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I recommend at least ten C-17 loads of British soccer fans from the 80s be flown in for this event.

To the Ali G impersonator that slammed active duty members and what they deserve from earlier - go fuck yourself. Cutting military retirement is like freezing federal pay. Why is the so-called pay gap growing between the public and private sector? Let's look at the differences between the two. 1. Many in federal employment have security clearances that by the rules should be denied to most members of Congress. 2. How many people in the commercial world have criminal records/bankruptcies, alcohol/drug incidents, etc.? More than in civil service, I bet. 3. There are many civil service jobs that cross lines in terms of relevant skills, like a janitor or a lawyer. However, there are a crap-ton of positions out there that are very rare. Some security clearance shredouts are extremely rare, and the skill sets that go with them are even more hard to find. One must be very careful about cutting benefits to people that protect your ass. Look at what happens when cities cut fire and police salaries/entitlements.

Honestly, does anyone who's been around the block or two in big blue have the surprised feeling about this issue? O-5 at least one below the zone...

On the gym topic, I really can't complain at all about the Offutt Field House. It has a gated play area for the kids around some aerobic equipment and another small basketball court with more aerobic stuff. My older ones do the treadmill and the younger ones play basketball. I've never been hassled about my kids in there for anything. Granted, the gym at Offutt is probably the largest in the world, and has plenty of room for extra stuff like a play area. I definitely concur with the kids-around-weights safety concern. I promise I won't make a habit of saying positive things about big blue.

Over a long period of time, I have begun to get many of the symptoms of the onset of Type II diabetes. If you are not dependent on insulin, will I be medically retired? I don't know a thing about it. Has anyone had any experience with it?

I had a positive TB test back in '98 and went on Isoniazid for six months. It will produce a strain on your liver, but a lot of people have taken it with no serious side effects. Other than not being able to drink on my next deployment to Incirlik, it was no big deal. The good news is that you will never take that test again. Ever. Unless they have changed the regs on it, you'll be okay.

Actually, they are quite different airframes. If you look at a ramp that has both types, like Offutt, you can see the external differences if you compare the two side-by-side. The one big thing they have in common is that the -135s now have 707 tails. From what I know, the original tail had insufficient rudder authority in asymmetric thrust situations, which caused a number of crashes. They ripped the tails off of retired 707s and put them on the -135 fleet. From the inside, the -135 cockpit is huge compared to the 707, especially with the nav station crammed into the E-3/E-6. The -135 body is larger, containing more internal volume. I'm not a pilot or FE, but the systems differences are probably significant enough to warrant mentioning.

I just found mine in the basement, dated 28 October 1986, titled "Pathway to Professionalism". It has two pages devoted to aircraft and missiles with no pictures, but it does have sexy diagrams on how to style your hair, apply makeup, put in an IUD and do a breast exam.

I don't know, but when I went to basic (Jesus - 23 years ago), the aqua-colored book they gave us to study had a crap-ton of airplane pictures in it. A fair number of us had no idea about what airplanes the Air Force had, but it may have been a different world then. They had a one-hour class on each of the major commands, which was the same length of time they covered on shaving waivers and STDs. A lot of them figured out there were things in that 'official' book that were a lot more interesting than the other things 'the man' left in the day room. I still have mine, and it would be interesting to compare it to the current version.

I had just arrived at Tinker to begin training when the accident happened. A few friends that knew I was going to AWACS panicked when they saw the crash on the news. Lt Col Leary's 552 TRS nametag was still on the board in the flight deck office when I graduated from the FTU. It definitely made you think about your own mortality. They will always be remembered...

Good story, and a good reminder of what counts, Toro.

In the two aircraft I flew (both heavies) every airshow I did was as a static. The worst accident I had was a coke cup spilled on a console in the back of an E-3. Thirty seconds later with a rag and the crisis was over. The one flyby I did was for the 50th Anniversary for the first B-52 delivery to the Air Force. Everything went well except for my EVS display reading us ten knots fast on the deck, but it was windy that day and the readout tended to be inaccurate at lower altitudes with heavy winds. I pointed it out in debrief and was assured we did not overspeed the plane. Issue over. When I went through Randolph years ago, the Fairchild crash was still very fresh in everyone's minds. CRM was a frequently-taught subject, and it was drilled into us at every occasion. I like to think we were spring-loaded to be safe when we finished training. When I got to the E-3, Yukla 27 was still fresh in everyone's minds, and we flew very safe. The only big issue I had in the B-52 was being asked to fly in a pinned seat when problems were found with the inertial reel. Coming from a non-ejection plane, it didn't bother me much for obvious reasons. They fixed the seats and the issue was over. It just seems to me that the heavily-scripted demonstrations with highly-disciplined crews just don't have as many issues. Years of practice build up a safety culture, or there would be more incidents. That's just a surface appraisal without the empirical data to back it up. The last crash that killed a spectator (sort of) that I know of was the Thunderhawks crash in '87. This was the abortive attempt by SAC to have a demo team of B-52s and KC-135s. The tanker got caught in the BUFF's jetwash at low level and crashed near the field, sliding into an off-duty boom operator of the team watching the show. I do believe a 'demo' team could have worked, but the flying would have been so unexciting to an audience that it would have been comical. Tex Johnson aside, big planes are just not cut out for aerobatics that would really thrill a layman.

Sounds like someone was using one of the back doors for a smoke break, or someone opened a SCIF without punching their code in correctly. That happened a few times while I was out there.

The base next to Denver Intl was Lowry. Nice place with new construction, and then they closed it. Bring back Carswell, and let the poor guy rest in peace on his base instead of moving him off. Ban ABUs. This one-color-for-all-terrain is just plain stupid. I thought we figured that out in WWII. Bring back morale patches. They already brought back the shitty promotion rates for navs. Check.

I don't see how this 'group' can't get hit by hate speech laws. Our nation's enemies have always tried to use our own laws against us. I'm not sure who would categorize this filth as citizens.

Last year, the rumors and email threats were insinuating that we would have to 'fast' along with the mythical Muslims in the chow hall and construction workers working on buildings. We were not allowed to eat in public (outside our workplaces) during the entire month during daylight hours. I guess somewhere up the chain, it was decided that it was silly, and life went on as usual. There were no trips downtown except for the airport.

Congrats. You're following in my footsteps eleven years on. I went straight to the left seat, since I was a senior IN in the 965th.

Any country that sends spies to work must be very careful about how they treat them when they're done. Your recruiting effort will be hurt if it gets out you threw them away. These people will be set up in a comfortable, yet modest lifestyle and used as instructors for the next wave(s).

I had a chance to sit in the RSO seat of one at Beale just after they retired them. Years later, I was amazed at how similar the look and feel was to the B-52 I flew. I guess it goes to show you don't need glass (and billions in cost overruns) to do the mission well. We'll never see airplanes like that again. The acquisition system as it is now would never allow it. Instead of building something that is feasible for a good price, the defense industry builds something we don't need and convinces us that we must have it no matter what the cost, and then charges us ten times more than the originally contracted price. Possibly one way to fix it? Prohibit anyone over the rank of O5 from working in the defense industry. My building is packed to the gills with former GO/FOs 'consulting' for defense firms and pushing the exact capes of systems their companies are making. I worked in J8 and watched them come and go daily. It's worse when they haven't worn a uniform in 20+ years and drool at the conference table during briefings.

That's it. If any intel types take a look at it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I was a little off on my prediction on how long they would be held before they were swapped back. I said a month. It looks like it will be less than two weeks. A Russian named Igor Sutyagin is coming over to the US, and part of his trouble was in co-writing a book I bought on Russian strategic nuclear forces. It's a very interesting read if you can get through 700+ pages of technical writing.

I'll be patient. Yes, there is a certain amount of shoeclerk-ery going on everywhere. I have an O-6 patch in my division that is making shitty decisions and won't admit he doesn't know something when he makes a 'leadership' decision. Be a man. If you have an idea, do some research and ask the people who know the answer. No one should be afraid of saying 'I don't know'. The memory stick is a sore topic with a lot of people, especially in my command. Of course, the problem was brought to you by the same command who puts JWICS machines in the same room with foreign nationals 'because we're too busy supporting the war effort' to manage our building layouts. Another sad lot done by others was transmitting shit on a wireless network that ought not to be transmitted. Technology is a blessing and a curse. This particular type outpaced our ability to manage it, from a support and force utilization perspective, and the stovepiping involved for security reasons has not helped, but leadership is working on it. There have probably been instances where cyber frat has already occurred, but you get that with new tactics and strategies. You won't find the good stuff on SIPR or JWICS. SAP is a very closed area. We'll just have to hope it gets better before someone else decides to pounce on our inability to fight this new warfare capability. Another area of concern is how to categorize this new level of warfare. Some are arguing that an attack at a certain level could be considered a WMD attack. Imagine turning out the lights. How many people are going to die in hospitals because they live on life support machines? There is something to be said on how much we rely on technology now, particularly the military.

It is true, the cyber guys are doing some good stuff... ...but they need to remember they are one EMP away from irrelevance.

Concur with the posts above on going overseas first. When (if) you begin a family, it will only get harder to live over there. You will also build up your OSRD, which can help you 'Heisman' the non-vols to shitty locations later. Looking at your list, you have some high cost of living areas selected. I went to Malmstrom for my first one, and I was able to get a larger place for my money than what you will get at some of these - however, it sucked for single guys. That being said, if that is secondary, go for where it sounds interesting. None of your picks are bad places.

Knowing what I know now, yes, I wish I had gone Guard/Reserve. For those who have figured out the complicated system they use, the benefits are plentiful. Hindsight is not always 20/20. I may have been kicked out of a cockpit, but I would probably be an O5 now.