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11F

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Posts posted by 11F

    The Congressman is back yo

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks so much for this opportunity and insight. Your desire to slash the civilian behemoth within the DoD fires me up! I'll be watching that one.

    If sequestration is rolled back as you expect and military spending increases, where will we get some savings? It can't just come from DoD civilians. What social programs will get cut? What would you cut? Any prognostication from you on this issue would be a good read.

    The cuts to BAH down to 95% feel like a break in faith and I would appreciate it if this would get repealed.

    As some of the bros and I approach 20 years of service and we look at what would keep us in the 11F ranks, here was one proposal: pay one year of the ARP bonus for every year the pilot will stay on AD. This would be a year to year bonus contract so as to not make us feel like we are locked into something that is crazy long term, but would pay for the experience we bring. This won't keep everyone, but anecdotally, it will keep those who love serving their country, but are simply too enticed by the airline pay.

    I grew up an Illinoisan in what is now the 13th district, and I appreciate who you represent and how you represent them. I wonder as the population of IL continues to dwindle if there will be fewer districts after the 2020 census? There are fewer and fewer reasons for my family members to stay.

    Thanks again.

    How do you feel about your airframe and mission?

    in General Discussion

    Posted


    1.  Ops Tempo/Deployment
          2.  Lifestyle/ Family Stability
          3. Community morale
          4. Advancements & Future of the airframe
          5. Preferred PCS locations 
    --------------
     


    F-22

    1. Expect to deploy either to the desert or to the Pacific for 6 months at a time once every 1.5-2 years (home for 1-1.5 years between deployments). While in garrison, expect 2 x RED FLAG-Nellis/Alaska that take one month away from home each. Also expect 1 x COMBAT ARCHER trip and 1 x COMBAT HAMMER trip in there for 2-3 weeks each. In between all of that, expect 4 or so night surges for 4-6 weeks that will throw home life off, a few one-week CONUS simulator trips, and upgrade surges when none of that other stuff is going on. The community is minimally manned due to poor TFI mix calculations, causing the various shops (training, stab/eval, UDM, etc.) to be one man deep. You're busy.

    2. Family stability is all about expectation management (this is true of every military family): if your family expects you to be home for dinner most nights, they have bad expectations and will be frustrated. If they expect you to work 14 hours a day and a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday, they will be pleasantly surprised about 2-3 times a week.

    3. Community morale depends on the year group: all of the young guys absolutely LOVE life! It's the most dominant fighter jet in the world and you're getting to fly it every day. Throw on top of that, just about every bro in the community was top notch to get in, so they are awesome selfless individuals who will stay several hours late multiple nights in a row if needed to help a bro out.

    The oldest guys are usually the SQ/CC or SQ/DO; every now and then there is a Lt Col ADO who stuck around. They all love to be there because they chose to stay plus all of the stuff mentioned about the young guys applies to these guys (even leadership will stay to help out). I would be willing to bet that some of the best leaders in the USAF are in the F-22 SQ/CC seats. I've never once had even an average one.

    The guys who've been in the USAF for 6-10 years are a mixed bag. They've always been the best at everything they've ever done...until they got into the F-22. The ones who go to WIC, typically love life until after their first WO job when they get burnt out and punch to the Guard/Reserve (VERY few stay longer). Those on leadership tracks still love life. The ones who didn't get either are often cynical and looking to get out ASAP.

    4. It's the Raptor. It'll continue to get upgraded and be the USAF's top A/A fighter.

    5. There isn't a single bad location: Anchorage, AK; Yorktown, VA; Honolulu, HI; Panama City Beach, FL; and Las Vegas, NV.

    Expect to go Ops-to-Ops indefinitely unless you go to IDE. That's about the only way you reach escape velocity from the community, but you'll go right back after school/staff. Very very few go on 365s, and none are getting picked up for 180s anymore now that Schwartz' ridiculous "all-in" mentality has been purged (I digress).

    I have absolutely loved my time in the Raptor.
    • Upvote 6

    Info on flight boots

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    "...outshine and outperform any other offerings hands down..."

    Have you tried the flight approved Danner Rivots? The Belleville 693s are clunky and awkward. The Rivots feel like they're broken in right out of the box--big fan as far as flight approved boots go.

    PME and Career advice

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This is offered for both selects and candidates who make the list. If someone makes the list and declines, they lose their select status and would have to compete as a candidate if they wanted to go in a later look.

    My question is if the alternates also have to make this decision prior to the full release.

    UPT Visiting Home

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Whether it's easy or hard to get away on the weekends or not, life in the USAF with a spouse/loved one is all about expectation management. Set her expectations now that it is unlikely you will be able to travel to see her very often at all -- anything more than that and you are her hero because in her mind you pushed he limits just to see her.

    If she wants to know what time you'll be home, tell her 8pm even if you think 6pm is possible.

    Tell her that two 365s could happen before you hit 20yrs. If you only do one, or even none, she'll feel like she's won.

    Words to live by from a fighter pilot in my first squadron. Expectation management.

    • Upvote 11

    Track Selects and Assignment Nights

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I've heard the F-22 pipeline is backed up 2-3 years?


    False. They're rifling guys through so fast that there is a scary lack of experience in the squadrons.

    This rumor you've heard is likely a mixup between F-22 bros and T-38A adversary air bros at the same base. If a UPT grad gets ADAIR, they will likely be in that sq for two years before F-22 transition. This doesn't mean the pipeline is backed up, it just means there are a lot of potential candidates for the Raptor program. It's incredibly competitive and great for the community to get the best of the best.

    Lack of Flight Discipline

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I led a flyby there not quite 6 years ago and can say it is an incredibly difficult stadium for flybys. That Duke Energy building is what makes it that way combined with the airport right nearby. But to do this unannounced without a game going on...c'mon, man, make it worth it!

    Link for perspective and for gratuity:

    Irrelevant info: My wing commander was there that day to put even more pressure on. I apologize for the position of #4. He was debriefed to choke himself accordingly.

    Changing/Switching airframes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Sorry, poor word choice on my part. Valid for a kill. Color me white.

    Really I was wondering if you've seen any impact on readiness due to lack of sorties and/or flying hours. I know we have.

    I was just having fun with the word choice.

    There's no loss in BFM skills or any of the basics like that for two reasons:

    1) It only takes a two-ship. If a planned LFE has fallout, the basics are easy pickup games with no planning required.

    2) It's fun and every fighter pilot worth his salt wants to fly it and beat the other guy.

    Changing/Switching airframes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    BFM is not a "lost art." If you are calling BFM art, the USAF air-to-air fighter communities are full Picassos.

    As for the MAF to CAF transitions I had a FS/DO back in the day who came from the C-141...slightly above average DO with slightly below average hands.

    I expect these crossovers will have a higher percentage of below average pilots who can hack the queep, be a bro, and have a great attitude. IMHO, in small numbers, those dudes are fine additions to the CAF. Not everyone can be God's gift to BFM like me (I kid, I kid)...but seriously, they can't.

    New SOS in-correspondence

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    First post on the board, but I'd really appreciate anyone's advice.  I'm also enrolled in the "new" correspondence SOS course.  The website says it should take approx 12 months.  I really need to finish it in 4-5 months max, due to upcoming promotion board.  Can I really take a test every week or two?  What's the best way to skim the hundreds of pages of material to prep for the test?  I see there are review quizzes to help prepare for the tests, just wondering how good these are?  Thanks in advance for any advice!

    Dude, if you're in a time crunch, I'd go VFR direct to the registrar at Maxwell. Tell them your situation; you won't be the first. Good luck!

    • Upvote 1

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I am writing a "Do Not Promote" letter to my first look O-4 board.

    1) will my Wing CC be able to see this?

    2) should I give someone in my chain a heads up?

    They know why I want to get out and go to the ANG (family health reasons), but seem to hate anyone who tries to, God forbid, get out of AD. Any advice would be appreciated.

    Duck:

    Disclaimer: I wouldn't recommend what you're doing, but you've obviously put thought into this and you didn't ask for opinions; I'll stop here.

    1) Technically, the promotion system is setup for this to be hidden from your leadership. Reality: there's a chance your leadership finds out after the fact from the O-6 network (your letter will be talked about).

    Just thought of this: I don't know if your leadership can see your PRDA to see your as met records after the fact (anyone?).

    2) I would recommend telling your most trusted leader in your chain of command who will understand and be your advocate to the other haters. You do NOT want your chain finding out about this through other channels (again, this letter of yours will be talked about). Even if you don't have a trusted leader in your chain, I'd still tell someone and let them know you wanted to tell them yourself.

    I pray you're able to support your family in a way that best meets their needs.

    • Upvote 2

    USAA

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    anyone have the supplemental USAA life insurance? good deal or bad deal?

    i bought it a few years ago and now i have the weird feeling im getting scammed for $48/month

    AAFMAA cannot be beat for supplemental term life insurance, especially for pilots.

    • Upvote 1
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