General Discussion

https://www.airforcet...g-block-112111/

I’m not saying for sure, but it appears to be out of the Charlotte ANG.

OK, I looked through the search function of the board and couldn't find it. I'm looking into applyin for a boomer position and wanted to get the skinny on the process. Is there an age limit? I have going on 15 years AFRES/Ang time. I am a pilot for a law-enforcement agency here in Ohio, so I do have some idea of the CRM aspect of things. I looked into trying to go UPT, but I'll be 35 in March '07 so I'm pooched on that avenue. Is being a boomer worth it? Although I won't be a pilot on a 135, will my interaction as an aircrew member give me valuable experience that I can bring back to my civilian flying job? Any hints, suggestions....etc gladly welcomed

Is the AF getting the Harvest Hawk package like the USMC for their C-130s? It would be an added plus for the airlift fleet and bring more fight to the enemy. Tac Air isn't needed as much when the largest enemy vehicle is a Toyota 4x4 in Afgan. Let the C-130s drop the Candy and see who picks it up. If it's the bad guys, fire them up. Perhaps the CoS being an old AC-130 guy will find the funding. How much would one F-35 cost anyway? Bet you can get 5 Harvest Hawk packages for the price of one F-35. Are there any AF C-130 crews that would like to pickup that additional mission? Better than flying a RPV in getting kills.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/careers/air-force/enlisted/2015/09/28/enlisted-drone-pilots-decision-expected-early-next-year/72806812/

All the OSINT pages are showing multiple explosions in Tehran. Israel in declared state of emergency. All air traffic into Israel turned around.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17110079 Partial quote: The Nato commander in Afghanistan has apologised over reports foreign troops may have burnt copies of the Koran. Announcing an inquiry, US Gen John R Allen said any "improper disposal" of religious materials was inadvertent. Reports suggest the books were taken from prisoners after the US uncovered a secret Taliban message system. Rumours that a Koran had been burnt led to protests outside the US base at Bagram north of Kabul. One man was hurt when Nato troops fired rubber bullets. President Hamid Karzai condemned the reports that the Koran had been burnt, as did the Taliban who said the incident would…

When in the hell are we going to actually protect our own country? N4T Investigators: Rogue Mexican Army troops crossing the line There are about 28,500 US military personnel in South Korea right now assisting in deterrance and defense of the 15th largest economy in the world that also has the 6th largest military (by AD personnel) with a 2.9 million reserve force and we have almost no US military actually stationed on and tasked to defend the southern border. Can we get at least half of that on our border? One can dream though...

Email traffic has been circulating in the RPA community that manning in going to be "healthy" come late 2016. As a result, the wizards at AFPC are estimating that ALFA tour pilots are going to start being released back to their previous manned aircraft, albeit slowly, starting Spring 2017. As a current non-vol stuck in RPAs, I'm hopeful and excited. I was pulled from AMC only after 9 months in my squadron, barely broke over 100 hours flying (boo hoo). I felt robbed, but this opportunity feels like my one chance to get back to what I love. Unfortunately, I don't believe the Air Force is going to follow through with it; I don't think they'll have a choice. After talkin…

The forum has been particularly active lately with several of the threads talking about the same, similar or tangents of the same topic: the current version of the Air Force is broken and getting worse. Symptoms of this are being discussed: pilot retention being abysmal, anecdotes of oblivious attitudes to operational support from different nonner shops, the somewhat desperate move(s) to change conditions outside of the AF or close off opportunities outside the AF to "encourage" retention, the threat of Stop Loss being publicly (if mistakenly) discussed and the indifference expressed by previous leadership, not really rebuked by current leadership, etc... If …

Anyone know anything about this AFPC robot email saying to update your ADP's for the April CAF DT (or something CAF) board? Something about making sure to update it so they don't vector you into something you don't want.. what the heck is this about?

Are FE's enlisted, navs, or pilots? I know the KC-10's have FE's, do any other planes?

A Lt Col and F-15E pilot has been kicked out of the Air Force after 18 years of service because he is gay: https://www.military.com/news/article/af-bo...-being-gay.html I know it is the law, but couldn't they have at least given him early retirement or something? It's likely they will have to give him retirement benefits/reinstatement anyway after the law is changed sometime between now and the midterm elections. ETA: Anyone else get a creepy feeling about the OSI spending time, money, and manpower looking into people's sex lives?

Search and rescue effort underway for missing aircraft Posted 1/28/2013 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs 1/28/2013 - AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- Search efforts are underway after Aviano Air Base lost contact with one of its F-16 fighter jets at approximately 8 p.m. this evening. The aircraft was performing a training mission over the Adriatic Sea with one person on board. The pilot's condition is unknown at this time. More information will be released as it becomes available.

After reading through these threads for a week or so, there seems to be many unfavorable aspects to being a military aviator such as long hours, large amounts of time away from home, random schedules etc... This brings me to two questions: 1) Is being a pilot worst than, the same as, or better than what you expected? 2) Do the pros outweigh the cons? Obviously these are opinion based questions. Just some things I'm curious about, thanks in advanced for the input.

From BBC: 1011: More on the US warplane that crashed late on Monday in Libya. It is understood that the pilot was taken by rebels and is safe, the Telegraph says. So far there have been no independent confirmation of this report. 0959: The Telegraph now says that the crashed US warplane is an F-15E Eagle Not entirely true. More info on the high side for those at work.

Decent article about the decade-long camouflage uniform screw up that has seemed to plague every service but the Marines.

Other threads have touched on the actions of Facebook, Twitter and other big tech and social media companies as a result of their actions during the election. We have also talked about the pros and cons of eliminating the protections they enjoy from section 230. Twitter suspended a major news organization (NY Post), because they didn't like the Hunter Biden story and labeled it "fake news" when parts have now been proven to be true. Twitter and Facebook have also killed President Trumps accounts. Now Facebook is in a war with an actual country as the battle for control heats up. Facebook Unfriends Australia Interested in the thoughts of others.

What is the path from Bergstrom to a weapons system for these new pilots? https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/1593411/flying-training-reimagined-as-first-ptn-class-graduates/

Link I hear that you'll need to be masters' and PME complete to be competitive... </sarcasm>

I know that a PPL is not necessary, but most people say that it is very beneficial to increasing your chances of getting a pilot's slot in the Air Force. I am thinking about taking the Air Force ROTC route and attempting to get a slot that way. Has anybody else here got their PPL before trying to get a pilot's slot? If so, how much did it help you? Is a PPL enough, or should a person also get an Instrument rating (which usually takes longer than getting a PPL and is very expensive)? I have talked to many people involved in Air Force ROTC and they say that the major you take is not a force at all, just as long as you get a bachelors and a good grade. Considering thi…

What is the status of the C-130 AMP program? Most of the information on the internets are from 2005. Is there any money in the next couple years for some glass? https://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123027448 gracias

I did some searching online and could not find mess dress party shirts. Does anyone know where I could get one online?

My dollar ride is on Wednesday (17 Dec), and I'm looking for cool things to do with my dollar. Any ideas or suggestions? Does it HAVE to incorporate naked women? I'm looking for my dollar to be pretty 'special' to get a laugh or two and to have some fun. Post what YOUR dollar had on it...this should get interesting... I'll award points for creativity. Thanks in advance!

https://www.laughlin.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1377774/media-release-downed-aircraft-in-del-rio/ "LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- An Air Force T-38 Talon assigned here at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, crashed at approximately 4 p.m. today approximately 14 miles northwest of the base near Spur 454 and U.S. 90 in Del Rio, Texas. At the time of release, Laughlin emergency response personnel and local responders were on scene to assist in recovery efforts. A board of officers will investigate the accident. Additional details will be provided as information becomes available."