SocialD

Lol, when everyone suddenly started talking about this Simone chick, I legit had to hit up google to find out who she was.

100th Anniversary paint scheme of the 163FS in Ft Wayne.

Open up Viper Driver Memes v.69 and repost everything but don't tag people who can't take criticism/jokes...done!

I'm all for the path of least resistance as that's what I'd do too. But holy shit, what a fucked up requirement to have in place, especially when everyone knows about these "box checking" masters. I haven't heard of the Guard requiring it yet, and if they did, I'd expect them to start paying for it.

Seems like valid questions to me. Were there any extenuating circumstances? Long story, but as an OPS SUP on a recent deployment, I found myself cancelling lines when the weather was "technically" legal. Things like lack of reliable weather reporting, lack of support at diverts, PR grounded for weather, zero Americans outside the wire, all lead to those decisions. We were never questioned by anyone in our chain of command...well anyone with wings on their chest and AF on their name tag.

Is a masters a requirement, or a "requirement," to make O-6 in the AFRC? Zero interest in O-6, but I have never have actually heard if it's a requirement in the ANG. Either way, sounds like you'll be good, as I'm guessing there are going to be lots of opportunities soon. My base alone is losing 12 O-5s/O-6s in the next 1.5 years (~32% of our pilot force). Best of luck! Our O-6s are generally BMC, but often fly more than most of us DSG's.

Mid-late 90s OPS TEMPO you say? 30 day deployments, every 3+ years, with only the occasional long TDY in between. Sign me up! If I knew we wouldnt be deploying every 19-24 months, on a waste of time deployment, I would potentially stick around a bit longer.

Well that's their mission, not training, which is what the sign is getting at. I agree in one sense because we won't even fly through a thunderstorm on a combat mission. We'll fly around it, but never through it. More on the subject in the context of this conversation. I've never shown up to work only to been told to go home and come back in 12 hours to go fly without being offered go/no-pills. If this training was important enough, then the docs would have given them the pills.

You know why the flight doc denied them no-go's...because it's a fuckin exercise, they're not headed downtown, the OG can't seem to make the distinction. The quote I was reminded of while listening to that overly dramatic tantrum.

Please tell me this was in an unclass setting and someone had their cell phone recording this?!? But seriously, if true, everyone in the room should have left the building and immediately filed an IG complaint. Wait, this dude is an ABM? Oh man...lol, someone should have asked if he had come to that viewpoint from is vast experience as a pilot?

Say what? If there are enough of those people (in an ARC squadron) to make a difference, then I'd seriously question that units hiring practices. I've only known of one person who wrote the board. He subsequently got out and was promoted to Major within a year of joining the ARC...hired by two majors as well. Personally, I'd give them the "men at work" golf clap for realizing they're in a shitty spot, making the decision to do something about it and actually making it happen.

Used to be 2 sets of 265 day orders, which is more like 1.5 years. You can easily stretch that out to 2.5-3 years if you do UTA/AFTPs between sets of orders. Some line it up so you use up one years worth of UTA/AFTP at the end of the FY, then roll right into the next FY and use up as many of those UTA/AFTPs, before starting your next set of orders. Throw in a deployment order in there and it's pretty easy to get to 3 years if you want. Something to consider... I can count on one hand, and have a few fingers left over, the number of guys who actually went back to their jobs post seasoning. That's over 15 years of sending between 1 and 3 studs every year to pilot training. I get it if you're in a highly specialized field, otherwise I wouldn't sweat it too much...5 years is a good WAG.

People will just ignore it and this will be the most broken reg out there. So the FAA can either lose their minds trying to chase this down, ignore it at the local FSDO level or change their course.

Those lobbyist/board of director jobs aren't just going to create themselves for retiring Generals!

Varies wildly, with so many factors to consider. Some commutes are what some say are "super easy," and others are damn near impossible. Weather/IROPs can really throw a wrench into your plans. I left AAL for DAL because commuting absolutely sucks. I was staring down the barrel of a career of being gone a few more nights/month without pay...as in, another work month+ (per year) worth of days gone from home. Being on a WB can greatly mitigate this, so something to consider. Some prioritize location over those extra nights at home which I get, but it certainly wasn't for me. DAL has an unable to commute clause, whereby if you have a realistic backup (ie...seats open) and you just couldn't make it, they'll drop the trip without pay. A few times here and there, no big deal. Start making a habit of it and the Chief pilot is probably going to schedule a meeting. I'd assume that most of the other airlines have something similar. Right now it's moo point here at DAL since we have positive space commuting, but it's not actually in the contract, so it can (and likely will) be pulled at any time. My view on commuting...I'd move #3 up to the #1 spot. If I absolutely had to commute, if they're not already, FDX/UPS would be my top choices. They appear to have a decent amount of trips that begin/end with deadheads, which would make commuting much less stressful! Seriously though, not commuting is like having an entirely different job! In my short 8-9 years of airline flying I've witnessed some ridiculous buffoonery (and some serious blood pressure) by guys trying to catch a commute flight. I never dreamed I'd be in a situation where I thought I'd have to call a go-around from the jumpseat...but sometimes that's what you get when both pilots are trying to catch the last commute flight out of town. The happiest commuter I ever met was the guy who just gave up and always commuted up the night prior and stayed at the DTW Westin. If we got in late at the end of the trip he just went back to the Westin and got a room. Then again, he said his wife made 3x what he did and they had no kids...so no real stress of missing nights/spending money.

This is my shocked face... Even if it is in writing, you can't always count on it... That whole "core values" thing, that's more for you to follow and doesn't necessarily pertain to big AF. Also, no one care more about you (and your career) than you do. Just keep this all in mind as you make family/career/life decisions throughout your time in the military.

I could write a few pages on my feelings (disdain) toward our continued involvement in that place, but I'll keep it short and sweet. My two trips were over a decade apart. First one kinda felt like I was doing something, but even then, there was no clearly defined strategic objectives, just some nebulous bullshit. At least I was helping the Americans on the ground. The second time (late last year/early this year), was a complete waste of my time, money and hours on the jets. Zero strategic goals, zero tactical goals, zero sense of accomplishment, zero feeling of what we were doing meant anything. Two good things came out of that trip...we brought everyone home safely and it strengthened my resolve to get out. Who is going to be the first to pen a book called The Eagle went over the Mountain? Maybe they'll update to the Graveyard of Empires.

Having deployed there a few times my only emotion is elation. It was long past due to GTFO and stop spending our national treasure in that place.

Well this may be a step in the right direction for retention. So long Bagram, and good riddance!

LOL, that would be an absolutely terrible move. With stop loss, you're likely to get a pulse that shows up to work, and in the case of part-timers, who will participate much less. You (the gov) got yourself into the fuck mess, don't drag me down with your bullshit bandaid.

Meh, after the newness wears off, everything becomes just a job. Flying fighters is still cool, but the all the asspain involved to do it slowly overpowers the coolness. If they're one of those types whose identity is is defined by wearing a G-suit, they can go Guard or contract red air. In the end, money talks...as we're seeing today.

Big problem is these idiots come out here and think it's perfectly normal to pay stupid prices for real estate, because it's a "good deal," compared to the exorbitant prices they're used to in the city. Then they start to vote in the same idiots they just fled. Like a beaten wife who thinks their husband has really changed, they think it will be different. Stay where you're at and don't fuck up our area too!

Helo is right, no matter how big of a douche canoe they are, they'll have zero problems finding something on the outside. Douche canoes take care of douche canoes...there is no justice. I've saw an O-6 black-balled from pretty much everywhere he tried to go, and one of the (many) people he fucked over, flat out told him it was happening. He deserved every bit of it.

Oh ya we're totally serious this time...so much peace you won't believe it. On another note, what's the exact day you guys are leaving again? But seriously, does it matter at this point? GTFO!

Is this the same guy who said (on FB) that airlines won't be hiring for "a long time." Same guy that said he had no details on the bonus, but then proceeded to give a "do it for God and country" speech, as a precursor to the release of a shitty bonus?