NotADude

2 to what tunes said. My DOS was 29 Sep, I was officially gained on 30 sep, but I wasn't able to get on orders until our Dec MUTA. That said, I was told there was a thrash at AFPC (when is there not?) due to the insane number of people separating and PCing at that time. It 'might' be quicker for you, but 10 days seems like a stretch, IMO. GL.

Beerman, I actually called the 800 TSP number and talked to a person (!), because I had the same question. Generally the $52K limit is for employer matching (thanks AF!), but for military, it is the total you can contribute from normal and tax-free income. So if you've deployed this year, subtract whatever you contributed while deployed from $17.5K, and that'll give you the amount you can still contribute this year. If you're like me and never log onto the TSP website, turns out your LES has the pertinent deets. The kicker, however, is if you want to up your contribution you're stuck at 92% of base pay and 100% of incentive pay as the max monthly contribution. Turns out there's no way to write a check to TSP, you can only contribute via allotment. :/ Hope this helps you or other guys/gals out there! (I recommend deployers up their contributions while deployed since you could theoretically double your annual contribution if you're gone for 6 months) Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Although, one issue I ran into was the only way you can contribute to TSP is via allotment. So even if you have excess cash you'd like to dump in prior to the end of the year to alleviate your tax liability with VSP, you're limited by your base and incentive pay. (And you can only contribute 92% of base pay and 100% of incentive pay). ALSO, whatever you contribute while deployed (tax-free) doesn't count towards your $17.5K annual limit, so if you're thinking ahead, max out your contributions while deployed, since you can't do it retroactively. Things I wish I'd known 1 year ago...And no, I have no idea why they make it that $&@!ing difficult. Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

APPROVED!! '04 11R GI Bill ADSC Sep 16 UPT ADSC Sep 15 PCS Mar 15 I didn't apply until 4 April, since I was trying to PC but paperwork was taking too long. Glad I signed up for TAP already! Terminal starts in less than 2 months!! Found out via e-mail, although I first noticed my CMS was listing no current active cases and my DOS on my SURF is already updated.

Which is currently unavailable due to AFSC conversion. Who times these things? Sure, websites need to get upgraded, but in the middle of a massive force managment push? Then again, if AFPC had actually followed any of their timelines, maybe we wouldn't still be waiting on news 4 months later...

I know there's two different mishaps in this thread, but bump for the original. :beer:

That little guy? I wouldn't worry about that. What killed me is if you select "I do not desire an assignment at this time," or "I have a separation/retirement application currently pending," you still have to submit at least one assignment and one developmental preference. Am I taking crazy pills?!

When you say up to 2003, you mean 2003 and earlier I hope? That would check with most of the approvals being posted on here, and the 1 May application w/ ADSC processing dates. I'm 2004, so don't want to give up just yet.

I don't know about that, the PC office has an epic backlog now. I ended up applying for VSP because getting the required paperwork together for PC was taking way too long. The only downside is now if they disapprove VSP, I'm behind the curve of the alleged 10-20 week wait for processing at the PC office. If I did my job this bad...

That's what I finally ended up doing last week. It was taking forever to get the paperwork together to even apply for PC, so I figured I could apply for VSP after just a short phone call with my boss. I applied last Friday and now it's with the WG/CC. The funny news, is that all of a sudden I appear to be "excess to base requirements," whereas just a few short months ago, I was too valuable to approve for Palace Chase.

My understanding was simply that the e-mail originated at Beale, and was therefore tailored to the specific aircraft stationed there.

Sadly, I no longer expect even base competence by anyone working in personnel (or finance, for that matter.) Instead, I'm pleasantly surprised when it appears the person I'm talking with is even familiar with an applicable AFI.

To the first, Farce Shaping is my new favorite thing. To the second, yes. so much yes. UFB! Does he routinely stick his head in the sand! How can he not know that A1(or whomever's been delegated authority in this debacle) is clearly well-below average on the intelligence scale and obviously couldn't put together a color-coded 4-piece puzzle if his life depended on it! Unfortunately firing people at this point won't un-f#ck the trainwreck that farce shaping 14 has become. I think it's beyond help

Not this, but this.^ What's the payoff after another 10 years deploying and not seeing the family? To parlay experience into a 6-figure public speaking tour? Pass. Also, if the generals currently running the show can't improve things, do I have to wait to be a 4-star before I can make a difference? Cost-benefit analysis leaning heavily toward cost...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-army-should-fire-some-generals-and-promote-some-captains/2014/02/21/7921a234-9802-11e3-afce-3e7c922ef31e_story.html Interesting article written by a former Army Captain. I think John Q. Public linked to it somewhere as well. Won't ever happen, but it's an intriguing idea.

That's what I got from it. Also, it waives the 120-day waiting period after a disapproval due to manning. So if you've recently applied for PC but got rejected, you can immediately re-apply under this program (unless you're deployed, in which case life sucks for you)

That's pretty generous...

That wouldn't make any sense because MC-12s are "Critically Manned!!" ie they won't let anyone palace chase, vsp, pcs, etc. but don't worry, over the course of a day, in the mid-term future, the glitch will be fixed and there will be a few hundred pilots looking for jobs. Reference every other comment ever about the clowns at AFPC...

It also depends on your wing leadership. My WG/CC decided he wanted people to already have a job before he'd recommend for PC, but the unit that hired me wouldn't give me an official intent to hire letter until my WG/CC signed off on my PC, thus perpetuating a wicked catch-22. Now I have a letter that basically says we'll give you an intent to hire letter if your WG/CC recommends approval of PC. Hopefully that'll help. Have you talked to anyone at your base that's applied?

Take a look at the newly revised PSDMs for Force Management. They changed the 1-1 PC eligibility for all the 11s that are blue in the current eligibility matrix (ie not 11F, 11H, 11U). They also added a few paragraphs about how the Reserve needs 500 C-130 and KC-135 pilots. MIght be worth looking into... I'm just trying to figure out if it'll still be good to go in a month when I hit submit again on my PC app. Curse you deployment!

Requal or IP upgrade, no. "Cross-train," yes. See Note 1c. in the same table: c. Rated officers who crossflow/retrain into another rated career field (e.g., an air battle manager who crossflows/retrains as a navigator or manned or unmanned pilot), crossflow/retrain to a different weapons system (basic qualification) or aircraft airframe will incur the full ADSC for that training even if that ADSC extends beyond the officer’s 6th or 10th year of rated service. Maybe not a huge deal for most people, but I had a buddy who was a T-6 FAIP, flew F-15s (I think, all the pointy jets look the same) then incurred an additional ADSC when he went back to UPT as a T-38 IP. Also, for those currently flying the MC-12 that end up getting re-classed as an 11R (the horror!) and going on to fly something other than what they flew before, may incur an additional commitment. Not sure if that'll actually happen, but…the more you know.

I'll pile on as well. To me, it's all about choice. I realize that in separating from the AF I will most likely take a hefty pay cut, at least in the beginning. However, I will have gained the ability to run my own life, control where I live, what job I take, if I want to be gone from my family. I always said I'd stay in as long as I was still enjoying it. Well, that stopped when I got a terrible assignment after 3 years of doing my job to the best of my ability. Yes, service before self. Yes, needs of the AF. Yes, I signed up knowing this could happen. So I went. There were ups and downs but I never forgot that when AFPC asked me what I wanted to do after my first assignment, they basically shredded my request and put me wherever the @#$% they wanted. 10 years later, I've learned that I am just a number to the AF. That my personal life, personal desires, etc. don't matter a bit to anywho who has any power over my career. I still do the best job I can, but at the first opportunity (and I've already tried: ref last VSP debacle), I will be leaving this one-sided relationship and take on the challenges of doing something else with my life. This will most likely include the Reserves as I enjoy flying and enjoy teaching, but I won't spend the next 10 years of my life waiting for the next shitty deployment to a shittier location so I can miss my kid growing up. It's not worth it, there's no grand strategy forwhat we're doing here, and life is simply too short. I'll find a job after the AF. It might be a desk job, it might be something I'm passionate about, but it will be of my choosing, not some bureaucrat's. That's just me.

Ineligbile for the FY14 Force Management Palace Chase with a reduced 1:1 commitment. Still eligible for regular Palace Chase. I'll also be jumping on that bandwagon (again) in 2 months. ('04 as well)

It seems to me they added an extra 12 in there. In the formula, the 147 is your years.months of service (12.25 in this case) multiplied by 12 (months/year) to get time served in months. In the example formula, they don't really need the first 12 in there, which is why they decide to divide by 12 again at the end, to negate it. Basically, figure out years.months of service, multiply by 12 to get months, then multiply that by your base pay, multiply by 10%, then multiply by 1.25 for VSP. (or you could just multiply total years of service by 12 to get months (12 years*12 months/year = 144 months), then add your extra months to that and you'll end up with the same number to plug in, 147 in this case) clear as mud?

Don't kid yourself that anyone's thought that far ahead yet...