HeloDude
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Posts posted by HeloDude
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See what you've started acemom? I hope you're pleased with yourself.
I don't know about her--but I've been pleasing myself with all the vids on the thread.
I think this thread has finally inspired me to get my own avatar.
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How much should a new LT spend on a car/truck ? My friend and I test drove a '09 Ford f-150 lariat, that went for about $48,000...leather seating,air-conditioned seats, nav, the works....
Dude, that is a freakin' waste of money, especially for a new LT. You finally graduated from college, got commissioned, and are earning a decent paycheck--I understand that you now you want something to show for it, but don't blow your money just because you can get the financing.
My youngest brother just got commissioned in the Army and he took the USAA loan and bought a 2 year old Nissan Exterra that cost him a little under $20K. I'd say around $20K is reasonable.
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does anybody know how to get into flying those things with the iraqi's
Talk to your commander and then have him/her call your functional. Are you an IP yet? Only way you can go over there to fly with the Iraqis/Afghanis on a 365 is to be an IP.
My guess is there aren't going to be nearly as many CAFTT flying gigs with the Iraqis as there once was. Most advisory squadrons are dwindling down, especially since the Commander in Chief has said he wants us all out of the country by 2011. On the helo side, most of what we set to accomplish with the Iraqis is now complete. Afghanistan, that's a whole another story.
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PFPS is 'Limited Distribution'--the software rights belong to the government. So like Brabus said, I seriously doubt they'll make an app for it anytime soon i.e. probably never.
On a better note--I finally switched to the iPhone and got my new 3Gs last week--it is very sweet. I haven't played around with it as much as I would like so I'm still learning all the different settings, what apps I want, etc. I've been a Mac guy for the last 2 years and can honestly say that they just make better stuff.
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Just a bomber guys opinion, but I believe that there are Pave Hawk MH-60s still flying and the MH-53 Pave Low helicopters were recently retired. Either way, I would expect that there are a great many guys still flying that had experience in either platform who could be considered "Pave" guys. Just my 2 cents.
I understand where you're coming from...but in the helicopter world, calling someone a 'Pave' guy was referring to someone on 53's, not 60's (even though the Air Force HH-60 does have the name 'Pave' in the aircraft's name). This is how it was explained by a 53 pilot when I was a young copilot and referred to 60 guys as 'Pave' guys.
Any of the CSAR dudes want to weigh in on this one...very good chance I'm totally wrong, and definitely wouldn't be the first time.
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Speaking with the PAVE guys here...
Unless there are still some MH-53's flying around that I don't know about--Air Force 60 guys aren't really 'Pave' guys. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 'Pave' part of a 53 had a lot to do with it's ability of using terrain following/avoidance radar which our HH-60's do not have.
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Wait a minute....I remember when I was a young lad seeing how Air Wolf could totally kick any fighter jet's ass. Not too bad for having a semi-rigid rotor system.
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Edit for this gem:
found this browsing YouTube could be a funny one for the rotor heads:
Dude, that was awesome! See, even little kids know that helicopters rock
I can't wait to have kids someday--that way I can play with toys again!
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at bases run by the Army (Bagram), you can't have a holster that points the gun backward, it has to point down at the ground. Just keep that in mind depending on where you go.
That must be a Bagram/Afghanistan thing. At Taji in Iraq (huge Army base), I always wore my shoulder holster that had my gun pointing behind me with no problems--a lot of the Army guys did the same.
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Good points Helodude, big point on scamming for NVG time. A recent Huey re-tread in my squadron has close to 50% more hours than I do, with about a year less flying experience, but less than half my NVG time.
I'm curious how you think we've screwed ourselves, not that I disagree just curious what your take is.
When I referred to the 60 community screwing themselves, I wasn't speaking so much as to the operational concerns between the AF and the Army brought up by you and the other guys--though I agree a lot with the points you all make.
I was referring to how the 60 community has screwed themselves into their low manning situation--again, with help from AFPC. Back when I was brought into the helicopter world and was at Rucker 6 years ago, we were told the horror stories that if you didn't get a 60 or 53 out of Rucker that there was a strong chance you would never get one and would 'just' be a Huey guy. Shortly after beginning my tour at my first assignment, we were all told the same thing by AFPC and our leadership--that crossflows to a 60 (53 was then going away) was going to be extremely difficult and you better be one of the top Huey guys to get to crossflow to a 'tactical' aircraft. A lot of the first assignment guys just faced the fact that the timing was bad and that we would all just end up being Huey guys because 60 crossflows were so few--again, also being told we weren't going to be as good because we weren't in 'tactical' airframes.
Well towards the end of my first assignment, the pendulum had swung the other way, 60 manning was horrible, and I think the 60 leadership as well as AFPC truly realized that they were doing better with crossflows from Huey guys than from the majority of copilots they were getting straight out of Rucker. At that time, me and my Huey buddies were talking to our friends at the various 60 bases and for the most part were told "The deployments suck; Most of the time we don't get to fly that much; Our leadership isn't the best, etc" and that overall, and I quote, a lot of them said "It's not that great". So now before my deployment, I was told AFPC was begging for guys to go 60's from Hueys, but that a lot of guys were saying "Screw you! My buddies don't have too many good things to say about flying 60's!". Many of them just decided to stay Hueys or try and get one of the Osprey slots.
That's my whole take on how 60's screwed themselves--back in the day they made it seem like they only wanted the 'best of the best' Huey pilots and that if you didn't get a 60 that you weren't anything good to speak of. Now Huey guys see how it really is and are saying they'd rather stay Hueys. Don't get me wrong, there are still some first assignment Huey guys who still want to go CSAR, and more power to them, I hope they get one. But the whole "You'll be lucky to get a 60 out of your first Huey assignment" has gone away...most guys now just say you can have it.
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My advice if you're at Rucker is this:
I you're not dead set on wanting a 60, don't ask for one. Go for the Osprey if that's where your heart is, if not, put down Hueys and hope you get one of your top locations. I would argue that Fairchild (now that Vandy is closed) is the best first assignment Huey base you can get--unless you're strictly going for hours where in that case I'd take one of the three missle bases.
The reason I say 'don't ask for a 60 if you're not sure' is because if you get one, that's it--you're a 60 pilot with very little chance of parole. And with the recent changes/discussions with the new administration, who knows what the hell is going to happen to CSAR in the near future. So take a Huey, learn as much as you can, build some air sense, log a ton of hours (push to fly as many NVG lines as possible), and after 2-3 years if you still want a 60, it will be there for you and you can then enter the community with some hours and SA. Right now AFPC is struggling to fill 60 slots with Huey guys who are at the end of their first assignment (most guys just don't want to do it)--unfortunately I think that the 60 community (with the help of AFPC) has screwed themselves over the last 10 years and now they're paying for it.
Now having said all of this and as I said earlier, if your heart truly wants to fly a 60 and do that mission, then by all means go for it and I hope you get it. I hear it's an awesome aircraft to fly and I know of a lot of good dudes in the community. But as the 60 guys on here have mentioned, you'll be gone A LOT. Choose wisely and good luck.
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From www.af.mil talking about next year's AF budget
"...and $90 million to acquire HH-60M helicopters. "
Anyone know what the helo buy is about? Isn't the HH-60M the Army medical evac version of the UH-60M?
PBAR
As I understand it, those are purchases for the U.S. Army.
On second thought...does the Air Force even have helicopters??
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BTW, if you need to kill time at MSP, there's a great non-USO military lounge there at the main terminal....
Ok, I'm a knuckle dragger, so bear with me: What is this 'non-USO military lounge' at MSP you speak of? I'm aware of the USO outside the main terminal by the baggage claim/car rentals that I thought was pretty nice if you have a layover--comfy recliners, free wireless, etc (too bad no alcohol). Only thing that sucks is you have to go through security again.
But is there another lounge for us military types inside the main terminal? If so, more details please!
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True, I'm sure there are a few creature comforts that will do a reasonable job of reducing the suck factor.
However, for a washed-up old guy with five young kids at home, it will be painful. The Limnadia exercise by the SNCO mutawa will pale in comparison to what my wife and children will have to endure. It sucks, but it's my job for 2 1/2 more years.
And yes, I'm sure it's better than what the Army guys have to put up with, but there is a reason I didn't join the Army.
I hear you man on the having to be away from your kids, that's got to be rough. But from what you're saying, that would make it suck no matter where they would send you for a year if your family couldn't come along.
The Died is paradise compared to where some others (myself included) are doing their 365's--and we're not in the Army either. I'd count your blessings you didn't get sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for a 365. In Qatar you can drink 3 beers a day, you'll get a hardened billet, nice BX, much nicer base, and you can actually go out into to Doha--all while still getting your tax free and combat pay. Doesn't sound too bad at all considering.
But seriously man, best of luck to you and I hope your year goes by quickly. 1 year is a long time to be away. Stay safe.
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I don't know--that one blonde chick in the AFN commercial who says something like 'I'll give you the next night off so you can have some privacy' in reference to the two being roommates--she's pretty hot. If I were her roomate she'd be home with me every night.
Oh, and that Marine Sergeant (E-5) doing to the news--she's kind of hot in her own way too. Oh, and before I get framed 'that guy' for thinking AFN chicks are hot--I'm almost done with my 365 tour in Iraq--here, everything is either a 1 or a 0 (especially at an army base), and the the closer you are to finishing your year, most of them start becoming 1's.
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I think they should look into purchasing the Mi-17 as the new CSAR-X...I kid I kid. But seriously, a Ukranian civilian Mi-17 ground school instructor spent 1 hour explaining to us why the Mi-17 would be a better purchase for the U.S. vs the S-92 and US-101. His main reasoning was that it's a proven helicopter with a lot of power and that it's wayyy cheaper than the others--but in reality, I think he was secretly working for Kazan...or maybe the KGB.
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Per the signed agreement of all out by 2011, yes. As that's the Iraqis wish as well, perhaps it is time to let them have the keys and the issues associated with them - insurance, payments, leaving it parked outside at night, etc.
I'm very curious as to how this turned from China's military budget vs ours and how a cut in the latter can compete with the former in the future.
As a related aside, part of Obama's reduction in the deficit plan is to count the money not being spent in Iraq in the future as savings. UFB.
Perhaps it is time to allow the South Koreans to provide for their own defense as well? Or is the only argument with South Korea is that we use their strategic location at a base for future operations, vs for protecting the sovereignty of the state of South Korea? I'm sure we could base an attack again North Korea and other nations nearby from Japan.
My reason for mentioning South Korea is that we have direct interests in seeing Iraq succeed as a democratic state. We also have interests in that area outside of Iraq. If we leave before they are completely ready I think we will have other issues in that region to deal with in the near future.
Ahh China--I love how this argument is always brought up on this forum, especially when it comes to the discussion of the GWOT and how it pertains to Iraq and Afghanistan. Dealing with China is not the same as dealing with countries in the Middle East--this from a diplomatic point of view as well as a military one. Does anyone actually believe that the U.S. would have to deal unilaterally with China without the help of the U.N., NATO, etc?
My opinion is that the U.S. has to deal with both situations--but more so with the current fight. Right now it can be argued that more soldiers are dying due to the lack of UAV's vs the lack of F-22's. Of course the U.S. has to use forward thinking, however, I think it's a mistake for the new (or future) administration to discount the current situation in the Middle East. It all comes down to the question: Does the U.S. have strategic interests in seeing Iraq succeed as a democracy?
All just an opinion from someone who hasn't been to all those fancy PME's yet.
BTW, thanks for what you do.Thank you very much. I'm no better or different than all the other guys on here and all those others who wear a uniform (past and present). I'd actually argue over a beer that I don't do that much compared to many others who are actually doing the no-kidding fighting.
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It is time to hand the keys back to Iraq.
Have you ever directly worked with the Iraqi military or is this just your own personal viewpoint? I work directly with the Iraqi Air Force almost everyday and have a different opinion on the matter.
If you read the recent articles (past few months) on af.mil about the Iraqi Air Force you'll hear (on both sides--Iraq and the U.S.) that the Iraqi Air Force is far behind their Iraqi Army counterparts and are not ready to take over the job in defending their borders via airpower.
Still think we should turn them over the keys?
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Oh, and just to add, I'm at Sather right now trying to get to Qatar on my last 4-day and when I stopped at the BX it said outside 'Closed from 2330 to 2430' for shift change or something.
You know, I always said I wish there was more time in a day to get my sh!t done, now it looks like they've given us an extra 30 minutes!
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If you want to see confused, put 0000 on a 781 and watch your 1COs.
Or you could just round your times a little bit more (also to avoid the 0000 confusion lol) to give yourself an extra .1 hr of flight time--or am I the only one who does this?
I did hear an Army E-5 at Ali Asalem tell us about a role call at 2430--I just looked over at my buddy and he shook his head and said 'Yep, it's the Army'
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I'm told to keep growing it and that it is a solid look!
And you believe them! That's like when chicks tell their fat chick friends that they don't look fat! I say keep growing it for sure, but I would never believe a buddy when he tells me that my stache is a 'solid look'.
CAFTT traditionally has a mustache March competition with the Iraqis...should be interesting this year. Last year, some dude painted his 'stache black, but the Sq/CC won because he paid off the Iraqi base CC (who was the judge).So you're going to get your Iraqis to all shave their mustache on Feb 28th so they can truly be part of the Mustache March competition? Good luck! Other than one or two of our younger pilots, I've never seen my Iraqi pilots without a stache!
Q: Do you know who Maj Mohamed is?
A: Yeah, he's that Iraqi pilot with the dark hair and a mustache right? Oh, and he wears those random patches on his flight suit?--yeah, I know him. LOL
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As with Hueypilot, I'm also doing the CAFTT experience--just on the rotorwing side of things. If you're a fixed-wing guy, I'd say volunteer to fly the King Air's. They look like pretty sweet birds and when I was down at Sather talking to a fellow advisor he said that they're brand new aircraft and he logs a sh!t ton of hours--and whenever you fly with an Iraqi, it's always IP time. Kind of cool for us flying rotorwing with the Iraqis--often I log IP time, combat time, and NVG time all from the same flight.
The reason I say go for King Air's vs the 172's is that you'll have a lot more fun time training and flying with the old heads/Iraqi pilots than the brand new ones who already speak good English getting trained on the 172's (that's too easy lol). Plus, you'll fly a better aircraft, log more time, and get to see more of the country.
I've been doing the CAFTT thing for almost 10 months (just found out I'm extending for an extra month) so I have a pretty decent handle on how things work, the headaches involved, what it's like to train and work with/advise the Iraqis, etc. I have a good friend doing the advising gig in Afghanistan and from what I hear, they're way behind when compared to the Iraqis (that's completely unofficial)--so you'll be doing more 'advanced' training/advising here in Iraq vs in Afghanistan. Also, I'm sure the living conditions, etc are much better (and safer) in Iraq.
PM me if you want more details.
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What's wrong with 20 years in MT and DC?Nothing at all. I'm just willing to bet that with deployments for Huey guys becoming much more common, there will come a point where never deploying will start to look bad for promotions.
For better or for worse, here's how it is (from what I have seen as well as how older 53 guys have explained it to me): Since we don't deploy our Hueys, that by itself can be a career killer. If you never deploy, you'll have little operational experience besides flying around a missle base, doing an IP tour, and then flying around the flag pole again in DC. As far as the Huey Sq's go--most of the missle bases are filled with first assignment guys with only a few older guys filling posistions as CC, DO, ADO, OGV, etc.
Getting higher up posistions on the staff, etc are more difficult for straight huey guys because you don't have the operational experience to add to those posistions. Also, the majority of Huey commands are filled by 53/60 guys because as it was explained to me "Why put a straight Huey guy in a command position when he won't go any farther in his career, when you can put a 53/60 guy who needs command experience, and will then go on to work at the joint staff level, etc"
A lot of Huey guys are cool with just being a 20 year Major and never deploying. What bothers me the most are the Huey guys who bitch about not getting to do anything different or advance in their careers outside the Huey realm when a lot of these same guys are the ones dodging 365's to fly and train the Iraqis and Afghanis. You don't build much on you past flying experience if all you do is fly around missle bases after missle bases.
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Besides, I did some research, and all the alcohol is brought into the country under one distributor. How much do you think that guy is losing on us? I'd say people drink 4000+ drinks a day there. That's a lot of Dinar. If you are a businessman, you care about one thing...the bottom line.
The currency in Qatar is the Qatari Rial...the Dinar is used in Iraq. Also, 1 million dinar is only a few bucks lol...it's not that bad, but it is a pretty high exchange rate. I've carried bags and bags of the stuff from Baghdad to our base. The Iraqis still get paid with cash.
Heinous CGOC E-mails
in Squadron Bar
Posted
Not disagreeing with you on this one bud, but look at some of your previous OPR's (especially before they changed the form)--unless you did several different things spectacular while flying, at least half of your bullets (if not more) was filled with non-flying crap. You had to make sure you participated in a couple volunteer events, gave to the CFC, was in charge of a change of command, blah blah blah just to make sure you didn't have any white spaces left. Thank God it's gotten better with the new OPR's, but it hasn't entirely gone away. Think about how many shoe clerks get base level recognition just because they're in charge of the Air Force Assistance Fund for the entire base.
This chick is probably some serious ass kisser but I bet with our wonderful leadership these days that it will pay off.
On a positive note, same question, is this chick hot? We need pictures to verify. I bet if you get her a little drunk she could be fun to hang out with--prob wouldn't be a bad lay either.