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We're straying pretty far from TA, so if the mods want to move this to a more appropriate thread please do. My TA question was answered pretty quick - they can't force me to take an ADSC pact my retainability date, but will force me to set a DOS between now and the end of my current ADSC. They legally can PCS me without inuring an ADSC (sounds unlikely), or find a cushy cubicle at the Died for me that ends before my DOS (probably not all that unlikely). But to answer your question: I'm not interested in the T-6 gig because I have already done a complete tour as a T-6 IP. I loved it. I loved the flying, I loved the instructing (most of the time), the squadron was awesome, and my commanders were awesome. Even the leadership at the Group & Wing level were pretty cool - at least in touch with the trials of the line pilots, something I can not say I have ever really experienced in AMC. If you can get past the location - and some guys can't - being a T-6 IP is a lot of fun. The days are long but I barely noticed, and never really felt like I was working. Hands down my favorite job in the AF has been a T-6 Flt/CC. But living in a remote location with little to do, few job prospects for your spouse, terrible public schools, long days, and crap weather is something you'll have to come to terms with. In my case it was very stressful on my family, and that's something I don't want to revisit. The other piece is that while Columbus was a great place to start a family and raise toddlers, I do not consider it a very good place to raise school age children. I would anticipate the same situation at Vance or Laughlin. So bottom line is I saw a dead end career going back to the T-6, with the added stresses of long days in a bad location. As I said, if that was going to be my 2nd or 3rd assignment and I had not been before I would have eagerly taken it. It's not a fit for me or my family right now. I like my options on the other side of the fence much better. And HeloDude - I would have accepted a non vol to a Staff tour, but I have made it known to my CC and on my ADP that I am not a volunteer for any staff assignment. I am aware what that did to my promotion chances, but I have all the boxes checked. If I do get passed over I at least want to be happy at work and home when it happens - something that seemed unlikely given these 5 choices. And RTU Instructor is no longer an option for legacy C-130 guys. Personally though, flying 5.0s 4 days a week doing the exact same profile every damn day never appealed to me. One of the reasons I enjoyed the Texan so much was that you were constantly progressing a class through the syllabus, so from week-to-week the profiles and level of instruction changed.

No it's for when you get a "ZJ." If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish.

Wonder why they mounted the camera upside down?

I was going to PM, but I'll throw them out there and accept whatever spears fly my way. Bear in mind that I will meet my IPZ O-5 board in less than 2 years, and I have already spent 3 & 1/2 years in AETC teaching TP Stalls, power-pitch-roll, & the WANTS check. The five available were RQ-4 to Beale, MQ-9 to Creech, MQ-1 to Creech, T-6 to Vance and T-6 to Laughlin. Had this been my 1st or 2nd assignment I would have gladly taken either of the last two . I loved my time in the Texan, but to put my family through that - especially when I now have school age children - is not OK with me. And I appreciate what the RPA guys do and realize that these two locations are the best available to them, but remote piloting is something I have zero interest in doing. If there was a cockpit at either one of those locations I would likewise have taken them without batting an eye. But in my mind Vegas with the bros = f**king awesome; Vegas in the minivan = meh I plan on rolling the dice and declining the assignment. If I end up in Kabul for a year then so be it. If they want to waive my ADSC and send me to Vegas for one year then I'll do it with a smile. But I'd rather do that and find out what the civilian world and AFRC have to offer than spend the next 6-9 years of my life doing a job I don't enjoy. As a sidenote, I keep chuckling over the fact that I've been waiting to be offered the bonus for several years because I knew I would take it. Then, the year I am eligible they fail to offer it in any reasonable time frame, while offering me an assignment I'm not willing to take. Had they offered the bonus in March I most likely would have taken it and wouldn't have a say in any of this.

Those were the days...