General Discussion

Anyone know somebody who has done this? I'm really leaning towards trying to get one of these slots when i'm done with my tour here in England. Wife will have to get citizenship but that's just a trip to the states and back. I'll also be in for a long bit of training (up to 1 year depending on language). The job really sounds interesting and definitely very few do it. Anybody have any info. I have already emailed the Europe Defense Attache program dude and he has gotten back to me but it was pretty much a canned answer to some of my questions.

While I certainly agree that OPSEC is tremendously important, the MilitaryTimes article cited as reference seems to indicate that LtCol Shower did nothing wrong. Further, take a look at the (very long) reply to the original article here: Defense for Dozer You have to scroll down past the original article. To add one further....we received a 2nd briefing today at work that seems to back up some of the comments in the article. Namely, that the briefing wasn't a multi-agency investigation, as the shield emblems on the front of the brief suggest, and that OSI might have violated a number of their own rules in releasing a brief that publicly identified an active …

New budget to be reveiled today - Im sure it will lead to some heated debate on here but here is some news Im sure many of us will find not too surprising... Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the Pentagon's top weapons priorities that he said will orient the U.S. military toward winning unconventional conflicts like the one in Afghanistan rather than focusing on war with major powers. Among the major changes he is proposing includes ending production of Lockheed's F-22 Raptor at 187 jets. Gates said funding for another Lockheed program, the Joint Strike Fighter, will be increased in 2010 to $11.2 billion, which will now buy 30 jets, up f…

Can anyone provide me with diagram of the Defensive Egg? Thanks, Ren

Hello friends. 6 to 9 month ago, I retired as a T-38 IP reservist. Talking to friends that are still hacking the mish (cool pilot talk 🙂 ), they are seeing numerous problems in T-38 land. 1st, the reduction in T-6 syllabus flying time is noticeable in newbie skill level and SA. 2nd, flight room daily morning briefs and daily stand-up are a thing of the past due to.... 3rd, IP manning is terrible. Supposedly AETC needed 249 IPs in FY 2019, they got 150 - everyone is separating. 4th, there are not enough civilian simulator instructors. Anyone else seeing the same stuff? I am drinking Belgian beer in Belgium right now. I hope you all find your way off the sinking s…

Can anyone point my to the AF policy in writing regarding ground deicing procedures, such holdover times, etc.... [ 02. January 2006, 23:29: Message edited by: RedDog ]

The AF Times has an interesting story w/ pics for the new place, 'Millenium Village'. Looks decent, although I'm not really sure I understand the rationale of the rooms sharing a kitchenette...I'd rather have my own room/bathroom, thank you. What'll be REALLY nice is now we won't have to stay in the goddam tents whenever we come through as transients...transient aircrew don't get the trailer billets, just a tent w/ a dude working a jackhammer outside. Wonder how much of CC they'll tear down though...

Just talked to a buddy who is casual at Laughlin who told me that any T38 grad going to a fighter will do a year in a heavy before going to the b course in an effort to reduce the FTU backup. Thoughts?

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This might affect some Guard guys... Can anyone confirm/deny this? If true, this is the best of example of (mis)management BS. This memo supposedly from ALPA, not Delta.

Breaking reports - flipped upside down. Initial report say most people survived. 35-45 Knts winds at landing.

Came across this link of some pictures and transcript of yesterdays launch at Vandenburg. Looking at the pictures I am wondering the pucker factor of the launch controller who had his finger on a self destruct button. Looking at the pics on the link you can see a fire at a seam on one of the external boosters and later you see a fire just above one of the engines. Hopefully there are some guys with knowledge with these monsters on this forum. https://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/status.html

I sat static all weekend at the Fort Smith Air Show. Saw the T-Chickens put on their first show of the season. The one to see was the new F-15E demo team though. It was awesome! Almost as good as the people watching in northern Arkansas. Family trees look like telephone poles there. The A-10, F-4 and F-18F did great as well.

For the first time in the Air Force (10+ years now), I have to go to Finance to certify my dependent status by taking them marriage certificates (and/or birth certificates for those who were issued spawn). Apparently, this is an AF-wide move, and they won't take email copies... you have to see them in person. Who has the story on why we're going through this dance of inefficiency? Obviously, there was either some colossal fraud or somebody ordered an AF-wide investigation. @Finance Guy... where are you?

Here's a new one....to me at least. Wanted to see if any of you all had heard this, or experienced it. I'm currently 8.69 months into a 365. I volunteered for it as a result of getting the "you're getting a 365 next week" warning e-mail (my CC did some checking into it; it was valid and I was going to get a different one). Prior to all of this, I was assigned to the X4 band (1 Apr - 30 Sep 14) at an AETC base. Early last week, I started getting e-mails (to my home station e-mail) that I needed to complete my required X4 band CBTs. Then, yesterday, I received an e-mail from my CC that he was PCAing me to a different squadron so that I wouldn't get tagged for a 179 as…

When deployed to a combat zone, does anyone simply . . . not have taxes taken out on your LES? I'm a traditional guard bubba deployed for the Nth time. Taxes are always taken out on our LES. They are repaid in the next month's LES. However, that next month's LES has taxes taken out, then reimbursed on the third month's, and so on. I don't know if that's how the system is designed to work, or that's how Guard finance works. Makes it a PITA to double check amounts are correct come W-2 time. May also be a case where every guard franchise unit does it differently.

Hey first time posting here, but have been using this site as reference for some time now. Anyways, I'm a pilot in an active duty squadron at my first duty location. Deployments are pretty slow in our unit right now and I'm curious what the process would be in order to deploy with a different unit, either active duty or guard/reserve. Is there someone I can talk to at AFPC? I'm really curious about filling a flying spot at a unit that is being exhausted by their own deployment schedule and maybe taking someone's spot who would like a chance to sit a deployment out. I'm looking to build my experience as a young pilot and right now we are under flown, and we're not getting …

I'm packing up this weekend. Anybody got any good ideas on stuff to make a long deployment more enjoyable? No need to post the obvious: I already have booze, porn, and an inflatable girlfriend.

For deployments of pilots, how long are you gone and does your family generally come with or stay behind? Does it differ from airframe to airframe?

I’m curious about the current deployment timeline of different platforms in todays Airforce and just how long you’re gone from home in general. I’ve heard that some planes have changed their deployment schedule in the last 5-10 years. I’ve heard that some special ops communities are gone for 5-6 months and then home for 18 months, C-17s are gone TDY for almost 300 days a year, tankers are at home almost every night but work more uniform hours in the day, other aircraft do deployments for 6 months to a year at a time but are home for the next 2 years, etc. Not sure if this is true or just rumors. Please comment if you know about any of the following platforms. I w…

https://defenseopinion.com/in-a-dangerous-world-new-pentagon-mitigation-plan-would-hobble-u-s-forces/183/ One excerpt. Interesting from the perspective that major combat would probably be hampered if you apply the same expectations as HVI hunts with Hellfires, which he argues we are doing.

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You've herad the rumors, you've said, "No way" there's no way they can PT test in the desert. Well ladies and gentlemen, it's official. Starting 1 October, desert PT testing is here. Read the attachment and enjoy. Yet another reason not to deploy. AFCENT PT POLICY.pdf

Twenty-five years ago today, I found myself in the Saudi Arabian desert near the Iraqi border with NVG's on watching a steady stream of traffic headed northbound and downtown. It was a very impressive sight. I mentioned this in the office today and guys were amazed that it was 25 years ago. Of course some said they were in grade school then so I gave them a quick history lesson.

Does anyone have a good website for ordering those mini static displays that you see on peoples' desks? I'm trying to find one for the T-6, but on base they've only got a tweet. Internet searches are somewhat fruitless also. Thanks.