LT4Life

Just curious if anyone has seen an AGR Officer curtail their orders successfully. If so how much time did they curtail/serve of their set of orders?

PC approved. Hired into the KC-135/C-12 reserves at KEDW as an AGR 2004 Q11M3F 20 months UPT ADSC waived 21 months GI Bill transfer ADSC Rec'd approval by Sq/CC, Wg/CC, AFPC 10 weeks start to finish, 4 days at SAF/PC but it was expedited due to the separation date I requested.

Thread Revival. Just curious if anyone has any idea on the end routing of Palace Chase. My app is currently waiting on SAF/PC for approval. I am curious if anyone knows if that hard part is over or if that is a common place for disapproval?

It was like that 4 years ago when I bought my house as well. They couldn't even come close to beating local financing (which ended up getting sold to a large firm anyway). It was unfortunate because they compete on all financing/insuring issues but that one.

We here at Kadena didn't feel a thing.

Equity? Don't use equity as a decision when buying a house these days. That is old school thought. You won't build enough equity in 5 years to cover closing costs and all the other stuff that goes into it. If you want to put a price on the feeling of not having to worry about taking a 6 figure loss at PCS time or finding renters that won't destroy your place, then chock that up as well. If you had a family this might be a different story but for a single guy in this economy, it doesn't make any kind of sense (financial or common). Buying a house for the equity and tax advantages just doesn't exist anymore. Take the money you would save and double down in Vegas. I'd say the odds of turning a profit are about the same.

I am in the market for a new TV now and was talking to a buddy about the LCD vs Plasma delicacy thing. I am curious if anybody has had any problems with their Plasma breaking during a PCS move. I understand they are more fragile but in my moves I never had a problem with mine breaking (to include an overseas move). It's possible I had the one decently made TV so I am seeing if anybody else has had problems with them not working post move. Thanks.

I did CATS a few years ago when it was still up at Fort Dix. It was a pretty good course. Death by powerpoint. I've heard that it has been (or about to be) completely redone to the point it is a baby WIC. One of our WIC guys here said the plan is to have there be some workbook that you complete first (about 6 months), then you go to the new CATS, come back and work in/run a Sq tactics shop, then go to WIC. Again, heresay but that was the plan last I heard. I am fairly confident it has changed because there is not much information floating around anymore calling it CATS. Anyone confirm or deny? CATS was very broad though. Not as specific as CWPC (TPFDD) and JAOPC (planning an air war from an AOC perspective). CATS covered all MWS'.

SEI? I also have AIS in May in addition the other two. Do tell about SEI.

I'm curious if anybody has been to JAOPC or CWPC in the past few years and if either, or both are worth the time. I have been offered both but don't want to waste my time. On the flip side an old boss also said to take whatever schooling they'll give to ya. Thoughts?

I don't know either. I'll ask my wife if it's something I want. She would know.

I couldn't agree more and I have been married since I got in the Air Force. Too many guys today let their wives run the show and talk the talk around the guys regardless of the accuracy of her statements. They (wives) need to understand no matter what, they are only getting one side of the story and they don't understand the insane amount of politics that goes on between the boys, the bosses and the business. It ain't pretty but it is what it is. They can join in but when it comes to their opinion on how terrible of a pilot "John" is, that's when nutless wonder (awesome HossHarris) needs to ask to use his taken manhood and begin the teabag process.

So true. The best part is that they read the regs and think they know them. They aren't accustomed to reading a sentence, picking it apart, deciphering it for yourself, deciphering it how an evaluator could decipher it, deciphering it how a safety board could take it, attempt to figure out how it will be asked on the MQF, figuring out the course of action you will take based on doing what you will do while still keeping in mind the intent and how you would explain it to said evaluator, safety board or even copilot. Their understanding of the reg and our understanding of the reg even though we have only read it once or twice is still a completely different animal. True story: our group first shirt sits in our squadron (lucky us). She argued one Friday that the red shirts the flyers wear is unfair to those that don't wear bags in the squadron. "Besides, it's a dumb rule buried somewhere in a supplement." Being bored with the conversation taking place at my desk I printed out the page in the actual reg that says it's legit, highlighted it and handed it to her. It feels good because while she sees her job as extremely stressful, she has no idea what it is like to have flying as a secondary duty. I hate shoe clerks.

I know there's a bunch of so called "military websites" for selling your home and I've looked at a few but I'm curious if anybody has had any luck with this sort of thing? My Realtor said if I found the buyer he would do everything for .5% so if there are any credible sites out there I'd like to give it a try.

You check in at NAS Pensacola at the quarterdeck. Ask the guys at the gate, they'll tell you how to get there. It is 24 hours. The navy is not like big blue. They say check in is Saturday, they mean it. They want your orders stamped and everything saying you were there on time. If RNLTD is on a Saturday with big blue, come in around 1500 the following Monday. Enjoy it down there, it will be the best time you'll have for a while. I wouldn't live in Gulf Breeze, just an opinion though. The only guys I heard that did that were instructors. Live in Pcola. There is enough for you to do that you're time there will be filled. If you live in Gulf Breeze you'll spend a good deal of time driving everyday only to get canxed after an hour or two of work. Again, just my preference.

Here's a pretty good one I still tell today. I was out in the AOR on a pretty busy day. They switched out the tactical C2 guy and you could definitely tell the guy that took over was a bit new. I don't remember the exact time but let's say the current time is 1700Z. Callsigns and AR tracks names are changed for obvious reasons. Tanker 11: ...looking for words on current receiver frag. Tac C2: Tanker 11, you have Viper 22 Flight at 1530. Cleared FL250 direct Julia track. Tanker 11: (brief hesitation, obviously looking at his GPS time) Roger that, 250 direct Julia. Confirm cleared to use our Flux Capacitor. Tac C2: long pause and assumed sigh. New voice comes over. "Tanker 11 flight, maintain current orbit and altitude and standby for words" I have never heard so many jokes on tanker common in my life. Now it's monitored by big brother so no more fun like that.

Current info: Now called Transit Center at Manas...huge change. It will be deathly cold. Bring warm stuff for the lovely preflights and be ready to use all of your cold weather procedures and deice several times before takeoff. Billeting hasn't changed from other posts. Ops tempo is slow in the winter...very slow. Wireless internet available in public locations. AFN is there and as good as ever. See you there.

2 on Skype. Dudes use it as an app on thier iPhone and it seems to be perfect. I've used Vonage through my computer (they have a USB stick that a headset plugs into and uses your Vonage home number). Worst case, good ole Yahoo messenger voice works too if not too many people are on. Obviously this is all for non .mil.

I've shipped my two small dogs several times on Alaska Airlines. Always had a good experience. Tips: Agree with the crate being bigger than you think. When you put water in the dish, freeze it the night before so it last longer . Make sure you tape a bag of food to the crate in case the dog needs a feeding. Check the airline policies on weather. There are restrictions on hot/cold temps. I had to have my pets shipped to Ontario, CA as opposed to Palm Springs, CA because of the heat.

Been about 2 years, haven't made another call since the original, still sitting at 4%. Like I said, maybe I got lucky with who I spoke with but either way I'm happy at 4%, hassle-free.

Somewhat related but good to know...if you have either of these three medals and you let USAA know they will lock your credit card interest at 4% for life. All it took for me was a phone call and it was done.

I had a similar question a while back after I got married. I did my taxes through turbotax and before I submitted went back and toggled between the two options and closely watched the number in upper left. Filing joint was by far the best option for me at the time. Hope this helps.

I gave mine to my younger sister. Growing up I was essentially her father figure and I felt it would mean more to her than to my wife. It's like Tmickel said, just do what feels right. Although UPT feels like the hardest part of your life, and it probably is up to that point, your wife will have many more opportunities to support you and it won't be long before those "broken wings" would be forgotten by her while you are deployed with newborn kids at home while prepping for a PCS when you get back. UPT can quickly become the "good old days" to both of you.

I read the book and then watched the movie. I'd read the book 10 more times before I wasted time with the movie. It was a good movie but it didn't do any justice to the details of the story that not many know about. Do yourself a favor and spend a few days reading the book. It won't take long. The first couple pages are slow but when it picks up you won't put it down. Even knowing the story won't ruin the book.

It takes a doctrine to design it, a masters to build it, a bachelor's to fly it and a GED to fix it.