brabus

Tucson will send guys to UPT. You get seasoning at another unit and then come back to them. If you’re shooting for that region of the country and/or a FTU career, worth looking into.

I disagree, if you know you want to fly, then go to college and fly afterwards. Enlisting makes you older, and therefore less attempts available to get hired on a pilot board. It is also not a guarantee to get hired at your home unit. The CC's opinion on said subject matters a lot as well, since they have the final say. Some CCs are heavy leaners towards hiring internally, others don't care if you're in the unit when meeting the board. You (and the pilot who gave you this advice) have no idea who will be the CC in 5 years and also don't know that unnamed CC's opinion regarding this.

ISR is the Avenue for the paperwork; your CC will have to sign the 1288 initially...so talk to both.

You won't be forced into BRS.

Honestly fairly low based mostly on age, secondly on non-T38. A lot of fighter guys are bailing from AD in that age range and it's unlikely a squadron would hire a non-fighter guy over current/qualified guys. But, it never hurts to go visit a unit, talk to the dudes/the CC and see what they say. Every unit is different, in a different manning situation ,etc.

He could also get an E3 out of T-1s. And he doesn't know what he doesn't know, his mind could change significantly once actually flying in the military. 38s keeps all doors open, T-1s closes doors. It's a no brainer to do enjppt if possible and figure your wishes out there.

You just described what several AFSOC and ACC assets do during the current fight...so...good luck. Go ENJJPT - Flying 38s was fun, you still have a decent array of options for assignments, and Wichita Falls seems to be the best UPT base out of all of them (location-wise and the local town is better than the other options). I say all this as a guy who didn't go there. Lastly, its fine to think about what you think you want to fly, but keep an open mind. Talk to your IPs as you go through UPT - dismiss those who tell you "the other guys" are assholes, suck, mission is lame, etc...they have no idea what they're talking about if they never flew it. If you have a bunch of non-fighter IPs, seek out fighter guys for perspective. Do the opposite as well. You might stay steadfast on the AFSOC idea, but you may also surprise yourself at what you end up putting on a dream sheet 2 years from now.

I wish I had done that, at least once. But I think it would only work in theory, you'd still get fucked over somehow...forced out of your rental house/paying for a hotel out of your pocket, all of your shit not getting picked up on time out of said rental house, etc. I think it'd be a great play for a single guy, probably not so much with wife/kids in tow.

Something to think about - It's not really "just" one year; you have to consider SERE, FTU, IFF?, etc. You're looking at 2+ years gone from home...doable, yes, but is it going to suck a lot (especially with a kid), my opinion is yes. Good luck with whatever you guys decide.

No, just telling Matt BGI clearly does what he's looking for in the short term.

Have some friends who travel for BGI, company pays for all their travel, hotel, per diem, etc. They go for a week every 6ish weeks

I believe your only recourse for full reimbursement is writing a request to SAF (the "secretariat process" as the JTR calls it). In the memo, explain the untimely PCS wrt the baby, the financial burden (airfare after first car if you do it twice, airline tickets, etc.) I can only speculate on the probability of approval, but it's worth a shot. I thought about doing this, but honestly didn't have a very good argument since the car I have shipped on multiple PCS is a hobby car/not a primary driver. If this fails, you do still get mileage for the second car (and more per diem for your family if they travel separately via air while you drive one of the cars). That money can at least offset the shipping charges if you choose to do so for QOL. Also research shippers, do not go with some random guy and a flatbed trailer (there's a lot), it's worth it to spend a little more and get your car undamaged and on time.

Know several guys who have the platinum, seems to be the best amex out there. I convinced them to waive my delta reserve card fee as a technician, so don't want to push my luck with a new high-fee card, but I will once I'm on a longer set of orders at some point.

Upgrading current 5th Gen fighters to "5.5 gen" is a different proposal than developing a new 5th gen fighter. I think we should do upgrading as well as continue forward with 6th gen. The reason you can't stop at 5.5 and forgoe 6th gen is because future technology we know we'll be able to make happen in 10-20 yrs isn't stuff we can bet the farm on that it can be simply "bolted onto" an F-35 or F-22. The most likely situation is those technologies will either be completely infeasible to put on a current 5th gen jet, or there will be a reduction in overall capability if put in a 5th gen jet vs. a new 6th gen jet specifically designed for/around those technologies.

I would enjoy seeing Lockmart get kicked in the junk, but starting another 5th gen asset to counter Lockmart's product would still be an incredible waste of resources at this point. Their competitors are better off focusing on how to win the 6th gen contract. Shack.

Already done...6th gen; it would be ridiculous at this point to create another 5th gen fighter. Now finding a way to re-open the Raptor line and produce more of those, abso-fucking-lutely! We need more, and if Japan will pay, then go ahead and let them have some Raptors.

Tbirds put together a solid memorial and roll call yesterday for Cajun. The turn out was impressive, but certainly not surprising. Here's to you brother, well see you on the other side

Are you really sure this is the place you'll want to go post-AD? I considered buying a place in CO about 2.5 years before I left AD, there was "0% chance" we would go anywhere other than back to CO when I punched. I now live 2000 miles away and am incredibly glad I didn't buy the CO place. A lot can change in a couple years - I personally would not buy unless you are OK with the chance of not going there and either having to sell the house or keeping it as an investment property.

Not required unless you want to seek VA disability rating.

As long as you swear into your ARC unit the day after your DOS (i.e. No break in service) you will get TAMP. The code on your sep orders is irrelevant. Your gaining ARC unit will take care of the TAMP stuff; recruiter and TAPs guy has nothing to do with it (and also is clueless).

Great American, fighter pilot and friend. He'll be greatly missed.

And more things the CAF has to teach...why am I having to teach a kid how to fly an ILS, do a normal landing and fly basic formation in the CAF? The AF is a leading expert on kicking the can down the road and refusing to acknowledge quality short comings. I hope FTU washout rates significantly increase - they certainly need to.

Valid, BUT note the "through the secretariat process" comment. What that means is you must write a memo to SAF requesting you receive full "normal" PCS entitlements and explain your reasoning (i.e. why this is better for the AF, because SAF doesn't give a shit about your personal problems); this memo will have to be SSS'd (most likely unless your wing really doesn't give a shit, but it's AD, so....) from your SQ/CC all the way through the wickets. I've been down this road (for a different reason) before; it ultimately worked out in my favor, but it was a massive PITA and something I never wanted to do again. So, keep in mind whether the asspain is really worth it. In my final PCS case it was not because all I really missed out on was DLA, and DLA was not worth the headache. I've heard changing HOR is much easier than going down the SAF path, but haven't done it myself.

Partially - if you have proof of full time employment (an intent-to-hire letter from your future CC suffices), you can skip day 2-5. You still have to suffer through the first day and you still have to have a meeting with a separations counselor, which should only take about 20 min if you have all your paperwork in order. That meeting is something that is signed off on your outprocessing checklist - can't scoff it.

1. Sign up for TAPS immediately (via AF&RC) - you can get it done at any point within a year of DOS and I promise you there's no way you can get out of it (I tried). Those classes fill up quick and I know several dudes who got hosed out of significant amounts of terminal leave because they could only get into a TAPS class that was a few weeks out from their DOS. This situation can also jack up your moving plans. Just ride the pain train now and be done with it. 2. Take as much leave during terminal as you can - I took 60, sold the rest back...wish I had taken the rest and not sold it back. Two months off over summer with the wife and kids was the best two months I've had since joining the AF. I was fresh and ready to go when I started working in the guard instead of jumping right into it. 3. You get 180 days of TAMP starting on your separation date, so no need to look into healthcare right now. When you're about 2-3 weeks out from TAMP ending, seek healthcare (unless you're going AGR, then nothing changes regarding Tricare). Cost depends on how much your employer subsidizes, but I pay ~$400/mo for my family right now. 4. You'll only get reimbursed for your move at cost of the government moving you from current base to HOR. For me it was N/A since the distance was almost equal, but it could really suck if you're moving 1500 miles, but your HOR is only 250 miles from your current base. It is possible to change your HOR - keep this in mind and act now if required. 5. Finances (mostly assumes you're not going AGR): - Plus up the savings account if you haven't already - moving, buying a house, potentially making less than you do now for a period of time, etc. are all expensive. If you plan now and save, you'll have way less financial stress. - Do whatever you can to have no debt when you transition - ideally the only debt you have is a mortgage. The importance of these first two are variable depending on what type of position you're going into (AGR vs. temp technician vs. full time technician w/ higher step+bonus vs. DSG+1st year airline pay, etc.) - Take some time to do a realistic budget. It is quite a shock to see how much you get taken in taxes when you don't have non-taxable income, BAH, etc. It's not terrible if you've planned accordingly, but you could be in for some serious financial stress if you don't plan ahead. The finances will normalize after a few months generally and you'll get past the initial stumbles of figuring financial life out without AD paychecks 1st and 15th. 6. Medical - You need to get copies of your medical record (both flight med and the regular records people). Standard shit of "that'll take 69 weeks"...so get on it now. Can't remember what you need to initiate it, but start it as soon as you can. I almost got delayed because I apparently hadn't done my 100th "do you feel like killing yourself" meetings after the last deployment - make sure you don't have any surprises like that coming up. 7. VA Claims - If you are not going to make a VA disability claim, then you do NOT have to go see the VA person. My last base made it seem like it was mandatory regardless and I got the standard "I have an appointment in 3 months"...fuck off, I'm not taking an appointment that's 1.5 weeks prior to my DOS. I didn't do a VA assessment for disability, so saved myself there. Plus, you can always go to a VA clinic at a later point post-separation and do the same thing. 8. Standard out processing shit...get the list done ASAP. I've blown off many lists throughout several PCS; what are they going to do, stop me from going to my next base? Well, that works fine when you're staying on AD, not so much when you want to GTFO and put AD behind you. This is the one time to not fuck with it - get it done so there are zero problems with your outprocessing appointment - walking out of that office into the parking lot was one of the best days of my life.