Leaderboard

Nothing to add, just want to be in the thread in case Gravedigger's buying...

Keep telling yourself that...

Quote: "In July, Air Mobility Command launched its “Fatigue Modeling” program after years of development, said Col. Mark Hale, an expert on aviation operational risk management. “This program is a step forward in understanding and alerting our crews and our command and control system to aircrew fatigue challenges during mission planning and execution,” Hale said in an email." Here's a hint: a 22-hour duty day=tired pilots. give me money now!

FWIW, myself and the AC had 'staches when the 4-engine flameout occurred...

I wonder if they mean something that I feel to be true. "Experience level" could mean that we have people that are qualified on paper as IPs, etc, but lack a great deal of real-world experience because they were upgraded quickly for a variety of reasons.

I went to the Zoo.

I went to the United States Air Force Academy. I went to United States Air Force Academy.

I'm not going to get into this conversation except to point out the extraneous use of the word "The." It's not "the USAFA". The only place "the" belongs is in front of Ohio State.

Yeah, man, my complaint was directed towards them. During an AIB, will someone from TACC shoulder any of the responsibility if that person signed off on ORM that was in the highest category? Do they even get talked to about it? "Well, the pilots took the jet even though they were in the ORM "ultra-extreme" category; better just chalk this one up to pilot error/poor pilot judgment."

You're still alive. Bullet-proof theory proven!

You serious Clark?

How is that even a thing?

Well Santa might have to fly through the Chinese ADIZ depending on the results of his second list check.

This. I mean, there are some things I really did miss. Having to pay tuition. Room and board. Another job to pay the bills. Being a TA maybe. I could have had the gourmet dining at CC rather than Mitch's mountains.... I guess jumping out of planes, flying other planes, and skiing all winter just won't cut it.

I'm sorry.

You obviously have no idea what you missed...

In all seriousness, this is a great post. Your undergraduate education is what you make of it, whether it is Nowhere State University or Harvard. Yes, the top schools will grant you more opportunities through networking, but it is on the student to pull the information and learn. The AFA's mission is to produce officers for the Air Force, so judging the strength of its academics on the amount of research their students do is silly. They're not in the business of employing students to research assignments. On the same note, thinking the number of Rhodes Scholars produced by an institution is a sole indicator of the university's academics is equally as folly. Comparing USAFA to an Ivy League school or any civilian institution is like comparing a running back to a corner back. Completely different aspects. Regardless, it's a good commissioning source and provides a very solid education.

We only have 41 Rhodes Scholars, so by the logic executed in this thread we're not much better than USAFA, right?

Academically, the Academy is outstanding? Outstanding at what? Preparing its students for what? Are Academy students doing groundbreaking research? Do they go on to develop new technologies at companies like Google/IBM/Microsoft? Do they go on to excel at Goldman Sachs at a higher rate than other colleges? Are they accepted into graduate schools at higher rates? What exactly does the Academy do academic wise that is so outstanding? The vast majority of its graduates go on to be officers in the military, in which all of that "outstanding" academic preparation is completely unused. Justify it if it makes you feel better, but the USAFA is not the nationally recognized institution that you cadets seem to think it is.

"If they don't believe their parents, maybe America's teens will listen to the Pentagon's top general." Anyone with kids stopped reading right there.

I don't give a ###### how many Rhodes Scholars USAFA produces…. I'd rather have military leaders. How many 4 star generals have been Rhodes Scholars? I'd rather not have Stephen Hawking as my MAJCOM/CC.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/12/04/heffron-of-wwiis-band-of-brothers-dies-at-90.html?ESRC=todayinmil.sm Greatest generation ever, few left....

Dude, the problem is you keep posting about how great the Academy is compared to other schools. It's a good school, but it is nowhere near top 20. It is only ranked amongst schools without graduate degree programs...not really a huge pool there. Again, I've got no problem with Academy grads, however, a lot of the ones I have thought were douchebags seemed to think they graduated from MIT because they took a beginner's astro class as a management major. https://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

I want to hear about this "F-25 Lightning II" that's going to replace the hog.

Update: after a conversation with the IG, and some calls made by them and my MPS to AFPC, AFPC has begrudginly agreed to process my application while I'm deployed. They recommend that I re-apply as they thought it would look fishy if they re-opened my closed application (no sh!t-it was fishy when you guys refused to process it, not in accordance with YOUR regs). So since I'm deployed until May, I have to wait until 180 days from my requested separation date before I can re-apply. For those of you getting close to a deployment, I would apply for PC now and hope your leadership doesn't send you while it's pending, because as I'm learning, they're not going to send you home from deployment so you can separate. The crappy thing is, the reg still says you can get sent TDY/deployed while it's pending, so... Also, for the guys (aircrew) currently deployed looking to submit an application, if you're getting any pushback, I recommend going to the IG. AFPC isn't following their own regs and the IG is probably the only way you can get them to do their job. AFPC basically told my MPS that they didn't want to set a precedent by "deigning" to process my application while I'm deployed. side note: If I followed my regs like AFPC, I wouldn't have wings anymore.

Prove it!

FACT!!!

Stop being a retard. The number of Rhodes Scholars is an indication of the quality of the education. One indication. I hated the fucking place, but I received an excellent education there.

I see where you are coming from, but the fallacy goes both ways. The same thing can be said about about pilot training. There are other avenues of training a pilot that are much cheaper than pilot than UPT. But the Air Force has control over the product. While there are outliers, the Air Force has much more control over the Academy product than an ROTC product. I'm not saying it's better or not, but they have more control and they like that. And there aren't thousands of colleges out there academically as good as the Academy. Still burn it down.

Wasn’t expecting such a harsh response from a tongue and cheek reply to a previous post. It appears the haters are going to hate, and nothing will change your opinion… which is fine. AND I will freely admit, there have been ROTC Rhode Scholars (most from the Ivy Leagues). I will add (I think many of us agree) USAFA is an excellent academic institution. It consistently ranks in the top 15 in the country. The idea that there are hundreds just like it is absurd. One of the best aspects of the Academy is you can get an excellent education, play Division I sports, and for the most part (if medically qualified) get handed a ticket to UPT upon graduation. I argue this diversity of people flowing into the pilot ranks is the benefit that many are asking for with regard to pilot production. It is true though, the Air Force could care less where a pilot goes for the degree. In my UPT class, I had a classmate (Reservist) who was prior enlisted, ended up getting a BS degree from Touro. Did OTS and now is an Air Force pilot. I guess we could go this route instead. I want to address what some people say about the non-pilots at USAFA. To be honest, I’m not sure why people went through that bullshit for a degree they could have gotten at a civilian university. However, the Air Force was lucky to get people such as the president of US Air and other graduates (some who make seven figures and look at airline pay as lunch money) for the five years they served. The facts are there just are not enough slots at the ROTC dets at the top 14 schools to accommodate all these guys/gals if the Air Force Academy did not exist. There are some people who are attracted to a high quality education and the military gets tremendous value out of their human capital.