M2

Beater Plus songs like the Dos Gringos bros are singing are an Air Force tradition...very common during Viet Nam (and before some smartass makes a comment, I wasn't on active duty during Viet Nam! ). And as HD said, they were smart in how they did it. Although funny, someone at the Pantons should have realized that the Gold Bond powder vid would cause problems. The leadership are just CYA'ing as all it takes is some weenie somewhere to see it and call the EEO office to cause shit. Just another example of the PC envionment we are all suffering under... Cheers! M2

ktulu Yes. Toro Good reply...did you sleep in a Holiday Inn last night?!? Cheers! M2

C-21 I got a nice telescope while stationed in Germany. We lived out near Sembach, and had some roof windows in our house that made it easy to gaze at the stars (the area behind our house was basically fields, looking across the B40, so no lights to interfere; and the clear skies of Germany made for some excellent viewing!). That was the same year Hale-Bop was visible (1997, same year as my first son was born). It was amazing to look at through the scope. I would sit with a Bischhof and stare at it for hours! If this is a family hobby, then I would recommend something for between $100-200. AAFES has them, you can order them from their web site if the local über-BX at Ramstein doesn't stock them. Unfortunately, the haze-filled skies of Belgium aren't as condusive to stargazing... . Must be from all that diesel oil they burn here for heat. Check out this image of the nitrogen dioxide (NO²) air pollution cloud, guess which country it sits directly over?? You can almost make out the borders of Belgium from this image! Scary, isn't it?? Cheers! M²

One more to mention concerning the CSAF's Reading List... http://www.af.mil/csafreading/ You have to request titles from this list by emailing KnightB@AAFES.COM ...I don't think they are free. Cheers! M2

OK, here is the correct URL for ordering publications from the AU Press web site... http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/aul/aupress/catalog/form1.htm You can search from this URL... http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/aul/aupress/ You can also download/order books from the USAF History Office at: http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/publications.htm These are great deals and I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of them! Cheers! M2

I will never turn down a good book, and Air University Pree will send some to you for free if you are on active duty. I can't remember or find the URL at the moment try this URL; but I am not sure if that works because I can't access .AF.MIL sites from home. I will try once I get to work), but I will hunt it down as it is a great opportunity that many people either aren't aware of or don't take advantage of. I picked up A-10s Over Kosovo through AU Press, yet another great book! Cheers! M2

The funny part was they threatened to behead him after 72 hours. We were wondering what that would look like, considering he is a 12" action hero (sts)... Cheers! M2

OK, I'll bite, what? BTW, I have ridden through WVA several times on my motorcycle going to W-P AFB, I found the scenery to be beautiful and the people to be really friendly. As a matter of fact, before I met Mingo, I really had nothing against the state! Cheers! M2

Who gives a shit? I want to know if he is Rumsfeld's brother-in-law (rumor is their wives are sisters...) Seriously, he is from Williamson, West Virginia, which is in Mingo county. It is a "tribute" to his home state. Try not to when you read this... http://newsandsentinel.com/columns/story/0...04_colsmith.asp Also... http://wvweb.com/cities/williamson/ Cheers! M2

ALTRV I heard that rumor the last time I was at Ramstein, that Mingo could not explain missing funds that most likely ended up in his "Combat" programs...however, I cannot confirm or deny... Cheers! M2 [ 28. January 2005, 05:51: Message edited by: MajorMadMax ]

Oh shit! :eek: You gotta be kidding! Can you confirm that? It would explain a lot, but I need confirmation... Cheers! M2

Who in the hell ever said cars were an investment? Unless you by a Benz or some other classic (like Bergman's sweet ride), cars are not something to drop money on and expect a return. They are a means of transport and in some cases entertainment. If you are looking for a return, then invest in real estate or the market. Cars/trucks/motorcycles are for fun, dudes and dudettes! Sorry, I checked the R&R TV Guide, I thought it had BMW prices in it but I guess it is just the plain R&R Guide. I'll grab one of those this weekend and post the prices for the BMWs. Cheers! M2

Guys It all depends one the deal you make on the car. You can have it delivered to the States, or pick it up here and ship it yourself (the USAF pays to ship one one car, any more come out of your pocket. I shipped our second Passat from Texas, cost around $800 one-way). As for emissions, it isn't an issue as you are buying a US-spec car. Now, trying to buy and ship a Euro-spec car back to the States is a completely different matter altogether. Wax, I can get you a price on that M3, and how much it costs in the States. I will post it later, in the mean time check out Pentagon Car Sales, the main tax-free program over here. By the way, I am not endorsing or promoting any of the above, I have actually never bought a car while overseas. I just know it is a good program that many people take advantage of. There are some downsides, such as "tax free" only means you don't pay taxes on it over here. Some states do require you to pay taxes on the full blue book value on the car when you register it. This happened to my father-in-law in Maryland, and it wasn't what he paid for the car, it was the full blue book value, which was thousands more than what he paid for it. Cheers! M2

Well, after four years of living below the poverty level, and most likely having the first real paying job in your life, a lot of people like to reward themselves with a nice car. Nothing wrong with that! Just a word of advice, if you think you have a chance of going overseas early in your career, you might want to hold off on buying something exotic. You can get some sweet deals on nice rides (BMWs, etc) over here... Cheers! M2

http://www.ramaworld.com/ Cheers! M2

I thought that was a great clip, showing what its sons and daughters are doing in Iraq. God bless 'em all, and keep kicking ass! It's also much better than all the negative publicity that the media tends to hone in on. Cheers! M2

C-Mass If it is bad enough, the system should weed her out, either at UPT or RTU. Notice I said "should," not "will," there is no guarantee, but as you assessment is based on one person's opinion (nothing personal, just a fact), there is no telling whether it will happen or not; but I can tell you for the most part the USAF has its ways and for the most part they work. Also, as discussed on other forums, if she washes out then at this time the chances of her being retained are slim. The AF is going through a "shaping" program to reduce the number of officers it has on AD, so unless she can fill a critical shortage in another career field, she will most likely be cut loose. Cheers! M2

Those USPA/IRA cocksuckers came tracking me down back when I was a lieutenant, I had to finally threaten legal action against them if they didn't stop bugging me. They are annoyingly persistent bastards, mostly retired military who wrongly use that status as an ‘in’. I believe Senator Hillary Clinton was a driving force behind going after these sons of *****es, I am no fan of hers but I have to give her credit for doing the right thing in this instance. There are plenty of legitimate investment firms out there, do your research and approach one yourself, I would strongly recommend against doing business with a group that approaches you unless you have dealt with them previously and trust them. It is your money we are talking about here… Cheers! M²

Tyler frightens a lot of us! Hopefully he does not represent today's youth! If so, Cheers! M2

It's great for IFR! Seriously, I believe you can load any kind of chart info into it, but I will ahev to check with my bud who flies for the IRC in Switzerland, he is the 40 lb brainstem on GPS. Cheers! M2

Concur with ENJJPT IP, the Street Pilot III is one of the best GPS units you can get... Cheers! M2

Buy the CD and don't bootleg, it is worth the bucks and Snooze and Trip ain't Madonna, they deserve to get paid for their music!! You can even buy it from Amazon! Cheers! M2

JJ Clearances are for jobs, not rank. You will get clearances as you need them, and no more. Beyond TS there is Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and Special Access Programs/Requirements (SAP/SAR) which are even more restrictive. I cannot go into detail on what specific clearances are for what types of information, but the extra ones I have are to access intel from specific sources. They are tightly controlled to protect the source. Someone posted this web link on security clearances a while back, it is pretty good and worth reading...it may answer some of your questions. Cheers! M2

JJ I don't doubt you begin the process, most likely filling out the form which is reviewed by your local security rep. Trust me, it is a pain in the ass, and it gets worse over time as when you do an update you have to complete the form for your entire lifetime, not just since the last investigation. BUT, if you can get a TS, do so! It is worth bucks on the outside, should you ever decide to get out or when you eventually retire. Some estimates say it is good for an additional $10-15K on your annual salary.

JJ Some free advice for ya...don't believe anything cadets tell you. Someone's yanking your chain. DSS is way behind the power curve on adjudicating clearances (see this), my five-year update took over three years to complete. They wouldn't be wasting their time following a cadet around or listening to his phone calls (illegal without a court order anyway, read USSID 18). Anyhow, your fellow cadets may have filled out an EPSQ and an initial interview was conducted to make sure it was properly filled out, but at this point in their "careers" it is extremely doubtful that the process would begin. Honestly, they don't even know if they are going to make it through UPT, much less what airframe they will be flying afterward. As I said, unless they have a billet requiring a TS clearance, the SSBI is not likely to be completed. I got my first one when I was tapped to be a B-52 aerial defensive gunner back in 1981 (never got the job, the billets--including mine--were cut), and didn't get my second until I was going through intel school. Cheers! M2