General Discussion

Getting PCS'd to Langley. Single JO with no responsibilities. Would like to keep the commute to under 45 minutes knowing that traffic can snarl. Open to buying a house/condo/townhouse or renting. Seems like buying something worth while might be out of my price range after a little bit or searching. Any insight/tips for me? Has anyone lived west of Norfolk/portsmouth and commuted across the bridge? Seems like a gamble.

Going to be commissioning in a few years; I'll have a few years in already as a prior enlisted guy, but what can I expect as a new LT? How am I going to get messed with? What assumptions are people going to make of me? What are somethings I should definitely NOT do (besides make threads like this)?

She was recently promoted to 4 stars and will be the next commander of the Pacific Combat Air Command. What's interesting, her career started as a ABM and never piloted an aircraft. She should be in the running in being the 1st CoSAF without being a pilot. Interesting times for the future of the AF.

https://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/07/malaysian-b777-crash-reported-in-contested-airpsace/

New Vance Wing CC put the kaibash on Friday. I'm dumbfounded that is deemed to be out of regs.

So, the AF Times put together a list of all the CONUS bases ranking quality of life according to "everything from school quality to the local economy, crime rates to traffic, and climate to on-base amenities, such as commissaries". I don't agree with their list and am pretty surprised by where some of the bases ended up. I'm curious what everyone's opinion is of the best base. Here's the AF Times list.

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e96_1406050224

Interesting take on the use of the word hero- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-j-astore/why-its-wrong-to-equate-m_b_655611.html

So much for the pre-flight... https://www.kake.com/news/national/headlines/Body-of-child-stowaway-found-in-US-cargo-plane-269083371.html

Saw the Air Force's 30-year strategy just came out, figured might be worth worth discussing. Wonder what predictions written in 1984 said about today...I'd venture to bet they weren't all that accurate. Maybe some of you old heads can chime in on that one. Link for the file, also see attached to download. AF 30 Year Strategy.pdf

Caught this earlier today. Comm checks could be interesting. Lifting an overzealous barrier or another body blow to the military for the sake of inclusion/diversity? https://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140802/NEWS/308020038/Lawmaker-wants-trial-program-deaf-serve-Air-Force I understand how well deaf individuals can integrate - I went to a school who had 25% deaf/HOH population and have seen it first hand. But this?

This topic was touched on in the FY15 VSP thread, but no one had any real answers. Has anyone who has been approved for the FY 14 or 15 VSP received any concrete info on Transfer of Education Benifits (TEB) for children? The PSDM states: "6. Impact on Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits: If a member has transferred benefits prior to approval to separate under VSP, then the member’s service obligation will be treated as complete. However, if the member attempts to transfer benefits for the first time after approval to separate under VSP, the member will not have sufficient retainability to enter into a service obligation and would not be approved f…

A buddy of mine actually submitted this to finance in his efinance voucher. To be fair, his voucher from his deployment, which he returned from almost a year ago, has been rejected 10 times. Yes, 10 times. He is fed up, as some of the reasons for rejection have been absolutely ridiculous. Some of them were legit but it has gotten to the point where he has had enough and wanted to send a message. Note: He is well aware of the potential back lashing, but doesn't care. To whom it may concern, The last time my voucher was rejected was because I failed to include details such as the airports from which I traveled to and from for my post-deployment leave. I realize th…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nCrY4Frdgn8

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-14/british-pilot-artificial-arm-comes-off-during-landing-flybe/5671748 I read this and had to share. My favorite lines are "The airline confirms that at no time was the safety of its passengers or crew compromised in any way, nor was the aircraft damaged." & "...he did this, but with power still applied and possibly a gust affecting the aircraft, a normal touchdown was followed by a bounce, from which the aircraft landed heavily," the report said. When you say no one was ever in danger you mean other than the part where no one was flying on short final right? Then they blame a wind shear for the rough landing? Really?

https://fox13now.com/2014/08/17/photo-air-force-plane-makes-hard-landing-at-hill-air-force-base/ At least they tried to get the gear down.... Sounds like the crew made it out safe thankfully.

A while back, I seem to recall reading a "noise complaint" letter from a guy who lived under a low-level route. The basic premise was "you guys aren't training right--you need to be lower and faster!" Anyone know the letter I'm talking about? If so, can you post it or direct me to it? Apparently my search skills are not as good as I thought. Thanks.

Read a good article in the Atlantic and wanted to see what the opinion of others was on the idea that we are actually close to another major conflict between the new Great Powers via alliances and waxing / waning influence. Yes, It Could Happen Again Instability in Ukraine, chaos in Syria, conflict in the East China Sea—the trigger points for World War III are in place.

Anyone heard of this? https://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pages/2014/August%202014/August%2026%202014/Moody-Selected-as-Afghan-A-29-Training-Site.aspx

I PCS'd from UPT about a month ago for TDY enroute at Altus, but my departure date was a week before my class start date. Since it was a PCS departure, no more housing at the old PDS...it only took two days to arrive at Altus, so I was here for about five days with no class, but still spending money on the hotel. Went to finance to do an accrual voucher so I could be reimbursed for the hotel, and was told that I would not be reimbursed for any days prior to the day before my class start date....which means I'm paying out of pocket for an unwanted 5 day vacation in lovely Altus, OK. Does anyone know if it is possible to get an amendment on the TDY orders that puts me…

Just reported that an F-15C from MANG crashed in Virginia. Cause unknown Was en route from Massachusetts to New Orleans No info on injuries or fatality yet. Fingers crossed for the Driver, hopefully he bailed before. Chute-up

Could be in the Russia or Ukraine threads but worthy of separate discussion, the genie is out of the bottle, I hope you can fight without GPS. https://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Satellite_Navigation_Failure_Confirms_Urgent_Need_for_Backup_999.html

https://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=1334219 This would be a fun refurb project. Wish I had stupid money.

https://m.ktxs.com/news/small-plane-crash-near-abilene-regional-airport/27818540 RIP...

https://washingtonexaminer.com/army-cant-track-spending-on-4.3b-system-to-track-spending-ig-finds/article/2552808