nunya

Anyone need a military Bose headset? I've had one sitting in my cabinet for a few years since I quit flying Herks. It's one of the earlier models. I have two low-impedance cords for it. Free to a good mil pilot home - don't be a douche and eBay it. **Claimed**

But it doesn’t cover half of $5k. $1,750 isn’t nothing and you might decide it’s still worth it but go in with eyes wide open.

I'll provide a different POV. Don't get dental insurance. Dental insurance isn't like medical insurance. The annual maximums or benefit maximums or whatever your plan calls them are very low, ~ $1,500. They also typically don't pay 100% of whatever it is. Maybe 80%. So you're paying premiums every month for at most $1,500 of payback. Instead find a "fee for service" dentist that spends more than 20 minutes on a cleaning and pay their published cost. It'll be higher, but you'll probably get better care. Dental insurance reimbursement is pathetic so the dentists that have the option don't "take insurance." They might file for you, but they're not agreeing to the reimbursement rate set by the insurer. It might sound radical, but I've seen both sides of it and I just paid cash for my kid's orthodontics. Insurance wouldn't have covered it all anyway. The only difference was I was able to use an FSA, which you can't get on AD unfortunately. I chose the Dr based on qualifications other than just who was in the insurance network. I even got a cash discount.

Oh yeah, I just read that in an earlier post. Congrats!

https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/retirement/ You know you want to. It'll feel so good! All your friends are doing it.

I think they’re all down on Beachfront Avenue in their new 5.0, but if you stop, collaborate, and listen, I bet you can get some good career advice. Good luck.

But choose your target wisely.

Who do I contact to have my picture removed from the internet? Asking for a friend.

Ok, I'll give you a serious response. You're looking for a unicorn. Every community is going to have people that are working to excel, professionally and otherwise. Every community is going to have people just coasting to 20. If you think the C-146 mission - airland for smaller units - is cool, go do it. If you want to be a professional, good on ya. Be a professional wherever you end up, but don't pretend that AFSOC is full of high speed low drag professional snake eaters that are going to push you to be the best you can be. They still have navs, so you know that ain't the case. Just kidding, nav!

🤣

Hold out for spec ops fighter pilot. It’s the best of all worlds for the best of the best of the best to live your best life.

FIFY.

I don’t disagree. Sounds like a great gig. Delta is hiring a couple hundred a month. AZANG? Lots of dudes will have to settle for Delta instead of GS-13.

I completely agree, but I don't have a good answer. Do we kick it back and demand full retro because to accept less is a dangerous precedent? Do we take the pay and "get em next time?" What will the mediator say if we kick it back? I wasn't in the room, but my 69th hand information is that she wouldn't be thrilled. Does that even matter? Do we go to self-help over retro? I believe Congressional interference in the recent railway dispute bodes poorly for what little RLA leverage we had. Like I said, I've got no answers.

One of the reps wrote a newsletter angry that it's not "full retro" meaning the full raise effective and back-paid to the amendable date. A group is mad the pay rates are lower than the 2000 contract adjusted for inflation. The health insurance isn't as good as FedEx and SWA. The company 401k contribution is only 18% in a couple years and not higher. I've heard guys say they wanted up to 25%. The argument was that an old pension plan didn't require you to put money in, so they want the company to max 401ks for every pilot without pilot contributions. That's $66k for 2023, so you can easily max it out, but you have to make $367k for the company's portion to do it for you. My gut says it'll pass easily.

An older group nearing retirement wants/wanted a lump sum to make up for their terminated pension because they feel like they lack time to make up the difference with the “new” 401k system.

This thread is about to get worthwhile.

The regionals aren’t the ones awarding you your R-ATP, the FAA is. And they explicitly say follow 61.51 rules. https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/pilots/training/atp/ATP_AME_Job_Aid_GA.pdf

Yes, that was my point, but without the negative implication. At the low end of the industry, PIC = FAR 61.51 PIC. If you are looking at low end CFI or banner flying jobs and they ask you for your PIC, you give them the FAR 61.51 number, including sole manipulator. If you're applying at FedEx, they will specify that you only give them the I-signed-for-the-aircraft number. To your original question… You’ll probably have 300-400 hours when you finish UPT and training. Your clearest path to aviation industry profit after UPT is to whore yourself out to every TDY, deployment, and exercise you can to get 750 on the .mil dime, no matter your airframe. Once you get 750, go to a regional and the path from there is pretty well established. If you want to go a non-airline route, there are many, many paths through the woods. They're much less established and will take networking legwork, but they can certainly be more interesting than DFW-OKC.

That depends on who is defining PIC and what the definition of is is.

https://www.swapa.org/news/2022/two-legacies/

Let's try an academic exercise, starting with defining a few terms. Differing definitions will certainly lead to differing conclusions. Dead beat dad: A dad that doesn't fight for his family, abandons them, or otherwise does not fulfill the role expected of a father. Dead beat mom: A mother that doesn't fight for her family, abandons them, or otherwise does not fulfill the role expected of a mother. Your argument is that dead beat dads are bad and should not be legally empowered to do dead beat dad things. I will ass-u-me that you also believe dead beat moms should not be legally empowered to do dead beat mom things. Is abortion a dead beat mom thing?

Easier said than done, but the sooner you can adopt a nihilist view of the AF "system," the better. Allow me to wax poetic as an old guy for a minute. I don't mean unprofessionalism towards our craft. I don't mean disrespect for your wingman. I don't even mean insubordination. If you want a masters, great. Get it. If you don't want it, don't get it. The AF might kick you out as a passed over Major at 20 years. Ok. Your check of the month will be $600 less and the gate guard might not salute you quite as crisply when you go to the commissary during retiree hour. Or don't wait around to find out and get out at 12 years. I'd encourage you to go to the ARC, but if you don't want to, don't. If the AF is a lifelong calling for you, great. If it's just a job for your 20s, great. The system doesn't care which camp you're in - it'll be just fine without you and you'll be just fine without it. Your work ethic, intelligence, and expectation of success puts you heads and shoulders above your workplace competition. Unless you go looking for that hot girl Molly, you won't end up homeless on the streets of Portland. If you're panicking about your promotion opportunities with this new bait and switch, I encourage you to go create a LinkedIn account. Seriously. Go look at who's doing ok in the world. Find and follow the people that you think have made it. Masters or not. Promotion or not. You'll be ok.

All the airlines I'm familiar with have something like this. While there are certainly stories of off-days being ruined by a gate agent handing you a junior/inverse/whatever assignment, the dirty secret is that it's often voluntary and pays up to double. At my airline, it used to be they call and if you answer, it’s yours. So don’t answer. Now they call and a recording says call us back if you want it. Not exactly the way I was tagged via email involuntarily for Afghanistan.

I don't get your point. It's the same place that says the AF needs stealth, the Army needs dune buggies, and the Navy needs fleshlights. The puzzle palace people wrote a requirements report, lobbied, and got it approved. If you're arguing the Marines don't need VTOL to accomplish their mission, ok, argue that VTOL is unnecessary and the Marines should have CVs. If you're arguing the Navy can provide the required airpower, that's incorrect.