brabus

I'll be honest, I completely forgot today...thanks for reminding me stoleit. What a great time when we still realized nothing short of a total ass kicking would result in victory and nobody cared about the enemy's feelings or what will the media say or why isn't that guy wearing a reflective belt. Here's to every one of those guys who raged up that beach...American heroes, every single one.

Japan will not allow me to ship a car, so that's why I'm storing it. All I get from TMO here is "we don't do POV storage anymore, call the VPC." Well, the VPC is no where near my HOR, so that's right out. If the govt could arrange for the storage near my HOR, then fine, but it seems like the only things they're willing to do is have me store my car at the VPC or reimburse me for personally procured storage. You can do that; it's called circuitous travel. All it takes is an MFR that your commander signs, and TMO will write on there the max you'll be reimbursed by the govt for travel. You then have to purchase your tickets through SATO or ITT (i.e. not Expedia, etc). They will work with you to get what tickets you want and if it happens to cost more than the allowed amount, you just pay the difference.

Finance Guy and anyone else smart on all this: I'm PCSing to another OCONUS base and have to store my car (right now it's at my house in the states with my family). The VPC is in Dallas, no where near my HOR, so I am personally procuring storage. My orders say "authorized POV storage" and I found the reg in the Defense Travel Reg saying I can personally procure storage. Now finance is telling me that to be reimbursed for the cost, I must have TMO at my current duty station write a memo saying I am authorized to personally procure storage and what the gov't will reimburse to (believe right now the max is about $270/mo). They are also saying TMO must add a fund site to that memo, but of course the TMO guy is telling me finance has no idea what they're talking about and the reimbursement would come from whatever fund site is already on my orders. Additionally, finance is saying I will have to file a voucher every other month at my new base to get reimbursed (WTF, there is zero way I have time or desire to do that). I don't know what to believe between these two offices, so hopefully someone can clarify the process on here. Thanks a ton for the help.

The "precision approach" overhead..."Dude, was your overhead and final turn precise?...Yes...then log it!" Another valuable lesson learned from an IP.

It's really similar in skydiving too...the larger portion of accidents are with experienced dudes and not so much the new jumpers.

3 weeks is it the no shit what they're required to do, it is possible they may get there sooner. I highly doubt calling JPSO will do anything for you. You obviously haven't been without all your stuff for 2 months yet, just wait till that happens and 3 weeks won't seem so bad.

I've seen the OU course work via friends and TUI is definitely easier/less work. Not that OU is hard by any means, but it still is not the "ultimate container checker." OU seems to be a great way to go if you want something not too difficult that carries more "weight" than diploma-mill TUI. You just have to decide if you really give a shit about something a little better or are 100% just checking the container...I know I'm in the latter portion.

Don't take that bullshit of "don't talk to us." I would go in there and say, "I am standing in front of this desk until you hand me orders." You're within a week of EAD, I call bullshit...they've either fucked up or are just being lazy. Sitting around and taking it is not the answer. If anything, talk to a cadre member (officer) and see if they can put the pressure on the NCOs. At the very least make them come up with a better answer than "don't talk to us."

Trident is a complete joke and I can't imagine there's any easier way to a masters. And it's free to you with TA. I really don't think there's any better check-the-container option.

Hate to say it, but welcome to the rest of your career. This won't be the last time the shoes fuck it away and you're left with a less than desirable situation. I agree with Hund...ALWAYS do a partial DITY if you're driving to your next base anyways. Rent a uhaul trailer (hopefully you have a truck, SUV, etc. that can pull one) and put the essentials/really important stuff in it. Recommendations are a mattress, bags with a weeks worth of clothes, expensive gear like golf clubs, snowboards, mountain bikes, etc., nice pictures you don't want messed up, etc. You can put smaller stuff in those plastic storage bins for ease of moving/packing trailer. Not only will you then have all those things with you, you will also make some money...and it'll seriously take 1/2 a day at most to pack and load and about 30 min to unload all the stuff into your new place. Now when you have to wait for a month for your stuff to show up (which could happen), it won't be completely shitty. For the moving part, I would be nice to TMO, but firm (sts). Tell them your dilemma and maybe they will help (not a high chance, but it does happen). Worst case, get a power of attorney for a friend/relative to supervise the movers packing/loading your stuff (my mom did this for our first move for an almost exact situation that happened to me). It's a PITA, but it's probably your only option unless someone at TMO is cool and hooks you up (about 10% chance).

It's surprising he had to "leave urgently." I can't think of a single reason why.

I also know a few people who have had considerable amounts of flight time lost. It takes less than a minute to log each flight in your own logbook, so why not? I also recommend getting printouts of your flight time every few months or so. Some people consider this overkill, but like I said, what's a few minutes of your time to make sure your records are straight. Plus, the yearly records review is a joke...anyone who says they're going to catch missing flight time with that is full of shit (unless it's a large chunk). There's no way by looking at that stack of papers I'll catch a missed flight from back in June...and those missed flights add up. I personally have not had too much of a problem so far (only a few missed flights), but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

You cannot count the weight of the car, but I think you can be reimbursed for the cost of a tow dolly rental...not 100% sure on the last part. Also, if you drive separately on different days (even if only by a one day difference), you will be reimbursed full per diem and mileage for both you and your wife and both cars. If you drive on the same day, you will be reimbursed only fully for yourself/car and get a reduced per diem/mileage for her/her car. Just food for thought.

That's what I thought, worth a shot though. Thanks guys.

I have an OCONUS PCS coming up in a few months...does anyone know if the cost of flying our two dogs is reimbursable? Even the Patriot Express charges you per dog (as well the airline getting us to Seattle). We're going to Japan, so any insight on traveling with dogs would be appreciated.

One of the dudes here got the same "standby" words on his AETC assignment.

Good idea to stick with your slot. And remember, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. My wife and I both grew up in CO and never left until I commissioned...we would both kill to live in Colorado again, and I'm pretty sure my wife would do anything (yes...anything) that would get us back to Colorado, but that said, I'm having a great time flying AD and not a bit of me wants to jump ship right now even if Buckley called today. Maybe the Guard is in the future down the road, maybe it's not, but just remember the guard is not the end all, be all and I'm happy I made this decision instead of going straight for the guard. Obviously that's just my opinion and others have the exact opposite, but just know you will have opportunities on AD your guard bros will miss out on (of course it is subjective and depends on what people personally consider worthwhile opportunities), so there are certainly positives to the AD side...at least for a portion of your career (and remember, you can always try to get a job with the Guard down the road).

You have a long way to go before assignment night at UPT and nobody here can predict what drops will look like 1.5-2 yrs from now. It is entirely possible 98% of guys who make it to 38s will get fighters, it is also possible only 1 guy per 38 class will get one. Who fucking knows. I say be happy you have a pilot slot, go to UPT and bust your ass and you'll most likely enjoy whatever you end up flying. Buckley has a lot of good dudes (sts) and would be a great job, but giving up your UPT slot for that kind of a shot 4 yrs down the road (because you will at min have to give up your slot and do the 4 yr non-rated gig) just seems stupid to me. And knowing people is nice, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get a job....just keep that in mind.

Neil trap

Great story and hats off to Southwest. Unlike American a few years ago where my wife and I landed late and hit customs 45 min prior to the connecting flight. We ran up to the gate no shit 2 min prior to time and they said, "tough luck." So even though we were technically "on time" (obviously the standard is 30 early or so, but come on...) they could give 2 shits. Too bad those dicks couldn't be more like the SWA pilot/gate agents. Also, any airline guys here know if its possible for gate agents et al to know a connecting passenger has landed (i.e. late land and they know the person is late because of a connection, checked in, but security is out of control, etc. and not just being a no show)? I figure that would exist, but maybe not.

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I completely forgot about the one at the beginning of T-6s as it didn't matter for shit...the "real" one is at the beginning of 38s. I agree with osulax...you're better off dealing with the med stuff now and possibly postponing UPT start than you are getting to Phase 3 and then dealing with it, leading to washing back several classes, out of flying for a few months in between T-6s and T-38s, etc. Option A is much better than Option B.

You don't take the FACT until the beginning of T-38s, so you've got time to rest/recover from surgery. The question is does it affect your ability to fly at all? I would try to talk to a flt doc somewhere who would be able to find out how long the surgery would DNIF you for. I'm just guessing, but I would think surgery will most likely push your start date back, but a few months may be worth it to get your shoulder back to normal.

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I know what it is. I was referring to you only having one ammo bowl. Come on, you've got to have at least two in a night! Maybe I'll add some loko in the next one.