abmwaldo

I believe this is the right call as long as the families have consented and/or there is nothing spelled out in the will of the deceased. As someone who worked in a funeral home for roughly six years we had several requests from families of the departed to take photographs of the coffin; this helped them through the grieving process. As long as there isn't a line of paparazzi at Dover this may actually help some families through an immensely difficult time.

Epic fail Lesson for new posters... at least look at the profile picture and the "from" section before making our first retarded post. KHRT yea because guys in that line of work spend all of their time stateside.

Don't have HBO at the hotel I'm staying at does anyone know if this show is available online or for download somewhere?

I've decided to take the plunge and rent out my "apartment style condo" while I'm deployed for the next several months. I'm sure many of you have done the same with previous houses, condos, etc... Does anyone have a specific website they use in order to "screen" applicants? (Credit/rental history, criminal record, etc...) Any words of advice for a (about to be) new landlord?

If only it was limited to us... Of course in AK we bring nutritious snacks such as smoked salmon, various flavors of bear/caribou/moose jerky, etc... Maybe we need to start shipping that to the AOR? Unfortunately in my Expeditionary Combat Skills class I had the fortune/misfortune of being thrown in with some of our finest "warriors." Folks who were UNABLE to low/high crawl roughly 15 yards. YGTBFSM!!! Also, weapons handling.. what the hell do they teach in these classes. I was swept with barrels so many times I would have been shot in the first 10 minutes of a combat convoy. This is coming from someone who has never shot anything other than handguns. Now on to the real point of the post: If we, the Air Force, can afford to send 200 CE "TCN details" to watch TCNs build a bus stop, could we not use those same CE folks to build said bus stop and not contract it out? * edited for clarity.

Well played good sir and welcome to the forum.

435th Air Base Wing... Best Place on Earth (only when it contains chicks like that)

Brick and Blu4, Thanks for the learning as I pulled out my "jump to conclusions mat" based on the Air Force's incessant need to "update" tradition and history.

Looks like sponge bob squarepants. I didn't know he was going through 09A.

While I realize the meaning behind the "patch" will remain the same but what is the Air Force's incessant need to reinvent itself? I could understand if the "patch" had a giant Eagle in the middle of it but the old one applied to all the new MWS without having to actually have the airframe on there. I'm not sure of the history of the "current" i.e. now former patch but I know I've seen pictures (In Steve Davies' "Red Eagles" which date from the late 1970's with a version of that patch. The pictures are slightly blurry but it looks like the patch now with an aircraft superimposed. I can rationalize the shoes screwing with service dress uniforms but this patch is something slightly out of the reach of your average shoe and I thought it would have stayed that way. Was there a push from current wearers to modify the patch? An interesting question/photo essay to educate a younger guy. Does anyone have a link or the time to type out the transformation of the patch itself?

Disclosure: I use USAA for checking, Renter's insurance, and my auto loan. My cousin was deployed to Iraq and was caught up in the 15 month surge; he left his house in charge of his then current girlfriend. (I'm sure you all know where this is going). Around July of 2007 he asks me to take a drive out and take a look at his house as he hasn't heard from her in several weeks. I jump in the car and find out that the lawn is overgrown and the blinds are "messed up." In his next email he asks me to gain access to the house and have the locks changed. So I do this and when I get into the house the most putrid smell washes over me. Now, I worked at a funeral home for six years and have smelled/seen dead bodies after several months of decay but this was terrible. At first all I can see is there is dog sh$t all over the floor and clouds of black flies everywhere. At that point I have to drive back to fly so several days later I bring one of his young troops out to the house. It was at this point we discovered the two dead dogs in his master bed room and I say it's time to call the cops. Fast forward to reconstruction: He has homeowners insurance through USAA. So I call them up and tell them what happened. Keep in mind I didn't have a power of attorney yet to execute any of this due to my cousin not being near a JAG officer to draw one up for him. They call the police department to verify that I filed a police report and say that I can proceed to have their adjuster come out to take a look. I meet him out there and he takes 1 step inside the house and he says just get one of these three companies out here to give you an estimate and we'll pay it. So long story short USAA takes on what amounts to a $50,000 job based solely on my word. As far as their customer service I couldn't have been more pleased and they did everything they could to make this situation right prior to my cousin returning from Iraq.

As for current marketability look at anyone of the dialects spoken in Afghanistan (Pashto, Urdu, Dari, Uzbek etc.). Good luck mastering those... For future conflicts Mandarin, Yue (Cantonese), Wu, etc.. Again good luck mastering... A little Russian never hurt either.

"2" to Jack Quinn's, McGuires and Yoshis. Get hooked up with the "hashing" (not what you'd think based on the name) club which meets on Tuesday nights in COS. Run the 5K then party down with beautiful ladies in UnderArmour and DriFit. Most definitely a great way to spend an evening. The McGuires in Destin is as good, if not better, than the one in Pennsacola. At least, during the "summer tourist" season it beats Pennsacola but during the off season I'd go with Pennsacola.

Steve, I picked up the book yesterday at Barnes and Noble here in Anchorage and I can't put it down. Halfway through it already and I stumbled across a picture of Capt "Hawk" Carlilise who was the 3WG/CC here when I was first got up here. Great guy to have as a wing commander and nice to know a piece of his history. Thanks for the great read.

That and beware of the 90 degree on-ramps; I've got a crowbar for the civil engineer who thought that was a great idea.

As a controller I do very little to operate JTIDS but there is one crew position on the E-3 whose sole purpose as maintaining/trouble shooting JTIDS; I was more looking at the overall effect of an E-3 in an AOR. I know exactly how much SA is getting pushed out to various platforms through the data link and that's how I've learned that the "art" of controlling requires you to STFU especially when working with Raptors. But will the datalink always be there? A discussion for another forum. As far as the debrief comments it wasn't a spear chucked at anyones MDS but, even at collocated fighter units, when I'm standing in the vault in front of Blue1 (who died during the vul along with 2 wingmen) says "great job" and nothing else to report. I don't expect them to diagram comm and figure out where one more threat call would have saved the day because I'll do that back at the squadron but there has to be a "big picture" DFP or other learning nugget that will allow better interaction next time. Hell, I like to sit in on Eagle debriefs simply because the more I fill my cluebag with your employment the more I learn when and when not to speak. Same goes for air-to-mud bros but those are in short supply here in AK.

I wrote this response to someone on this board awhile back and I'll try to update it based on this thread's contents. Well I'll hit the positives first and then talk about the negatives: 1. You're flight crew, which is good if your eyes aren't good enough for pilot or nav as mine weren't. 2. While not being a "pointy nose" guy you get to work with them on a regular basis and actually be part of the combat Air Force. 3. If you were to go JSTARS or go to a CRC (think AWACS on the ground) you will get to deploy, alot. Also we're allowed to take ALO (Air Liason Officer) slots now so that's an interesting opportunity to live and work with the Army if that's your gig. AWACS is also deploying to the AOR although it's not quite the role one would like being a controller. There are also jobs, not deploying on an E-3/E-8 which are available (I'm deploying to Balad in March and flying in a C-130.) 4. With the F-22A/F-35 coming online our operational role is currently evolving. Air Weapons Officers are moving away from being controllers and aiding Eagles and vipers to stay on radar timelines to being "battle managers." We WILL make our money on being the operators/maintainers of JTIDS. The amount of information I can gather from JTIDS and use to manage a battle is amazing. For evidence of this new role look into the NORTHERN EDGE exercises. 5. Working on a "crewed" aircraft. While I've never been a single seat guy I have to say working on a crewed aircraft is a pretty awesome experience. When you go TDY you are sure to go TDY with some of your friends. Ok and now for the things I personally don't like: 1. Overcrowding in the AWO (introductory ABM position) career field. As I'm sure you're hearing there are RIF boards about and AWOs are/were overmanned. This is especially a problem at Tinker where some squadrons are 200% overmanned. This leads to a problem of being able to stay CMR (Combat Mission Ready) and having to fight your friends for flying hours. Again this is being "force shaped" but it's still a current problem. 1.a. This entire lack of flying hours and overcrowding leads to folks being upgraded before they're ready to at Tinker. I've got a little over 500 hours as a controller and I'm just now upgrading; at sTinker controllers with 100 hours or so get upgraded. Not to say that my 500 hours make me better than the folks at Tinker but if you look at the major exercises I've controlled in (1x NORTHERN EDGE, 3x RED FLAG AK, 1x COPE TIGER, 1x FOAL EAGLE, 1x MAPLE FLAG) I've been exposed to more than most evaluators at Tinker. Most folks at Tinker get a deployment to the AOR or Ecuador (until we get kicked out) and maybe a RED FLAG in a given year. I think this is where most people who have a bad opinion of AWACS get it from; the folks controlling them are mostly brand new and no one experienced to debrief them when they dick it away. 1.b. Lack of interaction/integration with those we control. Being based at Tinker may keep the maintenance backshop all in one place but it definitely hinders learning. Tinker AWACS controllers rarely ever get the kind of debriefings I've had up here at Elmo. I brief with the pilots I'm controlling, control and then get to debrief with them. I learn where I need to shut my piehole and when I need to speak up from firsthand experience. A fix with this would be to TDY a jet or two with a couple of crews to Langley and Mt Home on a regular basis. Give the crews a chance to learn how to integrate with those who "buy" our control. In the same vein, when you receive AWACS control and the controller calls you and tries to get a debrief don't scoff it off with the standard "good job." Take the time to get on a STE/STU and give a full up debrief or at a minimum get a DFP or two and pass those along to the controller. 2. Gay requirements. No not the once a year "homosexual training" but the million training requirements that must be met because people at Tinker have nothing better to do than to make this stuff up to give them something to do. The shit rolls downhill or uphill to get to Alaska and we get all the requirements as well. This is something that I'm sure that isn't specifically limited to AWACS but you get the picture. 3. Working with an outdated system. The computer on the AWACS was designed and built in the late 1960s. It's gone through various upgrades but the basics are still there. Our video card weighs HALF A TON, and we have TWO of them on the jet. You have to learn a new "language" in order to manipulate the system (think DOS programming) to get it to do what you want. Dont' let it seem like you need a computer engineering degree to do this because I don't have one and the air force will train you up well. There are planned upgrades that will use more off the shelf technology but those keep getting funding cut from them and the date currently stands somewhere around 2014. 4. Choice of basing, at least initially. You WILL go to the schoolhouse at Tyndall AFB. If you get selected for AWACS (and 70% of studs do) you will then move to one of 4 bases. Tinker in OKC (the mothership), Kadena AB in Okinawa, Elmendorf AFB in Alaska or Geinleinkirchen AB in Germany. Good and bad things about all of them but the 3 overseas bases are VERY competitive and only about 10% of the students coming out of UABMT get one of those. 20% of your class will go to JSTARS which is based at Warner Robins GA. That's the only base for them so if you don't like GA then probably don't want to go do that. No one is getting assigned to a ground unit straight out of the schoolhouse anymore because since we became rated officers we need to maintain "gate hours" with flying so everyone must go to a flying unit first. Ground units are based here in the states (a couple of places) and a couple of places in Europe or you can go to Korea. We do have a 1 star currently BGen Lori "Law" Robinson, at ACC, and the Wing/CC at KTIK is a 13B as well.

None taken. Quick question... have you been "corrected" for wearing an extra sweatshirt or sweatpants while walking to the gym in the winter? Makes me want to face plant the offender in one of the 12 foot snow piles. Last time I checked, even the mighty polyester PT shirt which manages to trap all heat doesn't cut it at -10 degrees.

So does this mean that the CSAF is going to spring for heated parking lots and sidewalks for those balmy winters in Alaska? Or do we now just get to bust our asses in -20 degree temps while sliding around the ice skating rinks/parking lots from October until April? Lets see if YakTraxs and flight boots don't give you traction corframs definitely will! How about this for an idea lets waste $69 million more dollars researching how to make corframs (sp?) have a better tread instead of I don't know... replacing aircraft? I'm bitching about PAED... I feel terrible for the poor bastards at PAEI... The Guinness commercials said it best "BRILLIANT!"

ABMs can be ALOs, we sent a Capt down to Texas about a year ago.

Wait six weeks and get one when you get to your first duty station.

Well played.

The first rule of the LPA... never talk about the LPA.

If this guy ever makes it through pilot training hopefully someone in a LPA somewhere explains life to him.