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afthunderchief16

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Posts posted by afthunderchief16

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Anyone heard any gouge on the release of the O-4 board? MyPers still not updated since 7 Jun and still showing "late Jun - mid-July" for the release. 

    Unconfirmed words from the minions in my OG is that "it should be any day now..." but I'll believe that as soon as it happens. 

    How do you feel about your airframe and mission?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by afthunderchief16

    RC-135:

    1.  Ops Tempo/Deployment:

    Varies by RC-135 model. For RIVET JOINT (RC-135V/W), you can expect 1 or 2 deployments per year as a line flyer. Desert trips go for 90 days and every other trip (EUCOM/PACOM/SOUTHCOM/etc) traditionally goes for 60 days. Between that, there are plenty of opportunities for Nellis trips supporting RF/WIC/other exercises. Everything is pretty well planned out for the following FY so there are few surprises as to when you will be hitting the road. Things have slowed down over the past couple years compared to the near 1/1 dwell that the community was sustaining circa 2010. It used to be that younger dudes could bank on a few trips to the desert before getting to see other COCOMs, but that is not at all the case anymore. A lot of dudes will go a few trips before ever putting on a tan flight suit. 

    For COBRA BALL (RC-135S), things are significantly more dynamic depending on what is going on across the world. I would have to check with some 45th bros for some current data, but it is not that uncommon for these dudes to still be on the road for 4-5 (or more) months a year for various durations. Not uncommon for these dudes to be on a 1/1 dwell still. 

    For COMBAT SENT (RC-135U), their deployments are pretty well scripted but can still expect to be on the road for upwards of 4-5 months out of the year. Similar to the BALL, depending on the crew position (pilot/nav vs EWO), these dudes can be close to a 1/1 dwell.

          2.  Lifestyle/ Family Stability

          Depends on the squadron. 343d/38th dudes (RJ) have a pretty steady family life as they can typically plan things out better in the future. 45th dudes (CB/CB) seem to be more of the road warriors over the past few years and it takes it's toll as one would imagine. While you are at home, things are pretty vanilla. Standard business hours for the most part and very few weekends at the office. Omaha is actually a great town to raise a family in and there are more things to do than you would think. Chicago and Denver are both an 8 hour drive away and easy to get to for a long weekend if you want to get somewhere more metropolitan. 

          3. Community morale

          Totally varies as with other airframes. With all things RC-135, the community is huge and it's easy to get lost in the mix. Timing plays a huge factor in this and you usually see the unlucky dudes that have multiple consecutive desert trips hating life whereas dudes that have trips to the more tropical locations with a more positive outlook. There are not as many command opportunities in the 55 WG as other MDSs just given the few operating locations but x-flow to other heavy C2ISR platforms have been more common over the past 5 years. For 11Rs, you can expect that Offutt will keep you as long as possible as we are starting to see shortages in ACs. 12Rs have a little better luck with getting a staff release after you have met your O-4 board. The next few years look like they might get weird as we are prog'd to get significantly less from UPT/UCT resulting in the potential for slower upgrades and more time on the road. Everyone is kinda holding their breath to see how this all buffs out. 

          4. Advancements & Future of the airframe

          Even though the fleet is made up of '62 & '64 model -135s, they are all fairly modern on the inside. As Joe $hithead gets new toys, we upgrade our systems to match. The jets typically go to depot on a 3 year cycle for complete overhauls to keep them as technologically relevant as possible.

          Talks are starting to heat up about recapitalization of the capabilities on a different airframe. I have heard everything from a business jet to a 737 airframe to "what if ISR wasn't on an air-breathing asset." Personally, I would not expect to see manned ISR go away any time in the next 30-40 years simply from a foreign policy power projection standpoint. I think that once the E-8/EC-130 finally get recapitalized, we will be quick to follow suit. The nice thing is that we get BIG SAFARI to do our acquisitions, so I would expect the timeframe to be significantly quicker than other platforms. 

          5. Preferred PCS locations 

          -Offutt. And more Offutt. The norm seems for dudes to do 6-9 years in Omaha before they can finally leave, but all roads will eventually lead back to Offutt... Not necessarily a bad thing since the Bellevue/Omaha area is a pleasant surprise, but there are not a lot of PCS opportunities to locations with permanent staff outside of Nebraska. We have squadrons at Kadena and Mildenhall, but they are only manned with ~10 permanent party flyers. A smaller number of dudes will get the chance to PCS to Souda Bay or to the depot at Greenville, TX but they are the exception rather than the rule. 

    • Upvote 1

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    3 hours ago, guineapigfury said:

    Bro, throw a "NSFW" on that as a professional courtesy.  I'm smart enough (barely) to avoid clicking that link at work, but we have Lt's on this site.

    Ya, I kinda feel like if you don't have the SA to not click on something at work with the words "go topless" in the address, there might be some bigger issues at hand.

    • Upvote 4

    VA Loans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Has anyone messed around with assumable mortgages or land contracts in the past? 

    Just got unexpected PCS orders 16 months after buying the house and 6 months after refinancing to a way lower rate and have little desire to take a kick in the nuts from closing costs right now in addition to being deployed until ~30 days prior to my PCS. 

     

    Saddle up for Syria? Or Op Deny Christmas '13

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Russia is reportedly sending advanced anti-aircraft, Pantsir-S (SA-22 Greyhound), missile systems to Syria.

    Excerpt; The anti-aircraft system would be operated by Russian troops, rather than Syrians, the Western officials said.

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/09/12/reports-say-russia-moving-anti-aircraft-system-into-syria.html

    Not necessarily new, the Syrians have already had the Pantsir-S for years. The only thing that'll change is now there is someone in Syria that actually knows how to use them...

    • Upvote 3

    Kadena information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Any new gouge on Kadena these days? Just found out that I will likely be heading that direction early next summer. Are they still enforcing the 100% on-base housing rule or would it even be worth it to look off base for a single family house for the family?

    Electronic flight bags could boost operational safety, effectiveness

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Thanks. I'll engage w/ the aircrew that bought them and see if we can find some compatible apps.

    Have you tried calling over to OGV yet to get the POC down at Greenville (L3 or blue suitors)?

    I know that the whole EFB thing has been in the works for quite some time down there and they have been mulling over all of the options to try and satisfy the security requirements of the jet and attempting to still provide a somewhat adequate tablet so I don't think that some dude just went out and spent $15k + on a shitty product without doing some due dilligence.

    Either way, start with OGV to make sure you aren't duplicating efforts to get them set up.

    PM me if you need contact info, etc.

    VA Loans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Big 2 on recommending Dave. Closing this week after being in the market for a little over a year due to deployments and TDYs. Dave was extremely helpful the entire with keeping us in the loop with market changes while other brokers would have been content with bailing on us for taking so long.

    Ended up putting an offer on the house we are buying while I was at TDY, my wife was out of town and Dave was on vacation but he was rock solid at maintaining the same level of support and ensuring that all of the documents made their way to the underwriter.

    Pretty much same stats as ARIs 'R' Us: 3.75%/zero down/enough of a lender credit to cover the VA funding fee/30 day close

    RC-135 (Rivet Joint) Q&A

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Would anyone be able to talk to the current and forecast deployment rates, the good and bad of the RC as well as Omaha, and general info on the lifestyle for a guy with a family?

    Depends on the specific RC type and then further depends on crew position. You can expect at least one 3 month to the desert a year and then typically another 2-3 monther to a different part of the globe with plenty of TDY opportunities sprinkled in between.

    Let me know if you want more specifics.

    As for the Omaha portion, it's really not that bad of a place to be. Very family friendly. WX is tolerable but limited as far as outdoor activities if that's your thing. Home prices are pretty affordable but taxes are outrageous ($4500ish/year on a $200k house). Definitely worse places to be!

    (Breaking) Military Clauses in Leases

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Thread revival.

    The wife and I are in a little bit of a predicament regarding te apartment that we put down a deposit on at Maxwell for SOS that was supposed to start next week. For various reasons, I got pulled from the class for one later in the year (5 weeks maybe?). Since we are so late in the game in getting pulled, the corporate housing company is apparently going to be charging us for a month's worth of rent for a place that we never stepped foot in to. The verbiage that we got from them:

    "AHI Corporate Housing is under Fair Housing regulations which we must abide as rental agency. We must also abide by the Landlord / Tenant laws concerning military individuals and families which is mandated by the US Government. This law states that leases must have a military clause which can be ended at anytime with a thirty-day notice. Your agreement started March 22nd and now ends on April 20th which is 30-days. You will be responsible for the rent for this period. The cleaning fee and pet fee will not be your responsibility as you will not be taken possession."

    Anyone ever have something similar to this? I called JAG but the soonest that they could get me in is 2 Apr. I am in the process of re-reading the lease to get all the finer details that I probably blindly signed away.

    Deployed again....from my deployment?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    http://youtu.be/F4eCd6xUSik

    This sounds all too familiar...

    Probably. TDY history is not updated until you return from a trip; therefore, you can have a significant jump in STRD or Short Tours completed when you return. On vMPF main page you should see your Individual Dwell Time (IDT Counter). Those #'s should show your 1:1 dwell based upon your current deployment. The 1:1 dwell is written in Deployment Availability Code (DAV) 81. If there is no indication of a deployment, get it fixed ASAP.

    I hope that helps. I am afraid for you and others in the position of deployment to 365/PCS to the Died (I assume). I hope the 1-yr PCS is not how we "fix the glitch."

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Well, the whole PMAG this is legit, just got confirmation for my order. They are letting you buy up to 5 each of the Gen 3 (windowless), or Gen 2 MOE (with or without window). Totaled about $240 after shipping, etc.

    Not a bad time to track down the random dudes you know flying out of C Springs and bribe them!

    (null)

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Not sure if anyone has seen this yet, but if you are lucky enough to be a resident of CO as some of us are, Magpul is going to be offering up to 10 PMAGs at MSRP if you have a valid CO address that matches your billing address with $5 shipping. Just signed up for it, will update with how the process goes and how long until I actually have the PMAGs in hand.

    http://www.magpul.com/colorado

    Brit's buy 3 RC-135's

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    One of the big reasons that those tails were chosen is because they are in the same production run as half of the current RJs that are flying. L3 figured that it would be easier to retrofit them having "more similar" airframes rather than tails spread across multiple production years.

    (null)

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