Karl Hungus

Tell that to the KC-10 reserve community. 30-45 day deployments, if any. Up to you based on if you want to go or not. Some actually do volunteer... most tell the AD side to shove it. Can't say I blame them at all... pick and choose the trips the KC-10 was designed for while the AD folks slave away in the desert? Have a steady revenue stream coming in from the TTF? Deploy a few people here and there, just enough to keep from getting activated? I'd do the same exact thing. From my friends in -135 guard units, it's pretty similar. Have fun at the Deid, we've off to Curacao! If you can't beat em, join em. Edit: Disclaimer- I like to comment on these guard/ reserve vs. AD topics because the topic interests me. I don't want to come off as completely bitter and negative- I actually love my job. I'm just realistic enough to know when there's something better out there.

Reason number one billion to go guard/ reserve. Even the so-called "bad" jobs are better than their AD counterparts. Put AD UAV squadrons at Homestead, Patrick, MacDill, and Hickam and suddenly UAVs become appealing to a lot more people. Instead there's Cannon.

I highly doubt rated pilots will be asked to leave in the next couple of years. Once we get out of Afghanistan and budget cuts start, however...

So true. Only a matter of time... probably closer to <5 years. Hopefully there's something resembling the guard/ reserves to go to.

Go to a large football school in a state with a great climate and hot women. Major in something you enjoy and wouldn't mind doing if the AF thing doesn't work out. Do well in school, volunteer a bit on the side, study abroad, get your PPL, etc. Apply to a guard/reserve job flying something you think you'd like in a location you think you'd like to live in. Stay as far away from active duty as possible, but if you must, go AD via OTS. Laugh at your academy (and to a much lesser extent, ROTC) bros in UPT for how much more fun you had and yet still got to the same, if not better, place. It'll be worth the student loans.

The top guy in my class went to Rucker. 2, 3, 4 and maybe 5 went T-1s and T-44s. I think 6 was the first one to put down and get a T-38. Not that he wasn't a capable, hard working student... he did quite well in T-38s... but he was hardly the top of the class. I don't see why people are so threatened by people not wanting a T-38... it's certainly not for everyone.

Since this thread won't die.... Re: Radio buffoonery, you might want to run that by most of the fighters we refueled on a recent deployment. Most of the receivers were more than happy to bullshit with the tanker crew, and that almost always was initiated by the fighters. "Where you guys from back home? You out of the 'Deid? How much does it suck there vs. the rumors we've heard? Is that chick boom in your squadron actually hot? What about the chick pilot? How long are your missions? This is what we're supporting tonight. Do you know so-and-so? They fly for JetBlue or United or who-gives-a-###### with me, blah blah blah blah". And yet somehow, the war managed to go on. And if anything, the Hawgs are the best (worst?) at this. The Navy/Marines were the same. The only fighter types that really practiced radio discipline were the F-15Es out of a certain location, and even then they had no problem passing tail numbers. Keep in mind this was all fighter-initiated... the only conversation we would initiate would be "thanks for letting us work in so-and-so before they were bingo, how much do you need, and where do you need to be dropped off?" Stunning with all that radio buffoonery the war still churns on.

There's probably a reason for that- a left turn would take the flight out of the anchor and towards the jet route along its left border, thus putting us in prime location for a mid-air. We will happily leave the anchor to get you closer to your next activity provided it makes sense and like you said, isn't going to take us into Pakistan or into a hazardous situation. Other times we have to worry about our next activity as well...dragging you one direction will take us below bingo for our next activity the other direction, etc. But it's not a conscious effort to screw you... unless you're getting gas from a -135, then all bets are off.

Nobody doubts what UAVs bring to the table in our current conflict. If they do, they're retarded. It's an honorable mission and one that UAV operators can be proud of. What people don't agree with is the complete overkill of spending a year and a million dollars to send someone through UPT only to spend their career flying a UAV, from shitholes like Cannon and Creech, with no chance of parole.

I don't mind getting a masters- it's just that I want to get one that's actually useful, on my own terms, from a legit school, and at my own pace. As I'm sure everyone knows, it's very difficult, but not impossible, to do that on active duty. Combined with the constant deployments, PME, and general bullshit that permeates your "free" time at home, it's a pretty full plate to handle. I know the grass is always greener... but I tend to think the value of having some control over your life and your deployments outweighs the full-time paycheck. Maybe things will change drastically when my time's up, maybe my opinions will change. Maybe not.

Like everyone else has said, keep pushing for that pilot slot. The AD boards down the road won't be any easier, but if you work hard there's always a chance. Or you could be really smart, turn down your AD commission, and get picked up by a Guard or Reserve unit. Then you could fly as a civilian instructor at some FBO to your heart's content, while also flying for uncle same at the same time. Point is, you've still got options, work hard and you can make it happen. As for using a commissioning loan to buy a 180, I'd be hesitant on that one. Like it says in the Bible, if it flies, floats, or ######s, it's cheaper to rent than own. Consider putting that money into mutual funds or something. Then again, if flying really is your passion, who am I to tell you not to do it... you only live once. Good luck!

Yes, the Marines took over for the Brits. And the callsigns, at least Miser and Bankroll, are the same. And they are far better than Pyramid. I never worked with the Brits aside from Atomic (way better than Wizard), I don't doubt they're better than the Marines, but the callsigns still exist.

WTF? Unless something changed in the past week, they very much do exist.

Pyramid is terrible. Pretty much clueless. Same with Wizard. Miser and Bankroll kick ass however.

I'm stunned they got six -10s to block out at the same time.

Gone 100-120 days a year? More like 200 in my community, probably more. I agree with your overall point, but it all comes down to individual preferences. I think people (not just AF pilots, humanity in general) worry too much about a paycheck. You (the royal you) don't really need the F350, the 2.4 kids, the 2400 sq ft house in the suburbs, the jobless wife, etc to be happy. I don't know if I'll one day pursue the airline/ commercial gig when my time's up. I'll cross that bridge when it presents itself. But I do know that unless there are huge changes to the non-flying aspects of the AF that I deal with day-to-day, there's not a chance in hell I'll stay active duty. It's just not worth it. I'd rather be happy, poor, and get my flying/service fix via the Guard/Reserves while running my dive bar in the Bahamas selling alcohol to underage girls on spring break than put up with the overall gayness that plagues this job. But that's just me. You only get one chance at life, best enjoy it while you can.

hopefully the interviewed party was able to set them straight that it's not the reflective belts themselves, but the underlying issues the reflective belts represent.

How is it leadership's fault? Is leadership supposed to monitor every single person's statements and thoughts? Now I understand what you're saying, that if leadership knew about this stuff and ignored it, then yeah they should take some serious heat for it. But if leadership is canned simply because they are in charge and someone needs to take the fall... that's why we have shit like reflective belts and CBTs for everything and all the other stupid policies out there. Leadership will try to cover their asses, and we get the "one person shits themselves so everyone wears diapers" phenomena. At some point people need to realize that this dude was a mass-murdering religoid ######tard, and those in command can't prevent everything.

It's not the tucking itself, it's the fact that WE ARE FIGHTING A FUCCKING WAR AND THIS IS WHAT LEADERSHIP WASTES ITS TIME ON! And then when you have worthless SNCOs doing uniform patrol, harassing people who are actually doing the mission... needless distractions that do nothing but make life harder. I will never understand why the AF and the people in the AF love making shitt harder than it has to be. Mind boggling.

This dipshit was my "home guard" or whatever it was called. "Pay respects to the ######tard rapist! Hail rapist!"

We heard the same thing about the current CSAF. Actions speak louder than words.... I'll believe it when I see it.

It has a lot less to do with safety and a lot more to do with providing a cash cow to a government contractor. They want you/ your squadron to spend more money buying these POS glasses.

Nobody is disrespecting skycops outside the wire, doing what they are paid to do. That is as honorable a mission as it gets. People hate the gayness inside the wire- the mindless speed traps, the stupid searches, the day-to-day retardation of your typical mouthbreathing skycop (no offense, you seem to be the exception to the rule). Kudos for showing up here, and I ask that you take the stories in this thread to heart, so that when you're an officer in charge of these young airmen you can prevent such douchebaggery from happening.

Agreed. People would have to be pretty desperate and/or have other "baggage" to actually volunteer for this. In a similar vein, I always wondered why anyone in their right mind would move to Del Rio, TX to work as an LSI sim instructor. The pay can't be that great. Spend the waning years of your life in lovely Del Rio? Puke. Then it dawned on me... tons of the LSI guys were just ######ing creepy people who probably couldn't get hired in any other job/ location. Maybe there are a lot more of those types out there who would love to volunteer for something like this.

I'm at McGuire right now. I agree with all that stuff you mentioned- it's terrible- but it's also pretty much the same as every other location I've had the "pleasure" of being at. I was more commenting on living in the area vs. working at the base itself... I'd just come to the conclusion that the support first, ops second mentality was universal in the AF.