Marco

¿Qué?

I invited myself. I was being serious. Steve's book is awesome. I had a hard copy, lost it in my last move, and promptly picked it up on Kindle. I don't have to worry about losing it, or my two year old deciding it would be a great coloring book now. I also have Eagle Engaged. I have lots of respect for Steve and his work, and will be picking up a copy of the new edition. Thanks for calling me a nerd, though. I've always considered myself more of a geek. Nerds got better grades. ;)

Awesome X infinity squared!!!

So, I decided to try something different while waiting on the wife at the doc's office. Scored 133 while aiming the reticle and my two year old daughter hit the fire button. She giggled uncontrollably the entire time. Nothing like killing zombies to bring a family together, lol.

"Got a pulse?" "You're hired!"

Up $9 in Jax. Just glad it didn't drop.

Jags should have drafted him. Guess they didn't want to sell out the stadium. Oh well, jokes on them.

In my unit we've got small biz owners, lawyers, Customs agents, dudes who work at the Depot (Warner Robins), cops, and also the FedEx, UPS, airline types. This includes flyers and non-flyers.

I don't know about Mojave, however I do know that final assembly and flight test, etc. is being done here in Jacksonville. Boeing has the contract and is doing it at their facility at Cecil Field. It's kinda nice to see lawn darts in the area again, given we gave ours up in '94 for Eagles. Kinda nostalgic..........

Rebalancing the Rated Pipeline: The Air Force needs to boost fighter pilot production to 278 pilots a year as it works to rebalance the rated training pipeline, wrote Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz in a letter to Air Force major commands and members of the Air Staff. Schwartz said this will be accomplished primarily through the new active associations with reserve fighter squadrons. Specifically, the Arizona Air National Guard at Tucson will support "significantly more" B-course students each year and reduce the number of foreign military sales students. Air Combat Command will reduce the F-16 flight training unit syllabus. The A-10 crew ratio will increase and more aircraft will be added to the FTU in an effort to produce more pilots, wrote Schwartz in the Nov. 2 letter. Also, the F-15C aggressor squadron will be converted to an FTU at a location still to be determined, and F-22 FTU throughput will be increased significantly. Schwartz requested the major command take the lead and "rapidly implement" the specific decisions made at a recent Rated Summit. The Air Staff's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Requirements function will lead a working group charged with tracking and synchronizing the staffing and codifying a new program action directive, which must be submitted to Schwartz by Dec. 1 for signature." Go figure. Thoughts?

Oh but we shall, good sir. "Pilot in question had his sleeves rolled up, and was not wearing gloves. As he was maneuvering for a kill, the lack of protective, fireproof, and ultimately sweat soaking material caused his hands to slip from the throttles and stick and land on the ejection handles. The rest is history." Seriously- glad he's ok.

About 8 months ago, I interviewed at a Coast Guard helo squadron as part of an OCS application packet. The board president, an O-5, told me during the interview that the CG was sending him to Syracuse to get his graduate degree. The board members all stated that was the norm for their officers to be sent to such institutions.

As a guy who is in the Guard, TA was a godsend. I had a shitty program called Select/Reserve GI Bill, and couldn't use it to max amount allowed because I was on Title 32 AGR orders. TA allowed me to finish my bachelor's, and the vocational allowance is helping me pay for my PPL, since the VA requires that before GI Bill will pay for additional ratings. When I finished my degree, us Guardbaby types weren't eligible for Post 9/11 bennies. just thought I'd throw in an argument on behalf of us little folks for whom TA is a great benefit. Threadjack over: please feel free to continue your discussion of worthless Masters degrees and such. :)

Jake, Thanks for the reply. I'm the first alt for both of the spots I listed. I speak with the folks in the recruiting office on a monthly basis to keep them apprised of my status and to see if the primaries have fallen out. They've been great and know that I'm applying elsewhere and said they should know next month, hence my statement. Best of luck!

That's along the lines of what I was thinking. Thanks for the reply.

Thread revival. I'm an alternate at a Guard Rescue unit for both HH-60 pilot and HC-130 Nav. I should find out next month whether or not I'm getting called up. If it does happen, I'm getting the feeling that it's gonna be the Nav spot. I am happy and anxious to do it, if given the chance. Coming from a maintenance background (F-15 Crew Chief) I'm just happy to fly and be part of the crew. My question, though, is this: I turn 29 in February. If called up and sent to P-Cola, does the UPT age 30 limit apply for Guard guys who are already Navs? I just want to see what the current word on the street is, if this can be a workable issue. I really want to fly -60's, and told them that in the interview. However, I also enthusiastically affirmed my willingness to be a Nav when asked that question too. Thanks in advance, and if this has been mentioned before and I missed it in the search-apologies. I just thought this was a unique situation that I'm in. Cheers!

May I suggest the Coast Guard? They'll commission you up to age 35 for flight training. At this point, take what you can get IMO. Good luck.

Ok, that is damn funny!

Gotta admit, that was impressive.

Yep, I thought it was interesting, but nonetheless it'll be like the USMC Tomcat. Non-existent.

Good get, sir.

This is true. But it's still funny. :P

From this morning's AFA Daily Report: Plan B: Procuring F-22s is a viable option for the Marine Corps in place of acquiring the F-35B strike fighter, according to one Marine Corps officer. Doing this "may seem like an extreme course of action, but it makes the most sense for the Marine Corps for several reasons," asserted Maj. Christopher Cannon, an operations analyst with Marine Corps Combat Development Command, in a September article in the Marine Corps Gazette, the service's professional journal. Cannon argues that the Marines could purchase F-22s for less than the F-35's current flyaway cost. Plus, F-22s would "cost less" to maintain than F–35Bs, he states, citing Air Force estimates of some $44,000 per flying hour for the F-22 and his own projection of up to $50,000 per flying hour for the F-35B. He says this would make the costs of restarting the F-22 manufacturing line worthwhile. Capability-wise, the F-22s "dwarfs the F–35," he states. Cannon's article discussed the F-22 option in the context of the two-year F-35B probation period that is intended to give the Marines time to overcome the aircraft's developmental issues or face F-35B cancellation What say you?

It's ok, they'll fly again soon. As targets. :)

It's 5 years now, and most units require a bachelors for an off the street candidate. If you're in-house, a lot will allow you to be within a year of graduation with a minimum of 90 semester hours already completed. The era of the complete college after flight school days are pretty much over.