Mitch Weaver

No you don't. You have Navs & EWOs. Randolph may be graduating "CSOs" but they are currently not interchangeable.

The quality of the degree matters more than the method of delivery (i.e. online). Roger Cameron, of Cameron-Brooks headhunting fame, personally told me that an MBA from a school like Duke is regarded much more highly than an MS in Management from Central Michigan-type of school- and he was referring to the distance learning executive program @ Duke.

Just remember boys.... the grass is always greener where the dogs' been shittin' cheers

We see this everyday. If there's a no-sh!t TIC with casualties and we're the only game in town, then we'll drop. Otherwise, they'll wait for guys who can put eyes on the target to show up. It's frustrating for us, but I sense that the fear of calling a GBU-31 targeted with JTAC-passed coordinates PID is strong enough now to warrant waiting the extra time for a hog or gunship- and if the guy on the ground can live with that then it's ok w/me.

The BUFF still has two downward firing seats for the navs downstairs. With a vest on, you're pretty much guranteed some kind of arm/shoulder trauma during bailout since the hatch is just big enough for the seat. Cheers!

Pretty much. You'll be busy with additional duties, ground training, your functional job (training flt, W&T, SELO, scheduling), testing, travel vouchers, and all the queepy stuff you don't get a chance to do when you're mission planning or flying. Yes. With some exceptions, most guys are gone for the standard AEF rotation which is now 4 months.

Mission planning up north is done in a few ways. There are show & go sorties which are planned by an MPC (a line crew led by an OSS team chief), crew planned sorties (similar to how it's done at the FTU minus the ass pain), and consolidated sorties which are canned routes that are planned on fly day with missile, bombing, and AR activity already scheduled. There are pros & cons with each type. Some guys don't like to have someone else plan their mission, while others would rather have someone else do all the work. Either way, you're responsible for what you fly with-whether you or someone else planned it.

In the BUFF, the two navs downstairs oversee the navigation and weapons employment. The EWO upstairs monitors the ECM equipment during flight, makes defensive/ing calls, and jams in a threat environment.

Remember 100% really means no more than $250 per credit/$750 max per class and $4500 max annually.

A suitable slant to your presentation would be how it's a good thing that SAC is no more.

SAC is dead. That's a good thing.

Yes, you can always have HHG moved from: -home of record -previous assignments -spouse's home of record Don't let TMO tell you otherwise. If you need proof, download the JFTR. I think it's on the dtic.mil website.

The pecking order of who gets to stay at KBAD and who doesn't, at least when i was there, was: 1. Class SRO (i.e. if there's a captain in the class- no rank among Lt's) 2. Joint-spouse considerations 3. Misc. This could be anything from having elderly family in the area to having started your master's at LSU or something. I/we didn't think we were going to want to leave KBAD, but after being there for a few weeks, the choice was obvious. Minot's a good place with good people, but doesn't seem to be the greatest place if you're a single guy. Dewey, As for the gel seats- haven't heard anything about that- but any creature comforts are definitely appreciated.

The chutes are integrated into each of the six seats (Pilot, Co, Radar Nav, Nav, EWO, gunner) and are not very comfortable. You don't have to be strapped in and wearing a helmet for the entire flight; just during the critical phases (takeoff, landing, AR, unplanned manuevers).

Thanks Max, that's what I thought. Sounds like First Command likes to bend the truth a bit. By the way, who gave them my number?

On an earlier post (First Command), someone said SGLI does not cover combat/aviation deaths. Is this true?

Some studs were lucky enough to get put on the program AND have their contacts paid for while in UNT at Randolph, while others were not. I guess it depends on who you ask and on what day. Like F16MD said, getting on the program is a pretty painless process. In fact, the toughest part may be just scheduling that initial appointment and the 1wk, 1month, 3month followups. As far as lens brands and solutions go, I wasn't given a choice but that may be a base specific thing too. My advice would be to get on the program ASAP, preferably while you still can deconflict those first few appointments with your schedule.

I didn't go through OTS, so I don't know what their vision-correction regs are (if any). I do know that if you're going to wear contacts AND fly (while in UPT, FTU, etc) you have to be on the USAF Contact Lens Program. Some wings will pay for your lenses after you've been cleared to wear them by the optometrist, while others will not. So I'd expect to buy a short supply to get you through OTS (assuming contacts are OK to wear there) and wait til you get to UPT to get on the program and see if they'll pay for them. I think I answered your question this time.

To my knowledge, the AF won't care what kind of contacts you wear until you're on the AF contact lense program for flyers. Everyone I know (myself included) who's on the program uses the AcuView (sp?) 2 week contacts. 30-day contacts sound like a good idea for OTS. Good luck.

Ditto all eowizard said (BTW...is eowizard from ARFL @ wright-Patt?) about Acq. Transitioning to a gov't GS/GG type job can be almost seamless if you're an Acq Lt. You're an attractive candidate because you already know the job and have your clearance. Also, your privy to all the job openings and can convince that old geezer in the cube next to you that it's time to retire.

Spent 3 years as a 62 and was picked up in '02 for UNT. I was concerned that I wouldn't be released due to "critical manning levels" in the Acq field, but I guess the ops world is less critically manned. My experience in the 62 world was somewhat disappointing at first. Most guys arrive (like I did) on AD pretty fired up, but then lose their motivation when they find themselves working among civilians and contractors. Take the opportunity to shine and don't let yourself become a sh!tbag Lt (which,unfortunately is very common). I agree with Air Guardian-get as much Acq training/certs as you possibly can and join the Aero club if you want to go to UPT. Most 62 jobs are what you make of it since some civilian supervisors aren't quite sure what to expect of you (see "sh!tbag above")-and you can really use this to your advantage. Good luck!

Canucope, As far as I know, there's no place where the UNT class schedules are posted but the casual Lt's at the 562FTS Student Control Office should have a list of classes through FY05. Their # is (210) 652-4951. Of course, this won't help you until you get orders with a class start date, but it will give you an idea of when class should start. FYI, I applied through the AD board in FY02, got my slot around May, and started class in December. The new Nav/WSO/CSO/EWO/whatever program might have started by then, which might reduce some of the tedious chart drawing which studs have been doing for a while. Good luck.

In th BUFF we typically use tone scoring to simulate Mk-82s/84s. With JDAM and WCMD, it's assumed you're hitting the target due to their accuracy. Same goes for CALCMs. I hear they'll use the "Intimidator" practice bombs that will produce a smoke cloud on impact-more for visual scoring.