schokie
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Posts posted by schokie
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A commander may make a bad decision (i.e. to ground a jet to address people not tucking their shirts in while sleeping...), but it is still his decision to make even if it is a bad one. Commanders are people too and they make mistakes. Give him a chance to learn and he may turn out just fine.
A combat zone is not a leadership laboratory. This isn't ROTC Field Training here. An O-6 is supposed to have this crap figured out by now. Canceling lines which reduces support for the folks on the ground, thereby putting American lives at risk, to deal with queep is a complete foul.
You're correct that commanders make mistakes. That doesn't make it right, nor does it need to be explained away as a 'learning opportunity'. As Rainman says, "This ain't no puss game".
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I guess it's because it's a GPS unit made overseas, but kinda wierd to see it being measured in miles instead of km, considering it's the UK. Also, 60,000 pounds sounds like an awful lot of money to spend on an ugly car.
The Brits still use MPH and Miles for distance on roads. They have a mix of English and Metric standards, depending on what's being measured. You have to go to the Continent for strict Metric.
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You are absolutely right, he was a 'worst case', but even your situation makes my point. My bros from Randolph that went Herks were deploying as 18 month 2LTs. You probably got what, a year at most in your ops sq before pinning on Capt?
About that. I blame the delay on the Navy's training at Pensacola versus the Randolph program. The Navy takes 12 months of training and crams it into a year and a half. I had buddies that started at Randolph 3 months after I started at Pcola, but winged 3 months before me.
The new AF program at Pcola should even all that out.
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Is that the typical time line for someone going to the Strike Eagle? Or did he get caught up in waiting a long time between class start dates (IFS, UNT, IFF, etc)?
That is non-standard. I started the B course a week after pinning on 1Lt. Most other WSOs were on the same timeline. I wasn't casual anywhere and I got through Pcola, IFF, and Survival in an average amount of time. The only thing that makes the pipeline longer than for other platforms is IFF. That's only 2 months.
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Are you more likely to get pickup up for a UPT slot if you are assigned to either F-15E's or B-1's as opposed to C-130's or another heavy platform?
You're more likely to get picked up for UPT if you do well in whatever aircraft you end up in.
However, step 1 is to finish getting your commission. Step 2 is to graduate from CSO training. Step 3 is to do well wherever you end up. Step 4 is to get picked up for UPT.
Keep your priorities in order.
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I saw a recent investigation get delayed because someone listed ALL debts in that section, not just the ones they were late on.
If omitting something makes you nervous, you could always list all debts, then explain in the remarks section at the end of the SF86 that you're current on all debts but were unsure of the interpretation of those instructions. Most people seem afraid to put remarks on their form. Plain English is always helpful. 2-3 sentences can often save a month or two of delays while the investigator has to figure out the whole story after seeing a potential red flag.
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Also, you can't gloss over the cost of interest. The $200K, 30-year mortgage will cost you $386,511 plus property taxes by the time you're done (5% interest). Selling at $300,000 won't clear your cost of the property. Let's assume you have perfect renters and the house is never vacant. So, $1,500 per month for 30 years gets you $540K. Plus your selling price of $300K gets you $840K. It looks pretty good until you have to subtract the $386K you spent, capital gains taxes on the sale, property taxes, home repairs, management fees, etc. Even if you don't exclude all those, you'd clear approximately $454K (840 - 386). I don't expect you'd get even close to that over a thirty year haul when you add all the other factors.
Consider this in an even shorter period of time, say 2.5-3 years. I'm paying a mortgage now, and most of my payments are going towards interest (loan payment standard). Very little progress has been made on the principal. Now you factor in real estate agent fees and closing costs. So in this short 3 year period I have to have my house value appreciate at least an amount equal to the interest I've paid plus realtor fees plus closing costs, minus the amount I've put towards my principal. Even if I can sell by owner I'm looking at a $5-6K appreciation on a $200K house just to break even. In today's current market in my area, most homes are DEpreciating by 3%, not increasing by 3%.
Most people in my area have been able to rent for an amount close to their mortgage payment, but then you've got to factor in property management fees and frustration.
Maybe 3-5 years ago buying and selling every fees years was a great idea, but I'm not a fan of it now. There's a lot to be said for the pride of ownership and not having to deal with a landlord, so I'm not complaining. I'm just not going to make this an investment vehicle.
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I've recently gotten into this myself. My first couple batches were good, but nothing to brag about. My third one was amazing however. I just brewed a Hoegaarden clone this past weekend that I'm looking forward to sampling.
Dupe was the guy that got me started on this. He's been doing this since college, to include an overseas PCS. If you're going to Tyndall he'll be just down the road from you. I'd PM him for local info.
I believe a couple people mentioned more info regarding home brewing in the Favorite Beers thread.
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As of several months ago MWS navs/E-Model WSOS had to go through EWO Bridge @ Randolph to be qualified to go to Pensacola and become universally qualified CSO instructors - are they letting people go direct now?
It's a mix of both. Some traditional Navs were required to go through the EWO bridge course prior to becoming instructors at Pcola. However, not all of them were. Several F-15E WSOs currently teaching at the old schoolhouse are just PCAing over without any additional EW training.
Since there isn't a large population of traditional EWOs there now, the idea is to increase the EW knowledge throughout the instructor cadre. I get the impression that it's a nice to have, but due to manning issues it isn't being required. I believe the key to what you said was 'universally qualified'. Someone without the EWO top-off won't be teaching academics or some of the advanced sims, but they'd be full-up to teach basic nav and visual low levels.
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While it's true that many of the training pipelines are combining in Pcola, much of the training will be non-EW related. I don't see an EWO background ever being a prereq to be an instructor at the new schoolhouse at NASP.
I wouldn't go so far as to say the terms WSO, Nav, and EWO are going away. While some people's aeronautical orders may say CSO, mine don't. I don't see a mass re-writing of -1s, -2s, and 11-2X-XX going on.
The goal is that everyone with the bug-splat wings that graduates from NASP will have EW training. So in theory, everyone's an EWO. Everyone's also a WSO and Nav. What you actually call yourself and what skill set you specialize in will depend on what aircraft you get and what they want to do with you.
While it might be koolaid, I do think having an EWO background makes you more marketable, particularly with the current emphasis on non-kinetics in the CENTCOM theater. However, as 08Dawg said, it's going to soon be a moot point once the Randolph Nav/EWO schoolhouse closes down.
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How a guaranteed 10 years of employment doing a job most people dream about can be a bad thing is beyond me...
The AF is the only one that gets a guarantee here. You promise them 10 years of your life, but they promise you nothing in return. You can still be RIF'd or TAMI'd.
However, I'll freely admit that the military still offers a great deal more job security than the civilian sector.
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You're probably talking about Mec-Gar magazines. Point is it was designed as a 13rd magazine and then they changed the follower/spring to fit 2 extra cartridges. On a related note SIG just came out with their E2 (enhanced ergonomics) P226 and P229. The P229 9mm version uses their .40 S&W frame which allows for 15 round magazines that were designed for it. I was thinking about getting the wife one since she has trouble holding my Beretta
My wife has small hands and can't get a comfortable grip on my XD45 thanks to the doublestack mag. However she loves my Sig P229 in .40S&W. The heaviness of the frame dampens the snap in the .40's recoil, so she doesn't complain about that either. Overall, the Sig P229 is just an outstanding gun.
But to keep M2 from tracking me down and kicking my ass, I still like my XD better!
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I've been homebrewing for about a year and a half now, just about 20 batches done. Midwest makes some really good kits, and that's how I started- the instructions are fairly good and you can make some tasty brews, even from just a simple extract kit.
A Midwest extract kit is what I'm working with now. Dupe mentioned them to me, so I've got high expectations!
Thanks to the couple of you that mentioned homebrewtalk.com. It's like Baseops for beer. There's a lot of reading to do there that should keep me busy until my first batch is finished.
I've got an Irish Red working now. I'm thinking of trying a Boddington's clone next. It seems the most difficult part of this hobby is deciding which variety to try next.
I used to be a Big Three drinker, but an assignment in Europe broke me of that. I'm hooked on Guinness, Bodingtons, and Greene King IPA. I still appreciate a good Yuengling or one of the Shiner varieties though.
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'2' on the 10/22. Be careful though, the modifications and upgrades are addictive. It's a great gun!
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Who else besides Dupe brews their own beer? I just bought a starter kit from Midwest Supply and brewed my first batch this evening. Now I just have to wait a month to see how it turned out. Theoretically it should be an Irish Red.
I'm interested in more resources and gouge if anyone has experience.
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The networks at most bases I've been to are slow enough without all the filtering that will be involved.
The network was unusually slow today at Randolph. Coincidence? I tried going to Facebook.com today at work just out of curiosity, but the page kept timing out. Figures.
However, since Randolph doesn't block Baseops forums my social networking needs are met.
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It's too bad this discussion doesn't occur in some of your squadron bars/vaults.
Now there's something we can all agree on.
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Crushed for talking tactics on a message board? Yes. For getting in internet fights with BUFF Navs? No...but still lame.
It isn't like this is a Yahoo group where a couple of SNAPish ROTC cadets are debating if the F-16 could beat the F-15C in BFM or why you should vector roll instead of ditch. Hoss isn't talking out of his ass or getting even close to anything classified. Most of the people on this forum have already established their bona fides, otherwise no one would care what they say. I know quite a few people on this forum in the real world, so I know this to be a unique message board where most people are actually no-kidding AF aviators.
I view this place to be exactly what it claims to be, a virtual squadron bar. If it's a conversation I might have in my squadron bar, then I see no problem to have it here.
Not to get lost in the queep, but if we are talking about standardized comm, they are now known as Coordinated Attacks. It might help the new guys as they try to research them.Thanks. Looks like I have some reading to do tomorrow morning in the vault.
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Why would you be hesitant? MFA's are not cosmic.
I've participated in MFA on a couple occasions. One was a 4-ship strafe attack. We've all been to a range before, so between a standard container pattern and 3-09.3 there were no problems. I will caveat that with it was CAVU, simple tactical scenario on the ground, minimal to no S2A threat, and the OSC was an A-10 patch.
I haven't had the opportunity to coordinate attacks with an AC-130, only to sit high and dry while they do the Lord's work. However we did pre-coord in case something bigger than a 105 was needed.
It seems that standardizing comm and formations is useful and important.
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Sure that's the argument... but look at the picture. Does that look like someone that takes up one Southwest seat? More to the point, does it look like someone who wouldn't be in the way if he was crammed into one seat during some kind of emergency?
I'm not worried. Apparently the seat will crush under him and I can easily step over.
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Kevin Smith's argument was that he fit in his seat just fine. He claimed to buy a second seat not because it's the only way he can fit, but because he likes the extra room to spread out. He said that he was able to put down both armrests and not spill out, plus he was able to fasten his seatbelt properly. I agree that he's obese, but he has a point in that he wasn't in violation of the safety argument that Southwest used to kick him off the flight. However, that's assuming that his side of the story is correct.
The problem I have is with people who take up half my seat, or won't be able to wedge themselves out of my way during an emergency egress. While fat people annoy me, I don't think Kevin Smith was completely in the wrong here.
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I don't have any experience with the P228, but I do own the similar P229 in .40. It's a great gun. I'd love to have the option to take a Sig with me, though I'd prefer the XD.
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I've read Gen Keys' letter, but I wasn't aware there was another one out there, not counting this alleged new one. Anyone have a copy or link?
F-15 RAPTOR being sold to Saudi!
in Squadron Bar
Posted
I didn't think they were that scared. I heard they go to the merge all the time in the pattern.