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I’m more pissed that he got C-40s to Hickam.

If he’d have gotten kicked out for something like excessive partying, then I would’ve had respect. But to get kicked out for cheating at SOS?! WTF! There’s nothing there worth cheating on in terms of difficulty.

Don’t start.

Can't speak for the other bases, but Columbus just announced that classes will be split in half and will now start every 2 weeks as opposed to every 3 weeks. Also, instead of having the class remain together throughout training, the class will be split up into groups of about 2 and put into flights. The intent is to allow fast/slow swimmers to have someone on their skill level if needed (formation checks were used as an example), instead of making fast swimmers wait or washing out those that are behind. The tenets are the same: Control what you can control, work your ass off, and find time for fun/family.

It was one of the first things I noticed...I'm just incredulous he could have that happen and walk into a Wing Exec job like it never happened. There should be even more shit coming out from all the other times he's been around. Be like Wilkerson all over again... Also...how does this not fall on those that sponsored him this whole time?

Sounds like the typical case 😉

True, but to play devil's advocate here, I'm sitting on a couple of individuals waiting on an MEB who should be separated without medical retirement. They are milking the system, and on the civilian side worker's comp investigators would nail these people for fraud. Unfortunately, the DoD is an easy target for people "hurt in the line of duty". Don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but my recent exposure to the dirtbags makes me wonder just how many people are getting disability money, or were medically retired who don't deserve it. Again, believe me, I get what this job does to the body, but some (lots) people take advantage.

Correct. BTW...I was one month away from my AD OTS date when I got picked up by my unit, so you can definitely do what you are asking about.

17D...notice there’s no SOS completion on his bio (most of these people make sure that stuff is on there). Here’s what happened (supposedly)...he came back with paperwork...his CC changed out (not sure which level) but he convinced a CC to expunge his record and TR. With a clean record (but no SOS) he was pushed for the Wg/CCE job and accelerated from there.

Mainly property crimes, several bros have had there cars/houses broken into. There was a rash of spouses being harassed in town last year (creepy dude/s asking them to get into cars). The new on base housing is a good option if you are worried about crime, that also has it’s downfalls IE the company running it are sticklers when you move out. Wife did the stay at home thing with the kids, which was good. The area is deff not the best, but like anything else, if you try to do things and make the best of the situation it’s not horrible. That being said I’m looking forward to my up coming PCS. I wouldn’t let location turn you away from a MDS. Only caveat is for AC-W Navs/CSOs. They seem to be stuck much longer than other aircrew.

Holy shit guys. I know CSOs don't go to UPT. Did you read the post above mine? Apparently AFPC doesn't know the difference.

Yeah, i tried to see how many folks competed last year but they haven't posted the 08 stats yet, the 07 stats had about ~2400 who went up to the board. Thats including the APZ folks.

I know how to fight this, if it happens to anyone (and I'm able) post it and I can let the correct people know.

CSO's don't go to UPT? Is this English.

Late response but my .02 from an MC-130 baby/MC-130J pilot: TL/DR: Flying the MC-130J involves a varied mission set that many folks find awesome. It comes at a cost with regard to the drawbacks of the potential bases and their respective commitments. AFSOC is a demanding command and you will work hard/get good enough to progress or find yourself doing something else. It will be both an amazing time for families/an awful time and those can be in the same day. Change is constant, both socially and in the airframe and units. I've enjoyed it, many haven't. 1. Ops Tempo/Deployment Dwell average: 50% not just true deployments but with TDYs for training, JCETS/JCS ex, MLATS, aircraft moves/mods, WIC support etc your head will be on a homestation pillow half the time (overseas replace deployments with 2-3 week TDYs). This doesn't really let up because advancement means more schools, mission commands, and ground deployments. Deployments can change based on time of year/involvement of the overseas units but expect 3-4 months gone for flying (including transit time) and 6 month ground. QOL deployed is solid with good connectivity and flying ranges from SOF trash hauling to more specialized mission sets. True super secret squirrel things can happen, but don't sign your life away in the hopes you will be the one crew that did the one cool thing if that's all you want to do. 2. Lifestyle/ Family Stability There's a social group for every stage of life but not cliquey. Young single guys can live it up and family dudes can throttle back or jump in to the fray. The crew is 5 and generally you end up with them and a few stragglers as you travel. If you want to be a dirty tac airlifted you can, if you want to observe and not drink, that's cool to. If you stay home and read the Bible, you'll still be welcome in the crew bus the next day. Es and Os have great working, flying, and unit relationships. Opportunities for leave vary greatly depending on time of year but there are times when you will miss time off. We are trying hard not to lose use/lose leave, but dudes do as well. Single guys do get looked at the most for opportune trips/pop up taskings as well as being the ones who hold the fort during holidays. Leadership as a whole attempts to accommodate life and responds to your desires when able. Needs of the AF and AFSOC will sometimes outweigh this but talent management and assignments are pretty well tailored to the individual. Not many toxic leaders, but they exist and some flourish. You will miss holidays, birthdays, sporting events. Planning more than two weeks out is hard. Change is constant. If you pull your weight you'll work 50 hour weeks. This includes a 12 or two of flying once or twice a week and holding down undermanned office jobs. I'd love to say the spouses are tight and rank doesn't impact their relationships but that doesn't seem to be the case as a group. However, on the individual level the wives seem to feel comfortable making friendships without regard, even if cliques do exist. MC folks (male and female) have high divorce rates. Not sure how it compares to the AF as a whole or what factors influence it, but marriages take plenty of hits. Every base I've seen geographically separated spouses/kids. Employing spouses at every base is tough, especially specialists/professional jobs. Medical support for families varies, EFMP folks should look at other airframes. 3. Community morale Ebbs and flows. Units are generally tight, with the overseas units usually leading the charge with strong organizational identity and camaraderie. The 17th is the smallest but may get a bit more strained as they grow. MCJ enterprise has an identity issue. Especially as the ACJ comes online saying that you're a "J guy" won't mean much. Symbols, unit identifications, and even the aircraft's name keep changing. None of this helps. Still guys take a lot of pride in what they do and we stay on the positive side of morale to excellent (especially when away from the office). 4. Advancements & Future of the airframe The MC-130J is here to stay. Mods keep happening faster than we can train crews. The airframe is new and even our oldest tails will outlive our careers. Tons of cool stuff coming online. No issues with career advancement within the MC-130. Schools on time, good ratio of leadership opportunities to organization size, staff jobs go to the right folks. Just be advised in high performing organizations like AFSOC the talent pool is larger with bigger fish than you may be used to and it does take a lot of work to be a shiny penny. If your goal is to fly another airframe good luck. Generally, don't expect to ever leave. Only the shiniest of pennies go to another aircraft for good reason or you have no future flying the MC-130 and are politely shown the door. 5. Preferred PCS locations (note: my best guess) 1. Mildenhall - 67 SOS 2. Kadena - 17 SOS 3. Hurlburt - Staff/Test/WIC (potential TF schoolhouse+ops unit) 4. Albuquerque - 415 - Schoolhouse Instructor 5. Cannon - 9 SOS (Potential Top Off Schoolhouse at - 551)

Just throwing my .02 out here from the experience I have gone through, I agree with what brabus is saying but I also disagree. I am in a similar situation with my unit. They only hire from within and have only picked off the street one time in that past 10 years. I started college late at 20, enlisted at 21 with a 20k bonus with a year of college under my belt, went to BMT and crew chief tech school which were 8 months, so had to miss a year of school. Now graduating at 25 with equivalent of about year and a half of TIS being a DSG, great contacts, awards, back seat ride in the 16, gained a lot of respect for the enlisted side, and got to enjoy college while only having to give up one weekend a month. Enlisting did delay the process since I will be putting in my first application next month, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Fast, neat, average, friendly, good, good is now used to describe the cleanliness and demeanor of the support animals.

What does a Reaper pilot "step" to? The conex?

One of the best war movies I've seen, but it will piss you off politically.

Here's a free piece of advice you should take- NEVER pass up the opportunity to shut the fuck up

shack. There's a gold mine of info here thanks to the OP's question.

On your second post, you're going to bash someone who asked an honest question and by all accounts... has helped contribute valuable information to the forum? Seriously? Indeed.

F-22 1. Expect to deploy either to the desert or to the Pacific for 6 months at a time once every 1.5-2 years (home for 1-1.5 years between deployments). While in garrison, expect 2 x RED FLAG-Nellis/Alaska that take one month away from home each. Also expect 1 x COMBAT ARCHER trip and 1 x COMBAT HAMMER trip in there for 2-3 weeks each. In between all of that, expect 4 or so night surges for 4-6 weeks that will throw home life off, a few one-week CONUS simulator trips, and upgrade surges when none of that other stuff is going on. The community is minimally manned due to poor TFI mix calculations, causing the various shops (training, stab/eval, UDM, etc.) to be one man deep. You're busy. 2. Family stability is all about expectation management (this is true of every military family): if your family expects you to be home for dinner most nights, they have bad expectations and will be frustrated. If they expect you to work 14 hours a day and a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday, they will be pleasantly surprised about 2-3 times a week. 3. Community morale depends on the year group: all of the young guys absolutely LOVE life! It's the most dominant fighter jet in the world and you're getting to fly it every day. Throw on top of that, just about every bro in the community was top notch to get in, so they are awesome selfless individuals who will stay several hours late multiple nights in a row if needed to help a bro out. The oldest guys are usually the SQ/CC or SQ/DO; every now and then there is a Lt Col ADO who stuck around. They all love to be there because they chose to stay plus all of the stuff mentioned about the young guys applies to these guys (even leadership will stay to help out). I would be willing to bet that some of the best leaders in the USAF are in the F-22 SQ/CC seats. I've never once had even an average one. The guys who've been in the USAF for 6-10 years are a mixed bag. They've always been the best at everything they've ever done...until they got into the F-22. The ones who go to WIC, typically love life until after their first WO job when they get burnt out and punch to the Guard/Reserve (VERY few stay longer). Those on leadership tracks still love life. The ones who didn't get either are often cynical and looking to get out ASAP. 4. It's the Raptor. It'll continue to get upgraded and be the USAF's top A/A fighter. 5. There isn't a single bad location: Anchorage, AK; Yorktown, VA; Honolulu, HI; Panama City Beach, FL; and Las Vegas, NV. Expect to go Ops-to-Ops indefinitely unless you go to IDE. That's about the only way you reach escape velocity from the community, but you'll go right back after school/staff. Very very few go on 365s, and none are getting picked up for 180s anymore now that Schwartz' ridiculous "all-in" mentality has been purged (I digress). I have absolutely loved my time in the Raptor.

When do you expect this "sensor parity" to occur? And please explain why it will "clearly surpass the U2 in capability," especially after you just said you're a "mission manager" who doesn't fly anything. Who is flying it, and what do they do when the mission requires a little old-fashioned pilotage? If you think that is a pointless question, then I'd venture to say that you really have very little knowledge of the U2's capability as compared to the Global Chicken's.

There's about 0% chance of either of those things happening, but keep being optimistic.

I enjoy it. It is not a pilot's aircraft, you don't fly anything, you are a mission manager. That mission is way more important and valuable than what I did in the Herk, and for me that satisfies my pilot machismo. Any unhappy global hawk pilot either misses being in the air or is frustrated by the air frame's newness and lack of standards and doesn't enjoy getting to establish the future of high altitude ISR. I start defensive because I recognize it is unpopular to not love flying here. For anyone who is tired of the grind deploying to CENTCOM, the RQ-4 won't be giving the good deals to the e's for another year or so so get in while you still can. And to answer a standard follow on question, the -4 doesn't have sensor parity with the U2 yet but when it does it will clearly surpass the U2 in capability and the spooks can ride into the sunset having served faithfully. I only hope they will let me take joy rides in the -38s and Dodge Chargers before they get rid of them or send them to the bored -35 pilots.

I'm a little late to the fight here but dude, your engrish is f'ing terrible. Seriously guys?

I'm not sure what "valuable information" you're referring to. You should reread his comment history. Seriously.

I wonder which three air frames would come up... Must just be a crazy theory.