Toro
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Posts posted by Toro
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It's not a stupid or shallow question. In general if an event is listed as formal dresses, the women will wear cocktail dresses. I don't know how a cocktail dress is officially defined, but that's the verbage I hear. I've mostly seen the short (but still conservative) dresses.
Totally minor point, but if it's a formal event, the AF member isn't wearing blues, it's either mess dress or service dress (blues w/jacket).
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There is no code of conduct, I don't think these wives are inconsiderate or intimidated and I doubt they consider you competition. I think betterhalf is right on - you are a pilot, not a spouse, and they treat you as such.
There are four females in our squadron who we don't treat much differently than we would other guys. None of them are active with the spouses group, but it is by their own choice - they are aircrew and would prefer to spend their time with us. From what I have seen, the flight suit bond is stronger than the gender bond. If the spouses are having a meeting in our bar and one of the guys walks in, none of them bat an eye - why should it be any different if a female walks in?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you wishing to be more involved with the spouses, but you're going to need to step forward and make that very clear to them if you want them to put forth any effort.
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It's generally a commander policy, which was always 'No' when I flew. Think about it - besides your military ID you can't take a wallet or anything else that would in any way identify you, what you do, or where you're from. If you were downed in hostile territory and they caught you with a camera full of pictures of you, your family, and your squadron mates....
That being said, I know a lot of guys who took cameras on combat sorties.
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General Delivery Address:
Name
General Delivery
477 4th St. Suite 1
Laughlin AFB, TX 78843-5144
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Not knowing anything about Hercs, I would think it would fall under one of these two categories. C model guys and guys who have been out the Strike Eagle cockpit for a couple years have to go through a requalification (Transition) course. The answer to the question depends on exactly how much training is conducted to transition from slicks to Js.Originally posted by rotorhead:"3 years (see notes 1 and 2) If the ADSC incurring event is for:
- Initial qualification (any fixed or rotary wing aircraft)
- Requalification (any fixed or rotary wing aircraft)."
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Your service commitment would be incurred from the Formal Training Unit, which likely would be the same as your initial training (if going from 130 to 130).
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Sort of. EvilEagle is right on with his analogy of why things are so tough. A huge part of the stupidity of USAFE was the flying hour program. In a nutshell, the FHP dictates how many sorties your squadron will fly annually and what the average sortie duration will be. In the beginning we try to get the ASD (which is relatively long for an F-15E) by flying long sorties. This means slapping on the external fuel tanks and flying 250KCAS (very slow) to and from our working areas and log a 2.5. Then we realize our ASD is too high so we take off the tanks and fly 450 KCAS to and from the area and log a 0.8. And when we realize we aren't going to fly enough sorties, we surge (each crew flying 2-3 times with a hot pit refueling in between). While I was there, surging was not an exception...it was the norm (at least once a month). I sat in on a weekly staff meeting with the WG/CC, OG/CC and SQ/CCs and the WG/CC said that the USAFE/CC (Fogelsong) had, in not so many words, called him a pu$$y because we he didn't want to up the sortie count for the next year. Despite the fact that we are already pulling 16 hour days, he wants to save face, so he agrees to up the sortie count. Following the trickle down theory, the vice OG/CC tells us at the next aircrew meeting that training does not matter - sortie count does. We had one guy takeoff, pulled closed and land. Logged a 0.1...but it was another sortie. The asspain of Lakenheath will continue until the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome stops. All the peasants know that what's going on is idiotic, but nobody will pass that up to the king.Originally posted by Dirt Beater:Did the more work usually equate to more flying hours than other bases with the same jets?
There's all kinds of other idiotic things about Lakenheath, but I have ranted long enough and I'm just going to get myself more pissed off if I keep typing.
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In addition to what hockeymv said, when you go to Virtual MPF, it will tell you what ribbons you have, and exactly how they should be organized. After you logon, click vMPF, verify your info, then click "Awards and Decorations" at the bottom left.
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Agreed - a very structured air route system, but once you got used to it, it was far better than the US system. Once you exited controlled airspace you could pretty much do whatever you wanted - fight BFM, go low fly. Just turn down your main radio and tell them you'll call them back in 10 minutes.Originally posted by Rainman A-10:I personally thought the UK Air Traffic SERVICE guys were the best by far.
This changed a great deal after the two F-15Cs crashed in Scotland in (I believe) 2001.Originally posted by Rainman A-10:They would provide a weather let down to 100' AGL if you asked for it.
My vote for absolute worst controllers is the French. I took 6-9 trips from England to locations southeast of France requiring transit of their airspace. Without fail, they would alter our flight routing and give us penalty vectors for no apparent reason. On an RTB from Spain, we flight planned through airspace that was not NOTAMed active. As we got near, they began to vector us around the airspace - 50 miles to the east - because aircraft had activated it last minute. We could hear the formation exiting the airspace for RTB. We had radar contact and said we would climb over them. Dissapproved. Finally, as I'm about to declare emergency fuel and turn north, they let us transit the eastern 5 miles of the airspace.
Without fail they would send up a Mirage to 'intercept us' (check about 40 degrees into him when he's 6-9 miles out, then return to course as soon as he alters his course - took them forever to catch up).
And by the way...their English is absolutely terrible.
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I wouldn't doubt it. I've never had senior enlisted lecture me on proper uniform wear, but I've heard of/seen it happen to other people. Sometimes it's deserved (if I saw a dude wearing purple Oakley wraparounds in uniform, I'd tell him that he looked like a tool, and that he was out of regs). Other times, it's just nitpicky - a bunch of us went to the chow hall in the desert and as we walked inside, our Intel Lt pushed her shades up onto cranium. Some random MSgt walked up to her and talk her that in accordance with AFI 69-CMH, her sunglasses were not allowed to be placed on her head...bla...bla. While it would have been nice to tell the dude to pound sand, lighten up, and let her get her food so she could help us fight a war, she did the smart professional thing - she said okay, put them in her pocket, then sat down with us and proceeded to rant about what a douchebag he was.Originally posted by farva:I heard a story of a chief ripping into an LT because his glasses weren't AF standard. You know, the whole non-reflective lenses, black only, really small logo, nothing written on the lens. Is this normal?
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Non-availability has nothing to do with how long you spend TDY. You'll only get a non-A letter if the place you're staying has no rooms.
The reg you're looking for is AFI 34-246 AIR FORCE LODGING PROGRAM
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It's Formal Training Unit.
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Scoobs,
I know you're merely passing along that message, but there's two things in there I'll disagree with. First off, you don't automatically have snacko duties as a lieutenant. The youngest ranking Lt is the official snacko by default, but all the new guys (Lts and Capts) will have the $hit duties like cleaning up the bar Saturday morning.
As far as guys who barely fly and spend 12+ hours at work six days a week needing "to get better time management," tell them to go take a tour at Lakenhell...I mean Lakenheath. I very rarely had <60 hour workweeks.
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Bishop,
PM me with your e-mail and I can dig up a sample memo to send you.
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For the most part I can't stand the club for many of the same reasons Rainman A-10 has listed. I've also got a couple of my own personal gripes.
At Laughlin as a UPT student, we were forced to get Services cards. You could either get the club card with dues or just a services card. Either way, it was another credit card that a brand new 2Lt didn't need.
At our track select and assignment drop parties we looked into the club for food and drinks. They charged nearly double for beer kegs and food than what we would pay from the Shopette and Domino's pizza. So we said we were going to do the parties on our own to save a couple hundred dollars. Totally dissaproved by the leadership (OG/CC, I believe it actually got up to the WG/CC) and we end up paying through the nose.
At Columbus as a FAIP, we were bombarded with requests to join the club. Yet the $15-ish a month got you nothing more than a $2 discount on the Sunday brunch. Since they didn't serve lunch on the weekdays and you didn't get discounts in the bar on Friday, your membership fees got you nothing.
At Seymour Johnson we had a OG/CC safety meeting on a Friday afternoon which adjourned to the club -- a couple hundred fighter pilots looking to lay down some cash on the bar. It just so happened that they were checking club cards that day and wouldn't let anybody in without one. While there quite a few guys who had cards, there were many who didn't. Mutual support - we all pocketed our money, went back to our respective squadron bars, and drank for free.
At Lakenheath, the club had a good Sunday brunch and served lunch on the weekdays, so when they offered a three month trial membership, I took it. I forgot about the trial membership and about midway through the third month I deployed to the desert. When the fourth month began I got a bill for that months dues. I called back and told them that I wanted to cancel -- they said I couldn't unless I turned in my card...kind of tough from the desert. I explained this and they said they'd work something out. Next month I got another bill with late fees from the previous month which had not been paid. I tried unsuccessfully to try to deal with the situation from the desert. When I returned, I managed to convince them to remove the second month's charges and late fee, but they never took the first month dues off.
My biggest gripe with the club is that their stronghold on AF related activities and their refusal to change their marketing skills.
What the hell is a barracuda?Originally posted by Rainman A-10:Everything was great until a highly motivated (and insulted) pencil neck geek paste eating services commander got a hard on for the fighter guys because someone gave his wife a barracuda or something.
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Viperstud is right on. I'm sure there are some guys who were sunglasses in the jet, but I don't personally know of any. They're a huge pain in the ass for the reasons listed. I used to occassionally wear them, but they tended to get fogged up and droop down when I was pulling Gs. When I was at Columbus, a rule came out (don't remember if it was some AETC Sup to an AFI or just an FCIF) that said you could only wear metal-rimmed sunglasses. They felt it was a safety issue of plastic rims melting to your face in the event of a fire.
I personally think the visor works just fine.
Probably not the best attitude to have as a UPT student. I would smile, salute sharply and wear the issued/approved glasses (or nothing at all). The last thing you want your IPs and Flt/CC to think is that you don't like following the rules (as stupid as you may think they are).Originally posted by copenhagen:I don't really like being told what I'm going to wear for sunglasses - and I'm not sure about what's going to happen if I show up to fly with my personal glasses.
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You'll have to keep it in the armory.
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Afraid you are incorrect. AFI 11-217, 25.3, talks about using the HUD as a Primary Flight Reference - in other words, if you are spacially disoriented can you use the HUD as your sole method of recognize, confirm, recover?Originally posted by RedDog:This is a legal question not normal Ops. The -130J is the only aircraft that is "certified" with the HUD as the "sole primary flight display"
11-2F-15E Vol 3, 4.8, says we cannot.
11-2F-16 Vol 3, 4.8, says they can.
11-2C-17, 6.51 says they can.
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Well, now I know what I'm going to do with my scarf when/if I have to go back to AETC. Goin2UPT, you unknowningly have started an outstanding thread.
Ryder1587, the scarf is something that started out having a functional purpose. Later on, it not only served no purpose but had to be removed before flying. It's uncomfortable, it's a pain in the a$$ and it looks . The only time I've been required to wear one was in AETC.
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I believe that the C-17 is the only USAF aircraft besides the F-16 whose HUD is certified as a primary flight instrument, correct?
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OPSEC - You're not too likely to find pilots who are going to talk tactics to somebody they don't know.Originally posted by fbomb:why not call a fighter squadron near you and try to interview some of the pilots for the paper, just a thought it couldn't hurt and might add to the paper.
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If you want the definite answer, try to find it in AFI 36-2903. That being said, my responses are best guess, not based on 36-2903 (I searched for a couple key words, but couldn't find anything specifically related to what you're looking for).
I have never seen service dress at a wedding, though I don't imagine there is a regulation against it. Same with wearing the saber - this may actually be in an honor guard reg.I was wondering what uniform I should wear be it mess dress or service dress. Can you wear your saber in service dress?
Military customs are all fairly similar, but if there are any discrepancies I would say follow guidance of the primary service.Also, what customs do you follow when the saber guard will be a mixed service detail?
I had eight of my buddies act as saber bearers for my wedding, all they needed was a saber and sheath.What are the additional items required for the uniform when doing this ceremony?
If you're friend wants you to be a saber bearer, he ought to be doing the legwork on this. That being said, I've never seen swords sold on base - if you're going to buy one you'll probably have to buy it on the web. The military clothing shop may be able to steer you in the direstion. If the only thing you need is a sword, I would get in touch with your base honor guard (Wing protocol can get you in touch with them) and ask to borrow a sword - this is what I did for my wedding. If nothing else, they should know where you can purchase one.Last, can I buy this all of this stuff on base or do I need to order it from the web? -
Well, a big part of dogfighting (BFM) has to do with the energy egg. There is a great thread about the energy egg here.
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Having just bought my first house less than a year ago, I would advise against doing it at UPT. The asspain and paperwork alone is enough to deter me. Take that with the fact that depending on the buyer's market you may spend a long time after you leave trying to sell that house. Now you're paying rent at your new location and a mortgage at your old location.
With all the associated fees and the fact that the house isn't going to appreciate much in only one year, I think you'd be lucky to break even. Not worth the bother during UPT - you'll have plenty of other things to worry about.
Lifestyle of Helicopter Pilots
in General Discussion
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No.