General Discussion

I am a medical officer with 3 years in and want to switch fields to become a pilot. I am already commissioned before my 29th birthday (I'm 28 now). Can anyone assist? I have called AFPC and my functional and they either say they've never heard of it, or that I'd lose rank (don't mind)--and still no help after that. I am seeing if anyone knows anything else in order to help me out and if it were even worth my while with only a few hours of pilot training and ground school knocked out. Phone numbers, e-mails, or contacts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Just a new pilot musing here, but why wouldn’t the Pegasus have some form of winglets or raked wing tips? Although they would probably add some weight and development costs, it’s been done before on 767s and seems to be a cost-effective measure to increase fuel efficiency on all kinds of commercial aircraft. Given the thousands of hours these aircraft will fly, wouldn’t the extra cost be recouped in fuel saved quite easily? Is there something I’m missing here? Appreciate any input.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I have a request... I would like a copy of an ejection seat briefing guide that is given to pax. I don't mean the classroom briefing guide that the pilot briefs before the flight, but more what an egress instructor gives a pax during their seat training before the flight.... discussing seat position, canopy jettison, post ejection, etc... Obviously I don't need specifics to a particular kind of jet. I would just like the overall items so that I don't forget to include anything on the one I'm writing, which will be specific to the aircraft I'm working with. Hard copy, electronic... if it isn't that many pages, you can just…

Is it possible? I imagine that quite a few units are bottom heavy with everyone bailing to the airlines as soon as they hit ATP mins. I'm worried about getting enough flying time when I get off seasoning days. I imagine local sorties wouldn't make much sense, but I would love to jump on a deployment since I won't be back from PIQ before my unit heads out. Also, under the new "Total Force Office Training" model, can Guard dudes go fly with a Reserve unit or even AD? Thanks!

Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group claims responsibility for deadly Kenya mall attack https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/21/attack-on-nairobi-mall-kills-10-people/?intcmp=latestnews#ixzz2fZJEpDZR Pack your bags, there are terrorists in Kenya! Wait, what? Kenya is in Africa? Never mind.

Lockheed Martin is hiring an F-16 Flight Manual Manager to the team at Hill AFB. If you or anyone you know might be interested, and you aren't going to the airlines, please consider applying! LM Aero is a great company to work for and the work environment and team at the F-16 SPO are top notch! PM me if you have any questions. You don't need to have F-16 experience (though it would be great if you did!), but you do have to be aircrew. https://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/job/hill-air-force-base/f-16-flight-manual-manager/694/14369192?fbclid=IwAR1NKFDcEoO-0cWDep4KYV8TuXhqkCg2GYQK2__08C1VKRUUZHFO4yOCiAw

Since we're all waiting on clarification about what's going on with the VLPAD program, does anyone here have any recent experience or info on simply going active from the Guard or Reserve? There's a bit of info on MyPers but not much more than simply how to apply.

Family and I will be moving to Luke in August for F-16 B course and we’re need of some information on the local area; housing, things to do/not do, etc. Big thing is trying to figure out if we should do base housing or rent else where. Thanks in advanced.

Where do the Coast Guard C-130 pilots come from? Is it possible to be an AF pilot and cross into the coast guard? If it is I'm guessing that your AF years/CG years both work towards 20? It just seems like a sweet gig if you love being near the ocean. Thanks!

Had a buddy ask me about divorce law and the Obama federal change to it. Didn’t know how to answer. Figured there were some people in the know on here that can help. He got divorced prior to : https://apgnews.com/community-news/legal-note-divorce-military-pensions/ passing. So his divorce says he is suppose to give her 50% of the days married while in the service. Then that percentage carried out over his whole service. For easy math if they were married for 10 Years of service and he served 20 and retired she would be entitled to 50% of 10 years which would be 25% total of his entire service worth of retire pay at his retired amount. The new federal law passed say…

How would someone with active duty and reserve service accurately calculate their TAFMS time? Prior to commissioning, I served four years on active duty and five years in the reserve component. When I in-processed at Laughlin about three months ago, I discovered what I thought to be a discrepancy on the DD-214 issued to me prior to departing OTS. It reads that I have 7.5 years of TAFMS. I brought it up with the MPF here and they started a CMS case. That case made its way to AFPC and they confirmed that I have accumulated 7.5 years of TAFMS. I did complete two long formal training schools and a few sets of lengthy orders while in the reserve, but those points only add up t…

I am looking for an old buddy who I served with a long time ago and who separated from the USAF in the early 90s. I am lucky in that I have an old set of orders that has his SSN on it. I tried Intelius but only got a listing of possible cities. A full report costs $50, and I want to be sure the info is worth getting before shelling out the cash. I did a search on his name and in those cities via WhitePages.com; but the one best lead (same exact name) I got was not the right person. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations. The driving factor behind all of this was my being contacted by a guy who served with my bud's father in Vietnam, and who was wit…

Hello to my Air Force brothers! I'm currently an AH-64D pilot over here in northern Iraq. I've got about two and half years left on my obligation and and have some questions about a possible life with the Air force, active or guard. Oh yea, I am a Warrant Officer. I will have 1000+ hours and my degree will be finished. I will be 31 with eleven years active time as well as attending the JFCC. What's the best way to go? A job flying helicopters or fixed wing is fine and so is guard or active, although, active is preferred. The "Longbow" has got all the bells and whistles with all the avionics and dual laser gyros, etc. About 300+ will be combat time and wonder if any of thi…

Air Force awards $2.4B contract for new helicopters to guard nukes https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/24/politics/air-force-helicopter-contract-nukes/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

Hard to believe, but thirty years ago at about this time, I was just finishing up my fuel balance after refueling on the way to Panama.

So I read this the other day: The U.S. was supposed to leave Afghanistan by 2017. Now it might take decades. and since the forum has been active on Afghanistan related subjects, namely AFPAK Hands, and the basically universal consensus that it is a waste of time, I wanted to start a discussion on whether or not it is time to leave and if so how? Leaving gets misinterpreted with defeat in battle, not so. Leaving means the completion of our military training mission, determination that our rebuilding & stabilization mission has run its course and that it is time to redeploy our forces & people to the northern part of the country, former Northern Alli…

For those who have recently retired, how long did it take to get your DD-214? I am still on terminal leave, but applied for my DD-214 several months ago and have heard or seen anything.

Anyone got eyes on the new JTR? Any big picture changes?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theaviationist.com/2019/12/02/u-s-air-force-f-16-crashes-while-attempting-to-land-at-kunsan-air-base-south-korea-pilot-ejected/amp/ sounds like good news for the pilot this time

I'm skeptical this will happen or if there is really a need but there is a good bit of research going into this... https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161220-the-aerial-tankers-that-helped-shrink-the-globe https://www.google.com/patents/US20030136874 https://www.range-unlimited.com/ https://theconversation.com/in-flight-refuelling-for-airliners-will-see-non-stop-services-shrink-the-globe-39931 Reading this and thinking about my own time flying the mighty 135, the only way I could see this happening and being profitable/logistically sensible is if you could synchronize the tankers and receivers by a reciprocative schedule/flight plan or rendezvous .…

https://taskandpurpose.com/marine-aircraft-crash-off-japan/ Haven’t seen anyone post this yet. No words on the crew but a total of 7 to be involved. Hope they all made it. 🍺

Saw this posted on a different forum, felt it was worth sharing here... Cheers! M2

With all of these programs to build the pilot population and pilot training cranking out high numbers of pilots yet we are still looking for more pilots, why doesn’t the Air Force reinstitute aero clubs at bases? I know there are a few remaining. But they are the exception. Thoughts?

I need advice since my deployment to Afghanistan was 2011/2012. I recall that our squadron had more cookies, candy, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc... than we could shake a stick at. I also recall the military telling people that airlift and sealift was at a premium and their stuff was on a space available basis. My questions: - with the reduced presence now, are Care Packages still desired? Or are they still the unneeded/unnecessary pain in the ass that they were when I was there? - what do you advise people to send in a Care Package? I ask because people at church are going to send Care Packages. And if they are, I at least want to guide them…