brabus

Shack. There’s A LOT of cynical sport bitching on here. Not saying there isn’t an element of truth to some of it, but young guys should absolutely pursue flying in the military. It will most likely be an awesome experience and a 1000% better way to spend your 20s flying than slugging through regionals.

Vermont - Visits are good; not required, but a good idea. Multiple non-VT guys were hired last board.

Hours...I think its 500 in type if its your first/only fighter, or 100 in type if you have > 500 hrs (or maybe 750, something like that) in a different fighter. From what I've seen in three MAJCOMs, experienced = Cat A/1 (published mins), but one sup or another usually caps you at 300-1 without OG waiver. Obviously not the case in USAFE as Hacker pointed out and I'm sure there are other places as well. In PACAF we got the waiver quite often due to shitty weather in that part of the world. Of course that usually meant it was shit weather up to high enough we were getting terrible training anyways..."all Cat A's to the ops desk!" is not the call you want to hear from Top 3. Gotta love the FHP meat grinder.

Pretty sure the fighter world is generally 300-1 once experienced, with OG/CC waiver down to published mins. local sups may allow published mins all the time at home field.

I would be very surprised if the cost to secure the border in the same manner we secure highly sensitive sites didn't significantly surpass the current cost of just building the wall. @Vertigo I'll give your robot idea support - good idea to use that technology to track intruders and direct CBP. Even better when said intruders are held up at a physical barrier, giving CBP response time. My home's barriers won't stop anyone determined from getting in, but they will give my wife and I plenty of time to meet them with firearms in a very advantageous way.

You can stay past 20 in an AGR or traditional position, just depends if the unit wants/needs you. In most units I've been around (mine included), any AGRs beyond 20 are in leadership positions/next in line (group and wing level). There are year limits still per rank (i.e. 26 years for Lt Col without a waiver...I think).

If you put an appropriate amount of effort in during ROTC/school, you'll likely get a pilot slot. That's not to say good dudes who should have received a pilot slot haven't been surprised with a nav slot (luck and timing), but I think those are a minority. Nothing in life is a guarantee, including the Marine PLC program. Go with the branch/mission you think you'd like the most, work hard in ROTC/college and it'll probably work out, especially with such a pilot shortage that'll likely continue for several years.

You just described the negative aspects that exist in EVERY military branch. A lot of the bullshit we hate is DOD mandated, i.e. every part of the DOD is held hostage to SAPR training, cyber awareness CBTs, etc. Finance sucks everywhere, every branch has non-mission focused support people who will piss you off with their apathy and daily failure to be held to a reasonable standard. Our AF bitch/gripes/complaints are not special to the AF, they exist in every branch. I highly recommend you don't make a career decision on shit you've heard/read on the internet, and certainly don't make one that revolves around avoiding bullshit (every large organization has it). Make a career decision based on what you want to do, mission, etc, not on trivial bullshit and your perception of how bad or not it is.

100% agree - I should have clarified swaps allowed AND the manning to support. If manning can't support, then tell AD to pound sand and we're (the ARC) only supporting 90 days of the AEF. I think 90 is the absolute max that is somewhat sustainable (60 would be ideal and more sustainable).

Ironically the AD has started allowing swaps for some people/positions in the past 1.69 years or so (only speaking for the Viper community). When I got out of AD about that long ago, any swaps were approximately 0.00069 Pk. In my timeframe in the ANG I've heard of more AD deployment swapouts than I did in my entire 11 years on AD. Trying to be an optimist, maybe if even full-retard AD is sort of starting to get that part, it'll keep the ANG in line. I don't really give a shit if we have to cover a 6 month deployment if 60-90 day swaps are allowed. No swaps / > 90 days = ANG manning in the mega-red overnight.

They don't even need the C - what they need is CAS for the ground unit in a permissive environment (light attack, etc). There is no situation in which a MEU is going into a threat environment by themselves that requires 5th gen capes. A MEU is not storming Iran's or China's beach by themselves, a MEU is not starting WW3 in Ukraine, etc. The MEU concept is viable for rapid response to problems in 3rd world countries that aren't rocking operational IADs or even just a few autonomous S-300/400s. If those things exist, the MEU is not going to be the answer for the problem. Additionally, a Marine rifleman charging into Indonesia or Africa (for example) is far better supported by something purpose built for CAS - they should want light attack FW and RW, or something like a re-engined A-10 that can fly off the boat. FWIW the Marine F-35 guys I've been around have done a great job learning and adapting to the new missions of the F-35, but their $100M aircraft and awesome OCA skills are going to be of low utility when their bros on the ground storm Embassy X and it's a classic 3-09.3 CAS fight.

http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/topic/8905-how-to-rush-a-unit/

Makes too much sense, and threatens the Marine's MEU woobie. They'll continue to prioritize protecting cultural norms and politics over fiscal responsibility and combat capability. The best way to resolve this problem for all is shitcan the B-model and buy the Marines light attack (boat capable) to replace Harriers. Everyone wins...which is why it won't happen.

From memory when I read it ~1.5 weeks ago (probably not 100% accurate, but you get the gist): Tier 1: $35k/yr for 2-6 years. Only for permanent AGR 11F. Tier 2: $25K/yr for 2-6 years. Only for permanent AGR 12F, RPA, and I think one other AFSC Tier 3: $15K/yr for 1-3 years. For DSGs on orders (ADOS, temp AGR, etc.) that meet the required period of service. All paid in arrears.

The B model is a perfect example of how fucked our requirements/acquisition process is. That said, I bet they’ll fly well past 2100 hrs, with a substantial profit for LM on the back of SLEP-related work.