ClearedHot

It has been nearly two years but on my last mission in Afghanistan I had a small fire on the plane. We did the IFE song and dance followed by an emergency ground egress. When I jumped off the ramp I felt something tear in my knee. It was sore for a while but seemed to improve with time, but never completely healed. Last year at ACSC I was doing a lot of running and it started to get worse again. Now it is to the point where it hurts to go up stairs. Sometimes it is fine, but if I move laterally, I get some fairly severe pain. I completely stopped running in May in an attempt to give it a chance to heal, it hasn't. I finally broke down last month and got a referral to see an orthopedic doc up at Bethesda. He looked at my knee and had them take 5-6 X-rays only to tell me I don't have a torn ACL or MCL (the flight doc thinks I have a torn meniscus). Bottom line, the doc acted like I don’t have a problem, perhaps some early arthritis, but nothing more. He gave me some Naproxen ordered some physical therapy to strengthen the upper muscles on the upper part of my knee and sent me on my way. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain, but this is really starting to cramp my style. Wouldn’t an MRI give a better idea of what is going on? I could really use some words from one (or more) of the docs on here to point me in the right direction.

I don't know that AFSOC will ever go to the combat edge.

I will give a shameless plug for Big Brothers. I do it because it is right, and I don't put it on my OPR. Great program, you can make a difference.

W prefix denotes that you are a graduate of the USAF Weapons School. After graduation new patch wearers are supposed to go to approved W-code billets to complete their payback requirements. W code billets are also supposed to be scrubbed and approved by AFPC. Just another tool for the man to keep me down...

Custom fit or not you may fly long missions where it will kill the bridge of your nose. During the heavy periods of OEF we flew 12 hour missions and everyone was walking around looking like Rudolph the red nose reindeer. During one stretch I flew 80 combat hours in 7 days and it hurt to touch my nose. A quick funny war story about wearing the mask. I launched off alert to cover a SOF team that had been ambushed. I was dead center over the Hinu Kush mountain range. I had been fighting a cold and my ears were bothering me so I decided to clear them. I reached up to pinch the mask and my thumb punched through and poked a big hole in the front of my mask. It was comical, I knew I could descend because the terrain was well over 15,000', but I was going to get hypoxic if I didn't do something. I reached into my helmet bag and pulled out my roll over survival duct tape. Well it sounded like a good idea, but the tape would not form a seal on the mask, in fact, it would barely stick to the mask at all, and I thought duct tape stuck to everything. For the next 20 minutes I held the tape and a piece of plastic in place as I tried to figure out what to do. Luckily, our life support folks had thought to stick a spare mask in the back, it was two sizes too small, but I pulled it as tight as I could and managed to shoot 50 rounds of 105MM and 100 rounds of 40MM in support of the ground team. Strange things always happen in combat but at least I can look back and chuckle about it now. [ 16. November 2004, 22:29: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

Additionally, make sure it is an accredited degree. I have a friend who decided to get a Masters in theology. Turns out it was not accredited or recognized by the USAF and he was passed over for O5. Madmax is dead on when he said get it early, besides the USAF is paying 75% of it for you. It is a pain in the arse, but do it if you have even the smallest inclination of staying in.

Hacker, Got it from my old man and I’ve seen it in print, I think and old weapons school paper on high AOA maneuvering, but I am not sure. Pops was initial cadre on the F-15 and when I read the article he confirmed the paper and told me a few other stories about flying the A model. Give him a little bourbon and he will open up about three F-4 tours in Vietnam and the first days in the Eagle. I just did a quick search and came up with this…not a factual source but same thing I heard before. F-15A Info

It was real, the intakes move in relation to angle of attack in order to regulate and maintain smooth airflow to the engine by preventing boundary layer air from entering the intake. Additionally, they provide a secondary maneuver control function that gives additional control authority equal to 1/3 the horizontal stabilizer. They are moved automatically by the air data computer.

Rumors floating around that the system may go away.

Toro is dead on, there is a huge difference between a break in discipline and equipment failure. One thing about flying, sometimes weird things happen for no reason. I will never forget my first OEF mission. Some knucklehead with a 23MM started popping off at me, I rolled into to kill him and the NVG mount on my helmet broke off. Next thing I know it is pitch black, my NVGs are flopping around hanging by the battery cord, part of the NVG bracket is wedged in the throttle quadrant, and the AAA battery is still wailing on me. I feel for the Eagle driver, lucky he didn’t break his neck.

Last I heard it will be SDB not JDAM. Small Diameter Bomb

Back in the day we used to stop at Elington Field for Gas on our way east. The local FBO hired a few "hotties" to serve as ground crew. They wore short shorts and tight cut off T-shirts. They would clean the front windshield while they gassed your jet. On Friday afternoon there was always a mass gaggle of jets. One Friday afternoon I counted and there were 43 T-38's and T-37's from Laughlin, Williams, and Vance, all lined up getting gas. What a sweet deal that guy had until the political correct nazis rolled in.

Going back 15 years... Dicks Last Resort was always a blast. There is an Irush Pub, O'Neill's? that was also a good time.

Intermediate Developmental Education or IDE changed two years ago to give more opportunities for mid-level officers to go to school for a year. Currently, the USAF sends about 20-25% of each year group to school. The traditional schools consist of Air Command and Staff College, Army Command and General Staff College, Marine Command and Staff College, College of Naval Command and Staff. Each one of these schools is joint certified and you receive an accredited Masters Degree when they graduate. Additionally, there were opportunities to go to school on exchange programs with 12-15 different countries like Australia, England, and Spain. Recently, the USAF added other schools to the list to include; Joint Military Intelligence College, Naval Post Graduate School, and the Air Force Institute of Technology. AFIT is more technical in it’s degree programs and from what I heard, not a pleasant place to be. I have also heard there are more programs coming that will provide additional opportunities, possibly at public universities. All total the USAF sends about 600 majors to school each year. Once selected for IDE, you can apply for the second year program called the Advanced Studies Group (ASG). There are four programs under the ASG; The Air Force has the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), which has 40 students, 25 of which are USAF officers. The Army has the School of Advanced Military Studies, which has 80 students, not sure how many USAF officers, but at least a few. The USMC has the School of Advanced Warfighting (SAW), my school which has 24 students, 2 of which are USAF officers. Finally, the Navy has the Naval Operational Planner Course (NOPC), a fairly new program and I don’t know if they have any USAF officers. Hope that gives you a better idea of what is out there.

Ouch!…Actually a Spectre kind of guy J PM me next time you are in DC No we can’t use any of the papers we wrote at ACSC. I think the crap we wrote there was mainly a regurgitation of what they pummeled us with everyday, “Joint is the future, airpower rules, and we gotta have the F-22…blah blah blah.” This school is a completely different game as we only have 24 students. All of the papers are one page and one page only. Sounds great right? Typically there are 600 pages of reading for a single page paper… and you are hard pressed to work your analysis and recommendation into that small space. Our audience is supposed to be three star and above and we are constantly reminded that we need to get better. One huge plus, they bring in the experts and heavy hitters to give us the real scoop. Last month we had Supreme Court Justice Scalia. Next month General Zinni is on the schedule, the list goes on and on. Another great part of the school is the staff rides. Last month we did a tour of Civil War battlefields. I am not a big Civil War buff, but it was an outstanding trip. Walking the battlefield gives you a new perspective. As does standing at the Appomattox courthouse where it all ended. In January we are off to Europe for three weeks with stops at Verdun, Sedan, and Normandy. In the Spring we are going to Vietnam for three weeks, trips of a lifetime. Keeping with the theme of this thread, most of the Marines in the class will go work for a three star or above and my guess is at least half of them will become general officers themselves. Alas I am not in the high-speed crowd. I am more of a 20 and out kind of dude, but it has been a great experience thus far. I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to apply for SAASS or SAW, it may be a lot of reading, but it beats working for a living.

Wnaana, Please seek some help in the form of a Chaplin, doctor, or close friend if you are having "off the wall" thoughts. I have personally lost three very close friends in crashes over the past 14+ years and there are no easy answers. Life does go on and the best way to honor your friend is to live your life to the fullest. If that means doing something other than flying jets, so be it. In the end it is a question that only you can answer. PM me if you need to talk and I will give you my number. You can call anytime.

It is actually made to hold a survival knife. I think new flight suits still come with a small piece of thin white nylon cord in that pocket. Get rid of it, your G-suit has a purpose built pocket. If you go to heavies, as a new co-pilot they won't trust you to hold a knife anyways.

Toro, Refreshing to hear that approach. My old squadron used to give a lot of incentive rides and it seemed to be a contest to see who could make the “guest” sick the fastest. I always took a different approach because I thought this is a once in a lifetime experience for most of these folks. I would only do what they wanted to do with in the bounds of the mission profile. Cudos to you for seeing the bigger picture.

Since we are bringing out the oldies and this forum is protected by non-attribution... Why do women have smaller feet then men? So they can stand closer to the stove. Why don't women need a watch? There is a clock on the stove. What's the difference between a woman having her period and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist. Why is it called PMS? Because Mad Cow Disease was already taken. What did they replace the airspeed indicator in the A-10 with? A calendar. How do A-10 evaluators give checkrides? They plug in and run along side.

AG, I got picked up for SAW (USMC version of SAASS), which meant a move to DC and another year of school. Keeping in line with this thread, it looks like I will go to the Air Staff for a year, then back to fly.

As I recall last year's Air War College class lost two people. One left when he was non-selected for O-6 (extremely rare), and another was removed for a UCMJ issue.

There are a multitude of staff jobs out there. Organizations vary from Air Staff, Joint Staff, numbered Air Force. The jobs themselves vary from bean-counter, money dude, to policy and strategy types. “Good” staff jobs depend on what your desired outcome is. For promotion, Air Staff and joint staff offer the best opportunity, but usually at the greatest cost in blood and toil. Going to one of Command and Staff Colleges as a Major is a big indicator that you will go to a staff, but around 30 percent of all graduates go back to ops. Graduating from one of the War Colleges (for O-5’s and O-6’s), has about the same spread of OPS and staff assignments. My roommate last year while I was at ACSC was going through Air War College and he went back to fly. From my limited experience, the guys that graduate from War College and go back to fly are typically on the fast track, not true in all cases, but usually a big indicator.

Hacker, I hope that attitude is gone now. I left the WIC two years ago they and simply did not tolerate that kind of BS. The Commandant a few years ago, Col Rand, was huge on Weapons Officer Training (WOT Blocks). He spent hours covering the ethos of weapons officers and the school. His biggest message was humility. The last thing he wanted was the ivory tower syndrome and the resonated with those of us who had seen it out on the line. I felt lucky to be selected to go, let alone come back and teach there. I also saw it as an obligation to share what I learned so we could all be better when the balloon goes up. I also knew I couldn’t do my job if it wasn’t for the dudes out on the flightline busting their ass to keep me in the air. It probably doesn’t mean much now, but I apologize for that BS in the past and the next time I am in Valdosta (December), beer is on me. [ 17. October 2004, 11:46: Message edited by: Clearedhot ]

The U.S. supported the Mujahideen during the Afghan-soviet war, not the Taliban. While many members of the Taliban came from the Mujahideen, the Taliban is actually a collection groups that were both for an against the U.S., mainly on tribal lines. The Taliban came offically about around 1994 when Mullah Omar too the helm. Using the Taliban is a poor example, although there are others that will make the case. Bottom line, it is a nice world and sometimes you make choices that align you with bad people. That said, you have to do what is best for and will ensure the survival of the U.S. France on the other hand, makes choices that embarrass or deliberately go against the U.S. There is a difference.

HercDude Well Said!