brabus

Well you said starting in a "few weeks." You mean Phase I of UPT...i.e. the beginning, right? If so, then yes, you have about 2 months till you fly. Either way, see how the inserts work out, but if it's not a lot better in a week or so, I'd still go see the doc. It really sounds like this isn't something that would DNIF you...doesn't sound like any of this would affect your ability to fly...unless it was extremely painful to use the rudder, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Go see the doc. You're a good 2+ months from flying, so it really doesn't matter if you're DNIF during that time. I wouldn't think you'd go DNIF for this, but even if you did, it probably wouldn't be for that long. It's better to start solving the problem now than waiting till your 3 days out from your dollar ride and then going to the doc and getting DNIF'd. That would suck; stop the problem before it gets worse.

I love these stories about civilian's telling aircrew they don't know what they're talking about. Seriously, what the hell goes through these peoples' minds when they start telling an aircrew member they don't know anything about their profession. It's simply amazing. I think the next time I go to the dentist I'm going to tell him he's flossing my teeth all wrong.

I think P27 was speaking strictly for the AF. The AF will ONLY accept the plates. Navy will take the FALANT (as Hijole said). So yes, you WILL NOT fly for the AF, but you could very well still fly w/ the Navy. This happened to a buddy of mine. Based on what happened to him and what Hijole is saying, sounds to me like the Navy doesn't give a rats ass if you can't pass the plate test, they just care about you passing the FALANT. Also, don't they have a few other tests you can take? My buddy made it sound like they had 5 or 6 tests and you just had to pass one of them. Is that true? Either way, give the Navy a shot.

No pun intended, right drew? For anyone w/ windows mobile smart phones, you can get google maps or windows live search for free...no data package needed (works through normal connectivity...don't know how, but it does). Live search is way better than google maps. I installed both and live search can do a lot more and is easier. I have an SDA from Tmobile.

The iPhone is badass, but at $500, I think I'll be waiting. My buddy who did get one for him and the wife pays 85 bucks a month to cingular...shares 700 min, night starts at 7pm, all min rollover and unlimited data plan. That's a fvcking awesome deal...except for the $500 on the phone. I'll wait till they go down in price, but if you don't care about spending the cash, it's a great product and much better IMO than the standard smart phone.

It might be. I had pretty much the same thing happening to me for a couple months. Bought new shoes and that helped a tiny bit, but not much. What really helped me was that I found out I was putting the majority of the impact on my heel instead of the ball of my foot when running. Unless you're sprinting, yes you want to transfer heel to toe, but don't spend too much time on the heel. So, I started actively thinking about hitting my heel, but rolling to the ball of my foot during my stride AS FAST as I could. Basically, spend as little time as possible w/ weight on your heel. I'm not a trainer, nor would I even consider myself a runner...but I was told this by my wife (who runs 40-50 mi a week and multiple marathons) and by a trainer to try this. It made a complete difference and now when I do run, I don't have any pain at all. Give yourself a week off, and then ease back into it trying to roll to your toes as quick as possible...see if it helps.

They're not going to give you any kind of test for asthma at your FC1...unless it's in your records. So if you have no medical records saying "asthma" or related after 13, you should be fine. However, offering up this info about "my parents thought I did so I got an inhaler" could just nail your coffin just like that. You didn't have asthma after 12 or whatever (it doesn't count that your parents fvcked up and thought you did), so I would say NO when they ask if you have. Case closed, you're fine. Now, at the same time, you say you get coughing spells after working out, but then go to say you run 3-4 a day, pball 24 hrs, blah blah...which is it? If you can run 3-4 a day w/ no problem, you're going to be fine w/ AF PT. This is all technique purely. I can't tell you what to do or what the right answer is. All I know is the AF is VERY VERY touchy on the asthma thing, at least in my experience w/ friends' cases. Technically it's not a big deal if you didn't have anything after 12 (hence why you're probably SOL if you mention the after 13 thing), but I've seen a couple friends bite the dust for asthma when they were several years younger than 12. So, who knows. Play it safe and don't offer any more info than you need to.

It might depend on who you talk to in LS...just a guess. A couple of those guys in there (Vance) get pissy whenever you ask them to DO THEIR JOB. I would just think they'd quit w/ the attitude I get every time I go there for something. They must really hate their job.

The AF has a very different culture among officers/enlisted and how young officers are looked at/treated compared to other services (this comes from my buddy who's a Marine 1Lt). He's noticed that a lot of people, including enlisted, shit on LTs for being those idiots that just graduated college. I'm not complaining; in fact it seems warranted much of the time. His viewpoint is that in the Marines when you're an officer, even as a 2LT, you're held to the same regard/treated as such as say a Capt in the AF. There's just that difference b/w how the other services view rank, and the AF's majority viewpoint is that while a LT is an officer, they still don't know shit and thus are treated accordingly...not saying that's wrong, but that's just one Marine's view. In my opinion, it's usually not too bad, but there are some NCOs out there that feel it's their job to shit on the new LTs as much as possible...be respectful, but don't just let them walk all over you...you are an officer, act like it.

Exactly Techsan is a genius! I am not against customs and courtesies at all, but the only SNAP is the d-bag 1Lt who thinks he so fvcking deserving of a salute from a 2Lt. I don't even feel deserving of a salute from NCOs, but I understand the reasoning behind it all. I'm not against the whole thing at all, but it's just common practice for Lts not to salute other Lts, that's how I learned it and that's how I practice it...minus the FAIP thing, but that's just another one of those "only at UPT" things.

So far I haven't ran into a single 1Lt who gave me shit or even seemed pissed when I didn't salute them...except for the FAIPs, I'll salute them until they tell me otherwise. But another stud or the finance Lt, there's no rank among LTs, thieves, etc. I know it happens, but are you guys seeing this a ton, or just isolated cases? B/c regardless of what some base email says, I still feel like it's common knowledge that there's no saluting 1LTs (except if they have wings). Just my observation.

I'm pretty sure they don't go until after their done and going on to the next thing.

Man, I think OSU's story's got the gold for now. I've never seen anything that bad, but I do remember first getting to ASBC last June...so you know every single one of us on that day had been on AD for about 3 days. I see these two fags no shit walking in their BDUs wearing their sky cop hats (2LTs there for ASBC) at the BX! You could tell they thought they were hot shit. I mean, I wore my uniform as little as possible in that sweltering hell hole, and these guys were wearing their uniforms a good day before there was any kind of required event to be at in uniform (in-processing bullshit the next day). Come to find out I was right and these two assclowns were brand new 2LTs and of course hadn't even gone to tech school, but were still wearing their berets and the SF badge on their BDUs. That'd be like casual LTs wearing wings on their chest b/c they are "going to get them anyways." Unbelievable the amount of idiocy some people possess. Also on the same day one of my buds said he went up to the gate to get a vehicle pass and there was an SF 1LT there doing some crap...he said first off the guy was being a total jackass to the civilian gate guards...obviously being an asshole just to be one. So my friend waits for him to finish his tirade; as the dude is leaning over to write something on a desk, my friend tells him he needs a vehicle pass, the dude just picks up his beret off the table, holds it in my friend's face and just points at the 1LT bar, then sets it back down and goes back to whatever BS he was doing w/o saying a single world. Talk about total douche bag.

Guys do it a lot. I've heard of dudes PC after only 1.5-2 yrs service after wings. They still have to serve out their commitment in the Guard, but that's sure not a bad deal. I can only tell you what I've heard about this (I have not done it...just clarifying), but it seems the consensus is to make sure you have a good "guarantee" from the guard unit that they'll take you before you slap the PC paperwork on your bosses desk. If the deal falls through, you've probably burned some bridges on AD and your career may suffer due to that. So, probably want to keep it on the DL that your considering this (at least just don't let it be widespread knowledge) until you've got a "for-sure" deal set up. That's the info I've heard...I'm sure someone who's actually done this/knows more about this will chime in. Good luck with it.

To the OP, yes you can and should take the alloted time they give you. Sure you could just power through and drive it in 2-3 days, but might as well take it a bit slower, stop and see some places/people you want to and collect money while you're at it. That way you're not driving 12-15 hrs a day which sucks major ass, and you can see some friends, the Grand Canyon, whatever. Just my opinion. Decider: If you're going to Altus and you're family is staying wherever, you should get BAH wherever they are...or at least that's what I've been told. Either way, when you move out of family housing on base, they've got to pay you BAH from somewhere, so at the very least it would just stay at the UPT base, but I've been told you can get BAH for wherever your in-law's house is. Don't know the validity behind that.

Don't know why it took Jimmy's post to figure it out, but I got it. I super smart!

I was polite as well, I was asking a serious question about the % who played sports. I never said I could have played varsity (sorry, my school didn't have varsity baseball, only a "competitive" club team). Rainman, I respect you for you experience and help here, but hell, I wasn't trying to jump your shit or anything w/ my last post. I think it was just a huge misunderstanding, so just disregard and lets move on. And just curious...I got as far as the "SADA" part, what's that?

Rainman, you're correct. I haven't played a Div I/II sport nor am I a fighter pilot. But, as an honest question, what % of pilots played a Div I/II sport in college? I don't know, but I would guess it's a very small percentage. Many have played intramural, club, etc, but how many have played a no shit college sport. That's the point I was trying to get across. I bet I love sports and am a supporter of playing sports just as much as you are. All I was saying is that doing a college sport b/c it'll improve your chances at flying is probably not the best reason to do so. You should play b/c it's fun, you get to knock the shit out of people and win. Of course there are positive correlations b/w sports and flying, but considering how many pilots played a college sport, it's obviously not a requirement, nor a huge boost. I know you have much more experience in this than I do, but what worked for you is probably not the norm, nor a requirement to get to the same place. To the orig poster: I would recommend giving it a shot. If you can run track, do ROTC and do well in school...do it! But, if you find ROTC and grades suffering b/c of how much time track requires, you'll have to evaluate your priorities. I'm not saying that will happen, but it might. Go kick ass at track, but make sure you kick enough ass in grades/ROTC to get the pilot slot. Good luck man.

I'm jealous CE...wish I was hunting in Alaska this next season!

"Sir, here's what I got on my form 70." (IP spends 6.9 sec putting in crap on DUATS) "Nope...come on fvcker, we don't have all day!" Stud mumbling to himself - "fvcking gay whiz wheel" On a slightly more serious note. On my XC a while ago the briefers were taking up to 30 min to get a hold of, so I just said fvck it and logged on to my DUATs account and filed all our flight plans in 2 min. My IP didn't even know you could do that and thought it was pretty sweet. It may not technically be approved, but all the IPs that weekend didn't give a shit if we used it (after the initial "show me you can do this old way").

Playing sports is just good all around. Sure it'll help foster that "winning attitude," but it'll also help you w/ hand-eye coordination (some sports more than others), maybe you need to learn to work on a team better, whatever. But college sports is a different animal. I played intramural stuff and just pick up games for fun, but didn't play actual NCAA sports or something. It's very hard to do school, ROTC and play a Div I/II sport. If you can do it, more power to you, but very few are able to. Back when I started college, I may have been able to play baseball had I stuck w/ it, but it was going to be way too much to play baseball, get a degree, do ROTC and still have time to do the outdoor stuff I loved to do. While I like baseball, the time commitment just wasn't worth it to me...I went to college/did ROTC so I could get a commission and fly, that was my main goal, so I did what I thought was best to help that goal along. BL: If you're thinking playing a college sport is somehow going to drastically help you become a fighter pilot, it's not. Skills and mindsets that make a good player and a fighter pilot down the line (referring to the dudes in your book) were most likely developed before playing a college sport. When it comes to flying, you either have the drive or you don't, you either have the hands or you don't...whether you played football in college has little if nothing to do w/ UPT or flying in general (w/ the small exception if you had no drive and football gave it to you or something...but that's a little out there).

What a cruel joke that room is. Maybe some day.

Who's worse though, the cops that put it on or the REMFs who actually participate? I'd say this is par for the cops, but for anyone who would actually do this (and you know HD is right that they're going home talking about being in the shit), they've got to be the biggest tool bags....ever.

OMFG. All of me wishes you were joking, unfortunately all of me knows you're not. Wow.