brabus

Ejection over bearing sea, 2012 (japan to Alaska coronet). Handed off OSC to the 135 once we had done everything useful we could. They stayed overhead and did a handoff with another 135 that came from AK. Between the two crews they maintained OSC and coordinated with various assets to get our bro picked up. Weather was shit, so finding him was difficult...no doubt their efforts helped make a positive end to the story.

Crazy day for sure. Tanker dudes did a great job on scene, glad they were there.

Not as good as sniper. Don’t do it. For the incident, talk to some JTACs in the know...they do not put the B-1 crew as RC. That said, don’t even drop BOC without at least a quick assessment of friendly positions (map, etc.) If you hit the pickle button without 100% SA on all friendlies, you are taking a lot of risk and putting the deconfliction onus on one man. Sometimes that risk may be worth it, but many times it’s not, even in the midst of a nasty gun fight. A 30 sec QC may have saved several lives.

Hard to tell if gear is down (if it is, no AGCAS). The one ejection I watched there was no change in aircraft attitude (pre-AGCAS days). Glad he got out alright!

I’ve personally seen this exact situation 3 times...unfuckingbelievable.

10 years at minimum until that becomes a reality (at a credible effectiveness level as defined by line pilots, not the bobs). I’m not exaggerating.

The first attempt made for me in the same situation was at month 5 before sq/cc finds out HRO said they had advertised the job and no one applied (so they let it close out and did nothing after that). The problem was they never informed anyone in the air guard about the posting (no mass email, contact leadership directly, etc). So wing had to resubmit. Long story short I’m now a DSG, and it was the greatest move ever. Perhaps consider the alternatives to ART, as this is just a glimpse into the well below average performance of HRO (unless you’re in one of the few states who have the ART program somewhat figured out, but doesn’t sound like it).

No idea, but I do think he still was at least somewhat recently based on younger guys knowing him. Makes sense, I don’t think anyone would know him unless they were a student or IP at Luke.

F-35 aggressors help train to problems of TODAY, not just 10 years from now. The training gap is even more significant for 5th gen and this move greatly closes that gap.

Never met 4 Quarts at Luke?

Over 139 days triggers a PCS vs. TDY. Two ways around that are either have a specific waiver for that course (i.e. WIC) or have at least a 30 day break in formal courses, at which point you can be TDY up to 179 days. An example for the latter would be a couple months of TX, break, then AC qual course, totaling no more than 179 days. This was years ago, but I stayed on base during an extended TDY while getting BAH for the PDS my family lived at. One note is if you leave the Navy and move your family to Mildenhall, but DON’T sign into base prior to going to Altus, you will require SAF approval to receive Mildenhall OHA. This is an MFR request routed up the chain. The easiest answer is sign into Mildenhall (e.g. complete the PCS), then go TDY. If you go TDY enroute and stash your family in some other place (not Altus) you will have to do the MFR request to get their local BAH. Otherwise you will receive the “standard” rate, which is not that great.

The news needs to get 4 Quarts on the horn ASAP for some expert commentary.

Why? These are the current day threats (let alone near future capes). Just because they present a far more difficult problem doesn't justify us not doing it. Pretending SU-30s with C/D/Archer is a realistic baseline is laughable. That's like the Chinese training to an F-16 A-model in relative comparison. Time to solve the hard problem, not run away from it and solve the easy problem, then beat our chests about how great we are.

Read the JTR carefully on the section regarding HHG storage and self-procurement. I have in the past been reimbursed for 3 years of self-procured storage (car and HHG). Of course they will only reimburse you up to govt rate and it's important you provide copies of any agreements signed with the storage place, as well as all receipts.

It is cost prohibitive to upgrade 2B jets, so they’re stuck at that s/w. We badly need 5th gen aggressors. This is actually a great 2-birds-with-one-stone play. No raptors were made perma-NMC by Michael. We need every raptor we can get doing the combat or training mission.

Know several fighter bros who went through Cobra Kai in Wichita Falls with great things to say about them. Maybe not the cheapest option, but sounds like a place that understands where fighter guys are coming from/going and will get you what you need.

Networked data sharing is the future, and there is a lot of momentum behind it. You are right, we will not need a bunch of large airframe C2ISR in the future. Not to say it won't still have a place, but the paradigm is certainly shifting.

PIlot's points are valid...you can't have your cake and eat it too. Even after more than a decade of flying fighters, I still have 30 years of dragging bags through an airport ahead (knock on wood). Seniority is "everything," but let those numbers sink in. In the grand scheme of things, would 42 years of the airlines (vs 30) be worth not having 12 years of military flying? Intangible opportunity costs/gains may be worth a lot to some, and none to others. To each their own, there is no right or wrong answer.

G650...this problem has already been somewhat solved, just need the AF to commit. Replace big wing ISR, EC-130, etc. with G650s - higher density to meet the demand with more capability. Throw in some wedge tails to replace the E-3s. Its ridiculous we haven't done this yet.

I've talked to several bros who have been asked by OG and or WG/CC about not taking bonuses...they all say the general reaction is surprise. In 2019, leadership is still "surprised" a $15-35K bonus isn't worth shit to us.

Wing CC: "Why would you not sign this bonus, you're leaving $35K on the table!" Pilot: "I grossed $35K last month in my other job" Wing CC: "....fuck"

ROTC is definitely your best chance at a pilot slot. I've never met a single regional guy and thought, "I bet that guy had a better time slogging it through the regionals than flying military aircraft all around the world and doing some awesome shit with bros who will be life long friends."

Keep in mind it is not a one-size-fits-all game. Every unit will be different in how they weight certain aspects of a candidate, and for that matter, the same unit will differ between boards based on who's on the board that particular year. Hundreds of people apply for many fighter boards, so every point counts and it behooves everyone to max effort tests, but in the end some boards will care more/less than others on specific scores.

Those are great things, make sure they're are on your app. Bottom line, things like that display you are physically competitive, have experience competing as part of a team, and care about the success of others and not just your own (the volunteer hunter education part helps demonstrate that). Have a plan to find work in a civilian career field post-college, but keep up the Guard job hunt. We also want to know you have an ability to support yourself on the civilian side if/when full time orders aren't available.

Aggressors isn't a retainment tool - no offense to my bros who do that mission, but most fighter pilots aren't clawing at the doors to do it, especially under the current environment. That said, your point of an ARC unit is more appealing because there are fighter pilots who want to stay connected to tac aviation, but only do so not on AD/as a part time gig. The contract side of the house has provided that in a significantly better manner than the ARC could ever do...ever. It will take monumental organizational change (i.e. never going to happen) for the AD to get back to doing a fighter aggressor program like it had in the 70s-80s. So, this is one place where I think contractor work is by far the best direction for this program and we should just shove money at them over the next 20+ years instead of trying to "save" money and completely fucking up the whole thing ourselves (I also say this having zero personal connection to any contract ADAIR).