Young Crow

We always talked about publishing "The Spread Eagle", but you guys actually did it. Those newsletters brought back depressing memories filled with sweat, diarrhea and unintelligible controllers.

Anyone have any experience working with the Collings Foundation? Specifically in coordinating with them for appearances at military airshows or functions. The 450th BG is having their last reunion, and I was thinking about how great it would be for these guys to have one of their planes here for the reunion. Our WG/CC mentioned pulling out all the stops to host the 450th Reunion, but I imagine it'd be difficult, not to mention of questionable legality, to pay Collings the $4000/hr to operate their B-24. I'm sure it is a pipe dream, but I'd love to hear any suggestions that could lead to a B-24 sitting on the ramp in October.

Here is a tip - enjoy being a normal, civilian person for a while. I've belonged to the Man for 11 years, and in that time the AF has progressively taken up more and more of each day. Enjoy your freedom for a while. Take a trip, do something crazy, fall in love for a month. You know what, that's probably good advice for all of college. Enjoy it, try hard to get what you want out of ROTC, but enjoy your freedom! One day you'll be in the Deid, staring wistfully at a fat girl in a PT uniform. At that moment you can either look back on your life and wish you'd had more fun in college with non-ROTC people, or you'll have precious memories to enjoy in the quiet of your own mold filled trailer room.

I'm afraid it probably all boils down to manning. Many have received emails from their AFPC Functional that sound like this: "unfortunately, rated manning at this time does not allow me to sign a release letter from your career field." Sure, we can't all have it our way, but running undermanned has left rated out of cockpit opportunities to almost impossible. If rated staff is manned at 3%, the planets would have to align before the Man would even think about letting you out of a cockpit.

Anyone have a nav POC for this unit? I see they've extended out the deadline for a traditional nav, and am curious to see if they're willing to take non C-130 guys and send them through init qual.

I know what you're saying here, but... In WWII, when folks lied about their age to serve their country, it was heroic. Now, if you withhold information about your PERSONAL life to serve your country, we must find you and destroy you.

I think a lot of people would be surprised at the number of homosexual crewdogs out there. I for one say, who cares? As long as you pull your weight, I really don't care who or what you do in your spare time. In fact, I don't think the whole gay thing is shameful at all. On the other hand, I'm pretty ashamed at the number of USAF Officers who play World of Warcraft.

DoD has a program setup so that all DoD users (including USCG) can view charts online. I joined up a while ago but haven't used it since. My unit found out via FCIF.

Sure, you can't do that. But I think we've all had enough interactions with the federal government to know that they can and do change agreements and expect the other party to deal with it.

More bunkers? Every time I go out there (2-3 times a year) they're re-doing the bunkers. God forbid they have the CE guys finish the new bathrooms now that the contractor has stopped work on them. Is the new CC DFAC finished yet? Last time I was there they were almost done with the structure. I was excited to see they were looking for a demolition contract on the old one. I expect it'll be done in 2015, right before our hosts give us the boot a la PSAB.

This has been one of the most incoherent, unnecessary arguments I have ever witnessed. I think we're all stupider for having read it. Now I'm going to add to it. I hate the Deid. I mean, really, it is hard to explain fully how 8 months over there has completely taken away most of my motivation to continue serving Big Blue. Thankfully there are folks that can embrace the shenanigans and keep doing it. For my sanity, and the happiness of my family, my time is over when it can be. Why am I saying this? Because I think you're all right, but that that place just makes you so mad that you can't see the rational thought behind what other people are saying. You probably should follow the regs, no matter who you are, but as an officer it is imperative. How are others supposed to do the right thing if those of us who are "in charge" don't choose to? Maybe that SMSGT should have done it a little bit different. Unfortunately, that's just how things are in the Air Force these days. You can get pissed about it, you can blame it on the laxity of other officers, or you can just deal with it. I think that's what you need to do if you are planning on continuing on in this Blue life, especially if you're going to the great Shoe Clerk Career Retreat over there. Personally, I can't do that anymore - the more rules or regs I break over there, the happier I am. So I'm getting out, before I completely destroy good order and discipline. Better to look back fondly upon your time in the service as a civilian, than be like me, a d-bag Captain who just can't care anymore. It just makes me too mad.

It's not so much SA-degrading that bothers me, it is the things are either dangerous or just plain stupid. I've done the Red Flag/WS thing with AWACS, but most of my interaction has been in the AOR. Two moments, out of many, will forever be the first things I think about when someone says "AWACS": 1. Being vectored nose-to-nose, co-altitude with a tanker. We got an RA on TCAS, got out of his way, and then the MCC on AWACS calls us up on VPN and asks us if we're going to file a HATR on him. It was embarrassing listening to this guy try to blame us, while we should have been focusing on the bad guys we were looking for on the ground. For the life of me I cannot understand why they are over there... The CRCs do an infinitely better job. And when we're out of range, I usually feel safer being Due Regard than under "positive control" of AWACS. 2. Being asked repeatedly to look for an SA-6 in the vicinity of Kandahar. Really? I've got nothing against JSTARS, they always seem to do a good job. I just don't know what it is about AWACS. In summation... I would definitely pick Nav over ABM, if you had the choice. Rated used to mean "aviation rating," as in you know something about aviation.

Did you read the article? It says the board recommended cuts in new system procurement, to free up money to be used on repairing the attrition in equipment used in the wars. This is significantly different than a 10% cut in Defense-related spending, although whether total or on supplemental bills is still yet to be seen. Disclaimer - I didn't really care who won the election, or who is in charge. I'd just rather everybody be more honest. That includes not quoting or summarizing things either out of context or completely wrong.

I'm looking for some contact info for the 147th at Ellington Field. I'm a guy looking to leave active duty and stay involved with military flying, hopefully with the TX ANG. I'll be ultimately settling in the DFW area. Specifically, I'd like to try to be an RC-26 Mission Systems Officer, so if anyone could help point me in that direction, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd like to stop by for a drill weekend (or several) and get to know some folks before I apply.

Wait, there is actually time at the 'Deid when you're not flying or in crew rest? You tanker guys have it easy.... We're either in DNIF cover crew rest/preflight spare crew rest/spare crew crew rest/commander directed but truncated crew rest/double secret probation crew rest...

First of all, I'll say I'm not a KC-135 nav. There's a rumor out there that being a KC-135 nav is a sure ticket to UPT. That may have been about 40% true when PACER CRAG first came along, and even then probably more for the ARC/ANG than AD. I certainly don't think that's the case now. Don't be like the guy near the tail end of my nav class: he was sure that KC-135's meant a sure ticket to being a pilot. You still have to be an exceptional dude to go from nav to UPT on active duty, because you have to compete against all the other navs and non-rated guys for a spot.

I think the point was: he's talking about what the studs experience, not any actual "caps or lims" of the jet. I sure hope the Chinese don't find out about JTIDS...

Travis and McGuire each have their own CCTS (Combat Crew Training School), a SAC legacy which has been changed to FTU (booo AMC). Each OSS maintains its own FTU. When I was there, they handled all the initial and upgrade training wing-wide, although things may be a little different with the whole MPD thing.

Get a nav!

Curiosity got the better of me, and I checked that link out. 1. Not a big fan of that guy. 2. I don't want to be a dick, but what's the deal with "God blessed me with a 100%" or "God meant me to be go to T-1s". I don't care what you believe in, but I do expect some amount of personal responsibility in the front seat.

Yeah, you're right...my basic math skills are apparently non-existent. I meant they went from 4 days to 3 days. :(

What're you talking about? IM was great fun. Burning pencils, helmets and foot-switch. Besides getting my wings, the hour after my IM check was probably the happiest moment of nav training. It was finally over.

The Skipper is no more. His (former) DO is now the Commander (being an AF dude, and all...), although I was never there under his reign so I'm not quite sure how he deals with it. For anyone thinking about living in the dorms... I wasn't a fan. You're close to work and that's about all you've got going for you. Having enjoyed living in my own place for 5 years before I got to Randolph, living in the dorms was a huge and depressing step back. I'd much rather have my BAH and kitchen back. As for the dining hall? I only went a few times, and that was during lunch, when I wasn't supposed to be there. The hours aren't really convenient for the nav school schedule, and you'll get a few dirty looks from people who don't understand that you don't have a kitchen and think you're just being a really cheap officer. Oh, and the food isn't great. Not really bad, either though. I'd rate it number one out of all Aerospace Dining experiences, which isn't saying much.

Eh, I was just trying to prove to myself that I remember something from nav training. And what do I remember? Crazy Woman VOR. Funny the things that stick out.

It's a VOR/DME in Wyoming.