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will I get a corrected W-2 as soon as I use my non-taxable leave? Or will it fall into 2009 for tax purposes? I plan to use some of these leave days in March, and the rest in April, and I don't want to do my taxes now if I'll just have to redo them later.

1. plenty of people talk bad about PEX (Patriot Exalibur), but once you take some time to get familiar with the program and set up your defaults properly (as a scheduler), it's actually a great aid to scheduling. Yes there are some things that could be better, such as when it notifies you there is a conflight, it should pop up with the conflict instead of telling you there is one, so you don't have to navigate away from the page you're on just to see what the conflict is and if it's ok for it to be there. You can set it up to automatically add 12 hrs of crew rest prior to a flight; you can check people's currencies, and in fact filters by grounding currencies to see who should be the priority for a particular event. It's a great SA-building tool. At my previous base, MX was also doing things in PEX, like pulling up the schedule on their own, which made the pen and ink meetings go a lot faster, and plugging in tail numbers against lines. My current unit actually put the whole FHP in PEX, which my previous unit never did. Both use PEX for all Stan/Eval functions. There's a nice Go/No-Go display in PEX with green or red dots, so instead of having to look down a printed sheet from ARMS to figure out what someone is red for, you just click on the red dot and it tells you that person is overdue an instrument approach, or is missing a date for water survival training, or they still need to sign off FCIF 09-03B. Then on the other side of the house, those who are not schedulers can login to PEX and easily see what they are scheduled for, can input commitments they have upcoming (outside of 2 weeks is our rule) such as medical appts or TDYs or Leave. "If it's not in PEX, it doesn't exist" is our motto for commitments and appts. It makes accountability a breeze. You can see with a few clicks of a mouse, who should be here and who shouldn't. Jokes about Skynet aside, PEX is a great tool, just like all things, you have to actually take the time and/or get sent TDY to the week-long training at Eglin to use it to its full potential. 2. There's talk of bring PEX online downrange, but currently there are compatibility issues with currency information managed by ARMS on NIPR and the inherent classified nature of the ATO being on SIPR. In my community, we fly hard crews, who sit alert for multiple days at a time, so PEX isn't really needed for that. Different for a fighter squadron, though. 3. Haven't run across any so far. Having a backup server and database of PEX information is probably a good idea, but unless the folks running your PEX on base are complete morons, that's already being done.

60 Driver, Your leadership and the leadership I just experienced here at BAF must be polar opposites. We've done flights (live fire, even!) with the AH-64s (CFACC blanket approved). The CFACC is onboard with doing CSARTFs once an AEF, though it hasn't happened yet due to the wing crack issue on the A-10s (no extra lines available outside ATO taskings). We're even getting launch authority for MEDEVACs delegated to a lower level (hasn't come out yet, but it's being coorded as we speak). Life is getting much better for our community downrange when it comes to doing our job when called on. Combat O (BAF version of Right Start) was MUCH less painful than any I've experienced at other bases. Although the 20 min that the now former Wing CCC talked about proper wear of the uniform was over the top. The new Wing CCC isn't like that. After hearing (and experiencing) the uniform nazis at deployed locations, BAF has ALMOST been the anti-nazi. The Wing/CC approved us to wear our Massif cold WX gear as outerwear around base, among other things. And common sense prevails -- no reflective belts in PT gear for the AF, even though ever other service on base requires it for their own. Our OG is fvcking awesome. I wish he would still be here when I come back in Sep. Hands down the best OG I've seen or had the pleasure to work for, and will make an incredible WG/CC down the road. If anyone else here knows Donk, you'll agree with me. Our OG/CCC is also fvcking awesome, but I guess it helps that he's aircrew (C-5 FE). Sorry you had such a bad experience here, 60 Driver, but it isn't like that right now.

that explains it

So, I did a search for FSO but it didn't return any results; I guess there's a three-letter gremlin. Didn't get any meaningful results from "Flight safety officer" either. Getting to the point, I'm going to FSO at KIKR in mid-Feb, just wondering if there are any tips or hints out there from recent experience. Know that I go to KIKR often, as it's the helo schoolhouse, so I'm familiar with the area and lodging and all that. One thing I'm curious about, though, are rooms space blocked for FSO, or do I stand a chance getting off base? Are the blues on Mon mandates applicable there? All I've been able to find just says BDUs or Flight suits are appropriate. What is a typical day like? Will I have weekends to go off and explore other areas of the state?

well, at my location, the CS/CC sent out an e-mail to everyone on the high side with some of the details. Sucks then that your base's CS doesn't afford everyone the same courtesy.

geez guys, maybe you should actually ASK a comm dude (or your SQ/CC) what the deal is, because there is, in fact, a good reason behind the internet restriction. Which shouldn't be discussed here. Go ask, and then you will understand.

The 66th RQS at Nellis (ACC unit) wears tan in the summer. Just like you said above, the WG/CC gave them the waiver/permission/omni-omni-vor/whatever. I'm not sure if the 55gh RQS at DM does the same thing or not.

the stickied thread at the top, what airframe/what base. I posted the info up there a while back. Haven't heard the 305th to Fairchild rumor, but I'll ask my friends in the 301st who are just down HWY 1 from me at the moment. I've also got a few friends in the 305th; I'll see if any of them know more. Have fun at Mother Rucker, MD! Flying the Huey is a blast. The Hangar (out the Daleville gate) is where to take the Mil Comp. If that old FAA dude is still alive, he'll hook you up with the needed stuff to get the RW add-on for Commercial and Instrument. KIKR is also a good time, IMHO. It's an FTU just like all FTUs (AETC gayness), but you get to spend 6 months in ABQ. And yes, the 48th was at Holloman. Those aircraft migrated to Moody back when the unit closed.

the CASF visited our location last week, and the the Q&A, our DO asked about the status of the CSAR-X, to which he replied it would be 6 months to a year before a contract was awarded b/c they've got to issue another amendment to the RFP. Didn't go into further details other than to say our acquisitions process needs less civilians and more uniforms involved.

I was told the 60 has up to 200 lbs of unused wiring from all the changing mods. I've also been told that when a bird goes to depot, they re-wire everything and thus get rid of the unused wiring, but I have nothing to back that up with. Just a couple rumors floating around... wasn't 728 the other test aircraft? Also, how many birds are still 700s? Kadena is all 701C now (and apparently the new engines have 701D compressor sections but obviously we don't have the upgraded DEC or HMU for that)...has Lakenheath finished the 791C upgrade? KIKR has at least 4 done, I've heard.

can you unfvck DTS while you're at it? That's got to be the most un-user-friendly program from a user standpoint I've seen in a long time (the other being MilMOD/PDS when that was first rolled out in 01).

I was heading into work and the radio had some story about a plane hitting the WTC. Between the time it took me to park and walk inside the second plane had hit. Someone had a TV on right in front, and I didn't make it back to my desk for several hours. Saw the towers collapse live and when we went to Delta I helped tape paper over the windows and check IDs at the entrance. At some point, I called my mom to tell her I was ok, because even though I was 2 time zones removed from the action, she was still worried for me.

I have the 4th Gen 60 GB Video iPod and I love it. I've never had any issues with battery life. I also augment with a little 1GB shuffle for workouts, and I find that iTunes is very user friendly. You can also allocate a portion of the flash memory for data storage in addition to music/videos/tv/etc.

he's not crusty.. I know him, and although he'd correct someone if they were ######ing it up, he's not the overly assertive type (overly assertive being defined by R. Lee Ermey).

yes. They take all the 365s. no. use the search function, it's most likely already answered.

recommendation: 1042 (AF), 4186 "Up Slip" (Army), 5410/2 "Up Chit" (Navy/MC/CG).

well in about 30 days or so I plan to file my first accrual via this new thing on Portal, I'll let you know how it goes.

xerox with Cap-10. No mention of creasing sleeves anywhere that I could find. Not even in my MAJCOM sup.

ok so I'm ironing my shirt right now, and I go reference the 36-2903 to make sure I don't put the sleeve creases in the wrong spot (in line with the aft edge of the rank tab or centered on the rank tab?), and all I can find about the LBSSS (and the LBLSS for that matter) says "military creases are not authorized". Now what does that mean? No creases on the sleeves anymore? Confused...

yup, it's in the 3-2.5 hint to Army folks, "convoy" ain't in there. "Saddled" would be the proper usage.

are all those Finance things going to be on Portal or will we still have the Accrual voucher on vMPF?

obviously someone at AF Times doesn't understand the difference between blues and service dress. And the AF doesn't have a uniform called "dress blues". And NOWHERE in the official message did it single out any specific career field, so it's kinda funny the broad sweeps that article is making. Don't you just love misinformation?!??!

here's what it boils down to: blue = approaches in the FLIPs. green = approaches are approved, but not in approach plates. You have to go to the NACO website to download them

currently 75% of our sorties are NVG, but I'd put the historical average at 50-60%. That seems to be on par with what the rest of our community is doing, as well.