fvckheads at Vance to get their shit together? Man I hate these guys.

I would report it. That's a pretty big surgery. Like you said, everything's fine, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal. They'll probably test your range of motion and that's about it. Have all the reports/x-rays from the civilian doc ready and then tell the AF. I wouldn't skip out on saying something about a surgery.

Either you really suck, are shooting terrible ammunition, or something is wrong w/ the weapon...but the last one is very unlikely compared to the first two. Every Glock I've shot shoots as straight as a laser. The only better I've personally shot was a USP and a Sig...but the difference was not worth the price of the USP, and I liked the Glock better for carry over the Sig. But seriously, give it a good cleaning and buy some decent ammo...and you're probably jerking all over the place when you pull the trigger, naturally trying to "compensate" for the larger kick. It's a VERY common mistake in new shooters. Try getting some dummy rounds (blast caps) and have a friend load a magazine w/ real ammo and a dummy round somewhere randomly in there (you should not watch him do this...it's gotta be a surprise). Then start shooting, one shot at a time, a few sec in b/w each shot. When you get to the dummy round, you'll probably be surprised at how much you naturally jerk the gun around when trigger squeeze comes. Doing the blast cap thing fixed my problem of doing that back in the day.

I don't know, flying 15 approaches in a King Air would be pretty fvcking boring. What's the pay like?

I know brick, I was just stating my complete disgust for a completely gay job.

Where do I sign up! (insert vomiting icon...I can't find it)

What a badass. What happened to all the dudes like him.

Wow, that sucks. From the couple I went to when casual (someone had to pour the shots), the songs were definitely there. And that's at a UPT base...I would have thought AD would have been even better.

The best part of the whole "deal" is you get to do pretty much the same exact shit a few years down the road (SOS). I agree getting some extra money, hanging out with friends and getting tanked in Florida on the weekends is a descent deal, but the course is retarded and has not made me any better of an officer..."real world" (as much as UPT can be anyways) experience has done that. I know this doesn't encompass all people (and yes everyone is entitled to their own opinion), but everyone who thought ASBC was relatively valuable and a descent program also were the people who thought ROTC was a great program and taught you a bunch of meaningful lessons on life/AF...yeah right.

Cell Dweller is probably spot on. But to be honest, if you can't pass the AF PFT, that's pretty damn bad. You have to be in horrendous shape to not be able to pass; I find it almost impossible to believe that a "varsity athlete" can not pass the PFT. Regardless, everyone should go to FT being able to pass the PFT. If they go not being able to pass it (as in this case...unless they made her take it w/ a sprained ankle, then that's a different story), then that's their own damn fault and I don't feel sorry for them. She's probably going to get the boot unless their some very good circumstances on her side.

Go to the doc. They're still bothering you and waiting will probably just make it worse. If you're absolutely worried about going DNIF or getting the screw, then go to a civilian doc and pay out of pocket. That's an option if you're willing to pay for it. But seriously, you're having some knee pain when you play sports, not just sitting there. I highly doubt you will be DNIF'd for something that probably (at least from what I can understand from what you've said) has no effect on your standard, every-day mobility and ability to fly an airplane. And like I said before. it's much better to get a problem fixed at the beginning of Phase II than it is half way through.