Change of airframe for spouse

[Guest goodyear2181]

Ok here's the short story - we've been together for quite some time (couple of years) and have put off the marriage thing until we were both through with training. Problem is, I got T-1s then C-17s thinking her chances would be pretty good to go T-1s. The way the drop worked, she ended up with T-44s. If we're married when she graduates, is it possible they will trade for or drop her a -17 out of Corpus or is this most likely going to be something she can't change until years down the road hoping to cross-train? What can we do?

[Flare]

Fiance, girlfriend, mistress...they're all the same in the eyes of the Air Force. Until you've gotten married, it's highly unlikely that the Air Force will do anything like that to help you get a Joint Spouse assignment.

You're going to have to get married, even if its just a justice-of-the-peace type wedding to get any help from mother blue.

[ 27. April 2005, 19:56: Message edited by: ENJJPT IP ]

[Guest goodyear2181]

Right, so what I'm asking is if we are married before she graduates from -44s, will they work it? Is it a possible assignment?

[ClearedHot]

Concur.

[Scooter14]

They might work it, but chances are better if you've got rings on.

That you gave to each other.

When you got married.

To each other.

[Gravedigger]

Originally posted by PAB:

They might work it, but chances are better if you've got rings on.

That you gave to each other.

When you got married.

To each other.

Funniest thing I've heard all day. :D On a related note, how does the whole marriage thing between pilots work? Are you allowed to be on the same mission?

[Guest Rainman A-10]

DONT MARRY ANOTHER PILOT!

[Mambo]

...and no, you are not allowed to be on the same mission. We've got a few flyers married to other flyers in our squadron and they cannot fly together.

Join Spouse is not guaranteed by the AF, they just do the best they can...my wife and I (both military) spent a good year and half apart working the join spouse issue!

[ 27. April 2005, 23:47: Message edited by: Mambo ]

[Guest goodyear2181]

Were you in different planes like this? I just figured it may be easier for her to get the C-17 right out of Corpus as a joint spouse than for her to wait 3 years and try to get it then

[Guest SnakeT38]

Tell her to get an F-16 to Shaw and she can "escort" you around in your -17.........

[Guest goodyear2181]

She's going to Corpus, so it's a 130 thing

[Bergman]

Originally posted by goodyear2181:

I just figured it may be easier for her to get the C-17 right out of Corpus as a joint spouse than for her to wait 3 years and try to get it then

You're right, it probably will be easier to try it now. HOWEVER, as has already been stated, you MUST be married before the AF will even listen to you. Second, start working the issue NOW. Don't pass go. Don't collect $200 first. The wheels of justice turn slow, and any unusual request to AFPC will take forever. Make sure her flight commander (or gedunk skipper or whatever they're called down there) knows her wishes NOW and can start working it!!

If she ends up w/-130s, what are you options for being "near" each other if not at the same base? Pope/Charleston? Eielson? Just curious!

[HerkDerka]

I'm not an AFPC type guy but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Here's the breakdown for you.

From talking with rotorhead in the past, I have learned that the assignment pipeline from Corpus is a different animal than the standard UPT one. That is to say the way the assignment system is run.

As we all know, there are only two planes that gets assigned to Corpus, Herks and C-12s. With that said, it's important to remember that you CANNOT go FAIP/OSA out of Corpus.

Basically what I'm getting at is that your girl trying to pull off (STS) a C-17 at Corpus is going to be a fairly high-level descision.

This isn't to tell you to not try. I suggest you try a hard as you can. However, don't expect too much. And of course, this is a dependant on you two being married. Like the previous posts, the AF doesn't give two shits for a fiancee.

I don't mean to be a bunghole but I think you got two choices:

1) Dump her. Since she's going to be flying Herks, you'll never see her. The strat life and the tac life don't match up well.

2) Prepare for a relationship based on SERIOUS long-term trust.

HD

[ 27. April 2005, 22:16: Message edited by: HercDriver24 ]

[Vetter]

Dude, don't do blue...simple as that!

[Beaver]

Cut bait now.

[LJ Driver]

Get out of there now.

-or-

Get married stat, and make BOTH of your commanders very aware of what you want. In the future it will be easier for you to crosstrain to a C-130 then the other way around.

[Guest HueyPilot]

I hate to tell ya this...but first, since you're not married the USAF doesn't give a sh!t. Is it right? That's up for you to debate...but it doesn't matter because they don't care.

Second...even if you were to get married, I doubt you could do much except see if they could swing her up to Elmendorf to fly Herks there and then later become a C-17 asset (still some debate on that happening to the current PAED folks).

Realize this...being married to another pilot is very difficult in the military. Even Join Spouse can't guarantee you anything, and you will have a hard time having matching schedules. I'm not saying dump her...that's up to you. But being married to another mil pilot is something that *I* would never do. Just my .02 cents.

[Guest Rainman A-10]

How do you get to Corpus? I think it would be a total foul for someone to get a Corpus track and then snake their way into a C-17 just because they married a C-17 dude.

This is stupid and it is not going to work for you two. You can have it your way at Burger King but not in the Air Force...even if you're in LOVE.

[BlackJetDriver]

I agree with Rainman and HueyPilot, trying to backdoor (sts)your way to a 17 through Corpus because you married a C-17 dude is not a good way to go. Doesn't pass the logic test. This is probably something AFPC has seen in the past. Different book = same story = same ending... you get screwed. You can try and lean forward by talking to your commanders but we (Air Force folks) all know that the next step after leaning forward, is bending over...

[Guest goodyear2181]

Alright, I guess there's not any need for anyone else to reply.....it's just turned into some sort of judgement of people you don't know from Adam. What I was looking for was real guidance from people who had dealt with this before. No one is trying to weasel their way into anything - you can get C-130s from T-1s, this isn't any different. Thank you all for your responses

[Guest rotorhead]

Okay, so you don't want additional replies filled with judgement of people...none here...just an observation from someone who ran AFPC Pipeline Assignments...

USAF needs to produce Z C-130 pilots each year.

Corpus can produce (has capacity for) Y pilots each year.

The difference (Z-Y) has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is T-1 capacity. Therefore, X from T-1 plus Y from Corpus equals the total Z C-130 production each year. Corpus pipe is for C-130 only, just like Rucker pipe is for helos only. If you were a flingwinger going through the H-60 course, there is no way they would reroute your girlfriend (or spouse for that matter) from Corpus to helos. Same for C-17. You can always ask the question, make your feelings known, but I would not be at all surprised if the answer was: try to find the closest C-130 to your C-17...perhaps later one or the other could crossflow. Don't think AFPC is filled solely with pricks...when I was there, we had a C-12 married to a helo...they asked what I could do for them, and we hooked the C-12 to Yokota and the helo to a UH-1 at Yokota.

As said above, there is a program where they TRY to get you close to one another, called JOIN SPOUSE. That may or may not be what you want...but you MUST be married. There is no program called JOIN GIRLFRIEND...if you are not married, there is ZERO discussion. Remember that AFPC has to make every attempt to treat all students equally/fairly. If your girlfriend is offered something other than a C-130 out of Corpus, MANY folks would try to make the same thing happen for them.

[Guest HueyPilot]

I'm not trying to judge anyone...I'm just telling you not to get any hopes up of working a C-17 from Corpus...while it's not impossible (stranger things have happened), the chances are next to none.

About the being married to a mil pilot thing, I'm just trying to prepare you for reality. Being married is hard enough. Having to juggle two seperate but equal careers, possibly being assigned to different airframes at different bases...just makes for a very challenging life while you're on active duty. I personally would not do it. Feel free to do so yourself, I'm just saying be prepared and arrive with realistic expectations.

BTW, I have NEVER heard of a C-17 assignment from Corpus. C-130 assignments out of T-1s are fairly common. It's just how AFPC does it's numbers. And like rotorhead said...the USAF isn't into accomodating case-by-case requests...if they did, EVERYONE would be trying to "tailor" their career.

Again, I think your best chance if you want to get to the same airframe would be for her to get Elmendorf, which will eventually become C-17, and try to crossflow. Another option would be for her to get Pope and you go to Chucktown. At least you'd only be several hours away. Beyond that, and not including the Phoenix Reach crossflow program, there just isn't much else to work with.