GW

Ok as a grad of Class 03-13 my wings are way too shiny and new for me to be typing the first four words in my rant, but here we go anyway: Back in my day we had standup all the time during the 30 day program, and then at least 3 times a week there after (or at least that's what I remember). Much like Kipp I prayed to just about every god I could think of to remove this painful and excruciating process from the program (and sometimes I think even the IP's were praying for the same thing). That being said I also know that I learned more about keeping a cool head and managing the EP during those 0430 Stand-ups than I ever did by trying to memorize the -1. I find it hard to imagine how I or anyone else could hope to pass a ground eval while looking down the barrel of a check ride without practicing the damn thing 4000 times in the flight room. To say nothing of handling an actual no shit EP in the air. If that's really what's happening, than the AF is doing you and every other Stud in the pipeline a HUGE disservice. GW

Ok so in the interest of actually sparking an aviation related discussion, I've got a question for all the CAS guys here. (Before the questions start CAS = Close Air Support, and the best description I've heard for this job is: "Doing God's work by supporting the grunts on the ground") So anyway, what is the Air to Mud community’s interpretation of the AV-8's capabilities? Coming from the AF side of the house, the A-10 and the AC-130 obviously dominate this role (not to exclude the Viper’s contributions ), so I don't hear about the Harrier much and wanted to know how it is regarded by other operators. GW

Damn it! I confuse those two squadrons all the time, I always forget which one is the training sqdn and which one the airlift sqdn is. Thanks Mombo.

Three things for ya, 1) Congratulations! Welcome to the 130 world, and remember to tell all your fiends that it's better to screw your way around the world than to suck and blow. You will find answers to any and all questions you have about LRF and the Herk here; that search button rocks. 2) "Right now" the school house is flying E's (except for J school obviously). One of the home station AMC units (the 62nd) is flying the E. The second AMC unit (the 50th) is flying the H models (H3's if I'm not mistaken, anyone?). I highlighted "right now" because the E model world is in flux right now, see previous posts here for the rest of the story. 3) I started class the day after I arrived on base (god did that suck), give the OSS orderly room there a call they should have an answer for you. The number should be on the website somewhere. GW [ 30. April 2005, 18:57: Message edited by: GW ]

AFUPTstud They will issue you a new helmet at LRF when you get there, you will need it for all the NVG stuff you’ll be doing, so don't worry about getting one at Vance. I didn't need one when I went thru CIQ, but I took it anyway (never say no when supply is giving you stuff for free) and just gave it to our life support shop when I got back home. GW

HD The next time some new guy stumbles on to this board and starts talking about something about which they have no earthly idea stop and think for a second before you 'roll in hot' on the poor misguided soul. Try to remember this thread, and how stupid you came across to every guard and reserve guy (inlcuding myself) on this board, and most of all how civilized their response was to your obviously uninformed statement was. Swallow your pride and remember this: even C-130 co-pilots don't know all the answers; I know this because I'm a C-130 co-pilot and I don’t know shit, but I do know when to keep my mouth shut. GW [ 21. March 2005, 02:20: Message edited by: GW ]

RedDog- Sorry this is so late, I wish I could say I've been busy, but I'm a lazy lazy man. Anyway here's what I did. First of all it kind of depends what your orders say. The important thing to have is a valid 04 (or 05 by now?) fund site for your HHG on the orders that get you from CRP to LRF. My original set didn't even have a fund site, so I called my guard unit and had my Base Training Manager amend my orders to include a valid fund site for HHG. (I don't know how Baltimore does it but the Base Education and Training Office in Rhode Island was my contact for orders, either way call your contact first) Once you do this, 80% of your headaches are taken care of. The other 20% will come from the folks at Personal Property in Corpus or TMO in Little Rock. The Mensa members at CRP will try to tell you that because CIQ at LRF is scheduled for less than 6 months, it is considered TDY and thus your not entitled to a government move. Ignore them, show them your fund site, and if that doesn't work show them your Guard Waiver and they should set up the movers. They will probably try to cover their asses by counseling that because your going to a 5 month school that you could be held responsible for the cost of the move later on. Money talks and Bull Shit walks, your fund site should be all that you need, I never had anybody come to me looking for so much as a nickel. Once you get to LRF it's business as usual, welcome back to the AF and try to remember WTF a 1-1 is, and that phone number for the 202 Wx mins. (Side note: I drove up the gulf coast on I-10 thru Texarkana to Little Rock and what looks like a more direct route on the map ended up taking me just as long as driving threw big D would have. So take your pick, Dallas or Texarkana it all comes out in the wash) Getting out of Arkansas however can present a few different problems, but again a valid fund site on your orders sending you back to MD solves almost everything. It took a good hour of head scratching by the desk jockeys in TMO to figure out how to move me back north to the land of Clam Cakes, Quahogs, and October Baseball. At first they tried to tell me that they could only move me back to my Guard Base, which is funny for more reasons then I'll list here. So after I explained for the 5th time that I was in the Guard and going home, they were more than willing to ship to the Home of Record listed on my orders. So make sure your HOR on your orders is where you want to move to, because that's the only way they could do it for me. One more thing I forgot to add, if you end up hauling stuff in your POV up to Arkansas they actually have a scale on base at LRF, it costs $5 per weigh in, they should have the info at TMO. OK I think that's pretty much everything, as a former IP of mine from VMI once said, "Knowledge is Power". Let me know if you have any more questions. Metalhead- I sure did. GW [ 05. October 2004, 23:56: Message edited by: GuardWaiver ]

RedDog- I ran into almost the same exact situation. The government will pay for storage no questions asked for 90 days (exactly when that 90 day clock starts I don't know). But you can get extensions, having TDY orders to LRF should qualify. I just faxed my orders to the JPPSO (Joint Personel Property Something or Other Office, you get the point) in my region and the guy gave me an extension no problem. The PCS to LRF is a bit more complicated, and I'll relate it to you if you'd like, just ask. Needless to say, it took a little doing to make it work in my favor. The short story is that I graduated from CRP, went straight to LRF and then back home after I finish CIQ and got the goverment to pay for two PCS moves. GW

CB- I can't answer most of your bumming questions, as I've been on AD orders for most of my young guard career, however this does mean I can answer your deployed tax question. What I see on my LES is a my base pay along with flight pay, bah, subsistance pay, etc. The federal and state taxes, are taken out as usual. About a week later I get another LES that says "Withheld Tax Ref" and "Other Credits". I'm certain this will become a headache in April when I'm figuring my '04 tax return. I was one class ahead of herkbum at CBM, welcome to the Guard! GW

Does anybody know the name of a good custom patch company? I figure one of you phase I UPT folks might have a few ideas. Thanks. Herks Rule GW

Rice- There are two, types of C-130's in this world, ok three, no wait four... Anyway, slick C-130's are the most common birds you'll see. There primary mission, simply put, is to haul trash and *** all over the world, anywhere, any time, be it via low level to an assault landing, or just crusing at altitude with vectors to the ILS. So that's a slick. There are also Gunships, Electronic Warfare, Rescue & Special Ops birds, SKI birds that land in the snow, the list just goes on and on. I hope that makes sense. GW

ENJJPT stud- Good point, the flying schedual rules all, and if the squadron is behind due to Wx, you might kiss your weekend good bye too. So long story short, don't count on going anywhere for Columbus day weekend, or any other small one day holiday. GW

At CBM we had something like nine days off for christmas and a four day weekend for turkey day. Obviously any other federal holiday was also a day off. GW

Quote from the bottle of Downy Fabric Softener I have in my laundry room: "Warning: Do not use this product on children's sleepware or garments labled as flame resistant as it may reduce flame resistance." So basicly if your washing your flight suits with fabric softener and then leting your kids sleep in said flight suit, your gonna die... GW

Tex- Much like your promotion, nobody cares about your flight time except for you, unless they suddenly can’t find it and your due to upgrade... I've heard horror stories of guys just getting a blanket X number of hours put on their records because the records people can't find any of their time for the last 3 years, and X hours sounded like a reasonable wag. (I’m sure the senior guys here all have or have heard similar stories) As far as your T-6 time, from what I understand no one really cares how many hours you received during UPT, that all comes out in the wash, but your operational time is important, so my advice is to get a log book and try to keep your records as meticulous as you can. (There is a log book that’s got AF wings on the cover that pretty much reads like the time log in the 781, so it’s easy to just copy it over, the BX should have it) My point is, don't count on the flight records folks to accurately track your career, get in the habit now of logging your flight in a log book after you debrief, it served me well in UPT and I’ve carried it over to Little Rock with me. That’s my two cents, take if for what it’s worth from a un-qualified Co-pilot. GW