jonlbs

Been down the ETP road. Went well till it didn’t go well, had lots of weight backing it up too and went all the way to the top. Good luck, best advice would be don’t let your life stop while you wait for the Air Force to do the right thing. That’s how I ended up with better seniority than most dudes I generate sorties for. Odds aren’t in your favor, but don’t let it stop you from trying still, it’s possible. pm me and I’m happy to share what I got but the AF has probably developed a new form and process for it all by now. All streamlined and efficient I’m sure… /s

Since there will probably be lots of military and leadership books galore, here is one that is a little different. it’s basically a collection of cases that he has worked over the years. Got lucky to read it for 1 credit back in the college days. Should be required reading for anyone that manages people or processes.

at least 25% to make even a tiny dent. I'd shoot for 50%. So much dead weight hanging around this place. And wasted money. I'd nominate @Biff_T for SecDef. Not some indoctrinated general who has played the game for 30 years. Someone who gives a shit about killing bad dudes efficiently and genuinely cares about the people that are tasked with that objective. And somehow I think dirndls would make it into an official uniform.

Democrats gonna cry about this one, I can already hear the screeching now. But If he can just manage to impose term limits on congress that would be one of the greatest achievements of any president ever.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/22/1104766/how-mits-rad-lab-rescued-d-day/ Cool history on the technology that changed the war. Also outlines how important logistics has always been, and I never realized how devastating the numbers were behind the German U boat attacks on allied ships in the Atlantic.

Positive feedback, it’s so much smoother and better on the phone already. Thanks for all the work.

The assessment is one of two things depending how far along you are. It’s most likely AA’s pilot skills test (basically an IQ test with weird games). Basically all puzzles, no questions about flying at all. You can wing it and do fine. Honestly there isn’t much prepping that would help. It’s either you are good at that stuff or you aren’t. They give you examples and let you practice as much as you want before each section anyways. I think they just use it as a data collection point as of now to see how it correlates to extra sim time and such. This is an example of one section. They have another where you fly a ball through a tunnel and dodge walls. If you have an interview already then it’s an HR assessment. Psychological assessment kinda stuff. Which is a bunch of would you rather questions and pick the answer that feels best for you. And they are all bad answers sometimes and all good answers sometimes. i recommend Pilot Counseling Services, it’s the Judy Tarver service, that’s who I prepped with and they knew exactly how the interview was going to go. The whole team there has so much AA experience and is hard to beat when prepping for AA.

B-21 first flight, Full big dick, America, F*** terrorists Brian's Stepdad November 2023 Such potent and poetic words.

Well as an MIT dude I feel obliged to say it’s not Ivy League 😂 But besides being “that guy”, I cannot recommend it enough. I went as a prior E and there was a couple other folks I met there who were prior E. Every dude/girl who was in ROTC that wanted Pilot got it. It was filled with so many folks who have no interest in going Pilot. Now I’m still just a lowly dumb wrench bender so I can’t speak to how the USAFA opens leadership doors in the AF but I can vouch that MIT opens so many doors in every other place. It is an unbelievable place that puts you on the leading edge of so many exciting opportunities. But I wouldn’t recommend MIT as just a stepping stone, It’s a tool for passionate people not just a piece of paper. edit: guess just to sum it up, if he goes to MIT and meets the grades he will get pilot for sure. Unless the world falls apart of course. And I just realized my data is like 5 years old but I’m confident it still holds true today.

USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park is thankful to have received a generous donation of two aircraft made by the legendary singer and Mobile native, Jimmy Buffett. When the aircraft first arrived at the park, in 2022, Buffett wished to remain an anonymous donor. As the world mourns his passing, we are pleased to finally be able to share his generous contributions to the park. The Grumman Goose and Boeing Stearman are both on display in the Medal of Honor Aircraft Pavilion. Visitors will see a wreath and an iconic Hawaiian-styled shirt that has been placed by the Grumman Goose in honor of Buffett.

“Reinforced by the players beard and a tattoo that read Biff loves soccer” @Biff_T is this true?!

Gonna try and help this back and forth and maybe I’m wrong, but I think what @joe1234 is trying to say is that you can talk about your awesome experiences all you want (and everyone on this forum agrees) but this new generation doesn’t care about what you thought were awesome experiences. An exaggerated example would be…you thought doing strafing runs and saving dudes fighting on the ground was the most rewarding thing ever (and again we would all agree), but this new generation seemingly does not give a shit about that and would rather be learning something new about programming or developing software or something like that. During my time working with ROTC I was shocked at how little people actually wanted to fly, I figured there would be 100 kids fighting for pilot slots but that just isn’t the case. I’m actually shocked at how many people I fly with at the airlines that have absolutely no interest in military flying or ever had any interest in anything military in general. So targeting the kids with your experiences might not work anyways I hope that was the point Joe was trying to make before it got lost in translation. I do think we have to be honest in understanding what kids are wanting out of service but also we can’t reshape our service too much.

Story comes from Elmer Bendiner’s 1980 memoir, The Fall of the Fortresses, based on some light research. Googling the aircraft led to a facebook post about recovering the tail gun that had a comment with the story below about the aircrafts ultimate end it would seem. The crew of an 8th Air Force B-17 has been recovered from a crash site in the Harwich Estuary. The wreckage of B17G Flying Fortress 43-37516 'Tondalayo' was recovered from the River Stour by the US Army CHLLI team, led by Major Todd Heussner, and assisted by Royal Navy clearance divers. The sole objective was to recover the remains of the aircraft's missing pilot and co- pilot, Lt Col Earle J. Aber & Lt Maurice J. Harper. Both men perished on the night of March 4th 1945, when their aircraft was shot down by British anti- aircraft defences .The tragedy unfolded around 9.15pm, when the Tondalayo , returning from a leaflet drop on Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, was crossing inland over the east coast. At the same time two enemy aircraft, homeward bound after a sneak raid, were heading easterly at a lower altitude, which no doubt confused the defenders. At 12,000 feet, over Clacton-on-Sea, exploding shells set the aircraft alight in the area of the waist gun positions, severing control cables and injuring the Bombardier, Lt Connie Morton., who sustained injuries to his eyes and right leg. The aircraft rapidly descended to 8,000 feet, and was heading for an emergency landing at Woodbridge when the aircraft was hit again, crippling her further and this time injuring the tail gunner. It was at this point the 'bail out' order was given. All the crew abandoned the aircraft apart from Aber and Harper. Captain Stonerock (navigator) was the last crewman through the hatch at 5,000ft, and later reported that both Aber and Harper had their harnesses on, but not their chutes, so it can only be assumed that they had insufficient time or altitude to do so. This all matt black special operations aircraft was attached to the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron based at Cheddington, and was the personal aircraft of the unit's commander, Lt Col Aber, being retained by him when the squadron converted to Liberators. Aber was on his 51st mission when he was shot down. Lt Harper had flown Spitfires with the RCAF, before volunteering for a tour on 'Heavies.' Recovery work began on June 9th 2000, when a salvage barge was positioned on the crash site located on the low tide mark off Wrabness. First attempts at clearing the mud from the site using giant vacuum hoses were soon abandoned due to technical difficulties, primarily with pumps and filters becoming clogged by heavy clay in which the wreckage lay. The recovery continued with a large tracked excavator. The operator worked blindly as the site was only visible for short periods of time. A vast quantity of wreckage was eventually recovered using this method. Parts included one of the aircraft's Cyclone engines together with several super chargers, propeller blades and an undercarriage leg. It was established that the entire tail section and rear fuselage was compressed into little more than eight feet, all of which was painstakingly worked through and sorted until the remains of Lt Col Aber and Lt Harper were found in the area of the bomb bay. Work finally ceased on June 28th when it was thought that sufficient remains of both men had been found. DNA tests later carried out at the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii proved their identity. Both men now share a joint grave in Arlington National Cemetery, with Colonel Aber having an additional grave at Cambridge in the American Cemetery. Pilot Lt. Col E.J Aber Co-Pilot 2nd Lt M.J Harper Navigator Capt P.S Stonerock Bombardier 1st Lt C.R Morton Radio T/Sgt C.P Valley Top Turret T/Sgt M.Silber Ball Turret S/Sgt S.Dombrowski Tail gunner S/Sgt R.W Ramsey Waist Gun S/Sgt F.W Thomas Waist Gun S/Sgt J.A Trexler Waist Gun 2nd Lt R.W Billings

I’m with ya, this thread feels like I’m sitting in a GWOT strategy briefing and you are the only one saying GTFO and everyone else is “stick with it we will win this war” really didn’t want to join in on this mess but it was like 1v10 lol i agree with points on their side cause this is nuanced but I also agree very much so that your points are extremely valid after watching our global strategy fail for the last 50 years. And if/when he drops a nuke cause of our meddling, everyone will accept NO responsibility and say he was going to anyways. Not that maybe he felt backed into a corner by the US and felt like this was his last resort. At this point it may be too late to turn back though. I still am for supporting this little proxy war, as the positives are there, but doing so damn aggressively and publicly doesn’t seem warranted. Aka poking the bear is the dumbest thing you could do when the bear is unstable and has nukes. Doing it in a more clandestine way seems much smarter. Not thinking about those adverse affects is hands down the arrogance that has cost us greatly in the past. so I guess in summary, keep up the dissenting. Little bit of diversity of thought is needed in the military strategy echelons. We def need more of it. And I’m ready to take my beatings for joining you lol.

Spent 5 years there. Great place. Shoot me a message if you want to know more stuff about the area and etc.

Good breakdown of the whole COVID-19 religious exemption debacle. It’s hard watching these things cause all it does is make you so upset/sad and reminds you of one of the most embarrassing times in military history. Spitting in the face of warfighters much better than me who have gone to hell and back for this country.

Just to piggyback off what everyone else has said and already knows. First time homebuyer and reached out to Jon purely based on these forums. Couldn't have been a better decision. I still don't know much but I know I got a pretty decent rate (5.75) which beats the current market avg (7.5ish). Higher than sub 3% but hey... at some point we all get tired of living in an apartment. All you need to know is they take care of you. Hell, only talked to Jon a handful of times, so his team should get more of the credit lol. Olivia and Shaundra were awesome and helped me out every single time I called. They walked me through everything and no matter what time or day they picked up the phone and worked with me (nice for an airline schedule). It is as simple as you are the priority and they will get it done for you. I couldn't have been happier going down this road as new home buyer not knowing shit. So if this helps you choose Jon and crew, I can firmly stand by you are making a great decision. Thanks again to all y'all...

Lost the ETP battle on the reserves side. Had lots and lots of firepower backing it up too. Eyes as well. My chain of command thought the civil path to wings would help but made no difference. I reached out and made direct contact with CSAF and he came back saying “sorry man the FAA doesn’t look forward 10 years like we do, try another job” Frustrating and I wish I had better news, haven’t found much medical ETP success stories so if you find some let me know.

Got kicked out of the base gym last week for no mask. They are mandated at a decent amount of bases I would assume besides mine. Just a small snapshot that it is still affecting decisions and people sadly.

Can't really speak to the Military side, but for the Civilian side, I truly (sadly) believe it is only a matter of time. Regionals are where it will happen first. The need for Captains is just so insane that bad ones are going to skirt by. What used to be a washout is now going to get hand held just a little more and make it thru. Only time before they pass and get paired with a shit FO and the wrong circumstances. The problem might matriculate to the Major's as they lose the ability to be as selective as well. Don't get me wrong there are solid training programs with good dudes in place but I just don't see it holding up forever with the business pressure. Business considerations > Safety considerations. Sounds oddly familiar.

To me it all comes down with how do you want to spend your future. Spent 2+ years at MIT and it was so exciting and everyone is busting their ass nonstop. Assume most M7 schools (had to google it) will be like that. But at some point you have to look forward and see if that type A hard work lifestyle is for you. Had a lot of vets at Sloan and they all seemed to kill it cause they were type A hard workers. I sided with the no boss, no emails, no deadlines, airline career. But that is cause I would rather spend my life relaxing. I do miss it from time to time but then remember how grueling the work was. If it is a money question then the ceiling is way higher in the MBA world. But airline pay isn't terrible either. Hope that perspective helps. Can elaborate more if needed, my thoughts seem kinda disjointed.

FWIW captain from my list trip (regional) was interviewing with Delta. Had 50 turbine PIC. Non Military too. edit: actually got offered an interview when he had 0 PIC I can’t emphasize enough, what has already been said, if you meet the barebones mins to apply just send it. So many data points of people getting hired with way less experience than what used to be the standard. I mean it’s insanity.

If that is the case, at Skywest you will get DEN or MSP right out of training or within 2 months. If you get ORD that works too, easy commute and we fly it. Skywest QOL is good, training is the best out there. I'm new enough that I may be a little biased though. Can't go wrong with Endeavor, Envoy, or Republic either if you ask me. Other ones I might stay away from.