pirate

It was 15 years ago but I made it all work by leaving the active Army, going into the USAR and then processing the inter-service transfer to the Air Force Reserve. At the end of my ADSC I found a non-deplaoyable USAR training battalion. We had an honest conversation before they accepted me. Basically, I told them my big plan and said if this all works I’d like your support with the inter-service transfer, and if it doesn’t I’ll be the best staff officer you ever had. I had some AF Reserve interviews lined up and spent about 5 months in the Army Reserve before it all worked out and I was able to transfer to the Air Force. I was at UPT within a year of leaving active duty. I wasn’t an aviation branch guy. So, I didn’t have any wings at the time. I know 3 army guys who made the jump in the same fashion as detailed above. Each with a slightly different variation of the same story. If you have a USAR unit near you home it may be worth a visit and discussion. Good luck.

There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they Do… Not… Know about it!

I eat racism for lunch.

I've had to write that check before....a few times. It's painful. Like you said the only way to keep up is to file as single with no dependents. If you or your wife have a deferred tax 401k, max it out. The amount that goes into retirement will come off the top so you will not have as much income hitting the higher brackets. You want to minimize the dollars getting hit in the 25% and 28% brackets. You'll with not have to pay SS tax above 113K. If you pay into it after that point because you are getting paid under two different pay systems, one as a civilian and a second reservist/guardsman you will get that money back when you file in April.

Too bad he didn't have an FE there to stop him from doing this stupidness.

If you ever have to bail out in shark infested water you'll care if you're with a female on the rag......and they also attract bears

Iraq 2003. The -60s and PJs are from the 301st the pilot is and A-10 guy.

I am a Herk guy in the reserve. I have done them but they are not standard at least where I am (I would guess 30% do it). The guys that usually brief them are the airline pilots. It seems to work well especially when the weather is realy bad or there is some other complication like a high runway offset, a strange missed or a place where the runway blends into the city (like Guat city). The nice thing is that when the PM calls field in sight they do not have to talk the PF's eyes on to it. It's not a big deal when you are landing a 10K runway here in the US but there are some places overseas that I have been where I think the transfer of controls saved the approach. Not that a missed is a big deal but the beer and girls are on the ground so the sooner you get down the sooner you can chase them.

The process is the same for helos as it is for fixed wing. The 920th is reserve. The only helos in the NG/AFRES are in the rescue wings so the units listed above would be your only option for the AF.

Why? You think you may have hooked up with ol' Stevie D on a Key West TDY? Dude, don't worry about it. It was probably a different C-17 guy.

I've been flying for 6 years and I have never even heard of PRIME KNIGHT. What the hell is this? The experiances above are the same ones I have encountered. We flew into Hill oncw wih an extra crew & 1/2 to pick up an airplane from the depot and depart to do some follow on stuff. There were abou 15 of us. We waited on the ramp for 45mins for trans. Got to billeting and spent.....i shit you not....2 hours getting checked in. They knew we were coming. Why couldn't they have our damn keys ready so we just swipe our cards and go. Every other hotel in the world does it that way. This is why I use the 24 hour rule every chance I get. Here is a money saving idea. Tear down the AF Inns. Leave only temp housing for PCSing people. No maint, no staffing, no upkeep.... The private sector does it better and it would help support the local economy during these tough times. Think of it has a hotel bail out. But, there is a larger question that I just heard about yesterday. One of the worse things I have ever heard....Is general rule 1 really in effect for all of SOUTHCOM?

She has the angles.....the Myspace angles Callsign: Yeti

When I was in the Army I was at an formal function with officers from around the globe. I started talking to this Polish officer and he asked if I knew why the pants of the Army dress uniform were a different color than jacket. I told him I did. He said "Good hold on to your heritage, all our traditions were taken away in Sept 1939." I think there are times the Air Force trys to hard. In it's fight to separate itself from the other branches the Air Force has cherry picked the heritage it wants to keep. Which wouldn't be so bad but they keep changing what they determine is worthy of keeping. My eperiance with other branches is that they don't talk about heritage it's just kind of there. There are traditions that most don't even understand that a practiced today. The push to be different and the idea that we must somehow make the organization less military is what creates the "af weenie" image. We use terms like warrior but ask a guy to do a simple 1.5 mile run and he acts shocked like you just told him to bring his wife in for 'bukkake night'. Anyway after I talked to the Polish officer we walked into a bar with a priest and a talking parrot.........

Since it is Sunday I would bet the trooper you saw was either guard or reserve. Prior to 9-11 the Army policy was that no one travels in uniform. After 9-11 when there was a huge outcry for security personnel on aircraft, someone decided it made the public feel comfortable to get on a airplane and see the Joes in uniform. Now I think it is part public relations part recruiting. It's not just people going to CENTCOM but troopers going to schools and CONUS TDYs. I travel weekly and I see them every time I fly. I not sure what the Marines rules are but I see them in their BDUs also.

I did an interservice transfer Army (TC) to AFRes and went to UPT for HCs. 1. You keep your rank. The regs dictate that you transfer with your current rank. 2. The guard has a long lead time before starting training (2yrs or so). After starting training you have about 2-2.5 yrs before your finished and go to traditions reserve (TR) status. TRs fly a lot more than 1 weekend a month. I can't speak for -16s but we do 1 weekend a month plus 3-4 additions flights month. 3. Army exp. doesn't hurt as far as selection goes. It will depend person to person if it helps or not. The requirements for UPT are 1. a commission 2. a flight physical 3. a secret clearance 4. a PPL (not sure if this changed). When I went to meet with units about UPT I had all three. I "sold myself" as a guy who could go to UPT immediately after selection. This worked well with reserve units and after the board I was at UPT in 2 months (6 months after leaving the Army). With the guard this may not help as much because they have such a long lead time. You may run into 2 problems. 1. you must start UPT prior to 30 2. You can't have more than 5yrs commissioned service. The commissioned service starts when you raise your hand and does ever stop. If you go into the IRR the clock keeps ticking. You can still go you just have to get an exception to policy. The AF is a lot like the Army the more work you are for someone the less of a chance you have of getting selected. So you may want to push to start UPT prior to the 5 yr mark. 4. Active Guard slots are very much coveted and there is almost no chance of rolling from outside the unit directly into one. With that said a lot of guys get by on bumming at least on the heavy side. Hope this helps. PM if you need more.

HC are primarily a dedicated CSAR asset, conducting HAR, airdrops and infil/exfil. However with some of the recent changes the lines are getting blurry. When you are deployed and you have a drogue nobody cares if you’re a HC or a MC. MCs have done CSAR and HCs have refueled SOCOM birds. It is no different from the tanker's POV. On a side note the AF times says were all getting new planes in/by 2011. If this happens I would not be surprised if we all became one tanker group capable of conducting CSAR or SOF missions.

Boeing press release http://www.boeing.com/ids/news/2006/q4/061109f_nr.html

I have never been afraid of flying; with that said I have had frightening experiences inside an aircraft. Heights on the other hand are terrifying. I always picture myself at the bottom of the latter, cliff, building, all messed up. I don’t think it’s a control thing. I think it boils down to the fact that dieing doesn’t scare me as much as getting hurt really bad. The idea of spending the rest of my life paralyzed or crippled is worse than the idea of going out in a smoking hole. Maybe when I'm dead I'll change my mind.

When I was selected a few years ago there were a few guys on the list that were selected without sponsors. Things are a little lean right now; units are full due to the airlines sucking, and people scrambling from the BRAC. People from units on the list are beginning to look for new homes. Keep trying to contact units. Spread a wide geographical net. When I was looking for a sponsor I sold myself as a person who was ready to go to pilot training the day after selection; meaning, I was commissioned, I had my ratings, passed my Physical, and I had a security clearance. All of these things can take you out of the process. Accumulate has many of them as possible and sell yourself as a candidate that is ready to go. It does two things; first you should not be knocked out of the process before you get to UPT; second you are less work for them to get ready. One last thing. If a guy is such an laughing rectum that he will not take a few minutes to talk to you on the phone you probably didn't want to work for him anyway. I know someone is going to say he may have been to busy to talk, or had work to do, or his dog died, crabs, bad day, whatever. That's cool give him another shot: jerk the second time I would stay away. So, when I went through the whole sponsorship deal I was offered a couple slots, and I turned one interview down based solely on the fact that I did not believe that I would fit into that unit. It's not just about them liking you, you should also like them. Good luck

The same thing happened to me. I am also 6' tall. When the airmen did the test he scribed the form in pencil and later came back and typed it in. When he did he screwed-up. My leg was like 24.5. I figure he confused his 4 for a 7 or something. Anyway don't sweet it. I would bet it's a mistake. Unless you are a really disproportioned knuckle dragger.

I was an active Army officer (non-aviation). I left the Army about 1 1/2 yrs ago, and just recently graduated UPT. The way it worked out for me was to contact an AFRes recruiter while I was still active Army he helped me get all the paperwork in order. I also called every unit I was interested in joining. I got an interveiw and was selected by a unit. When my ADSO came up I went to the Army reserve; I spent about 3 months in the Army reserve and then transfered to the AFRes. The reason for going to the Army reserve was to keep all my paperwork local. If you get out and do not go to an Army reseve unit all your personnel files get shipped to St. Louis which makes accomplishing the inter service transfer harder. I found a non-deployable Army reserve unit before I left the active duty; I spoke to the BC and asked if they would be supportive of a posible inter service transfer. There is an Army regulation dedicated to inter service transfers; it pretty much spells out what you have to do. While at UPT I ran into 2 other guys who did the same thing I did. 1 was acually an AV officer who was at UPT because the fixed wing transition course was backed up a year or so. He decided he would rather go through the whole thing rather than wait. Pobably a lot more than you wanted. If you have any questions fire away.

Sorry forgot to tell you there is no minimum as far as I know. The standard is in the event you must eject. They don't want you smashing your legs off anything.

They mesure it while you are sitting with your legs bent at 90% and dangling off the edge of a table. They measure from the back of your butt along your leg to the point of your knee. The max is 27in if you are 5'11 and you don't require a special booth when you go to a resturant you will be fine. The easiest way to get an idea of how what your lenght will be pull a stool up to a wall, sit with your back straight against the wall and your upper leg straight out; bent at the knee 90% the mesure the distance from the wall to your knee. Hope that makes sense AFPAM 48-133 explans it better. Good luck I still would like to know the answer to my original question. If the flight doc still comes to this board I could really use his advice now. I'm about to the point were I want to call my senator. Thanks

I received my FC1 back today from AETC and I was disqualified for the hip to knee measurement (28in). I called the base that I took the original FC1 and they told me to come in and they would do it again. I went in,they did it again and I passed(25 in). I had pretty good idea that something was screwed up because I am only 5'11 and I do not have freakishly low knees. My question is this. When I send my stuff back in to AETC will they recheck the entire thing or will they look at the amendment that says I'm not a freak and stamp it passed. I'm worried because I am running out of time for the upcoming reserve board. Thanks