Riddller

I saw the GS tick over 500kts in a KC-130. Flying from Iwakuni to Atsugi, 320 KTAS, 170 kts tail wind at FL250, when cleared to descend, we left the power up and dumped the nose and hit like 502 GS I think.

OK, I realize that this was just your opinion and all, but how can you make this judgement? From what I just read, you are a junior who just finished FT last summer. I have 7.5 years prior E, and also just finished last summer. While I finished very high, it had NOTHING to do with my leadership skills and EVERYTHING to do with knowing how to play the game. Do you seriously think they got an accurate gauge of my leadership skills in the 4 days that I was Flt/CC??? No. FT leadership is NOT real military leadership. They give you a ton of responsibility and ZERO authority. There was nothing I could have done to ANYONE had they decided to not do what I asked, and on the flip side, there was no way I could 'reward' anyone for doing an outstanding job. This is not how the military is run. They tell you that a good leader 'inspires' their people to do a good job. Are you kidding? Sure, maybe if I was with these people for longer than 28 days, and in charge of them for more than 4, then I MIGHT be a able to tell them, "I'm REALLY proud of you guys!" and NOT sound like a total douche-bag, but its not going to happen at FT. Everyone who's been there, heard their 'tool' Grp/CC or Flt/CC or whoever say, "Come on guys, give it your all, if not for me, then for the Air Force...!!" or the flight or whatever, and every person they said it to rolled their eyes and thought, "Who does this guy think he is? Hap Arnold?" Yet when it was their turn, THEY DID THE SAME THING!!! This is what I told my flight: "Hey everybody, you don't have to do a damn thing I say and there's nothing I can do about it. And if you do everything I say better than its ever been done before, there's nothing I can give you in thanks. You're not going to hear any 'inspiring' speaches from me because they're gay and we all know it from listening to them 5 times a day. During my time as Flt/CC, they will NOT be evaluating my leadership skills, because I don't have time to show any. They will just be evaluating how you do what I say, so all I can ask is that you do it for the next 4 days, and I'll return the favor." Needless to say, the FTO and CTA were a bit miffed that I took their whole grading criteria and threw it out the window, but it got the job done. If you don't take that place too seriously, its easy to sit back and figure out exactly what they want to see, and be able to play the game WITHOUT being a tool. My $.02

mmmmm... Olive Garden...

El Duderino, isn't your report date towards the end of September?

jmac- that's what waxgoblin was talking about days ago...

yup... that'll do it waxgoblin...

So does that only count for people who were commissioned and flying in another service? I was an enlisted navigator in the Marines for 7.5 years, so if I get a UPT slot, will I get the $650 a month? Just curious...

I'm surprised the Navy was there. OPNAVINST 3710 specifically forbids flying to places that have events like the Derby, Superbowl, World Series, etc... because of the bad impression it gives, I'm not sure what the AF pubs have to say on the subject...

I've got a bunch of time flying as a Nav on Marine Herks and the idea of being pulled off of a flying spot to go "storm beaches" is crazy. Granted, after your first or second flying stint (3 years a piece) you'll probably have to do a year w/ the MEU as a sort of "Air Liason Officer", but you won't be storming beaches. It is true that you are a Marine first, but that entails more of how you carry yourself, staying fit, uniforms look good, haircut every week, and saying a lot of funny words like "Aye Aye" and "scuttlebutt" and "bulkhead". I absolutely loved my time in the Marines and the only reason I'm doing AF is 'cuz they offered me a 4 year full-ride. PM me if you have any more ?'s.

Uh... I mean I chortled greatly at your humorous witticism.

That's awesome!! LMFAO!

Amen backseatdriver...

As far as I know, all your AD time will count towards it.

Its true, its way easier to get age waivers in the Marines. When I was in, a bunch of pilot buddies all said they had people from 31 to 34 years old going through flight training with them. As for easier to get fighters, it all depends on the week you graduate. You don't graduate with the class you start with, you graduate when you're done, and if the people in your class all want helos, then your golden, otherwise not. I will tell you that the top #1 or #2 guy almost always try to go Herks, but they only get like one drop every 2 weeks for Herks, so sometimes people hold off graduating a week or 2 until one comes down the pipe.

Newest one, period. That goes for PFT, GPA, AFOQT, etc... And they submit during 'big week' for both EA's for FT and for categorizing, which is like the 3rd week in Feb., so whatever scores you have by then is it.

Yup we got a guy on the track team doing good things there, as well as being a good cadet. You just have to be motivated and dedicated enough! [ 13. March 2005, 19:35: Message edited by: Riddller ]

Another one: With a plane load of grunts, get the pilot to go into a dive, have engineer runs to the back and grab the manual hydraulic pump handle (with it set so the fluid doesn't do anything) and start pumping furiously while the pilot starts climbing again. When he starts to slow down the pumping, the pilot starts to dive again. In no time you'll have a grunt that asks what the problem is. You tell him, "We need to keep pumping this handle to keep us in the air!!" They'll start rotating through each of them pumping on it for 10-15 minutes desperatly trying to keep the plane in the air!! Another one: Once the grunts are loaded, the engineer starts up the GTC (or APU, depending on how new your Herk is) but shuts it off at 20-30%. Do it a couple times, then put a worried look on your face and go back to the cargo compt. and tell them, "Well guys, we need some help. We can't get the GTC started, so we're going to have to get out and push the plane until we can pop the clutch on it." You'd be suprised how fast 40 grunts can get a Herk moving just by pushing on the back end!!

We had a Herk crew play a funny on a crew member when they were flying w/ no pax... He'd fallen asleep on the paratroop door seat, so they saftey wired his boots to the floor, slowly descended to 10,000 ft., depressurized and everyone put on a parachute. They threw open the other paratroop door and of course he woke up with wind blowing all through the cargo compartment, everyone w/ chutes on, screaming that they were bailing out! When he jumped up to go grab a chute, he fell flat on his face! Good times, had by all!

I have a buddy of mine who built a bar in his basement. For his setup (depending on how much you want to spend) he got a full size chest freezer that holds 2 full size kegs. Online, he found a digital temperature readout that controlled the temp. of the freezer, a small bottle of CO2 with a pressure gauge/regulator, and the hoses to go to his 2 taps. He set up the temp. controller to maintain 36 degrees in the freezer, and put the whole setup in a storage room behind the bar and drilled holes in the wall to run the lines to the taps, so you didn't see any of it while sitting at his bar. He's married w/ a 4 year old daughter, but they still go through 2 kegs a week with all the people they have over!! VERY nice setup!!

We used wing-down-top-rudder all the time landing the Herk, and once with a 40kt crosswind (Lajes, nowhere else to go) we used a BUTTload of assymetric thrust... work good, last long time!! The only time I saw a slip used in a Herk to lose altitude, we were in holding at 17,000ft over DFW 'cuz of bad Wx, and ATC asked us to "expedite" a descent down to 11,000ft, so the AC (the Squadron CO at the time) yelled for everyone to hold on and slammed the left rudder to the floor and dumped the nose. Needless to say, we 'expedited' the descent!!! [ 21. February 2005, 13:36: Message edited by: Riddller ]

Degree doesn't matter getting a slot, GPA, AFOQT, PCSM, PFT, Rating/ Reccomendations, etc... are what matter for getting a slot. If you want an AFROTC scholarship right now, though, technical is the way to go, as those majors are what the AF is handing out scholarships for (that and meterology). Some people have said that if you do good in a technical major, then the AF will look at your Pilot package and say, "Wow, this guy would make a great pilot, but we need him more doing Engineering stuff, so no slot." Which I can't really believe. If you have your ducks in a row going for the slot, then doing well in a technical major should look better on you and increase your chances of a slot.

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SNAFU - Situation Normal, All F*cked Up WAG - Wild Ass Guess SWAG - Super Wild Ass Guess FM - F*ckin' Magic (As in, "Hey SSgt TED, how's that doohickey right there work?" "FM Sir, FM.") TU Pronounced "Tango Uniform" - Tits Up ...As in no worky. "Hey SSgt TED, why's my radar not working?" "Sorry Sir, it's Tango Uniform."

RedDog- When the watch is out of the light, the digital parts and the second hand all stop working to conserve energy. As soon as you bring it into the light again, it takes about 1/2 a second for everything to start working again. The hour and minute hands never stop working though, and they'll be good for something like a year of darkness. The one NOT cool thing about it is the fact that it doesn't have a light, or even back-lit. The hands glow in the dark, but that's about it. Hope that helps!

Yeah, I got one too. I had the precursor, the NaviHawk also. I've flown around the world with it, they're NICE!!