DigDug

I thought it was pretty funny to see the Wrangler on both lists - like it's too feminine for a guy, yet too masculine for a girl, but just perfect for either gender if they're gay!!! Okay, now that I've bashed it, let me say that I have one and it's a blast. Here's a picture (sorry, it's a little blurry) '97, 4-cylinder, 5-speed, 3" BDS suspension lift, 31" tires (I gotta wear these out before I spring for the 33's), Warn 8000lb winch, custom hand throttle. Plus all sorts of other stuff I threw on it. Unfortunately, it hasn't seen much action and I'm actually toying with the idea of selling it. It sits around since my son and I have been spending weekends with our other toys: '07 KTM 450-EXC, one wheel drive of go-anywhere, wheelie popping, roost throwing fun!

Sorry, I'm usually nice but I just couldn't resist.... Look at number 4 here: Link And number 3 here: Link

True 'dat! Thinking back (way back) I seem to recall that I could tell the academy grads from the other sources for about a year, maybe two. By the time you pin on 1st LT, you have to ask - If you really care. (I don't) True 'dat too!

Not too bad actually, 2 and 1/2 years to get your $28K back - then you use Big Blue's TDY money to pay off your mortgage. Nice!!! Just have to hope you can keep it maintained without a bunch of guys tearing it up... Sounds like a pretty good idea for sure! Good luck with it.

George

Most of the time I've stayed off base, it has nothing to do with drawing the full meal rate. 90% (or even more) of the time, the schedule doesn't allow the use of the chow hall (hopefullly the other kinds of shoe-clerks won't pile on me for that phrase) anyways. Also, I think most of the time, our TDY/Flight orders are already not directing government meals anyways - so as far as per-diem goes, it matters not. The main reason I've preferred to stay downtown is proximity to adequate food/shopping during a "non traditional" flying schedule. If you stay on base and the chow hall is closed, you may find an open bowling alley snack bar or Burger King if you're lucky. Off base, there's usually a 24 hour Denny's or something like that within walking distance - or at least a hotel restaurant with more user-friendly hours. Don't even start with "call base trans to take the crew to dinner" as many (I dare say most) have a "no off base transportation" policy. That's just my take on the on base/off base thing.

[RANT] Holy Crap!!! Are you serious? It's not like I'm trying to return a pair of shoes at WalMart or something. I think most people here are talking about a military professional!!! I agree, the airman that you are talking to is probably (well I can say probably can't I?) not the one that "lost" your paperwork, but if they were, then they deserved to be yelled at. If that embarrasses them, tough. It's the military!!!! That same airman can be doing convoy ops in an ILO tasking next week. If they can't get the voucher thing right, what makes you think they can follow orders and execute the convoy plan? And what is this black mark you speak of? It better be putting my crap on the top of the stack and making sure someone who knows what they're doing QC's the airman's work. If you are insinuating that you'll flag me and provide me with less that your best service - you sir should receive a NJP for failure to do your job (and possibly insubordination). Sorry, that's just one warrior airman's perspective and an example of why the ops guys express such frustration with the so called "shoe-clerks". [/RANT] For what it's worth, I've had MOSTLY good experiences with finance. That's because I've watched them like a hawk. I've also found that a polite email or phone call to the section OIC will work wonders with "lost" paperwork. I had one "lost", resubmitted it directly to the section OIC. Here was the kicker - I dated all forms for the original submission. They kept trying to get me to change it, but I explained to the OIC that I did it so their bean counters would know the REAL time it took to process the voucher. Those sections LIVE and DIE on metrics, and I wanted to make sure the Colonels saw a red flag on the briefing slide.

You gotta admit though... Opie's got some pretty hot backup dancers....

I went through this recently. Word of advice - the SCRA allows you to break your lease - but be careful about the remaining items in your lease (proper notice for termination - usually 30 days still apply). Also, watch your security deposit - many landlords will attempt to mitigate their losees by finding 'problems' with your apartment after vacating (large cleaning fees, carpet replacement fees, etc...) Hire a professional carpet cleaner and maid service and SAVE the receipts!!! Take lots of pictures of the condition of the unit!!! If your landlord decides to retain your security deposit, your only recourse is to take them to small claims court, which can be a long, painful process. Oh, and you'll have to sue them where they live or where the unit is located - which can be a LONG WAY from where your new location is (and no, you can't sue them for travel/lodging expenses). Read your lease - SCRA only exempts you from the remainder of your time - not the other associated commitments you made.

I'm not sure paying 2x household goods shipments (one to the Rock and one to your perm-station), plus a dislocation allowance (probably only entitled to one - the 1 year rule) are cheaper than the per-diem. I'm sure the bean counters have looked at all that though if this is the new policy. Look at it this way - at least you get to bring your family (if you have one) and choose where you want to live!!!

Here's a slightly different angle: I can't find the references right now (I guess you could dig a bit if you need the ammo) but I could have sworn reading that crew rest is considered official duty, therefore you couldn't (shouldn't) take leave concurrently with crew rest (of any type, pre/enroute/post). I ran into it one time as a Lt where I had planned to take 3 or 4 days of leave through the end of September so I wouldn't lose them. Well, the scheduler decided to throw me on an off-station mission that returned so that my PMCR overlapped with my leave. The CC was pissed (mostly at the scheduler) but told me to delay my first day of leave until the PMCR ran out - causing me to lose a day or two (which makes the CC look bad apparently). This was back in the pre-911 days, so the regs may have changed to accomodate the higher wartime ops tempo. I could have sworn that the AFI 11-2MDS series regs had a statement that leave couldn't run in conjunction with crew rest, but can't locate it right now...

True, but you'll be working on active duty for those days you were going to use for terminal - getting full everything PLUS the money for the leave. Example: You are going to retire on 1 May and have 30 days of acrued leave. Option 1 - Stop working on 1 April and you get paid leave (terminal) 1 Apr - 30 Apr = 30 days of full pay (Base Pay + BAH + Flight Pay). Option 2 - Keep working through 1 May then sell back the 30 days = 30 days of full pay (Base Pay + BAH + Flight Pay) while you're working PLUS 1 months Base Pay only for the leave you're selling back. NOW I do agree that if you've got a civilian job lined up starting 1 Apr, and it pays more than your current Mil Pay and entitlements, you're better taking terminal so you can start working sooner. (Or if your unit is going to be deployed for that time frame, or if you really hate your current commander and 30 more days of facing them would drive you crazy - or, or, or) Some will propose Option 3 - extend your retirement date by 1 month and work through 1 May and then go on terminal leave for 30 days (putting you on active duty another month). As I think about it quickly, this is probably the best option for those that can change their retirement/seperation date (wouldn't work too well for those force shaping victims with a mandatory seperation date). I guess it's all depentant on the individual's situation...

I agree the article does a good job at showing the value of a military pension. I also agree that saving $1,000,000 over the course of a 26 year career would be next to impossible for a comparable person on the outside. But at 3% (easy to find VERY secure investments at this rate) interest, $1,000,000 would draw $30,000 per year and you never touch the principal! Your kids are millionaires when you die. Along this same line of drawing from the interest. If you want to earn $30,000 per year in interest and get between 5%-10% interest from your investments (should be a farily reasonable assumption - heck you can get saving accounts at 3%) you'd have to save $400,000 (assuming a 7.5% average interest rate). Assuming the same 26 year career and NO employer matching contributions (many employers do matching), this calculator: Here says you'd need to save $403.36 per month at 7.5% interest rate. Not terribly unreasonable ($200 per paycheck) over the course of a career. It almost seems like the article "left out" some of those important points. That is what makes it border on propoganda.