DeHavilland
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Posts posted by DeHavilland
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Those past 15 years have already made a choice...on paper...REDUX or Top 3. This plan appears to fly in the face of that.
This has probably already been posted, but...
http://dbb.defense.gov/pdf/DBB_Military_Retirement_Final_Presentationpdf.pdf
I just tried this link and also going direct to the Defense Business Board. All links are dead. Did anyone download the PDF presentation before they shut the link down? I and many others would be very interested in seeing the actual proposal. And yeah, after just what I have read in the "Times", I think it sucks.
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Wow, it only took the Navy four-and-a-half years to figure out that she was bat-shit crazy!
But at least they figured her out and dumped her ass. This vs. Jill M and the story behind her.
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I can't believe I am the first to post this topic for discussion. I could rant and rave and make all kinds of counter arguements to this proposal. I will let those that reply start that discussion. However, I will say personally, after 28 years, I will have to make the decision of whether it is better to retire now before my expected high 3 retirement turns into a new "low 3" (pun intended) retirement and possibly lock in a larger retirement or wait to see if the cuts also affect retirement pay as well as current pay. I'll go stick my head back in the sand pit that says even in these fiscal times military pay base pay should be untouchable.
The Pentagon's top officer said Thursday that servicemembers will likely see cuts in pay and benefits as the military plumbs its budget for nearly half a trillion dollars in savings over the next 12 years.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen warned against taking the "relatively easy" choice of cutting hardware while maintaining the increasing costs of paying and providing ongoing health care to troops and retirees.
"Two of the big places the money is, is in pay and benefits," Mullen told defense reporters at a June 2 breakfast meeting in Washington. "And so when I say all things are on the table, all things are on the table."
In May, President Obama proposed sweeping budget cuts totaling $400 billion over the next 12 years -- a fiscal hit experts say will largely come from the DoD. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said health care costs are "eating the Department of Defense alive" -- with nearly 10 percent of the budget going to health benefits for active and retired servicemembers.
Let your legislator know how you feel about potential pay and benefits cuts as the military looks to trim its budget.
"Sustaining … the weapons and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who use them is increasingly difficult given the massive growth of other components of the defense budget, the 'tail' if you will -- operations, maintenance, pay and benefits, and other forms of overhead," Gates said in a May 24 speech. "America's defense enterprise has consumed ever higher level of resources as a matter of routine just to maintain, staff and administer itself."
Mullen went further, saying savings should be found in pay and benefits costs before cuts to programs and personnel.
"We need to avoid just making the relatively easy decision [to] just cash in force structure," Mullen said. "We have to go through everything else -- and 'force structure' are platforms and people -- before we get to that point, because that's why we're here."
He added that these cuts will likely need to be made in the next few years in order to "start to generate cash in the out years."
The U.S. doesn't face the same world it saw after the Vietnam War, Mullen argued, when Congress and the Pentagon slashed defense by nearly 40 percent. The threats to U.S. security are real and growing, so gutting aircraft and ship programs would undercut American defense, he said.
"I'm not satisfied with the idea that 'let's just be the best counterinsurgency force we can be in the future,' and that's it," he said. "We still have high-end warfighting requirements that we're going to have to resource, and those are important programs."
Mullen, who's due to leave his post this fall, said the Pentagon is still working out the options on where to find the $400 billion in savings. And while he wasn't sure where the White House would come down on the issue, he was firm in his belief that preserving future hardware is a top priority for the DoD.
"We're at the point where … we have to present 'here are options to execute this,' and those are then decisions that the president has to make," Mullen explained. "So we haven't gotten to the specifics of [whether] the White House supports X, Y and Z."
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I was assisting a guy with his access, which he got. However, the information / page does not appear as it did in the past. I could not readily find the information in the same format as in the past. I am pretty sure we clicked on all the links, but could not what we were looking for. Anyone else with a better experience with the website?
The access is less than 30 days old. So, can anyone answer the question of where to find under all the links, the data that looks like the "old" GIANT report data?
Thanks
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I was assisting a guy with his access, which he got. However, the information / page does not appear as it did in the past. I could not readily find the information in the same format as in the past. I am pretty sure we clicked on all the links, but could not what we were looking for. Anyone else with a better experience with the website?
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Finance Guy,
Do you agree with the my last post and the information that I was given and that if you have 120 days of continuous deployment, that you can carry up to 120 days till the end of the 4th FY after the FY in which the SLA was earned?
Thanks
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This same topic came up recently in the box and this was given to us. If you were deployed for 120 continuous days, then you are pretty much golden to bank the time. Imagine, 120 days of leave on 30 SEP, don't take leave for the next year. Start terminal leave with 150 days on the books plus any PTDY. Too good to be true. I personally have 100+ days of leave with no intention of reducing much until it is time to retire.
Military Pay E-Message 10-035
Subject: Leave carryover extension
REF: E-Message 08-052
This message expires September 30, 2013
The purpose of this message is to provide the Defense Military Pay Offices (DMPOs), Financial Management Companies (FMCOs), U.S. Property and Fiscal Offices (USPFOs), and USAR Pay Centers (UPCs) with additional information regarding Leave Carryover.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2008 changed the maximum leave carryover (except for special leave accrual and members in a missing status) from 60 days to 75 days from October 1, 2008 through December 31, 2010. The NDAA 2010 extends the 75 day carryover until September 30, 2013.
The NDAA 2010 also extends to September 30, 2013 the longer retention period for the 120 days of leave as special leave accrual (SLA) for members who serve on active duty for a continuous period of at least 120 days in an area where they are entitled to HF/IDP, are assigned to a deployable ship or mobile unit or other duty designated under uniform regulations, or qualifying duty designated by the Secretary of Defense. The 120 days of SLA can be kept until the end of the fourth fiscal year (instead of third fiscal year) after the fiscal year in which the Service members qualified to accumulate up to 120 days leave at the end of the fiscal year.
The NDAA 2008 increase to 120 days the leave carryover for members who serve in support of a contingency until the end of the second fiscal year after the fiscal year in which such service on active duty is terminated. This provision did not have a termination date so it has not changed.
Point of Contact for this message is DFAS-IN.SYSTEMS@DFAS.Mil
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#3 Here's to 50 more years of USAF tanker toads getting type ratings in airplanes the airlines no longer fly.
Gee - I don't remember that being a contract requirement for the bid. Maybe EADS can use the fact that pilots that fly their A330 will have a type rating that is truly marketable on the outside and therefore more pilots will be willing to serve in the AF and therefore pilot recruiting costs will be lower in the long run and so they have a point they can use in the their bid protest. Just kidding Tanker guys. I think we are all happy just to fly an aircraft (except maybe Predator guys) and getting a type rating on a current in use airframe is a nice bennie none of have to have to keep us flying and happy.
Boeing - Congrats on the win. Now just don't screw it up.
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The UK - defense-cutting themselves into irrelevancy...
Why bother to even have an air arm?
Just ask the Kiwi's in New Zealand about budget cuts to their Air Force.
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Does anyone else have the problem of pages slow to load and the actual downloading of approaches being even slower? I have used this since it first came out and it is consistently slow to download whether from home or office CONUS and home or office OCONUS. In the box now and it is practically worthless trying to download from here. Great product, but useless when it takes 15 minutes per airport to download.
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From a purely pilot perspective...flying helicopters is a blast and I loved it. It's mostly VFR flying, in the weeds and a lot of low-level (nap of the Earth...in the trees). Nothing I do in the USAF will be quite like flying around with the doors open in a Huey. Also the Army operates a lot like the Navy does with respect to flying regs...unless things have changed dramtically in the past 10 years, their flying regs consisted of AR 95-1 (most of which is a reprint of FAR 91), the -10 (-1 for USAF types) and the FAR/AIM. Everything else was printed as a Field Manual.
If you're going to do the Army thing, at the very least fly as a warrant officer. Commissioned officers don't fly much, they are essentially commanders and staff. They maintain enough experience in the aircraft to have an idea of what their warrants are doing on a daily basis, and no more. Chances are as a LT you'd arrive as a platoon leader. Enjoy that time because that's probably the most you'll get to fly in your career. Then you'll move on to being a company XO or perhaps a battalion staff guy as a junior captain. As a senior captain you'll probably command a company, and that'll probably be the last "real" flying job you'll have in the Army. Once you leave the company, you'll probably spend the next several years as a battalion staff guy. If you're lucky as a senior major or junior LTC you might be the battalion XO and then the battalion CO, but you still won't get to fly too much. Don't expect to become an instructor pilot or even a maintenance pilot as a commissioned guy. Yes, there are some commissioned guys that managed to work those quals, but it's not as easy to do as it used to be (although I don't know, with today's OPSTEMPO with deployments, maybe the Army started letting more commissioned guys be IPs/MTPs).
If you go into the Army as a warrant, flying will be your primary job. You'll probably branch off into one of the major career directions, such as instructor pilot, maintenance test pilot or safety. It's a lot like being a LT or junior Captain in the Air Force, but you get to do it for the rest of your career.
Army Warrant Officers are the IP's, Safety Officers, Maintenance Officers and all the extra duty officers in a Army aviation unit. I have served in the Army for 27 years. All as a Warrant Officer. For all but one year of that, I have been in the cockpit. That is not too unheard of as a Warrant Officer. I have sixteen years in helicopters and 10 years in fixed-wing. Despite deployments, I come to work with a smile on my face every day and looking forward to it. Has it sucked at some point? Sure, but doesn't every job give you some suck? But they pay me extra to do what I want to do and the base pay is pretty darn nice at this point too. If you want to fly for a career, come in as a Warrant Officer. If you want to lead folks in the Army, come in as a LT and know that over a 20 year career, you will probably be closest to a cockpit for only the first 5 years. After that the flight time goes down and the staff work goes up.
The grass always looks greener in the other guys yard. If you want the better quality of life and to lead and the slightly higher pay, but less flight time over a career that comes with it, go Air Force. If you have your heart set on flying, go to the Army as a Warrant Officer.
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The AF Times may suck and they can't do math very well, but the report stands on its own merits. A guy knowingly disregarded the rules, rules meant to protect all and he took 3 others to their deaths. Harsh, but those are the facts. Who else did he train with "his" technique? Guys that give lip service to the rules rarely kill just themselves. I have seen many military accidents over the years where a pilot did not stop until he killed himself and other innocent passengers and crew. Tragic loss, but if everyone can learn from this and just one "free lancer" is stopped, some good can come from it.
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Finance Guy has assisted me several times. Most recently last week. It is nice to find a guy that knows the rules and knows the money does not belong to finance personally. It belongs to the service member who may need assistance in claiming it. Keep up the great service to all.
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I thought there was another thread in the past about this, but I can't find it so I'll add it here.
Has anyone purchased a vehicle overseas and then imported it back to the States when you PCSed home? Trying to figure out if there are any States that have minimal/import taxes if you owned and drove the vehicle overseas. I've seen anywhere between 3% & 6% fee so far...just trying to see if there's anything better out there.
In Florida, if you had the vehicle for more than 6 months prior to registering it there, the sales tax is waived.
Anyone know if you can use this discount if you're headed overseas on orders to have a car ready when you get there? I've got orders to Ramstein, and i"d like to try and get the car ordered, and maybe ready to pickup there when I get in, but still get the discount.
Bought the wifes Volvo through a dealer in TX. Did all the paperwork in CONUS. They only wanted to see the OCONUS PCS orders and processed it just like if I had already been in Germany. Arrived in Germany, took the train/ferry to Sweden and drove it home. Been to Sweden 4 times getting SAABs and Volvo's. Beautiful country, nice people, expensive living.
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Has anyone had experience shipping garden tools from the UK back to the US? Given the somewhat recent hoof and mouth disease problem over here I've been warned that this may be difficult if the items are not spotless. All of the items were previously shipped from the US and have not been used outside of my backyard (and some have not even been taken out of my garage). It seems silly to have to make them look new again at this point.
I've heard numerous problems shipping cars; ie. having them rejected for shipping due to dirt/debris, but nothing about household goods.
Any feedback is appreciated.
I brush, a bucket of water followed up by a can a black spray paint and my tools looked like new. After 3 OCONUS(Germany) to CONUS PCS moves, I have never had a problem. I also took the packers advice and had them list the "garden tools" as anything but that to avoid unnecessary USDA attention.
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Anyone know a good link to find historical TAF/METAR reports for a location from less than a year ago? Also, looking for a link that would show a historical radar picture.
Thanks
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It has been a few years but when I used USAA for a home loan, they had a guarantee to lower the rate by .5% if they failed to meet the agreed closing date. Well, there I sat with the pen in hand ready to sign at closing and the CFO of the family noted that there was an error in the paperwork. I called USAA and explained the problem. They did not bat an eye and said they would fix the problem and drop the rate by .5%. Now over the life of a 30 year loan, that cost them some serious bucks. In this case, they were A 100% on my report card.
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Last time I was at DM, I don't recall seeing a bunch of Spad's sitting around waiting to be refurbished. Same with OV-10's. The CA Forestry Service grabbed some OV-10's for spotters for water drops back in the 90's after the AF and Marines parked their acft.
There is a guy who just imported a Spad from France and had it confiscated by big brother. Nice looking acft that flew back with lots of spare parts. Search the web for the story.
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I'm assuming it stops so much for fuel, but a 747 with some (Ok a lot) extra drag can't make it from SKF to FL?
(Unless the extra weight greatly restricts the fuel load)
Maybe a dumb question...maybe someone has some insight
Not sure of the weather that day, but the 747/shuttle combo has to have clear air to fly. The shuttle tiles can be damaged if they fly through rain. So, they may do a zig-zag across the country trying to get to KSC while avoiding/waiting out cloud cover and rain.
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HiFlyer -
A few years ago I had a job flying resurrected and significantly modified former USMC D-models on a State Department contract in South America. "Significantly modified" means, among other things, that we had Kevlar floor and sidewall armor, front quarter panel armor, laminate windscreen and side canopy armor, etc.
Several years ago, I stopped by the hangar at Patrick where the mods were being done to the OV-10's and there was also a C-27A in the hangar. I got a nice tour of the facilities. How sweet it must have been to fly the Bronco. In Colombia, I saw the locals doing training flights and moving mud with their guns. They had upgraded several of their acft in AZ with upgraded engines, 4 bladed props and some avionics. It made for a very nice COIN platform.
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Reading the story of Randy Cunningham ex CA congressman/current federal inmate and the first ace in Vietnam and his shootdowns is a good read.
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Crash pilot who paused to pray is convicted
Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:36pm EDT
PALERMO (Reuters) - A Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before crash-landing his plane, killing 16 people, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot.
The 2005 crash at sea off Sicily left survivors swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that remained floating after the ATR turbo-prop aircraft splintered upon impact.
A fuel-gauge malfunction was partly to blame but prosecutors also said the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land the plane instead trying to reach a nearby airport.
Another five employees of Tuninter, a subsidiary of Tunisair, were sentenced to between eight and nine years in jail by the court, in a verdict handed down Monday.
The seven accused, who were not in court, will not spend time in jail until the appeals process has been exhausted.
(Writing by Phil Stewart)
While taking criminal action against a flight crew after an accident is not the best way to get things done, based only on this article, the crews actions in this accident don't paint the best picture.
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In the American Flyers renewal program, are the tests timed?
No they are not. When I renewed, I could keep open the test screen as well as the subject screen at the same time. That way, if I did not know the answer, I could search to find it. Or cut and paste and print the subject and then open the test section. The slow part was waiting the minimum time required before it would let you take the test.
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The biz jet community and the car makers especially are getting beat up pretty good about their use of corporate jets. Maybe if you are getting Gov't money, you shouldn't be using too many jets. However, Congress needs to take a close look at themselves. More than one person in the civilian chain has no problem requesting VIP acft to transport themselves around.
Military retirement under attack
in General Discussion
Posted
Can you post the presentation here for all of us to see?
The Defense Business Board is expected to issue final recommendations later this month (August) based upon this presentation.