ClearedHot

Yes, they are trying to stop you from doing the course twice. THe education information is block for promotion boards...HOWEVER, the senior rater can still see you education information and may use that to determine if you get a "DP" or a "P" for your PRF that goes to the promotion board.

Here is a bit of information for those of you who plan on making the USAF a career. A quick bit of background to place this post in context for all. At several times during a officers career you will compete to attend Professional Military Education (PME) in residence. Some of you have heard of Squadron Officer School, which is for captains, but this post is really focused on what the USAF calls Intermediate Developmental Education (IDE), usually Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), or similar programs. And Senior Developmental Education (SDE), usually Air War College (AWC), or similar programs. You will compete for IDE and SDE at your Major and LtCol promotion boards respectively. In the past persons identified by their promotion boards as “candidates” for IDE or SDE stood a good chance of going inresidence. The board always selected too many people for the available slots, so if you were a candidate you stood a 70% chance of going inresidence. You may have heard some of the older craniums on the board complain about doing SOS, ACSC, or AWC in correspondence. In order to make your next promotion you MUST complete the appropriate level of school. As an example, if you look at promotion boards over the past four years, Majors who have not completed ACSC by going in residence for a year or completing the program by correspondence, have a zero percent selection rate to .001% selection rate to LtCol, in other words, it is a pass fail block that you have to fill. I bring all of this up because in the past leadership expected you to complete SOS, IDE, and SDE by correspondence EVEN if you were selected to go in residence. It was viewed as a commitment issue I guess. In fact, most Wing/CC’s won’t give you a good “push” to compete for one of the schools in residence until you finished it by correspondence. This led to a process called “practice bleeding” where you ended up doing the program twice to suit the masters. Well things MIGHT have changed…This week AFPC published a memo from the USAF DP – (dude in charge of all personnel issues), which formally states that “selects”, or persons identified by their promotion board to go to IDE or SDE in residence. Part of this is a reflection of changes in the program. Currently, officers identified as selects have a 100 percent opportunity to attend IDE or SDE. Additionally, the policy reflects the contempt that junior officers have felt for the entire process. I HOPE it is true. In the past we were told by one CSAF that we didn’t need a masters degree to get promoted and the next CSAF reversed the policy leaving a few good officer out in the cold. Take all of this with a grain of salt, but hopefully it gives you a better idea of what to expect later in your careers. To view the policy letter from LtGen Brady go to the link below, look on the right side under the title "From the DP", and they actually gave the formal link to the policy letter the title "Practice Bleeding Policy" AFPC IDE-SDE Website Cheers CH [ 07. January 2006, 14:18: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

DACT = dissimilar air combat training

69 The was a story on the USAF website a few days ago from Sec Wynne that said six months may be the more approriate length. The story dissappeared and today there is a story quoting CJCS, Gen Pace which says the following; "The Air Force works with a lot of guardsmen and reservists blended into their units," the general said. "So as they look at it, a four-month rotation works very well." General Pace said the differing tour lengths are confusing and frustrating to those on the ground. "But in Washington, it makes sense for each of the services to be doing what they are doing,” he said. “But that doesn't mean we won't keep looking at the situation.”

You should get a separate one, I always have.

Looking for a used ride?

Toro, Classic...Standing O. CH

Of course.

Vetter, I've never done the wave gig. I made FL190 in a thermal...it was a wild ride. I hoped to do some wave soaring while I was in New Zealand last month, but the conditions were aweful. I may skull out west to Mindin NV this summer and give the wave gig another shot.

Hacker, Sorry but I disagree. Formations like the one in the photo are not meant to look like formations of pointy nose jets. The C-17 in particular has extra separation requirements due to the vortices produced by the winglets. Obviously airlift formations like the one in the picture are not meant to get folks through the weather, but what might not be obvious is that these formations are not for mutual support either, after all they don’t have anything to support each other with in the form of weapons. Large formations like this are about one thing, mass on the drop zone. Slick guys help me out here, C-130 formations that use SKE (Station Keeping Equipment – or an electronic container that is used to fly formation in the weather), maintain a 2000’ separation between aircraft, the separation is not a pure nose to tail relationship but is also lateral. The distance provides safety in the weather, but is really based on a delivery standard developed by the U.S. Army. The Army wants to have the capability to put an entire Brigade on the drop zone in one hour. A large formation of C-130’s can accomplish that task. Unfortunately, one drawback of the C-17 is that it cannot. The problem is the increased separation requirements from the wingtip vortices means it takes the C-17 something on the order of 70 minutes to put the same amount of men and material on the drop zone. Another reason some airdrop formations look “non-standard” is they sometimes purposely fly “ghost” positions. For a formation like the 60 ship beast that was on the way to Haiti, there are obviously spares lined up and ready to go, but once airborne if an aircraft aborts, others don’t necessarily move up and take that position. Usually a large formation will put the heavy equipment on the ground first and drop the people second (for obvious reasons), if an aircraft carrying heavy equipment aborts, the formation may leave that position open so as to maintain drop separation requirements on the ground. I didn’t mean for this to turn into an airdrop dissertation, but if some airdrop guys started ripping a pointy nose formation without knowing the tactics, procedures, or reasons I am sure you would find a way to tactfully get them the right information.

Charleston breaks record with largest C-17 formation (17-Aircraft, to date.

I wounder how Ali G would deal with the situation?

It means the funding line from congress to the USAF to the Contractor was in FY03. 046 is the number assigned by the USAF to denote sequence of production.

War Zone Smackdown Wrestlers' performance in Afghanistan offers U.S. troops a respite from combat By Thomas Coghlan, Chronicle Foreign Service Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan -- It wasn't Bob Hope, but the thousands of U.S. troops craning their necks for a peek at the hulking "superstars" and scantily clad "divas" in the hastily constructed wrestling ring at Bagram Air Base didn't seem to mind. "I'm just here to watch the chicks wearing pretty much nothing," said Spec. Cody Chandler, 28, of Palmdale (Los Angeles County). Apache helicopters and A-10 Warthogs with soldiers perched on top formed the backdrop for the holiday spectacle as the stars of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night RAW descended on the base outside Kabul on Friday in a whirlwind of chest-beating patriotism and minutely choreographed mayhem. In the teeth of a biting cold wind, the WWE stars grappled and grimaced heroically before 7,000 U.S. troops, many flown in from the dangerous southern provinces where Taliban activity remains strongest. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said he brought the show over, at the request of the military, to remind the troops of the home they left behind -- and remind people back home that the United States is still fighting a risky and largely forgotten war in Afghanistan. "We're here to contradict those negative media types back home who have refused to tell your story and have forgotten you," McMahon shouted during a theatrical opening address. "I don't know why,'' he said, "because it's a story with a happy ending." The soldiers didn't contradict him; it would have spoiled the festive atmosphere to point out that fighting in Afghanistan is actually on the rise. Ninety-five U.S. troops have died in the conflict this year, compared with 52 last year and 48 the year before. For the troops at Bagram, this was a chance to forget the war, for a little while at least. The audience bristled with placards as soldiers vied for the cameras' attention. "Lay in the smackdown for the Taliban -- Fort Bliss style," read one. Most were more personal than political, like the one that read simply, "I miss U Coca Munk." But the biggest draw appeared to be the divas -- a tag wrestling team of four female wrestlers with six-pack abs in fur-trimmed bikinis and Santa Claus hats that evoked memories of the Playboy bunny scene from the Vietnam War movie "Apocalypse Now" and was no less enthusiastically received. Afghan builders on a nearby rooftop laid down their tools to gaze in wonderment at the scene below. In Afghan culture, most women never leave home without the cover of a burqa and the company of a male relative. "I really like these girls," Said Kebir, 22, an Afghan employed by the DHL delivery company, said, "but if an Afghan woman did this, it would be very bad." After the divas, the grunting athleticism of superstars Big Show, Triple H and the aging Ric "Nature Boy" Flair could hardly excite a similar response. However, many soldiers said they were grateful for the wrestlers' visit. "They may not support the war here or in Iraq," said medical officer Ian Svoboda from Modesto, "but at least they are showing they support the troops." It was the third time that WWE has staged a "Tribute to the Troops" tour. The organization took the show to Iraq the last two years but this time passed that up in favor of Afghanistan. "We looked at Iraq and the time when we needed to make the trip. The timing of the elections there made it difficult," WWE spokesman Gary Davis said at a news conference before the show, which will be screened on the USA Network on Dec. 19.

All that is left after your first solo?

Congrats on your upgrade. I will now include words with two syllables in posts that I think you might read.

As the previous theme of the thread was from left to right and as person who speaks Anglo-Saxon English (designed to work from left to right), I decided to keep with the theme and continue from left to right. I know your pea-brain is overloaded trying to remember your only four approved responses, "2" "Joker/Bingo" "Lead you're on fire". "ITTFO", so I will remember that in the future when composing threads I think you might read.

Pilot is 4th from left, Co-Pilot is 3rd from left.

by Capt. Eric Badger 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 12/5/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Families normally get together for holidays -- but at 25,000 feet? Not hardly. But two pilots from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing found a way to accomplish a mission and have a family reunion at the same time. Capts. Greg Matthew Amig reunited in the skies over Southwest Asia, where Greg refueled his brother’s aircraft on Thanksgiving Day. The brothers are stationed together at this forward-deployed base. Greg is 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker pilot. He is deployed from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. Matthew is a 16th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron E-8 JSTARS pilot, deployed from Robins AFB, Ga. The brothers said their commanders worked to match their flying schedules so they could complete a mission together. “Our commanders got the ball rolling,” Greg said. “From there it was up to his (brother's) squadron’s planners and my squadron’s planners. Coordination then had to be done with the combined air operations center to get it lined up. “After about a month of planning, we finally made it happen,” he said. Holy crap! A month?

Geeky, perhaps...Effective, Yes!

Alpha Mike Foxtrot.

Ben Doverbich [ 04. December 2005, 21:21: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

High Speed low altitude pass...well medium speed.

I looked at them several times and decided to invest in a Ruger Red Lable instead. Best Quail-Dove shotgun I've ever shot, and it looks and works the same today as it did six years ago. [ 02. December 2005, 12:49: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]