Champ Kind

Door-to-door tupperware salesman

You forgot EC-130s, too!

Wow.

Do you ever ask them, "Whaaaat exactly... would you say... that you do here?"

Ummm.....probably like the Marine Corps? Hence why we're in the USAF....?

Also note the Missile badge. He probably sat in his hole for years on end earlier in his career and came crawling back into the sunlight with a Ph.D and a cooky idea for new uniforms.

Awww.... Toro has a soft-side! I found mine! Sheepskin > ALL.

I guess you could always duct tape a Hot Pocket to the nose... At least you'd get some use out of the thing then!

NICE!

Isn't there a remote possibility that the GPS system could go offline? If so, it wouldn't hurt to still be trained on a self-sustaining, portable precision approach system, right?

F-117

If that's true, then well played, General.

If you are implying that it's easier to get through UPT than Nav school, then I have heard quite the opposite first-hand from former Navs/EWOs/WSOs that went to UPT. While I am not suggesting that UPT is some kind of gut-wrenching crucible, RamRod put it best. Everyone knew that someone in the flight could be there on Monday, and out by Friday.

I have never heard of ANYONE getting a type rating for a Tweet. I'd love it if someone would back this up...

Nicely put.

Dude, that thing about living on base because it's so close to work can be viewed two ways. I was casual at my UPT base for eight months, so when it was time to start class, I had the opportunity to move off base and I took it. For me, it was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made. Sure, it's great being close to work, but I enjoyed being able to get off the base when the day was over. Smelling the jet fuel and hearing the noise might seem cool for a while, but after a while, it lost its vanity. As far as studying with your buddies in the dorms.... either hang out on base on those days until you guys start studying, or go home, change, get some dinner, then drive back. Sure, takes a little more time, burn a little more gas, but I still submit that it's worth it. A 10 minute drive to work is not that bad. Gives you a chance to drink some coffee and collect your thoughts on the way in. Just trying to show you that there's another side to the argument, that's all.

Err..... ride like champs.... :D ....sorry, too easy!

If you want to know more about the Speicher story, I'd recommend the book "No One Left Behind".

To me, a lot of UPT was the "bro system". Hopefully you haven't used your stress as a reason to alienate yourself from your class. My simple advice: try to fall back on your bros. Have some brews, go out to dinner, do some grilling, go to the lake, do some road trips on the weekend, whatever.... Get your mind off of the UPT thing at least for a little bit. Establish that relationship, then maybe you'll be able to talk to them about what's going on with you and they might be able to help a brother out. I (and most others) probably could have finished UPT "on my own", but it would have been miserable. The catch is, once you overcome your problems, make sure you are open to help others when the time comes. It's all about karma. Ok... Group hug over.

Doubt the 45 min time is possible, but maybe for the latter time, they are just planning on taking the scenic route, doing a couple of hours worth of holding, and hitting a tanker a couple of times in there. EDIT: haha the "slowtator"... I like that [ 02. June 2006, 01:10: Message edited by: PhlashNU04 ]

Somewhat of a thread revival.... I don't suppose one is allowed to bring a personal survival kit (such as the one CH described above--scroll up) to SERE...?

Baby shiny ones on the mess dress.

Isn't there some kind of AFI governing who can/can't wear the thing? Does it actually allow for non-flyers to wear the leather jackets? And if so, at what point in their careers are they "allowed" to, since pilots have to wait until they are qualed at their first squadron (from what I understand)?

From my VERY limited experience, it seems to me that bouncing around from airframe to airframe would make you a "jack of all trades, master of none." I mean, the missions, not just the jets would be changing drastically. Airlift to recon to stealth fighter (or whatever other pointy-nosed asset you ended up with)... pretty drastic changes. I don't see how you could get many upgrades in any of those because you were switching up so frequently.

Even as a soon-to-be Herk guy, I just laughed my ass off when I read that. Funny indeed.