ASBC information

[Guest driftsight]

Does anyone have any information or a link to some information about ASBC?

[Guest IHTFP2003]

http://asbc.maxwell.af.mil/mission.htm

don't sweat it.. just show up, it is really easy..

[Guest priorE]

Here's a link with everything us newbies need to know:

http://asbc.maxwell.af.mil/new_rotc_arrivals.htm

Enjoy!

**and here's the part from the link about lodging pay if you don't feel like reading it all right now:

DD Form 1351 Travel Voucher – This document will be used to advance you your TDY travel entitlement. You will be advanced $24.50 per day for lodging and $27.00 per day for meals. The overall total will be $2,163.00, which will be paid to you via Direct Deposit in 4 to 6 Business Days. The supporting documentation for this allowance will be 2 copies of your orders. The most important item to remember about this entitlement is that it is an advance and will be deducted from your final settlement made at your gaining station.

DD Form 2560 Military Pay Advance - ***This is an optional entitlement*** Requested advance pay will be capped at $1,600.00 while you are attending ASBC. This pay will be deducted from your military pay over 12 months. The supporting documentation will be a copy of your orders.

[ 06. December 2004, 19:31: Message edited by: priorE ]

[Guest priorE]

I'm outta ASBC in 2 days and off to casual and then UPT.

It's not the waste of time that it's made out to be. As sick as it sounds, I've learned tons about how the AF works and the whole big picture aspect of what is going on.

I'm going to be a pilot and I think that this is going to benefit me. When I'm going to go blow up some beoches, I'll know what was going on in the AOC and that I'm actually little......we are just the pons that go do the dirty work, really.

On the other side, ASBC is too long. They could compact this biznitch into 4 weeks. Maybe it's preliminary POW training or something......cuz I feel like a captive by now!

Definitely lots of beer and as someone said, Smokey Bones rules!!!!!! If you're coming straight from ROTC, this place is a serious bonus. You get checked in right away and start getting paid. I'll have to fix my pay when I get to casual (since I have the prior E stuff) but at least I'm getting paid. Hell, TDY to begin your career is a bonus. You're making extra cash to drink and take 2 hour lunches!

I thought ASBC would suck ass, but it's actually been fun. It's just a little too long, though

[HercDude]

It's not the waste of time that it's made out to be.

I respectfully disagree. ABC/ASBC whatever they want to call it is a colossal waste of resources. Millions of dollars spent on teaching Lieutenants how to play Star Command. :rolleyes:

I think that they warp your mind so much there you actually leave there thinking it was worth something. But having 2 years hind sight on it I can confirm I learned nothing of use there. I certainly didn't need a First Lieutenant with three years in supply telling me how the kill chain works. The fact that they are pulling guys in there after UPT and now after they show up at an operational squadron borders on lunacy.

I'm not knocking a month and a half to get drunk and hit on the toothless wonders Montgomery has to offer (I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in New Orleans on the governments dime). I just think the class was worthless and exceptionally wasteful. They are much better off keeping you in the real world learning your job than pulling you into AETC to spend your mornings doing groin strectches like a damn cadet.

RANT SWITCH - OFF

[FourFans]

You wanna know how to get out of ASBC?

Call Katherine Torry (not 100% on the spelling) at Randolph AFPC (sorry I don't have the phone number but it's on the global if you can get that). She is in charge of every "dropped" UPT slot (slots that open up as dudes can't fill them for some reason or other)...or at least she has been for the past few years...in any case, she (or her replacement) can simply hook you up with an earlier start date which should dictate your IFT date and subsquent ASBC date. IFT is manditory prereq for UPT...ASBC is not.

If it happens that your UPT date moves and allows only time to complete IFT...darn you can't go to ASBC.

The only way this can come back and bite is if they make it a correspondance course...but as it is, it does not effect your promotability or any sort rank order device in the system. (yet)

(if that has changed, anyone please pipe up)

As for the school itself...I tragedic missed out. Every report i've heard is basically the same: lots of boozing and 4 more weeks of being a cadet.

No one learns a thing...it's just another great opportunity to ruin your career with a DWI or some other brilliant act of darwinian buffoonery.

Hope that helps.

[Guest AceLaRue]

Very helpful web page, answers almost all of our questions. See you all this summer.

http://asbc.maxwell.af.mil/asbcinbound.htm

[jazzdude]

You wear service dress during inprocessing, for your flight photo, and graduation. I think we also wore open collar blues on one day also.

As far as the reflective belt/armband- you'll get the armband issued, and you're *supposed* to have your own belt, but I don't think I ever saw anyone wearing it.

Mood varies between flights. So if you have a good flight, it'll be bearable.

Originally posted by brabus:

Bottom line: it sucks, but you gotta do it.

Yep. Might as well put a little effort into it (at the very least skim the reading, and review prior to the tests). Have fun and all, just don't fail the academics.

[Guest Jpilot]

More tips for ASBC-

1. Your Flight CC really determines how late you'll stay everyday. You'll see some flights getting out early, while others will stay till 4:30+ every day. Also, the Flight CCs all just found out that their tours have been extended one year.

2. Go to the O club and play crud! 'Take it to the Max' is mandatory fun, play some crud.

3. Go to the Woodmir and drink lots of Yuengling

4. Don't stay in Montgomery for the weekend. Go to Ft Walton, New Orleans, Atlanta. If you study on the weekends, you belong in the toolshed.

5. Get the FLAs made that are the sweat-wicking. They're going to be much nicer than the ones they issue you that smell like someone pissed on them.

6. No cable really sucks. They seriously only have 5 local channels. Go to BW3s and watch the bowl games.

7. If they have them, don't go to the USAFA Quad parties. Seriously, it'll be 100 dudes and one chick. Chances are, one of them will end up doing something really stupid like falling from the rafters...

8. The 'Blue Bedroom' will become prime opportunity to doze off...

9. Yes it feels like Active Duty ROTC, BUT DON'T have a piss poor attitude. The AF is paying you to be there. Network with other LTs and enjoy it.

PM me if you want any more info

Jp-

[Guest ereforseroolz]

Alright.

Here's a couple gotcha's for your all expenses paid vacation in montgomery, AL.

Use it as an opporunity to network. If there are peeps from your commiss class going same time.... DO NOT chill with your bro's and ditch your asbc flight. Makes a bad impression, but if you must do this for whatever reason be discreet(sp?), or make it a big group thing and invite your class. There are some really sensitive types there who like most LT's have not been to the squadron, let alone a flying squadron, and do not understand the "thick skin" policy.

Do not be that guy who gets drunk and knocks on col's doors, punches out windows, gets in a bar fight, urinates in public, etc etc. It is a laid back place and it is easy to forget that our necks are still on the chopping block.

There is a difference between rated and soon to be rated. Soon to be rated guys have lost their UPT slots for dumb shi%. Don't be that guy.

Yes, missile dudes and space dudes will be walking around like they are the shi% when they get to toss a bag on and you don't. Swallow your pride and suck it up. Do not tell them their scarves look . When they act superior just keep your mouth shut and think to yourself that you will be wearing your bag in the air and they wear theirs in a hole. My flight, go dragons, had a dude who thought it was his personal mission to be a douche to these guys. Very annoying considering he never made it through upt and so is not wearing a bag right now anyways.

You do not have to play crud if you will be going to UPT. It might be smart to go learn it before getting to your squadron but NO ONE is going to write you off because you don't know that you're not supposed to get caught reading the rules. There was a table or two at moody... but nobody played. Maybe the IFF dudes. whatever. worry about that when you get there, and thats a while down the road.

Do NOT be the UPT expert(especially if you haven't gone yet). Do not talk shi% about how UPT is going to be. You have not been there, you will get your di$k knocked in the dirt when you do get there, you probably won't get that fighter, and keeping your mouth shut will be good practice for when you hit your squadron. In phase I/II you make damn sure about what you are talking about before opening your mouth in front of IP's. Besides, most of those UPT experts were dead wrong anyways. We had a guy fresh out of UPT in the dragons, and he just sat back and laughed at all the "experts".

Befriend the prior enlisted dudes in your flight. All the ones in my flight went through OTS at beautiful maxwell and knew where all the good eats were.

all in all, I had a great time at maxwell (aside from the random DB who thought it was their job to tell me I wasn't going to make it. Don't trust anybody who says you can't, they all told me that because I didn't know the differences between the tweet and the mighty t6 or cuz i didn't know the rules to crud and here I am a month shy of wings down at corpus.... one graded event left. no, i wasn't forced down here like you hear about, I had a choice between a talon to laughlin and the '44. i made my decision.) you'll make some good friends, not as good as the dudes you sit through stand up with, but good nonetheless. Go in with an openmind, get through it, and try not to pick on the non-rated folks. they need to do well to help stratify among their peers.

Peace,

wombat

[osulax05]

The website tells you everything you NEED to bring.

http://asbc.maxwell.af.mil/index.htm

[RangerMateo]

Don't blow the tests off too much, the first is pretty easy, but the second one caught a lot of people off guard. Again, not rocket science, but don't think you can just glance over the stuff and then walk in. I heard that last year it was way easy, but they made the academics harder because they got feedback that it was too easy. Who knows... I went in January of this year.

As far as the other stuff, you have tons of free time. If they hadn't given us 45 minutes for every uniform change and an hour and a half for lunch then we probably could have gotten out of there in three and a half weeks. In fact, I heard that when ASBC was being put together someone made the comment that really the syllabus could be completed in three to four weeks and CSAF responded "What part of 'six week course' did you not understand"? Just hearsay...

You'll have fun, if you want to. Exit six is where you'll spend a lot of time. Also, Tuscaloosa and Auburn are both very close and make for a fun weekend. Just remember what town you're in, say something about tigers in the wrong one and you're liable to get beat up on.

As far as BAH goes. If you're TDY enroute to Montgomery and single, then you won't start BAH until you get to your first duty station (Where finance will jack up your paperwork and two months after the fact you'll get a nice backpay). If you are already have BAH rolling in...then they won't stop it. They also will go ahead and start your BAH if you have a spouse even if she's there with you.

[spectre56]

I've heard ASBC described as 4 years of ROTC rolled into 6 weeks...any truth to this?

[AFCS_Actuator]

I've heard ASBC described as 4 years of ROTC rolled into 6 weeks...any truth to this?

Very little of ASBC mirrored ROTC. ASBC is designed to help ensure all officers know what the hell the AF is supposed to do and more or less how it gets done. It is surprising to aviation geeks (ie pilots/pilot candidates) how many USAF officers cannot tell the difference between an A-10 and a F-22 or a C-130 from a C-5. Believe me, I was there sitting in the class room with my flight and hardly any of the non-soon-to-be-rated officers could identify one jet from another. Afterwards, they all could. Don't take that the wrong way, the airframe ID is a very small bit of the course. A lot of time is spent on the ATO cycle and how it is developed from the highest level strategies to the most specific tactical requirements.

60% of ASBC is interesting and useful. The other 40% is queep you just need to put up with. The O-Club at Maxwell is cool, Montgomery is great for history buffs, and you meet a lot of cool people. It's not a bad gig. Plus, when I was there the leadership of SOC was planning on creating a Master's degree program the would be complete once both ASBC and SOS are completed. Perhaps someone who has been to ASBC in the past couple months can elaborate on the latest regarding that.

[brabus]

The best part of the whole "deal" is you get to do pretty much the same exact shit a few years down the road (SOS). I agree getting some extra money, hanging out with friends and getting tanked in Florida on the weekends is a descent deal, but the course is retarded and has not made me any better of an officer..."real world" (as much as UPT can be anyways) experience has done that. I know this doesn't encompass all people (and yes everyone is entitled to their own opinion), but everyone who thought ASBC was relatively valuable and a descent program also were the people who thought ROTC was a great program and taught you a bunch of meaningful lessons on life/AF...yeah right.

[Hercster]

Long time reader, no so often poster, so yes, I am well aware of the search function and have used it. :)

With that, I was wondering what you veteran travelers do for wheels during extended TDY. I'm off to ASBC and I'm thinking it'll be a long boring time without some form of transportation. The cheapest rate i could find would be just over $1000 for over a month of renting a car. I suppose a taxi is an option, but a pain.

What have you done? Thanks in advance.

[brabus]

There will be plenty of people down there w/ cars. Bum rides off one of them. Personally I think you'd be an idiot to fork over a grand so you could have a car at ASBC. Guaranteed you'll know at least 3 people there w/ cars...either from school or in your flight.

[And1]

Don't waste the money. I just finished up there on 10 Aug. I had my car there with me, but still never drove because so many other people had cars too that wanted to drive. IMO, no need to waste your money.

[Guest Flyin' AF Hawaiian]

I just got done with gAySBC a few weeks ago. I had my car there, which was nice, but definitely not necessary. You'll have enough people in your flight willing to drive/lend you their car. We did have one LT in our flight rent a car for the duration, and he seemed to like it, but like I said, definitely not necessary.

[Guest Thundercat1]

Are there any facilities on base (for married couples) while at ASBC that allow pets? My wife and I are excited about one day being able to get a little pup, but are trying to consider the concequences...

[abmwaldo]

Are there any facilities on base (for married couples) while at ASBC that allow pets? My wife and I are excited about one day being able to get a little pup, but are trying to consider the concequences...

Wait six weeks and get one when you get to your first duty station.

[imoutlawtorn]

I'm at ASBC right now. They currently have 2 tests but will soon be shortening it to only 1 test per 6 weeks. Hand to hand combat is coming in the next couple of classes. I don't remember what exact date they cited.

You take 2 "PFTs" called the FIST, but it only counts towards flight points unless you can't 'run' it in less than 15:30. If you can't, there are 2 makeups allowable. Everyone in this class passed (barely), but several from the previous class failed the run. The first one comes around TD 2 or 3, so come ready.

It seems that ASBC is moving in a SIMILAR direction as Field Training in that there is going to be less classwork time and more stuff done outside in tent cities. Obviously there is no yelling, marching, etc.

There has never been a DG system at ASBC (if I heard the Lt Col correctly). They are, however, revamping the system in the next couple of classes and are trying to initiate one.

Also, for anyone interested, the tests are not the joke that the posts from >1 year ago suggest. I have yet to take the first one yet, but some of my friends are about to take the 2nd one tomorrow. They said they studied for many many hours only to get an 85 (75 is passing). I can't say whether it will be easy or hard for YOU, but sufficed to say, it isn't the easy tests you had back at the detachment.

The majority of the buildings now have free internet in the rooms, but it is sort of slow and you have to bring your own ethernet cable (or pay 10 bucks to get one from lodging).

I played a round of golf this morning and it's around $18 for 18 holes and $10 per person for a cart rental. Several people pulled their bags this morning to avoid that charge. They have rental clubs for another $10. Range is like 26 balls for $1 if I remember what he said correctly (he might have said 25 cents/26 balls).

Several kegs are bought per week. Some guys went out and bought some plywood and there is beer pong, etc. played nearly nightly. Just don't be a jackass and show up drunk to class or graduation (some guy did the latter recently), study a little, and be able to power walk the mile and a half and you should be OK.

Also, as a side note, those infamous SERE CBT's have made it to ASBC. My buddies told me that if you haven't taken it in this calendar year you will have to (re)take it while at ASBC. I took it mid December before commissioning. Lucky me. Additionally, the obstacle course is still off limits.

Edited June 22, 2008 by imoutlawtorn

[Guest MizzouCE]

I am getting ready to punch out of ASBC on 14 Novand just finished the 2nd test. The tests were not too hard, i didn't study too much and got 95 on both, but there were a lot of people flunking tests and 1 or 2 actually failed both (avg under 75). The website mentioned the hand to hand stuff, but they never even mentioned it.

The only bad part about going this time of year is that its mostly USAFA, which isn't bad in and of itself, but if you get a flight of 10 USAFA folks, 2 ROTC and 1 OTS and aren't familiar with the USAFA culture and you have a few Douches, it might be a rough couple of weeks. They picked on the other ROTC non stop and were kinda clicky. They stopped the quad parties and moved the sausage fest over to the O club.

The only useful stuff i really saw was the Combined Ops we are getting ready to do. you get to hang with some SNCOs and and learn about their perspective as well as how to write EPRs and things like that. Really useful for the non rated guys.

Starting the first of the year the expeditionary ASBC will start, but the tents are already put up and they have A/C in them, so don't worry about the summer. If you did your field training here you already know the drill.

EDIT: also a tip if you go down to florida, go to Hurlburt to rent jetskis and boats, they actually let you take them into the ocean, unlike eglin which has no et skis and you have to keep the boats in the channel area and you can't go under bridges.

Drink a lot, study a little and bring some form of entertainment and you'll be fine.

[Guest Toner]

My husband just got his commission from AFROTC this past December. Originally, the EAD they gave him was 28 April to Whiting NAS, then to ASBC on 4 June. However, they just told us they changed his EAD to 29 May and he is doing ASBC enroute. This presents some problems for us since we have 3 kids. The ASBC website says that only 2 small children are allowed in their housing. Has anybody ever tried to go to ASBC with 3 or more kids? I'm wondering if they have alternative housing that would accomidate us. Also, if we can't go with him, do we stay where we live now or do we go to Whiting? Thanks for your help.

I was at ASBC about 2 years ago, and they had the 2 kid thing then as well. My wife and I only had 1 kid at the time...and it felt a little cramped. You are staying in a studio apartment size place...so pretty small. We met someone there that had 6 kids they brought with them for SOS and they were in the same size place as us. I thought that was a little much...but we also had some friends there with 3 kids...and they managed fine. Definitely cramped, but if you want to go that route it is possible. There was another guy in our class that rented a 2 or 3 bedroom off base...since he was banking his BAH, and his wife and kids stayed there. Your on your own to do that though. They don't have TLF's or anything available for students...or didn't at the time. It was tight even just with one kid...but I'm glad that they came. It was fun to travel together and see part of the country I'd never been to before.

[BADFNZ]

Since this thread is up, let me ask a question.

I was fortunate enough to go right from Commissioning to IFS to UPT and have not been to ASBC. Technically, they could send me to ASBC after UPT, but I'm not sure of the odds on that (It will be exactly 18 months from Commissioning when I get my wings). So my question is, is there any reason I should want to go to ASBC? Will me not going affect future promotions, PME chances, etc? I really don't want to go, especially between UPT and FTU, but if it'll negatively affect me later on, maybe it won't be a bad idea. Thoughts?