dmeg130

(un)Holy Ghost of Mohammad Atta! I guess Daytona approach won't have to break me off final at three miles for awhile... and ERAU alums will be getting hit up for some extra coin this year. [ 26. December 2006, 23:48: Message edited by: dmeg130 ]

Let also not forget one of the key selling points the AF keeps touting -- "self-deployment" rather than getting folded up on a C-5. Try making several trips across the pond at 210KIAS at 20K feet on O2 the whole way. That's a lot of oxygen. And how do you get up to take a piss? Grab a walk around bottle? We've got 19 oxygen regulators on a plane that DOES pressurize. If you want to know why low isn't always the best, read Chuck Horner's book and see how the Brits did in Desert Storm. You defeat the threat 100% of the time if it can't reach you --no matter how well it sees you. Still an impressive machine. Unfortunately we can't afford to buy something that meets everybody's requirements all the time. That's reality.

Gen Brown just briefed us here that SOCOM is adding West Coast -47 and -60 battalions, so I don't think the HH-47 will be tapped too much for SOF missions. Speaking as a -130 guy in rescue, I'd say the -47 pushes us back into the more traditional tanker role, as the speed and range of the -47 reduce the utility of us dropping PJs or doing a transload. Its ceiling also reduces the need for low-altitude HAR. We'll see how this all shakes out. Will it be a "Pave Hook"?

Nice! We'll have to figure out a way to suck gas back up the hoses when we start getting low... or we'll just have to get more UARSSI mods. Then we can ***** about the tanker MX cancelling, too! Hope the conversion to whatever they pick goes well. You guys do great work.

C'mon Jorry, you can do this: The pisser for us would be now each receiver takes 20K worth of gas (x2=8 hours of flight time) and takes 20 minutes to refuel.

I've seen different interpretations, but in the rescue world, your schoolhouse time DOES count as PAA time, as it shows up on your ARMS history. For us, slick time counts as C-130 total time for upgrade, but not PAA. We do include ABQ time as PAA, whether in the HC or MC. And, in a final confusing caviat, since we have some slicks assigned to our squadrons and do tac missions in them, we count slick time AFTER you arrive at the squadron as PAA time for upgrade (WG/CC approved). So...a slick guys cross flows and has 1000 slick hours and his 40 hours from ABQ has 1040 C-130 hours and 40 PAA hours (for us). Clear?

Gee, having a hard time picking up girls in Valdosta? First, why would you want to? Second, two words: Tallahassee and Gainesville. If you morons can't figure out that the Remerton crowd ain't exactly the best and brightest, then by all means, keep pluggin' away at Mellow Mushroom. And watch "Officer and a Gentleman" while you're at it. The gene pool in Valdosta has been systematically depleted over the past sixty years enough to render its inhabitants on par with Deliverance. Get out of town!

MMLS was going to be our way in to all the FOBs in obscure parts of the world, but then something else happened...everybody got GPS and uses that for approaches. Cheap and works everywhere. Like SATCOM said, they can still throw it up and suddenly there's an IFR approach (for everybody with an MLS receiver). But not many places to train on it -- although if you have trouble flying a precision approach, you have bigger issues.

Ditto on FE2Pilot's info. 90% of your flying is tac, very little IFR or trash-hauling (except to move helo mx equip for ORIs). No formation. Active-duty wise, you've got Moody w/about 3/4 of the fleet and D-M with the rest, plus schoolhouse at Kirtland. Once you're in, it's tough to crossflow, but not impossible. With a presumed lack of volunteers to go to Cannon, there may be more opportunity (especially with the MC-130W). Deployments can vary, but once a year is about average. If you think the idea of making up your mission on the fly is fun, then this is a job for you. If you like planning thinigs down to the last detail and hate when they change, forget it. PM me if you want more info. Cut me and I bleed sea dye.

There are no bad flying jobs. Virtually every MWS has an "unwanted" location, and it seems everyone does their time there. That's a consideration -- do you want to pay that bill now, or later? Point is, figure out what you are, and be that. I've been around long enough to where location is starting to be more important to me, but mission was foremost early in my career. There's more to life than the AF.

Whit- Bachelor's + is 15 semester hours or 23 quarter hours. Send your transcripts to AFIT to update your records. https://www.afit.edu/p/milpds.cfm RWaller- techie degrees are hard to come by on base. Maybe a comp sci somewhere, it varies. If you're close to a real college, check them out. (This is for everyone) Most states offer resident tuition for military stationed there. You can take classes at a regular college, which will typically transfer very easily to another program. If you can swing your academic and deployment schedules the right way, you can pull off a REAL degree. Of course, mine's in geography, so "real" is relative. I *just* finished an MA at the UofA while at D-M. Took 2-3 classes a semester, worked with the schedulers, skipped out of work for a couple hours (same as PT time -- the AF is paying for your tuition), still flew a couple times a week, and presto! Won't work for everyone, but I was one of those "I'm not going to fill the square with a bogus degree that I'll hate." Getting stationed in Tucson made it easy to get get a Master's in something that I totally enjoyed (way more than working in the office). And now, instead of enjoying a year at Maxwell, I get to get another Master's full-time in Monterey. Everyone's situation is different. If you don't get a degree one way or another, you only have yourself to blame. I guarantee that your Wing CC will use it to determine DPs for Lt Col, and probably Maj too, and the board will for school slots. Never give anyone a reason not to promote you. Enjoy.

UPDATE -- my receipt from AAFES: AF MN COAT SVC OFF 1620 $149.00 At least they're sewing the braid on the sleeves for free.

Timeline: I finished UPT 28 Oct. I was in academics in Dallas on 5 Nov. Two weeks later, drove to Keesler. First flight 27 Nov. Checkride on 6 Dec. Drove back to Vance, picked up my stuff, said bye to my classmates still waiting for FTU slots, inprocessed Peterson 15 Dec. Flew six months "operational" as a 2nd Lt. There is no better way to get hours and all-around flying know-how in a first assignment. It put me ahead of many of the guys in my yeargroup who went straight to an MWS. Couple that with a sweet location like Ramstein or C-Springs, and you can keep your white jet tour, 12 hour days trip-turning in some BFE hick town all to yourself (Corpus excluded). If I had to do it over again, I would absolutely take a C-21 with a ____ follow-on than that same aircraft directly.

Also known to complete SOS by correspondence, just to "help his odds" of going in residence... Often volunteers to be the Sq/OG/WG exec... Somehow always has a medical/social/personal conflict with the deployment schedule... Thinks that ASBC was a really valuable leadership experience... ALWAYS has an excuse for why they were 100' low, 10 knots slow, turned the wrong way, etc...

Tulsa also has some outstanding courses, but it's hard to beat a Saturday morning hangover post-Maxwell Pancake House golf cart derby around Meadowlake.

I would venture to guess that everyone here would agree with this: The "best" pilots in a unit (weapons guys, stan/eval, etc) are the guys that know their sh!t and can handle a rapidly changing situation. And those are the guys you want with you in combat. You need good hands for some things, but all in all, that equalizes with time in the airframe. There's much less difference between "good" hands and "great" hands post-UPT when you're not just accomplishing a specific maneuver.

Unlike many areas of the country where everyone freaks out when it snows, the Springs does a pretty good job clearing roads. I did just fine in my front-wheel drive Honda. A good SUV would come in handy to load everybody up for a ski trip, however... I lived at Epernay (Union/Woodmen) for about six months, and it was pretty nice and centrally located (17 minutes to base) -- but that was ten years ago. Good luck, and enjoy

Good point Steve... To rephrase, I think it's important that all career fields have an opportunity for advancement to GO -- even those of us in bastard child airframes feel under-represented a lot. What torques the ops world off are those who have been so insulated by their exec positions and being SOS cadre that they have NO IDEA AT ALL what the AF is doing on a daily basis in OEF/OIF. They've never deployed (maybe in a support position at the Deid), and they feel that their little feifdom, whether it be finance, personnel, whatever, is the most critical cog in the AF and that their Friday training shutdown at noon is more important than getting a crew deploying on Monday their orders/Mobility bags/updating DEERS, etc. For as much focus as we're putting on "Army" PT and convoy/ground fighting, we sure aren't putting any more on supporting the war fighter. THAT'S our beef. And Vetter... remember the day you got those things put on your chest? All worth it, my man.

You shouldn't have to enter anything... that money's already been taken out of your reported annual income (Block 1), and is for information only. You'll see the same thing in Block 12 if you deploy to a Combat Zone and get tax-free. So just skip it.

AFY's original question, "what to do with CZTE pay?" and Batman's Roth or TSP both have considerations. In general, TSP: Contributed BEFORE taxes. Excluded from taxable income. Taxed on withdrawl. Contributions from CZTE income are tax-free on withdrawl. Annual limit: $15000 Max annual contribution from CZTE: $44000! Roth: Taxed as normal income. Tax-free on withdrawl (w/stipulations). Annual limit $4000. Traditional IRA: Contributed AFTER taxes. Excluded from normal income. Taxed on withdrawl. Annual limit $4000. If you're already getting tax-free, max out a Roth because that money will NEVER be taxed, when start dumping all that extra into TSP while deployed ($44K limit!) If you're at home, you need to take a look at your current and predicted tax-bracket, fund performance, etc. before making a big choice. TSP's big benefit is the high limit vs. Traditional. Roth gives you a big advantage for retirement because the earnings are tax-free too. Typical military pre-bonus and pre-max flight pay are probably better off maxing out a Roth first, then as much TSP as they can handle. You're best off maxing out all 3. [ 05. April 2006, 15:58: Message edited by: dmeg130 ]

The AF will pay for tuition for a degree you don't already have -- a bachelor's if you don't have one or a master's if you do. Otherwise, you're on your own. As for time, bachelor's degrees tend to take a lot more classes than a master's. If you can find a good online program that accepts some of your past work for transfer, then you might have a shot. Otherwise, I'd just try to get a Master's and fill that square. Do you really want to go to TPS that badly? I'd see how UPT goes, then make some future plans.

If memory serves... Once you are on flying status (should start at UFT), you begin to accumulate gate months as long as you are assigned a position that requires you to fly. In order to continue receiving flight pay, you have to accumulate so many months of flying by specific gates (12 years, 18, 22 and 25). You are required to make 96 months by the 12 year point, then 120 for 18, then 144 after that. You can still get flight pay if you are actively flying (4 hours/month) even if you didn't meet your gates. So, fly as much as possible before you get sent to a staff job. Could mean big bucks later on.

It's not an instrument approach, but anyone who's worked off the coast of San Diego has experience with "Beaver Control".

How 'bout the old Navy "perform landing checks..." call? Thanks for the tip, seaman (oh, such a sts)

Well, I think we all expected the schoolhouse to move back to Scott after the Katrina schwacking. In the budget justification text, it said that there was less need for pilot seasoning due to drawdowns. Maybe our OSA fleet will be more like other services and be more old guys (yes please). So SNAPs, take a C-21 while the gettin's still good.