Berry

Way back in '02, we flew an EC-130 into Little Rock for their air show. Talk about Cletus bringing his entire family... By the end, I had them believing there were bombs hanging off the wings, the utility hydraulic reservoir was our coffee pot, and the antennas hanging off the back were for some sort of circus trapeze act. "2" on the fact that someone will read your "background/mission" sign for ten minutes and then ask you what you do.

Ric Romero, anyone?

I'd work in Jumbotron sales.

They've set up the network so that you can't download the music onto the computer you're playing it on... in other words, it sort of streams, so you can only "get" one song at a time. The base network also lets you view the movies/tv shows the comm people have, but you can't download those either. It's all ironic considering they have bootleg movies and shows available to watch, but they won't let you have them. "2" on the previously mentioned bazaar. Grab those haji bootleg DVDs like it's going out of style. When I left they were 3 for $10. One last note about the pool: Some brain surgeon had the bright idea to actually billet people RIGHT NEXT to the pool. There really is nothing like getting scolded by random shoe E-8 because you've decided to have a little fun in the pool after flying all day over Iraq.

Bring your swim trunks. The pool is nice this time of year. As for food, get your hands on a van and eat at the Army LSA chow hall for every meal. It's run by KBR, and is far better than the Kuwaiti-paid for gruel at the AF chow hall. One last thing: OKAS will be like every other CONUS base any day now. Be ready for all sorts of shoe clerk madness as referenced in other threads.

From AF Times... Uniform survey response overwhelms system Staff report If you e-mailed the Air Force with your opinion on the prototype service dress uniforms unveiled in May and the message is bouncing back to you, it’s not because the Air Force doesn’t want to hear from you. It’s just that the account officials set up to receive feedback on the Hap Arnold and Billy Mitchell model jackets is clogged with more than 1,500 responses and has been unable to accept any more, Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens said today. Stephens said she expected that the current batch of e-mails would be downloaded onto a hard drive and the box re-opened shortly. “We are happy to be getting the feedback, and a lot of it is constructive,” she said.

Anyone with a subscription to airforcetimes.com care to paste the new front page article?

Here's one: http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=4769 and another: http://www.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?bioID=7912 [ 12. May 2006, 17:59: Message edited by: Space Monkey ]

This will be on the cover of the AF Times in 3...2...1...

First, congrats on the slot. I'll second Hoser's words on the bankers hours. The instructors will do what they can to get you out of there at a reasonable (~1600) hour. Having gone to the FSO course a year ago, one of the best things about the class are the instructors. Mr. Hannah is great, but I have to disagree with Hoser's opinion of Mr. Preteska. I think his safety knowledge and sense of humor make up for his eccentricites. I seem to remember him mentioning flying gliders around there. If you get Doug (forgot his last name), count yourself lucky. I can't explain it, but you just get the feeling that back in the day, he was probably a goof ball. Smart? Yes. Serious? Most of the time. All-in-all, the instructors and the material (crash lab) will keep you interested. If it makes you feel any better, we had two O-5s in our class... As for restaurants in ABQ, don't forget to hit up Rudy's BBQ(also in San Antone). Downtown didn't impress me at all, but Maloney's isn't too bad, I guess. Besides skiing on the weekend at Taos, a lot of guys in my class went to the various Indian Casinos around town. I'd say the Sandia Casino north of town was great for craps, as Indian casinos go. I went to two minor league hockey games while there and thought they were pretty entertaining. If you can swing staying at a nice place off base, go for it. No internet access to speak of on base, though you're real close to the safety school and you won't have to fight through the gate. You may have heard many rumors on the lack of insurance and sobriety among Albuquerque drivers...all of them are true, so beware. If all else fails, I suppose the instructors can point you to some underrated restaurants. Good luck! [ 20. February 2006, 17:51: Message edited by: Space Monkey ]

Has anyone shelled out the dough for the Camelbak MotherLode Desert Camo or BFM Desert Camo backpacks? These things retail for over $100, but seem pretty sweet. http://www.camelbak.com/mil/cb_act.cfm?id=5 has the MSRP, but I've seen them for much cheaper. Anyone have one of these?

Negative... I do believe the first was a female from XL, around the 02-06 timeframe.