General Discussion

The subject has been touched on in the past, but I'd like to open a thread to highlight all that is lame with current Ops at the 'Deid. When the shooting war was starting, everybody was too preoccupied with the no-$hit mission to worry about queep. Then the jets started coming back with bombs and the shoe clerk mentality started to grow. Here's my first story - Over in 'Ops Town' we had a bathroom that was just a short walk from our Ops Tent. By the time we got there, there was a good deal of penned-in graffiti on the walls of the $hitters. Standard $hitter immature crap. Well somebody got fairly pissed about it, sent in some dudes to paint over the walls an…

Leadville, Colorado has the highest field elevation in the United States and the third highest in the world. It sits at 9927' MSL. I am thinking of taking an OST (off station trainer) there in mid march. I am curious if anyone here has been to the airfeild. I tried a search but turned up nothing. The webiste for the airport has some interesting info, but I'm looking for firsthand military experience. Thanks!

Here's my dilemma people. I'm getting a new car here sometime soon and I've got some questions about leasing a car. I don't know much about leasing, but in some ways it seems good and in other ways bad. If I did decide to lease, about how much driving does one do while at UPT and all the follow on courses? To me it seems obvious, all my time will be spent in the classroom/flying, therefore, not too much time to be driving all over the place. Have any of you leased a vehicle and regreted it while in UPT or any other time in your career? Just trying to get an idea if I should buy something for my next few years of training or lease it instead. Any ideas?

Anybody know the name of the place that customizes the FLIGHT (not ****in missile) Jackets? They put silk lining in and print blood chits on them. If anybody has info on that it would be appreciated. thanks...

This is probably an odd question, but I was wondering about vacation time. I know you guys get 30 days a year, but do you really get to use it all? If so, can it all be taken at once? I guess I’m having “commitment” issues, and was just wondering how sold my soul would be to the government for ten years or so of flying. Thanks.

Obama to announce plans to begin withdrawal of 30,000 troops Wednesday night. Stay tuned. I won't miss the B-huts one bit but then again I think some of us are still gonna be there for a long time. Maybe he had this on his mind...

I should be leaving the Air Force soon if they process my paperwork right this time. I spent a lot of time stuck in places and airframes I didn't want to be in. It was UPT and AMC. I didn't end up there due to bad performance, it was mostly due to luck and timing. I had a really hard time watching people who failed courses, struggled in UPT, got in trouble, get the assignments I wanted due to missing VMLs, waivers needed for instructor duty, changing rules, or other factors. I feel like my youth was just... wasted and I have little to show for it. I don't have much pride in what I accomplished and I never was truly engaged or challenged. I am angry I spent 15 years of my …

Does anyone know the story behind the Legend of Quijibo? Its a zap that shows up all over. He's been zapped all over the world. Story I heard was he was a Herk pilot at Yokota named after Bart's made-up Scrabble word on the Simpsons. Anyone care to expand on this?

Apparently USAA needs our help. This seems like it could be very gay. New Legislation

Went into the BX for the first time in a few years today looking for a mouse for my laptop. I was quickly reminded why I avoid the place like the plague. The selection is godawful. The prices are typically 25-50% HIGHER than other retailers. Sony X65 headphones? $30 on Amazon and Walmart. Yours for only $80 at your local BX! Microsoft Military Appreciation Touch Mouse? $50 at the BX. $40 online. 3 year old PS3 games? 50% off at $25 at your BX or you could go to the mart or GameStop and get it for 5-$10. Cool speakers for your obsolete iPhone 3? Of course they are on clearance, at $50! Clothing selection is amazing. You can always find a sweet Affliction…

Libyan Rebels Are Flying Their Own Minidrone

According to AF Times: "Gen. Arthur Lichte, who officially retired in January, now sits on the board of directors of EADS North America. A division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., EADS North American announced Lichtes confirmation to the board Friday." And I thought this acquisition bullshit couldn't get any worse. Hey Art, did it ever cross your mind that this might not be the best time to run off and join the EADS board? I mean the whole improper contract award did happen under your watch at AMC. You didn't make the decision but I'm sure you argued the case for your boys. Did the thought even cross your mind that it might be good to sit this …

I don't know why this is an issue every time I attempt it. I get told 18 different things by 16 different people. Attempting to go from LHR>JFK>ORF. Langley is my TDY location. Then am going to book my own (miles) to Tucson for a couple days leave. Optimum would be to fly home (LHR) from Tucson. Attempted to do that and CTO said the following FLIGHT COMMENTS: CANNOT FLY ON GOV RATES FROM A LEAVE LOCATION DELTA WILL ALLOW A STOP IN JFKAmended my tickets to pickup the Heathrow return from JFK. Then they kicked back for this.** CANNOT FLY OUT OF JFK YOU MUST HAVE A ROUND TRIP FROM ORF THE AIRLINE WILL ALLOW A FREE STOP IN JFK BUT YOU MUST FLY ORF JFKSo basically they a…

I was wondering if Al Dhafra had internet available, either wireless or land line. I heard rumor that they were installing wireless but have nevere gotten this rumor confirmed or denied. Someone who has been recently please let me know. Just wondering if I'll be able to talk to my wife using Skype or if will be emails only. Thanks.

All, As many of you know, the C-21 is getting phased down - and eventually out. Congress approved a reduction by 50% a few weeks back. Here is the "unoffical" listing from a buddy of mine who works Chief of OSA/VIPSAM Planning at AMC. Andrews 13 to 6 WP 13 to 5 C.S. 10 to 3 Scott 14 to 9 (to include school house aircraft) Keesler 5 to 0 School house will move to Scott and be assumed by AMC. AAFSA will move to OKC. Ramstein 14 to 8 or 9 Yokota 4 to 3 The rest of the aircraft will probably go to the Navy as trainers, TC-21s and fly out of Randolph and Pensacola. All of this will happen by the close out…

av8tor55 - If I can give a recommendation, not from the military stand point, but from the view of someone who worked for a large insurance company and someone who sold term life insurance, term life is a waste of money. If you were looking for a small amount of supplemental insurance, term could be the way to go. If you are looking at covering your mortgage, I would look at mortgage insurance. Otherwise, I would recommend spending the extra money on whole life insurance. It builds cash value that you can borrow against. Basically with term life you would be giving USAA $90 a month and saying "I bet I die this month". And USAA says "Okay, I will take that bet". Loo…

Anyone care to comment on the QOL and Ops tempo of a C-5 Reservist? Is transitioning to a civilian flying job after initial training easier than the fighter guys because of the airframe? I spoke with a JSTARs Active Duty pilot a couple months ago who kept b*tching about the flying he was doing - and I'm hoping that's not the general feeling throughout the non-fighter community. Any insights would be great! Thanks!

Can anyone tell me what type of lifestyle a pilot flying an AWACS, JSTARS, or RJ usually lives? I have a rough idea of the missions of these jets, but not the crew lifestyle. Long deployments, amount of flight time compared to the KC's or C-type jets? I searched, but didn't find much to answer my question. [ 31. August 2006, 17:23: Message edited by: robot_chicken ]

Ok, I know that most of you are fixed wing pilots, but I am really looking at flying Helicopters for the Military. The question I have is as follows: What are the career ops outside of the military? Where can you find these jobs? Respectfully, PWL

Interesting argument for light (very light) on-demand direct airlift for small, specialized cargo/passenger requirement. https://warontherocks.com/2019/06/featherweight-airlift-for-want-of-a-nail/ Is there a requirement for this? Is it affordable? Does it offer secondary benefits? It was interesting that the authors were/are respectively both fighter aircrew and not airlift aircrew advocating for this, thoughts?

Light Fighters... interesting article and worth a read IMHO. https://warontherocks.com/2022/02/the-light-fighter-is-the-air-forces-manned-unmanned-team-solution/ Author leaves room for discussion for what I would call mission requirements vs platform requirements, that is what is the mission and then what is the platform required or capable of meeting those technical / performance requirements. How many UCAVs / UAVs would it need to control, at what distance, how resilient to EA to that supplied link, how much organic capability for offense/defense for this platform, etc... most of that I think would be a result of what the cognitive load is determined to …

I am unfortunately in the process of being medically disqualified from flying related duties. I finished three months of training but had to be removed because of my medical problem. I am currently preparing my reclassification package and was wondering if anyone with experience can tell me the proper protocol to ask someone for a letter of recommendation when you are no longer in their chain of command? Most of the people going to the board commissioned through ROTC and received really good LORs from their leadership at ROTC. I am prior service that commissioned through OTS so that avenue is not available for me. I am hoping to get LORs from my past leadership but mo…

I'd like a template of a lineup card for formation flying. Something from the T-38 or T-6 is probably the best for what I need, but I'll take anything. I'd rather not reinvent the wheel. It needs to be editable. PM me for an email address to send it. Thank you.

I've been reading a lot on here lately about non-continuation for passed over majors in the flying arena, and this is a topic addressed to the rated community only. I would love to see the reaction and hear the great stories of individuals who choose to be the best in the jet, and forego all the queep. A few questions to consider. - How did this individual affect morale in the squadron, and were they actually credible? - Would they have been better leaders if they had promoted based on flying ability and officership instead of exec strats and PME completion (in-res selection, etc...)? - Would it have been better for these individuals to help "run the company" f…

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32401/general-atomics-wants-to-give-aerial-tankers-their-own-missile-laden-loyal-wingmen-drones Any thoughts on this? Seems pretty interesting, but I'm just a new guy trying to get more educated-er.