General Discussion

Whitney was mentioned in the WTF thread, but this bucket of shit deserves its own thread. NJ Governor lowers flags to half staff to honor Whitney Houston

About to start KC-10 training and was wondering if anyone had any good stuff for FTU? Ive seen a lot online for other aircraft but cant seem to find anything on the kc-10. Any MQF's or gouge on the plane would be awesome. Thanks for any help you can provide!

A friend asked me a good question today that I didn't know the answer to. If you PCS to another part of the country and your cell phone doesn't have service there, do cell phone companies let you out of your contract? I figured this has had to happen to someone before. I would think they wouldn't, but I thought I would ask.

Two 301st FW F-16s collide at Nellis

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/07/13/ordering-the-selected-reserve-and-certain-members-of-the-individual-ready-reserve-of-the-armed-forces-to-active-duty/ Is this a common thing? Seems odd they just wouldn’t use active duty

Folks, can anyone help me out with a list of pubs, flashcards, checklists and the like that will help me succeed at UPT? I have been an Army Aviator since 2002 and will surely have to "unlearn" as much as I will have to learn. The rote memorization required in Army flight school was obscene and I can only expect that the Air Force school will be a lot of the same. Anything I can start to study ahead of time I'm sure will be better than showing up cold. Thanks! Paul

In light of all the discussions of Finance BSMs, it's great to see our Special Tactics guys getting proper recognition for the amazing stuff they do every day downrange. In an Air Force that pays a lot of lip service to everyone being "warriors", these guys are the real deal. Air Force Times Announcement Article detailing Crawford's actions

Quick question....I was an enlisted aircrew member and I am off to AMS in the near future and then off to UPT. I read AFI 36-2903 and all it says about wings is that they are mandatory. Do I wear them on my service dress before I earn my Pilot's wing's or are they a no-go?

I'm currently looking at a choice between Ramstein (USAFE) and Stuttgart (EUCOM). I've been to Ramstein many times and am familiar with the area, but know nothing about Stuttgart or EUCOM other than what I've been reading on Wikipedia and globalsecurity.org. If anybody here has been there - preferably in the last 6-9 years, I'd appreciate your thoughts on the location, culture, community, etc.

Hey guys, I've been diagnosed with a pretty f$%ked up back and there is a good chance I will be permanently DNIF'd for it. Although I would love to get out via VSP or Palace Chace, it does not appear to be an option at this time. So, I pose this question, is it possible for me to cross flow into another AFSC, say Acquisitions Management (63A) to finish out my 10 year ADSC? Thanks for the help...

I would like to recognize and thank the members of the Air Force MARS phone patch net. You don't hear too much about them. There is an old post on here, but one thing it says is they are sponsored by Sprint which is not true. They are part of the Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio System and volunteer their time and equipment to support us. They can use commercial or DSN numbers for official or morale calls from anywhere in the world if conditions are right. I used them not too long ago while over the Atlantic to call our command post and also got weather from METRO. They were a big help. Thanks guys.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/02/gen-goldfein-approves-gender-neutral-change-to-air-force-song/

Do students get any time off for holidays to go home such as Thanksgiving or Christmas?? If so how long do these last. Just curious and thanks for the help.

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.

Hello, this is my first post in this board. My name is Pat and I am currently enrolled in AFROTC after coming off 4 years of Active Duty as a C-130 Loadmaster. I have a question about wearing a leather flight jacket with blues. (assuming I get a new nametag and an AETC patch.) I couldn't find any reference to this topic in the AFROTCI 36-2008. Another question is, is it authorized for me to wear my enlisted aircrew wings with my blues. Thanks for any help you give, this board and website is awesome. Best Wishes, -Pat

Hey everyone, I just got picked up as a WSO and will be graduating in May. My question is what type of swim requirements are there down at PCola? As sad and embarrassing as it is...I cant swim for crap. I can doggy paddle and that is about it...can't tread water...don't know any fancy strokes (STS). Also, who else graduating in May is heading down there? Thanks -ElRoy [ 12. January 2005, 17:50: Message edited by: ElRoy ]

Ok, I got the approval for a thread that basically you can ask questions that otherwise you wouldn't. The questions HAVE to relate to USAF in general or military flying. The idea of this thread is to cut down on all the new threads for people that just need to ask one question. The mods are going to be a little more lenient with this one than usual but ask a stupid question and you will be publicly mocked by everyone else. Usual wardroom rules apply - no wives, no religion, no politics AND DON'T ask something that has been covered 10 times already that can be easily found by searching. To get this started - I was watching a documentary on Vietnam air-power…

100 T-45 IPs are apparently refusing to fly because of fears over the safety of the jet's OBOGS. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/04/navy-instructor-pilots-refusing-to-fly-over-safety-concerns-pences-son-affected.html I am curious to know, is there something about the effects of this OBOGS issue that somehow makes it different to the Raptor's OBOGS issue? While I appreciate that one is a training asset, the other a front-line operational asset, it just strikes me that response from the two communities is startlingly different. In one case, an entire community refuses to fly, prompting a 3-star Admiral to publicly state that there is no policy of 'F…

Gates to kill JFCOM

Just watched the Shuttle Shuttle (NASA911) take off from KSKF on its way to KCBM. This is the first time I've seen it, quite impressive. Here's a pic (not mine) of its approach earlier this morning... And more pics from its blog... It was in El Paso earlier today... Cheers! M2

Dos Gringos new (first) CD is out now and avialable to you. The CD is titled "Live From The Sandbox". This is a great CD for all the military pilots out there, makes a great present for all your military pilot friends too. Get your copies now by replying on this post or emailing me. My email should be listed at the bottom. Anyone who has heard the Cd lets hear what you think. Dos Gringos rules.

One of numerous stories on the ongoing protests in Egypt. Figured it's an appropriate topic since Egypt is both a big U.S. ally in the region & also unfortunately has quite an iron-fisted regeime. For all the talk of us supporting freedom we need stability too and those competing interests have put us in a tough spot. Thoughts on implications for U.S. interests?

News Commentary: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/sailors-leaving-navy-over-stress-on-social-issues-/#ixzz2xAoI57ef https://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/03/26/admiral_we_need_to_talk_officers_white_paper_on_jos_jumping_ship_warns_navys_leader Original USNI Article: https://blog.usni.org/2014/03/20/keep-a-weather-eye-on-the-horizon-a-navy-officer-retention-study The abstract: My highlights: His recommendations follow and are essentially the inverse of the warnings listed above. Foster trust through better and more honest communications, re-instate bonuses for critical career fields/assignments, shifting focus away from administrivia/queep toward…

Just curious... How many of you participated in sports (specifically college). I've been reading a couple biographies about pilots. What I’ve noticed is that most great pilots have participated in a college sport. More specifically, the fighter pilots that I have read about, all played a college sport. Do you think being involved with a college sport helped them get where they are? It was just an observation; wanted to see what you guys thought. I thought maybe the level of competition helped them develop a mindset of always being a winner and hating to lose.

Is the Super Hornet still capable against emerging threats from the Mig-35 and Flanker Series? It seems that the Super Hornet and Mig/Flankers have the same agility and same weapon, systems package. Their both heavy weight fighters. But the Super Hornet and Flanker is just a competitive match in a WVR/BVR fight. But the the SH seems to have the better systems, avionics and weapons. While they both are equally great in WVR, but the SH has far better nose authority (to point the nose where it wants to go). But the Flanker seems to be better at speed. But we'll determine if that fight really happens. Also is it still still capable/good in the Air Superiority role as its…