Bergman

If that's what you were originally asking about, then rest easy. That sort of thing is a near-daily occurrence. At least in the tanker world. Shack!!

I've been following this discussion and was pretty much on your side - I think you are sincerely just trying to make your squadron better, and I can appreciate that. But after rereading the above quotes, all I can think of is "entitlement generation" (i.e. SNAP). You are among the newest, youngest members of the squadron with the least amount of family/work responsibility. I hate to break it to you, but it IS your job to encourage people to hang out in the squadron. It is NOT the squadron leaderships' job to make sure these things happen. If the Sq/CC walks in and says "Everyone have a beer!"....that is called mandatory fun. In every single squadron I've been in, the leadership isn't even remotely involved with running the bar, roll call, etc. They let it happen, sure...but they sure as hell aren't the cheerleaders out front trying to get everyone involved. The most involvement I've seen from a CC was when he would get on the all-call at 3:43pm (we were the 343d) and announce that the beer light was on, thus giving tacit approval without being the bartender. With regard to being unable to find drinking time on Friday nights...you're not trying hard enough. We would routinely have 1800 takeoffs for a 10-12 hour sortie, and would still be in the squadron bar drinking, throwing darts, and shooting pool with the music blaring when the Sq/CC would arrive at work around 0630. He'd ask us to turn the music down, but that was about it. Your results may vary, but if you don't even try the answer will always be "no". Grow some balls, and try being the informal leader who sits down after a sortie and says "Who wants a beer?". You might be drinking alone the first time or two, but I guarantee it'll catch on.

Your conclusion is correct. The system doesn't make much sense, so you either have to live within it or chose to go do something else. I think you may find that the civilian world has its own illogical systems as well, so be prepared if/when you punch. If you are hoping to go ANG, I would go ahead and get SOS done anyway. Contrary to what many people have heard, SOS is still a requirement for ANG officers as well. It is definitely looked at for promotion and advancement. So no free ride there. I agree with HOSS that if you slow-roll the correspondence course long enough, you may still get a residence slot anyway. Timing is everything, but it doesn't always work in your favor. If you are, in fact, planning to get out after your commitment, I would wait to get your Master's until maybe the 8-9 year point, and get it from a worthwhile institution. A 5 year old degree won't do you much good, just like a basket weaving degree won't either, unless you are applying at Longaberger. I will caveat all of that with my experience in the civilian world, which is that a master's degree doesn't mean shit. The companies I have worked for were much more interested in directly applicable work experience rather than advanced degrees. Even for the people who had them, they didn't offer any additional pay or early advancement. Your experience may vary. Beyond that, Pawnman had it right:

Better a trim baller than a ball trimmer, I suppose. For the love of God, someone please bring Metal back.

If it's an Officer slot, yes you will have to go to AMS. If it's being advertised as a GS-12, it's most likely a "dual status" job that, as you mentioned, requires you to be a traditional guardsmen as well. These full-timers still wear the uniform every day, but get paid through a vast/complex pay system that I won't even begin to describe now. The full-time positions are fairly competetive, but are open to people such as yourself with no prior military experience. I have seen hundreds of civilians get hired into Officer positions, altough honestly getting hired directly into a full-time slot is rare. AMS has changed a lot recently, so take this with a grain of salt, but the classes used to start the first/second week in Oct, Jan, Mar, May and August. Sounds like they will be getting rid of at least the May class due to ROTC conflicts at the new base. To get a class date, you have to first be hired by whatever ANG base you are considering. Once that happens, they will get the ball rolling as far as forwarding your information to Guard Bureau and getting class dates. For a non-rated career field like CE, it should be a little easier to get through this system, but a safe bet would be to plan on it taking nearly a year from interview to AMS class date, if not longer.

I'm going to have to give a big to whoever told The Obama's staff that it was an F-22 in the first place. None of those ass clowns would have known the difference otherwise. hehe

Now fellas, don't all apply at once! https://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123179982

FWIW, some FSDOs interpret the reg as saying it must be 10 hours of PIC, while others will give it to you (sts) with 10 hours of being dual-seat qualified.

Yes, definitely still required unless it's changed since Nov 15th. However, the "no hands in pockets" Nazis are gone, as is almost all other extraneous BS. On the up side, the new wing leadership there is fucking awesome. I had a chance to have beers with the wing king, vice, and command chief on a few occasions and they all definitely 'get it' (sts). The commander specifically is just unreal. The first O-6 I have met in a loooonnnnggggg time where I left a 2 hour BS session thinking "I HOPE this guy gets promoted" instead of "How did that dipshit get promoted?". A small example...he is actively promoting the wearing of Friday morale patches, including one he helped design - "Manas...we're running with scissors!" and featuring the acronym "YCMTSU" - You Can't Make This Shit Up - in reference to the sheer stupidity of the previous regime. You really can't make up some of the stuff they did.

Sweet...you're only missing one out of the three! Live at Tommy Rockers

Preach on! My experience has been basically identical. I left AD 7 years ago to go to UPT with the Guard, and it's been a very eye-opening 5 years since UPT/MQT. I don't know if the struggles of life outside the AD are enough to send me running back to mama just yet (life is good at my ANG unit right now), but it's nice to have that option. Hell, I joked in 2002 that they were forcing me out to go to UPT (didn't approve my commissioned year of service waiver, yet got it via ANG) and that it'd only be a matter of time before I was back on AD, as if I'd never left. Is the 45 RS hiring? haha Bottom line...life isn't always greener on the other (civilian) side of the fence. I've had two good civilian jobs, but the boredom and lack of comraderie/competence in the civilian workforce made them a huge drag.

We used to do a 'Yankee Gift Exchange'. Everyone (or couple) brings a gift to the party, typically booze, and usually $20 or less. They pick numbers when they get there, and once the gift exchange starts, you start with #1, who gets to go pick a gift. Obviously #2 is next, but they have the option to either get a 'fresh' gift or take the gift that #1 just opened. And so it goes. The only other rules are that you can only have your gift taken away twice, and the person who went first gets to take someone else's gift at the end to make up for their having to pick first. The cut-throat aspect always led to hilarity and a pretty good time. That may have also had something to do with the amount of booze served, and the drunk bus to take us all home.

So sad it's funny...

Heh...just found this in my picture collection. Hilarious to anyone that's been there. Not so much to others.

I would call ahead to the FSDO. From the stories I have heard, different locations wanted additional paperwork. Beyond the type rating, all you need is 1000 hours as an AC, a walk-in to FedEx, and you're good-to-go...

What is wrong with people? This entitlement generation crap is really getting out of control (although I would peg this pinko as 40-50 something). Thank God there are still people like SFC Woods out there getting the job done to protect these morons and their inalienable right to be stupid assholes.

Last time I was there, aircrew assigned to Manas had their own room. We flew 6 days per week.

Oh my, where to start with this one... The very short answer is "it depends". There are some great locations that we "deploy" to - think Guam, Curacao, Hawaii, Australia, Germany, England, etc - where it is pretty easy to buy your spouse an airline ticket and fly her (him) over at your own expense. Depending on where you are, you might even be able to have them stay in your billetting room - unless of course you are doubled or tripled up, which might get awkward, or might be the best thing ever if you're into that sort of thing. Obviously you can't bring your spouse to places like Iraq, Quatar, Afghanistan, etc - as they are pretty much shitholes to begin with, and most of those "forward deployed" bases do not let unauthorized civilians (i.e. your family) on the base. Keep in mind that most of our long deployments are to these type places, so your chances to bring your family with you are few and far between. Bottom line...suck it up. Being away from home and your family is an unfortunate part of any military career, with flying jobs being some of the worst. To answer your other question, no you do not have to be a resident of the state where your guard unit is located. You may still have to pay state income tax on income earned in that state, but they shouldn't make you declare residency.

Anyone else seen this great Boeing propaganda critique of the A380 landing at KOSH? Hilarious! (and true)

2. I actually have to applaud her for promoting a Thursday drinking event with free beer provided by the CGOC. Free beer is never a bad thing.

Again, UFB! Who the fuck can tell 1-2 knots on those 50 year old airspeed and flap indicators? She's an idiot. Anyone who has flown the -135 for more than 6-9 months could guess what the outcome of the MX inspection would be. This is what happens when you upgrade people with 800 total time yet no judgement. FWIW, I am intimately familiar with the departure you are talking about and this sort of shit happpens on almost every takeoff. You've got TRT set, it's cold, and flap retract speed is 15 knots under flap placard speed. Meanwhile you are limited to 15 degrees nose high. The instant you start retracting the flaps the airspeed increases regardless of how much pitch you have...so you either pull power even though you are at 300' and near max-gross weight, or you pitch 20 degrees nose high, or accept the fact that the flaps might still be moving just a bit as you hit flap placard speed (within 1-2 knots). Pick your poison. There are many, many instances of people overspeeding the flaps by 40-50 knots, with no associated damage, so to have a heart attack over a perceived 1-2 knots is idiotic. I saw the same thing over there with hydraulic "leaks". I would see a drop of hydraulic fluid coming from a junction that was supposedly a "no leak" tolerance. I would ask the crew chief, "Would you have wiped that off, had you seen it before me?" 100% of the time the answer was "yes". I took the jet. I am not going to cancel a combat sortie for 1 drop of hydraulic fluid, especially if the gear only has to come UP 1 time, and I can manually lower it. I may get flamed, and that's fine...but a little common sense goes a long way when writing shit up. Many of the ACs would cancel the sortie for 1 drop of fluid (static, on a 15 degree day). While that is the letter of the law, and well within their right, I submit that it is a fairly short-sightened viewpoint considering the ramifications on the rest of the operation and especially MX after you cancel for 1 drop of fluid.

What a bunch of assholes. Fuck them! (I work for Mel Brooks!)

Guess that is why it's called the "bro network", if it ever existed in the missile world. It certainly is dead now, along with common sense apparently. Can you call females "douches"?? I guess shithead will have to suffice. UFB!