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B-1 (Bone) questions


Guest ralph

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...another theory.

Effect:

All the dudes returning from ALFAs will end up going to WIC in 1-2 years as major selects or junior majors.

Cause:

All the new guys at DYS/RCA being groomed won't have the experience required because they are hardly flying and/or making RAP. The FAIPs will also go ALFA for lack of hours/upgrades in a timely manner. The current ALFA returnees will be upgraded ASAP, then volun-told (or "highly encouraged") to attend WIC, since there will only be a handful of dudes who were groomed and/or eligible/desiring to attend WIC.

With reduced hours accross the board, it's a guessing game at this point. Skitzo, sorry to hear they won't bring you back dude. With your current MWS full up (with a cadre and multiple squadrons), it seems a simple process to bring dudes with experience levels far greater than the FAIPs back to the Dark side.

Edited by g2s
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Funny how cyclical B-1 manning is in such a short time. Two years I was told a staff wasn't an option and that I had to go back to fly at Dyess/Ellsworth (luckily I had the RAS get out of jail free card and got to PCS to Hawaii). Six months ago another B-1 WSO I know finishing up ACSC was told no flying slot was available for him. I don't envy our assignments guy trying to make the manning work with all the rapid throttle movements...

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Crazy stuff in the bone world going on. I cut my teeth there and couldn't imagine why it wouldn't be in the best interest of the Air Force to send a bro back who can pretty much eliminate the need for a GLO. Alas it is what it is...

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Guest ThatGuy

Someone hit the nail on the head when they said the Abilene area is meant for "families." There are other cities in Texas like Abilene that control the growth of their city for obvious reasons. You don't want a city to grow too fast to the point where it outpaces the police force. With budget constraints this is a smart move in my opinion. If you want people to reside there then you have to make it "family friendly" and safe. I was a single guy there from 2008-2011 as a C-130 copilot. Honesty, I loved Abilene because I could carry a concealed handgun with a license of course. But there you really do not need to carry a concealed handgun because I have never run into any problems. I left the C-130 after ACC offered me the opportunity to upgrade to an MC and IP in the MC-12W. After arriving at Beale and having a buddy in global hawk with an apartment in downtown Sacramento I could not complain about missing Abilene. California is relatively expensive but my house is only 40 minutes from downtown Sacramento! My buddy had his apartment next to all the bars and great places to eat. If California was cheap as Texas I would love to stay here but I do miss Abilene a little bit. I say that because you don't have to travel far to get what you need because they have a good mall. And if you are looking to save money you can do that in Abilene or Texas in general.

On a separate note, the women in Cali come up and talk to you. In Texas you have to put in a little work, but in California the women here come up to you.

I suggest listening to the folks on this board about their experience in Abilene. I say that because my supervisors when I was enlisted warned me about Beale AFB. They told me do not come here back in 2001 and I can understand why. Back then there was nothing but a Walgreens and maybe a Piggly Wiggly here. Needless to say I turned down the assignment to Beale back in the day and received an assignment to San Antonio instead. But that's when I received a scholarship to AFROTC, so I left the Air Force for a few years.

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On a separate note, the women in Cali come up and talk to you. In Texas you have to put in a little work, but in California the women here come up to you. .

TX bar : As a matter a fact, yes I am in the military. Served under Dubya and yea I'm a pilot by the way. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Cali : I was totally into that speaker at last week's 'occupy' rally! Huh, a job? I was working the lifts at Tahoe last season. Hope they take me back if I can pass the drug test. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

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Guest ThatGuy

TX bar : As a matter a fact, yes I am in the military. Served under Dubya and yea I'm a pilot by the way. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Cali : I was totally into that speaker at last week's 'occupy' rally! Huh, a job? I was working the lifts at Tahoe last season. Hope they take me back if I can pass the drug test. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

LMAO...so true.

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TX bar : As a matter a fact, yes I am in the military. Served under Dubya and yea I'm a pilot by the way. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Cali : I was totally into that speaker at last week's 'occupy' rally! Huh, a job? I was working the lifts at Tahoe last season. Hope they take me back if I can pass the drug test. You're place?? Ok, let's go.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Having been to Tahoe multiple times, the only girls that work the chair lifts have dread locks and braid their underarm hair. I'l take the Texas girl please.

WxMan

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Educate me: what percentage of fighter/bomber guys go to WIC? In the tanker we had up to 3 in the squadron, but 2 were the CC and DO, positions where you would expect patches to be overrepresented statistically.

In general, the SQ/CC and DO, plus a pilot/WSO team who run the weapons and tactics shop. Often, the outgoing pilot/WSO team will hang out for a while waiting on their next assignment/school, and act as ADOs for the weapons and tactics shop. At one point, we had five patches plus the CC and DO.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey all there is plenty of good information on here. Wondering if anybody can provide more specific information on the Abilene assignment. If assigned to Abilene how long would you stay there after the FTU. Whats the housing market like out there? Is it worth it to look at purchasing a house especially if you have no desire to retire there? If you have purchased a house what has been your experience? Trouble getting rid of the place? Anyway I'm headed out there in Dec for FTU. Married with 2 children and interested in buying a home. Thanks ahead of time for any possible info.

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Srosaaf,

I'm on my way back in the next 6-9 months. Nonetheless, I'll tell you my experiences that are a few years dated (but arguably accurate).

The housing market is stable. You won't make money, you won't lose money (maybe a few $K one way or the other). Overall a good experience buying and selling. The assignments here are good, the people of Abilene are big supporters, and the base has just about everything you need. Rent or buy, it's about the same if you plan on selling after you PCS. If you buy, you will mostly pay the bank for 3 years; if you rent, you will mostly pay the landlord for 3 years. I've done two assignments there and had great experiences both times. I rented only my first assignment, bought my 2nd assignment.

If you're not from West Texas, it will be a culture shock initially; but you get used to it and you will assimilate in time. I enjoyed it and will probably be going back again for a third assignment (with a smile on my face).

Either place (DYS or RCA) is enjoyable for a family in my mind. Deployment locations will be drastically improving in the next few years as we increase the Pacific focus. No, I don't have secret details about a depoloyment location change...but we won't be in Afghanistan forever. The mission is great, the jet is a blast to fly, lots of new upgrades in the next few years, ejection seats still work (never too soon), and you've got four afterburning engines and lots of crowd pleasing bombs to make you feel better when you're drowning in queep behind a desk.

Just remember, in the B-1 all roads eventually lead back to Dyess. Hope that helps and enjoy!

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  • 3 weeks later...
I've been at both bases and flying-wise it will be the same at both bases.

Disagree. Sortie durations (with the exclusion of the hysterical sequestration-induced flying hours binge-purge) will typically be longer at Dyess due to the lack of nearby airspace to facilitate all training requirements. A 2.0 to PRT at Ellsworth can get you just about every currency bean, whereas Dyess requires either hitting multiple MOAs/IR routes or flying farther away to a better range.

The mission sets are pretty much the same, however, so it's not like the Dyess and Ellsworth crews train much differently. Ellsworth just has access to better airspace and the MX rates are higher.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can anyone compare the flying differences between Dyess and Ellsworth post FTU? Sorties per month/duration/low-levels/etc...?

When you're on the schedule at Ellsworth, you're actually going to fly. At Dyess, MX has turned your possibility of flying into a coin-flip.

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What's the likelihood of getting your base preference? I hear they try and send base assignments out prior to starting the FTU to help in deciding on whether or not to buy/rent while in Abilene. My wife and I decided to try and stay at Dyess mainly because she has her own photography business and it'd be a royal pain to move it again after only 6-9 months.

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Hawker, PM sent. The answer is it depends. We look at all the reasons you have listed on your "Welcome to the FTU" form and decide from there who goes where. For example, if there is only 1 Dyess pilot spot for your class and another dude in your class says his ex-wife and kids live in Abilene and he wants to stay here, he will get to stay and you will have to go to Ellsworth. It is a very fair process and whoever has the best reasons gets to go where they want. If there is no good reason and two guys want the same thing, it would likely be based on date of rank.

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What's the likelihood of getting your base preference? I hear they try and send base assignments out prior to starting the FTU to help in deciding on whether or not to buy/rent while in Abilene. My wife and I decided to try and stay at Dyess mainly because she has her own photography business and it'd be a royal pain to move it again after only 6-9 months.

Yes, they do; you have a decent chance at Dyess considering the number that usually request RCA - ask the DSA office when you get there. Rapid City actually has more culture than Abilene so the photo business might do better there; don't base your career decisions on that.

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  • 1 year later...

Completely hypothetical here, but *if* I were able to cross flow over to the Bone for my second assignment (from an AMC asset) as an AC, what could I reasonably expect that transition to look like?

Would I be treated like a FAIP essentially who comes into the community or would "real AF experience" (sorry FAIPs) carry any weight in upgrade timelines in comparison?

Could I expect my third assignment to be a flying assignment in the Bone as well or would it more likely be a desk tour?

How many hours a year are guys getting to fly these days?

Future of the jet? (I've also heard rumors of a reserve sqdn at DYS potentially?)

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to make an informed decision...thanks!

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Wheels Off,

You cannot go from AMC to B-1s. That's just not the way it works.

Everyone that has ever shown up to the B-1 community is treated like the FNG they are until they prove themselves in the jet.

Your other theoretical questions don't apply because of the answer I gave you to the first question.

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