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That's tough. I've seen and heard a few stories like this of a leader losing their career over some relatively pointless stuff and can't imagine sacrificing so much effort and time with family over the duration of a career for it to just end like that.

Reviving this thread again. I was just picked up ANG for a rated spot. I had to fill out a 2807 for the application and i gave them pretty much my entire medical history, and they still hired me. I had a depression episode May of 2018 that culminated in 5 day psych ward stay (High school/Juvenile) and 6 months of Lexapro. I did therapy monthly for a year, and was released. Following that, I obtained my FAA class 3 medical, having to enroll in the HIMS (Human Intervention and Motivational Study) program for a special issuance medical. Met with a HIMS/AME and an aviation psychiatrist starting in 2020, and meeting with a local LMFT for "monitoring" through the HIMS program. In August of 2025 I was cleared Medically to hold my second class medical with no special issuance, and was discharged from the HIMS program. Furthermore, I have been enlisted in the ANG since 2021, requiring a waiver upon entry. I am currently working with my unit to schedule an FC1, and I was wondering if there was anybody on here that had a similar story or a flight doc that would have some insight on the likelihood of obtaining a waiver, or if I will need a waiver since I have so many medical records documenting my case. And if I do need a waiver, what can I do to be most prepared and have the best chance of approval. Thank you in advance.

Cool. This is not my bailiwick but concerns me in general for preserving a strong pilot culture in the center of the AF. The MAF having a finishing school after UPT but before FTU is where this idea really would be focused. Just as commercial operators look for minimum hours, experience levels and track records of success prior to hiring, the MAF needs that in the pilots it assesses. Again strong pilot culture. A first short assignment like the first job a civilian pilot lands, can start their careers, training and ultimately lead to a more capable MAF. I’m just day dreaming on BO but if a post graduate universal 1st assignment system (multiple steps) was synched up to MAF and other big wing / crew bound graduates, it could handle the intake and steadily produce better aviators prior to heavy FTUs. Would it produce the immediate mass they say is needed now? Probably not but methinks the cost of a glut of less than optimally trained pilots is greater than waiting a bit and getting the heavy customers accustomed to getting better pilots at a slower but steady cadence. My druthers would be for the AF to petition for a military B737 MAX 7 with reasonable mods and have this be a short assignment for all heavy tracked grads. The sequence would be a multi engine refresher and short experience builder course, all contractor provided. A short break for some leave then report for a contractor provided type course with additional sims, a type plus course. Then report to one of three units flying this jet, get about 25-35 sorties, then move on your way. This is fusing advanced training with operations, reducing the investment of the AF into training only aircraft but gaining new reliable, efficient, organic steady airlift capabilities.

This is a terrible idea for the CAF. Agree to disagree. From the article - "F-7 conceptually would provide roughly the same capability as a fourth-generation fighter." This statement is so disingenuous it's either from a boeing rep or a foreign actor hoping we'll be this dumb. An F7 would be good for BFM and out-n-snacks in the ARC. Neighter of which help us get ready for china. If you want to market it to the peasant countries flying F-5s be my guest.

Air Force general to retire after service overturns ruling by COVID review board clearing him of misconduct Brig. Gen. Christopher Sage has spent the last four years of his Air Force career quietly fighting to clear his name of wrongdoing, get back on the promotion list and stay in the service. Disciplined for decisions he made as a commander deployed to the Middle East during the coronavirus pandemic — such as reopening gyms and removing barbed wire surrounding quarantine areas — an Air Force board reviewing COVID-related adverse actions determined he faced retaliation for his views. A majority of the board agreed in November he should have the black mark removed from his record and have his fast-approaching forced retirement date extended to be returned to consideration for promotion to major general. However, an Air Force senior official disagreed and overturned the board’s decision six days later, and Sage will retire at the end of the year. The official, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Richard Anderson, said there was insufficient evidence for the board’s decision...

All in the execution and really this idea is more for the MAF than the CAF. The F-7 has been discussed and probably some initial work has been done, no inside knowledge, but as an affordable mass replacement for older F-16s, a modern F-5 our smaller Allies could afford and IMHO, a good round out for the USAF to keep its fighter pilots always flying. https://breakingdefense.com/2023/11/air-force-weighing-turning-t-7-into-f-7-armed-light-attack-jet-official/ Really, it would be additive but probably not in total costs if an ARC squadron were so equipped with a lesser amount of their PAA but also equipped with X of F-7s. Devil in the details and all but likely a ratio of 3-4 F-7s could be had and supported for the cost of 1 “heavy” fighter. As for the MAF, this needs to be cargo, people, modern systems and lots of reps. Basically a regional airline run by AMC to give that pilot experience before moving on to the bigger jets while establishing or restoring capabilities lost when we lost jets like the C-9, most of the C-21s, etc… if an appropriate ME program is not going to be fielded.

Happy New Year! 5.49-5.625 depending on the scenario right now. Most of the refi’s have been for guys at 6.125+ but have done some 5.99s too. We pay the costs so no breakeven. Just a matter of the numbers work or not. 2026 isn’t forecasted to be a big rate decline year so might as well save money if you can then rinse and repeat as the opportunity presents itself. National VAs are at 5.9 right now. Feel free to text or call me if you want me to look at it and give you my thoughts. 850-377-1114

Any update on how rates are looking? I'm at 5.99% currently. Only had the mortgage about 6 months so i doubt a refi so soon would be worth it.

What you just said is* what the guade/reserve does, including the reserve units that teach IFF/FBF. They're high time IPs teaching guard/reserve babies how it's done. Bruh... The EX was also supposed to have a Sq replaced in 23. Don't drink the big 3 Kool aid. If all the guard/reserve units had to do was sit ONE and intercept Jim Bob in his cessna then sure put some Limas on a T7. The threat is far more advanced than that, and armed aircraft manned or not might not even been the answer. However, ONE is only a part of what these units do for AD. If you make them non-deployable AD will suffer. Not to mention we need them in the big fight. Guard squadrons aren't only getting F-35s because their politicians know how to deal.

I don’t think that’s what Clark is advocating for - look at ADAIR T-38s for example. Why not take experienced guys at the end of their careers who might hang up the cleats if they don’t have a good opportunity and instead let them train the next gen of true combat pilots. Give them a combat capability of their own (however rudimentary that is) and boom there’s the (soon to be mass produced) T(F)-7. Totally personal opinion and I’m truly not sure how a loyal wingman program would work (or how far it is from operational capability) but it doesn’t seem to be that crazy of a pipe dream considering that the F-7 has already been pitched to the AF.

It doesn't take a black border with plaid clearance to realize taking, let's say 30% on the low end, of your guard/reserve fighter pilots flying combat aircraft and putting them in an armed trainer is a terrible idea. The majority of your experienced fighter pilots live in the guard/reserve, especially these days. Not to mention you'd have to have a two seat "F7" for this, since four eyes are the only sensors you're gonna have in an armed trainer hunting CMs with nothing but a heater and hope in your heart. If we're coming up with pipe dreams I'd rather we use armed UAVs (thinking loyal wingman-esque but not necessarily stealthy) for ONE missions (minus DV protection). Give the reaper guys somewhere to go after AD and let your fighter guys focus on the big fight. At least we wouldnt be putting two dudes with 4K hours between them in a go-cart to go play heehaw and the fuck around gang.

It’s all in the execution whether or not it would be beneficial, detrimental, additive or unacceptable to the CAF and the Joint Force. I’m not privy to the data, people, o-plans, intel, etc… that I would need to come up with a real proposal but shooting from the hip on BO I’d recommend this F-7 mission(s) to A-10 units losing their jets, F-15C units not yet slated for EXs, F-16 units that have an ASA mission, etc… All branches of the DOW are looking at financially challenging times ahead even if the top line of the DOW keeps going up. The premier new weapons and platforms are expensive in of themselves, new less expensive unmanned weapons and platforms will need to be purchased in mass so in total cost of ownership they won’t be cheap and the sheer scale of what needs to be replaced, refurbished and acquired is daunting. Even if a patch wearing super smart guy says we need 690 F-47s, we won’t get them. Just my two cents, but the AF needs to consider a force less all gold plated and more copper, brass and some gold plating. Not every fight is night 1 in the Taiwan Strait. In terms of the CAF, an affordable light fighter, most if not all will be family models, primarily based in the ARC gives them billets & seats to retain experience, train FNGs and execute some missions without overkill. It would be awesome to have everything in the numbers we want but we are just not going to get that. Taking some risk, altering our perceptions of what the AF should look like and being able to change are necessary.

So instead of having combat capable aircraft and pilots with many years and a few thousand hours in said aircraft, you're advocating to take those pilots out of their fighter and put them in a non-deployable armed trainer? I'm sure AD units wouldn't mind back filling the deployments these units wouldn't be able to fill. I guess we could send these armed T7s in as cannon fodder if the balloon goes up, since there wouldn't be time to retrain them back to the fighters they left. Costs and consequences for sure...

Does anyone have SA on the Super Bowl flyover details? Apparently it was all USAF, but the Navy found out and complained. Now they are in it. Big dissimilar? I would hope so since it's now America's semiquincentennial.

Yup While I don’t agree with the premise the AF is apparently taking in a long term policy, that is to divest itself of all training aircraft save the T-7, I get why certain parts of the brain trust are advocating for that as there is only so much money, personnel, facilities, time and attention you can devote to training till while OTEing for ops. With that in mind and trying to meet the other side in the middle, both the CAF and MAF could use their ARC associated wings to build out new capabilities that still meet operational requirements but also serve as expanded training capabilities before new pilots report to their assignments. For the CAF, I’d argue for a light fight version of the T-7 with homeland defense, aggressor, training & exercise support as the raison d’etre(s). For the MAF, I’d argue for a reasonable fleet of transport category aircraft, probably replacing some older Herc and 135 tails. Adding airlift capability to the AF for regular personnel movement, light cargo, aero medical airlift, etc. Season and prepare new MAF bound pilots there before reporting to their FTU. There are costs and consequences to those ideas but you either want a strong pilot culture or not. You fly, train and focus on operating better than other Air Forces or not. You allocate the resources to build better aviators or not. I’m also not saying that those COAs are the only ways either but in a general sense an institution must have the honesty and character to change course when previous choices aren’t working as well as they thought they would. It must also think a bit creatively when resources are scarce, as Churchill said “Gentlemen, we have run out of money; now we have to think“ Think creatively, reasonably but also not timidly. The end goal is always a well trained, reasonably experienced and tested pilot graduate.

Maybe it's changed, but the "above 50%" was very loosey goosey as well.

Dude. Engage in the discussion. Fine. But go back and re-post this using your non-sockpuppet account. We all know this is someone who's been here for a while.

I really hope this is not M2 because dibs.

If he did, that surgeon did a helluva job.

Did M2 transition 🤔..?

@raimius Yup that’s exactly what I mean, and I completely agree with you it’s not a real fix but unfortunately it will be the standard moving forward. It really isn’t too late to go back though, because all I hear is that the resulting pilots are bad and that it was better before. If the speed of the FTU isn’t going to increase anyway, why not replace the T-1 and go back to the way things were? Or like @Clark Griswold suggests, get something that the AF can actually use (light transport style) to work with in the meantime that kills 2 birds with 1 stone?

By "fixed" you mean pushed more basic training on the FTUs? We cut an entire phase out of UPT to "fix" it.

This Minnesota Somali deal is getting uglier by the day...$18B

@Polar Bear as far as I’m aware it’s just that the FTUs aren’t ready for the influx of pilots. They fixed the UPT problem but seemed to forget that the FTUs need to be just as fast for it to mean anything effectively.

What’s causing the delay?