Bergman

I don't have a reference handy to support this opinion, but my gut feeling is that you will NOT be able to direct-commission into the ANG/AF. Only medical and legal folks can get away with that, I believe. Having said that, the commissioning program for the ANG is the good 'ol Academy of Miliary Science (AMS) in Knoxville, TN. It's a 6 week class that send you on your way as a 2Lt ready for fixed wing qual. My best guess is that's what they'll have you do, assuming you get hired by an ANG unit. [ 25. December 2004, 23:38: Message edited by: Bergman ]

I don't know about the rest of the Navy's golf courses, but Pensacola's is pretty nice. Right on the water and pretty cheap, IIRC. The O'Club there used to be pretty sweet as well...lots of free/cheap beer and pizza is always a good thing!

YGBSM! They're getting Article 15s for THAT? Just when you think the AF couldn't get any more ridiculous and/or PC. If I'm gettin' an Article 15, I want it to be for something cool...buzzing the tower, flying inverted 3' from a Mig 28, or dating the Admiral's daughter.

Sounds like you're a little discouraged! Not to worry...it really will be pretty easy. Basically, your Det was right: just show up! Once you get to the front gate, have them give you a base map and/or directions to the VOQ (you'll need to make a reservation ahead of time; if they're full you will have to stay off base. Either way, you claim the expenses on your travel voucher). Once you've got a place to stay for the first few days (until you can either get a BOQ or apartment off base) it'll be time to get in touch with the training squadron. It's been a few years since I was stationed there (ok, so you would have been a freshman in high school at the time so maybe more than a few) Anyway! If memory serves me, the Air Force has a personnel building somewhere on the main part of the base (as opposed to the hangars where the flying squadrons and naval museum are located on the far west end). They've got a full staff of folks that will help you in-process...things like locator card, active duty ID, SGLI, pay accounts, etc. They should also be able to tell you who your boss will be and/or who to report to and when. I believe the Air Force outfit running the show down there is still the 325 FW/Detachment 1. As for the housing situation, it'll depend on when you get there. Seems the BOQ is full almost all the time, so that'll mean it's time to rent an apartment or a house. When I was in VT-10, I lived in an apartment on the northeast side of town (out by the mall and airport). After 9 months there, the drive to work (or anywhere) got to be tiresome, but that is coming from someone who had never commuted (now that I've worked in D.C. I have changed my tune!) If I could do it again, I would get a place on the beach or as close to it as possible. A lot of guys would rent houses on or near Perdido key to the west or Gulf Breeze to the east. Guess it depends on your interests and budget. I've gotta run for now, but I hope that info is helpful. Let me know if you've got any other questions and we'll get you hooked up, as I'm sure there are a lot more people on this board with better/more recent info than me.

Hmmm....because we can?

I don't know that I will be able to sleep tonight after watching that! [ 17. December 2004, 11:03: Message edited by: Bergman ]

Depends on the unit. About 80% of our unit's overseas flying is moving pax and "light" cargo back and forth. The other 20% is refueling. Other units are probably different. A lot of times a tanker unit will 'pick up' a fighter unit...land, grab their maintenance and support folks along with some spare parts, then drag the fighters across the pond. In my limited tanker experience, it's not too often that a -135 will be just moving pallets or cargo around, but I'm sure it does happen.

BRAVO! To me, the above quote really says it all about your post. If you're going to try engineering, ANY type of engineering, you need to want to be an engineer first and foremost. If your dreams of flying don't work out, you will be stuck being an engineer forever. If that fate doesn't appeal to you, don't even start the program. I am a long since graduated Electrical Engineer who muddled my way through the program because: A) I had a full-ride ROTC scholarship in EE, B) I thought a technical degree would help me get a flight slot (it did...back in the day there was a multiplication factor for degree difficulty), and C) I thought it would help me land a good job after the Air Force. Looking back, I should have chosen a different major. It would have given me a higher GPA, more of a social life in college, and a better chance of finding a civilian job now that I am not full-time Air Force. The fact of the matter is, and this is why I quoted that line specifically, that to stay in aviation you are much better off getting an Aviation Management, Safety, or Operations degree than an engineering degree. It turns out that the people with "soft"/people skills have: A) A much easier time finding jobs and B) Better long-term earning potential. How many CEOs are there with engineering degrees? Not many. The people that move up (in position and $$$) are the ones that can deal with PEOPLE, while the engineers are stuck in $60,000/year desk jobs forever..UNLESS they switch to management! So back to my original point...if you don't enjoy engineering FOR ITS OWN SAKE, I would recommend against it. [ 14. December 2004, 01:01: Message edited by: Bergman ]

A quick search of www.dfas.mil under the "Military Pay Information" tab reveals... 2Lt Base Pay =$2264.40 Subsistence Allowance =$175.23 Flight Pay= =$125.00 Total=$2564.63 before taxes per month ($30775.56 per year) I am assuming you would be living on base, and therefore would not get a housing allowance. That pay info would be good for the first 2 years, not including the cost-of-living increase every January (3.5% of base pay this year, I think). As for Guard bumming, you're looking at $75.48 + 1/30th of your flight pay ($4.17) per drill period. With 96 drills and FTPs per year, that would be $7646.40. Add in your 2 weeks of annual training at $1282.32 and you're at a MINIMUM of $8928.72 or so just for doing the bare minimum as a part-time Guard bum. Depending on the unit, you could earn quite a bit more than that. We have part-time 1Lts who are on "Temp Tech" orders that start at $7400 PER MONTH. But those are pretty hard to come by and there are no guarantees how long it will last. Hope this helps!

The fact that someone went to AMS doesn't necessarily mean they are an inexperience pilot! One of our AMS grads _FLEW F-100's_ in the 70's and is STILL FLYING! Overall, our "average" pilot has 2000+ flying hours! Granted, our unit is a little unusual in that we just converted from F-16s to KC-135s. Most of our guys were A-7 then F-16 guys for the past 20 years, so they have little -135 experience but tons of fighter hours. Of our 5 academy guys, 2 were former AD fighter guys and the other 3 were active duty -135 IP/EPs who are teaching everyone how to fly the tank. We also have another IP/EP who is an ROTC guy, and one active duty liason IP. I still think your line of thought on this is a bit off. It's not like every ANG unit replaces all their pilots every other year with folks from active duty. From what I've seen, the turnover is pretty slow in ANG units. A unit may take 1 or 2 active duty people per year. Compare that with 1 or 2 UPT guys (who go to AMS) and the ratio of incoming 'new guys' is 50/50. Most units have a quota of how many pilots they need, so it's not like whenever an active duty pilot calls up they just join the unit. They have to interview for an available slot (not in the same group as the UPT people). Again, this is just my perspective from my unit and the other 2-3 I have flown with. I am sure you can find units who have 80% former active duty pilots, but I would think most ANG units try to avoid that because it "poisons" the unit with AD mindset (which isn't always a bad thing). Believe it or not, some units would sacrifice experience in order to bring a 'guard baby' up through the ranks.

Because most units hire from within or hire civilians "off the street"! If they give out 2 UPT slots per year, both of those are going to AMS for commissioning. Like I said, this is just my unit...others may vary, but out of 40 pilots we have 5 academy and 1 ROTC with the rest being AMS grads. I stand by my point that if you're looking for a way to "appear involved" with the Air Force when applying for an ANG/AFRES slot, there are better/more visible ways to do it than AAS. AAS won't hurt your chances, but if you're fooling around with that rather than working on good grades, or full participation in an ANG unit (if you're already enlisted in one), then you're heading in the wrong direction, IMHO.

Why would you want to?!? The chances of your average ANG pilot (the guys who sit on the selection boards!) knowing what AAS is are about 0%! Maybe other units are different, but in my unit I am the _only_ person who was ROTC...all the rest were AMS (80%) or USAFA grads, and thus don't know much about AAS.

Wow...if it was anyone but Doc I wouldn't believe the story! But with that dude anything is possible. When someone with that much flight experience does something that stupid, it really makes us all look like a bunch of clowns. Not to sound like my dad, but he should know better! What if something happened...EP, bird strike, etc. Just plain stupid. Glad to see he's still setting a great example for all the commanders (or everyone for that matter) that work for him.

Anyone know the background of the KC-10 buy back in the 70's? We were discussing it over beers the other night and couldn't come up with the complete story. IIRC it was the AF bailing out McDonnel DOuglas by buying airplanes already on the production line that weren't sold? Lastly, rather than reinvent the wheel with the KC-767, why not just by a shitload of DC-10s and/or MD-11s (or buy new ones for that matter) since the ground work has already been done. I understand that there is a # of airframes vs. total offload argument, plus the landing weights, ramp space requirements, and special on/offload capes needed for the -10, among other problems. Interested to hear everyone's comments.

I've met him a couple of times over the years..once while at Offutt (he was getting a tour of our squadron when he was 12AF/CC) and then a few times when I was out at AF/OG. He is a relatively likeable guy and pretty low-key in person, at least when I talked with him. HOWEVER, I can't get past all of the BS programs he has started, nor the stories I've heard from the C-21 folks that cart him around ("We actually schedule physically bigger people to fly with him...because he won't listen to IPs and they have to overpower him on the controls") Then you hear other stories about him having, basically, his own private F-16 (Tail #777) at his disposal. (I know most WG/CC and up types have jets at their disposal, but IIRC Doc's F-16 is kept at Ramstein by itself for his sole use. Can anyone back that up?)

May God help all of us if that clown "Doc" is the next CSAF!!! Currently at BIKF shaking my head at all the "Combat" programs he has started, none of which has anything to do with actual combat. Perhaps he should start worrying about the morale and welfare of his troops (instead of his own) for once and the rest of the queepy shit would take care of itself. "Take care of your people and they will take care of you". [ 29. November 2004, 10:33: Message edited by: Bergman ]

JS - Yep, it's the Dixie Diner. I couldn't remember the name at the time of my post. Good eats! Ft. Worth Alliance and Shreveport regional also put on a pretty good show. Always cars available. Plus, the casinos in Shreveport have FREE BEER even if you're not gambling. Not bad.

Guess it depends on what Det you graduated from. IMHO, AAS= Unless of course you like drinking 1 or 2 well iced-down wine coolers and discussing the merits of hooking up with all the 'hot' AAS chicks at NATCON. In all seriousness, if it's something you want to do...knock yourself out. Joining will not help you get a pilot slot directly, but may improve your 'cadetmanship' in general, i.e. PT scores, general knowledge, AF knowledge. DO NOT sacrifice your grades for membership in AAS or any other ROTC organization! Your GPA will help you way more than membership in any clubs.

There are still plenty of places that offer "good deals" although most stop short of giving stuff away. Lake Charles, LA...$1 for gumbo or shrimp or whatever. Call on victor prior to your arrival and it'll be waiting. Ellington, TX: Free beer, soda, ice cream, doughnuts, etc etc. Plus the hotties working the counter. Don't let the Fuji Blimp drivers hanging around scare you off (Chuck knows what I mean!) Amarillo, TX: Free ride to The Big Texan. Don't let Jared the van driver con you into buying him lunch (Chuck knows what I mean!). Texarkana, AR: TacAir has free T-shirts with XX number of gallons, plus $3 meal coupons to a local greasy spoon (which I HIGHLY recommend - best chicken fried steak, blackberry cobbler, and sweet tea ever.) Ask around. Chances are the reserve IPs will have the gouge! A fat pilot is a happy pilot...

You can't leave out Howl at the Moon. They have 'dueling pianos' and encourage singing along, however painful that may turn out to be. Usually a pretty good time, but IIRC Thurs-Sat is the only time they're open.

All of which makes a great case for going RC-135s if you're thinking ISR platforms. They're the host unit on an ACC base (largest wing in ACC actually!). Sounds like the RCs have a better working relationship with the mission crews (vs. E-3/8s) and actually have decent opportunities to move around once your initial tour is up (4-5 years). "In God We Trust...All Others, We Monitor"

Pretty sweet video. Looked like a lot of fun. To answer your question...we do that sort of joyriding all the time in the -135. Ok, well maybe not. To steal a line from Lewis Black..."It's a 135...it is not a JOY to RIDE!" A guy can dream though...

Just a couple of changes. The Graduation Banquet is on THURSDAY of week 6, with the parade and graduation ceremony on FRIDAY. The banuqet is usually around 6pm, and festivities start Friday morning with the ANG state oath of office being administered in the squadron day rooms at 0800, followed by the parade at 0900 and graduation at 1000. The events will normally be done by 1200-1230 and everyone will be free to go. No need for a full-length floor gown, but please don't wear a bare midriff and spandex shorts. Well...the guys wouldn't mind, but it's pretty tacky. I've seen it happen and was embarassed for the girl wearing it! Sitting in a room with 800 people looking like she just rolled out of bed... One last thing...I'm sure Bailey is getting caught up in the UPT mindset, but the graduates get "2LT BARS" when they cross the stage at AMS, not "WINGS".

Q. What's the difference between God and a fighter pilot? A. God can't fly fighters Q. What's the difference between a pig and a fighter pilot? A. The pig doesn't turn into a fighter pilot after a night of drinking Q. How do you know if there's a fighter pilot at your party? A. He'll tell you And the hits just keep on coming (sts)....

ANG folks CAN change their residency while on AD orders. As long as you're on AD orders (even once you're back at your unit) you should be able to keep TX residency. As a side note, Tennessee also has no income tax for anyone considering moving there.