viper154

A few take aways from a young dummy. Jets are great. Quick to the fight, can carry a lot of payload, and have all sorts of cool gizmos and do hickies. Their loiter time not so much. Really, the war on terror is almost over? Maybe for everyone over here that's cozy on their couch drinking a beer. My time in RPA purgatory and the things I've seen would leave me to think that's a lie. Sure, we are 16 years late, but it's a great capability we should have. Do we need thousands of these? Probably not. But a couple squadrons in AFSOC would be a great compliment to our SOF capibility and to our ground pounders.

Thanks for the info. Guard MQ-9s is good gig. All the pleasure of killing assholes without the pain of the endless shift work. I was actually surprised how little we work together home station for how frequently we share a stack and target down range. Rumor is the change they made to all the enlisted manned and unmanned aircrew going to one AFSC and the same wings to allow for easier crossflow for RPA and manned guys to switch platforms. Don't how much truth their was to that. Good luck in your transition! Ehhh crossflow. Transition might be the wrong word right now unless you're into that sort of thing.

You are 100% correct. I by no means will making a decision that effects the next 6-14 years of our life off random internet advice, guess I'm looking for what are some things to consider besides basing and mission, and what any of you that cross flowed airframes have considered or would do differently, or anyone that has crossflowed from AFSOC to AMC or AMC to AFSOC and what you thought. HCs and slicks are both jets I would love to fly as well. Good points to consider.

I'm interested to see what the peanut gallery has to offer for a question. I'm a UPT D to MQ-9s at Cannon from the 2015 round, T-1s were my phase 3 jet. Looks like the first group of us MQ-9 guys are on the fall 2018 VML list. I enjoy AFSOC and the mission set and a big part of me wants to stay, but myself and my family really don't want to come back to Cannon. Gunships and the C-146 are on the top of my list but I have heard some guys talk about the gunships not being very accepting of new guys from other jets, any truth to this? I also would enjoy C-17s and tankers, and both for the most part have better basing options for myself and the family. I'm a little less accepting of ACC C2/ISR, but beggars can't be choosers, I'm happy just to get the chance to fly again Fairly sure this is going to work like a UPT round 2 or FAIP drop, so it will depend what's on the assignment list anyway. So so do you try to stay AFSOC with a mission you enjoy a lot, but potential for coming back to Cannon, or go for a AMC slot, with a mission I still like and want to do, just not as much as the AFSOC mission, with much better/more basing options?

Las Ventanas still is alright. Brown Bag deli is a good sandwich shop, Mad Jacks Mountain Top BBQ is the best BBQ I have ever had. It's a 20 minute drive from town up in the mountains in cloudcroft. Other than that, Las Crusas or El Paso are your best bet for good eats. Lots of good outdoor stuff at Holloman though

Your somewhat correct. RPAs are still a dumping ground for the not so great dudes from other communities. It's slowly changing though. There are just as many kick ass 11s as there are shit bags. I can't speak for all but the last round of UPT Ds were not all bottom of the class. I know 4 other guys and myself that were middle or top 3rd from UPT that got non vol'd. I think the dual qual would attract a lot more volunteers of higher quality, which would also help bring expierence to the RPA community. You have a valid argument though. I could see some of the guys a know turn a jet into a lawn dart casket. There would have to be a process to keep the slow swimmers out. Either way, I don't see this ever happening, just a pipe dream on a Sunday afternoon while I sip my whisky.

It would require a major culture shift in the RPA communities. Most sensors wouldn't mind being pilots for pilot pay and rank. Most I've talked to wouldn't want to be enlisted pilot with the current pay scale. To much responsibility for to little money. Im a huge advocate for pairing up RPA squadrons with light attack and dual qual for the 11s. I would never leave if I could kill a terrorist or two every once in awhile in the box and go tear up the skies in a AT-6/A-29/scorpion or whatever we might buy. More than likely RPAs and light attack are going to intergrate regularly on the battlefield and it's helps the RPA manning keeping 11s in the community. Hell, you could dual qual sensors to sit in the back seat.

Since the MQ-1s are being retired those UPT Ds are going back this winter/spring. I was one of the first UPT D guys from this latest round that got a 9, I was told to expect a fall 2018 PCS. That would exactly 3 years from assignment night and 2.5 on station. FWIW, the initial 18x commitments are up next year, and 95% are not staying. My squadron will literally loose every eval/instructor we have before 2019.

3 years ago most of my IPs were trying to get their ATPs before the rules changed, and they talked about it openly. The Reservest IPs boasted about their airline jobs, and the rest enphisized keeping your options open. Keep your options open, don't close doors, and take a look around and ask yourself why someone is talking down on another jet/track/job. Usually the guys talking shit are the most ignorant or have a alternate agenda. Or they are just assholes.

I was trying to get a buddy in at Cuse, I have a few good friends up there, they told me a few months ago they were fat on pilots and probably not hiring until next year. They recommended trying Niagra or PA. But I'm not there, and things change, good luck!

It hurt dropping the Reaper two years ago. We asked leadership to tell the guys who were going to drop RPAs ahead of time, even if was just before assignment night kicked off, they said no because it would be perceived that RPAs were a bad drop. That was ironic. I would have have liked to see a little more transparency in the rack and stack. I know for a fact myself and at least 3 others that got RPAs in the latest UPT D classes were not in the bottom of the class. It's preached all that matters is the mass but it's not always the case. Reguardless, embrace your assignment. No community in the AF needs new guys with bad attitudes. Every aircraft in the AF invitory is in some way contributing to bringing the fight to ISIS/assholes, and that's something to be proud of. Back to my whisky, and hopefully a manned a/c next year.

They will find your shit online. I way overpriced my items thinking they would never find out what I paid. They dug pretty deep and gave me what the retail number was. Took about a month. They will offer you a percentage of the damage item, the cost to fix it, or the cost to replace it depending on the damage.

I'm a UPT direct to RPAs, probably one of the most dreaded assignments out there, and I would do it again if given the option. My 13 months actually flying in UPT I wouldn't trade for the world. The government PAID me to learn to fly, and paid for all the training. Life long friends and memories made, and flying expierences that 99.9% of people dream of. I'll never forget that formation low level down the Charleston coast, or that night sortie at FL320 watching thunderstorms. Now I sit in a box or at a desk. We all bitch about the drone, but a normal day flying the box is 100x more rewarding than any civilian job I've had. The ISR saves lives and assists in our nations national security in ways many can only dream, and nothing beats killing terrorists and f**cking your wife all in the same day. The desk work is really what sucks, and dealing with blue/military/"professional" issues. All that being said, I know when I'm a crusty old man, sitting on my porch with a shotgun and a PBR I won't be asking myself "what if" I started my professional career doing anything else.

Well this is kind of awkward, because I am my source, so that would leave me to believe you have minimal expierence. I've een at Cannon for some time. The fact that you haven't heard of AFSOC to ACC proves your a new guy, PCSs to ACC bases happen regularly and it's common knowledge, those of that have been here can name numerous friends that have left for ACC. Let's not start the squadron vs squadron dick dance. Be part of the solution and not the problem and stop the shit talk/bitterness between the squadrons. I've flown for several of the ops squadrons and all of them train to equally high standards in their respective mission set, and have their fair share of shit hot fliers and bad apples. (I am being vague here for a reason, I have 0 desire to get any more specific about details on this forum, reguardless of what you can find open source) I am glad someone is trying to spread some knowledge on here about AFSOC RPAs, but the appearance you give when you spread bad info that is common knowledge among the line dogs is that you are new MQT student that knows nothing about what he/she is talking about. Get some time and expierence under your belt before you start passing info. Just trying to help you out man, being a irognant new guy that thinks he knows more than he does is not going to work out well for you here and more importantly in your job.

As a manned guy in RPAs I agree the AAM or AM should not be awarded to RPA guys. Putting your ass on the line should be required to get that medal. I think a separate medal should be created. RPAs are a interesting case, little risk but one individual can have more impacts on the battlefield in one night than one could ever imagine. And that deserves some sort of recognition.

Your update is out of date. I know several of AFSOC bros going to ACC, as recently as last week. I won't get into the rest of your post because of OPSEC reasons but your are not correct. I will say AFSOC trains to a higher standard and handles some mission sets that ACC does less frequently.

Got to watch the HUD video today, deff worth hitting up your intel shop, just for the pure "f**k ya!!" Factor.

Short answer. Not really. FWIW the last two classes of my fiscal year (I was in one) had in my opinion the best heavy drops of the year. Except the RPAs. But that's a sore subject with extenuating circumstances. Luck, timing, hard work and don't suck are the keys to success.

There has been a lot of rumors around the squadron of how bad the manned side is getting. We already lost a lot of our 11s, the handful of us UPT directs from 2015 were just notified to expect PCSs back to manned for all of us in 2018, and AFPC has started asking the 18x guys for volunteers for UPT. My how quickly the tides turn. But I wouldn't be surprised if you see someone not get a RPA slot and picked up for UPT. That's weird to say.........

You will get reimbursed up to whatever the lodging rate is if you go off base. If they only have one room available have a friend call and book it. Then call and get your non A. Then have your friend call and cancel the room. Boom. Unless I misunderstood your post and they have multiple one bedrooms left.

That's what I get for listening to students.

Nope. I rented from a old colleague on recent TDY and pocketed the leftover from the 75% rule. How did finance even find out? I just uploaded my receipt in DTS and no questions were ever asked.

AFSOC guys were getting a choice of Nashville, Cuse, March, or Holloman a few months back, or so I heard. I've been TDY for all but 3 weeks so far this year so I don't know how true that still is or was.

In my 2 years of RPA pergitory ive only seen a MQ-9 break 200kts once, full power 15 degrees nose low dive out of icing. 120 is more accurate. You couldn't pay me any amount to stay for another RPA tour. I would give a testicle for a light attack manned tour. Wieght, electrical power, bandwidth are big considerations for a second sensor on the current RPA fleet. A second sensor that the pilot could operate would be awesome, with a throttle quad similar to what the pointy nose types are using, but I would not want trade my ability to go kenetic for it. Unfortunately the -9 was not designed for a second sensor, and I think it would be easier to design a new RPA around that set up. Better yet, get us a light attack manned option so us stuck in RPAs can gtfo.

I watched them take off last night as I left work, sad day in the office today, to them, here here,