contraildash

I always love it when active/retired Army guys go after Air Force spending. Ironic since the Army has traditionally been the biggest offender of wasting tens of billions of dollars on things like: -terrible uniforms -The Future Combat Systems program -cancelling programs....and then cancelling the replacement programs --RAH-66 and then FARA --Crusader Cannon and then the replacement program

Man I got stories for days from my time in AFSOC HQ....but now is not the time. I will say that there are always a valiant few fighting the good fight, but they are mostly beaten down by entrenched civilians with agendas, company men keeping their noses clean, incompetent staffers, and indecisive/weak/toxic leadership (take your pick).

Still a thing. My unit had several alert deployments in the span of two years. Despite these going very well, wing leadership still wanted to conduct a wing exercise to see how good we were at doing the thing we had already been doing....of course it was a shit show, poorly planned by the wing, and execution was a scripted joke. We had another real world alert not long after.... exactly this 👆

M2....those grips are awesome and great tribute to someone who really cared about the boys in WW2. I recently purchased a couple HS Produkt Springfield guns. 1. Morita Assault Rifle VHS-2 Hellion. First bullpup for me, curiosity got the best of me. Have just over 1000 rds through it and really enjoy shooting it both with the iron sights and a MRO the threw on there. Don't understand why the buttstock is adjustable, I have it all the way in and the length of pull is just right (about 1-2 inches more than on a AR for me). There must be some big ass Croatians there that need a longer adjustment. Very accurate and reliable gun thus far. Was lucky that when I purchased the gun, they had already redesigned the weird safety. After the first range day, I immediately put in an aftermarket extended bolt release, totally expect them to do this in the future as well. They shoulda just kept the VHS-2 name, just personal opinion. 2. Echelon. Was bored and wasting some time at work so did a shelf check the gun shop on base. I had been toying with the idea of a new duty pistol for home defense, non committal though. Looked at a couple HK, Sigs, and a FN, but walked out with an Echelon. The gun just felt right in my hands immediately. I've kept it stock while I'm getting used to it, but will eventually throw an optic on there, I actually like the u-notch sight. For me it has been an absolute riot to shoot. Couple hundred rounds so far, no issues, great accuracy, looks good...feels good....shoots good. Waiting on more ammo to show up for range fun. Based my experience thus far with this, I might look into a Hellcat for an EDC....

FIFY. Bold move listing this as aircraft flown on his bio.

My biggest beef with the OPR and EPR systems is that the damn thing 'just has to be done' by the closeout date. Once everyone backs up their due dates, you are usually cutting out 2-3 months of data. I've personally seen this 'gap' cause problems for people. I've never understood the obsession with the closeout date as opposed to having a good 12 month picture. Why can't we do something like this: 1. You cannot start writing a report until the first day after 365 days. 2. From that day, you have 'X' months to close the report out. This creates a 12 month report followed by a 'X' month window to write/close out. But you are capturing 12 months of data rather than 9-10. Same theory goes for annual awards too. I put a squadron in for a significant award based on a huge mission they accomplished towards the end of the calendar year. The HAF response: 'oh closeout for submissions was EOM October.' The wing and MAJCOM fought against this, but the HAF people stood by their decision. (this was a few years back, so who knows if they have changed that policy)

Honestly I was waiting for him to hit one of the expansion gaps in the concrete.... ...so tell me again how you went DNIF?

We were offered SIPR laptops to work from home during the first year of COVID. I declined, didn't want to deal with it really.

I've flown three different MDSs in my career. Granted the first two occurred within the same 3 year time span and one of those was the temporary year long MC-12 gig. In any case my advice is to change early. I say this due to seeing a lot of peers come to my air frame really late, on their third or even fourth assignment, and it just never panned out for them because they couldn't upgrade before hitting the mid-late major time frame.

FIFY

Yeah, but they were there faster than these guys: https://www.hmbreview.com/news/new-records-shed-light-on-crash-death/article_fbc48230-7bda-11e4-b537-4be1307d90d4.html

threw a mask in my bag for work....totally expect a 'everyone will wear diapers' response to this...

The HQ I work in put out guidance about two months ago: "vaccinated = no mask. not vaccinated = mask." Since they legally cannot ask, it is on the honor system. I had a good laugh the first day this policy was effective, 90% of the people there were not wearing masks....to include the most anti-vac conspiracy tout'n folks I've ever met. Fast forward to this past week when the chief of staff puts out an email that says "while we cannot ask if you have had the vaccine, we do know what the vaccinated rates of the staff are. We have noticed a large discrepancy between the vaccinated rate and those not wearing masks inside the building." Oh no shit? Didn't see that coming.....

Been a year since we lost Kage. I didn't chime in last June due to being directly involved in the search operations and felt it wasn't right to talk about it then. That said, it was a long day for all involved with some really terrible weather down low. My aircrew and STS PJs performed admirably and we had some great support from some UK standby support vessels from the oil industry. Unlike the AIB mentioned, American aircrews found him, not the Royal Navy (they were not even there, so not a dig on them). I am glad we were able to help give closure to his wife, family, and squadron mates. To Kage, Nickle on the grass.

Posted in the airline thread about this, but I wonder how much money the AF spends on medical folks compared to the aviation bonus. Kinda insane the money they throw at them. https://www.myairforcebenefits.us.af.mil/Benefit-Library/Federal-Benefits/Special-Pay?serv=20

This. I'm curious how much is spent on dentists and doctors every year. I think we can safely argue that the Air Force would run just fine if it had neither. Kinda need those pilots though.....

Glad you survived. Thank you for your service.

😉

Who builds a helipad at an 'internationally renowned' hospital out of tarp and a plastic roller hockey rink?

Yeah I learned some great "CRM" in the T-1 as a student flying with an IP....usually a FAIP.... Anyone arguing that we need to keep the T-1 or have a like replacement for CRM purposes needs to get over whatever misguided notions they have regarding that air frame in UPT. For all the reasons people have already stated in this thread (Brabus said it best). While we are on the subject, spoilerons made the T-1 about as fun to fly as a cinder block with bricks for wings. If anyone should train on it, maybe it should be B-52 folks? /s

I think I read this 3 years before I went to OTS.....

I just finished the online 'supplemental' ACSC through ASU (I had already gotten my masters through the OLMP a few years back). That's my pro-tip for folks. Bang out the OLMP for free, it then counts for a significant portion of ACSC. So now that I am done, here are my impressions. It was night and day better than the AU program (also not a big surprise). Even with a two month pause during the transition from AU to ASU, plus an overseas PCS, and the holidays, I was able to finish the course in six months...with about 4.5 months of actual work. I spent more time waiting to sign up for proctored classes than I spent doing actual classes. Pros: It isn't AU run. Signing up is super easy, Registering for classes is super easy....i.e. instant compared to the 1-2 week process with AU. Online interface is far superior to the AU blackboard. Everything you need is there, you can track your progress, see what has been assigned, when things are due, ect. Notification pushes can be customized and actually work. List goes on. See Pro #1. Self-paced classes can be knocked out relatively fast, depending how you approach them. The proctored classes are typically the final class in the block, once you sign up for one, the next block of self-paced classes unlocks. Allows you to get ahead while waiting for the proctored class to start. Proctored classes aren't any different than before, but with a much more user friendly interface, they feel easier. Paper requirements were minimal and not difficult. Still the same old posting requirements as before. Online support was very responsive and fast, I believe it was also 24/7. I was able to chat with someone at ASU and solve any issues I had immediately. Some of the Joint classes referenced materials from classes I didn't have to take. ASU allows you to sign up for those classes in a special "access material" status. Upon completion, the ACSC check-in-the-box on my SURF was updated within 3 weeks without any effort on my side. Not sure what wizardry they do to get that done so fast. Cons: If you previously completed OLMP and want to do the supplemental program you have to contact student services through the ASU 'help' chat after signing up. They will then transition you into the program appropriately. It was not clear when I originally signed up, might be better now. Either way their help was fast and immediate. Sign up window for proctored classes are monthly. So if you miss a window, then you have to wait another month to sign up. The Joint 'games' are still somewhat of a shit show/joke. Googleuniveristy can help getting through certain ones.

The ASU transition...shockingly...is not clear. "click the link and follow the ASU instructions" AU wipes their hands clean. There are no instructions, just a choose your own adventure of links. On a good note....ASU online help has been more responsive than any support organization in the Air Force. They were able to knock it out in about 5 min. Update: within .69 seconds of being on the ASU system I was able to 1. sign up for my next self paced class (instant registration) 2. start next self paced class (it links you directly to the class canvas) Super clean interface. My syllabus is laid out in it's entirety to include registration dates for the facilitated courses. Looks like a linear progression though, sent email request to see if you can take more than one class at once or start the self paced classes in the next block prior to finishing the current block faciliated course. Because of the previous AU shenanigans, my next facilitated class won't be until Sept so no update there.

Yeah totally agree that it is dumb. It isn't hard, just painfully time consuming. I'm averaging a minimum of 7 days for any responses from them, and because the AU system for registering was all jacked up it meant a self-paced class that I could finish in a day or two....would take two weeks because of the broken process. Now there are no classes for the entirety of July as they transition, not even self-paced courses. I tried to sign up for my August facilitated class on 25 June, but their system said I hadn't completed the prerequisite (I had). So I put in yet another help ticket that day. The deadline for the August classes was yesterday...they emailed me today stating I had to wait and go through the ASU registration in August. So basically wasting two months of my time waiting now. Just fucking silly really.

Ever wonder what the DL 7.0 'top off' for IDE credit from your OLMP masters looks like? This took over a month to get a solid answer (unacceptable, even with COVID), hopefully the move to ASU admin of the course ware solves this or at least mitigates it. I got my masters through the OLMP and signed up in April for the ACSC DL 7.0 to 'top off' and get my IDE credit. NO WHERE do they discuss what the ACSC DL 7.0 "supplemental" program requirements are in the catalogue, student guide, ect. Furthermore, as of April you could not sign up for the supplemental program unless you contact them via help ticket. If you are looking at doing the DL 7.0 following your OLMP completion, the following is what I was told today via help ticket: Based on what the catalogue shows for the program, credit for 3 focuses studies courses eliminates that entire section/requirement. You are left with the two orientation courses, 6x self paced, and 3x facilitated courses. So far I have not been able to sign up for more than one course. July 6 ACSC DL 7.0 transitions to the ASU program....be interesting to see how that goes. Below is the 'syllabus' to top off your OLMP (ignore the black arrows, I stole this from the DL 6.0 to DL 7.0 transition)