Ft Rucker info

[Guest Shermanator]

Rotor Heads at Ft Rucker,

Moving to Ft Rucker soon. What/Where are the decent apartments I should look into while I am permissive TDY there?

Thanks for the help!

Sherm

[Guest rotorhead]

Shermanator,

Congrats on Rucker...you're about to embark on a really enjoyable flying experience.

Rucker is surrounded by three small towns.

Daleville (pop just under 5000) is right out the gate.

Ozark (pop just over 15000) is a couple of miles away.

Enterprise, (pop just over 20000) is the largest and most progressive of the three and is also just a few miles away.

I lived in Enterprise as a student many years ago, and then a few years later as an IP.

The "big city" is Dothan (pop just under 60000) and is where the regional airport is. It is too far away for most students to live.

check out:

https://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searc...ate=al&zipcode=

[Guest HueyPilot]

I lived in Enterprise, just off Rucker Blvd. 90% of your classmates will live there as well. There are numerous apartments for rent along that strip. There are a few places to live in Ozark and a few in Daleville...but there is more to do in Enterprise (well, MORE to do, didn't say much to do).

I lived in a townhome off of Headless Horseman road (anyone who lived there for a long time would know where it is...it's just behind the driving range off Rucker Blvd). They were brand new when I lived there in 1996. Most everyone else lived in the Apartment complex about a mile further towards Enterprise. Can't remember the name of the apts though.

And rotorhead is right...Dothan does have more to do than all three other towns combined, but it's a good 30-45 minute drive away. Too far if you've got to get up at 0400. Plus you won't be there long enough for it to matter anyways.

[Guest ResqFlyer]

if you want to save money...265/mo for a studio in Daleville (45 seconds from the gate). Woodcreek Apartments offers studios for cheap. Never any problems, quiet...but it's not like posh or anything. Sorry for the late post...I stumbled upon it while surfing. Go out the daleville gate and turn right behind McDonalds...cant miss it driveway=road behind mcd's...or you can pay $600 in Enterprise?! Have fun on your solo...and remember no one is watching, but the accident report is going to have to know why you were doing piroettes!

[Breckey]

Heading here at the end of July. Any change to the gouge on where to live?

[Guest JT]

I lived in Old Towne Scquare in Daleville, very cheap with a roommate, pool and very close to Daleville Gate. Nice place, well 10 yrs ago it was, and you can walk to several restaurants.

[Guest]

I lived in Enterprise. It was fine and I could take back roads on my Interceptor(never saw a cop) that made the commute fun.

[rugger7]

I lived in Enterprise which was a 20 minute drive. I'd say a good majority of people live on Rucker (if you can get your own place). There's nice townhomes at the 84/85 intersection right outside Cairns and also Asbury Oaks (not the nicest, but cheap) which are quick 5 minute drives.

[stract]

avoid Ozark, definitely live in Enterprise or Daleville.

[john]

As far as permissive goes it will all depend on when you get there. I was there about 3 weeks early and I just didn't have to show up for a week, had to do odd jobs for the squadron for a week, then took leave. If you're there early they'll probably just give you a couple days to get things straight. If you're there 1 or 2 days early expect to be in tlf, going to class and trying to find a place. I'm still here for about 3 weeks. Pm me if you have questions, I can help you out.

[CD512]

Stay away from Lincoln Square Apts in enterprise.

[Guest Bushmaster78FS]

I am currently going through flight school and we live in BeaconRidge Apartments in Enterprise. Nice neighborhood, but a little far from post... Let me know if you need any further help...

[Champ Kind]

And here I thought Ospreys were a "serious mission" only for "serious people", or whatever that dude said on here months ago. Still makes me laugh.

Hope it works out for you. Have some Larry's BBQ for me!

Edited April 6, 2014 by Champ Kind

[stract]

We have two Huey to Pave Hawk guys going back to Rucker this summer. Is your assignments guy the same as ours?

[Breckey]

There are three Global Strike Huey guys (including me) going there this summer as well. I don't think the Osprey functional is the same.

[Hodor]

Dislcaimer: I know nothing about anything AFPC or how any of that works.

I finished up Rucker last summer and as a student there it would have been nice to have someone with Osprey time to give a different perspective on the air frame and the community. While you're at the 23d you get a lot of the Huey and Pavehawk stories, but no one really has any up to date info on the V-22. Some classes are lucky enough to fly to KHRT for a XC where the Osprey dudes paint you a rosy picture for a couple hours, but that's about it.

Good luck!

[whiskeychevelle]

The Osprey is (currently) not dropping out of Rucker anymore as I understand it.

[stract]

that's what I just heard today, too! Only 60s and Hueys out of Rucker now, CVs are being sourced from FW UPT.

[Hodor]

So the first time dudes are exposed to NVGs and low level is going to be at KABQ? Sounds like a good time.

[Breckey]

It'll take them three sorties to long a 1.0 of NVG.

[NEflyer]

This has to be one of the more foolish decisions made recently. Lack of low level and NVG experience aside, it will be the first time they've seen a landing area smaller than a relatively sterile 5,000ft+ runway. It'll be especially great coupled with the new Kirtland exclusive syllabus that seems to take much of the New River phase (including contact) and moves it into sim. Nothing like having your first dusty/restricted/slope landing, all while trying to judge winds and recon the site, be in a nearly $100 million aircraft. That is assuming you managed to find one that wasn't broken or stuck PL'd in a LZ for 10+ days.

I'd be really interested in hearing the supposed logic behind the change. Would it be incorrect to assume it was highly political and predominately featured FW leadership in the process? Yes, they've been taking fixed wing transition guys for years, but they've mostly been operational before and have quite a bit of experience. The Rucker leadership was very vocally opposed to this decision when it was initially brought up a year or so ago, after they started dropping to T-1's. The only stated reason I heard about a year ago, albeit in a roundabout manner, was "helicopter pilot's lack of familiarity with the enroute structure." Yeah... because that's what gets you killed when much of your mission involves regularly flying below 200' AGL, at night, on NVG's, with TF/TA, landing to unsurveyed LZ's in remote areas. It seems as if nearly all the 22 class A's regardless of branch, have been in the terminal area. Who am I kidding though, I'm sure they'd have been prevented if only the crews had more experience filling out DD-175's.

All that being said... I'm sure it'll be a popular drop out of T-1's/T-38's and they'll end up with some quality studs in the pipeline who'll adapt well, but that still doesn't make this decision any less idiotic or help prepare them any better.

[BuddhaSixFour]

Having instructed early stage guys from all three sources, it doesn't matter. Tilt rotors are tilt rotors. Addressing the relative strengths and weaknesses from each pipeline (and they all have systemic strengths **and** weaknesses) amounts to a few hours of focused instruction. The individual matters far more than their prior experience.

[AFStepchild]

The "supposed logic" behind this change is nothing more than supply/demand game. The AF has aggressive plans to expand the overseas basing of this airframe and needs lots of warm bodies to keep up with those plans. Since the typical Ft Rucker class only has 4-6 students in it...and they usually only graduate four classes per fiscal year...that is not enough supply to keep up with the demand.

UPT, on the other hand, can cast a bigger net and at the very least get people into the seats so the weekly staff slides can look good. As was said earlier, tilt rotors are tilt rotors....it doesn't behave like anything else and the books are still being written. There is no magic formula of rotary + fixed wing time = good tilt rotor guy. A crappy pilot elswhere, will also still be a crappy tilt rotor pilot.

The real burden is placed on the operational unit anyway, they are the ones who will have to mold people into effective and proficient tilt rotor pilots after they leave the schoolhouse. Time spent in the schoolhouse is just the first step in training anyone...

[Hodor]

They do way more than four classes a fiscal year. More like 10-12 despite having the worst wx of any other squadron teaching in the UPT pipe line now that Whiting isn't around. They work hard, just saying.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Hodor

[FishBowl]

Revival.

Is Phase 3 at Rucker approximately the same timeline as UPT? 6-ish months? And are assignments dealt out the same way as UPT drops? Weight of preference based on MASS and AF needs?