tac airlifter

PMAGs are awesome and can be bought for a fair price (unlike the HK steel ones which are 50$ a piece). Other polymer mags I've used in the AR are less than desirable. The thermolite mags from canada are about the worst.

What happens? We spend 2 years getting guys killed until we build up the right resources for that war. Isn't that what we've done during every war? I'm partly being sarcastic. I understand the value of procuring aircraft strategically to meet the next anticipated threat, but when was the last time our strategic thinkers were correct in their assesment of the next threat? We were not prepared with the right equipment for Vietnam, WW2, WW1, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. All the major wars of the 20th century. This is not to say that we shouldn't try to to be prepared, but we don't have a great track record of predicting what type of enemy we'll face next. So my suggestion is that instead of wasting billions of dollars guessing (incorrectly) who we'll face next, maybe we should focus on creating a logistical and procurement system that can act fast and move quickly when the need arises. It's not as desireable as 383 F-22s, but it's a more realistic goal that is within our control as an Air Force.

Why is it harder to land gear up in a tanker vs. a C-17?

Right, because Hercs don't do anything tactical.

That may be true, but I'm not putting 10k rounds through mine a year; I don't have the time or cash! My interest in the piston guns is pretty simple- easier to clean. I love the AR, but cleaning a DI weapon is a tedious task.

That being said, what are you thoughts on the new variety of piston driven AR's out there? I know each is different depending in the company, but in theory it seems to be offering the best of both worlds. Accuracy/modularity of the AR platform with a more reliable operating system (AK). I have an XCR already and am not as impressed as I thought I would be, but I think thats on me for buying that particular rifle. I'm thinking about dropping some serious cash on an LMT piston AR and would liek any thoughts you guys have.

Do you seriously think Airmen doing the bump and grind drinking beer during salsa night at the deid are entitled to the same CZTE/HFP/HDP as the guys driving the perimeter at Kirkuk, just based on the Iranians being unfriendly? I respectfully disagree.

Are you at Maxwell for SOS? I was wondering if we only get partial per diem for SOS in res.

Same subject, slightly different question-- anyone know if the AF will pay for this procedure or perform it?

Good luck. My dad ran in Texas a few years ago. It was an eye opening and disheartening experience for me as I followed it all the way through. Hope you're prepared for the party politics and good ole boy connections. Good for you to take some ownership and try to make a difference, I hope it works out.

Dude, I totally agree. How have we gotten this far off course when something called a "morale patch" is looked at as being bad? Isn't morale supposed to be a good thing? And for the most part it's rated officers driving the push against the patches.

Never recieved any, and I've actually asked.

That seems impractical. How can the squadron/CC be TDY as much as AF one would require?

I totally agree. I'm so sick of the MX leadership attitudes; they act like it's a privledge for us to use our aircraft. Line guys are great, as they usually are, but it seems like at the 05/06 level MX is fighting with ops just to fight.

I finished in Sep and 5 of 6 active duty guys were on CAP (i was the only one who wasn't). It's pretty challenging, but if you do well in flight lead upgrade and know your pubs you'll do fine. We had one guy who was sent home; by far the best GK in the class but he couldn't catch any of the mistakes the IPs were making. He was so flustered by his total SA breakdown that he failed every ride. The ANG threatened an FEB but his unit recalled him instead. It was challenging on the flightline but the hill was an absolute waste of time. If you have any specific questions or need anything while you're here (I'm stationed at LRF) just PM me.

Dude, you're smoking crack.

I talked with Robarms about it when I bought my XCR and was told they no longer import them. I don't know if that means no US company does. They used to be 500$ or so and now the price is in the 900's$ new.

Do you guys know if VEPRs are still being imported? The prices I've seen have been through the roof lately.

My wife and I are looking for a family friendly place to buy a 4 bedroom home, and Navarre seems to have alot of options when we investigate online. Our biggest concern is being able to resell the home, and then after we feel secure about that we're like it to be within 20 minutes of HRT and the beach. Do you have any recommendations for realtors or specific places or people we should stay away from? I'll be TDY quite a bit before I PCS there so consequently most of the research will fall onto my wife. We looked at FWB online but most of the homes seemed old. I've had enough problems with old homes in Arkansas so I'd rather get something made at least in the 90's. Also, since I've never lived in FL, should I expect to pay extra for insurace against hurriucanes or will standard homeowners insurance cover that? What kind of precautions do you take against natural disasters, or am I silly for asking this?

You'll enjoy Balad, as much as you can enjoy being anywhere over there. It's a huge base now and has lots of stuff to do in your free time. The new gym is nice (I assume you're regular AF and therefore living in H-6) although they have several others in the army part of town. There's a pretty cool turkish resturaunt by the Saddam movie theater and a nice pool. Unfortunatly, it's usually filled with hundreds of sweaty army dudes, but theres a downside to everything. I've been deployed there 3 times and stopped in a few more times on various short missions. We started going there in late 05, before that we were in OKAS. I think being in Iraq is easier than being outside (wih the exception of Turkey, that place would be awesome to stage from). It's gotten pretty nice in the last few years, it went from being a mud hole to having sidewalks, hard facilities for showers and living. There is a bus system if you want to go around the base to the west side or wherever. The summer is obviously pretty hot, but October through May it's not a bad place to be. The threat has gone down significantly, you won't even notice nowdays. I've been overnight just about everywhere in OIF and Balad is fine. It has all the gay rules and dudes trying to make rank by shitting on you that other places have; get used to that. I think it's way better than Kirkuk since that place has oil fires buring all the time and smells like shit. Balad does have a burn pit that will put all types of nasty things in your lungs and make it hard to run outside, but you really only smell it in the spring and summer when the winds are from the north. Unfortunatly, winds are almost always from the north. Overall its a good place to go for your first deployment. Pretty much every base is built up there now, and OIF only has a few wild places left, like Al Kut, where you don't have to wear a shirt or shave. If you ge tthe chance to go there, take it!

There are four operational AMC squadrons here at LRF now, and the deployed ops tempo has definitly decreased. I have been home a solid year now, although thats had more to do with a new baby and IP school. Copilots are luckly to be deployed in their first year at the squadron, but on the flip side there are lots of decent missions to be had. Hurricane relief, SAAMs, JA/ATTs, OSTs... there is always some fun place to go TDY with good flying. I've been trying to go back to Iraq and just can't manage to get on the schedule. You'll enjoy the herc, there is a lot of operational flying and the people who do this are great. The bases are not as good as say, C-17 bases, but there are pros and cons to every community. I would definitly recommend the 130 to anyone looking for good operational experience on their first assignment.

Agree. I don't think IP's are "given" anything they haven't earned. The idea behind these FAA equivalency ratings is that you've already met or exceeded the level of training and competancy necessary for the qual, so the FAA is giving you what you've earned in the military. As for the CFII thing, you've already earned a portion at IP, so you go back and meet the other requirements and get your rating. There is only a problem if you think IP school is somehow less rigorous than civilian training. Having just completed IP school, I can tell you that it's much more difficult than anything I've ever done on the civilian side. As for the loadmaster saving the crews in tankers, nothing against loads but any pilot who tries to land gear up should recieve a Q3. That is totally unaccepatable. In hercs we have our Load verify the gear is down because it is possible, although unlikely, that you could have a down and locked indication in the cockpit with a gear not actually locked into position; so its a safety check. But the idea of having loads double check that we didn't forget to put the gear down is just crazy.

Dude, thats been an inside joke with HK for years. The story on HKpro.com is that a long long time ago for their first professional magazine ad the photographer knew nothing about guns and loaded it incorrectly. His pictures made it to print, and ever since then HK has purposely done that as a throwback to their early days. Look at just about any HK picture add, it's nothing new.

Please tell me you don't mean reflective belts while wearing PT gear?

"Bottom line…we have much more important things to worry about than uniform issues…" They say that but they never really mean it. Remember in 05 when there was no official order to wear the AF PT gear and everyone dressed in comfortable clothes and there was never all this drama about being out of uniform? It seems we've made our own "things to worry about" by forcing this PT gear on everyone. If we had left things the way they were, less drama and happier deployers.