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I'd be pissed too if I woke up at 0400 and realized I lived in Clovis NM..... [/stripot]

It only took them two months, but they finally wrote an article: Lieutenant beats cancer, selected to pilot Raptors

It's all about perception. No one is willing to put their wang out and answer the question about how this or any flyover could be accomplished, regardless of whether it was part of a funded training sortie or not. Especially with demos, static displays, the Birds and Blues being grounded, and basically all air show/public support being slammed shut. Sad times, and it's only going to get worse.

He didn't have to twist them. Your view on junior enlisted is why there is a held disdain for many in the officer corps. There are 168 hours in a week, and they chose the absolute worst hour to run this kind of event. Think what you will, but unless there were realistic and believable last-minute reports of an unknown populous at the dorms using drugs, this was a bullshit move. And since no one has mentioned mass drug tests, I'm assuming that wasn't the case. I guarantee no one notified the dorm residents as to why their last day of the weekend was ######ed up, either. If you think that's alright, I'm guessing you've somehow acquired the notion that you are far better and more deserving than the troops we're supposed to lead.

Screw with people for no reason, you will go far in the USAF...I bet you are really good at measuring sock height. I guess we see life and service differently, everyone is working hard these days and I think if you woke up 600 CGOs at 0400 on a Saturday night to search their room, we might hear some bitching.

I believe it...especially if we are back to doing "sock checks." The war is over gents... ...oh, and Ladies too. I don't want to be fired for discrimination...

Here's a tip: don't be a d!ck on the flight deck. I've been instructing for a long time at the FTU and rarely ever yelled at students...and the times I did, I was yelling for them to let go of the flight controls because they were trying to kill me. I've seen lots of great instructors who take the time to explain to their studs what's going on and why they are doing what they are doing. And I've seen some real a$$holes who think it's cool to yell at the kids and make them auger in (grade-wise) on a ride...I don't get it. You're an INSTRUCTOR pilot. Even as an evaluator, I just sit there, be a good copilot, and if they are starting to go off the ranch I'll ask the dreaded "so, what should we be doing now" phrase. But I don't yell at people unless there's a very good reason to. Oh, and FWIW, dudes who don't yell at their studs later in life weren't necessarily "weak in UPT". Nice argument, though (sarcasm alert). Break, break... And for the OP...I generally agree that UPT will teach you what you need to know. Plenty of zero-timers have walked through the doors and graduated with their wings just fine. That being said, I arrived at UPT having already been a rated pilot (Army helo pilot), and I knew how to fly on instruments. It was still a lot of work (lots of local area procedures, etc), but while I was focusing on the details, my fellow classmates were still trying to figure out how to fly basic instrument procedures (ie, climbing turns on instruments, etc). I already had that stuff down pat, and I cruised through the instrument portion. Each person's mileage may vary -there were regional airline FOs at UPT that struggled with every aspect of the program- but IF you have the money, it probably wouldn't hurt to practice doing some basic instrument flying. I don't mean flying an ILS or a STAR, but I mean learning how to fly straight and level, doing climbs, descents, turns and eventually climbing turns on instruments. Having some of that experience in your back pocket might not seal the DG (Distinguished Graduate) award for you, but it might make life just slightly easier for you and increase your confidence flying IFR. I'll add that if you do decide to get some IMC flying experience, find a CFI that's been an ex-airline guy or ex-military...they tend to be more regimented which is what you need to prepare you for military flying.

Bingo, bingo, and bingo. For the record, though, my friend has an accounting background (and CFP) and has been working under another advisor who "owns" the already established clients for about ten years now. So there is no insurance selling crap going on in that office. But you are dead on, these positions are sales positions, that's why they are the only ones "hiring" qualified people into this economy. A few years back, I briefly toyed with the idea of using my engineering/MBA background to become a financial advisor, because I had a background in numbers and business and really kind of enjoyed investments, etc. I signed on with a company whose name shall not be mentioned here, and they had us out for an information session. The quality (or lack thereof) of these kids was fucking horrendous. I met multiple 20 year olds with nothing more than a high school degree, I met a hillbilly car salesman (perfect fit for this type of sales industry, by the way), a gym owner, a hot flirty chick with an IQ of around 80 (another perfect fit for this industry) and all kinds of other non-qualified people who were basically hired sight unseen. After all, there is really no commitment on the financial firms with regards to hiring. Most of these jobs are pure commission, although I had heard that one or two of them offer first-year regional airline pay for the first year, then they literally hand guys a phone book and tell them to cold call or knock door to door (Edward Jones). Amazing. My CFP friend had also heard of these sales companies requiring their future "advisors" to bring a list of 20 names of friends/relatives to the interview in order to help guide them in "launching their business" and "developing clients," and other bullshit. But I will give this company credit for honesty, after a bunch of outliers got up and told us about how much money they made as advisors, one chick straight up told the audience that insurance sales was where we were going to make all of our money. There really is none of the "sexy" stuff like picking investments, etc. They only required you to take the Series 6, not 7, which means all you can do is sell mutual funds and can't really pick individual stocks, options, etc., and actually build a customized portfolio for people. And of course, all these sales outfits have like 3 investment funds - conservative, balanced, and risky. It was quite the sham, and needless to say, I got out before I even got in. I have learned more on this thread and from reading internet articles than most of these kids and personal trainers disguised as "advisors" will probably ever know. Anyway, sorry for the rant, but stay away from these sales fucks at all possible costs. Get you some good term insurance based on an online calculator of insurance needs, build an emergency fund, and do 15 minutes of research into which retirements funds would be good for you based on your risk tolerance, and you will have conquered the "three pillars" of financial planning, all without paying these fuckos thousands in commissions for completely unsuitable whole life insurance policies. And if they are wealthy, like some of the more successful "advisors" are, then it is because they are good at selling whole/variable/universal life insurance policies to people who would do well with cheap term policies and investing the difference, which can sometimes be at much as ten times the premium cost for whole life versus term life. Any time you hear the words "whole, variable, or universal" next to life insurance, you need to run, not walk away.

Slow day as SOF?

Apparently you've never combined use or lose with a stack of shit-to-do in September.

There's always ways to "pay" for the tobacco.... Also, you should shank somebody right when you get there, so everybody knows you're not a bitch.

1992 called. They want their email back.

Oh Jesus don't bring that debate to a 69th thread. And whats with the negative comments? Sure it would be better to have this sooner, but at least it is coming.