BQZip01

I'll agree with Murph here. 2 tours at the Deid and we always made sure that the incoming person had a quality place to rest his/her head with fresh linens. If that meant giving up your own bunk and sleeping in the transient tent, so be it. That way they could move right in and you were packed to leave. Caveat: we were all in tents.

1: think paragraphs, man. You CAN go back and edit your post... 2: She needs to accept that you will be moving a lot. That doesn't mean she needs to give up her old friends, but she will need to make new ones. My wife had some issues initially getting into the military lifestyle, but once you get involved, friends come naturally. The key is to get involved in SOMETHING. 3: Middle of nowhere?!? My dad's been to the middle of nowhere (well the edge of it anyway: Shemya AFB, Alaska) and the vast majority of bases aren't close. I'm in Mino and there is still plenty to do. 4:She certainly CAN have a career, it just needs to be more flexible than most. Spouses have some priorities for hiring on base, especially if they are teachers, but also for AAFES and you can progress through and make a career. Other local businesses hire too. If she's eligible for the military, you could get join spouse assignments (not a guarantee). 5: Gone all the time? Puhleeze. There are some career fields that have you deploy more than others (C-17 crew, some tanker crews, AFSOC, AWACS, and a few others pop into my mind as the high-end of deployments), but there are plenty that don't deploy often or go for short periods of time: B-52s, RC-135s, E-4s, OC-135s, UH-1s, etc. Expand your selection and you might find some better options for NOT deploying often. 6: "...afraid I will miss the birth of my child and be deployed during it, miss their first words, first steps, concerts etc etc." If you have a job with ANYONE you could miss these things, but most employers (including the Air Force) WILL work with you and try to make that not happen. 7: "She is afraid i won't be around for anything and that she will be left on her own to fend for herself and raise her kids. I have told her that I was sure many of the wives worked together and helped one another out. But she just says she feels so out of place and that she really only ever wanted to live and NY and so that she could be close to her mother, especially when having kids." My wife felt the same way in a lot of ways, but most AF bases are near airports, so mom can come in for the birth. As with the above, there's no guarantee that she wouldn't be in upstate NY while her daughter suddenly went into labor in NYC. My second child was born with about 3 hours notice, so there was little chance for my wife's mom to be there for her. My first was born during Hurricane Katrina and we were in P-Cola; what do you think the odds were of getting a flight in there? My point is that it is a risk, but the same thing could happen if you AREN'T in the military. 8: "The only two places for her career field is really NYC and LA." I find that hard to believe. If she's a surgeon in some serious specialty of which I am unaware, maybe, but I haven't heard of anything like that. If it is such a case, perhaps it's time to find a new career? Most people change careers 3-4 times in their lifetimes. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. 9: "I have a math degree from Boston University but I have no background using it." Computer science here, same result... 10: "So even if I gave this all up I have no idea what i would do. Financially i would be screwed as I had a good chunk of debt coming in from school, car loan etc that I am dependent on the pay check." Well, you need to consider that in your plans. 11: "What I do know is that I want to marry her and that she is the only one I will ever want to be with?" Then you need to consider that too. Decide which is more important if you have to choose between them. 12: "She says the same but is worried that she will be unhappy and bored away from NY and living somewhere in the middle of no where." I've been in the military/a military brat for my entire life (except college...but I went to a military school...). I have learned that EVERY assignment is what you make of it. I cannot emphasize that enough. I know people who are miserable down the road in Fort Walton Beach. I know people who LOVE Eielson in Alaska. You HAVE to find things to do/people to meet or you WILL be miserable. That means you have to get outside your shell and try new things...both of you. Maybe your wife likes sewing (mine does), so I ended up taking a quilting class with her. I was the only guy, but my wife met a lot of nice women in our area that shared her interests and I supported her. 13: "Has anyone gone through this? What advice can i give her? I know I cannot live without her and at the same time she is afraid should i quit that i will always resent her?" We've ALL gone through this (or many of us). She wouldn't be alone, I promise. But at the same time, you have to make the best of your situation and have a positive attitude. 14: DOR/SIE in UPT is a bad idea. I personally washed out and became a back seater, but still in the flying club. Those who SIE'd didn't fare as well, except one who spoke 7 languages including Farsi, Arabic, Pashtun, and Mandarin Chinese...she was an intel match-made-in-heaven and loves it. I cannot guarantee you'll get out of the air force either. They may keep you on as an acquisition officer, PA officer, or [shudder] comm officer. 15: "Its not that simple and i don't think i could get through this wihtout her even if i wanted to. I know i am one of a lucky few to be in the position i am in. I just want to have a good life where the both of us are as happy as we can be together. Thank you for listening and any help you guys can offer." You will have a good life (it doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing even after the AF, it will NEVER be ideal), no one can guarantee happiness, but I can guarantee the possibility of it. Where you can be together? Man, you're in the military. You're probably going to deploy somewhere (unless you are missiles or UH-1s). The question is how you manage those deployments. Set yourself up for success and choose an airframe that doesn't typically deploy a lot (don't go AWACS!!!). Send me a message if you want. I would be happy to talk with you. My wife would also be pretty happy to talk to your gf if you want. I would also strongly suggest talking with one of chaplains on base. They specialize in this kind of stuff and can't tell ANYTHING you say to ANYONE. I also STRONGLY suggest living on base. Camaraderie seems to be a little higher there and built-in friends are a doorstep away. You sometimes have to put more effort into off-base living to get some of the same results (sometimes not).

helluva first post, man you should fit right in here...

Dude, that comment is worthy of its own patch... ...then again there are the asinine rules too, like V-necks with blues instead of crewneck shirts (never mind the fact we use them with every other uniform...) [/stopping rant now before I go off track...I need a drink...]

Not me, but thanks for the great idea...

Speaking as a guy who used to be a group OG exec, the bullets have to be substantiated. Usually that means they are combined and pulled from official government documents to include decorations, OPRs, training reports, official memoranda, etc. It is entirely likely they pulled it from your OPRs, but they should have other bullets too. If there is something that you want in there and it isn't included, ask your commander/flight commander to write a memo detailing what you want in the OPR. That will usually be sufficient.

adding the 5th SOF truth is like adding the sixth "SOF forces need to be able to breathe air". It's a given.

link? You gave just a link to this videographic work of art? My favorite part about this was when she's kicking her legs in the air as the puke flows back into her face... I had an instructor that used this clip as a break in his lesson while he chatted about other inane things for about 15 minutes. This video looping over and over...airsickness just didn't seem to gross after that lecture. Ok, my turn for puke stories. Story 1: Flyin' in the tweet and the student landing in front of me pukes on short final. We land right behind them and continue taxiing. We pretty much catch up with them on the landing roll and taxi off close to one another. As we clear the runway, we open our canopies and the lead aircraft makes a left turn, I watch as the student leans out, unstraps his mask and pours it out. Safety regs being what they are, he dutifully straps his mask back on... Story 2: (told secondhand) Same guy was flying and they finish some acro. This guy didn't have the stomach for it at first. Unfortunately, he went from "I'm fine" to "sweetmercifulheavenigottapuke" in about 2 seconds. Right after the IP demos some maneuver he looks over to the student who is looking straight ahead as a foamy puke is curling out of his mask. The guy graduated and went on to be a tweet IP (now is flying IP on the T-6). Story 3: Now I fly on the BUFFs and I can only imagine what low-level missions were like in a bird that size. Apparently there used to be an E-Dub that puked on every low level run. It got to the point that he couldn't even call out threats over the radio, but he had an ace up his sleeve. It was a new invention he picked up when he went through the B-52 FTU: sticky notes. He put down everything he could think of on these notes and the gunner would act as his voice. Imagine if you will, some guy holding a barf bag in one hand and puking in it while the gunner is calling out, "Pilot, guns, the E-Dub says Break...Left...Bandit...Spiked...2o'clock...make that 3 o'clock." Story 4: I'm not going to trash guys who puke and not fess up myself. I prided myself on the fact that I never got airsick. I was green a few times, but I never threw up despite being in MH-53s, T-37s, T-43s, and T-1s... ...then I got in the B-52 as an E-Dub. No windows and a broken air conditioner on my first flight followed by some "High-G" maneuvers (to paraphrase Iron Eagle II: "I'VE BEEN TO TWO!") left me queasy, but I was all right, or so I thought. We then get back to Barkatraz for 2+ hours of pattern work. Around pattern #3 I'm really thinking "don't do it man..." Pattern #5, my body sent a message to my forehead, "Dude, it's coming! Start pumping out sweat!" I look over at my instructor who has flown a BUFF for 15+ years and he is just sitting there calmly twiddling his thumbs. Then I get "that sensation" and I think to myself, that bag better be out and close by (it was already out and in my lap)! I grab it and feel the momentum of vomit as the wheels touch down for a touch and go. I puke during the entire rollout and stop once we get airborne. My instructor call up to the pilots, "Hey guys can we take it out to the radar pattern?" "Great idea!" They respond. I catch my breath. Then I thank the instructor for the breather. The pilots do a swapout and 4 guys take a leak. We get done and land and I unhappily unload my puke which is double bagged (always remember to double bag if you can, folks). I tossed it the first chance I had. What I didn't know was that the student nav was basically incapacitated with vomiting up his lunch...then bile...and then dry heaving for about 4 hours, but refused to give up. He filled eleven bags but kept trying to work his job. During the debrief, the pilots said, "Man, I am so glad you guys asked for that trip out to the radar pattern. I had to piss so badly..." My instructor spoke up, "Yeah, that was me. With that last pattern, I was about to puke and we HAD to sit level for a few minutes or it was gonna come up." "Oh! We just thought you had to pee." Related funny story: on the B-52, there is a toilet (which is really a glorified bedpan in which you bring your own bag to collect your waste) and a urinal (which is a 6-inch spherical cup with a lid on the side). Most people opt to use the urinal. To use it, the instructor nav downstairs has to get up from his seat and fold it away. This urinal cup is connected by a thin plastic tube to a 5-gallon canteen (the kind you find on the back of a humvee). Well, a few guys use the urinal after about an hour into the 8.7 hour flight and the nav instructor sits back down for refueling. He reaches down to get his gloves only to find them slightly damp. He calls out to the crew, "Guys, if you are going to use the urinal, please watch your aim," and we continue with the flight. Most people on our crew of nine take a couple of pee breaks. As we are about to land, the same instructor goes to sit down and put his gloves on again. This time however, he finds they are floating in his helmet bag... It turns out that plastic tube came disconnected from the canteen and every time guys took a leak, their urine flowed directly into his helmet bag.

"Successfully implemented new morale policies for Sq; unit cohesion boosted 200%; Party bus was a great idea or we'd have about 60 DUIs in one night; pregnancies up in squadron 58%"

So, the ABW/CC prohibits something the AFI explicitly permits...why can't all the commanders just play by the same rules?

I chuckled. Your effort wasn't in vain...

tools there are nothing...you should see their collection of shoeboxes...

The shipping charges for the second watch is awful. I think I'll just buy two of the original watch... ...uh-oh, you forgot an address...guess I can't buy 'em and my money is going for a new TV...

Your classmate joined the military, should've told him to suck it up (I know, I'm a little calloused...) hell yeah!

You got to live in a closet?!?! Lucky SOB...

...well, at least there were those three months...

2

I was in my apartment at college trying to cram my four years of study into my fifth year. I was asleep when my girlfriend (now my wife) called and told me to turn on the TV. I watched (as most of us did) in shocked awe. As someone above mentioned, I thought it was like the accident where the B-25 flew into the Empire State Building in the WWII-era. I was trying to figure out how something like that could happen on such a clear day. A couple of minutes after I turned it on, the second one crashed into the towers and my confusion was replaced with crystal clarity: this was no accident. I called several of my buddies who were in various branches of ROTC (1 AF, 3 Army, 2 Navy) and we put together a letter to the commandant stating our intent to terminate our education (and thereby our commissions) to enlist in the military if additional personnel were requested for the military (not without precedent, at my school on December 8, 1941, the entire senior class resigned en-masse to enlist; the Secretary of the Army promptly voided the enlistments and commissioned them all). It never came to that and I graduated 9 months later.

If you can provide proof he actually said that, I'll be happy to ops-check that statement the next time I'm through... ...granted, I fly the B-52 and those planes don't fly into there...but still...

Een drusha, plane flies yoo!

...like overloading?

You have the Knights collision, the bombing, and then the hydro plant explosion. What next? http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world-europe/20090816/EU.Russia.Jets.Collide/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8204670.stm http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abTSuT2fsxR4

There one was a man named Tzu Whom they asked "Sir, what do you do?" "I write down the truth and made it quite couth... so now they call me a shoe"

Speaking as someone who was there before the "new PT gear", I can assure you it wasn't "fine". Example: While there, our 1st sgt got an e-mail from the Wing Chief which stated "We're going over to the BRA and living areas to check for uniform violations. We already have seven 1st Sgts. Anyone else wanna come with?" That right there is the quintessential point that we have too many people out there. If people have time to check others over, en masse, for uniform violations in a combat zone, we have too many people and/or too much down time. I worked 14 hour shifts 7 days a week for 3-4 months. My downtime consisted of eating and doing laundry (and I'm STILL finding those friggin' laundry tags on stuff from 4 years ago!!!) and getting needed supplies from the BX, with the occasional trip to the bar for a drink before I went to sleep or a quick poker game. Other people were working six or even FIVE days a week. WTF? This is a WAR, not a friggin' cruise!