General Discussion

The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is the United States military's oldest flying unit, dating from 5 March, 1913. Organized for security along the U.S. and Mexico border, the 1st Aero Squadron went into action on 16 March 1916 as part of General Pershing's punitive expedition in northern Mexico. The 1st Aero Squadron thus became the first tactical aviation unit in American military history. Upon U.S. entry into World War I, the squadron departed for France and Lt. Stephen W. Thompson scored the squadron's first aerial victory on 5 February 1918, which was also the first air to air kill by a U.S. military member. Through the remainder of Great War, the 1st supported ground fo…

https://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/27/us-f-15-crashes-in-pacific-off-coast-japan/ Word is pilot is okay. Here's hoping.

Is the Coast Guard still part of the actual military? I met a guy the other day who claimed to be a commander in the CG and got furious when I asked him about them being under the DHS and not DOD. He rambled on about how they are still military and blah blah. So do we actually salute higher ranking coasties? I'm not trying to insult the CG. There are a lot of organizations who are not military that do some tough work (CIA, DEA, FBI, etc). I'm just trying to figure out if they are still considered military and why. They protect the homeland, but they don't take the fight to the bad guys like the four main branches.

Not good at all. https://www.kvoa.com/news/21-air-national-guardsman-indicted/

I need some help with supervision of a GS civilian. The background is that I am an Air Force O-4 at a Navy command. There is a civilian (GS-14) who has been in her position for about 8 years. It is known in the command that she is completely incompetent, but because she is a minority she is afforded specific privileges. Additionally, she has filed a EO complaint and has 'whisteblower' status which has made it significantly more difficult to give her honest feedback because it could be seen as retributional. She currently works directly for an O-6 and has three employees (GS-10, E-6, E-5). There is some discussion about her PD (position description?) that dictates…

I'm currently at a well known undisclosed location close to the AG. All of the chow halls do ethnic food nights on any given day of the week; Monday=Taco Bar, Tuesday=Gyros, Friday=Pasta, etc... At the chow hall closest to ops someone has put up a white board welcoming people to the chow hall and then letting people know the menu of the day. No problem except recently there are drawings to accompany the ethnic menu nights. Taco Monday has included a Speedy Gonzalez and a luchadore mask. Italian Friday had Mario and Luigi with the words "you'sa welcoma to our-a Pasta night-a" and just yesterday the Curry bar had a picture of the Taj Mahal with the classic Apu/7-11 …

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.

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

Champ Kind has been lurking the board for more than a decade giving good advice to the young 'uns, so he has been upgraded to moderator.

I'm looking for folks on Active Duty who are running business while still "in". On my Podcast I interview Active Duty Entrepreneurs and ask them to share advice and tips to those that would like to follow in their footsteps. Generally those who are running successful businesses don't necessarily advertise their successes for a number of reasons, some valid, some not so much. If you or someone you know is running a business while on AD, PM me or checkout our website www.activedutymillionaire.com and drop us a line there. Our goal is to help others start and run their businesses NOW rather than wait until a decision point forces a different choice. I think most will be…

Do you have to be married to your significant other in order for them to recognized by the Air Force, and also so that they can live with you on base if you so decide? I did a search, but couldn't find much on this. Thanks!

Anyone else know they're in 06-01 at Laughlin? Report dates? I'm there Sept 27. (Doesn't this make you other XL studs feel weird that we're starting 06?)

I just watched a MAD video of Swiss mirage pilots hotshotting around the alps, and it awesome. Silly question, but are USAF pilots ever allowed to go joyriding from time to time (solo, or with a flight?) Or, does every single flight have a clear, tactical purpose? Not to sound like a 13 year old... but I was just wondering. Thanks

At UPT, how often can studs either plan cross-countries to other UPT bases (to see buddies or something) or to bases near their families or something?

Hello, I'll start by giving the timeline of events. March 2004 - selected for pilot slot at board 0403. March 2004 - took FC1 August 2004 - told I had a cavity and needed to get it fixed, was never told this 5 months earlier. August 2004 - got tooth fixed, went back to base for dental checkup, was told the tooth next to it needed to be fixed as well. September 2004 - had adjacent tooth fixed, faxed proof of dental work to Flight Medicine who took it to the AF dentist who then signed off on my FC1 (allegedly). October 2004 - called recruiter several times trying to figure out what was going on, every time told he would look into it and call me back but ne…

I read in the latest Air Force Assoc. magazine that when the B-2 program gets a makeover next year (avionics, new skins, etc.)it quite possibly will include an addition of a 3rd pilot. They say the B-2 has plenty of room for a third crewman and that it would be beneficial to have a 3rd pilot on long combat missions. My question is do adjustments like this call for more pilot's to be trained and go straight to the B-2 program from UPT (if qualified)? Or is the B-2 program overloaded with pilots? Just curious.

I am sure there is a post on this somewhere, but does it take to become an Aggressor Pilot? That sounds like a neat job. Do you apply after you have flown say an F-16 for a few years or after your an IP, or even have a high amount of combat hours? How competitive is that? Id imagine it would be almost as hard as making the Thunderbirds..am I wrong? Im bored, so thought I would ask so it gave me something to do. Yeah guess you could say Spring Break sucks in pittsburgh..lol id almost rather be in school. Lastly though, does the USMC still use Kfirs as aggressor type aircraft, or have those phased out? thanks, just wondering.. [ 26. March 2005, 17:27: Message e…

Mine....My 8th birthday...my dad and I were on the way home from my party when we see at the small county airport a big "Airshow" Banner. We pull in, park, and walk around for about a half hour to find the place pretty dull. So as we leave the parking lot and are on our way home, my dad out of nowhere slams on the breaks and points THROUGH the trees to a large aircraft headed to the airshow. He turns around and starts to head back to the airport (Exceeding the speed limit) . So we pull back into the parking lot, and jump into the bed of the truck and just watch the sky. about 30 seconds later a greenish "Bomber" Screams over the field turns and rolls. Car alarms are going…

Bad intel or too sensitive for someone's ears?

Does anyone know where I can find a comprehensive unit of all Air Refueling Squadrons with contact info (preferably DOS, OSF/OSS, or the DO)? Any help would be much appreciated.

I was scrolling through my MP3s and found an old forgotten favorite of mine from college. Its an Irish folk song by a guy named Christy Moore. Its called Lisdoonvarna, and I can attest that its a great drinking song especially when all in the place of drink is singing and there is someone playing a spoon and a cookiesheet. Great times. What are your favorite drinking songs?

Ok, so me and a few other cadets are going to Tyndall over spring break for some F-15 rides but we don't have anywhere to stay yet. Does anyone have any past experience going there and remember where they stayed? Everywhere we are looking so far is ridiculously priced, so let me know if anyone has any ideas

What are some cool assignment night themes guys have had? I'm trying to gather ideas for something good. For the last class, we did a Price is Right theme. Guys were told to "Come on Down" as crews to the front of the room, then an F-15 item was put up on the screen that they had to guess the price of (GBU-12, AMRAAM, Gallon of JP-8, etc). Whoever got the closest to the price without going over was chosen to step up to the screen and a "Wheel" of sorts was spun that went through all the bases and stopped on their assignment. What are some other good themes you've seen?

Did anyone on here look into flying for the Coast Guard prior to going in the Air Force? I'm not saying that have it better by any means, but it seems they are doing 'real' missions more often b/c there is always somebody that needs help in the ocean. Does anyone know of a Coastie aviator that I could talk to? Thanks. Thought about posting this in pilot selection, so sorry if it's on the wrong forum...not trying to open a can of worms either on this one...

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.