sigmanugary

Root cause

I appriciate the comments but Bender I wasn't joking. I just finished up a gig teaching at the FTU last summer and now I'm stationed overseas simply flying the line(finishing up requal Trng actually). I miss teaching and also enjoy learning (military history nerd). I don't need SAASS to make O-5; the only reason I mentioned that rank is I don't think anything beyond Lt Col for me will be possible. I'm thankful for the IDE slot just trying to look into my options after school. Speaking of mentors...I don't have any official mentors but I'm lucky to have some older guys at work that I'm buddies with who have helped me out so far.

Thx guys, yea I guess I'll just have to wait and see about the DLAB. Also, I've heard similar stuff about SAASS. My last CC was a grad and he told me about how hard it was but not how he put in for it/got picked up. I have no desire to make anything beyond O-5 I just want to keep learning.

Hey guys, I was just picked up for IDE on my Major's board. I'm reading over some of the 2014 officer developmental education stuff and it states that folks headed to ACSC need to complete the DLAB. Do any of you guys have any insight why this is necessary? I understand why this would be needed for international/political affairs track guys but not the standard prgm. Also, I'm interested in either SAMS or SAASS if possible as a follow on. If any of you guys have any advice on how to get picked up for either these advanced courses please let me know.

Try asking the top 1C0 at your base/ nearest HARM shop. I know a good senior E 1C0 could easily find the answer to what you are looking for.

Parker, I'm also an Instructor ABM down here at Tyndall. I wouldn't think that the astigmatism should be an issue...my vision is awful and I have an astigmatism in my right eye (on a waiver for both, not a big deal). You should be good. If the flight doc is giving you some grief about it let us know the details. Lots of 13Bs have waivers for vision.

So this was "the letter" my Flt/CC was talking about as I was leaving...wow, pretty harsh stuff in there. My perspective was different I guess because my flight was pretty cool and my interaction with the student council was nil. The problem I have with this letter is that Capt Schmuck-atelly didn't sign his name...weak shit. Yes, 8 weeks is a long time but I was grateful to go. We were given plenty of opportunities to give feedback (i.e tons of surveys). Calling out the entire cadre of instructors was poor form however the ghost writer had valid points on some of the briefing topics. Oh yeah, the backstabbing...my flight had zero (FWIW, we had 4x DGs and grad'd top third). It should be noted that none of us sang in the chorus or starred in the "Airmen Ideal" video during graduation; we just showed up to work every day and made the best of it. Personally, I played a lot of MW3 and worked out.

^ I just saw that too...this is 100% truth guys!

I will be there(SOS) next week as well...I will be bringing the essentials like my Xbox and T-Pain Microphone. On a side note, has anyone else done the "pre-work" yet? I had to do an English test (no shit). The test was checking my spellin' and grama abilities...I scored an 80, oh well.

Wow...When will this crap stop? What the ###### is happening to our service? This kinder/gentler AF shit has to end. So much for tradition

Easily one of the most respected officers of the 20th century! They don't make 'em like they used to...Definitely one of my role models!

My two cents... I did a 179er to Iraq and made sure to stay in theater a few extra days to get my Short Tour credit (185). It worked, I just brought my paid travel voucher to my MPF office and bam. I didn't say crap about it to my leadership and it is on my vMPF page with 7 months served in Iraq. The ribbon updated instantly (not that I care but I was amazed at how easy the process was). Also, I didn't have any issues with staying in theater longer, I worked for the Navy so what we call a Short Tour they call that just part of the job. The comment above about dudes volunteering for the 'Deid to avoid the actual AOR is shameful, we have too many "toy soldiers" as is...what a joke!

God bless and again prayers to the families!

We have this currently floating around our flight at work...I've skimmed through it but I need to read it.

Well said! If you want to hang out, great, but dudes with families shouldn't have to pay BS fines for mando-fun. I'm all about tradition but it shouldn't have to forced down anyone's throat.

Wow this dude was a true patriot...we need more guys like this dude in uniform! I wonder what a Thai ballonist badge looks like?

x2...The further into the quote I read the more I enjoyed it. I think messages are being sent and the "I hate reflective belts" deal is just purely the battle cry (albeit quite humorous). Young officers and NCOs need to continue to work towards figuring out how we can get shit like this changed. What is our service going to look like in 10 years when many of us are FGOs or SNCOs?

We all know that these stereotypes exist but it this is type of "eliteism" that is total bullshit. I'm not saying rated guys are better than non rated officers but the "pecking order" of "who gets more respect" with the Army based on how many weapons they have on their bird is crap. I write this as I sit here in Iraq(on a joint assignment) so I believe I can speak frankly about Army/Navy/Marines(I work with them all). You get respect based on experince, first impressions, aptitude, and job knowledge not by the type of plane you fly in. I'm sure many of my buddies who are ALOs(career ABMs) dispelled the statements above flat out cold when they got to their units(many of whom are in OEF). Beav, I'm not flaming you and I'm sure what you say is the truth but this concept "elitism" just bothers me and as a community(rated Os) we should dispell it. I guess the only way to change the perception is one person at a time, being good at your job, and not tolerating weak shit. I just wanted to point to the fact that just because my jet doesn't have AIM-120s or JDAMS doesn't mean I play W.O.W or eat my boogers.

KRABS, I know many ABMs rated/non-rated that are ALOs(the non-rated dudes are Guard guys and are full time ALOs and would assume with this new non-rated ALO career field they would transfer into it). Career wise for an ABM an ALO tour is a good thing and I can't think of any ABM who has been forced into it(at least not the ALOs I know). I can tell you that not all ALO jobs are the same and I have done my research on what rolls I would be filling depending on unit/assignment. An ALO on this board could provide you with much more insight but I just wanted to share my 2 cents and BTW all the ABM ALOs that I know are solid guys. Good luck!

That is by far the funniest shit I've read on this forum... DEFINATILY PROMOTE!

To the OP Being an ABM is fun, we do fly, we are rated officers thus if you look long term alot(not all) of the glass ceiling that was over our head is removed (opportunities in the long run ie command), and we can work in a variety of areas from air defense to jumping outta planes with Army guys being their airpower go to guy(ALO). We have a niche career field that is relitively small and that has its pros and cons. On the plus side we #1 fly, #2 are in ops, #3 have a variety of paths/ functions we fill on both the E-3 and E-8. The cons are currently we are limited to those two jets(not that either are bad but little variety), and our ABM bros can be VERY cut-throat. This stems from...well hell I don't exactly know I'm just spreading the word. While the vast majority of our guys(and girls) are great there are some that are shady where this gets sporty is that our flying assignments are relitively limited so that asshole you knew as a fellow Lt might be a coworker at the next base as a fellow Capt and so on. Don't let this turn you off its not that bad just remember you heard it from me first. All in all, there are few other flying jobs in the AF that sound more fun than mine (being a bomber dude or being on an EWO...both have always sounded cool to me). Also, you'll have an important job and if you F'up a mission you'll hear about it (nothing like a pissed-off Lt Col ripping into an AWO!) but that goes with having an important job so don't F' up! I hope you get picked up as an ABM if not I hope you just get picked up period. Just know as a rated officer in training you'll have alot of studying and training to do and a crap load of schools/ courses Also as a 2nd Lt in training(keep in mind your training will last YEARS not months) you'll be treated like a first grader...but I guess I shouldn't let you in on ALL the secrets!

To get back on track about the Callsign deal. Just for clarification, if anyone wanted to know the way callsigns work for ABMers here goes.....we get "named" at Tyndall when we step up to controlling fighters in our last phase of training. Generally, these callsigns don't carry over to your next assignment, unless the c/s is really funny. While we wait in purgatory (the time between being "ABMs" and "winged ABMs", this involves more training and then finally our flying phase) most of use are basically without callsigns. After we get winged and roll over to our line sq it differs...some squadrons will do the whole FNG thing for a while then you get a proper callsign later. We only have a c/s night about once to twice a year so many guys don't get named until they are about to pin on or already are young Capts. Most guys who stay weapons(the controllers...AWOs and SD) use their callsigns but the guys who upgrade to ASO or ECO (survelliance or electronic combat) tend to not use them at all (generally speaking). All the comments on here by various guys about "culture" seems to me to be spot on from some of the experiences I've had (flags and whatnot). But we (AWACers) have many sub-cultures(flight deck dudes, techs, weapons, survelliance, etc) on our jet...thus many different traditions and customs. The point of this if you guys are still with me is that not all AWACS dudes run around throwing threat BRAAS with their elbows or wearing ascots on their heads playing crud. Some of us ABMs are just more "ate up" then others... HUAA BTW I don't know the standard practice for JSTARS dudes but I do know that CRC types (ABMs and enlisted WDs) all rock callsigns.