Bigred

KA-50 or 52. Only production helos with an ejection seat. I always wondered how it'd work in real life, and the idea of flying around with explosive bolts attached to the rotor head is wild.

But did the cable get fixed?

Why are Vipers considered bottom tier selection?

What I find interesting is that the squawking about Ukraine from outside of Ukraine is significantly higher than that from inside of Ukraine. If you have access to an 14F in your area, they can do some of their IO stuff on open source data to show you what I mean.

If you work up to the day you get out, you get BAS + BAH + Base Pay + any special pays and THEN get paid for 60 days of base pay when you get out. If you take it as terminal you get out without that 60 days of buyback. Each situation is unique, especially if you have a follow on job, but for a 12 year O-4 that doesn't sell any leave back, that's approximately $16,000 extra you get when you get out,

What's the over/under that things get busy on 16 Feb? https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/krise-in-osteuropa-cia-rechnet-mit-russischem-angriff-kommende-woche-a-2e10a45f-b6eb-4b1a-b692-2edc64c04adf

It’s incredible that thing just slid down the LA and off the front of the angle without touching anything. Holy shit that deck was full and it could have been an absolute disaster.

If you are past the 18 year mark, even if that’s at the second fail to select + 7 months, you are inside sanctuary and are guaranteed to get 20. It’s your total time at the date of separation that matters.

If I’m doing the math right, wouldn’t you be over 18 years service by the time you’d have to get out after the second look? Aka, wouldn’t you be protected by sanctuary?

My understanding is that if you are selected but decline promotion you stay in. The only way you get the NLT 7 month out option is if you fail to select twice.

‘Restricted to airmen within 365 days of UFT expiration’. I read that as +/- 365 from UFT expiration, but that also reads as leaving out contract expired/no-contract post UFT ADSC folks.

Interesting hearing your pre-Covid experiences with guard units as mine was completely opposite. I was rushing tanker units and they were basically giving slots to any previously qualified military pilot with a pulse. I was offered a job at two different units. The irony though, for similar reasons I ended up going the same route as you on the active duty side of things.

Static dates for OPRs in the Navy has been a thing for a long time. While there are some differences in ranking, etc, the questions you raise are very much an issue when writing paper on folks. It created quite the challenge to give a solid dude good evals if his PCS timing was wonky. Things like moving PCS dates, sending a guy TDY, etc, were all utilized to try and help make the reports look as good (and as long) as possible. Length of the report was also a huge deal. For example, a guy who had a 1 of 10 with 12 months on his report carried a helluva lot more weight at boards as a guy who was 1 of 10 with only 5 months. In other words, will a CRO report help/hurt/no difference on a guy, since he’ll still also have to do a report at the static date. I suspect this will be an ongoing problem as we switch to static close outs.

Took a quick search through the 2022 NDAA and I found something to the effect of ‘extending special pay/bonuses’. So, it doesn’t look like the max will change. Now it’s up to the AF to decide how they want to spend it.

I know a few that have done it. The squadrons will put out messages for hiring boards, which are typically twice a year. The actual process is fairly close to how it is to join the AF reserve, with a few differences here and there. I keep in touch with a lot of my old Navy bros, shoot me a PM and I’ll try to link you up with someone.

It is possible to do classified work at home but from my experience you either gotta be really special or really senior.

In todays climate that’s the key point. Look at what China is trying to (and somewhat accomplishing) in Africa. If the US was to exit NATO you can guarantee that the Chinese would be all over it trying to push their influence.

Go U-2s. Gets you out of MAF, keeps you operational, and you get to fly the U-2 and the T-38.

Name released https://www.foxnews.com/us/air-force-pilot-killed-in-runway-mishap-identified 🍺

I know a quite a few helo types in the regionals, only a couple in the majors. The dudes in the majors now spent a good bit of time flying regionals, and one was a contract ISR bubba after helos.

Using the weather example above, if a PIC says no to flying with 300 & 3/4 when the mins are 200 & 1/2, I’ll back up his decision and he doesn’t fly that day. I’d also recommend he lose his PIC designation and needs to go through requal.

Hiring message out from AFPC. I hear they’re even taking old rotor trash these days!

Ah, I think I see the disconnect, as I actually agree with you. I’m not saying don’t hold them accountable, if someone is a piece of shit then fire them. The way your previous post read (to me, at least) is we should fire people if they don’t exactly adhere to their bosses vision. One of the biggest failures I’ve seen (in two different branches now) is an unwillingness to tell someone they suck, and to actually document it. Instead, they write them a glowing evaluation and send them on their way.

That’s a slippery slope. Fire someone beneath you for not ‘following your vision’ is, to me, the very definition of intrusive leadership. Give a vision, give an intent, and let your people loose to figure it out.