General Discussion

Previous thread was from 2007 and lumped in with the HC, I'll try and keep this first post up to date. Command: AFSOC Crew: Pilot, CP, CSO, LMs Mission: Commando II flies clandestine, or low visibility, single or multiship, low-level air refueling missions for special operations helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, and infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces (SOF) by airdrop or airland intruding politically sensitive or hostile territories. The MC-130J primarily flies missions at night to reduce probability of visual acquisition and intercept by airborne threats. Its secondary mission includes the airdrop of leaflets. Sele…

I've never been. If you have experience recently there, any advice on getting there? - TPA and MCO are the best bet for flying in commercial? I found a hotel about 4 miles from the airport. Better suggestions? Anything else of note?

Stay safe brothers and sisters. Flurry Of Air Force Transports Head To East Africa As Potential For Ethiopia Evacuation Grows

I’ll make this short. I have a parent who recently got a bad medical diagnosis. I’m a casual LT at a UPT base 17 hours away by car, and 5-6 hours away by plane. I don’t have a ton of leave, but enough where I can make a few trips home. Not nearly enough to make regular trips though. I’m likely to be in casual status for at least 6 months. I want to be closer to help out for treatments and be around in case things turn for the worst. From the research I’ve done, there’s a few types of emergency leave, but they max out quickly and will put me into a negative balance that it’ll take forever to rebound from. I can’t request a humanitarian move due to the fact a gain…

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/10/27/air-force-to-replace-kadena-f-15-squadrons-with-rotational-fighters/ Looks like the eagles will be leaving Kadena. Seems weird to pull them before we can fully replace them with squadrons based there. Any rumor who is going to be rotating there? Are the PACAF Viper units going to be doing most of the rotational work?

Surprised no one posted this earlier. Pilot “under evaluation” in the hospital last I saw. https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2022-11-07/in-flight-emergency-columbus-afb-7962990.html

Is anyone familiar with this assignment and area? I’m looking at potentially leaving the CAF to go there, but I don’t know much about it. Thanks.

So my daughter *may* be headed to GK, I've already looked up the German pet requirements for them, but a quick question: Anybody have any suggestions on pet travel to Germany? I know Lufthansa has a good pet program, as does my employer. I'd love to hear any gouge or recommendations anyone might be willing to share. Leave the vehicles and purchase through the exchange? I separated from active duty before my daughter was born but she still thinks I know everything about everything so any help here is appreciated. Thanks!

KC-46 boom severed, hoist cable snapped during AR with F-15 over CA causing the KC-46 to land with half its boom in trail at Travis AFB and F-15 to divert.

A Minot B-52 and Skywest RJ had a “near miss” which required the Skywest to maneuver abruptly. No ADS-B data is available yet to see just how close they got. https://www.newsweek.com/delta-pilot-b-52-bomber-minot-minneapolis-2101599

Air Force to Field Autonomous Cessna Caravan Supposedly the system will eventually be airframe agnostic. Guess those side jobs flying Caravans for FEDEX to the Carribean days are numbered.

The War ZoneThunderbirds F-16C Fighting Falcon Crashes in CaliforniaThe jet's pilot safely ejected and was transported to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Quick question and I apologize if this had been covered before.... We are being told the "New" definition of a stop over point now forced you to get Per diem for where the jet is at midnight not where you crew rest... In point we have a trip where we drop into Guam to pick up pax, etc (cross midnight while doing so) and them go on to Hawaii for crew rest. Our good idea fairy in the FM shop wants us to get Guam Per diem instead of Hawaii where we are crew resting... Are we missing something here? Is this happening to other squadrons? To us it doesn't make any sense......we should be getting Per diem based on where we pay for a hotel, food, etc?

Does anyone have any experience with the Stratux ADS-B puck? I’m looking into buying one because, from all appearances, it offers similar functionality to the Stratus 2S at 1/4 the cost.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/29/retired-military-pilot-died-hero-trying-to-save-kids-from-drowning-at-florida-beach.html I didn’t know him, but I’m sure someone here did. rest easy

I'm about to sign up for another Master's class for my Master of Science in Aeronautics at ERAU. I heard SOS counts as some kind of credit toward most ERAU Master's degrees so I wanna make sure I don't take one that I'll get credit for in SOS. Does anyone know what it might count for?

I separated active duty (12 yrs), went guard in 2014, and may retire at the end of the yr. I did not initially file for disability because I thought it would hurt my chances getting picked up with a unit or transferring units if I had a rating (WRONG). So I am filing right now. Went in for my initial appointment and he said since it has been over a year from active duty I am required to provide NEXUS statements for everything in my active duty medical records. I thought those were black and white? Has anyone filed after the year point of separating from active duty and had to do that? Any issues you ran into or key wording I should ensure the doc puts in there? …

https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/new-mexico-dairy-concerned-about-air-force-contamination/1605588769 CE - "It's not our problem." Who hires the people in CE?

Has anyone ever applied or attempted to apply for an OTS Rated slot and the Air Force Reserves for a pilot slot at the same time? A little back story, I am AD and want to apply to the rated board this November (application due in October). However, they only picked up 20 pilots this last board and I want to keep my options open as I want to fly. What are the chances of being able to apply to both? Has anyone ever done it before? Both applications are due in October and both boards are in November. Am I going to be forced to choose one or the other?

Thanks for reading! I am a 10 year active duty Marine Special Operations Officer with Marine Special Operations Command. I recently hit the lottery and got hired by an Air National Guard unit to change career paths and go to flight school and fly jets for them. The day before my flight physical Wright Patterson called to let me know I can't do the physical because I have a back surgery on my record. In 2011 I was wounded twice in Afghanistan and had some minor surgeries to recover in the coming years, and one was a micro-discectomy L5-S1 and was back to full duty two months later. I have done over two years of operations since the minor back surgery and multi…

Is scratch paper given to you at the test? Taking it tomorrow.

Link to the Air Force times article this afternoon https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/05/01/t-6-from-sheppard-crashes-pilots-safely-eject/

What's old is new again. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/u-s-military-has-begun-reestablishing-air-base-inside-saudi-n1031916

Lockheed Martin is hiring an F-16 Flight Manual Manager to the team at Hill AFB. If you or anyone you know might be interested, and you aren't going to the airlines, please consider applying! LM Aero is a great company to work for and the work environment and team at the F-16 SPO are top notch! PM me if you have any questions. You don't need to have F-16 experience (though it would be great if you did!), but you do have to be aircrew. https://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/job/hill-air-force-base/f-16-flight-manual-manager/694/14369192?fbclid=IwAR1NKFDcEoO-0cWDep4KYV8TuXhqkCg2GYQK2__08C1VKRUUZHFO4yOCiAw

Not sure what this means for recently separated or retired. https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1243656134109597702?s=20