SocialD

All in good fun...former WB FO here. Easy to have skills atrophy when all you do is ocean crossing to an ILS.

This is what happens when WB pilots do anything other than a straight in ILS.

Did it go missing or did it just drop of as a FR24 track as it descended into AUAB? I could be wrong, but this seems like a headline to get some clicks!

Agreed on the type thing, they're going to have to put you through training either way, I don't see having a type as much of a help. As far as the degree thing, that may be a thing at Giant, but a degree is still very much a strong delineator at my air line. I can only recall flying with one guy who didn't have a degree and he was a flow. It would be interesting to see how many were hired without degrees though. Besides a the Guard babies, most pilots will have the airline mins after a 10 year commitment. Doubtful that this type of flying would make much of a difference.

In a way, the AD is already doing that by sending first assignment guys to ANG squadrons. 😁

Ya, you'll have to excuse my cynicism, it just gets worse the further out of service I get and the more I read about our leaders, past and present.

If that airline tries to make a good (in their view) business decision and merge, but the government disallows that merger due to "competition issues," which forces them to die, how is that fair? If you're going to play the fairness game, they should have stayed out of the merger and then I'd 100% agree with you. Also remember that some of their woes are due to getting planes that are unusable because of engine manufacturer defects.

The same government stopped it from merging with another airline because less competition is bad... So now they let them go under leaving one less competitor....yay competition!

Lol, so they're not even driving down the OPSEC path, just the, he could have slipped the word out before we officially made the announcement. If there is one thing those in power hate, it's stolen thunder. What's funny is those in leadership/government are probably going to try to rail against this guy because of "ethics." 🤣

If only we had the same zeal in going after military officers in positions to influence contracts that magically end up in high paying gigs at these defense contractors after retirement.

What did I miss? Did something changed?

Hey Boss, I was just getting some hover and terrain masking practice in. I was just as surprised as WO2 Bagonuts to see some redneck standing there giving me a salute.

Talking with a controller friend, it's not all that uncommon for that time of night. Technically two controllers "on duty," with one off status resting while one controls the entire show. I know I've been at the busy early morning push in EWR and we couldn't raise anyone on clearance for a full route clearance. Jumped over the ground and the controller apologized, "I'm the only one here right now." Dude was reading full route clearance after full route clearance, then asking guys to read back only their squawk, because he was busy issuing taxi clearances. I assume he was issuing T/O and LND clearances as well, but I wasn't on that freq. Our controller staffing hasn't recovered from the hiring freeze during rona, among other reasons... I still have no idea why they won't accept military controllers who over >30, seems like they're leaving out some qualified candidates. Relatively small pool, but seems like a terrible policy with the current shortages.

Lots of guys asking questions about short notice non-vol orders on the Delta Mil FB page over the last week or so.

These coasties showed up lol.

The kid is going to lose his shit if the 35's, Hornets and Vipers get the kills and he left holding a balloon (marking).

What a game! I certainly didn't have Indiana going 16-0 on my bingo card this season, but it's hard to not like Coach Cignetti and what he and his boys have done this season. Hats of to Miami on a strong season, they man handled my Buckeyes and earned their right at the national Championship game via a hard fought schedule. College Football may be a bit jacked up right now, but I thought this was a pretty awesome season to watch.

Unfortunately many of us don't realize this stuff until we're well into our career. The system will drop you faster than you can say integrity first. So much of the daily bullshit is completely unneeded. Honestly, how much time do you suppose the average officer blew formatting, or redoing, OPRs because white space is a mortal sin. How much of that data was inflated bullshit? How many TDY's/deployments were unneeded? How many jobs have you guys done in the AOR, that could have been done at home, or not done at all? I've know I've done a job at the deid, that could have easily been done from any SIPR terminal in the U.S (During rona, they in fact, did that same job remotely...so it clearly could be done). I had to justify why I couldn't have done a TDY via secure VTC, when I'm moving an F-16 to a depot facility. Why is that same shit not applied to jobs/deployments? Now, this isn't to say the service did do great things for me, because it truly did. I have great memories, I did some amazing flying, developed great skills, I have friends who have become family, and I'll hopefully get a decent pension/medical when I turn 60. But what young guys need to understand, is that the day your retire, you'll get your litho, maybe a medal, and nice pat on the back "thank you"...then the system will continue just fine without you.

All is well, thank you so much! 2 year old granddaughter had open heart surgery on a Thursday morning. She was skipping out of the hospital by noon Sunday. Modern medicine is a miracle!

Was it not mishap pilot #1 like every other AF crash?

We had SF on base get busted for stealing from snacko cash boxes of various section on base. Another one was busted for breaking the lug nuts on another guys jeep because of a love triangle. "Cops...biggest, legal street gang around." This is quote by a squadron mate who was a former cop.

I happen to be in Ann Arbor for the week, I should swing by the cop shop to see the media mess. Even as a Buckeye, I hate to see this downfall. What a mess he's made! Hopefully he finds his center and remembers he still has kids that need him. As an aside, if your family ever needs significant pediatric care, you'd be remiss if you didn't explore the University of Michigan medical center. This place is outstanding!

Throw a little bourbon in your coffee CH, just flipping you some shit. I don't even like ND, though I'm all for them sitting out the bowl game if that's what they want to do. Frankly, if you're not playing for the natty, what good is done by playing in the ma' and pa' waffle house bowl? ND certainly doesn't need the money. Lots of people wrapping themselves into a pretzel to be upset about a team they don't even like, not playing in a bowl that nobody cares about.

Weren't you just crying about ND bias like 3 posts ago? 🤣

You're not necessarily leaving with nothing. You received skills/experience that landed you a CJO, hopefully with a legacy, which is a pretty amazing job. You also learned many skills that you probably don't even realize are skills because it's just normal amongst your peers in the military. Hopefully you also gained some great life experiences, friendships, etc... You should also be leaving with some TSP, so if you don't want to join the ANG/RES then you're not totally losing out there. If you want to join the ANG, the world is your oyster. Get into a squadron and seek opportunities outside of the base, we've had guys all over the place the last 10 years. We've sent IP's/FL's to overseas AD bases for 60-90 day stints. We've had a guy on MLOA from the airlines, in cush gig at USAFE for years. He keeps broadcasting other gigs that are available for the taking, shockingly no takers lol. We have another guy who just got back from Hickam, who only came home because he got a SQ/CC spot on base....his orders were indefinite. A few years ago they came around asking if anyone wanted to take three year orders at some pretty decent AD locations overseas (not today satan lol). Luck of the draw on getting "action," many of us are were in the same boat. I had a squadron mate who PCS'd to Luke a month before his squadron went to Desert Storm I. He then flew F-16 continuously, until 2015 and never once employed a weapon in combat. He had a 26 year career during near continuous combat operations and he only slung concrete at ranges in the U.S. We had an uncanny ability to end up in deployed locations during down times or where the ROE was so tight, we were just very expensive, high-speed cheerleaders. As to your job satisfaction, I understand that to an extent. It sucks to end up where you don't want to be, but as already stated, only you can control your attitude. As Rainman (don't say his name 2 more times lol) used to say, "bloom where you're planted." Frankly, I enjoyed my flying career in the military (Guard guy only because an mentor who was hosed by AD pushed me that way), but the more I learn, the more I get pissed about how many lives were lost (continue to be lost) and how much of our lives were wasted in the never ending quagmires. However, I have just learned to let it go, not worth dwelling on, life is too short! If you're the type that needs satisfaction from work, I have bad news, you probably won't find it flying 121. I find that work isn't where I want to seek satisfaction in life. I still strive for excellence and it's great to enjoy your job, but what I love about this gig is that it gives me an insane amount of time off, with plenty of money to do the things that really make me happy. I can work six days in a month and make more than I ever made as a 22 year LTC. That gives me plenty of time to go make up for lost time hanging family, flying my own planes and travel to places other than the green bean in yet another deployed shithole. Best of luck and thanks for attending my SocialDtalk.