Lawman

Everyone and their brother was screaming that the National Championship had to be Ohio State vs Florida, because even though they were ranked 1 and 2 you couldnt have a replay between Ohio State and Michigan. Funny how all the SEC fanboys change their tunes when its talk of their conference getting to hold both berths and not anybody else.

It was supposed to be an improvement over the Sherpa, and that thing sure as hell wont stay airborn while loaded up on one engine. Again thanks Air Force for kicking us in the junk again.

Well on the plus side for the Paki's. With all the trucks sitting parked at the border and waiting they'll be much easier to pilfer through. Get out of my ######ing Tricons you god damn filthy rats!

12th CAB? That sounds pretty familiar. And yes, thanks big AF for fighting to kill off a program that you didnt really want in the first place just so the Army couldnt have a big new pretty grey plane.

Questions for the Army guys that did/are doing the switch over... RLO or Warrant? If Warrant how did that work in so far as converting over to a system that has no equivalent? Active Duty or Guard and if Active Duty who did you call? Not exactly ready to jump ship or anything, just keeping my options open as the field seems to be changing in the 4-10 year plan.

What a ######ing Rube.... He'd probably be that guy that looses his shit in the Army because Warrant Officers dont salute other Warrant Officers anywhere but at Ft Rucker (TRADOC). He'd probably also be that guy that stops a Marine Warrant officer as a 2ndLt to tell that 20+ year Officer and Expert in his field that he is supposed to salute him, shortly before being Eviscerated by said WO because it is an unspoken rule in the Corps, "Bars dont salute other Bars." ###### me whats he gonna want next, E-1s standing at Parade rest when addressing E-4's in an office or better yet field environment. Ill bet this guy was on whatever sewing circle brainstorming session that came up with the idea of different colored reflective belts for different ranks so we (and any observing enemy) can easily identify who the senior leadership is and render them honors as we walk too and from the latrine.

No... They Arent. I got stopped in the middle of a 6 mile road march the other day during PT by some bored staff guy in his car on the same road because my PT belt while yellow wasnt "Griffen Standard." Thats right... there is a Brigade standard PT belt, its the hard crispy plastic one that glows in the dark and cuts at your neck when worn. And you cant buy it at Clothing and Sales so thats obviously the one they should go with right....

Your not missing much. The big game over here now is how far can we bend over backwards to get the Germans to stop complaining about the noise. Whats that? Som asshole is driving around the middle of nowhere video taping helicopters in an open HFCA landing in a designated landing site? Oh well guess we were in the wrong then... If these ######ers didnt want to have all that noise maybe their grandfather shouldnt have pussed out fighting my grandfather. Oh and no going off post with a uniform on thanks to the little incident in Frankfurt.

No hate, they want to replace me with a UAV.

Its not just you, dont get me wrong there. Its the dangerous precedent thats being set by the whole level of media impression and this "who gets credit make sure we get it on camera" attitude thats been going on. Other great examples, holding the rescue force that was being sent in to get PFC Lynch because we didnt have cameras and media ready to record the rescue. Or stopping members of 4th ID during the capture of Saddam because people wanted the Spec Ops dudes to do the grab. How about we worry about whats important, a US crew is down in hostile territory. Whoever the hell can get there and do something about it do it now, Go! Great you train for the mission and thats awesome. But I dont give a damn whose name is painted on the side of the aircraft that comes and gets me, I just want out of Indian Country. Your statement just reminds me of the retarded statement I hear out of Ground Marines with that BS of "well all our Air guys train to do is CAS so they are better at it than you." I guarantee in a real TIC they dont give a damn if its me or an Air Force guy or the ######ing Post Office Reserve dropping fire for them as long as they know somebody is there trying to save their ass.

Good to know if I ever turn my helicopter into a 30 million dollar, one time use, ditch digging machine the big concern will be over who gets credit for coming to get me of the side of the mountain Im currently bleeding on.

Common game for my 53 buddies to play on guys is push starting the APU. Great laugh to be had watching a platoon all giving a 70K lbs helicopter a push and then after a bit of coaxing by the crew chief they arent going fast enough the pilot steps on the brakes and hits the APU starter. Also got to watch a young PFC yelling with all his might into a urinal relief funnel to test the "sound powered ICS."

Half the Pilots and IPs in my units have one of these. Im getting one the next time I have some expendable cash. Imagine a small device that takes up as much space as a regular spiral bound notebook... That you can load every Pup that you could ever want on. Complete Aircraft manual and Air Crew Training Manual. How much money to we piss away every 30-45 days in expiring charts and pubs in the military. Standards Pilot/SST/DES/Etc - "Im old and this device isnt what I had when I started out so I shall punish anyone I witness using this to study from or reference even though the pubs are exactly the same as the paper ones."

1/48th Scale is where detail really starts to come out in these toys and plastic models. Anything smaller like 1/72nd or 1/144th and your getting into something you'd use to make one of those wall length model diplays in a museum. 1/32nd and larger scales are considered to be the extremely detailed stuff that goes so far as making the piping and wires under panels closer to accurate. Only issue you run into here is there arent nearly as wide a variety of them as 48th and 72nd and they weigh a lot more. Might be an issue if your looking at hanging a diecast model from a ceiling. Personally Id recommend you try something closer to 1/32nd or 1/48th as its more than big enough to not look like a crappy childs toy. Things like individual types of weapons so you can see details between AIM-9, Harpoon, AIM-120 and not just a bunch of the same generic looking bomb/missiles hanging on various stations. At the same time its something small enough to not weigh a ton and even sit on a window ledge or bookshelf as the collection expands without needing its own TV stand sized display area. Try these guys out http://www.militarytoyshop.com/about.asp If your at Wright Patt you can actually visit the store and its packed full of all sorts of great options to turn the ceiling into the Battle of Britain or anything else.

If your interested Id recommend you talk to a couple of the guys on Airwarriors.com Busdriver may have names of specific guys over there that can help you out. Im not sure which of the Hawk guys over there to point you toward.

###### no its not a reliable source to become a warrant. Here's the two guys I know who did its story. 1. Army Quartermaster Corps Captain... had the choice to get out or stay in. Basically burned every bridge and got lucky when he said the only way he would stay in an Army Uniform was if they'd let him become an Aviation Warrant. Took the better part of a year and a half. He is now a CW2 Hawk Driver. He got lucky, plain and simple. 2. Army Infantry Captain. Went from Active Duty to Guard but the only positions that Guard unit could give him was to revert to a Warrant Officer. He is now getting screwed because that guard unit has since decided they could use a good RLO like him, so basically they just got a Captain but only paid what it would cost to get a WO1. He is currently fishing for units or possibly even going active duty to stay a warrant but that requires a conditional release from his unit and theyre not gonna give it too him.

Go home, sit down (away from a computer) and spend a couple days really thinking what is more important to you; the rank on your color... the amount of flight time... the service name on the side of your aircraft... Figure that stuff out. But dont look at Warrant as "the golden ticket to wings." If thats your attitude, we dont want you. We want subject matter experts not just guys that thought it'd be cool if they could tell chicks in the bar they flew helicopters and didnt want to do staff jobs or had some idea that all you would do is fly. There are expectations placed on me as a Warrant that arent expected from a Commissioned Aviator. Im not saying a Commissioned guy isnt worth his salt in the aircraft, its just a different level of knowledge expected. For example a Field Grade officer with 20 years of experience within Aviation will have the knowledge of systems in the aircraft to pass an APART. A 20 Year Warrant MTP could build the damn helicopter if you gave him enough coffee. Every day Im at work Im learning something. Im in a hanger playing Parts and Pieces on the aircraft so I can identify which black boxes are under which panels so I know what systems Im gonna lose when bullets go through the _____. Im sitting in a room with 3 other Warrants that got randomly snatched up by one of our Company IPs for a 2 hour oral knowledge session on Instrument flying under ICOA regs. Or Im putting together a power point class on the Electrical Systems that is going to be shown to every pilot in the Battalion at the Friday Afternoon Pilots briefing in which if I show my ass at all the senior W3's and W4's in the room will make absolutely no hesitation to publicly gut me in front of everyone in that room. You'll do weeks of that for just a handful of flights. Something to keep in mind outside of the glamor of watching the thunderstruck video and dreaming of how cool being a Pilot would be. If you want to be a Warrant, like Huey said finish your degree, spend a good bit of time getting and staying it shape, and enjoy the college experience without the stupidity of putting on a uniform to go to class and play Army. Talk to a recruiter when your a couple months from finishing your bachelors and start the paperwork process.

They have been selecting new Warrants for a direct Fixed Wing transition on the condition that they complete an advanced aircraft qualification before hand. Typically they send them through Hawks since its short and instruments is part of it. Somebody high up decided they wanted to start vetting young guys into the Fixed Wing community in order to develop a cadre of experienced Senior Warrants within that community over the next 10 years. That selection is very conditional though. They offered a slot to a guy in my unit that just got done with the AQC for the 64, but that was because he had been a CRJ pilot in the civilian world before he went street to seat. They let my class take a look at the requirements they were wanting for selection to that program and it was pretty stringent. A lot of guys who were interested in the program but we're ruled out for Unsat flight evals, failed academics tests, etc. Basically if your shit didnt stink and there was a slot open you could actually get a fixed wing slot but its not something Id go betting on. They're only handing out something like 4-5 of them over the course of a fiscal year. Underpowered, Single Engine, Poor High Alt/High Temp performance, No Armor/protection whatsoever, Just enough Firepower to piss something off instead of kill it.... I wanted Scouts based on the mission before I got into flight school and flew the 67. The mission is amazing, but fact of the matter is the Apache is picking up a large chunk of their mission due to the conditions we operate in. Plus the Army hasnt put dick for money into that community over the last 15 years being that Comanche was supposed to replace it (our 12 Billion dollar pile of shame) and then the ARH-70 after that. Most of the buddies from flight school that went 58 were just all about the whole doors off in the weeds shooting with an M4 out the door mystique.

Out of ROTC your Commissioned as an RLO, straight and simple. Warrants are either selected from Prior Enlisted in any of the Services or from Street to Seat Aviators out of the WOFT program. Currently the trend is about 80-85% Prior/20-15% Street to Seat. You can revert from a Commission officer to a Warrant in Aviation and Ive seen guys who have done it but its not exactly a normal process. Most of the people I know that have successfully did it came from branches outside Aviation and often times from Guard to Active or vice verse. Also as far as time they stay, you gotta keep that in mind most of the guys your bringing in to aviation as "new guys" already have however many years towards their retirement. Going to the other services... Ill let somebody with experience doing such speak on it as to the actual process. However it is important to recognize that one services flight school may or may not meet the requirements for another. There is the old joke though, Where do you find the most talented Army Helicopter Pilots...... The Coast Guard. Competition... Popularity? Who F'ing cares you will get what you get when and if you complete all the stuff leading up too and including IERW. I fly guns, I picked guns, I picked 3rd and I had the option to select from anything but Chinooks. Currently we have a 300% manning in Chinooks you just arent seeing more than 1 or 2 tops dropped at a selection and often times not at all. I know other guys that graduated just as high and got "stuck" in something they didnt originally want because the selection went something like 1x Apache, 1x Kiowa, 18x Hawks. Usually there will be one guy hard up for taking the fat girl home and he's welcome to them. Hawks/Kiowa/Apache... depends who you ask why they do whatever. Some guys used to Crew on a particular bird and want to fly that. Others look at possible basing assignments. If you wanna go to Hawaii, you arent gonna do it in an Apache. Some guys are smart enough to pick the mission, others are retards with delusions of how great a stick they will be and want to take a Hawk like its some sort of magic ticket to the 160th. And finally there are guys who just get what they get because they spent their weekends hungover and got whatever was left at the end of selection with the rest of the bottom of the class. Maybe its what they wanted, maybe they are like the one tool bag in my group that complained he had to fly scouts when he graduated last in the class and was lucky to be flying anything. Oh and we dont fly UAVs. Thats an entirely different MOS in the Army they dont pick from Aviation after all that money and time and training to waste us on that hell.

Buddy in the Missouri Air Guard has a Huey at his Airfield with US Army still painted on it. They are still out there, just getting really few and far between. Sucks too because I would love to fly a Huey if only for a short hop. Lakota has some big issues associated with it that are either ignored or not talked about because they dont want to risk doubling down and losing what hand they were dealt in the matter. The thing that always made me uncomfortable when they started replacing Flat Iron at Rucker was that our primary trainers fly 3 to an Aircraft and they couldnt Medevac that many people on a single Lakota. So the idea of 3 guys laying in a field, burned and bleeding and some E4 having to pick who got to go never really gave me a warm fuzzy. If the AF really wanted to stay with Hueys, the Yankee the Marines are flying would be an outstanding choice. In all honestly I could not for the life of my understand how the Army decided Lakota was a better option than the new Huey given all the things it would bring to the mission and all the old parts and MX it would have allowed us to keep. Honestly after seeing what the last few Helicopter Procurement programs in any service have looked like its all a disaster it isnt just an Air Force thing. Im in the Service that managed to piss 12 billion dollars into a hole, bury the hole, and then start a tire fire on top of the hole. All we got to show for it were a pair of black helicopters currently packed away in Hangers at Ft Rucker collecting dust and a really nice building to teach the Longbow AQC in.

Beavercreek is probably your best total option. 1. Its very easy throughout the whole city of Beavercreek to Access 675 which takes you directly into both Areas of the base. If you lived in kettering or certain parts of Fairborn you'll find yourself doing the stoplight shuffle every morning during the commute. 2. The Greene is kinda the place to be on a Friday night and its located in Beavercreek. Its one of those big out door store front shopping centers that have kinda started replacing traditional malls. Thats not to say the Oregon district in Dayton isnt nice its just not nearly as upscale and there isnt as much going on there as far as shopping/dinner/drinking. 3. Beavercreek is still cheaper than Centerville and a heck of a lot closer (15-20 min depending on where you live in town). As far as places to avoid, certain areas of Fairborn are pretty trailer. They dont call it Fairtucky for nothing. And other areas are mostly college student oriented due to Wright State so you have to deal with that. Stay away from Riverside if you want to keep your stuff, its sorta the shit area between Fairborn and Dayton proper. Bellbrook and Xenia are kinda out in the middle of nowhere and there isnt anything in either city nicer than a Super Walmart. Never thought Id pimp my home town on a forum as the place to live, but when it comes to the Dayton Ohio Area Id go with it over anything else. My folks still live there. If you've got any other questions about the place just ask.

We dont have Arm/Safe pins on Hellfires. Somebody told me the Navy has one for the Rocket Motor on theirs but that would surprise me since the M299 rail its self actually has an Arm/Safe switch on the front of it.

Looks alot like my Jett Panel, except I dont have nearly as many buttons.

We have this in the Army, but it is not done by officers. Its basically a patch the size of a silver dollar you wear on the wind suit jacket. Not overly "hey look at me" retarded or anything.

The only way that picture could be gayer is if he were wearing a reflective belt. Somewhere a Safety Officer is jerking off to this stupidity....