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Slick

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Posts posted by Slick

  1. 5 minutes ago, Sim said:

    Interesting. Please educate...? 

    I can probably count on both hands the number of nice things I've heard the media say about Trump over the last 5 years.  He's viscously attacked no matter what he does.  They don't even try to be objective.  What they've been casting him and his supporters as has been very harmful to the social fabric of the country.

    Trump has actually trolled the media with these last minute "mix ups" on several occasions.  I always find it humorous and, in contrast with what the media does to him, it is harmless.  

  2. 1 hour ago, Sim said:

    I expect nothing less from tweeter shit-poster in chief. He's been this way from the start.  

    Just today he trolled media and had them go to "four seasons" and then add "landscaping" 30 minutes prior.  

    troll.JPG

    The media has been "trolling" him every waking minute for the last 5 years.  

  3. Keep pushing.  

    Retake the AFOQT if you can and find another recruiter to work with.  Get your work situation straightened out...assume your potential squadron is going to call your manager and ask about you...you'd want nothing short of a glowing review, right?     

    As others have suggested, consider reconsidering only wanting fighters.  

  4. Update:  I have been offered an interview.  The catch is that the squadron did not ask about background history in their application.  I have accepted the interview invitation but I am torn.  Should I go to the interview and blindside them with my background info either at the interview or at a later date, or should I contact the squadron asap and preemptively tell them?

  5. I'm at it again since finding out the age limit got raised.  Got busy with work, school, and some flight training I've been doing (taking IR checkride soon).  

     

    Been sending out applications to guard squadrons and am getting in touch with active duty and reserve recruiters.  I'm also expanding to the Army's WOFT program (which I have tried in the past but was rejected with them as well).    

     

    All the guard squadrons in the last 3 months have given me the "no thanks", however I am seeing a sliver of hope.  When asking for feedback I was told by 1 squadron that my history is not totally disqualifying and suggested I include a short essay in future applications describing the circumstances of my life at the time and what I've learned from it.  Another squadron suggested doing the same thing.   

     

    It's crazy how I just can't let this go.  I am so determined to do this and yet hate myself so much for my screw ups in life.  

     

    Just updating in case any gives a sh*t and of course I'm still open to input and advice on how to go about applying.  Anyone interested in reviewing my app??  Has anyone done the professional review by bogidope?

     

    I can keep you all posted if anyone is interested to know how it turns out.  

    • Upvote 1
  6. In 4 years of applying I have had 1 interview.  My scores are good, GPA is good, LOR's are good, PPL etc.  My problem is that I will need waivers/ETP's for medical, moral, and now age standards.  

    I've been trouble free for 7 years now, but I've been arrested 5 times in my teens and again when I was 21.  One of the arrests resulted in felony charges, and 2 arrests resulted in misdemeanors.  The other 3 arrests I was released without charges.  I have not been convicted of anything since I either did community service or my lawyer got the case dismissed.  I also have 10 traffic violations but all of those were taken care of with drivers safety school.

    I was on medication for anxiety/depression for 1 year in 2010 and I had PRK surgery in 2014.

    I've sorted all my behavioral problems out.  Still, nobody wants to touch me and I don't blame them.  I recently got rejected again by the air force reserves applying as unsponsored, but the recruiter told me if I can find a Lt Colonel willing to help me with the ETP's then the recruiter could work with me.  But I'm not sure how to do that since I've applied to pretty much every ANG unit and many reserve units and the feedback is always the same about the concerns with my background.

    I knew this was going to be a big uphill battle before I even started putting my application together but I feel my calling is to military aviation and so it is worth it to try no matter how slim the chances.  I've given up several times only to find myself mailing out applications again.  I've given up again but yet here I am asking for pointers.  What approach would you guys take if you were me? 

  7. 18 hours ago, HU&W said:

    Trading at .11 today.  

    They are still on track with their proposed timeline from earlier this year.  Their last shelf offering should fund them through the first quarter of 2018 and some big milestones will be reached along the way.  Price is down due to fear and nothing else. 

  8. On 2/22/2017 at 3:57 PM, Vertigo said:

    How are potential sales though? If hospitals have already bought Intuitive's console, why would they dump that to buy Titan's? Or is this such a new tech that not many hospitals have it yet so they sales potential is wide open?

     

    I don't know for sure, but I'd guess that they would not dump the da Vinci if they acquired the SPORT. The SPORT should supplant the da Vinci for the most part, but not completely.  The single-port approach does have limitations that the multi-port approach can overcome.  So, some hospitals might want to keep both consoles available.  When I say some hospitals though, I am referring to the major medical centers where money seems to be no object.  Smaller regional centers that are most cost conscious that mainly do simple routine procedures don't have a need for the da Vinci, perhaps partly because of the costs of the console.  But, they do have a need for something with the capabilities, and at the price point, of the SPORT.  

    As I said, robotic surgery is a multi-billion dollar per year industry.  If Titan Medical can finally get this off the ground, then many see it as being a slam dunk.

  9. I have money invested in Titan Medical (TITXF on the OTC).

    Titan has developed a surgical robotic console called "SPORT" that theoretically can out-compete the "da Vinci" console made by a company called Intuitive Surgical.  Right now, Intuitive essentially own the surgical robotic market since they don't have any big competition.  The da Vinci sells for ~2 million and requires multiple incision sites in the patient.

    The console made by Titan Medical supposedly will be selling for ~1 million and it only requires a single incision site in the patient.

    Less incision sites means better surgical outcomes and hospital administrators also love saving money.

    Robotic consoles garner huge reoccurring revenue in the form of disposable equipment for the robot that hospitals need to buy.  Robotic surgery is a multi-billion dollar industry and projected to keep growing.  

    I've been following Titan Medical for about 2 years.  Their previous management team failed to deliver a product launch on their proposed timeline.  However, at the end of 2016 they hired a new CEO with substantial experience growing small companies.  Their previous CEO's experience was working within large already-established companies.

    Right now Titan is trading at .38/share with tremendous upside potential.  Intuitive was trading at less than $10 at one point and is now over $700. 

    Definitely worth checking out.  

  10. Maybe "action" wasn't the right word.  That's the first time I've seen a plane that big enter a dive like that and the camera panning back and forth between cockpit/spoilers/flaps at different stages of the approach was pretty cool.  I can see how experienced mil pilots would think nothing of it though.  

    • Upvote 2
  11. 18 hours ago, Disco_Nav963 said:

    By enthroning an incompetent, clueless leader in the Oval Office? I do see your point in part. IF Trump's approach to the military is one of benign neglect, I think we can count on solid leadership from Secretary Mattis and 'mo money from Congress (for at least the next two years). If Trump tries to actually be substantively involved in defense policy (with the psychopath General Flynn whispering in his ear) I fear for our future.

    I don't know you, and I don't know how long you've been in, so please don't take this as patronizing: I've seen a lot of young guys in the squadron the last few years that, because they commissioned midway through the Obama years, believe all the incompetence and all the PC bullshit in the Air Force stems from the Obama administration and Obama appointees. Not true. I came in when Rumsfeld was SecDef and "Buzz" Moseley was CSAF. Guess when Masters degrees came back, CSSs went away, Finance got centralized at Ellsworth, and E-9s were already rampaging? The latter part of the Bush years. It was probably happening earlier. Hell, it was probably happening from the days of He Who Shall Not Be Named on. In my adult life I've cast my four presidential votes for Bush 43, McCain, Romney, and, well, not the new guy. By far the lowest my morale has ever been in my career was the first 6 months of it when Rumsfeld was SecDef and the professional military advice of the generals—that our strategy in Iraq was clearly not working—was considered seditious.

    I say all of that to say, (a) PC bullshit/E-9s gone wild is an AF cultural problem we brought on ourselves, not one imposed by the political branches of government (**caveat that holy shit Debbie James encouraged it, thank God she's gone**, and (b) with the political people, it's not Republican vs. Democrat you have to worry about, it's "People who understand and respect the professional culture and political independence of the military" vs. "Those who don't." Among the former in my time we've had Gates (Republican... although holy shit he hated the Air Force... who pissed in his Cheerios during his two years as an Lt at Whiteman in the 60s?), Panetta, and Ash Carter; among the latter we've had Rumsfeld and Obama/Biden themselves, all of whom treated the generals and admirals as a suspect Fifth Column loyal to their partisan opponents, who would try to steamroll the president's agenda by... offering their professional military advice, and who had to be beaten in the bureaucratic war.

    So I am one the one hand buoyed by everything about Mattis, and most recently the letter you alluded to. On the other hand, I am deeply concerned by the new POTUS's CIA HQ visit, because it suggests the president falls into the latter camp, viewing us in partisan rather than professional terms.

    I'm not saying that partisan differences on military issues don't matter; clearly they do. I like 3% pay raises better than 1.69% pay raises. But I care more that we avoid situations such as '02-'03 when the Chief of Staff of the Army got canned for questioning the wisdom of invading Iraq with >50% fewer people than the OPLAN called for, or 2009-10 when the office of the Vice President leaked like crazy to the press to attack Gen McChrystal for essentially saying "These are the forces required to achieve the objectives the White House set in its own Spring '09 Afghan policy review."

    What we've seen so far does not have me optimistic at all. It has me very worried. But I do see Mattis and the esteem the public has for him as a potential BS filter, and for that I am grateful.

    Thanks for the informative write-up; definitely appreciated.  FYI, I'm still in the applicant phase for UPT and have been applying to guard/reserve units.  However, I am now very strongly considering AD since I am getting near the age limit and have been following this thread for a few years.  So, I wanted to pose the question given my situation and the rather unprecedented change in leadership for our country.  

    To add to the discussion, a new secretary of the Air Force has just been selected.  All I'll say is that I guess I spoke too soon.

  12. I'm surprised I haven't heard much discussion on here about the possibility of AD life improving under President Trump.  Retired General Mattis will now be the Secretary of Defense and from what I've heard there is not yet an incoming Secretary of the Air Force.

    Part of Trump's campaign rhetoric was addressing the epidemic of incompetent, clueless leadership in this country.  Although he mostly meant this in reference to the politicians, it is a direct parallel to the sentiment on this forum regarding AF leadership.

    But now that Trump is in office the political leadership at the top of the country has drastically changed.  And with Mattis especially, as the Secretary of Defense, I would think there will be a direct and profound effect on AF leadership and subsequently AF culture.  Mattis even send out a very promising letter throughout the DoD right after swearing in yesterday.  

    Sound like these two guys are exactly what the AF needed.  So things about to get better, right?

  13. 4 hours ago, bb17 said:

    So I could use your input - what do you think the possibility is of getting a waiver for sleep apnea after enlisting in the AFRC, but before in processing with the 340th? Since i haven't actually been trained in anything yet I suspect they will want to just cut me loose before they have in investment in me. 

    I have been seeking the guidance of some other folks as well - their assessment was that if I do have a potential DQ'ing medical condition (recruiter suggested it as well), that it might be best to get a DEP discharge before going on orders to in-process with the 340th, and if I show up to the 340th and get DQ'ed there I could already be on the hook for some other type of other non-deploying enlisted or officer commitment. I'm starting to feel like I'm playing with fire here.

    Any suggestions?  

    Can you not tough it out?

    I've followed your posts and was excited for you when you got your age waiver and got selected for UPT.  Then you seemingly dodged another bullet by not having the 5 year AD commitment that the reserves are throwing around apply to you.  You're all set to be self employed as a civilian with the worlds most bomb ass job on the side as a pilot in the reserves.  You're on the verge of having it made.  After all that are you telling me that the show stopper is going to be "sleep apnea"?  Cmon dude, get a temper-pedic mattress and go to Walmart and buy some melatonin.  Then go to UPT.  

    I'd kill to be in your place.  Not sure what else to say.

    • Upvote 1
  14. 20 hours ago, mp.odea said:

    I emailed on the 15th asking if notifications had gone out.  The response said applications would be finalized and notifications would go out on the 20th.. I'm guessing Monday. 

    The original announcement said they are holding a selection board in early February.  I interpreted that to mean that that's when the interviews were going to be held.  When I contacted the recruiter 2 weeks ago I was told the February board date is actually the day they will be selecting which candidates to interview. 

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