SuperWSO

My dad had USAA his entire career and loved them. I was covered by USAA auto insurance starting when I turned 16. This year I finally cut all connections to the company due to shitty service and lousy rates. Here are the details. 1. In 2000, while PCSing from Pensacola to Abilene, my moving truck rolled over on the interstate and smashed a bunch of our furniture. We called the company and were told that our situation would not be covered because it wasn't a military move. It was - set up through TMO. The fact that I had to explain this to them and fight them on it pissed me off (my wife hated them after this point.) 2. in 2004, we bought a rental home that was 1 year old for around $90k. We tried to insure it through USAA. They refused to insure it for less than $120k and said we could not rebuild for less than that. At the time, new houses were going up for about $90k across the street. At that point, we changed our home insurance and our rental insurance to Armed Forces insurance. 3. in 2008 we moved to Colorado Springs. We asked USAA again about home insurance. Once again, they would not insure our home for less than $40k above the appraised value of the home. Bottom line is they don't want my business. We also dropped our car insurance with them when we found that Allstate would charge several HUNDRED dollars less for my three vehicles. My dad dropped USAA for home insurance several years ago because of their requirement for additional riders for gun ownership. Their standard homeowner policy only covered about $1000 in firearms. It isn't to hard to hit that limit these days. USAA used to be a awesome company built on a reputation for customer service and excellent prices. Their customer service, in my experience has been very poor, and they no longer offer a good value compared to other companies. I've heard many old timers say that it was because they let enlisted personnel or family join, but I don't think that is the root of the problem. They just became a big company that lost sight of the fact that they were taking care of people who were taking care of the country. Currently, the company is only interested in taking care of the bottom line. Thats my 2 cents.

I was in the Guard there when the B-1s were still at McConnell. You can't go wrong if you get a car and drive up Rock road to the North. (the east gate drops you off on Rock). There are a ton of restaraunts once you get north of Kellogg and the mall. Old town has (or used to have) a bunch of good bars. If you want to help girls pay their way through school, go to Jesabells or Michelles Beach club. Jesabells is out the west gate and south past the Boeing factory. Michelles Beach club is in Derby, south of the base.

I was always told the two biggest lies in the Air Force occur when the inspection team show up and says "We're here to help you" and the Wing Commander responds with "We're glad to have you" How about AFPC - "Take this assignment, and we will give you a great follow-on."

OUTSTANDING!! I've heard a cassette copy of this from my dad, and "What the Captain means..." has always been a line in frequent use. I'm glad to see a little heritage pop up. This should be a module in SOS/ACSC.

The Saudis have the money, but have you ever seen a Saudi do anything? They just might send a bunch of TCNs to kick some pirate ass, but there must be an easier way. Maybe the Saudi's can pay the Indian Navy to sink a few more pirates. Put out a bounty on pirate ships.

My favorite jacked up story happened to a buddy of mine who worked down the hall at the weapons school. Dyess was going through a period of increased emphasis on line badge use. They had jacked up several crews in a fairly short period. The prize winner was when a crew of 3 came back to the building after a flight. We asked where the other WSO was and they said he was hauled off by the cops. The best part - it was POST FLIGHT and they had just shut down and were loading their stuff on the crew bus. I can see the need to verify that people walking out to an airplane have a need to be there, but I have a hard time building a scenario in which the people climbing out of the plane following a sortie pose a threat. If they were going to steal the airplane, they probably wouldn't come back for the debrief. On the lighter side, I told the instructor in question that he appeared to have found an innovative way to get out of the usual Weapons School debrief. (usually 1.5x sortie duration)

Looking at the picture attached to the article, the "Battle" Airman is wearing an ACU helmet, armor, pads and all pouches. The only ABU stuff he has on is the shirt and pants. Calling this an "ensemble" is stretching things a bit. The Army was issuing Nomex ACUs to everyone in theater. This brings up the question once again - why not wear what the Army is wearing in combat so as to not look different? ACUs are available in nomex and all the associated gear is available in the same pattern.

Have you guys ever discussed installing an M-9 port in the ACs side window? GET SOME! GET SOME! I suspect job satisfaction is not hard to come by in theater. Nice pics.

One more change in the two years since people cared about this issue. Back then, the leadership said the ABU would only be for use in the CONUS. We would deploy with the Army uniform. Starting with this AEF, all AF personnel are going to CENTCOM in their shiny new ABUs, just in case the enemy is short on ammo. Didn't somebody ever mention to the folks at the puzzle palace that rule one in a combat zone is "don't look different"

To answer the initial question, yes it can be done. I was hired by the Kansas ANG back in 1995 to fly B-1s. I was commisioned through AMS in '96. I went through all the training and flew for about 3 years before the AF reorganized and pulled the Bones out and left the unit with KC-135Rs (no navigators) and some really cool desk jobs (they really were, no sh!t.) However, I hadn't hit my first flying gate and still enjoyed flying. I transitioned from the Guard to Active Duty. Many guys who have worked under both systems generally joined the Guard to get away from some aspect of the Active Duty lifestyle they didn't like. In my wing, I think only about 4-5 guys switched back to Active Duty. The other consideration is active duty manpower requirements. When I made the jump in 2002, the war had just kicked off and they were trying to get aviators any way they could - some guys were even being brought back after separating from the AF. Currently, the AF is trying to reduce numbers, so it might be harder to transition to Active Duty right now. Just like with uniforms in the Air Force, if you wait a year, that will probably change. There are other options to consider. I think there used to be some opportunities for Guard guys to take a 2-3 year assignment working in/with the active duty that were designed to provide "career broadening" Current guard guys can probably provide more info on that, but there are probably options there as well.

I've only been in since '95, but I'm an AF brat, and my dad has told many a story about deceased insect dating well before Animal House came out. His favorite was the time the squadron commander (F-100s at Holloman) had a few too many and somebody made a comment to the effect "Your queer if you can't dance on the bar." Several steps into the CCs dance routine, somebody else yelled "Dead Bug." Not one to be outdone, the SQ CC took a dive off the bar in perfect dead bug form (not good for PLFing). He was apparently DNIF for 2 weeks recovering from the injurys... but he didn't have to buy.