MilitaryToFinance

Echoing Gravedigger here, Vandenberg is terrible. It was on my list and now that I've been sent there TDY a lot I'm so glad I didn't get that base. It's in a shitty part of California with nothing to do unless you drive at least 45 minutes north or south to SLO or Santa Barbara. If you like the outdoors Peterson is great in Colorado Springs. Hill has good skiing but because it's a mormon state alcohol laws suck and good luck finding a sports bar to watch a football game on Sundays. I agree with overseas. Hickam isn't exactly overseas but it is OCONUS and a nice location. Not sure what Force Support Officer does but there is a little known AFRL location on Maui as well if you're interested in the beach. Very few jobs there, mostly 62E and 63A but it might be worth looking in to.

Agree with this competely. I waited until I found out I didn't have a pilot slot before getting a dog. And even still there are times I feel bad. If you work a 9-10 hour day when you add in commuting to and from work, plus some PT, you're talking about leaving your dog home alone for 12+ hours. Not to mention to massive expense of putting the dog in a kennel every time you go TDY(believe me, it eats up probably half your per diem). You should really reconsider getting a dog before OTS and pilot training.

The bike is at my house now! Too bad the weather is terrible today.

If I understand the reg correctly the reflective vest is only a requirement during low-light conditions correct? It seems like everybody wears orange vests around base during the day as well. Not sure if that's just because people have the vests on them or because our base SFS is overzealous on their enforcement of what they think the rules are. I'm thinking of getting the Icon Mil-Spec backpack which is bright orange and reflective but if I need to wear a reflective vest every time I'm on base regardless of day or night I'm not going to want to wear the backpack every single time I ride. http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/418/16955/ITEM/Icon-Squad-II-Mil-Spec-Pack.aspx?SiteID=SLI|Backpack&WT.MC_ID=10010

An '06 Suzuki SV650S.

Giving this thread a bump for the warm spring weather and for the fact that I just bought my first motorcycle. Found a guy on craigslist who didn't want to ride anymore so he was selling his bike, jacket, helmet and gloves as a pretty cheap bundle. All the gear fit me so I jumped on it. Now I just have to take the MSF course so I can actually ride it to work.

Damn I should have asked this a month ago before I wrote a $50 check to the Ohio DMV to register my plates. I'm so glad the JAG told me the exact OPPOSITE of that when I PCS'ed here. There must be a lot of people driving illegally here considering 80% of the cars on base have out of state license plates.

Reviving an old thread here. Currently my SLR is Ohio, my plates and registration are from Ohio as is my driver's license. However I'm looking at getting a motorcycle and need to get the motorcycle endorsement on my license. I won't be going back to Ohio any time soon so it would be much easier to change my license to Colorado(I have to renenw the license next month anyways since it's my birthday) and then get the motorcycle endorsement on the new Colorado license. It sounds like this should be fine to do and still keep my plates and registration from Ohio since 2 of the 3 are the same right? Any problems with having my car registered and with plates in Ohio and the motorcycle registered/plates in Colorado?

Apparently the Army is looking to relocate the Pentagon to western Kansas. "The move will take place in three primary phases," said Johnson. "Initially we will use a giant crane to lift the building onto a barge in the Potomac River. From there we will float the barge down the Atlantic Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Then, we will sail the Pentagon up the Mississippi River to just south of St. Louis. In the final stage, we will place the building on large flat-bed trucks and drive it the rest of the way." "We have sought the advice of the Navy and determined that we can just treat the building like a big ship as we move. All of the employees will basically be expected to pack as if they were going on a two-week trip and they will then remain in the building for the duration of the move," http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/04/01/36658-army-looks-to-relocate-pentagon/index.html

You have to do 7 years as an ROTC grad. In order to be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon program you have to be entitled to 100% of the 9/11 GI Bill. That means you have to serve your 4 year ADSC from your ROTC scholarship and then an additional 36 months before you are eligible for 100% of the GI Bill. BONE WSO thanks for the link. Depressing that HBS would get so little benefit from the GI Bill since that was high on my list. Kellogg is also high on my list and it gets a decent amount. They certainly made it a complicated system to say the least.

Does anybody know the details about the Yellow Ribbon program for the new 9/11 GI Bill? I understand how it works but can't seem to find anywhere if that's in addition to the normal GI Bill funds or in-lieu of. For instance if I go to Darden do I get the standard GI Bill amount for a school in Virginia PLUS the Yellow Ribbon money or do I only get however much the school has agreed to as part of the Yellow Ribbon program?

When I commissioned there were two different loans, one for ROTC cadets and one for Academy cadets. The Academy cadets got $30,000 @ 1%APR and ROTC got $25,000 @ 2%APR. My guess is that the interest rates have changed but that the loan amounts are still the same. So if you are going to commission from ROTC you can get the $25,000 loan 6 months prior to graduating and defer all payments(just payments, interest is still accruing) until 6 months after graduating. At 2% APR it was a no-brainer, even if you didn't have an immediate need for the money. However I agree with you, at 4.99% I would not take it unless you have other debt to pay down or honestly need the money. Give the economy, federal interest rates and the stock market trying to find a way to invest that you're going to do better than 5% is going to be difficult. Now if you have credit card debt or student loans those will definitely be higher than 4.99% interest so it would be beneficial to take the USAA loan and pay off those higher rated debts.

Finance Guy, one of the guys I work with is getting sent to Vandenberg for training and the directions he received seem like they directly contradict the direction you provided in this thread. It's the same training I went through last year when I started asking about this. Here is the direction in the letter from the command (the bold emphasis is theirs not mine). Does that not violate the JFTR?

Unless of course he was referring to the use of "explanation points" as opposed to exclamation points. Just sayin'.

Does anybody else see the irony in this guy's tattoo? Why would you have your "family name" of SANCHEZ tattooed as a Japanese character on your arm? Must be all those Sanchez's running around in Tokyo.

Ok since my last post didn't have the prerequisite boobs I'll make amends.

Pretty cool video. The self assembling GSXR.

Shorter? Really? I didn't think it was possible to make these crappy shorts any shorter.

Since you clearly have a problem I'm guessing you're the best person to get advice from. The Mosin seems like a fun gun but I admittedly don't know much about them. Any particular variants to look for or that a better than others? Currently my only guns are a Glock 21 and WASR-10 and I'm starting to look at some older guns now.

Stealing a picture of my friend for this one.

Twice a week at 0630 unfortunately.