General Discussion

I am a senior Captain selected to Major, on active duty in the USMC. I currently in my first year as an instructor pilot at the CH-53E Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) in NC. It is about that time in my career where I need to make a decision about whether to stay on active duty and push to retirement in the Marine Corps or start the interservice transition process for one of the above on the subject line. I have a buddy and fellow FRS IP that just went on terminal leave from the Marine Corps on June 2nd. He is getting ready to go to Vance in October for UPT. He started the process about a year and a half ago and is now part of the Wisconsin ANG where he will fly a KC…

Wondering if anyone else caught this. I don't know who's to blame more. The Marines or the guy taping this and leaking it out. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/12/panetta-orders-probe-video-showing-marines-urinating-on-dead-taliban/

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!

Does anyone have a good list of MARS frequencies?. Basically they are a civilian outfit sponsored by Sprint and they will give you phone patches to DSN or even long distance commercial numbers. It's great to call the wife flying over the Pacific. I have used it before and it works way better than triyng to wake the sleeping AF HF Freq's (In the FIH)that are a pain in the A#$.

The HF phone patch net handles official (commercial or DSN) and morale patches as well as radio checks for DOD stations worldwide with good propagation conditions. Cost of the phone calls are covered by the individual member. The MARS Phone Patch Net website has been redesigned for easier viewing and includes an article on net procedures and operation. There is a training video available as well as a flyer that can be posted to provide information to aircrews. Questions or requests like access to the FOUO video and current frequencies can be made through the contact form. The request should include a .mil email address. The website is at https://marsphonepatch.…

Propagation is improving our worldwide coverage. Recent patches include Iraq, England, North Africa and South Korea. We recently created a video describing the basics of doing an Official and Morale phone patch including setting up the radio. Hope you find it useful. https://youtu.be/s_67j_VP8NA

The Air Force MARS Phone Patch Net has been operational since the Vietnam War. Hundreds of patches daily were handled through the early 80’s when bases starting closing their MARS stations. Today the net is tasked to handle DoD patch requests in support of transports, tankers, bombers and other aircraft and ground units handling routine weather, ETA/Customs, maintenance, etc. calls as well as emergency support. Morale calls are still happily handled. For more information see the website below. In the fall of 2014 the Chiefs of AF & Army MARS approved joint operations with AF and AR MARS stations participating. Chief Air Force MARS has approved a re-d…

MARSRADIO continues to provide free HF communications for land, air and sea DoD assets as authorized by DoDi 4620.02. We want to say a big THANK YOU to our military, active and retired, for your service to our country. Come up to our net for any assistance that we can supply. In addition to regular official and morale phone patches, we have handled in-flight emergencies and even provided sports scores. It is all about supporting you. While still spotty, conditions are improving into Europe, Africa and the Pacific.

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…

MARSRADIO, ex-phone patch net, provides Official / Morale phone patches, radio checks and METAR / TAF information for DoD units. Operators of the net are volunteer. For those that may be flying tomorrow, 24 February (1500z - 1800z), I'm asking you to considering calling in on our net and wish Ray AFZ5RS a happy 99th birthday. Ray has dedicated his life to the military in one form or the other. He was a pilot in World War II and has been an active member of the MARS phone patch net since before the Vietnam War. We would like to left him know he is appreciated for his service. Here is a flyer about the "operation". If possible, post in your operations are…

MARSRADIO, the civilian HF service backup to HFGCS enjoyed communicating with Air Force One today. A member of their team, MSGT, was retiring and this was his last flight. Approximate 12 MARSRADIO operators briefly talked to AF1 with best wishes in his retirement after 20 years. “On behalf of Air Force MARSRADIO, we congratulate you on your retirement. We wish you blue skies and clear frequencies in for your future.” (MARSRADIO Squadron Commander) There is increased activity in the western Pacific supporting flights between Hawaii, Guam, Wake Island, Japan and Fiji. We are still optimistic that we will get a remote station in the Mariannas by the middle of …

Went to the altitude chamber today at Fairchild, and when I had the mask on (12/P), after about 5 minutes, the mask really started putting some hurt on the bridge of the ol' schnoz. Is this normal? If so, does it go away, or do you just learn to deal with it? I had a good seal, but I'm thinking, and hoping, that it might have been too small. Any thoughts?

Just reported that an F-15C from MANG crashed in Virginia. Cause unknown Was en route from Massachusetts to New Orleans No info on injuries or fatality yet. Fingers crossed for the Driver, hopefully he bailed before. Chute-up

Just saw a video on Facebook, Mass ANG F-15D had a backseater depart the jet on the ground via the ACES II. Heard it was a incentive or FAM flight. Not 100% sure on details. https://www.facebook.com/reel/4192170774392209/?app=fbl

Reno Air Races Crash It's been a rough time on the air show circuit lately...

Did anybody hear about the mass piss test they did at Dover to include transit aircrews coming from overseas? Full disclosure this was beer talk at Ramstein with other aircrews so it might have been exaggerated. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Hopefully, the Russians (long ago) removed all them nuke artillery projectiles/nuke warheads/etc that were stored at this site - back in the day. There's a potential for a wee bit of fallout from this accident if these nuke assets are still stored at this site and they were involved/damaged/consumed by the conventional explosions/fires/etc. Note; Once upon a time - this particular "Nuclear Weapon Storage Site was probably on our ICBM/Nuke Bomber hit list":<)

Unmasking advanced education for promotions has always seemed like a bad idea to me. I finally decided to write an op-ed on the subject and it got picked up by the Baltimore Sun. I am wondering if anyone really thinks this policy is good for the Air Force and why it has not been changed if almost everyone I know thinks it's an abomination. Here is the article. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-air-force-degrees-20140204,0,2245525.story

Looking for recommendations on schools that have masters programs for people who are tdy alot. Looking for something like Aviation Safety or Management. I guess it would have to be an on-line program or correspondence at best.

This sounds promising for those of you still toiling away at Human Trafficking and Sexual Harrassment CBTs... "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wants to overhaul military education and training to “regain” the art of warfighting following complaints by thousands of servicemembers that their time is being wasted by hours of mandatory training...The training that is the subject of complaints covers everything from alcohol use to active shooters to sexual harassment to stress management." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/07/25/mattis-moves-to-refocus-military-training-on-warfighting-after-complaints-on-senseless-exercises.html

https://www.military1.com/army/article/461498-general-mattis-next-mission-destroying-the-ptsd-victim-myth Don't suppose anyone saw this talk live? Paraphrase from the article, but Mattis thinks that the exhalation of victim status is not helping our people. He strongly encourages those who have seen combat to not let anyone label them broken, but to leverage the PTS as an opportunity for post traumatic growth.

Is Hawaii using the ANG out there to haul people or aid? It seems like they have a refugee and recovery situation on their hands but pictures don’t show much iron. Anyone in the islands hearing any scuttlebutt?

I believe the AF SUPT max age without a waiver is still 30. As of last month the Navy increased their age for pilots and NFOs training to the age of 32. For those AF SUPT applicants that were turned down for age consideration, the Navy may be an option. No word on USMC age changes. Remember in going Naval Air, approximately 50% are assigned helos as an initial assignment. But they do have P-8 (737s) waiting in the wings for all you future airline pilot hopefuls.

Does anyone know if the 75 day use or lose leave policy is still in effect for 2011? Or did it go back to the 60 day max leave. Trying to make sure I don't lose 15 days. Thanks.

Is 28 too old to apply for UPT? I've spoken with a recruiter from the guard and he says that I need to be 27 1/2 and the recruiter from the air reserves says I'll just make the age requirement. I just made 28 in Nov 2004. I'm hoping to apply in may 2005 for the reserves. Not sure what the deadline is for the guard. I haven't been able to get a straight answer from anyone. I know that you cannot reach your 30th b-day before you enter UPT. But can someone give me a good idea of when you would enter UPT from submitting your app? How strict is this age requirement? Any official policy that I can ref. on this?