GearMonkey

I don't know the specifics but imagine your AFRES unit would have to be involved somehow. Whether or not they have to "hire" you first adds another piece to this puzzle. Check out AFI 48-123 and the AF Waiver Guide (both are online) to learn about ETPs. The example is for an age waiver but the process is exactly the same for a medical ETP. The regs don't provide a whole lot of detail so you sort of have to make it up and educate people as you go. PM me with any ETP questions once you figure out who to submit it to.

Based on my experience (a couple years old at this point) you're in kind of a tough spot. You won't get an FC1 waiver on the Active Duty side but things may be different in the Reserves. Your next step would be an Exception to Policy request. These are sometimes approved when it can be shown that a candidate meets FC2 standards (or FC2 waiver criteria). In addition to the medical arguement you'll have to make a strong case that you walk on water and that it would be in the best interests of the Air Force to roll the dice on you. Active Duty members send the ETP request up their chain of command to the Vice Chief of Staff. I'm not sure the routing for an AFRES ETP request. If the ETP is granted you'll still have to go to Brooks and they'll probably try to derail you somehow. Best case scenario you get an ETP, go to Brooks, get good IOP measurements, and put this all behind you. It's an uphill battle but not impossible yet.

Were the high IOPs recorded on the "puff" tester or did they poke you in the eye with the blue circle thingy? AETC/SG is kind of touchy about high IOPs especially with disc cupping and/or any other unusual factors. It is easier for them to DQ people rather than really look into the situation since they have an infinite pool of candidates to choose from. I speak from the AD side so it may be a bit different with AFRES. I seem to recall a slightly different waiver approval chain for non-AD so you might be able to cut AETC/SG out of the equation. I had a similar situation during my F1C but luckily they never confirmed the puff readings with applanation. Because of this, and a variety of other errors, I was able to get an ETP. For some reason AETC/SG doesn't seem to listen to civilian eye docs. I've heard far too many stories of people getting sent off base, finding out things are fine, and getting DQed anyway based on the original AF exam. I don't know why they even suggest further consult since they don't consider the results at all. The OHT waiver criteria provided is for current aviators. Once you get your foot in the door and they spend a few million bucks training you they are suddenly far more willing to keep you around despite any medical issues.

Two quick questions for those at Chucktown. . . 1. Is the actual test the same as the practice test? 2. Any word on results so far?

Who knew that a 70+ slide PowerPoint presentation containing a plethora of new (and eye position dependant) taxi references along with a 100% MQF standard would solve all our problems? This may help leadership cover their butts and will hopefully keep the Dice Man happy for a while but, as usual, it offers very little benefit for folks actualy getting shit done. I wonder if the WG/CC took a solo MQF first to "press to test" his new perfection standard. If 100% is required to get the mission done then why are we satisfied with testing a mere 50 out of 300+ questions?

My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We're bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hours. We're coming in from the north, below their radar.

Not 100% sure but I don't think there is anything that says you can't. The only rule I recall is that you can't buy a FC ticket if there is availability in steerage. It is good technique, however, to take your original seat and have them page you for the seat change. That way everyone sees that you were originally in coach so they don't get the impression that the military is paying for the FC seat.

According to AF Times: "Gen. Arthur Lichte, who officially retired in January, now sits on the board of directors of EADS North America. A division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., EADS North American announced Lichtes confirmation to the board Friday." And I thought this acquisition bullshit couldn't get any worse. Hey Art, did it ever cross your mind that this might not be the best time to run off and join the EADS board? I mean the whole improper contract award did happen under your watch at AMC. You didn't make the decision but I'm sure you argued the case for your boys. Did the thought even cross your mind that it might be good to sit this out just a bit longer while the current tanker competition wraps up? USAF has a bad reputation for senior leadership being in bed with industry. For the most part I think this reputation is unfair but your particular case is pushing the line if not blatantly crossing it. I'm not saying you shouldn't go earn a little post-USAF money, I'm just saying that it probably would have been better for everyone if you had been a little more careful in your selection of employer. Great work doing your part to help make the Air Force look good. Enjoy your millions. Hey MGEN Eidsaune, I hear Anheuser Busch is hiring!

I heard secondhand that she called another group at GRACC lazy because they were questioning (in her mind "complaining about") the greatly increased ops tempo and some less than intelligent (is there any other kind?) utilization of air mobility assets. Hopefully it was just a poorly delivered joke. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

If it is anything like SOS (and I think it is) the class allocations trickle down to the MAJCOMs and then the bases. Because of this, as long at the base can assign a body against an allocation they are pretty much free to do what they want. Try and find someone on base (either do it yourself or work with you CC to get the word out to other squadrons) who is willing to swap with you and it should be pretty easy. I just did it with SOS and aside from pointing out that I couldn't be in two formal training prgrams simultaneously it was totally hands-off. If that doesn't work and you have family who can take care of all the prep-work you could just fly off for the weekend to get hitched. This is AETC so weekends are pretty much a free for all. I wonder if you have to get a high-risk activity briefing when you turn in an "I'm getting married" Form 26B? Good luck.

Or to bullets!!! [reserved for Marko Ramius picture]

How about no alcohol at OTBH = no USAF hand-holding to enable the Qataris to fly their C-17s. If they want to screw with us we can dish it right back. That would get the permit renewed in no time. I'm sick of us just sitting back and taking this shit from our "partners". None of them like to admit that we're bringing a hell of lot more to the table than we're getting out of the deal.

I'm sure as a model American warrior he was wearing his reflective belt and had his shirt tucked in during each of these attacks. I shiver at the tought of how this hero would have been treated had he transited the 'Deid and made the mistake of commiting a minor uniform infraction.

I almost choked on my beer when I saw that jet landing in Haiti on CNN. Funny thing is I saw it depart the homeland a couple days prior. This is exactly why they went with the crazy paint job; it is great PR. Still, I expect it will be used for horses and fancy cars (or taking up space on the C-17 ramp) 95+ percent of the time. Now if they could just figure out how to operate them on their own...

Practical versus practicable is one of my favorites. . .

I agree. Thanks for posting the letter. While it was a great read I find it fairly depressing in the end. Clearly nothing has changed. Keys saw the problems back in his O-3 days yet despite making it almost all the way to the top he was unable to fix any of it. If one of the chosen ones can't make things better it is unlikely we'll even see things fixed. Almost all my fattie friends have stories of the AMC Commander telling them at GRACC that most of the changes they and he would like to see are above his pay grade. When a 4-star isn't high enough in the organization to help fix things we're surely doomed. Someone pass me my reflective belt.

Perhaps I should have lead with "I'm an AE and a pilot. . ." Having a "deeper understanding of what is really going on with [the] aircraft" is nice but overrated. Knowing the physics and science behind it all won't help you in UPT when you're trying to keep from flying out of the MOA or shooting a difficult instrument approach. Beyond the basic vocabulary involved AE is no better preparation for USAF flying than any other engineering or non-engineering degree.

Doing AE won't keep you out of the cockpit. It won't help you get there either. But. . . if you get an AE degree and don't get a pilot slot you will almost certainly be locked into a 62E job. Most of those suck to some extent but they set you up good to be a blood sucking contractor at Boeing, Lockheed, or the others when your four years is up. One major issue with the 62E career field is that they are constantly turning the tap on/off to try and get manning right. When I got in we had two LTs for every job. This was done because all the Captains and Majors were getting out and they were trying to work the odds to try and fix things down the road (not a good idea since all it did was make the LTs hate life and want to get out that much more). Then the war happened and USAF needed to get numbers in the right careers so they cut half of the 6E2 folks loose and plussed up CE and SF. I'm out of that career now but I suspect that things haven't changed much.

Hope thats not really the case. I haven't needed the Jepps too often but it is nice to have them from time to time. If they do cut back we'll have to return to our old methods and share a username through the grapevine. I've still got an old KWRI access code on the back of my TACC phone card.

McChord to the rescue? Quite the turn of events since usually we have to hold their hand at Ali. I'm just glad Dover isn't out there anymore. We had EAS dudes flying YT missions during their trip to OTBH. I guess fighting a war is harder than flying limos and USO tours around. Ah, rivalry. Such fun.

Since we have a local expert now (and there are surely more on the prowl) I'll post a few simple ideas and hope they percolate to the top. The General can take credit if he likes. . . How about we build well lit pedestrian-activated stoplights at the two or three places in the CC/BPC where you actually need to cross an active road. That'll increase safety above and beyond what the RBs provide for 95% of the traffic danger situations we're all so scared of. Once this is done RBs should no longer be required outside of OPS Town. I'm sure this will cost some money but it can't possibly be more than the 1000s of pounds of fuel I've burned double-blocking to the DV terminal to drop off dudes who are too important for a 300 yard car ride. Here is another one. . . How about some of those fancy new trailers (or even some of the shitty ones they are tearing down!) be set aside for transient aircrew. That way during our 16 hours off between 24 hour flying days (-4 hours for customs/in-processing, -1 hour for puting on RBs and walking 15 miles to the DFAC, -1 hour of trying to use the internet during peak WOW hours, -1 hour of trying to recharge an Eagle Cash Card because it expired in the 31 days between visits, -1 hour of turning the AC on/off multiple times as the tent gets stifling/freezing, etc.) we could get some quality sleep. I think that would be better for safety than linking all the RBs on base together and wrapping them around the outter fence line. Anyone else have realistic ideas that a true leader could devote some brainbytes (that others are wasting on RBs) to?

True. And to varying degree those people deserve the title. I think what most folks here are referring to, however, are the countless other "support" folks hacking their deployment cred at the 'Deid (and similar places) or "working" back at home station. These are the folks at a 24/7 base who work banker's hours and close for training several afternoons a week. They are the TCN monitors, the folks who arrange 'Deid Idol competitions, and the ones for whom "thats not my job" is the easy answer. Wearing ABUs and reciting a stupid creed don't make you a warrior. To those who are in the fight, thank you. To those who are pretending they are, get over yourselves and focus on doing your job in a friendly and efficient manner.

Yes, I meant over the eyes. I plan to continue wearing them pushed up on my head at the Grab and Go and other quick stops. If I get called out I'll just put them back over my eyes so my hands are still free for carrying stuff and other helpful purposes. The DDs should love that!

Does the OTBH Sup prohibit wearing sunglasses indoors? I took a quick look at the parent AFI and it doesn't seem to mention this. Sorry if this has been covered before. Needless to say most of the search results are from the last few replys to this topic.

While the reg is written with EOGs in mind we end up running most of ours through the OG and AW back at home station. The EOG process is much simpler to use (more focus on recognizing service less on spelling and line-spacing) but we just don't have the manpower to generate all the awards while deployed. Also, we're often part way through an OLC at the end of a deployment and end up closing it out after a few regular (non-deployed) trips down range. I've been out of the A&D game for a year now so things may have changed. I suspect, however, that there might be other limits on AM points for AAMs scattered thorughout the guidance. Like most AF documents it wasn't written very well.