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Posted

You would need to talk to finance to figure out the staying at an appartment. The kelly inn is tolerable for the short time you are there. The problem is that the area around it is not great. You would need to drive a ways to get to anything worth renting. I was there last October. If you talk to the C-5 school, you might be able to swing a TLF on the Lackland side. As far as all the money details, talk to finance before you make any decisions.

As for the training part... When I was there, I trained on the non-amp aircraft down there (no amp a/c and I dont think they have an amp sim either). You will do a bunch of sims in the old cockpit, then fly the pieces of crap they have on the ramp and get your initial qual. Expect to break a lot and to get alerted to a bunch of broken jets. It took me almost three weeks to get 5 flights and a check ride. You will get AMP qual'd when you get to Travis.

The first C-5M will show up at Dover early next year. Looks like it will be a while before you guys see them at Travis. I'm at Dover, but went through this not too long ago....

PM me if you have any more questions.

McLovin

Guest C-21 Pilot
Posted

Pcola,

It was the same incident when I moved from Ramstein to McChord, w/ Altus in the middle.

As far as money, I'm thinking you'll get TDY rates from San Antonio...I'm sure M2 can give you better places to stay, esp w/ a daughter in tow. When I was at Altus, I received Altus rates....nothing more, nothing less. I would look at trying to staying off base to max extent possible.

Bottom line, you WILL NOT receive Travis BAH until you PCS to Travis....and you WILL NOT PCS from Travis then go TDY enroute, it has to do w/ who is funding your training (AMC vs. USAFE)....I know this all to be true. Once you leave ETAR, you're done w/ ETAR - cola, OHA, etc...all gone.

BTW, if you don't know anyone at Travis, I can point you to a few folks....KC-10 and C-17, though.

Lessons learned when PCSing from ETAR back to the states:

1.) Ship your car very early, if able. We landed stateside and our SUV was 4 weeks away....unsat in my opinion, esp when we dropped it off about 25 days before. I'd plan on atleast 4-6 weeks, but that's just me, if you can manage it.

2.) Make sure your finances are in order....we lost about $1500 a month in "extra" benefits for about 4 months...cola, utility left over money, TDY trips, etc. We were pushing all of this into ROTH's, etc. Lost it, and had to dig in other places to make the investment work. Just plan on "feeling" poor...vs. what you had at ETAR.

3.) Immediately enroll your family in Tricare...

4.) Keep a good record of ALL of your stuff. For some reason, MPF here at McChord has the hardest time getting information from ETAR from when I was there. Understand, they changed the process about 2 yrs ago, so I'm always in limbo....however, your personal stuff should be kept in order.

5.) Spanish is now the national language...

6.) At a moments notice, my wife can drive to Target...and buy stupid shit (like right now!!).

Finally, MAKE SURE that you plan the BEST OST that you can muster...the lifestyle of being a ETAR C-21 guy is awesome, as you know, but it's almost over. Plan something off the wall, and go have a good time.

-Cheers

  • 3 months later...
Guest Vettepilot
Posted
You would need to talk to finance to figure out the staying at an appartment. The kelly inn is tolerable for the short time you are there. The problem is that the area around it is not great. You would need to drive a ways to get to anything worth renting. I was there last October. If you talk to the C-5 school, you might be able to swing a TLF on the Lackland side. As far as all the money details, talk to finance before you make any decisions.

As for the training part... When I was there, I trained on the non-amp aircraft down there (no amp a/c and I dont think they have an amp sim either). You will do a bunch of sims in the old cockpit, then fly the pieces of crap they have on the ramp and get your initial qual. Expect to break a lot and to get alerted to a bunch of broken jets. It took me almost three weeks to get 5 flights and a check ride. You will get AMP qual'd when you get to Travis.

The first C-5M will show up at Dover early next year. Looks like it will be a while before you guys see them at Travis. I'm at Dover, but went through this not too long ago....

PM me if you have any more questions.

McLovin

As stated above the Kelly Inn is not the best but tolerable. They are starting to open up what is now being called Port San Antonio around it, but it is still half old Kelly buildings that are kind of run down and half new buildings that no one is really using yet. Once they start to bring Port San Antonio up to speed I think the area will get a little better. Bring your own plates/glasses/utensils for the Inn, they provide a microwave and minifridge but they are both fairly run down. It took almost 10 minutes to cook a burrito in the microwave, so I choose to eat out a lot instead. The 733rd made reservations for me as soon as I had orders so if you dont want to stay in the Inn you'll probably want to talk to them as soon as you can so everyone is on the same page.

They are just starting up Small Group Try Outs for AMP training. There is currently 1 AMP sim but since all the software is new you encounter plenty of small setbacks from trying to get around glitches that havent been ironed out yet. As far as I know there is not an AMP jet down here yet though. Last I heard they hadnt decided if they would try to get an AMP jet to fly here for us to fly or if they would send us on to our units and finish up there.

  • 2 months later...
Posted

I just got my rip for the C-5 initial qual and will be heading up there in a few weeks. My wife and I only have one car so we were planning on having her drop me off (from Del Rio) and then packing our stuff to head to Dover while I'm training. Is the setup with the Kelly Inn such that I could survive my time there with only my bike and a backpack, and what's the area like as far as cycling and running to blow off steam? Am I more likely to find a nice neighborhood or get mugged?

Posted (edited)

On the Southside of town you are more likely to get mugged. There's plenty of places to run on base.

Edited by Herk Driver
Guest Mack2004
Posted
I just got my rip for the C-5 initial qual and will be heading up there in a few weeks. My wife and I only have one car so we were planning on having her drop me off (from Del Rio) and then packing our stuff to head to Dover while I'm training. Is the setup with the Kelly Inn such that I could survive my time there with only my bike and a backpack, and what's the area like as far as cycling and running to blow off steam? Am I more likely to find a nice neighborhood or get mugged?

Are you going for an AMP or legacy class? I'm about 2/3 the way through PIQ here now, so if you have any particular questions let me know.

Posted

Not sure which. Is there a way to tell on my RIP? I really have all the basic questions about the course since everything right now is all "I heard" kind of stuff. What's the schedule like, how are the academics/sims/flights and how much of each is there, what're the folks like, etc?

Guest Mack2004
Posted
Not sure which. Is there a way to tell on my RIP? I really have all the basic questions about the course since everything right now is all "I heard" kind of stuff. What's the schedule like, how are the academics/sims/flights and how much of each is there, what're the folks like, etc?

Your class # should end with a L or an A. Actually, if you're active, it's should be an AMP class. I'm in a legacy class so there are some differences, but the syllabus is very much the same.

Every day of the course is planned out and given to you as part of your student guide. There are a lot of CBT's, but as always, they don't take as long as they're scheduled for. As such, if you work ahead (and everyone does) you'll be able to get yourself some 3 day weekends along the way. Just about everything you learn in a CBT will be reviewed by the instructors or covered in a sim. There are about 5 switchology sims then you move into the full motion sims, which is the majority of the course. As of right now there are 5 flights and a check ride at the end, but that may be changing slightly. Class size is normally 2; I haven't seen a "class" bigger than that yet. The folks that teach the sims are civilians, all former C-5 guys/gals with tons of experience. Can't speak to the actual flight line folks, because it's still another couple of weeks before I head across the street.

Any other questions let me know.

  • 1 month later...
Guest jerseybum
Posted

Great info here, thanks.

Can anyone tell me for sure if they'll let me stay off base in a furnished apt or if they're forcing people into this kelly inn.

Also, if anyone is off-base and knows of some nice furnished apt's nearby in the price range (900ish?) I'd appreciate that information.

Finally, if I end up PCSing back to my guard unit after UPT (mid Aug), would they pay me to drive my vehicle back down here to TX? And would I be getting the NY BAH?

Thanks a lot.

Guest jerseybum
Posted

sorry my guard unit is in ny, which is why I'm asking about ny bah.

Posted

Right now getting a non-a slip is about 50-50. There was no room for anyone in my class when we got here, so we're all downtown. The class right behind us all have rooms at the Kelly Inn. If you get the Non-A you can take that anywhere from the Come On Inn right outside the gate to the Drury on the Riverwalk.

I'm not sure about how to get an apartment, but someone else here is doing just that, so it can be done. As for your PCS,, logically speaking, they would have to pay for you to get down here, but that's not worth too much. Maybe someone else here can answer those questions more definitively.

Feel free to PM with anything else.

  • 1 year later...
Guest gravytrain
Posted

I just got C-5s to Travis; does anyone have any current information on the training down at Kelly? Looking for timeline and some general info. Thanks.

Posted

I just got C-5s to Travis; does anyone have any current information on the training down at Kelly? Looking for timeline and some general info. Thanks.

I just left kelly in july. expect to fly maybe 40% of the time you are actually scheduled to fly there. DON'T expect to finish on time. As for the training, it was very laid back. You will have about 1.5 months of academics and 19 sims, then 3-5 flights and a checkride. Anything specifically you are looking for?

Guest gravytrain
Posted

Nope, that's what I was looking for. Thanks.

  • 8 months later...
Posted

After my next assignment I am seriously thinking about getting out and joining the Memphis unit but I have heard some rumors about their planes. I was told they are having issues with funds for the AMP mods and might shut down. Have any of you heard anything like this? Thanks for the help.

Posted

After my next assignment I am seriously thinking about getting out and joining the Memphis unit but I have heard some rumors about their planes. I was told they are having issues with funds for the AMP mods and might shut down. Have any of you heard anything like this? Thanks for the help.

word on the street is that they will be going to C-17s.....not sure if true though

  • 5 months later...
Posted

congrats...if you go to Dover you are going to fly M's, if you go to Travis you will fly B's

Are the B's at Travis AMP jets? I won't know location for some time but any info on either location is appreciated.

Ego

Posted

Are the B's at Travis AMP jets? I won't know location for some time but any info on either location is appreciated.

Ego

Travis jets are all AMPd. You will fly AMP only, no legacy training for new qual AD folks.

Posted (edited)

Are the B's at Travis AMP jets? I won't know location for some time but any info on either location is appreciated.

Ego

Travis jets are all AMPd. You will fly AMP only, no legacy training for new qual AD folks.

what he said.

Right now anyways Dover is in a lull and Travis is getting worked pretty hard. Dover is in the lull due to the M transition.....I'm guessing next Summer/Fall it will pick back up but no one really knows...feel free to send me a pm if you have any specific questions.

Edited by tunes
Posted (edited)

Right now anyways Dover is in a lull and Travis is getting worked pretty hard.

How'd the surge go last month?

I can't imagine a 200-300 percent increase in daily sorties sustained for 2-3 weeks was particularly easy.

Edited by GearMonkey
Posted

How'd the surge go last month?

I can't imagine a 200-300 percent increase in daily sorties sustained for 2-3 weeks was particularly easy.

it went really well on our end. The M model is really changing the game in terms of C5 movement. Only problems we really had were with TACC...but thats pretty typical.

  • 1 month later...

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