SOS/ACSC information

[Smokin]

Sounds like a shoe making stuff up in order to scare people since allpme.com does not have anything on SOS.

The SOS page says (in bold print) "In addition, students may not rely upon the insights of others, including students (past or present), for answers to, or inputs on assessments (proctored examinations). This behavior may be considered test compromise and constitutes cheating and may be punishable under the UCMJ."

I read that to mean that you cannot have any material that tells you what is on the test. This would probably include material that someone highlighted after taking the test or any 'focused' study guide. However, this only mentions the test, nothing about the readings. Based on their own policies, I don't see how you could get in trouble for using a cliff's notes type study guide on the readings. For these and any other Air Force test, as long as you are studying the lessons and not the test itself, you are probably safe.

[T Pain]

Just curious, whats the quickest anyone has finished correspondence?

[Guest Ponis]

Just curious, whats the quickest anyone has finished correspondence?

I heard about a dude who finished in 2.5 weeks. Granted this guy doesn't have any friends and wont drink a beer with you. If you have good "study materials" you should be able to finish in about a month easy.

[Jughead]

Just curious, whats the quickest anyone has finished correspondence?

Two guys on my crew at the 'Deid this Spring knocked it out in ~3 weeks. The longest time was the wait to sign up for the next test (48 hours?), and then finding "off" time to do it.

A guy on a different crew knocked it out in just over a week--went in and passed two of the tests cold. Failed one, spent 30 minutes studying, passed on the second try.

I was so proud....

[C-21.Pilot]

It's been said before....11 days at Manas back in the day was the quickest that I saw....(old versions of SOS when dirty purples were easy to come by.) You could easily pass in 6 days if the education center would allow you to test everyday.

I finished in just under 2 weeks....some guys finished a few days faster.

[BigE]

When its time to input 3849s (generally April timeframe) a message will go out and you'll be opted to complete same in AFPC Secure. Your Wing will probably have its own timelines for completion as well so pay attention. Along with the message indicating the 3849 process is open will be a CONOPS with school descriptions and requirements (will include both IDE and SDE info). The message has much of the same dope and explains the process along with numbers for each school. You'll probably only have a couple weeks to shift thru the info and electronically input your 3849. The schools, numbers, requirements, etc change year to year but if you do find last years copy it will be pretty similar to give you a vector. I also seem to remember an AFPC powerpoint explaining how to fill out the 3849 and the timeline of DT and School Boards.

Your Wing CC has three groups to rank you in - selects (from your promotion board), candidates (non-school selects), and eligibles (selects + candidates). He doesn't necessarily have to recommend you for school to AFPC - ie your 3849 may or may not leave base and they may even tell you don't bother to fill one out. If you are a select and he doesn't recommend you for school by your third look he has to answer to AFPC as to why. Once all 3849s are at AFPC sometime over the summer DTs meet and rack and stack their dudes (CAF, MAF, SOF, etc) with their recommendations for specific schools. After that all the DT lists are put together to form one complete rack and stack - I have no idea how they kluge the separate DT stacks but they do. The Small Schools Board and Academy AOC gets to cherry pick their guys first and then a cut line is made based upon numbers of available school slots. The School Board then tries to mach your desires with your DT school vector starting at the top of the combined rack and stack.

If dudes get out, ops defer, decline school, etc after results are out they go to the alternate list. For small schools they make their own alternate list (I think). For everything else the alternate list is based upon your DT. So is a CAF dude drops out a CAF dude fills the slot (sts) from the CAF alternate list. I've seem a number of dudes get picked up on the alternate lists. You will know if you are an alternate but not where you sit on the list unless your CC is a good dude and finds out for you from AFPC.

If you are applying for in-residence credit based upon whatever program you have done (TPS, RAS training, Fletcher Scholarship, under-water basket weaving, etc) and were above the cut line for getting a school slot - congrats - you get in-residence credit and your record will indicate same once correspondence PME is complete. For every one dude getting in-residence credit the cut line is adjusted by one dude.

I think that about covers the 3849 process. The above if off the top of my nugget and I haven't payed attention for a couple years so things may have changed but I'd give it a +69% CEP. I will drink heavily for being able to explain the above. But - the more you know the better prepared you can be to make decisions. Back to my Pils!

e

[Striper_WSO]

Has anyone turned down SOS in-residence recently? I.e. you get a spot and tell your boss you'd rather not go. Contemplating this with the new 8-week format. I'm SOS by correspondence complete. I'm not disgruntled, just don't feel like spending any more time away from home or with shoes for 8 weeks. Thoughts?

[Ram]

Has anyone turned down SOS in-residence recently? I.e. you get a spot and tell your boss you'd rather not go. Contemplating this with the new 8-week format. I'm SOS by correspondence complete. I'm not disgruntled, just don't feel like spending any more time away from home or with shoes for 8 weeks. Thoughts?

Go. Bring your wife (family). Enjoy 6 hour days.

No brainer.

[nrodgsxr]

Has anyone turned down SOS in-residence recently? I.e. you get a spot and tell your boss you'd rather not go. Contemplating this with the new 8-week format. I'm SOS by correspondence complete. I'm not disgruntled, just don't feel like spending any more time away from home or with shoes for 8 weeks. Thoughts?

Don't go so that there are more slots for guys like me who want it.

[JeepGuyC17]

Don't go so that there are more slots for guys like me who want it.

Some interesting info straight from the SOC commandant:

-When the 8 week course starts in January, the intent will be 100% opportunity to attend; class sizes will be increased to ~800 to accomodate

-The correspondence course will still be available for people who can't go in-res in their window due to medical profile, deployments, etc.

-He agrees that the current correspondence course could be a lot better, and said that the intent was never for the correspondence course to be the de facto prerequisite that it has become.

-He's pushing to get the correspondence course scrapped and replaced with a real, facilitated class with an instructor, similar to online master's classes. If he has any say in the matter, he would implement it in a way that taking the new correspondence course would make you ineligible to go in-residence, getting rid of the current norm of doing correspondence just to get an in-res slot.

-I don't know if this varies from board to board, but from his experience serving on major's boards, the only difference between having SOS in residence or in correspondence is that in-res gives you the opportunity to get DG. Otherwise, checking the box is checking the box as far as the board's concerned, as long as you have your PME done.

[Bergman]

Has anyone turned down SOS in-residence recently? I.e. you get a spot and tell your boss you'd rather not go. Contemplating this with the new 8-week format. I'm SOS by correspondence complete. I'm not disgruntled, just don't feel like spending any more time away from home or with shoes for 8 weeks. Thoughts?

You would be setting yourself up for some sort of backlash if you turn it down, whether it be a shitty follow-on assignment, 180/365 tour, etc.

What if SOS turned out to be one of the best TDYs ever? Consider that. I had a similar attitude to yours (I was awaiting UPT dates when my SOS in-residence slot became available) and went anyway. We finished almost dead last but had a hell of a lot of fun. A lot of that was luck of the draw...good people in my flight and a good instructor. Your results may vary.

[ClearedHot]

...may not matter to the board, but may matter to your senior rater.

@ StriperWSO - yes I know a dude who told the boss he didn't want to go, for similar reasons to yours. Boss said "I don't care, don't be an idiot, you're going." Dude got DG and had a blast. Go and try to do the same.

Concur, I went kicking and screaming two weeks after I put Captain on. I was thankfully put in a flight with a group of borderline alcoholics...we completely ignored the queep, pushed it up every night of the week, blasted to the beaches or Atlanta every weekend, and became lifelong friends. Some of the flights got all worked up about sports competitions, we no shit rented a limo and had the driver make his way in between flicker ball fields and deliver us to the volley ball court for our Friday "Warrior Day" game. I don't remember anything they taught in SOS, but I remember the good times and good friends.

[Murph]

Like Striper and CH said, SOS is not all that bad. My goodness, what a great break from 12 hour days at the squadron. How can you not have fun at an 8-4 school that treats you like an adult and lets you BS with other bros from around the AF?

[TheBlueMax]

Some interesting info straight from the SOC commandant:

Gents/Ladies,

Any news on this??? I'm doing my SOS correspondence right now and I heard this rumor. Personally it kinda pissed me off b/c they also sent me to ASBC a few years back. There's a lot of wasted penguins in the water. Anyone know if we should actually still complete the in-correspondence course?

Thanks, Folks...

[guineapigfury]

Gents/Ladies,

Any news on this??? I'm doing my SOS correspondence right now and I heard this rumor. Personally it kinda pissed me off b/c they also sent me to ASBC a few years back. There's a lot of wasted penguins in the water. Anyone know if we should actually still complete the in-correspondence course?

Thanks, Folks...

Yes, you should. It is really easy. If you are smart enough to graduate UPT, SOS in corespondence should take you about 9 hours total: 1 hour to study for each test, 1 hour to take each test, 1 hour to drive to and from the testing location each test. They sound all fired up to up the difficulty on the correspondence option, so I'd take the easy course while it's still an option.

[Skitzo]

I'd do correspondence until you are physically at SOS. Sure the goal is 100% attendance but what happens when the AU budget gets raped and we only send half? Correspondence will return as a discriminator. It's like getting a masters degree, no matter what they tell you get it done.

[jrobe]

Anybody else thinking about the ACSC OLMP vs traditional program?? 24 months for the OLMP seems to be a long time. The time required will put you into your 3rd look and God knows you can't even complete for ACSC in res if you don't have the correspondence complete first.

[ThreeHoler]

You can start it as a Capt with 6 years TAFSC. If you are not finished with it when you become a Maj(s) you can change from the Capt program to the Maj program. If you do finish the Capt program you'll have credit for 3 of 7 ACSC correspondence courses. You get a Master's degree. It doesn't require TA. It is ridiculously easy to get an A in each course.

First three 8 week terms = 1 course only.

Next four 8 week terms = you can register for 2 courses/term.

You can be complete in 56 weeks of class if you double up courses once you're able.

It is a win all the way around.

[jrobe]

Not exactly what I was getting at...

My masters is dun...SOS complete...So it looks like I can't do the Capt's course... which I believe alot of people here are in the same boat...

Has anyone here pursued the ACSC OLMP versus the traditional ACSC corespondence program. I'm still not convinced this would be a good investment time wise

[backseatdriver]

Not exactly what I was getting at...

My masters is dun...SOS complete...So it looks like I can't do the Capt's course... which I believe alot of people here are in the same boat...

Has anyone here pursued the ACSC OLMP versus the traditional ACSC corespondence program. I'm still not convinced this would be a good investment time wise

If you already have a Master's, doing the ACSC OLMP instead of normal correspondence would be retarded.

[ThreeHoler]

Yes, I am doing it right now. Iit is a much better time investment than TUI or any of the other crappy for profit degrees.

Is it worth it for you? No. Because you have a Master's degree, you are intelligible for either concentration. You must take the normal ACSC course once you are a Maj(s).

Is it worth it for everyone else out there who haven't started their Master's degree? Yes, for the aforementioned points.

1) It can provide both ACSC and a Master's degree for a Maj/Maj(s).

2) It can provide 3/7 of ACSC and a Master's degree for a Capt.

Also, if you are a recent WIC grad, you get 12 credits and only have to complete the 7 core classes.

It is 33 credit hours and in either of the three incarnations provides more benefit than the standard Master's degrees most flyers get.

[jrobe]

three holer....thanks for continuing to give me Capt eligible stuff....once again this is not what I'm getting at...Your way off target here...I like your gusto however

If you already have a Master's, doing the ACSC OLMP instead of normal correspondence would be retarded.

Yeah...thats what I was thinking...

[xaarman]

For those of us that completed the SOS via Correspondence course, with the changes and elimination of that course - was it a waste of time?

[ThreeHoler]

three holer....thanks for continuing to give me Capt eligible stuff....once again this is not what I'm getting at...Your way off target here...I like your gusto however

Yeah...thats what I was thinking...

How am I way off base?

Five seconds with Google and the four letters OLMP would have taken you to this informative page: http://www.au.af.mil/au/dlmasters.asp

It would have answered your questions without you looking like a fucking idiot.

Oh, and another pro tip: if you had bothered to tell people in your first post that you were done with your Master's degree instead of relying on us using The Force to determine your specific situation...you might have received a better answer.

Regardless of your situation, there are situations where the OLMP is a great deal. The problem is that no one is finding out about it until it is of no use to them. Your dismissive posts do nothing to help other dudes.

[DC]

ThreeHoler,

How is the work? Is it crushing your will to live, is it too much blue kool aid, or is it interesting and/or useful?

I'm a couple classes into a Masters in Education, which will be useful when I'm done with the Air Force, but I really like the idea of free and counting towards ACSC.