RASH

No conspiracy theory--just noticed the white "halo" across the top of some of their nuggets. The frau actually noticed it...

Look closely--craniums appear to be photoshopped on... Spoo, Kuma, Huggy--what gives?

You're kidding, right? A 5-hour shift over two days is bad? Not trying to bust your chops here, but there's a big discrepancy between your airframe and mine (what I flew--been retired for a few years) with regards to scheduling.

Darn the luck...just have to start over!

Sounds like an O-6 that needs a new call sign...

So 8 years enlisted, 4 years Lt, 5 years Capt, then passed over doesn't just leave a few years???

Just be sure to back it up with a Wiki reference....

10th grade math (not that I could do it now...)

Just finished it last night, and yes, it is different than American Sniper (I haven't read Lone Survivor). The author tells the story from his perspective, without all the drama or bravado. Good read overall...

And how many system malfunctions didn't result in a mishap because there was a pilot onboard??? Think it through...

Yes, we (retirees) all knew this was coming, and IMHO most would be willing to pay a modest increase in TriCare enrollment fees each year. Unfortunately, that's not what they're proposing. Paying ~$800/yr is for a retired O-4 making just over $41k/yr retirement, and only for CY2013. By 2017 your enrollment fee has now tripled, and if you retire as an O-5 or higher it more than quadruples to over $2k. Now add in prescription copay increases (I spend over $1k/yr on prescriptions for my wife) over the same time period, and there's a substantial increase in out-of-pocket expenses. Still relatively cheap compared to the civilian world, but nowhere near the "free" health care we were "promised" in the 80s. Just a WAG, but I'm guessing those retirees in the lower tier on fixed incomes will probably begin going to the VA for more of their medical care as well, only increasing the costs associated with that program... https://militarytimes.com/projects/benefits/tricare-fee-increases/

That's assuming you follow the same training profile of 4 routes/drops/recoveries in a day. Without formation, you no longer have lead/element lead/wing requirements and therefore don't require as many routes. 1 IFR route to a single-ship IMC airdrop + 1 vis/NVG low-level to a vis drop is all you'll need. Block off 20 min at the DZ for multiple run-ins and you've shortened a 5.5 hour sortie into 3 hours (to include tac approach/assault work). Don't get me wrong--I'm not necessarily in favor. But with the $ situation there's going to be cuts...

Interesting future Herc info... https://www.flightglo...nveils-two.html

Barely stays airborne with one engine inop...

Montana?

On the flip side--if you're a FAIP, you will never have as much time as you do now. Knock it out before you have to be concerned about SOS, instructor school, back-to-back deployments, WIC, etc.

Can't tell for sure, but it looks like he's wearing AF pilot wings...

My bet--all of the stupid ones...

STS

I think you're pretty much guaranteed to win based on the "something pretty stupid" category...nice first post.

DENY FLIGHT/PROVIDE PROMISE CAOC (Sep 94-Feb 95), Vicenza Italy, 5-Star Hotel Europa, individual rental cars, worked 4 on/3 off, drank so much wine I don't remember the per diem...

I retired just under two years ago and took my permissive TDY + 86 days of terminal leave with no problems. That allowed me to start my post-retirement gig while still getting my AD pay, which was better than driving my wife crazy at home for 3 months...

I had very different results than Brick and M2. I went into the flight doc for back problems (common in 17+ year Herk drivers) about a year before retirement, and mentioned to him that the back pain was so bad I was having problems sleeping. He recommended having a sleep study done prior to assigning blame to the back pain. My apnea (obstructive) was so bad, they woke me up in the middle of the night to start testing different masks. My blood O2 levels were dropping down into the low 70% region when they should never drop below ~95%. I found one that worked, came back in a couple weeks for another study with the mask I chose, and haven't looked back. I've worn it every night since Jan '08, and haven't had anything more than minor issues that could easily be fixed by adjusting the straps on the mask. It worked so well, I convinced my wife to get one (she's always snored)... There's many different manufacturers of CPAP machines and accessories, so don't give up too fast. Keep looking around and trying different stuff--you may get lucky and find one that works.

Embarrassing, but oh so typical. "Oh waiter..."

Check PMs...