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Catbox

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Posts posted by Catbox

    Remains of 274 US troops dumped in landfill

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Catbox

    This is a shocking story and I can't believe someone would actually let this happen.

    But then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised when the focus of our "leadership" is on uniform fashion statements and pushing for more ORIs.. Things like the mission, morale and dignity for our nation's heroes are all secondary.

    Shack...

    But the big question is how to get congress (if they give a shit), the general public (if they give a shit) and the wider AF community (if they give a shit) to see the correlation that AF leadership's misplaced priorities leads directly to mishandled nukes and mishandled remains. To my mind it doesn't matter that Swartz was directly involved but if a shit load of Capts/Majors can see that the light at the end of the tunnel is a ######ing train...why can't he?

    Master's Degree while still in training?

    in Combat Systems Officer (CSO)

    Posted

    I know that many people feel that it is unwise to start a Master's program while in training but if it is possible I would like to try. After getting settled in Pensacola I would really like to at least take a class or two online. I would appreciate anyone's input on this, negative or positive.

    I just want an honest idea on how much time you spent actively training per week to include voluntary and non-voluntary study time. My view is that if while at training you were able to spend 8 hours a week playing video games or going to the bar, I shouldn't have a problem finishing an easy online course.

    I went to tech school in Pensacola and my Squadron would not let me take any online courses while I was there because of how "demanding" the training was (I am enlisted). It was so demanding that the average person at my squadron was able to play video games in the day room for three hours a day. I am sure that CSO training will be more demanding than my tech school but if training only takes up 55 hours per week, I think I can manage to squeeze in a class or two.

    Any thoughts?

    Things have changed a lot from my days at P'Cola but on during our Air Force inprocessing they told us specifically that we were not allowed to persue any outside education.There is no reason, to either...unless the pipeline is accelarated I think you will be surprised at how much time between UFT and initial check out in your MWS you will have. Work on your Masters then.

    New Fitness Rules

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Now if we can just fix the integrity problem that led to the rampant cheating in the first place ...

    I've heard this over and over and I'm sure it happened from time to time but I never witnessed it to the degree that the FAC system seemed to necessitate. In fact the ridiculous subjectivity of the FACs that affected nearly everyone ( either as a testee or a supervisor fighting with the FAC) was far worse than a few isolated cases of cheating.

    Headache/Migraine info

    in Aviation Medicine

    Posted

    So, good news and bad news. MRI was clean = awesome! Bad news, migraines are getting worse and still no help with the meds. I'm freaking out because the neurologist said if they can't find a med that works in the next month or so, I'll be goin up for an MEB! WTF!

    So my question to ya'll is.....what happens if I go up for an MEB? Whats the process? Is it an automatic out? And if so, now what happens to me an my family? Is there any severance pay or anything to help us out the door? What about insurance???

    I'm kind of worried for my family here and would love to hear about any experiences with this. Thanks everyone.

    Hey Ice, I realize its been a couple of weeks so things may already be rolling but having been through the MEB process a few things I can recommend. First of all there are several different outcomes, retain, retire or separated. If you get retained you may have an assignment limitation code which will limit some options for you in the future (as I'm finding out now and am beyond pissed). My advice on this BE PATIENT and don't plan for any particular outcome. Go to your appointments, take your meds and be 100% honest with the docs who are treating you.

    The other piece of advice...if you do get into an MEB, go to Transition Assistance Program ASAP. I wish I would have, but most of your questions regarding post service disability, insurance will be answered there or at least you will get the contacts who can answer your questions. But remember what I said don’t plan for anything, you are just attending TAP to put yourself at ease and figure out what MIGHT happen with two of the three MEB outcomes.

    Please PM me if you have more questions...happy to chat over the phone or email if needed.

    Entry into AFRC with an Assignment Limitation Code (C-2)?

    in Aviation Medicine

    Posted

    Any docs perusing this board (or anyone experienced), a keg to you (I mean it) for any help you can provide.

    I'm getting out of AD for family reasons and have been hired at a non-flying reserve unit that needs rated folks. I’m also on the short list for two IMA positions so at the unit level the Reserves want me and my experience. I had absolutely counted on getting into the Reserves to continue my service, work towards retirement and still get to feel kind of cool.

    While on AD I had several bouts of kidney stones that ended up with an MEB and an ALC (C-2). I have been symptom free for over a year and as long as I take my medication (urocit-k) it looks like I have a great chance of being stone free for the rest of my life. According to all AD medical staff I can still deploy but it would require extra paper work and the appropriate facilities in case I gave birth to another stone.

    After getting scrolled, getting hired, etc... it came time to submit my medical paperwork and in about a week the answer came back that I was ineligible to enter the reserves because I was not WW qualified. I never actually saw any correspondence or official rejection, this just came from the inservice recruiter (he also told me that there was no waiver process…in my experience there is always a waiver). The unit that hired me is looking into this but all the med staff is TR and don’t drill again for a few weeks.

    Anyone else been through this or are there any Docs/Nurses with experience that can tell me if my ALC instantly DQs from the AFRC? If you are a medical type I’m happy to share any docs, etc… that might help.

    My eyeballs are literally about to explode I’m so pissed at what may be one last screw job from Big Blue so I would kill for any help or advice.

    ACSC OLMP?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Catbox

    Has anyone on here started and/or finished the ACSC OLMP?

    (http://www.au.af.mil/au/dlmasters.asp)

    If so, a few questions...

    - What kind of work is it? A lot of reading, followed by discussion boards and paper writing? Any tests?

    - What's the workload of the classes? How many hours a week is required, etc?

    - How flexible is the program around our work schedules?

    I am specifically looking at the Leadership Concentration. I'm an O-3 w/ SOS in Res complete, but I'm just getting going on an AAD and it wouldn't be the end of the world to start over if it was worth it.

    They tried to sell it to us at SOS, but it was in the middle of a lot of other discussion and got lost in the chatter. Their website is a little sparse on the details.

    I asked this in the SOS/ACSC thread, but the topic was quickly changed and focused on SOS/ACSC alone and not necessarily this program, so maybe it needs its own thread..

    Thanks for the info.

    I agree with everyone about this program...I was second classe to graduate and IMHO you get a much better and useable education that the people who are doing the truly ridiculous box checking masters degree programs. Beyond the price of books (which I got smarter on as the program progressed, there are ways to save money on books) it is completely free.

    I actually had some quality professors/instructors that really did give a crap and I learned more than I intended. After the first few 300 word discussion posts you really can go on auto-pilot if you want. I paid attention to the subjects I gave a crap about and tended to do the minimums on the one's I didn't. The time spent is up to you, average for me...maybe 4 hours a week but I only took one class at a time. Very flexible with our schedule, I was on the BWI rotator for two of the finals weeks both times they worked with me. No tests, but there is quite a bit of writing, especially your final paper. I was able to sneak in most of my discussion question answers during slow times at work.

    One of the biggest eye openers for me was interacting with the other O-4s I would never meet in person. There are some quality people in the AF and some slack jawed ######s that have no place manning a drive thru.

    Again not sure of the viability for the outside world but it was a shade better than traditional corespodance-ACSC when I was pledging different reserve units.

    If you don't get picked up in residence I highly recommend this over any other "check the box" masters out there.

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by Catbox

    Oops. I meant 8:31:07. But at least you got to see the Keira Knightly/Natalie Portman love scene inserted at random times between the 5 hour and 7 hour point. Hotttttt.

    Ok I'll believe you one more time but if you're lying...

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    She'll probably win millions... http://www.foxnews.c...test=latestnews A Texas woman is suing Continental Airlines and three other carriers over mental trauma she says was caused by a turbulent flight, the Houston Chronicle reported. Colleen O'Neal alleges that the October 2009 flight from College Station, Texas, to Houston -- a usually short flight that ended up taking more than two hours -- encountered extreme turbulence that caused her to fear for her life. O'Neal experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and now fears flying, which has had a detrimental impact on her career, according to the suit filed Tuesday in Harris County district court. Also named in the suit are regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines, which operated the flight; Pinnacle's owner, Colgan Air; and United Airlines, which recently merged with Continental. Spokespeople for United and Pinnacle declined to comment

    All right the flood gates are open...there's a few copilots that are going to be hearing from my lawyer.

    Medal of Honor for Combat Controller?

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Y

    A good article, but unfortunately I doubt it will change things...

    You are probably right, but the more hits the article gets the more it will show people are paying attention. It seems to me he deserves it and it would sure be nice to have a hot shit enlisted AF member at the White House getting this award.

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I was talking about their name in regards to quality. I do not buy into the media hysteria behind it. I thought you were joking about their appearance because I did not think it mattered. It is a gun, not an accessory. :beer:

    Here, here to learjetter. My dad and I used to make kit muzzle loaders so when you "build" a gun start to finish you get a great appreciation for the quality and how small things like a properly sanded and stained stock can have a big impact on the finished accuracy of your gun. I'm a huge fan of wood and steel, the hipoints are plastics and pot metal.

    But again I've never shot one so I could be missing out. Have fun on the range...since you are physicist are you running the equations through your had as you pull the trigger?

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Having never fired another rifle I have nothing to compare it to, but I read some reviews about the HP carbines and they seem well liked. There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the pistols which probably gives Hi-Point a bad name. The only people that trash talk the carbines are gun snobs used to firing something four times the price. They are the least expensive carbine we can rely on to shoot, so it seems perfect for us broke college students. Obviously you can afford something better and should probably overlook them. As far as safety issues, I have read more about Glocks exploding than I have a HP carbine having catastrophic failure.

    I'm pretty sure Hi-point first got thier bad name for being used in the Columbine shootings. The press picked up the connection between kids shooting and an inexpensive "assault rifle" and ran with it. I'm definitely a gun snob, but like M2 said if someone likes these weapons its up to them. I have to admit the appearance of a cheap weapon turns me off but that's just me.

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Hi-points are fugly.

    Yeah always been my impression as well, not just ugly but unsafe looking. Some people seem to love them, but I don't get it. They're warranty is crazy...no questions asked return or replace (no matter how many drive bys or school shootings it was used in).

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I fired a 9mm Hi-Point carbine.

    Can somebody more familiar talk about the Hi-Points? When I first encountered them at a gun show I thought they were almost scary for their poor quality (not making fun of you Masshole, BTW) but I've definitely noticed they have a steady stream of defenders on the internet. Anyone know more about them? Does the cheap price tag mean poor quality?

    Headache/Migraine info

    in Aviation Medicine

    Posted

    My wife and I had a long discussion last night. I also just spoke to a friend of mine who got MEBd for Type I Diabetes, and he explained the whole process to me......it doesn't sound like fun. But y'all are right and I thank you for the guidance. I'll be seeing a flight doc this week. Here we go........

    Good luck man...I've been through the whole thing, long term DNIF turned medically DQ'd from flying which turned into an MEB which turned into a duty limiting code. Go into this like a prize fighter...if you are expecting those first few hits they don't sting as much. There will be good docs, bad docs, minimum wage bureaucrats who's sole purpose in life is to be a road block and 1 or 2 people who actually get things done. Most of all there is a lots and lots of waiting. Be patient but don't be afraid to pick up the phone and pester the f--- out of people to get you answers.

    Most of all remember that you are absolutely doing the right thing.

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