lloyd christmas

Check out the F-105s built in 1962. I would estimate 95% of them were either lost in combat or were written off in accidents/crashes. Absolutely crazy....

This dude flew the F-89, F-86, F-104, CF-5, F-100, F-4, A-7 and the A-10. Very interesting guy with a great career for sure.

I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse.

We don't have enough in squadron funds here in the Texas ANG to buy new J's. We are trying to sell some heritage patches to make up the difference but that is taking longer than we expected.

Yes they are. One of his favorite lines: "Duck Sausage! How about you duck down and get you some sausage"! Reagan was hands down the greatest pilot, aircraft commander and officer I have ever known. He was in a league of his own. He was also a devout christian, a boxer at the Zoo, married to his high school sweetheart, master diver, foster parent, scout leader, duck hunter extraordinaire who took wounded warriors on hunts, and a weapons officer. The Herk community truly did lose one of it's finest. I will miss him. Some clarification on the news article. He was a current member of the Arkansas Guard.

What are some of the differences in today's society/culture/laws compared to the 40s when Jackie Robinson was crossing the color line as the first black major league baseball player? I am curious what your thoughts are on this since you are accusing folks of being cowards and refusing to discuss the problem at it's merits.

I always shake my head a little bit when folks hand out the "don't enlist" advice so quickly. You can't underestimate how important it is for a guard unit to find people that will be a good fit for the unit. That is why you hear certain units "only hire from within". If you are a junior in HS, set yourself up to go to basic right after you graduate. Enlist in something that involves the aircraft like maintenance or life support. At a minimum, either of those career fields gives you a head start on knowing the aircraft and its systems. Yes, your tech school will eat into your first or second semester but you can always CLEP classes or take online courses while you are in tech school to keep college credits coming in. If you get medically DQ'd down the road or don't get picked up, at least you will have served your country, been a part of the guard, worked with great people and probably got college paid for. Being a pilot isn't the only way to serve. If you think otherwise, you aren't a good fit anyway. The E's make it happen and deserve the most respect. With that said, the best guard officers I have ever worked with are prior Es. Hands down. There is a reason for that. They have earned the respect.

Fort Worth has Reserve F-16s and Guard C-130s. There is zero mixing of pilot candidates.

All of this is fucking embarrassing. The enemy is winning. We are better than this.

Gypsy, Fellow load here. Curious exactly what happened on the flight in question. Sounds like you were tailgating troopers and had an issue. Curious what aircraft. If you are a Herk guy, was it an H or J? How did the aircraft get damaged during retrieval of static lines or while dropping the dudes? What statement on the Form 8 was false? Wondering if there is something we can learn from the flight. PM if you need to.

I am not. I damn sure would like to head to the ice with them though.

I am in the Guard. Can you please make the font bigger on your post so that I can read it?

I am a Herc load. There are some situations that exist where it would be appropriate for the loadmasters to ask the front enders to raise the elevators during loading. It is not common though. Been doing the load thing for 13 years or so with multiple deployments along the way. I have only had to ask the pilots to raise the elevators once. In my case, it was the loading equipment in Uganda that they were using and not the height of the cargo that was the problem. For the non Herc folks on this thread, it is in the AOR regs that you can't have a 25K K-loader behind the aircraft and use a forklift to load additional pallets on the aircraft. You have to bridge two 25K K-loaders together and load that way. Here is what that means. A 25K K-loader is capable of moving 25,000lbs of cargo. It can only hold 3 pallets at a time. An H model Herc can hold 6 pallets and a stretched J can hold 8. The 25K is short. When it is behind the aircraft, it doesn't go out past the tail. Some loadmasters were using a stationary 25K K-loader behind the aircraft and then loading the rest of the pallets using a forklift to load pallets onto the K-loader and then just pushing the pallets across the K-loader and onto the aircraft. The problem was, while operating the forklift to load pallets onto the K-loader, the cargo on the forklift had the very real potential for hitting the tail of the aircraft because the 25K doesn't extend out past the tail. So again, the local regs prohibited this. These guys were abiding by the regs. They had two 25Ks bridged together. So, sadly, there was no reason to have the pilots hold the yoke back. I don't want to speculate, but my guess is that somebody tapped an elevator with a pallet and the unit fried the loadmasters publicly. That would cause them to be over cautious.

I have a concealed carry license issued by the state that I live in. I also have a conceal carry card issued by the AF so that I can conceal carry on the aircraft and do my job. Yet, I can't conceal carry in my truck on base. It makes no sense. I am not interested in carrying my pistol into the office. I am interested in having it my truck for the ride to and from work. Because of my unit's flying schedule, I often find myself driving to work at 4am and from work at 2 am. I usually carry anyway. If I get stopped at the gate, my pistol goes in my flight suit pocket. They don't pat you down.

I just got back from a deployment 2 weeks ago. I am a Herc guy. There was a dude that did exactly what you are trying to do during that deployment. He stayed the whole rotation before us and came home 60 days into the next deployment with a different unit.

You are persistent Scoobs. I'll give you that.

The bro network says Dyess. Terrible day. Prayers to the family, friends and Herk community...

Prayers...

Wolf Angel, is this you?

I have tried to do it right. I have sat down with my commander and let him know my plans, that way they can plan accordingly.

It seems hard enough just getting someone hired on full time. At least it is through our HRO folks... I'm just wondering if there are any stumbling blocks to watch out for or common issues when moving to another wing.

Yep

Does anyone have any experience in transferring from a Wing in one State to another Wing in another State? I'm currently a technician and am considering applying for a job in another State.

Wow

Quiet Scoobs.