General Discussion

So I saw an article about the latest shadow tanker being seized, this time by France in the Med. I did some quick Gemini searching, and that puts the seizure count at 8 in the last month, with European plans to ramp up this type of thing, and the Russian Navy beginning escorting tankers. The fleet size is substantially larger than I realized (estimates vary, but around 1000) so the overall impact is still small on a numbers basis, but military escort of tankers sounds like the portion of this story that matters. Lots of opportunity for a spark here. ReutersFrance intercepts suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker i...The French navy intercepted a Russian tanker on Thursd…

Hey gang...new to the forum. Our base is looking for a manufacturer of lighted Follow Me signs that can be installed in the back of standard pick-up trucks. Ours were locally made years ago and are becoming their own FOD hazard. I thought we would find some manufacturers out there with a web search of ground support equipment, but no joy. Appreciate any leads you all may have.

Haven't seen this discussed. Article was found the the Salisbury News 06 March 2009. Interesting read if you have the time. Bet that guys feels about 2inches tall.

Nickel on the grass for "Pitbull" McDowell and "Lag" Gramith. They both leave behind wives, and Lag leaves behind twin 7 month old girls. The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association (River Rats) are setting up 529 accounts for Lag's daughters. I expect donation info in the next day or two, and I will post here when I get the details. Cheers, Cap-10

I'm honestly not sure how to react to this story on the BBC website. Should I express dismay at the unfortunate and sad death that resulted, or should I laugh quietly and think they have some kind of shit-hot bomb aiming gear on that C130? And what are the odds of this happening? link The picture of an RAF Herc that accompanies the article is captioned "The RAF tries to reach local people with leaflet drops". I wonder if the copywriter didn't have some kind of warped sense of humor also.

Anyone heard anything about the latest TPS board? Its been a month just wondering if anyone has heard anything. thanks

When in a cell, when does lead pass the AA Tacan to 2? Us heavy guys don't see a cell often, but lately I've been on several locals where we have. Everyone seems to be passing the AA at different times. Couldn't find it in any tanker manuals. Just curious.

I know there's a bunch of so called "military websites" for selling your home and I've looked at a few but I'm curious if anybody has had any luck with this sort of thing? My Realtor said if I found the buyer he would do everything for .5% so if there are any credible sites out there I'd like to give it a try.

Hey guys, About to put together a package here. I had eye surgery in accordance with AFI 48-123 a while back, does anyone know if there is any paperwork needed to go in the packet stating I had the surgery but my eyes are good to go? Also, do I need to include a flight physical in the packet? Thanks

Good news, especially for you AETC folks in Texas and Vance: The Million Air FBO's at Hobby and Fayetteville Arkansas just got the military servicing/fueling contract. Although EFD is close by, swing into HOU next time you're in Houston. We went through Hobby back in Feb, and it is top shelf: good flight planning, professional line crew, free snacks/drinks,... even the crew car is a BMW 5 series. FYV probably has the same, as this is a Million Air standard. The movie theatre is impressive too. The tower guys at Hobby are great, and give you whatever they can. Hobby has 7600', and Fayetteville's 6000' of runway. You T-38 pilots are out of luck at FYV, but HOU…

According to AF Times: "Gen. Arthur Lichte, who officially retired in January, now sits on the board of directors of EADS North America. A division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., EADS North American announced Lichtes confirmation to the board Friday." And I thought this acquisition bullshit couldn't get any worse. Hey Art, did it ever cross your mind that this might not be the best time to run off and join the EADS board? I mean the whole improper contract award did happen under your watch at AMC. You didn't make the decision but I'm sure you argued the case for your boys. Did the thought even cross your mind that it might be good to sit this …

Article from the Associated Press discussing the advantages of Satellite based flight data recording over traditional "black boxes" in regards to commercial aviation. Interesting read. Aviation Thinks Outside The Black Box.

Hi guys New poster here. I wanted to inquire as to what schools are military friendly/government stationed-overseas-friendly for getting the online MBA ? I have seen some ads for Darden Univ Virgina and also Colorado State University. Thanks !

I'm an old(somewhat) Vietnam Era Army officer who has had the privilege of watching my daughter grow into her dream of flying by first getting her PPL in High School, then getting commissioned a 2lt in the USAF with a pilot slot after a great college run, doing IFS, UPT and FTU and loving every minute of it and now finally returning after her first deployment last week from the desert. My hat is tipped to all of you young pilots(and the rest of you like me)who do what you love and make this country safe for the rest of us. Our family is blessed to have been a part of this journey so far, meeting everyone we have along the way and watching in awe as to what you all are doi…

Hey everybody! I hope to someday become a C-17 pilot for the USAF. It's a long ways away but hopefully I can go from USAF ROTC at a flight college, then to SUPT fly the T-6 and T-1, then hopefully the C-17. I'm not even close yet but I am already planning and studying civilian flight textbooks. (FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, Private Pilot Training Textbooks... Etc...) Here are just a few questions for C-17 pilots or any other people that know about the plane: 1. For training, I'm guessing lots of it is in the simulator, but how many flights do you get in the actual plane? 2. How many hours of countable flight time (Sim, or real) do you get at training? 3. How much time…

My grandfather enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the late 30s, and then he spent most of the War in the South Pacific as a nav and pilot on 17s and as an IP on 29s in Mississippi (to the best of my knowledge). Well, he died in 2003 and left all his medals and ribbons to me. However, my grandmother (his wife), just passed away last week, finally putting me in possession of said medals and ribbons. My question is: how do I found out what each one is for? He stayed in the service for years and years as a reservist after the War ended, so I can't figure out which decorations belong to which time period. I'm assuming there's a website out there that would have all of these thi…

An article in the Wall Street Journal this AM stating Sec gates is in favor of increasing Tricare premiums for retirees. I am sure the retired groups will be up in arms, but it seems to make sense to me. Enrollment fees have not changed since the program was founded in 1996 and the cost for a family would increase from $460 to $520 per year, that sounds more than fair and reasonable to me. Another change is to encourage the use of the mail-order pharmacy, no co-pay for using the service, certainly a reasonable option for non-time critical medicines. The co-pay would increase $3 if you still want to use a local pharmacy. With all the other cuts backs and issues faci…

https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704409004576146001069880040.html "In November 2010, each branch of the military issued a final report on the Fort Hood shooting. Not one mentioned the perpetrator's ties to radical Islam." Even after this rampage, the military still refuses to identify the true enemy we are fighting that is the ideologies of radical Islam. Another example of the type of officers in leadership in today's military, risk adverse, politically correct, and lacking spine. Thoughts?

If you own a house in Florida, filed a homestead exemption, and have been deployed in the last year to OEF/OIF/OND, read this: https://srcpa.org/. Florida approved an additional tax exemption on top of your homestead exemption proportional to the days in 2010 deployed. Looks like it'll be every year from now on, too, so keep it in mind next time you get non-vold to Balad. If you're home right now, you should get something in the mail, so this is more for guys that are deployed or instinctively throw anything from the Taxman's office in the shredder. Here's the application. https://srcpa.org/dr501m.pdf

Austin Hatch in critical condition Quote from a friend about the first crash that killed his wife and 2 kids (Doctor pilot and his son survived): Guess this guy never learned what unusable fuel was. The only time it is ever used, is in a post crash fire. Why does the FAA keep giving pilot licenses to Doctors?

I just got a a T-6 PIT flying job - moving this summer. Looking to see if there are any folks there in San Antonio who can give me info on where to live, schools, etc - the normal stuff. Right now, we're looking to rent in the Stone Oak or Canyon Springs area, but looking for opinions. Thanks

Christmas almost came early for China... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16292244

Hey all, Heading to Shindand AB soon for an extended stay. Has anyone been there recently? I'm looking for info on living conditions, facilities available, etc. PM me and we can exchange .mil email addresses to make sure we're not crossing any OPSEC lines on an open forum. Thanks for your help. -Todd

Have read this before but saw it on the new AF website again https://www.af.mil/specials/courage/story.html "We've got a motto for a reason: these things we do that others may live." Technical Sergeant James Davis said somewhat casually, just days after risking his life to save two Army helicopter pilots from an unforgiving valley in Afghanistan. Along with his crew, Sergeant Davis makes up an elite group of Airmen who serve as Combat Search and Rescue Aircrews – the professionals who go in with helicopters, hoists, and guns, putting their lives on the line to save others in hostile situations. He deployed to Afghanistan as an HH-60 Pave Hawk flight engineer…

I'm currently in an MBA program (after about seven years active duty and now a dirty Guard guy on the side) and am in the summer internship search process. I got an email today from Pratt and Whitney about their summer internship program, and am going to talk to someone in their HR department hopefully this week to get the what's what on the job. Anyone around here have any experience working with/for/against P&W? Know anyone that has? I'm planning on doing the school alumni database search, but I'd love to get a bro's perspective if there's one out there. Also, bigger picture for anyone who has gone down this road before--I'm not wedded to the idea of s…