viper154

I would guess CV-22, that thing doesn't fly like anything else. I'm about to head to the U-28 schoolhouse my self, everything I have been told by U-28 guys is that the plane is very easy to fly stick and rudder wise, its meant to be flown by doctor/lawyer types, the hard part is the mission/tactical side. Original poster said it was the initial check ride that caused the FEB, so from my understanding he would have been hooking the initial qual phase that doesn't incorporate any of the tactical U-28 things. Someone please correct me if any of that is wrong, my U-28 knowledge comes from a 3 hour fam ride and bs ing with the 28 guys getting some info on the schoolhouse.

That choice is easy, fly. The last 3 years I’ve been robbed of flying. You can bet your ass off I will be in the air every second I can, mostly because I just love being the air, but partially to bolster my airline app. My life has been much better since I stopped caring about all the other bullshit and focused on being a pilot.

You certainly can buy firearms in both states. Bring your orders if you are in your state of duty. Only gotcha is the firearms laws in different states. You can buy a lot of things in most states that are very illegal in places like NY and Cali.

That’s one of the beautiful things of mil serivice. You can keep your state of residence or change as required. Do your research into your states income tax code and the states you are stationed in. You can possiably avoid paying state income tax as filing as a non resident, or changing your residency to the state you are living in if it does not have a income tax, like TX, Fl, AZ, and some others. I would think this would have no effect on your CC permit, but the laws are different in every state. Every base also has different refs on CC, so check your local base regs. FYSA Every base reg I have seen requires you to leave your weapon in your vehicle if you are allowed to bring it on base.

Don’t discount the “hight above burst” fusing, it’s great for getting that frag right in the face/head/chest area.

The idea has been thrown around to get some of the more specialized SF guys that do go out side the wire (Ravens/Guardian Angels, Dagger types) some familiarity with local ISR/Attack assets and some expierence on the radio. I have actually been able to do a little of it with some of the guys at my base, it was very much a more bro level deal than anything official, but I think it was good training for them. As a armed ISR/CAS asset I don’t nessisarly need the guy on the ground (especially guarding the wire) to give me a 9 line, if they can get on a radio and in a clear and concise manner tell me where ish they are taking fire from I can provide great info on enemy movement/numbers/etc for them to take proper action. Worse case I can always shoot under self defense ROE, especially if we are talking about the wire about to breached.

For some reason it’s only the name/AF tape Velcro that sucks. Taking a patch off the arms is about as hard as getting your drunk recently divorced buddy to leave the strip club.

I’m still at my RPA squadron but I am PCSing to a cockpit after the new year, got my assignment a few months ago, finally dropped orders today. I was a UPT D from the round 3 years ago. As a recat your only option is white jet, so with your med status T-1s are probably your only bet. Hopefully you can snag a jet. I here the AF is looking to ramp up UPT, going to require more instructors

If you been in RPAs for 5+ years there was a recat board a few months back, odds were not good if you were in that boat. If not your odds are good of getting back to a jet. We have had two to T-6s, one to T-1s, a 130J, U-28, AWACS, EC-130, C-17, 135. It was a mix bag of returning to previous airframes and going to a new jet. We have a few more prior manned dudes that have been told to expect an assignment in the next 12 months. It’s a mass exodus of manned from RPAs right now. Back to regularly scheduled PRF/OPR talk.

I know two couples in AFSOC that were successful at working their assignments. Both couples were FAIPs, one decided to roll the dice, both were able to get gunships as a second assignment. Other couple didn’t want to risk it and volunteered for RPAs.

It’s a total crap shoot. If you both do really well in would advantageous to have a rack and stack of the most common aircraft/bases at the top. C-17s to Charleston/McChord, 130s to the Rock, KC-135s to Fairchild, look at the assignment night thread and you can get a good idea of what is “common”. That F-22 or C-17 to Hawaii are hit and miss, and odds that it will be in both drops and you both finish high enough to grab the assignment aren’t that great. I would think your best bet for staying together would be biting that FAIP bullet, odds are most people in the class won’t want it, I would think your CCs would have a little more pull getting you to the same base after a FAIP tour, they have a “FAIP drop” for their follow on assignment but I’m sure there is some wiggle room to make things happen.

They would have had a stack full of Reapers within minutes with weapons armed ready to lay down some hate, I’m sure every other armed asset would have been on station shortly after. Much as the RPA gets a bad rap they are darn good at finding shit, steady stare, and blowing shit up, and also their connectivity back to C2. I always briefed my crew flying the line, i don’t care who we are following or what target we are working, if there is a fallen angel I’m coming off station to go get him, if you disagree put it on the tapes but it’s going to happen.

He was a great f ing dude. We met at IFS, he shuttled me around since I didn’t drive up. Got to meet up with him a few years later when he was going through pit. To him. 🍺🍺

Expectation management is key. It’s not the “good ole days” anymore, and it’s a government organization, the beurocracy and bs are alive and well. That being said, it’s still a amazing experience, Im glad I choose to be military aviator and worked my ass off my USAF wings. I went straight to RPAs after UPT, it was a major let down, I missed being the air everyday. But I learned more than I ever thought, and was closer (even though remotely)to the pointy end of the stick than most will ever be. I got one of my top choices of assignment out of RPAs, and recently have returned to the jet. I don’t take any flight for granted, and I’m usually smiling like a fool from the moment I step until engine shutdown. I’ve been lucky, I have had some pretty good leadership in AFSOC, I’ve also seen some not good leadership in other organizations both in my wing and in others. Im still torn if I want to stay or punch at my 10, I’m not on the HPO track, and that’s fine. If I do decide to leave AD when the time comes it’s likely I will try to find a guard/reserve gig. Going AD was probably the only chance I was get to fly anything bigger than a 172, and it has opened up my opportunities in the aviation world. Some things have been awesome, some have sucked, I still don’t for a second regret the decisions I have made.

I agree, I’m just a lowly crew dog but at any given time the odds are better that our safety guy is deployed/TDY than home. I had AFSAS access for a few months for a course I attended but it was quickly taken away.

I’ve seen it several times, always a tough one. As I said in another post, my MAJOM/wing has been pretty good about getting us the info but many others are not. How many people know about the two U-28 incidents, the Aviano F-16, the 135 yaw mishap, MC-12 in Afghan, and the couple T-6 and 38 mishaps we had this year. That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head after a few to many beers. The Air Force as a flying organization needs to reevaluate how this info is distributed. I get ORM and safety first bs from leadership constantly, but as a organization we aren’t doing enough to get this info/lessons learned to the crews. Its only going to become more important as the crusty knowledgeable guys leave for greener pastures.

5 years of flying on active duty and the first time I ever heard of blue 4 news was when I went to the safety program manager course. The system is broke, we as aircrew should probably be getting that briefed to us every month. Maybe I am biased, aviation safety is something I am passionate about, and learning from the mistakes of others to not repeat them myself is also something I feel passionate about. To much red tape/fear of recourse from leadership has made the safety process useles. To many of our aircrew have no clue about most of the fatal accidents the USAF has had in the last few years. Their are countless lessons to be learned and re learned.

We made a push for this a few years ago. Unfunded request through the the group RAs. Required a lot of justification from the SQ/CC. Other units skin the cat by making the civ clothing part of the initial issue gear you get when you get to your unit. You get a a gift card to REI, or whatever store meets your clothing needs, and a shopping list of required items, xx polos, xx khaki pants, shoes, mutlitool, etc. Allows everyone to build their own “kit” so they can get items that meet the needs/sizes/preferences of the individual. The gift card takes the hassle out of having to have a government charge card holder go with every person to buy their stuff. I would probably recommend sending a NCO or O with the young guys, giving a couple hundred dollars on a gift card to a young airman is a recipe for disaster.

The video by CSAF is also safety privileged. Standard disclaimer at the beginning and end. I am always skeptical of leadership, but I give CSAF some respect for this one. Unfortunately (my opionion only) our safety process has become to bound by red tape. My MAJCOM has been very open about making sure aircrew see incedents and learning from them. I am in the process of going through a course outside my MAJCOM, and taking to instructors at the unit/MAJCOM of the course I am going through to much red tape has been strung to allow aircrew to see safety resaults.

Standard stuff taught in the T-1, 5 degrees of bank in the working engine, step on the good engine, I’m sure variations of that procedure are standard in all non centerline aircraft Still sad. Some footage of the accident is on a video released by CSAF that all aircrew are suppose watch in the next few weeks about preventing mishaps. It’s also probably out there on the internet.

Was always interesting driving around to other side of base through sniper alley with that house right there as well. There were a bunch of locals (I think, they had afghan style clothing) contracted to remove the old Russian mines that were within a rocks throw from the fence. For 4 months I was always on high alert, no one else in the crew can ever seemed to care but it had the makings of a great attack.

Nope. Spot on. Much like the O senior leadership I have found myself speechless at some of the bs that comes out of our senior Es. Mostly being the near 20 year types that were prob young NCOs around the safety belt/sock inspection era. Don’t get me wrong, some of these guys are shit hot, but more than a few are off their rocker. My old unit had a shirt that was non aircrew, he spent most his day wondering the squadron correcting people for “only having their backpack on their right shoulder”, (didn’t know that was even a thing) asking the last time they shaved, open zippers and other non sense. Meanwhile some of Es had real issues that needed mentoring/help and were to afraid to talk to him because he was such a dick. I would say it’s a systematic problem with our E culture to blindly follow rules to the T, without ever wondering if they have meant the intent of the reg/pub/rule/course.

Hell ya we would. Most of us take 1.7 hour drive that way monthly. Always depressing leaving Lubbock and going back to Cannonistan LBB has some commercial traffic, more than CBM/END/DLF, but nothing crazy that couldn’t be worked around. Every flight I’ve ever taken out of LBB was east, the opposite direction of Reece.

I don’t see why we can’t wear squadron/MWS ball hats, (besides the man keeping us down) Navy dudes rock the ship hats. The ABU And OCP patrol caps suck, and the flight hat does not perform to well in the cold/wind.

Massif makes their flight jacket in olive drab, I think those old green issued flight jackets are $350-$400 bucks, (don’t quote me, it’s been a few years since I worked in the RA office) I believe the massif ones are $500, and it’s a way nicer product, the AETC base I’m currently TDY at has issued them to all the instructors.