ColoradoAviator

VN 10-05 Assignment Night T-38: F-15C Klamath Falls, OR (FTU) F-16 Kelly (FTU) T-6 FAIP B-52 Barksdale (FTU) T-1: C-17 McChord C-17 McGuire C-17 Travis KC-10 Travis KC-10 McGuire C-130H Peterson C-130H Dyess C-130J Ramstein C-130J Little Rock RPA Creech x 2 E-6 Tinker

On a similar topic, can anybody suggest a good place to take a BMW in Enid?

My LT-Mobile is a 2006 BMW 325Ci (Coupe). My rationale is that I'm single and this is probably the last time in my life when I can have such an awesome car. Picked it up for ~$24,000 with 26,000 miles on it. "2" on E46fanatics.com and bimmerfest.com. BMWs aren't much harder to work on than your typical American car. Don't let a dealership talk you out of $150 for an oil change when you can get a kit (including BMW's 'special' oil) for $50.

Quick question -- I am PCSing in a month and have two rifles and a goodly stash of 223 Remington. Unfortunately I don't have room in my car for clothes, uniforms, guns, and ammo. I'm pretty sure TMO won't ship/handle ammo. Any suggestions on shipping/storing/moving the ammo? Can I bring ammo on base? Do I have to register it with security forces like a firearm? Worst case I might have a couple hundred rounds of 223 available in the Pensacola/Hurlburt area to give away...

No reserve studs at Whiting; AD only. Whiting only puts 100 AF studs per year or so through Navy primary before shipping us off to Vance/Corpus/Rucker as appropriate.

Nearly all of the instructors and some of the students in my squadron are participating. We have a change-of-command ceremony coming up and the staff wanted a picture with full mustaches to give the CO as a parting gift. They made up a gradesheet and everything for the civilian staff to grade the IP mustaches. I wish there was more student participation but at least the tradition is alive and well!

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 19 Mar 09 T-1 x 3 (USAF) E-6 x 1 (USN) T-38 x 1 (USAF) Missing a couple... will update later.

As long as it is written by a saucy Brit...

Question about moving on short notice... I finished primary at Whiting this week with a follow-on assignment to Vance for advanced (phase 3). One of the other students got hurt and now I'm tapped to fill his class date. The problem is that my RNLTD is 8 Apr 09 which is less than a month away. Our MPF won't have my orders cut for at least another week. I have a military clause in my lease that states that I need to give 30 days' prior notice with a copy of my orders to break my lease. Unfortunately, I won't have orders in-hand for at least another week perhaps longer. My landlord won't budge on this issue and insists that we stick to the letter-of-the-lease. Am I going to get stuck paying an extra month's rent due to this short-notice move? Do I have any recourse with either my squadron/MPF or my landlord?

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 12 Mar 09 T-1 x 2 (USAF) T-38 x 1 (USAF) Rotary x 1 (USMC)

I went through that process about this time last year. It was largely a paperwork exercise. I had two waivers - one for PRK and one for some foot surgery a couple of years back - and the Navy had no clue what to do. After a couple polite reminders that I was in the Air Force the doc wrote me an up-chit and I was on my way. After participating in this joint program with the Navy for almost 25 years one might think they would know what to do with us... but they often don't. Get to used to quizzical looks from Navy admin folks when you tell them that you are in the Air Force and they have no clue. This largely stops once you get to VT-3/4/10/86 thank goodness.

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 6 Mar 09 T-1 x 1 (USAF) T-38 x 2 (USAF) Note: That makes three T-38s dropped in two weeks.

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 26 Feb 09 T-1 x 1 (USAF) UH-1 x 1 (USAF) T44 x 2 (USAF) T-38 x 1 (USAF) Rotary x 1 (USN) Jets (Kingsville) x 1 (USN) Rotary x 1 (USCG) Note: An outstanding group of selectors this week! All students received their first choice except for one of the T-44 dudes who wanted UH-1s.

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 12 Feb 09 T-1 x 2 (USAF) Fixed-Wing x 1 (USCG) Rotary x 3 (USMC) Rotary x 1 (USN) Props x 2 (Indian Navy) 19 Feb 09 T-1 x 1 (USAF) T-44 x 1 (USAF) Note: No T-38s have dropped at Whiting (for AF studs, obviously) since mid-November. No helos since then either, likely because two were given out at the same drop. Unusually large numbers of AF studs track selecting over the next three weeks -- should be interesting.

...and back the topic of posting track selects and assignment nights... NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 22 Jan 09 Fixed-Wing x 1 (USCG) T-1 x 2 (USAF) Rotary x 2 (USMC) Tailhook x 1 (USN) Jets x 2 (Indian Navy) 29 Jan 09 T-1 x 2 (USAF) Tailhook x 1 (USN) 5 Feb 09 T-1 x 1 (USAF)

NAS Whiting Field (VT-3) Weekly Track Select 08 Jan 08 T-44 x 2 T-1 x 1 Rotary x 1 (USMC) Rotary x 2 (USN) T1 (Jets) x 1 (USN) Rotary x 1 (USCG) <---[Coasties find out their platform sometime in API and well before track select] T-44 x 1 (Italian Navy) 15 Jan 08 T-1 x 1 Rotary x 1 (USN) T1 (Jets) x 1 (USMC) <---[does not mean they fly T-1s... they have T1 (Tailhook Meridian), T2 (Tailhook Kingsville), C130, Rotary, and MV22 as choices] Corrected USN/USMC track select options

NAS Whiting Field - Weekly Track Select (VT-3) T-1 x 2 UH-1 x 2 Rotary x 1 (Marine) T-38s dropping about once a month (<10% of total drops). Lots of T-44s dropped recently.

Take the guard slot and fly the -16. [Disclaimer: From an OTS dude in UPT right now.] You have a guaranteed Viper slot with the guard which will include a couple of full-time years going through UPT, IFF, and the FTU. If you go active duty the competition and the timing required to get a Viper slot are almost insurmountable at the moment. You can take a guaranteed Viper with the guard or face an enormous uphill battle to earn one on active duty.

Physical fitness plays no part in your selection for OTS. Your height and weight are measured at MEPS before shipping out and that's about it for physical fitness prior to OTS. With that said, physical fitness plays a large role at OTS. If you are out of shape your OTS will likely be more miserable than that of your flightmates'. While your question is not specifically addressed to me, I'd like to address it from the still-in-UPT perspective. My classmates in UPT have previous flight experience ranging from zero flight hours all the way through CFII/MEI/commercial with 1000+ hours. Those with prior flight time are doing very well in the program thus far. Please note that many without prior flight time are doing well also. The secret to success for those with prior flight time is to keep their mouth shut and their minds open. Their flight experience makes them more comfortable in the airplane and they quick adapt to the new sight pictures, control feel, and the like. The open mind comes into play when learning systems, procedures, maneuvers, and all things related to becoming an Air Force pilot. Brain dump any previous way of doing business because the AF way is the way now. Those than cannot let go of previous procedures ("At XYZ flight school we did a stall this way...") will have the most difficulty. Prior flight time has a large impact on your selection if you are going the OTS route. That's an observation from snapshot from my small slice of UPT. I'm also interested to hear what Toro thinks about the success of those with prior civilian time after UPT and beyond.

There are a few important points to add specifically for OTS applicants looking for a pilot slot: When applying for a pilot slot through OTS you are applying for both a commission and the pilot slot at the same time. Physical fitness does not factor into PCSM score for OTS applicants because you do not take the physical fitness assessment until you are at OTS. [That being said, becoming and staying physically fit is one way to set yourself up for success at OTS and beyond.] OTS applicants do not have a commanders' rating per se. Active duty applicants will have an interview with their commander and civilian applicants with have an interview with an Air Force officer, typically arranged by their recruiter. Additionally, applicants submit letters of recommendation for board review. Flight hours and certificates tend to have a higher weight for OTS pilot slot applications than other commissioning sources. A few flight hours (as few as 5-10) can greatly increase your PCSM score. Many applicants (read: your competition) have private pilots' licenses. Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) scores and Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) scores have a higher weight for OTS applications than other commissioning sources. This is likely due to the lack of a commanders' ranking or PFA scores for incorporation into selection. OTS selection boards heavily emphasize the "whole person concept" mentioned above. One shining area on your application does not guarantee you a pilot slot; one weak area on your application does not deny you one either.

NSS is a scoring system used by the Navy. It's used for for both track selection and airframe selection. The formula is kept secret though many have tried to decipher it with limited success. It's akin to the Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) score used by the AF for pilot selection. NSS takes into account a host of factors, mostly flight grades, to spit out a score relative to x-number of your peers. The higher NSS the better. If you go through Whiting or Corpus you'll become familiar with the system. For NSS information ad nauseum check out this post on AirWarriors.

HD, would you mind providing the source for this information? I could use it the next time somebody gives me sh*t because I am wearing green boots with a green flight suit [aesthetics debate aside].

My silver dollar salute was given to a seasoned Master Sergeant from the USAFA parachute team that had come to Maxwell to jump as our fly by. Unfortunately they had to cancel for weather. He snapped as crisp a salute as I've ever seen. I was honored to give him the silver dollar.

2006 BMW 325Ci ... this one was long overdue for me

Officials: Pilots rescued after two F-15Cs collide (CNN) -- Two Air Force fighter pilots have been rescued after their F-15C jets collided during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, according to Air Force officials. Both pilots are alive, but Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Lois Walsh said she was unable to comment about their conditions. The planes were from the 33rd Fighter Wing, a combat-flying unit out of Eglin Air Force Base, near Pensacola, Florida. The crash happened about 3 p.m. about 50 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless said helicopters, airplanes and ships were deployed from Florida, Alabama and Louisiana to help with the search. Air Force search and rescue and U.S. Coast Guard crews raced to the scene of the collision to pick up the two fliers, who had been on a routine training mission. In January, a top Air Force general said a manufacturing defect blamed for causing a midair breakup of an F-15 Eagle fighter, which occurred in November, might lead the Air Force to permanently ground a quarter of those warplanes. There is no information that points to a manufacturing defect as the cause of Wednesday's incident.