Clayton Bigsby

yeah, it's brass. kind of hard to tell it's a gold tint, but you can sorta see its brassiness. [ 09. August 2006, 21:29: Message edited by: Toro ]

I got issued a badass pig sticker/bayonet

I'm pleased that as an E, I now have to wear GOLD "US" insignia, instead of silver like every other piece on my uniform (AFSC badges, nametag, buttons, etc). I understand that tMike is trying to bring the perception of a military under war and renew a sense of tradition, but the feeling I'm getting is that as a "warfighter" of sorts I'm apparently on the fringes of the service while busy doing my job, while others not fighting a war and with plenty of time and money are getting off with hundreds of uniform changes. I mean for chrissakes, not a single uniform has eluded SMSgt Athnos' touch. Yeah I'll admit I wear a bag all the time, and will do anything to get out of wearing my blues, but someday I might have to wear that shit. I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do.

I'm just a fvckin' load, but I'd imagine the boom can give you double to triple the fluid flow rate than a probe/drogue setup, which is $$$ on a big plane like a C-5 or B-52 getting a complete fillup in 20 minutes rather than a couple hours... ...plus, in a big airplane, I assume it's much easier to get into receiver position and let the boomer worry about the plug, than to have to fly the entire fricken' airplane into a target 2 feet across that bounces around. And I've heard the Buff is a fistfull of airplane. Like I said, I'm just a load, but A/R doesn't look like it's exactly easy - my pilots look plenty busy. [ 08. August 2006, 21:06: Message edited by: Chuck Farleston ]

weak...

You'll probably get issued that shit. Why are you paying for it??? The assmaster 3000 is nice for deadheading in the back in the troop seats, but otherwise the existant seat cushions are fine.

Airdrop is a second qualification in C-17s - you don't get it right away. You get to go back to Altus to get it, after you've flown airland for a year or two or three. And not everybody gets to go. I'm under the impression that all -130 people are airdroppers. You will do some low-level stuff in the C-17 - but it's mostly just local training stuff, I have yet to do any of that stuff when flying real-world missions. Basically you stay proficient in it for if and when you might be called upon to actually use it, like combat offloads. for airdroppers, that might be a different story, but like I said not everybody is an airdropper.

if finance can't pay you on the spot in the correct manner, you can get your paycheck as a loan, from finance. They can figure out what you'd make and pay you that amount, in person, and then once you are "paid" in the correct manner, take it back. It's not adviseable as I always felt they took back a little more than I received, but it's the way I had to do things initially - I did not get paid all the way through BMT and through my first 3 months of service. basically you are worthless to the air force while you're in the pipeline, until you arrive to your first duty station following your tech school. Only then are you treated like a real citizen.

I understand your point, mine was that Turkey isn't all that bad given the other alternatives. I mean I wish I could be TDY to Turkey for 30 days or whatever it is you do and have more than a couple hours/days to negotiate prices for a rug, get a fitted and art-emblazoned leather flying jacket at Pop's (f*ck, every other picture in their gallery is a -135 dude or boomer), get patches/luggage tags ordered up, etc. Seriously, would you rather be messing with ration cards for permission to buy a beer limited to a couple times a week, if even that? [ 11. July 2006, 13:07: Message edited by: Chuck Farleston ]

That guy is so, so, so, soooooo screwed. I wonder if he has any idea what he's going to face...ugggh.

So...posting on this forum...can that hurt you? Is it low-viz? Yes I know I don't have my mugshot displayed prominently (even in my profile), but I don't think for one minute that people, esp those in my squadron, couldn't eventually figure out who I am. Yeah I'm not keeping a detailed journal of my life here, or my entire collected day-to-day thoughts, but still.

RIP

ROFL!!!!!

Hmmm, lessee, deployment locations of Ramstein, Rota/Moron, Kuwait City... oh yeah and a good to solid chance you'll be broke there. per diem $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ bummer!!! YES they have more pilots than a fighter unit would. Think about it - minimum crew complement on an augmented mission is 3-4 pilots! Can't stuff that into an F-15. C-5 crews are massive, 10-15 people easily. Oh and AMC ops "stage" crews, whereby you have far more crews than airplanes, to keep the airplanes turning as soon as possible...I've seen C-17s turned at the 'Deid in an hour, for days at a time! n00b, don't worry about hangar queenage until you have the "congratulations we'll hire ya" paperwork in-hand.

Heck even things we take for granted these days, like air refueling, UAVs, precision weapons...those three things alone put us WAY ahead of everyone. Then when you get into space, nuclear, naval, information. Dude, it ain't even close. No one comes close.

w00000, I foresee a squadron soft-served eating contest...see who can down it fastest.....ooooooooohhhhh, brain-freeze.......

What does Jager machine do...?

When I was there in Feb, the lobby didn't have wireless - just some desktops you could use.

hmmm....you're right, it's iffy. I guess stout tequilas could make up for it, but if it's a margarita machine...then yeah it's kinda gay. were it Diego or Guam it'd be one thing.

where is said hooch? Diego?

Choice G - stock good tequila. and call people pussies if they have it any other way than on the rocks, stiff, w/ 1800 at the minimum.

Yeah it was the Northrop YA-9A. from wikipedia: It is alleged that the YA-9 more strongly impressed the Soviets than the US Air Force, and the Sukhoi Su-25 was largely based on spy footage of this aircraft. However, actual resemblance is very superficial and at any rate, work on what later became the Su-25 began in 1968, four years before YA-9's first flight. you can read the entire wikipedia article here [ 06. June 2006, 00:09: Message edited by: Chuck Farleston ]

what he said. They're terrible. Really not joking, pound-your-head-on-the-wall bad. Also look out for them allowing duty pax and anybody else to come out to the aircraft STILL fully armed. No magazine collections, nothing. I don't know how you feel about people being armed up on your aircraft, but usually I prefer to be the only guy packing heat. Although I'm sure those SF guys could jam my M9 up my ass. Anyway the sad fact is those Halliburton guys could give two shits, they've got the contract. Some of the bus drivers are helpful, but the dispatch people there suck a mean c*ck.

The mod = new silk liner, and uber cool blood chit sewn inside. in all honesty...wear the b*tch to every event you possibly can, write your name inside, sew in a nametag, whatever. Mine never has been stolen. On the other hand, I don't wear mine on missions like some Film Actor's Guild members do. That's why God created Gore-tex jackets (or the green/brown flyer's/tank commander's jackets for pilots who never have to stand outside for engine start). I just wear my leather to work and on locals, if it's not raining anyway.

Look man, here's my 2 cents... CAP is a Air Force Boy or Girl Scouts. Some kids just cannot wait to get into the service, feeling that this is their calling; CAP gives them what they think the military's about - a pretty uniform to wear, learning marching and drill, honor/color guards, etc. Plus the SAR mish too, they can help out as aeriel observers or ground search teams. the sad part is, minus the SAR stuff, that stuff is only a couple of weeks of basic/field training, a miniscule part of the actual Air Force experience. And just like ROTC people can turn into homos or academy guys douche-nozzles, some kids can get waaaaaaaay too into the experience and become that "Hitler Youth". I actually can't think of a better term to describe it than that. From what I understand, this is a HUGE achievement for CAP - tantamount to becoming an Eagle Scout. I wouldn't know as I wasn't a CAP freak as a kid, I was into Boy Scouts instead. But I was briefly a Senior Member in college, and a person I knew in school had achieved the exact same thing. Not everybody ascends to that level. Now, FWIW, that guy was a special guy in his own right...home-schooled his entire life, only social interactions with his peers were CAP I guess, and let's just say he was and still is pretty awkward socially. But the guy's got a good heart and is smart as hell. Now this chick...yeah, I'd hit it, and her sis... ...if I were 14...