viper154

Go home, you don't need a pass as long as you leave after the duty day on Friday and show up to work Monday. If you are a married reservist you can live in the dorms or off base (because you are married). You can sneak your wife in the dorms or stay where you please while she visits. If I had a dollar every time I knew someone who had a girl illegally stay in their UPT dorms I would have thousands. It's not like basic where they are "patrolled".

Thanks for all that dropped some knowledge on the tap issue. I bought the correct size tap and T handle on Amazon for 10 bucks and did it myself. Was pretty easy to do. I'll post some pics when I get it finished before it ends up in a lake as a token of appreciation.

I tried other screws from my other rifles, it is for sure the wrong size.

I wanted a Spikes but all I could find was the PSA. I used a PSA parts kit, also took forever to ship, but the kit was decent, I didn't use their FCG as I got a Geiselle. I picked up a Anderson at the shop when PSA came in, same quality for half the price, slightly heavier, and no tacticool etched in graphics but the screw fit the damn hole.

It's a PSA lower, I ordered a couple items from them and had issues, their customer service is severely lacking. I did a idiot check and popped out the fire control group and tried the screw in back (sts) and the hole is definitely the wrong size. I've never had this issue either, my best guess is whoever did the original hole just used the wrong size tap/bit. I would rather not ship a semi complete lower but worse case I will. I'll call around and check local stores this weekend.

I've been building a semi high end AR, got my Daniel Defense upper, 2 stage match trigger, and parts kit for my lower, got the lower entirely put together except for the pistol grip, the screw to hold to grip was going in really tight so I backed the screw and the hole tapped in the lower is to small, and the screw I started was enough to start its own grooves in the aluminum. What do y'all recommend, getting a tap and tapping it myself or trying to find a machine shop to do it for me? I've never tapped a hole (sts) and I would rather not f**k my $120 lower up. I'm in Cannon so my local business options are limited.

Take a gander in the track selects/assignment night page. A lot of 38s are dropping right now, but the tables can always turn, 2 years ago when I tracked we had two 38s for my class. RPAs are only going to T-1s and it looks like that might not be happening anymore for now. The RPA pipeline is more backed up than the line at the DMV. That being said, fighters are guaranteed with a reserve slot if you preform well/graduate from UPT. Nothing is guaranteed on AD except frustration, taxes, and increased alcohol consumption. If time is on your side hold out for that guard/reserve slot.

Indeed it does.

Unrelated to above,I am doing sport bitching here, but this is what is wrong with the AF. I got non vol UPT direct to RPAs. So be it, needs of the AF, undermanned career field blah blah blah. Holloman was a shit show, but they are undermanned and over worked, so be it. I have now been at my operarional base for 4 months, with about 15 other pilots/sensors that have been here just as long, if not longer. We have done ONE sim in 4 months. ing ONE sim, no flights. How can you justify sending manned pilots you just spent $1.2 million a pop to train to drones, and having them sit on their ass. Rant off. Back to my whisky.

I'll caveat that with the Cannon perspective, place sucks, hours suck, morale is eh, but in the current envirement strikes happen very frequently, so if your into population control this is the pace to be. We also have the LRE squadron, 1 to 1 deployments, some decent TDYs. Standard work days, weekends off, but they currently are AFSOCs most deployed squadron, so they are gone a lot.

So I can't ask their gender indenity but I have to refer to them by their desired gender, and they don't have to tell me what gender they ID with. Why am I not surprised.

Not suprised. Holloman was backed up before the manning push. I was there 180 days, only worked about 70 of them. With the classes at Randolph for the 18x ers almost doublimg in size and 6 UPT guys every six weeks, the new classes at Holloman were beimg told 8-9 months to complete the couse.

The first couple classes of us that got UPT direct are rather savvy on the AF bs. There is a pretty general concensus that we will do the job asked of us to the best of our ability, but sucking the blue D and volunteering for shit deals for hope of a jet latter is not something most of us are not willing to do. We already got the rug yanked once and know this could very well be a empty promise. Especially with nothing paper. We we heard the recat rumors as well. As discussed earlier in the thread, seems like manning should be better in the RPA world in the next 2 years. With the manned pilot shortage continuing in a tailspin hopefully it will allow us to get out. Key to success is to get back manned before 2019 when all the 18x guys start punching. I would expect less than 5% of them to stay leaving us right back in the current RPA manning shit show.

Bro, do you even pilot? But for real, I'm fairly sure you are General Chang. Do currently have any rated hours of any kind in a AF jet? If you do, please amuse us with your resume. If not, go back to your desk, and come back to the forum after you have spent time in your air frame. This is a place for professional military aviators (and those interested in the job) to come and converse/interact about the job. If you think this is place we come to argue with newbs about leadership/core values and our attitudes outside the work environment you are mistaken. If your looking to start trouble or argue, or not heed the advice of the guys on here that have been there, done that, and have the shirt take your ROTC classroom bs talking points over to the YouTube comments section on the AF recruiting videos.

I'm calling it. GC is is ILS. ILS is most likely a AFPC officer that was butt hurt about not getting a rated slot out of his commissioning source. Now he finally has a chance for his "wings" and is sipping the blue kool aid a little to much. Being in AFPC he has plenty of time to post on here while he takes his 2 hour lunch and works a few hours a day.

Been eying this for awhile, wife finally got it for me for our anniversary. Sig Sauer 1911 Emperor Scorpion. First impressions are very good. More to follow.

My bad, my SAPR training and HR CBT are both overdue.

I'll get you a hurt feelings report.

I would kick the kid who said something in the balls. Then I would tell your supervisor you in fact do not have a lease signed and are looking at places, and you will be more than happy to provide a copy of signed lease with date signed if it's a issue. Anyone gives you shit I would march my ass straight to the IG office.

I know someone who just PCS there with his wife. Their pictures of the beach, swimming in blue water, and drinking tropical fruity drinks make me think I would much rather PCS my family there than my current dust covered, toxic tap water, drug/crime infested location of Clovis.

The mission seems rewarding, and for my wants and desires I got a good deal going to the unit I'm heading too. That being said I want to go back manned, if I get shafted so be it, I love to fly. How do Guard/Reserve units look at guys that got passed over but otherwise have a clean/decent record?

It's a A tour for us. It's coded so on VMPF. I had a instructor call our functional last year when I left my UPT base and AFPC confirmed that, and that after 3 years we all have the option to do as we please with in reason. As discussed in the other thread, all the intial 18x guys commitments are up in 2019, and us first round direct guys would also be up. If AFPC can foresee that shit show all going down I can see them shafting us. But as we know AFPC is a reactive force, so I think the guys that can get out before mid 2019 have a honest shot of flying again

Question for the older guys, probably a better career related thread to place this but it's semi relative. I'm a UPT direct guy hoping to go back manned after my tour is up (ya ya might not happen, we've beat that horse already). Because of all the delays with sequester and typical AF BS, it took me 8 months to go on AD after commissioning, another 7 months casual waiting to start UPT, finished UPT on time, and when everything is all said and done a year to get fully qualified in the MQ-9. That being said, I have my training report from UPT, and I won't have my first OPR until I'm a Capt. IF the 3 year tour is honored (ya ya don't kill my hope) by the time I get IQ in the manned follow on I'm going to be going up for my major board with two training reports and 2 maybe 3 OPRs. Is taking the time going backed manned going to be career killer? I have no problem being a 20 yr major or going guard after my 10, but I would like to be realistic on my expectations.

You don't even need the dish. That signal from the states goes a long way before it gets beemed up to space. A small building with the required comm, maintainers, security and a flight doc can get the job done, doesn't sound like a lot but the comm trail for these things is huge

Figured as much. I know some of our foreign friends that fly US RPA products have very special rules about how they can conduct ops. I lost a lot of the details in translation and this probably isent the place to discuss them any further. Reguardless, basing options that aren't in the desert and near decent population centers here conus would help some of my gripes. I can deal with some BS if where I live doesn't suck the D. I don't think locations are going to get any better for the foreseeable future. The current bases congressional districts fight like hell to keep them there, and despite our gripes and QOL complaints our elected officials are going to do everything possible to keep jobs in their districts. I think what we are going to see is a couple of squadrons get stood up at other locations the CSAF talked about late last year. Just enough to say they did something but not enough to help those who didn't get a golden ticket and help the masses. My solution is to transition more of the RPA enterprise to the guard. I think there are enough old guys past 10 but still far enough away from 20 out there that would trade there AD cockpit/queep for a full time guard GCS to finish out their time. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just the scotch talking.