Tone deaf

In addition to the rapid inward movements that Boom described, dropping down quickly happens often and the tanker autopilot is unable to keep up with the trim changes and then disengages in an out-of-trim condition that makes for some interesting moments. So, when you get a disconnect, remember to back out slowly and carefully to prevent this from happening.

C-17 guys can tell you the specifics about NVGs, airdrop, and other mission-related items. I have the perspective of having flown the C-17 once during an instructor enrichment flight. My preparation consisted of about an hour in the simulator, and about 30 minutes on an RDS (a simplified trainer that is essentially a glorified computer flight simulator that replicates the C-17 instruments and HUD display). My overall impression is that the jet itself is very easy to fly due to the high level of automation. I was able to consistently land with 12-15 knot crosswinds from the start. The HUD is the bomb, and the amount of information it gives you allows you to fly a precision glidepath with ease. The backside flying takes a little getting used to, as I initially wanted to make pitch changes to adjust the glidepath. There is a pitch hold feature that allows you to park the jet at a given pitch attitude and fly AOA using power to adjust glidepath. At 50 feet or so you feed in some power to move the flight path vector in the HUD to the far end of the runway and just fly it onto the runway. It's easy to judge the amount of rudder to use in crosswinds because there is an indicator in the HUD that enables you to feed in rudder until the yaw indicators (or whatever they are called) merge together. I would say that the landings and backside approaches are nothing to be feared, but the enormous amount of systems will probably present the biggest challenge to someone with your level of experience. Knowing all of the low-level, SKE, NVG, ground ops, and refueling procedures will likely consume the bulk of your study time. Good luck, the C-17 was a blast to fly, and I'm sure you will love it.

It all depends on what your priorities are. An old friend of mine flew and before his commitment was up, the RIF in the mid-90's was kicking in and he applied for the Air Force Funded Legal Education Program and got accepted. He's the only flyer I've ever heard of that either applied or got accepted. If your goals are to be in the AF and want to gamble that the AF requirements for FLEP will allow (right now it is 2-6 years commissioned service, max), then you can't beat the deal. The Air Force sends you to school, you continue to get paid (nothing like being paid officer salary to be a law student), and then you have a guaranteed job when you finish law school, which could lead to a nice military retirement and subsequent career. I wouldn't bank on the program, but it has been around since the early 90's so I doubt it will disappear anytime soon. If there's another career field with a shorter commitment that interests you, you may want to consider that instead of flying with a 10 year commitment. Check out this article for details: FLEP Good Luck!

The next piece of this saga is now posted: http://www.militarycorruption.com/metzger-undone6.htm METZGER TREATED LIKE "CELEBRITY" AT 2008 AIR FORCE MARATHON - 100% "DISABLED" OFFICER FINISHED 59TH IN GRUELING RACE - JILL'S LIES ABOUT HER "KIDNAPPING" IN KYRGYZSTAN FORGOTTEN - "MAYBE CRIME DOES PAY," SAYS MARATHON PARTICIPANT SHOCKED TO SEE "ARROGANT" JILL APPLAUDED - OFFICIALS AT DAYTON, OHIO EVENT GENUFLECT AS SPOILED AIR FORCE ADMIN OFFICER BRAGS THAT SCOTT AFB "PAID" HER MARATHON ENTRY FEE If you are a genuinely wounded or disabled veteran, home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we suggest you skip reading this story. If you do, you may lose your lunch, as well as any respect you might have had for the folks who run the United States Air Force. Maj. Jill Metzger, the pampered and protected poster girl, whose lies about being "kidnapped" in Kyrgyzstan in 2006 apparently have been forgiven and forgotten - do YOU think you would have escaped punishment if you had gone AWOL, disobeyed a direct order, given a false official statement, committed adultery and fraternization, and clearly exhibited "conduct unbecoming an officer?" - stunned marathon participants by arrogantly showing up for the race despite her being rated 100% "disabled" due to PTSD. "I was shocked to see her and how obnoxious she was," said a fellow long-distance runner, who first encountered the well-connected major on the bus before the event began. PROTECTED JILL IMMUNE FROM PUNISHMENT UNDER UCMJ - HAS CONNECTIONS IN HIGH PLACES For background on Metzger's "special treatment" and celebrity status - she's a two-time Marathon winner; daughter of a doting and "deep in denial" colonel daddy (who has friends in high places); and apparently is still married to a much younger junior officer who works for the feared OSI, look below on our home page for the three-part series we did that blew the lid off the shameful Jill Metzger cover-up. In those articles, we quoted an OSI agent who investigated Maj. Metzger's "abduction" and who called the hunt "a wild goose chase." He related how Metzger was "deceptive" and "contradictory" before "clamming up" to investigators; how she failed a polygraph test, and in a breakdown in the gym at Moody AFB in late 2006, admitted she'd had two "affairs" while deployed to Manas AFB in Kyrgyzstan. "The word came down. Lay off her. She has someone big by the balls," said the OSI agent. Other sources indicate one or more general officers, allegedly compromised by Jill, are protecting her from any discipline in order to save their own careers. It is said by some observers, the suspicious award to Jill of a 100% "disability" rating for PTSD may have been a "payoff" to the pampered and "bulletproof" Metzger so she won't rat out senior officers who allegedly have been involved with the self-centered admin 0-4. For Air Force rank-and-file, they will just have to accept the fact they've got to obey the UCMJ. Jill is a privileged character, however, and can write her own ticket and dictate her own terms. As long as the Air Force continues to stonewall inquiries about the status of the "investigation" that started more than two years ago - no official announcement of the findings has ever been released - those guilty can take comfort they "got away with it." In a unique departure from our usual format, we are going to quote directly and extensively from an INTEL report. That is a report made by a source on the ground - we have them at every U.S. military base in CONUS and overseas - that is used with other information and refined into the stories that you see and love so much here on MilitaryCorruption.com AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT FROM A MARATHON PARTICIPANT WHO SAW JILL UP CLOSE So, here we go with an eyewitness report from a marathon participant who observed the odious Jill Metzger at close quarters: "I couldn't believe she was there! I mean, after all that's come out about her and the so-called disability rating. How can they (Air Force) allow such a thing to happen? She was like, mocking us, loud and bragging about herself. Her mother was on the bus with a GO JILL sign. "The staff was parading her around like she was a queen. God, that made me sick! They had her on the stage for the beginning ceremony and some general introduced her. She made some remarks, I really don't remember now exactly what she said, just that I was appalled that this was happening before my eyes. "After she got done talking, she put on a special cover-up, to keep herself warm. It was made of plastic with Air Force insignia on it. Then it was time to start. Jill pulled the cover off and and just tossed it on the ground! That was so disrespectful. She could have handed it to someone. But I said to myself that what she did was appropriate in that by even being there, after all that had transpired, all the embarrassment she had brought to the Air Force, tossing it down like that was symbolic of her arrogance and contempt for others. How did I know it was Jill? We were together on the bus and it was well-lit. She was boasting to everyone about her coming back to the Air Force and that Scott AFB had paid her entry fee. I think she already knew one of the runners sitting a few seats down. They seemed tight with each other. "All I can say is, I'm glad she didn't win. She was absolutely insufferable. "I guess crime does pay, at least when it comes to Jill," the runner disgustedly told an MCC reporter.http://www.militarycorruption.com/metzger-undone6.htm

Me either, because I did not deserve or expect it. Huggy, I know what you meant and got your O-1's and O-2's reversed My own experience, during tech school with an Annapolis-trained cross-commissioning type dude who I outranked by a number of days (we were both 2Lts and on day 1 the school published a class roster by date of rank): Me: Hi, My name is XXXX Him: Nice to meet you sir, my name is YYYY. Me: My name is XXXX, PLEASE don't call me sir. Him: Yes sir! WTF? :bash:

Let me guess.... mingo01@yahoo.com

Anyone know who sanitized Doc's Wikipedia listing? It has been stripped of all of the details outside of his basic bio. Doc must have had a field day with his delete key.

Here's two from a pic on hookahculture.com:

Talk to Dan Gorman at TDY corporate housing. He's a reservvist that specializes in your market. A friend recommended him when I almost got sent there myself. TDY corporate housing

Bergman, Believe me, your reaction was echoed at tanker squadrons everywhere. The AF is trying to save training $ and the generals look at the -135 training EPs in the jet when the other heavies do it in the sim and wanted to standardize. The PIQs will get an instrument qual checkride in the sim, which includes landings and EPs, and get a mission check in the jet, which includes refueling and tactics. Most folks are not pleased that we're moving in this direction, but the decisions have been made. I think it will take at least one or more serious mishaps where inadequate training is found as a causal factor to raise questions about this change, but you know as well as I that any f*ckups by a PIQ will likely be blamed on the AC for inadequate supervision and judgment, not the minimal experience they received during formal training.

I believe that there are no more PUP classes in FY09, so the remaining upgrades should be complete this year. As for the Block 40 PIQ training, there is a big shift in the proportion of flightline and sim training. Instead of 16 sim missions and 9 or so flights, the Block 40 training consists of 24 sim missions, 3 flights and a checkride.

Anybody seen this yet? Read the link to the letter in the article. AF times article I see how the zookeeper takes care of things: “We’ve had individuals injured downtown, having had to go to an emergency room or having been victims of criminal activity,” he said. “Sometimes it could be wrong place, wrong time. Sometimes it could be a bad decision.” What sizeable American city does not have these things happening?

Call Carl Nuzzo, who runs Accessible Aviation. He's a former fighter pilot, and all around good guy who should be able to help you without any hassles. He's at Golden Triangle airport near Columbus AFB. Accessible Aviation link

I wonder if the geniuses at AMC factored in the cost of unplanned diverts resulting from tweezer-ass fuel planners. Flying the KC-135 for over 2000 hours, I diverted only once, and probably saved 10-12 diverts because I had sufficient fuel to hold until weather improved enough to land. Planning to arrive with the bare legal minimum will surely increase unplanned diversions. It sounds like Uncle Sam is willing to spend a dollar to trumpet the savings of a dime in this instance.

THE most popular dude in my UPT class was the one who didn't drink, but loved to womanize--perfect DD every Fri/Sat night. Not only were you guaranteed a ride home, he would provide free wave-offs if your beer goggles impaired your vision.

I don't have an AP2 handy, but if you need NAT info, the procedures can also be found here along with a lot of other useful info: North Atlantic Procedures Enjoy

The NRA is offering free memberships to active duty military, which includes a monthly magazine. NRA

It's easier to make that claim than explain to the world that she's really here:

These guys look familiar.

This reminds me of Hacker's post a while back.

Budwar is one of the finest brews from the Czech Republic. The brewery at České Budějovice is worth visiting if you're in country and the town is one of the nicest you'll see anywhere in Europe. The shameful thing is the ongoing trademark dispute between Anheuser Busch and the originators of the Czech brew. Too bad A-B has so much muscle, because the Czech brew is far superior to anything A-B will ever produce.

Are those considered unofficial? I was under the impression that those were already sanctioned by the AF, thus "official". I'm curious what exactly the chief was referring to.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney J. McKinley recently returned from visiting bases in Europe where he recited the new creed to Airmen and he received positive feedback. "The response I got from Airmen was absolutely fabulous," Chief McKinley said. "I think this will be something special to Airmen. This new creed every Airman will know and be able to recite; but more than that, it's something they can have in their hearts. We've had so many unofficial creeds for such a long time and now we will have an official Airman's Creed." Big Blue's story So, besides the mockeries posted previously, if there are so many unofficial creeds floating around for such a long time, can anyone name one? I'm glad the leadership is doing such a fine job with the big issues of the day that they have plenty of idle time to dream this stuff up. I'm just waiting for my squadron commander to rip the boldface sheets off of the inside of the shitter doors and replace it with something useless like this.

Found this little gem in the Sheppard base paper. Like Palestinians training kids to be suicide bombers, uniform Nazi training is occurring in our own tech schools. Does anyone really believe that an AIT would try to call out the wing king on a uniform infraction? Imagine the response: Amn: "Excuse me Gen Olds, but the sleeves on your flyer's coveralls must be rolled down in accordance with AFI....." Action Lines Q: I'd like to relay a success story to you about our Airmen-in-Training here at Sheppard. I had an Airman approach me in the BX about a 36-2903 violation he thought I was committing, and although I was in full compliance I was impressed that one of our AIT's had the courage to correct a Senior NCO. We need more Airmen who take that kind of pride in OUR Air Force. We need more Airmen like that who stand for what's correct and right. A: Thanks for this feedback! I too had a similar experience a few weeks ago when a young Airman-in-Training approached me about a possible uniform violation. It took a lot of courage (and hopefully tact and diplomacy) to approach a senior officer with that kind of feedback. These young men and women will be the ones enforcing our standards and protecting our institution in the future. It's great to see that many of them are already off to a good start. Thanks again for the feedback. Your comment speaks volumes about your commitment to our Air Force and its values. Thanks for helping shape tomorrow's Airmen today! Sheppard Commander's Action Line

While that may sound like a lot to a single dude, it is really not that much to leave a widow with kids to raise, especially one that is not working. Couple the loss of pay along with benefits, and you'll see that to ensure a widowed wife w/kids can keep a decent standard of living, the insurance should well exceed $1M to provide income that will not diminish over time due to inflation and draws on the balance.