pawnman

Next time, ignore the gate guard...it's not like he's going to follow you around and make sure you get a new CAC card.

To think, I had to make do with chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. This will make excellent ammo against the guys I've been discussing this with who said "but you can't cut funding for school lunches!".

So now the vote is 3-6 against the Marines. Think these two are just trying to save their political careers when money stops pouring into the city? My favorite suggestion for a counter-protest so far: Group of Marines in their dress uniforms, form up in the Code Pink parking lot every Wednesday for the next six month. "You want this parking spot, come and get it!" Maybe some USAF guys nearby could show their support as well.

Bingo. Whoever wrote the article may be sympathetic to Code Pink (certainly had that tone to it), and thus, they're portraying DeMint's proposal in the worst light possible. Besides, cutting the funding doesn't remove the mandate for free school lunches. Berkely would just need to find a new source of funding for it.

Story "Support the troops, oppose the war" my ass.

You're going to have to do Finance's job for them anyway, might as well do it in a way that gets you paid the first time.

His base pay is still the same as any prior-enlisted officer. His O-1E pay isn't based on his dependent status, it's based on his previous service.

I rented one at the OTS dining out, and I've never bought one. I've never remotely come near an occassion where I needed one either, but that's only about 3 years of service talking. I figure if something big comes up, there will be announcements in plenty of time to make arrangements (either finding another rental place, or breaking down and buying one).

I can tell you from an FTU standpoint the BONE is hurting for new WSOs coming into the program. There aren't enough WSOs around, apparently.

If your flight upchit (1042 in the Air Force) doesn't say you're required to wear them, then you aren't required to wear them. Additionally, I never once had an instructor ask about the status of my vision waivers/eyeglass requirements. I always had to wear my glasses, though...I'm something like 20/200.

If you're really interested, I'd start TALKING to a recruiter around the start of your senior year. With any luck, you'll be able to put the application together at have it in front of the first board right after graduation. I want to say you get three shots, but I could be wrong. I direct you again to www.airforceots.com, those guys will know not only how many boards, but what the dates are.

They'll send you to the nearest flight doc for an all-day physical. Hopefully that will be a reasonable distance from your house. I want to say that this step is done before your application is even sent to the board. They won't select anyone they know is medically DQ'd. Tyr www.airforceots.com for some better answers, those guys answer these questions and research these answers all day long.

100% correct. You'll know exactly what job you're slated for before you leave. There will be some questions (for example, ENJPPT or UPT? JSUNT or UNT?), but you'll know what AFSC you're going to have before you even have a class date for OTS. And you are free to walk from OTS up to commissioning. But yes, if you don't like your choices, you aren't committed to attend OTS.

We had something similiar out of PCola. Guy had already selected F-15E's, was only two or three flights from finishing. He went on a cross-country to NYC. Got plastered drunk while he was there, and (I wasn't there, so this is second-hand), did SOMETHING to get arrested. Not only did he get arrested, NY's finest refused to turn him over to the military. So he stayed in jail while the rest of the crews leave for home on Sudnay. On Monday he gets bailed out, and I believe the squadron sent another jet up after him. Long story short, this dude lost his chance at wings, and I think he may have been thrown out of the Air Force. Sadder still, he had an established drinking problem. He'd been in minor trouble on two other cross countries. So, while he got what he deserved, his buddies definitely weren't watching out for him the way they should have.

I don't believe you get paid for leave days. The Air Force doesn't pay for your road trips on vacation, why would they pay for this one? Finance Guy may have a better answer, but to the best of my knowledge, you'll get per diem for the "authorized travel days" and nothing else. On the topic of weighing things...we went really overboard when we moved. Took out the floormats, the jack, the spare tire, the kid's car seat...anything that wasn't bolted to the car came out before we weighed it "empty".

If you were just selected, you PROBABLY have time. Call your recruiter and see what he has to say. One good thing about getting married prior...you can collect BAH for your current address while at OTS. And you get FSA as well.

Oh, you WILL be fun at SERE.

One of my buddies wore a "non-approved" brand all through Pensacola (because apparently, the Navy docs don't know any better). So when he gets to Randolph, they tell him he's not on the program and can't wear contacts. This after two years of wearing them. So, like any good officer, he thinks about his options and the resources available...and calls the PCola flight doc, gets a contact lens perscription for an "approved" brand, and reattacks at the Randolph clinic. He's cleared to wear contacts now. The hassle seems to be with AETC. Like I said, the Dyess flight doc gave me a packet to turn in at optometry, and I had a pair of contacts from the hospital the same day. "Don't fly with them for six months" was my only real guidance (aside from the little speech about approved brands and cleaners).

So how do the chaplains get away with the flight suits?

They didn't seem uneducated, they seemed naive...which is forgivable, considering how early this was in the conflict. They all thought it would be a few days of bombing, the commies would go home, and they'd be let go. I am curious if the Air America dude portrayed in the movie really was that big a BF'er in real life, or if they felt they needed to write in some extra conflict. I also found it interesting that the Navy dude (Christian Bale) seemed to be the only one who remembered his SERE training.

Prior to UPT, or prior to flying? I just got on it (I went all through JSUNT in glasses, getting on the SCL program was one of the first things I did at Dyess). I was told "Wear them all you want, but you aren't cleared to fly with them until your six-month follow-up". Granted, Dyess is an ACC base, not an AETC one. I also take that to mean if you start flying prior to the six-month timeframe, you have to wear glasses until your follow-up, but immediately after your six-month appointment, you can start flying with contacts.

What do you mean? The water was the best part of Pensacola.

I have heard, but I don't know if it's true... The Navy treats the Blues like rock stars. Whatever airspace they want, whatever shows they want, etc, while the AF views the T-Birds as a liability (every airshow is a mishap waiting to happen).

The instructors at Randolph while I was doing EWO school claim that it will be co-located but separate training. The AF will use the T-6 and the T-1, the Navy will use the T-6 and the T-45. The rumor is also that they will put in a "simulated" radar on the T-1. From what I understand, it's basically a bunch of stored radar imagery linked to the GPS.

Just to add for other PCola hopefuls... Don't sweat the swimming. The instructors are awesome, and they'll get you through it. I don't know that anyone has EVER washed out of API for not being able to swim. I failed my swim screen, so I got to go to the pool twice a day for a week and learn how to swim "the Navy way". I also got to repeat a few events (the full-gear tread and float, the tower dive/underwater swim), but I got through it. The instructors work with you, and as long as you're putting in effort, you won't ever get in trouble for failing a swim event. You'll just be "remediated".