maybe we can look forward to watching the Empire go bankrupt after convincing itself to buy two Death Stars, on the theory that different models will drive down costs.

AAaaand there's the hook. Priceless.

That being said, I wanted to pass along some temporary changes to the hours of operation at our Laundry Linen Exchange. The linen exchange will close between 0830-1030 and 1400-1600 daily until further notice. These hours are in place to mitigate the growing pains and allow the contractors to improve on their service.

This is my surprised face.

Task a group of shoes to work on solutions to a customer service problem, and "reducing service hours" is bound to percolate to the top of the idea list.

I bet that "cabin" smells like spring flowers.

Sadly he is probably not engaging O's, certainly not the ones in bags. Like any other self righteous busybody, he's likely picking on SrA or at most SSgts. So only the first half of beating him at his own game would likely work for the end user. Unless of course an A/C caught said E9 rolling in on one of your own crew, then it's fights on since the E9 has wandered into the threat of his own low SA accord.

For the FB crowd. A lot of good discussion, information sharing, and ideas:

Here

And Here

All sarcasm. No idea and barely care.

I call BS. That would require the AF to admit, even if only on a minor point, that they were wrong to pass on the T-45. AF leadership would rather put out a burning oil well with their own face than ever do this.

I predict us buying used T-50s from the DAKs before the first T-45 says USAF on the side.

Where's PYB when you need him.

I think you have to say his name 2 more times.

The only problem is that the term does not go out as far as USAA or some other companies. In other words, it is a little cheaper because they won't cover you when you start to reach the years where there is a decent chance you might croak (age 49 is the age where I think AAFMAA's premiums go up dramatically and the benefit declines a lot, which is fine, because I will be at less financial risk at that age - hopefully - with the kids gone and the house paid for, etc)

That was part of my consideration as well, but it was specifically why I went with AAFMA. I wanted coverage during my prime earning years--years before I had my own nest egg/financial foundation built. Those are the vulnerable years in my mind.

20 years from now, I will have eclipsed what that policy would offer, so it will at that point be redundant.

It's not matching, it's defined contribution (govt will contribute x amount to tsp automatically).

In fact I don't recall the DBB proposal mentioning matching specifically.

I think we should be seeing the earliest of the 10yr people eligible to leave in 2012.

Just after a two year record high retention rate. Weirdest thing!

Try 20....

Fast forward a few years. Assuming these changes take place, how or would your advice change for...

the 17yo that is thinking of enlisting

17yo thinking about a service academy

junior at the zoo thinking about pilot training

7yr SSgt weighing thier options (ranging from defense contracting job to going back home to be a cop)

I've got my ideas, just thinking through the second order effects for discussion sake.

I was really young during 40%. I remember a lot of bitterness. A LOT. In conjuntion, a lot of E-6's were getting kicked to the curb at 16-17 years.

I was like a young pup that could smell something bad in the air, but didn't quite know what it was...

$289 retail according to the website, but $150 according to the catalog once they have your impressions.

Might be questionable value at that price, but I love mine, and will be getting a spare set.

Secondly, is there a demand for an adapter that would connect your ACCES earplugs to a standart 3.5mm stereo jack?

All great thoughts, but I wanted to point something out. When my unit transitioned to ACCES we had a very smart LSO working at the group. He rightly predicted that the user would have to get accostomed to these new earpieces. Second, since Westone already had our molds, it was very little additional cost to order everybody stereo earphones specifically to ease the acclimation process. And yes, they legitimately helped.

If your unit is about to transition to ACCES, I would drop this idea off with your LSO. The earphones are pretty awesome--could be better with lower freq's, so if you're a full-up audiophile you prob won't be impressed, but I like them.

If your unit has already tx'd, you're not out of luck. Westone keeps all molds for 5 years; call them up--it's prob way cheaper to get a set of headphones with a ready mold. I haven't looked into it yet, but even if mine don't wear out/break/get lost I'm planning on ordering another set in 3-4 years. They are hands-down the best fitting earphones I've ever had.

Sorry for the hijack--Back to the discussion.

That dude made O6. And got a Wing.

...

Copy, you've never flown a heavy. Noted.

Neither have you. Noted.

It's ok. They had radar SA.

First off, this is an ACSC paper. C'mon, how often do those get any traction?

Second, agree with Brother Brabus-Johnson: you'll get your AR intro in the B-course (MQT often enough). You won't remember what the big deal was two weeks into your first deployment. Two months into said deployment, you'll stay on the boom while using a piddle-pack.

In the last month of the deployment, you'll see which booms catch that you're giving the ops desk dsn every time they ask for your tail number.

Has anyone attempted to get the Education Office to pay for your ATP test/flight via the 1-time $4500 certification? There is some verbiage about $250/credit hour, and that doesn't directly translate to an FAA certificate program. The Ed Office explained to me that if I can show where the school is accredited, they would pay for the cert. I explained that the AllATP course is only 3 days long, and she said in non-standard courses, they'll pay $250 for every 15 hours of instruction.

So in the case of the 3-day course at AllATP, the AF would pay up to $750 of the total $2500 bill (and a $300 evaluator charge on top of that)... but they'll pay nothing unless I can prove the school's accreditation.

Anyone already fought/won this battle?

If you need to reference an education office that is up and running with this, call Moody. They've got two schools approved. I didn't use them for my ATP due to scheduling complications, but they know the regs and certification requirements.

How long had he been gone?

Was this a result of the "return to fly board"?

Here is a rant from a retired fighter pilot that is worth reading:

Word.

I wanted to throw up during the graduation ceremony,

DUDE, I know exactly what you mean...

Wait, what?

Austria spent a mint on their fifteen aircraft delivered in 2007, for which they currently have fourteen pilots that average about six flying hours a month - with five aircraft expected to be operational at any one time. Sort of like your local flying club.

On the other hand, this should give the new Austrian fighter fleet an expected airframe life of about 200 years.

Sounds like they're just copying from ACC's RTM drafts for next year.

At the risk of starting this argument again, the use of the word "operator" implies that they are in more than a support role. The headline was purposely misleading.

Valid. Whoever wrote the article throws around the word "operator" like everyone else uses warrior. I just would have been more incensed if the article had implied a full title or glossed over training and qualification differences.