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*loosely related revival* What is the range of an F-4D and F-4E point to point? Loiter time? Anyone?

Good call. I stopped letting the AF touch my stuff two moves ago. Go to eMove.com (works best if you're in a populated area) and hire your own moving team on the front and back side. Beware, this method only works if you can move door to door, but if you can... You don't have to deal with TMO wanting your orders 6-9 weeks before you move (and exactly 6-9 weeks before MPF uf*cks themselves long enough to produce them) You tell the movers when to show up at your house, weekend or weekday. No sitting around wasting an entire day of the mover's choosing. The movers will pack your stuff, and you drive the Uhaul. You can move as many cans of paint, propane tanks, ammo boxes, and whatever else you want to put in the back. In the next town, new movers reverse the process, again, meeting you on your schedule. As far as the AF is concerned, it looks like you did a DITY. You'll spend pretty much all of the money they give you, but you are in control of the entire process. Infinitely better than dealing with the AF method, if you ask me.

2. Kind of a butterface.

Haha, this is the same chick that tries to guess what plane you're flying by the bags you're carrying, and then proudly announces that she's "starting to learn" the planes of the AF. Here's your sign...

3 on HOPA. Hoax link.

scott1234, check your PM.

I can't substantiate the rumor you've heard, but I'm scheduled for a 40 day trip to the Deid later this fall, so I'm don't think they're fully enforcing this rule if it exists.

Discussed in depth here Brisket Tuesdays at XL were generally good for about 200 bucks of profit per event. Buy all the sides from the grocery store, make your own brisket, and charge six bucks a plate.

Just got a brief from her at GRACC. (A/C course at Scott for heavy drivers) She was good at working a bored crowd and not talking excessively about nothing. When asked about the tanker contract, she dodged the question, and no one else really lobbed any tough questions. My initial impression from the hour or so spent with her was suspiciously positive, but she did subscribe to a lot of the kool-aid.

Holy sh!t. From reading this thread, you'd think tankers and receivers aren't on the same team and don't have the same fu*king goal. 1st point: If 95% of the time you get your gas with no issues, don't reinforce your stereotype/prejudice with the 5% of the time things get dorked up. Everyone makes mistakes. 2nd point: This tanker stuff should be easy, so why isn't it? Everyone whose been in the AF for a promotion or two knows that if there is a process that could be simple, the process is made more complicated until the point where someone starts complaining. However, sometimes the added layer of work makes sense in the big picture. Unfortunately for the fighters who choose the tail number discussion as their pet peeve and/or battle to pick with the tanker, I think this process makes sense in the big picture. Which leads me to... 3rd point: I don't want to see this spit wad match of a thread continue any more than the next person. Though I know I won't have the last say, I'll attempt to clear up at least the official requirements part. Rainman, I have a huge amount of respect for your opinion from reading this board for years, but I think this accounting process might be in stone. From reading this part of the 135v3, it seems like the process of charging fuel to units had been murky and abused at some point, so the tail number accountability was established to create a crystal clear transaction. 8.6.3.5. DD Form 791 , DoD In-Flight Issue Log, is used to log in-flight offload of fuel. Use eight digit tail numbers for the tanker and receivers. For Navy and Marine receivers, use six digit bureau number. Log and place a copy inside the AF Form 664 and turn it in IAW local procedures. 8.6.3.5.1. Boom operators will: 8.6.3.5.1.1. <snip> 8.6.3.5.1.2. Prior to fuel offload, get receiver aircraft’s tail number (use interplane radio, boom interphone, or visually if open communication would compromise the mission during clandestine or covert operations or threaten safety of flight). When refueling the same receiver multiple times on a single mission, enter a separate line on the DD791 for each AR. NOTE: EMCON 2 or 3 training does not disqualify inter-plane radio to obtain or verify AR data. DO NOT use inter-plane radios during actual EMCON 2, 3, or 4 to obtain or verify AR data unless specifically authorized by the mission directive. Consider HAVE QUICK II and secure voice if visual conditions make the tail number too difficult to read. 8.6.3.5.1.3. Do not use “known/suspected” aircraft serial number that belongs to unit being fueled, but not necessarily the actual aircraft getting fuel. Auditors compare receiver unit aircraft serial numbers with fuel load reports at home station. If “known/suspected” aircraft tail number billed is incorrect (down for maintenance/unable to fly), the auditor will reject the fuel bill and the tanker unit is liable for the cost of the fuel transferred.

For you or your IP?

Not really a funny story, more of an FYI... Today my car wouldn't start on base and the random MSgt in the parking lot suggested calling SF. As I was trying to avoid calling guys in the squadron to leave work and drive over for a jump, I thought this was a decent idea. After 2 seconds on the phone with the SF Amn, though, I was informed it is against the AFI to use a patrol car to jump start another car. When I asked why, the answer was "that's what the book says!" After brainstorming another 2 seconds after I hung up, I am pretty sure some SF guy completely destroyed a patrol car battery attempting to jump start someone's car a long time ago, so Big Blue wrote a rule preventing them from touching jumper cables. God forbid they be of any assistance as they tool around watching for 3 second pauses.

Holy ****, stop feeding the troll. Whiterock, I don't give a **** who you say you are, especially after all the excessive explanations you offer. No aviator I know talks like you. Hang around and offer insightful, entertaining, and knowledgeable tidbits on the way the F-4 flew the defensive egg position or the usefulness of the gouge in UNT, and you might one day be taken seriously. Please stop the manifesto-esque descriptions of yourself. Mods, can we lock this? I think the validity of this guy's claims can be justified one way or another by the current contents of this thread.

From the tsp.gov website (edited for brevity) Generally, all of the money from your TSP account paid directly to you will be taxed as ordinary income for Federal tax purposes in the year in which you receive it. However, if you made any tax-exempt contributions to the TSP (i.e., from pay subject to combat zone or qualified hazardous duty tax-exclusion pay), the portion of your withdrawal that represents the tax-exempt contributions will be exempt from tax. On the other hand, earnings attributable to tax-exempt contributions are taxable when withdrawn. For example, suppose that over the course of your career you made $15,000 in ordinary contributions and $5,000 in contributions from tax-exempt pay received in a combat zone and that these contributions have earned $30,000 by the time of your withdrawal. In such a case, your account balance at the time of your withdrawal would be $50,000. The $45,000 of combined ordinary contributions and total earnings would be taxable, and the $5,000 in contributions from tax-exempt pay you received while serving in a combat zone would be exempt from tax. --- Since flight pay is taxed as normal pay on the front side, it's taxed as normal income on the backside. (Assuming you owed taxes in the month that you received the flight pay) TSP Go to "How will my TSP benefits be taxed"

You do realize the reason those charts look bad is because they paid out dividends right? So yeah, the price dropped, but if you have your dividends reinvested automatically, you got more shares at that lower price. Don't see what's so wrong with that.

Close, but not quite. A loaded fund will have all of the share classes you are talking about, and the sleaziest financial advisor who is taking advantage of you will make sure you end up in those B shares with the higher expense ratio that you'll never notice unless you read the fine print. (If any of you read your financial statements and it says class B shares, start looking for a new advisor) B Shares Suck The only semi-valid reason I have ever heard for buying loaded funds is people are more likely to stay in the fund and profit in the long run instead of profit chasing recently well performing funds. No-load funds mean just that, no-load. When you invest 3k into the fund, 3k gets invested in that fund, and your expense ratio is the same as the dude that's been in 15 years. Edit: Sharebuilder is better if you buy every month, but a mutual fund/money market purchase every month is free, so why not save up and buy a bigger bulk of stock at a lower expense? [ 16. January 2007, 08:34: Message edited by: mas del rio ]

Thanks for the correction, rumblefish. I actually only read up on the TSP until I understood the tax implications were the same as a Traditional IRA, and quit there, so I assumed the withdrawal rules would be similar. Doh. Either way, I thought of another point to add... Roth and Traditional IRAs can be equal only if you keep track of your Traditional IRA tax savings each year and invest those for retirement, also. Since you can only put 4k (this year) in any combination of the two, 4k in a Roth represents more retirement savings since it already has tax taken out and no further saving is required. No to the flight pay over base pay in TSP, it makes no difference; it's the same dollar amount flowing out of your coffers either way. The best broker for investing depends on what you are trying to get from your broker. Are you looking to trade stocks daily/monthly/yearly? Do you only want to systematically invest in actively managed mutual funds or index funds? The most basic, no frills stock broker for the least amount of money is Scottrade. They only charge 7 bucks a trade no matter what your trading frequency is. USAA beats that price once you trade 25 times in 3 months, but I get no where near that amount. As far as mutual fund companies, Vanguard and Fidelity are excellent, but T. Rowe Price is also a solid company with a lot lower minimums for their IRAs. You can start with nothing but a monthly deposit like USAA advertises with much better fund offerings or with 1000 upfront versus 3000 or 2500 for Vanguard and Fidelity. I use both Vanguard's and T Rowe Price's target date offerings. Fidelity T. Rowe Price Vanguard

Yes on the loan issue for a Roth, no for a traditional/TSP. The govt has already taken it's share of what you have in your Roth, so it doesn't care when you pull out your contributions. There are more rules about whether you can pull out interest earned for free, but that's kind of beside the point. Try and pull any money out with a Traditional IRA before 59.5 and you'll get a 10% penalty on your withdrawal amount, no matter what. As people have already alluded to, the lynchpin between the two IRAs is what your current tax rate is compared to your retirement tax rate. If it's lower now, Roth; if it's higher, Traditional; if it's the same, it doesn't matter. For dorks who want more confirmation, http://www.dinkytown.net/java/RothvsRegular.html will give you more exact numbers. For young military members on this board, provided you make less than 95k single or 150k married, the Roth is almost always the correct answer. And for those of you who listen to USAA and put all of your money in USCRX, check out the 3 year yahoo chart of your fund versus VFINX, an SP 500 index. Dec 2005 and Dec 2006 sucked, didn't it? I don't know what they do wrong at that fund, but they continue to lag the index. Returns since 1988 for USCRX are 50% and 350% for the SP 500. You decide. (I once was in this laggard)

Hey, lightning I just spent 8 months at Andrews before I got to Laughlin in the beginning of March. In my opinion, you are going to one of the best casual locations in the Air Force. I lived in Franconia, VA. I recommend living in VA, because you will be going opposite of traffic in the morning and afternoon, and that will shave hours off of your workday. Arlington and Alexandria were two other neat places to live. Yes, for a single officer, the BAH is 1190. I recommend Bob Hepp's Aviation Adventures out in Mannassas, VA for IFT. You can fly a DA-20 like the Academy flys and work with some good people. Or you could go anywhere else in DC and fly Cessnas. http://www.aviationadventures.com/ As far as jobs on base go, you will mess around in the OSS for about a month doing random stuff and then they farm you out to random squadrons across the base. Hope for a flying squadron, I hung out in the 1st Helicopter Squadron and had a blast, my buddy got stuck working for the Director of Staff and they worked him like a *****. If you want to meet some dignitaries, get in touch with the Protocol people. Some of the Lts there got pictures with the Bush twins and Hillary Clinton, and met some other kings and such. What uniform you wear each day depends on what squadron you get stuck in. The guy working for the DS wore blues everyday, but I got to chill in my flight suit. As far as incentive rides go, you can't find many better places. No one but the 1st Heli can give you a helicopter tour of downtown, and they take up casual status Lts all the time. We flew on Air Force Two for a three day trip on a trainer for the Air Force wait staff as dignitary crash test dummies, that was a sweet deal. We also got a KC 135 ride out of the guard guys on the other side of the ramp, so that was cool. We tried to get in touch with Langley for a 15 ride, but that was a no go. Traffic just sucks period. You will be travelling along 495 at 11.00pm and all of a sudden there will be an hour of traffic. And then you will continue on as before, with no sign of a wreck. WTF?? Just one of the downsides to the place. Any more questions, just pm me.

Hey, Eluzion The AF uses a PT test that is weighted 50% run, 30% waist-measurement, 10% pushups, and 10% situps. You will find out all the specific times and numbers soon enough, but hopefully the percentage numbers will tell you to start running and slimming down now if you might have a problem in those areas. 15 minutes of running is ok, but I would start pushing that towards 30 minutes as soon as you can. Don't just try to go out and run straight either, mix it up like Highwater suggested, with some longer, slower days and some shorter, faster days. But some overall advice; once you get to ROTC, I would avoid trumpeting that you are on your journey towards a pilot slot. No one really cares; you have four long years ahead of you and most will probably think 'here's another clueless freshman.' The road ahead isn't easy and a lot of the talkers are walking somewhere else now. Best of luck.