Tonka

Not complaining...but

wow... she was struggling worse then other reports made it sound. That's terrible... hope she is ok. Not sure if I would follow some of those calls, but I guess I've heard worse... however, usually OCONUS.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-probe-why-las-vegas-airport-controller-slurred-words-went-n935081?fbclid=IwAR1PHwQs3zA3e4WE78gsUuwyPyN1I2CucVAN8YznfNlOu3lIEElqko7is5w Air traffic controller became incapacitated and went silent while working a night shift alone in the tower at busy McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Sounds like a stroke...

Thanks... I've gone to majcom safety and got rejected, ill try kirtland. i think my argument is based on trying to read between the lines of the report. ive seen channelized attention really get the best of people... take a step back from what we are used to calling pilot error and how we have fixed many things to correct airplane deficiencies because of pilot error... if enough pilots do it wrong, we call it pilot error and then fix the aircraft (safe gaurds on the J). Id rather us look at pilot error from the stand point of gross negligence when all the info is clearly known, time/conditions allowed... maybe not a valid argument here with too much speculation. I wonder how often do crews screw it up in the sim if it is a "surprise"? Yeah, they could of done things better... but is this an unique one or have we seen this before and will again?

Maybe we improve the situation for everyone? Crazy i know.

I asked to see the SIB report and was told no, since I'm "currently" not flying that platform... and even though I tried to explain how I could use the knowledge attained to prevent mishaps (which, is of course the crux of safety investigations), I was told no... and that they could maybe give me a sanitized report (but a month later, I have nothing except the AIB). The idea that I should "know" what is in a SIB report, so that I can justify reading it is a foul... the fact that I could not read it attests to the brokenness of the system. I can read classified easier then I can read privileged. I don't blame the pilot, no offense to the legacy of this platform (the fvcker rocks at its mission, but I would say that is a testament to it's crews... take a look at figure 1, if you can overcome the craziness of that and still do your mission... you rock), but there is a reason we have modernized aircraft. Obviously speculation - but this mishap doesn't occur as easily on the J-model (yes, we as aviators can/will screw up in unique ways on other platforms) or other modern heavy aircraft (I also believe the C-5 modernization played a lot into that mishap, but I digress). Why? because the human factors put in to making life easier on the pilot is obvious in the J and other modern airliners (yes, they still have lots of issues)... If you've flown the legacy herc, it is easy to fly but hard to fly well (or fly precisely). There is no good feedback to the pilot, except the voice of 3-4 other people on the intercom... you are left with shitty instruments, shitty throttles, shitty flight controls , and hopefully a well-tuned seat-of-the-pants feel. I would wager I could hop in a J-model after not flying it for a few years and get it safely airborne all by myself... even at the peak of my knowledge in the E/H, no damn way I would even think about it. Humans are awesome, but there is a limit to what we can do. If you are dependent on hearing 3 peoples voices to fly, it is tough when things go south... we all process visual stuff faster than audible inputs. We have all been in the sim or other aircraft EP where we "Tune out" what is being said because we channelize on "analyzing the situation"... this guy put all his brain power on figuring out what the fvck was going on, he couldn't even maintain the aircraft, much less take the next step. What do you do when that happens? you fixate on something (i.e. an intuitive ADI, instruments, HUD data that has required A/S markers, turn/slip, flight path vector, etc) and you react to what you see (muscle memory), when you have to read or try to remember a greased number on a worn down TOLD card and then try to analyze an ADI/ASI designed 80 years ago... you already have 2 strikes against you. Non-herc bubbas look at figure 15, tell me you can figure that out when the heat is on. He put in rudder and put in too much (maybe), so he took it out then maybe the engine "recovers"? a bit and as he is taking some of that rudder out he feels like he needs to put opposite rudder in... This aint no fly-by-wire F-16, it is fully-reversible hydraulically-boosted set of flight controls, those inputs take time to move control surfaces, time to affect the aircraft, take time to give feedback to the pilot, ever hear of Pilot Induced Oscillation (PIO)...even with engine secured, he still doesn't realize how the plane is flying. I've seen guys get in PIOs, and it sucks the SA out of them because their brain can't make the mental model match what the aircraft is doing, so they spend a lot of time building a new model in their head... time he didn't have, yet he can't control that he is human. Props aren't easy, 4 props with speeder springs/fly weights designed in the early half of the last century are slow to respond, slow to have their inputs "felt", and affect the flying of the aircraft a lot more than any other aircraft out there today. Sorry... this is not on him, blame his training, blame the aircraft, the maintenance, and the acquisition process. He gave it everything he could, all his years of flying... his life... don't put this on him. Could he/they have done better-obviously yes, but my 8-year old can fly a manual 3-engine ILS in the C-17 sim (on her knees with nothing touching the rudders!), there is nothing remotely intuitive in an engine failure/surge at/near rotate for a C-130... I wonder if anyone on the AIB tried it in the sim. (of course we can't use an AIB to provide truth, because that causes litigation.)

Job title weighed with performance in that job title, with a limit to the "score" based on the job... kind of like the Olympics, asst chief of squadron safety - highest possible score of 40 out of 100, Squadron commander highest possible score of 90, etc... when I look at people's record, strats were always secondary to job title (especially in a squadron of 50+ peers). Chief of Stan/Eval in a Sqd of 100 pilots, you probably rock... same yr group, everything else equal - asst secretary of mobility but you are CGO of the year - you probably don't rock as much.

I wish Ohio had wildfires.

That's a lot of loose lips.

The military is the biggest jobs program we've got!

Maybe? https://www.executivegov.com/2018/10/air-force-navy-officials-push-for-c-130-aircraft-operating-capability-modernization/ https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS28/20180928/108703/HHRG-115-AS28-Wstate-HarrisJ-20180928.pdf The FAA’s deadline for compliance is January 1, 2020; the C-130H fleet will meet the deadline via the C-130H Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) Increment 1, and the C-130J will be compliant via the 4 accelerated Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) out program. Third, both the legacy C-130H and the C-130J fleets require avionics, communications and electrical upgrades to maintain their warfighting capability and improve maintainability and reliability ;these upgrades are in addition to the aforementioned compliance driven upgrades.

https://www.jqpublicblog.com/torpedo-general-takes-aim-wrong-target/ For posterity purposes... funny he retired 6 months later.

So... I'm assuming you misspoke, AFAIK you can not transfer the MGIB. You can only transfer the post 9-11 benefits. I recently heard that you can use both (up to a total of 48 months)... although I'm not quite sure how! I qualify for both, and I've already transferred the post 9-11 to my family, and served my ADSC, but I've yet to use either GI Bill. Can I still use 12 months of MGIB for me, before my kids start using the post-911?

*bumb What's the latest, best place, or best rate to get a new or used vehicle loan? Last time I did it, USAA matched a local credit union rate... but that was 5+ years ago.

The NDS: Professional Military Education (PME). PME has stagnated, focused more on the accomplishment of mandatory credit at the expense of lethality and ingenuity. We will emphasize intellectual leadership and military professionalism in the art and science of warfighting, deepening our knowledge of history while embracing new technology and techniques to counter competitors. PME will emphasize independence of action in warfighting concepts to lessen the impact of degraded/lost communications in combat. PME is to be used as a strategic asset to build trust and interoperability across the Joint Forces and with allied and partner forces. https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf They had me dis-enrolling after the first sentence, seems like fraud, waste, and abuse otherwise. Everything else is a more wishful use of "will", meaning it hasn't happened yet (and we all know that it won't)... at least they've identified the problem.

Thanks for the info! I've been hunting around on my base. Somethings I'm piecing together: My base really has no idea, and really isn't too interested in helping folks... other than to say it is on you to find someone and set it up. From the pdf: 6.3.5. establish a MOU... I've heard this is probably all on you, since you will probably pick a place that doesn't have one. 7.8.6.7. Can't do PTDY or terminal before you start this (can't do those prior to 180 days)... might be able to get "large chunks of leave" instead, just don't call it terminal? Here is the DODI ( 1322.29 ) http://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/132229p.pdf Technically it says the commander can terminate it based on mission requirements, not deny it... semantics? "The approval authority may terminate the participation of a Service member in a program based on mission requirements" Enclosure 4 (of the DODI) is also worth a read, lists all the criteria for determining an approved provider. I'll give it a shot, why not! I doubt the 2 star will let me do a full 6 months... but if terminal/PTDY take me to 3 months anyway, might as well.

Haven't read the whole reg, yet. New one is out dated 5 Oct 2018: Table is now 7.2 (line 3, Lt Col and below). Same effect, slightly different verbiage? (http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi36-2110/afi36-2110.pdf): Airmen may request a retirement date which is not later than the first day of the 7th month following 365-day extended deployment notification date (mo/yr), OR, the first day of the month upon completion of 20 years TAFMS, OR, the first day of the month after completion of Active Duty Service Commitment, whichever is later

So when asked the question, "Did you have alcohol?" by an officer in ROTC, how should s/he respond?

You have two choices. Tell the truth or lie. Both have differing short term and long term results. You tell us which is the better path to take.... typically contrite people survive their mistakes, the damage from the attempted cover up is always worse. You'll be fine, just don't fail a PT test.

This caught the bosses eye... https://warontherocks.com/2018/08/the-air-force-chief-responds-keep-writing-col-ned-stark-and-join-my-team/

You might be a little low on the cost estimate... interesting that the problem was with foreign products, but we took the draconian approach to all of them.

Meh, most of us don't care... but this is a big deal for many parts of the military, especially for some of the ground pounders that have come to rely on these systems... https://dronedj.com/2018/06/07/department-of-defense-bans-the-purchase-of-commercial-over-the-shelf-uas-including-dji-drones/ Department of Defense bans the purchase of commercial-over-the-shelf UAS, including DJI drones effective immediately “SUBJECT: (U/FOUO) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities (U/FOUO) On May 14, 2018 the DoD Inspector General found that DoD has not implemented an adequate process to access cybersecurity risks associated with using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). (U/FOUO) Effectively immediately, you must suspend purchases of COTS UAS for operational use until the DoD develops a strategy to adequately assess and mitigate the risks associated with their use. (U/FOUO) In addition you must suspend the use of COTS UASs until the DoD identifies and fields a solution to mitigate known cybersecurity risks. (U/FOUO) I hold approval authority for any requests for exemptions, on a case by case basis, to support urgent needs. (U/FOUO) The points of contact for this matter are Ms Ellen M, Lord, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and Mr, Dana Deasy, Department of Defense Chiefs Information Officer.” and the ARMY led the way, banning them last year: http://soldiersystems.net/2017/08/05/army-bans-use-of-a-cots-uas-system/ ... So, how long until we "develop a strategy"?

How does one apply? I have a PCS ADSC that ends 7 months after retirement eligibility. Can I apply to retire and then work the ADSC waiver? I'd effectively be pushing the button 19 months out from the PCS ADSC and 12 months prior to retirement elegibility.

Another survey, not mine: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflP_wbAKZvjpl-nsedOaQPjCTmkPVK_3sGg6epAGqvriFMGQ/viewform Straight, forward, to the point. Smart guy, I've seen some of his work and it has a good chance of getting attention.

"The Sun Flyer 2's three dollar hourly operating costs are 10 times lower than traditional piston-engine flight trainers, with no carbon emissions and significantly reduced noise." http://sunflyer.com/2018/04/11/bye-aerospace-announces-first-flight-of-sun-flyer-2/ $3!!