General Discussion

The Charbroil finally rusted itself useless and with the new Infrared grills out there, anybody have advice on a good grill. Been sticking to gas because of convenience but thinking about trying out wood/charcoal or the infrared.

Interesting demo. And it seems India will get at least 150 of them...

PCAS reaches first design review ...The programme will use an unmanned A-10 Thunderbolt II or ‘Warthog’ for the demonstration in 2015... ...It is understood that DARPA is considering four munitions including the JDAM, Laser Maverick, 2.75-in rocket and gun...

AT-6 dry lake bed Why is it that the following gear looks to me far less scary? But then again, what do I know?...

I'm probably like everyone else here, I have a love/hate relationship with the Air Force. But I think when it comes right down to it, as an organiztion the Air Force has its self screwed tightly into the wrong hole (no sts on that, sorry). I think baseops is a pretty good representation of the officers and some enlisted who truly care about what is going with the service and the most active boards and threads are the ones where people bitch and complain about Big Blue. 90% of the time I agree with the points being made, or at least where the frustration is coming from. When I was at SOS and they brought the War College guys in for Capt/Col discussion. I will never for…

All Female KC-10 Mission

Looks like the Red Arrows has an accident near Bournemouth today. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3764622/Red-Arrow-crash-at-air-show.html

This is a great story in ADN about PJs serving in OEF, recounting one day during Operation Bulldog Bite. It was a phenomenal story to hear first hand, and the ADN reporter actually did a good job. This is what should be in the press, not some all-female crew flying a KC-10. Makes me wonder if any shoes at Bagram had any clue what was going on outside the wire while this was going down... ADN Article

Libyan Rebels Are Flying Their Own Minidrone

So I returned from my deployment to see the McConnell BX under renovations. I really wouldn't be saying anything except that it was under renovations when I left. They are adding a food court, GNC, and who knows that else in the BX. Guess my thoughts are: 1) Considering they have the space to build a new and better BX, and it would have been cheaper (yes, go figure that one out), why wouldn't they go with that plan instead of renovations. 2) If you are doing renovations to an already sad and pretty pathetic BX, wouldn't you want to make it somewhat BIGGER than what was originally there? For those that have been to or at this location, I would like to hear your t…

I know I am cynical, but 15 years? Really? Wasn't the U-2 designed in 120 days or something? The mighty KC-135 went from proposal to test flight in 2 years. Our acquisition process is jacked up. Glad to see they're keeping at least one good-location base open for business at least.

OK, I admit it, I work in the AMC Fuel Efficiency Office (FEO) and I was responsible for the whole Mission Index Flying (MIF) project. For a little background, I am a reservist flying for a major airline and took the job in FEO to get away from the airline for a bit in January of 2009. Originally I signed on for 9 months, but it lasted 2 yrs and 9 months...it's the military. As a commercial airline pilot I was appalled that the MAF did not use cost index algorithms in our flight planning system or in the aircraft. I was more appalled (and disappointed) when I learned that it would cost about $40-$50 Million dollars to put it into EACH fleet. No way we had the money f…

I flew my form 8 and got everything but 2 patterns due to an EP. Landed, did the ground eval got commendable and they tell me they want me to complete the entire checkride again because i didn't get the patterns. Isn't that double jeopardy? I've already completed form 8 events on a form 8 check evaluated by an FE and last I checked an EP does not void a checkride. Shouldn't I just have to get the patterns? Anyone know the reg that deals with checkrides, not the vol 2.

Report: Jamming Device Forces Emergency Landing of U.S. Military Plane in Pacific Exercise

We recently had the "Rainbow" deployment schedule shoved down out throats. All the tanker units had this vs. the AEF buckets put to a vote. The vote was 9 to 8 in favor with two units not showing up to vote. The new schedule is 1 1/2 crews, 1-2 planes, and 1 staff for the forseable future in the desert. I understand that about 6 months ago, the active duty stopped allowing guardsmen to volunteer for deployments. It looks like this was to get units hungry enough to vote this in. It barely worked because the economy is bad and many needed this "jobs program". Can anyone tell me when, exactly, guardsmen were stopped from being allowed to deploy? I'm contacting my ele…

Just wanted to share this: SQUALENE CONFIRMED IN ANTHRAX VACCINE AFTER NUMEROUS PENTAGON DENIALS Representative Jack Metcalf of the State of Washington revealed in a report Thursday that the FDA found squalene in the anthrax vaccine being forced upon the U.S. military on pain of court martial and/or dishonorable discharge. The FDA confirmed the presence of squalene in the anthrax vaccine by using a more sensitive test than one used by the Pentagon. Squalene is NOT an FDA-approved substance and its consequences on health are unknown. As a vaccine booster ingredient, it is thought to increase immunity, but its use has been denied time and again by the Pentagon. Con…

Hey Everyone, I am currently in AFROTC and will be commissioning on 16 Dec 2011, my Entrance into active duty is on 17 Dec 2011. I am being stationed at Whiting Field NAS. I have a few questions and I was hoping someone can answer some of these: -I will be moving with my wife and 8 month old son to Whiting Field, where is the best place to live? -Have they fully transitioned from T-34's to T-6's? -What is the training environment like? -How many AF students per class? -Are there any AF IP's? Any other information would be helpful. Thank you!

Where can I find guidance on operating in a MOA while in IMC? Let's say I enter the top of a MOA at FL230 and there's a solid deck from FL180-190 that I want to descend through in order to operate below. I am on an IFR flight plan, but I'm not talking to or actively being controlled by ATC (I'm on a discrete frequency and monitoring Guard). I've been told different things from different folks - one is that you need to remain VMC while in the MOA, abiding by Class E airspace VFR cloud clearances. The other is that you can enter IMC because you're on an IFR flight plan. I know which one I think is right, but I'm looking for something in writing to back up the correct…

Interesting story on Fox... https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/15/general-reportedly-said-was-pressured-to-change-testimony-on-white-house-backed/ I don't know much about General Shelton but I have been following the lightsquared issue for a while now and it sure seems that have been able to fast track through the FCC despite the frequency proximity to GPS and power of their network vs. the GPS signal.

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

Hearing rumors that the T-6 is grounded AF-wide. Anyone know what's going on?

Some crazy shenanigans been going on within the last few days... STORY --- PK...

The link below is to a slideshow (stay with me here) describing Netflix's corporate culture strategy. Whoever put this together has a great grasp on how inflexible bureaucracies are created. Slides 44-77 are relevant. https://www.slideshar...0&startSlide=44 There are a lot of points that parallel observations recently made about the USAF: Company starts out with focus and high performance High performance creates growth which leads to complexity and chaos Complexity is fought with procedures and regulations Too many procedures and regulations drive away talented people Everything still seems fine until the market (battlefield) changes The company is now f…

Anybody hear about this? Saw some email on it and it's a plane/mission/deployment I'd never heard of. Not shopping for deployments...but it's always nice to see what's out there. Sorta seems like a manned UAV but anything beats the 'Died. Unless it operates out of the 'Died of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Airborne_Communications_Node Edit: I searched but couldn't find anything

I just applied for the LEAP program and am waiting to hear back about it. Has anyone on here been involved in the LEAP program at all? Also, I have been looking into the Olmstead program, which looks awesome. On the official site it says that each service gets 10 people per year but it looks like the AF only selected 6 out of 61 last year. Anyone been involved with this as well and have some info on the process and how to get selected? Thanks!