ViperStud

Dude I will be nice, but just for one post. First, stop whining about traveling a lot and working long hours. You're not going to earn any sympathy here. I'm sure your travels don't routinely bring you to JATWISH. Second, don't plan on swapping airframes. You will need to get helos out of UPT. Airframe swaps are very rare and typically happen as a result of taking command of a mixed group/wing or going to a special school like TPS. Even then - way down the road and rare. Third, guard/res units will not cater to you. There are far more people interested than there are openings. You need to apply, show up and hang out with them and get an in. They have the luxury of choosing members from a lot of qualified applicants. You are the one doing the legwork. Drop the attitude and requests for respect. That kind of thin skin will not go far in the flying world.

Dudes we do not want FEFs part of the rack and stack process. I've been chief of Stan/Eval in two squadrons and I can tell you there is some blood in FEFs and it might surprise you who has it. There are above average pilots with Q2/3s in their records and total limfacs with Q1 no hits all day every day. I've had CCs want to fly dudes with specific FEs to either get them exposure or to set a dude up for success. I am what I consider a very big picture and objective FE but there are a lot of others with agendas. A past CC flew with his golden boy and have him an EQ on an average ride, but who is going to question it? Be careful what you wish for. I'd rather have leadership be able to assess their pilots based on day-to-day observations rather than check rides a previous bases that may have had an agenda behind them. Check rides are just a snapshot anyway, not aleays a valid overall assessment of a pilot's skill.

For the 11F thing - anyone know what happens for 11F types that are doing a UPT gig or something else that you perform by having a different duty AFSC. I mean UPT instructors are 11Ts technically, does that mean they don't get the 11F deal if they're at a UPT gig at the time?

Devils advocate could say they will send the bonus signers to RPAs because those dudes can't opt out. Why send a free agent to a bad deal when they can punch and you burn several 11Fs just to get one taker? They can send one dude with a 7-year bonus commitment to the bad deal and get two full assignments out of him. That's what scares me.

Actually it's more difficult to shit out a 2K hour flight examiner than it is a squadron UPC or secretary. The military is forced to pay people by grade/time so incentives are the only way to retain people with skill sets that are actually in demand. It's not about being fair and telling everyone they're special, nor should it be. And I'm dating a GS who is scheduled to be furloughed so I have an incentive to call BS. It's not BS.

At this point I've gotta figure the only reason it's been held up this long is because there ARE changes. It would be stupid for such a delay if nothing were changing at all. Almost as stupid as cutting people then stop-lossing them a year or two later. Our leadership is above that kind of buffoonery.

You are a SNAP, and unfortunately there are a lot of you running around. I have spent a lot of time crushing SNAP attitudes the past several years, and you are no different. You have wandered into a place where you have access to a lot of people who have been there, done that. STFU and listen. Stop trying to defend yourself. You are talking back to people who take dumps that are tougher than you. You have no credibility in this world, so don't go offensive (even though you see it as defensive) on anyone; shut up and listen.

Dude, you don't have thick enough skin to be a pilot. Pilots are blunt and sarcastic, and you are too sensitive. Don't waste a pilot slot. Have you thought about being a figure skater?

If "stay in one place" is a must-have, don't join as a pilot. UPT will be in one place, then a PCS to your FTU then another PCS to your ops unit for ~ 3 yrs. You will have two more assignments (both requiring moves) before your commitment is up. Your family will have to move. There is a chance you could homestead (stay somewhere for a very long time) if you get a B-1/52 or MC-12 but that would be a huge roll of the dice. Sounds like you are ok with deployments but do you want to be gone 200+ days like a C-17 driver? There are simply too many airframes that will not meet your "requirements" so you need to figure out what is more important - flying or your flavor of stability. That, or bite the bullet and go in knowing that you will bail after your UPT commitment, at the ripe young age of ~34.

True. I should not have been so flippant. Too much I guess. How much is too much? I guess it depends on the person, but who goes through to process to become a pilot without paying attention to the demands of the job? Shit, spec ops, sky cops an CE guys are gone all the time. Some pilots more than others - again part of the job. You don't just wake up one day as a UPT grad, you jump through a lot of hoops to make it happen. If you want a job where you'll be home all the time, BKIH. You don't owe the AF shit once your time is up so if you want to punch then do so, but you should know going in that time away from home is a given. It's what we do. A year-long stretch at Shaw I was gone for 70% of the time, and our tasking was ONE. YGBSM.

Dude I get it but I don't at the same time. I am no company man, not by a longshot, and I need to make the same decision in a year, assuming the bonus is still around. Stay or go should be about a lot more than a deployment. Deployments are part of what we do. I leave for shitholestan in November. I'll sport bitch as much as the next guy but get the ###### over it, we are in the military and we deploy. Quit acting like a pariah when it comes your time to go downrange.

Just a nuggets up - I've ordered two watches from them and just received my chronospace last month. The aerospace took a year and the chronospace took almost 18 months, but they claimed there were extenuating circumstances there and gave us a $100 rebate. If you think you'll have them in time for Christmas you might need to re-cage your expectations. Good luck with the order.

Great kid - one of my studs at Luke and the kind of full-up dude you want in a fighter squadron. Mano, we'll miss you brother!

Him, him...

Nickel on the grass

Exactly my point. If the dude spent all 10-12K on gourmet chefs and French maids how is it different from renting a place at a high-end condo that provides the same amenities? Ok so then how much is he allowed to profit, $50, $500, $5000? Who makes that call and why? Agree the gift cards are idiotic. Other stuff could fall under "services" but that's a blatant kickback.

I'd be interested to see what the big deal is. Shady on the part of the pit pad owners? Sure. But from the AF perspective what difference does it make? Is it somehow more noble to pay Hilton that $109/nt? They may have actually saved the AF money since the hotel would be charging tax...

0, 1, 0, 0. And I'm in Enid...the last one appears to be sucking it in, someone needs to smack her in the small of the back to let the fupa loose.

Sure, wtf not

Shack. Granted, blues Mondays never got to me because no one ever really followed it where I was at. I'm all for a few quick fixes but there are some pretty serious cultural and policy issues right now that would really make a difference: - 11F shortage - KC-X and F-X procurement buffoonery - Corporate culture where enslisted treat officers like work buddies (starts at the top - the last graduation I was at the introduction included the wing command chief being introduced before the O-6 Group CCs. Seriously an E-9 given props over a Colonel, that shit trickles down...which is why TSgts feel they can callout field graders which I have seen first-hand) - Promotion system that rewards square-filling above all else (the problem is bigger than AADs, if they disappear some other queep will replace it) - How we spend money on BS we don't need for fear that it will "disappear" if we don't - too big of a monster for anyone to take on, but he'd be my hero if he did If he could tackle any two of the above during his tenure I'd call it a success. I'm not holding my breath. That being said, best of luck to the man.

Skip Gary. They might have a fuel contract but the chances of making it through a night or two without getting shivved are slim. Gary is easily in the "top ten biggest shitholes in the country" list for anyone who has been through the midwest.

Him him. Had some good times together brother - you'll be missed by many.

Searched 11-202v3 and the airframe specifc vol 3 and couldn't find this - isn't there some restriction as to how much down time you need when you cross X amount of time zones on a trip, whether for work OR personal travel? I'm sure it's different for fighter versus heavy (augmented) crews but I remember this being a factor when I crossed the Pacific and it came up again after some personal travel but I couldn't find where it was mentioned.

Stop claiming to be doing this in the best interests of PIT dudes when you could have "made more" getting two houses and renting them traditionally. ~$40/day for a 3 br house equates to $3600/mo for one house, probably more than the combined rent you'd see from two houses rented traditionally, and you only had to buy one house, not two! Now I realize occupancy is not always 100% and you pay the utilities (deductible BTW) but owning a PIT pad is still more lucrative than renting the house traditionally. That is, if people are allowed to stay there.

Just left PIT and it's not just being used to prevent people from getting full perdiem. Even if your plan is to refuse govt quarters and go to a PIT pad at the exact same cost to Uncle Sam, commanders are forbidding it and referencing this letter. Finance guy, is that legit? It goes deeper than saving money, they are trying to funnel all the money back into the base by forcing people to stay at billeting. The quality of life difference between the postage stamp billeting rooms and a PIT pad is substantial. At $1200/mo you are getting ripped off at billeting. They even give you the added benefit of rooming an O-5 next to an A1C, we had a lot of issues with 20 yr olds up all night partying. If I owned a PIT pad I'd try to fight it. It's not a matter of saving money, it's a matter of taking away options that the JFTR allows.