YoungnDumb

Any word on the drops last night?

Does DLF have the capability to support the increased load? I ask because I know the Toner fleet is basically dead because of MX and he hail storm, and they are relying on donated jets from the other bases. Are the 38's in a similar situation down there?

If the AF actually does something intelligent and gets a decent COIN aircraft like the A-29, I know a bunch of dudes with a thousand plus single turbo prop time who would volunteer.

END 17-08 9 AD T-38's (no shit), 1 INTL, 1 Guard, so 11 total T-38's 13 T-1's 1 Helo

Affirm, all my bubbas at END had to redo their dreamsheets to include bombers, some went for it, some didn't. It'll be interesting to see what AFPC does with this.

Back to our regularly scheduled broadcast of Assignments- END T-38 -3x F-16 split between Holloman and Tucson -1x F-15E -1x T-38 FAIP T-1 -MC-130J -E-3 -Toner FAIP Honestly don't remember much.

Damn, A toast

I'll be honest, my now wife and I were long distance during UPT and it was awesome. Yea it sucked she wasn't there but at the same time I never had to explain why I was showing back up to the house at 4 am drunk and smelling like a strip club. And speaking as a current IP, she may say that she understands and is okay with you studying all the time but I'll be honest, neither you nor her really know what you're getting into or just how much its about to upset your world. I've dealt with an insane number of pissed off wives who complain about their husband studying all the time or complaining that they're gone 12 hours a day and come home exhausted. I waited to get married until post-UPT which was great. Knew where we were gonna live, knew what the wife was gonna do, and had a slightly better idea/understanding of what we were getting into. So IMHO it's not all bad leaving her behind, it's one-two years, if she really is the one she'll be fine with it.

Don't count your chickens until they hatch...

Easy enough to get

T-6! Where are at? Not that I'm looking for an excuse to get out of Enid, OK.....

Corporate logos, ask for Rex, no issues at all

I'll be interested to see if that makes its way over to AETC as we have absorbed a large amount of MC-12 bubbas, many of whom would kill to have a shot at a fighter/bomber.

Nope. Last we heard from our OG (this was 1-2 months back) was that due to the fighter crisis AFPC was trying to route all eligible FAIPs to fighters and none to bombers. Since then we haven't heard squat. The F-35 guys got their assignments early due to the 35 B-Course starting this fall, the rest of us are still waiting.

Let's hope this keeps up for this years FAIP drop.

Ya we have a handful of guys up here (KEND) who are qualed to run sims, but you see them doing it rarely as it pulls them off the flight line, but as you mentioned people are getting to the point where they won't be able to fly anyways. Most recently we have been seeing students showing up to the flight line not opted to fly which means you are starting out behind as you are now wasting flying days just to get them opted for events.

We're running into this on the T-6 side as well. Just for everyone to stay on timeline we must average about 100 effective sorties a day out of about 130 ish flown. So once you start taking into account CT, MX, and students hooking/ineffective rides it gets tough pretty fast. Another big issue are the sims. We get on average about 60-64 sims each day for all the T-6's. When you have each flight needing to average 5 per day just to graduate on time it's tough to get ahead for things like XC.

END FAIP was similar, 2 years and 2 months I think.

4 x F-35's dropped on Friday for FAIP's. 1x Vance 1x Laughlin 2x Sheppard Everyone else is still waiting on their assignments. These 4 had to get them early as they all head to IFF August 31 and the T-6 dudes need to start their T-38 transition ASAP. Guy who got it from my squad got his assignment on Friday, Fini flight yesterday, T-38 intro today. From what we've been told the 4 FAIP's will head to IFF and compete against one another for 3 F-35 slots to Luke AFB. No idea what 4th place will get, though they've hinted at an F-16.

Everything prior to this is pretty much spot on. The Academy is a pretty good shot at getting a pilot slot, but to be honest there is no discernible program that produces the most pilots who go X route. Speaking as a current instructor in T-6's I've had guys show up who were on Wings of Blue wanting to go fighters, then decide they want heavies, and I've had guys on the flying team damn near fail out of UPT. I've also had people show up with 0 time in an aircraft before and finish in the top third, so there really is no magical formula. Getting your PPL is not a bad idea, but when you get to UPT in 6 years shut up about the fact that you have PPL, we don't care. As or being a good officer, like Helodude said, we could all write a book about. The best officers I've seen didn't worry about their career or worry about getting the best assignment they could, they worried about those under them and making sure they were taken care of. Anyways, PM if you have specific questions about the Academy, I'll do my best to help.

VN 16-09, T-38's F-16 Holloman T-6 FAIP C-130J Little Rock RC-135 T-1's Lots of KC-135's 1 C-17 x2 MQ-9s Don't remember many specifics about the T-1 side

Honestly it doesn't seem to make a difference. I've had students with 700 hours damn near fail out and I've had students who had literally never been in an airplane before (foreigners) who ranked in the top third. It really comes down to attitude, if you are willing to forget what you learned and learn to accept the fact that the military flies a different way you'll be fine. It's the guys who show up and think they know everything because they were a CFI that are the pains in my ass. Show up, be humble, use your skills to help other out, and you will do fine. Don't worry about getting in to the Academy. Since one of your parents went there you have a pretty good shot at getting in. Maintain good grades, participate in everything, and be active in sports and you shouldn't have an issue getting in. I would recommend when you get there to really spend some time talking to cadets about what it is actually like. The Academy has a very good propaganda team and often is very good at masking what life is really like there. Again, my 2 cents would be to go to college and do ROTC, or like someone else mentioned join the Guard.

My gouge comes from my time at the Academy ('12 grad) where all but about 20 some people got a pilot slot. Hell there were people in the 1000's who got a pilot slot (about 1050 in the class). And word from many of my buddies who were the year after me was that the Academy had too many pilot slots and not enough people to fill them. So while not fact, I would argue that the Academy does in fact just about guarantee you a pilot slot. And yes, only about 50% of the class is a pilot, but that is also because only about 50% of the class wants to be a pilot. There are a surprising amount of people at the Academy who simply want to go into contracting so they can Five and Dive then go work for some big corporation and have zero interest in becoming a pilot. Yup, happened with my graduating class as well.

Two mentalities when it comes to getting a pilot slot, option one, go to the Academy where you are basically guaranteed a pilot slot. Option 2, go to regular college, attend ROTC, and hopefully get a pilot slot. Each comes with its advantages and disadvantages. The Academy route basically guarantees you a pilot slot, something like 500 slots a year go to 550 people who want them, so pretty good odds. Now the down side is you will not have a "regular" college experience. You will operate under some quasi military structure which in reality is just there to impress the tourists and make good publicity for the Air Force mostly by way of the sports teams. You might find a great sport or airfield activity to make life more bearable such as ultimate frisbee or becoming a glider IP, but your joy will be short lived as you are made to attend SAPR briefings on a near weekly basis and are force fed blue kool aid and lame propaganda under the guise of leadership, which is ironic as that place lacks most of the basics of good leadership. But again, what is your goal? If you want the best odds of securing a pilot slot, go to the Academy. Now if you go the ROTC route you will have more regular experience in terms of partying, football on the weekends, non mandatory fun, lack of constant SAPR briefings, etc. But you will be actively competing for your pilot slot against other motivated people. So, what is your end goal? I say all this as a grad who used the Academy to get a pilot slot. Was it worth it? Yes. Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Hell no. Go drink beer, make a few questionable life choices, and enjoy life. As far as physical fitness, the biggest thing that helped me at the Academy was the fact that I ran 10K's almost every weekend. The altitude (7258ft) is nothing to snub at as I've seen a lot of people wheezing pretty bad after their run. So getting in solid shape will definitely help mitigate that. Additionally running, or any regular physical workout helps you build mental strength as well which you will need going through Basic. Plus by being fit you don't draw attention to yourself by being the lim fac for the rest of your flight/squadron. Honestly though if you have questions about the Academy let me know and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

Yup, F-35 out of Vance. Had General Pleus here recently and he mentioned that there would be a few in upcoming drops. It's interesting to see them dropping finally. Rumor has it the first F-35 B-Course will be 4 FAIP's and 4 UPT grads, so I guess that leaves Sheppard left to drop theirs.