General Discussion

Anyone know what reg covers gear pilots are authorized to be given through O&M purchases? Trying to spend end of year funds and take care of guys without buying tvs and chairs. Thanks for legit ideas!

I had heard from a T-1 Bud who went to the retirement event at RND that the T-1 is gone from all UPT bases (not counting the CSO training) A few old friends don’t beleive this is the case.

https://afjag.usaf.afpims.mil/Portals/77/AIB-Reports/2023/21AUG23 AMC C-17A JBER AIB Report.pdf Interesting report. GS MEP experiences DCS, onboard med crew diagnoses as hyperventilating and doesn't check on him pretty much the entirety of the return to base. Load has to convince them to inform the pilot but its passed to pilot as nothing big. Dude dies the following morning after sliding towards death overnight in the ER. Additionally, one of the 3 airdrop med techs popped hot for alcohol and THC......

Some of you spent your entire careers fighting terrorists. You sacrificed. Some sacrificed everything. Why? So the DoD could negotiate and strike a deal with a 9/11 mastermind? How many more ways are they going to spit in our faces?

Hi All; For a museum project, I am looking for USAF Pilot Training Class patches from Moody AFB from Fiscal Year 2003 to Fiscal Year 2007. I can trade for or buy. Please help if you can Jim Flaviani, USAF (Ret) USAF UPT Historian www.usafupt.com

Hi All; For a museum project, I am looking for USAF Pilot Training Class patches from Moody AFB from Fiscal Year 2003 to Fiscal Year 2007. I can trade for or buy. Please help if you can Jim Flaviani, USAF (Ret) USAF UPT Historian www.usafupt.com

Howdy folks, just graduated school and I'm on my way to Laughlin to wait (APT) for an IFT/UPT class date. I'd sincerely appreciate any and all wisdom y'all have on PCSing, inprocessing at a new base - especially Laughlin/UPT, the IFT/UPT pipeline itself, etc. Thanks a bunch! - Ike

An update concerning MARSRADIO. An unclassified HF communications backup is reserved for active DoD and Federal Agencies. The net is still very active guarding its frequencies for calls. In the first half of this year, there were just under 2000 requests for phone patches, METAR/TAF weather, message, radio, and SELCAL checks. Additionally, there have been a few requests for updated Avian Hazard information. We were excited about the possibility of improvement in our global coverage with the peak of the solar cycle. Unfortunately, there has been a huge number of strong solar storms that reduce coverage. Some requests have been heard from the Western Pacific, Eur…

Hope they got out. What aircraft? EDIT: Looks like they did. "Pilot is being attended to." https://www.facebook.com/KOBTV/videos/2425143644345871

Just heard about this... T-6 Instructor Pilot Dies After Ejection Seat Goes Off on the Ground (airandspaceforces.com) An Air Force instructor pilot died early in the morning on May 14 from injuries sustained when the pilot’s T-6A Texan II training plane ejection seat activated during ground operations the day before, the 82nd Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, announced in a press release. “An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway,” the wing wrote, adding that the pilot’s name is being withheld for 24 hours to notify his or her next of kin. (full story at title link) 🍺

Hello! Mid twenties working in healthcare with few logged hours under my belt. Been considering a career change and try for a guard spot. Current job is somewhat interesting and rewarding, but it just feels like a job and like I am putting my life on pause until I clock out. Does flying ever start feeling like that? I have read enough from pilots leaving service to understand there is a lot of desk work and duties outside of flying, but at the end of the day you still get to do some amazing flying, with amazing people, wear flight suits, and all the prestigious things that come with being a pilot. It just feels childish to quit a stable career I built so far to start from…

Hey Guys, Looking to gather some info on an upcoming PCS. There’s a potential to go on a marine exchange. Have any of you bros done one? Looking to see if it’s a good opportunity/QOL. Any general experience is helpful, however this is a F-35 marine exchange to be specific. Thanks!

https://apnews.com/article/holloman-air-force-base-f16-jet-crash-84504e14dbb43837839d4d2e824c08eb Pilot ejected and taken to the hospital and released.

I was wondering about how logging sim time towards your total time works and if we’re able to do it for military sim training. I’m currently at JMATS in Little Rock, training in their full motion C-130J simulators. I’m a guard guy so after seasoning I’ll be back out on the streets and have to find a full time civilian flying job (hopefully), and I’m trying to plan ahead. With the market as it is, I want to count as many hours as I’m able to towards my total time and hopefully go straight to a regional, or at least a fractional ownership company like Netjets. Does any C-130J pilot out there know if the C-130J sims are FAA certified so that we are able to count them towards…

Good morning all, Board results were just announced and I was one of the unfortunate ones that didn’t make it. Had about 24hrs to soak up this information and I think it’s time for me to start thinking about what’s going to happen next in my life. Here’s some info about my career so far. Commissioned 2015 and went to a non-rated career field. In 2019 I decided to apply for the Late-to-rate boards and got picked up as an early Captain. Currently in a flying unit flying the best MAF aircraft out there (IYKYK). A basic AC with about 1000 total time (UPT/Current MWS). I had an assignment to be an instructor for UPT leaving for PIT in a couple of months, bu…

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/t-6-emergency-landing-texas/ ..having executed a belly flop landing.

Well, it is an election year. Tell me if you've heard this story before. 1. Bird flu research by the US and China. https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=439621 "Research Project: US-UK-China Collab: Predictive phylogenetics for evolutionary and transmission dynamics of newly emerging avian influenza viruses" 2. Bird flu found in chicken farms: Largest US egg producer temporarily halts production due to avian flu at Texas facility https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/largest-us-egg-producer-temporarily-halts-production-due-108795657 3. Bird flu jumps from birds to dairy cattle. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bird-flu-hi…

I know there are a lot of topics that discuss VA disability here and there, but didn't se anything specific to it.. unless I completely missed it while searching on my phone at 3am. As flyers, we document nothing. I decided 3 years ago, prior to retirement, to start documenting everything. This eventually led to me being DNIF and never flying again but also helped in getting 100% disability from the VA. My 100% was from nothing big I claimed.. just a bunch of little aches and pains that added up to 97%. When I got my notification letter, I noticed a number of items on there that are "deferred". I called the VA and asked them what that meant, what was needed …

Can someone give a quick down dirty of how TOLD/W&B is done in fighter world. Trying to bounce some ideas around in another community.

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/03/23/air-force-honors-fallen-jber-service-member-with-flyover/ R.I.P. SSgt Charles Crumlett.

Question for the crowd. Does anyone know of opportunities that will allow you to collect your retirement, but also retain the ability to go on orders for short periods of time? Examples could look like: Part-time technician that could do things like sit alert from time to time. White jet instructor (DSG/ART) that can turn a few sorties a month at a UPT base. A "points" only gig like USAFA liaison officer - not sure if something like that would even qualify for USERRA. Why? To be able to collect basically the full retirement, keep flying military jets, and also retain full USERRA control over one's airline schedule when necessary. J…

We invested a shitload of money in a shithole, and "Surprise!"... we get kicked out. Again. How badly is this Admin gonna keep screwing up? It appears we operate(d) two bases there. The linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa, Air Base 201 consists of a 6,200-foot runway (composed of 1.1 million square feet of asphalt), aprons, taxiways, massive aircraft hangars, multistory living quarters, roads, utilities, munitions storage, and an aircraft rescue and firefighting station, all within a 25-kilometer “base security zone.” U.S. troops eat in a 13,000-square-foot dining facility, work out in a gym, play on …

Long shot, but I know there are experts here who might be able to help. BLUF: Long-time A-10 leader passed away this week, and is being interred at DFW National Cemetery next week. We're looking to see if we can get a 4 Ship flyover but have no idea where to start with the airspace. That cemetery is 10nm SE of the eastern runway at DFW, so airspace should be simple. Right? Coord through official USAF channels to approve it is underway, but would like to know if anyone has any words on where to go otherwise; ATC POCs to coord and/or approve, or even just to find out if there's no way to proceed. They've done Memorial Day flyovers there, but I'm sure they have p…

An IL-76 was reportedly shot down and crashed. One engine appears on fire but this alone should have not caused a crash so maybe there was additional damage. https://warisboring.com/second-russian-military-transport-plane-comes-down-since-january/?fbclid=IwAR1qGCJ8p9y3aR3l4pv61kOg9aO2A0cqsxkR8654UesdBuUHlDnQsRoZiYw_aem_AaM4aJCKbEEF5pjC1t-0cIyK7ZH9AstX8CqYNQBosEK5FrsdJMUD-sCr3zPPpq06zMw#ltp4tr1qbv0ccfq0vuf