MTC

Continuation question, after reading many of the past few years' posts mentioning it. Is there any reason not to take the continuation to 24 years if offered? Let's say a person's ADSC had 12 months left, haven't taken any bonus yet, and they want to serve that 12 months as promised. But then, at the end of their ADSC (& DEROS) they may potentially move on to other things such as Guard/Reserve, or alternatively may serve another 3 years AD and retire at 20, as long as the assignment is good. If I understand correctly there's not a downside to opting for the 24 year option versus 20 year continuation. The "person" could take the 24 year ADSC, yet still retire 4 years years from now at 20 years, or even still get out at the ADSC 12 months from now (16 years). Does that check, or is something missing?

First, insert whatever socially acceptable "F the man" comments that will keep the Internet Police off my back. But specifically to the civilians not being in the sqs, after being away for 3 years and returning to a mobility flying Sq, there are 4 civilians back in the sq to handle some of the worst jobs that were previously forced on aircrew, during the Do more with less years. There's more to be done for sure, but at least that's a start. So it's not just ACC. The good fight will maintain more credibility if we can stick to facts.

Exactly my point. Not sure why so angry.

Nobody should have zero s to give. If that's the case you need to exit service. Let's end this narrative. I get your point, and I hear this around the sq's, but as a community let's describe it in a more accurate manner, which fortunately is also more positive. It will set the example to the younger guys in a more positive and accurate way.

Wow, you're right. He did that for me too, downvoted all 6-ish posts I've made over the past few years. What a giant d-bag and wierdo. Do the mods not remove guys like that on here anymore? Too funny. Anyway, good call on the Block User function. That's complete. So now if nobody quotes Shazaam maybe he'll never bother us again.

Man, would you just please go away for a while. Just switch yourself to a read-only mentality. Take a break. It's too annoying sifting through your nonsense. Thank you.

Man, tough times for Puerto Rico.

I think this is still only part of the picture. The Net Present Value function gives a very different picture for your decision making. The NPV of the $1.37M in your example 40 years from now at 7% interest, compounded monthly could be achieved with an initial one time deposit of $84,082. There's many ways to calculate and a lot of factors to consider, but I recommend keeping the NPV function in a variety of financial calculations. It's available in Excel or from various sites online. Cheers.

It's actually not too hard to get that STRD moved. I think that we have the technology and shouldn't have to force it ourselves, but until that's fixed I'm keeping mine up to date. No MPF at my location, so I email PDFs of the paid travel voucher and the orders to my servicing MPF. That removes the "awaiting verification" and moves the STRD. There's a few briefs floating around that go into more detail, but not needed for the quick fix. You can also take those documents in hand and go to the MPF and sit there until it's done if you're concerned it won't happen. There was a message recently about DTS cleaning out docs older than a cutoff, (2007, 2008?) so might be worth saving those now. I don't want to derail the thread, so PM if you have more questions. If you get desparate you can also download their reg on e-pubs that explains the STRD. Ironically, I'm on a short tour now (but it was voluntary - they're not all bad) so I could have just not bothered updating any of it. At this point it's just habit.

I've heard of ground handlers in Africa looking for "Capt Onfile, where is Capt Onfile?" for a signature (or cash). Our guys would just roll with it. Amazing how many Capt Onfile's there are flying around.

And that's why I read here. Thanks for the time-saving advice. Cheers.

I'm looking for good info on JPME II, and there isn't much on this forum. That leads me to believe it's not a great option for aircrew. Can anybody confirm/deny this? Is it a good time? Any boost for promotions below O-6? Thanks for any tips.

Yes Botswana is an option as somebody mentioned. I will speak to the embassy positions only here. For the embassy positions you'll still have a day job. Attache as several mentioned, but not always. One of the others is in the office of security cooperation, under DSCA, where you'll work Foreign Military Sales, International Military Education and Training, etc. You will likely fly with Army or Navy guys in addition to AF. You won't get as many hours as a major mobility MWS. To answer a few questions above, and some things I think are important, it's not the type of situation you'd want to bring an EFM family, and joint spouse assignments most likely won't work. Embassies are different, but many have very few military members. Some wives complain enough at regular bases, so if yours is prone to that, avoid. It's a downer to have a small community and a couple wives who complain about being homesick or stressed all the time. On the other hand if you're adventurous and outgoing and like to party there's a good network. But if you do a little research and ask yourself if it makes sense, it will probably be just fine. If you have kids check out the school situation, many mil people happily have kids in these situations. Obvi many of the embassy people have kids and they do fine. There are international schools, but these vary in quality by location and age. There's some perks like FEML plane tickets, US and Host Nation holidays off (if you aren't flying), housing and bills provided but you won't get the BAH. Usually no Tax free. In many places you can have a full time or live-in house keeper and gardner for a great value, which is awesome. You may have a rater from another service for instance. You may have a very small pool of aircrew to share the plane, so good luck, hope you get along. The assignment can be a great experience, but depending on your job and location it may not be as good for rank progression as other more traditional options. But that varies by your time away from big blue, and varies by which promotion board you're looking at. For those that understand and welcome that fact going in the assignment can be an incredibly enjoyable time, a great break from big blue, a look into Dept of State/Embassy life, and immersion in a foreign culture. It can also motivate you to return to a regular AF assignment. It may be an option as a second assignment, but I think 3rd is more common for the embassy gigs. Tour length also varies, but I've seen 1 year unaccompanied or 2 year accompanied. You may be able to extend either of those for a year. You can't take your spouse everywhere, but when you do take your spouse they may have the option to work. The DOS has a system similar to GS (but different incase your spouse is looking to combine time) where family members have some options to work at the embassy. This can range from part or full time Community Liaison Officer work, to other full time jobs around the embassy. Hope that's helpful. I definitely recommend it to those that think it's a fit. Good luck!

From FAR 61.155 Perfect, that's the paragraph I was looking for in the CFRs. Thanks. That said I still plan on taking it next week. Anybody have experience with any Little Rock places? I have heard good things but only third-hand.

You might be right. I have been under the impression that as long as I took the written before July 31 I would have two years to take the practical and would not have to ever take the ATP CTP, since it is a pre-req for the written which I took a couple months ago. So the question is after 1 Aug will the Flight Check look for my CTP completion too, or call it good if he sees my written is done? Anybody have a solid answer here, or are we all just speculating? I'm stationed overseas but headed to the SIM very soon, so I guess the safest option is to take a few days of leave after the Sim and get this knocked out somewhere. The Memphis place or Jasper, AL would be the most convenient.