Arkbird

Only the number 1 person gets additional points for the package from what I hear. After that it doesn't matter what your commander's ranking is. I was 3/3 squadron and 5/6 wing.

You're correct. You can turn it down one time and still reapply. If you turn it down twice you can't. And if you turn it down and now need an age waiver to reapply, that makes it a little more difficult.

Yup. And they send out an email to you kind of explaining what happens next and if you want to decline the position, to reply with that.

Just being selected. I used the EFMP trick to find out where I was going after a couple weeks and then about a month and a half later I got my official assignment notification.

Where are you at??? At Columbus, the average is 2-3 AD slots plus the Guard, Reserves, and international.

I don't but I'll keep an eye open!

Finished. At Altus for the next few months.

Your commander will probably call you. I was tdy and literally working when my commander called me and gave me the good news (2 years ago, not now so don't freak out).

I know admdelta personally and he's a good dude. He's going to be a star in whatever he goes to next just like he was in his prior career.

I will for sure! I'm actually a mid level Capt so I'm a little late to the pilot party. Previously flew MQ-9s and blew up bad dudes but I'm glad to be in the cockpit supporting everyone. Dream come true. Almost didn't make it through. Had my share of 88 and 89 rides going through but here we are. Definitely going to try to do what's right. I know I'm not going to be some general so the least I can do is help others. The guys taking everyone out of Afghanistan during the pull out (sts) are what made me want to get to UPT so I'm just glad I got the opportunity.

Thanks. This one was my drop. Feels good to finally get through and move on from here.

KCBM 24-04. Drop included standard T-1 and T-38 class as well as first Fight Bomber Fundamentals class and direct from T-6 to FTU drops. F-16 Homestead FL RC-135 Offut 3xF-16 TBD B-52 Barksdale (T-1 Grad) EA-18 Whidbey Island F-22 Langley AFB KC-135 Birmingham ANG (Active duty TFI straight from T-6, skipping T-1) C-17 Jackson MS C-130H Peoria IL 2xF-35 TBD C-17 Memphis TN F-16 Tuscon AZ C-130J Little Rock (Direct from T-6, skipping T-1) F-16 Tulsa OK C-130J Charleston WV 2xT-6 FAIP Columbs KC-135 Fairchild AFB C-17 Martinsburg WV 2xF-15E Seymour Johnson A-10 Davis Monthan B-2 Whiteman C-17 Dover C-5 San Antonio TX U-28 Hurlburt Field (Direct from T-6, skipping T-1) MC-130 Kirtland

Saw these while going through UPT recently. They belong to any of you guys? The stickers were on old projectors they were getting rid of.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/29/1215765229/us-military-aircraft-crashes-southwestern-japan-coast

Not sure. It has its highs and lows. The program definitely weeds people out and 2.0 was a terrible syllabus so it's hard to say. Best advice is to go in with an open mind ready to learn and be humbled.

As someone who was picked up on that board, I love it. Rooting for you guys to get selected. I just finished upt today. Feels like a dream.

Lots of delays with the T-38 guys because of maintenance cancels. They all wanted to go AFSOC so a number of them put U-28 #1 on their list.

KCBM 24-03: C-17 McGuire 2x T-6 FAIP C-17 Charleston AFRC KC-135 Ohio ANG KC-135 Fairchild B-52 Barksdale (dropped from T-1s) C-17 WV ANG MC-130 Kirtland C-130 Little rock 4x U-28 Hurlburt 3x F-15J Japan

Next drop is November 9th. I'll post results for KCBM.

I just finished T-6 so I have a few more thoughts on this now. Honestly, I don't think those extra few months saved are worth it. Better to go through the entire thing in my opinion. Yes we have some knowledge and know concepts related to flying as an 18X but it's nowhere near as in depth as you'd need to have a TX transition. If you're good, you'll PA some rides anyway. If not, you can use the extra rides to get better. I do think on average we probably had better hands and knew the T-6 a little more than someone who hasn't gone though any formal flying training for the Air Force but not enough to make a TX course worth it.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/173rd-fw-eagle-driver-becomes-the-first-ang-fighter-pilot-selected-to-be-a-thunderbird-demonstration-pilot/

Good luck!

I'm at CBM so unfortunately all I've heard is rumint as well.

From what I've seen, the Air Force doesn't care what anyone at a UPT base has to say about training unless it saves them money. See UPT 2.5 and retiring the T-1 while still keeping OBOGS related T-6 tails flying after a hypoxia event.

Unfortunately. Air Force says they don't want to keep paying to maintain the T-1 and its engines. They're still going to keep a few AMP tails around for IP currency but they're still planning to make it go sim only soonish.