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That's not a known right now and I'd expect to see a few of them hiring next year, possibly later this year, though I'm skeptical on that. Either way, here's hoping they keep the shorter bonuses for the ARC, as many can not commit 5+ year bonuses.

But seriously, glad things word themselves out Duck!

This is my shocked face. Either play to win or GTFO!

I have almost zero faith that we'll see any hiring this year at DAL, but words from our crew resources dude, "it's not off the table." We just posted a small bid that brings back 400 of our unassigned pilots that they hope to have up and flying for summer. If (big IF) the current growth continues, they plan to post a bigger bid in May/Jun to staff for summer 2022. For that bid, they said they'll need 100 WB Captains due to all the early outs we have. That should generate some movement and bring back quite a few more of our unassigned pilots. Of course this depends on the world not losing their minds, the effectiveness of the vaccine and the policies of world leaders as we move forward. I've been out on MLOA for 6-7 months for a deployment and I'm again reminded why I love part time...I can only "MIL" full time for so long.

Remember when news stations used sound off at the end of the night with a waving American flag and the National Anthem? We need more of that and less 24 hours entertainment "news."

Depends big time on your ATAG. Right now, ours doesn't require it, but you'll go to ROPMA (2 year delay). I'm a prior-e that would have had to stay to 23 or 24 years if I had waited for ROPMA...something I really didn't want to do. I bit the bullet and finished ACSC while deployed or otherwise in a pay status. Weird enough, some states/units REQUIRE you to ROPMA to O-4! Not sure why you'd purposely do that to your people but I know of at least 2 states that do it. Sounds like they have a problem of letting senior O-5s stick around too long, or their unit is low on control grades. Admittedly, we're on the high side of control grades right now, which means we currently have a ridiculous amount of O-5s. I reached the same conclusion as you Brabus. It earned me an extra ~$15k this year, however his was a deployment year for me so this isn't the norm.. As a true DSG, if I do all my AFTPs/UTAs/AT, it's only a difference of ~$6k/yr. So if I retire, right at the 3 years TIG, it will have made me an extra $27k. Not bad considering I knocked ACSC out while being paid. Ya man, be happy to be in the Guard on that one...AFRC is a totally different animal. If you're looking for O-5, you're likely better off in the ANG. I pinned on O-5 well before many of my 2nd assignment B-Course IPs who later moved to AFRC.

Those days went away when they stopped letting a pilot run the PT program. They don't call them the good ole days for nothing. The old saying "this isn't your daddies ANG," doesn't even apply anymore...it's not even close to the ANG I joined 20 years ago. That's back when "mandatory fun" was genuinely fun and everyone WANTED to participate! Back when a trip to Alpena meant some awesome shenanigans when the entire wing would end up at the River Club. If those walls could talk... 😳 He's at the best base there is....retired! But the things of which he speaks used to be at pretty much every base. Then cell phones/cameras happened...

That's for AGRs. Add this to very long, but distinguished, list of reasons to be a DSG (Drill-Status Guardsman for you AD folk). Seriously, don't be full time!

It does have it's upsides. Having a bar off base makes for much more fun times than one on base. This!

Certain Guard bases. It has to do with our facilities being state grounds and alcohol not being permitted on state property. I don't believe it's every state, but I've been Guest help in two other states that have the same rules. It seems to highly depend on who TAG is at the time. If TAG is Army, then it tends to be a higher priority to enforce...

This is my shocked face. Still going strong at Base X.

Yet another reason being a part-timer is such a great gig. On another note...if you're looking for a way to burn some of that GI BILL, check out this place.  They have a VA approved, 141 program for your Seaplane rating.

Ha, you assume that I care that the right has all the power. That said, I don't believe either party has any credibility to actually lose, so that helps keep me flippant. The far ends of both parties are complete clown acts right now.

Just woke up on the other side of the world and heard "some people did something..." The internets are still cooking, so the lights must still be on. Are riots and protests a bad thing now?

Idiotic fuckery has gone from linear to accelerating exponentially. I'm inside of 100 days to retirement eligibility. Planning on staying another year or so, but damn, retirement looks better and better every day! This was my first thought as well. The last one was filled with plenty of bullshit like you and pawnman reference. I nominate this thread as the place to post all the bullshit we'll likely be seeing in the next 6-9 months. Lol, that's kind of a running joke on our base. Illegal to have alcohol on base, but it's perfectly fine for the shopette to sell it.

You and I both brother! Are what ifs open? What if we had experience with getting involved in a decade+ long quagmire, that could provide us some lessons learned... What if there was this other super power who had gone into Afghanistan and had some lessons that could have been learned... What if war wasn't such a racket...

It absolutely was a mistake. But at least we're not stuck in that fucking quagmire 20 years later, completely wasting our blood, money, time and assets...

A twist to this conversation. Due to family/work, I plan on staying in my area for the long haul. Once I get out of the Guard, I plan on spending 3-4 winter months somewhere warmer....homie doesn't dig snow anymore. I'm thinking initially of trying furnished, month-to-month type rentals (for 2 adults), rather than owning. I want to be able to hit up different locations from year-to-year before I decide whether I want to buy at a specific location or just keep trying new places. Has anyone done the same? Has anyone found a good resource for such rental types? VRBO? Airbnb? Zillow? bitchinbeachcondos.com?

Well the chicka and I did spent LOTS of time off work, stuck in side... But great Archer reference!

Count me as another who has ate out more since covid than I ever did before rona showed up. Already had the rona, so not all that worried. Hitting up all my local food stores to help keep them afloat through this mess. A very popular small town bar/restaurant I frequent finally opened up in the summer and I was able to chat with the owner and his wife. They were nearly in tears talking about how much the community showed their support. People ordering way more food than they need, leaving big tips, or just an extra 20 here and there. Good people all around.

Lots of non-productive members of society allowed into the U.S, or allowed to stay after coming here illegally, and this dude has his support suddenly denied? Ain't politics lovely.

I grew up in a ridiculously small town in the midwest. I graduated with 35 kids and said, "the keg is on the bean planter," way too many times, kind of rural. 🤣 My parents and sisters still live there, and while there are many great things about it, I just find it way too boring for my taste. As rural as I'm looking for these days, is a house on a lake that is within 30-45 of the city, and has tons of houses/neighborhoods. I currently live in a townhome on the edge of a medium sized city and I have become accustomed having everything close. I love that I have tons of neighbors who are always outside on the patio, fishing in the lake or jumping on 1 of the 2 running/bike trails that pass through my development. Beers on the back porch with my neighbors has created many a new friendship. A 5 min Uber to the bars/restaurants is great, as is the 5 minute drive to the grocery/hardware store. I also love that when I get home from an airline trip in the winter, my driveway is already plowed...I shoveled enough driveways in my youth to know I can do it. Maybe when I'm that old "get off my lawn" type of guy, I'll change my mind.

The inmates have taken over the asylum.

The best is when w/dep goes up and w/o dep goes down. The man hates them some single peeps! Anyway, in my area, we're down across the board. Houses are selling at ridiculously high prices, taxes were just bumped up big time and rents are at an all time high...so it makes sense that we get a cut this year lol. Not a huge deal if you stay on continuous orders, but we'll have a few guys get the shaft and get bumped down in BAH next year. I'm just hoping they'll actually unfuck the part-timer flight pay clusterfuck some day soon...I hear the new pay system will roll out "early 2021." Checks in the mail!