viper154

As a manned guy in RPAs I agree the AAM or AM should not be awarded to RPA guys. Putting your ass on the line should be required to get that medal. I think a separate medal should be created. RPAs are a interesting case, little risk but one individual can have more impacts on the battlefield in one night than one could ever imagine. And that deserves some sort of recognition.

Your update is out of date. I know several of AFSOC bros going to ACC, as recently as last week. I won't get into the rest of your post because of OPSEC reasons but your are not correct. I will say AFSOC trains to a higher standard and handles some mission sets that ACC does less frequently.

Got to watch the HUD video today, deff worth hitting up your intel shop, just for the pure "f**k ya!!" Factor.

Short answer. Not really. FWIW the last two classes of my fiscal year (I was in one) had in my opinion the best heavy drops of the year. Except the RPAs. But that's a sore subject with extenuating circumstances. Luck, timing, hard work and don't suck are the keys to success.

There has been a lot of rumors around the squadron of how bad the manned side is getting. We already lost a lot of our 11s, the handful of us UPT directs from 2015 were just notified to expect PCSs back to manned for all of us in 2018, and AFPC has started asking the 18x guys for volunteers for UPT. My how quickly the tides turn. But I wouldn't be surprised if you see someone not get a RPA slot and picked up for UPT. That's weird to say.........

You will get reimbursed up to whatever the lodging rate is if you go off base. If they only have one room available have a friend call and book it. Then call and get your non A. Then have your friend call and cancel the room. Boom. Unless I misunderstood your post and they have multiple one bedrooms left.

That's what I get for listening to students.

Nope. I rented from a old colleague on recent TDY and pocketed the leftover from the 75% rule. How did finance even find out? I just uploaded my receipt in DTS and no questions were ever asked.

AFSOC guys were getting a choice of Nashville, Cuse, March, or Holloman a few months back, or so I heard. I've been TDY for all but 3 weeks so far this year so I don't know how true that still is or was.

In my 2 years of RPA pergitory ive only seen a MQ-9 break 200kts once, full power 15 degrees nose low dive out of icing. 120 is more accurate. You couldn't pay me any amount to stay for another RPA tour. I would give a testicle for a light attack manned tour. Wieght, electrical power, bandwidth are big considerations for a second sensor on the current RPA fleet. A second sensor that the pilot could operate would be awesome, with a throttle quad similar to what the pointy nose types are using, but I would not want trade my ability to go kenetic for it. Unfortunately the -9 was not designed for a second sensor, and I think it would be easier to design a new RPA around that set up. Better yet, get us a light attack manned option so us stuck in RPAs can gtfo.

I watched them take off last night as I left work, sad day in the office today, to them, here here,

I think my statement may have come off the wrong way, I never have and most likely never will be a single seat guy, except the 4.5 hours in the mighty T-6. Sure, as a crew I respect that every crew member has a place in the jet, a job to do, and is part of accomplishing the mission. What I was getting at is that the front seater doesn't need the guy in the back to have a year of training flying instruments, and doing whatever else gets accomplished at full up nav training. Either way cheers, try those fancy marble stones, gives your drink a nice chill without the watering down of a fine beverage. nsplayr, I can't name one, I doubt it will happen, just a thought. So called wise men also thought a airplane could never sink a ship or be a useful strike tool. Just a outside the box thought. Also not interested in the O v E fight, both sides have argued ad nausea in other spots on this forum.

Ask for a number and call. You would be surprised what a phone call can do if you get ahold of the right person. I would also try talking to someone at your hiring unit besides your recruiter. I am not smart on the Reserve hiring process but there is probably a guy in charge of new hires, I would present them with the emails, times, dates, paperwork sent and all that good stuff. Your unit decided to sponsor you so someone from leadership should be willing to make a angry phone call if things aren't getting done. Bottom line, start hasting the shit out of someone to get things done, on a daily basis. AF lesson #1, no one cares more about you/your career/flying than you.

How about enlisted sensors? It puts much more on the pilot having a back seater that knows minimal aviation knowledge, but I don't need a guy in the back telling me how to fly if he has the ISR taken care of. Basically how current RPA ops work. Our LRE sensors go thought a steep learning curve, but of the good ones make it through the program they can be helpful with the flying/backing up the pilot. You could get a sensor through a condensed IFS syllabus to teach basics of flying in a month, and a B course in 5-6 months. Take some crossflow RPA sensors that understand strike and you could probably get them qual'd in under 4 months. Much less time than the 2+ years to get a CSO (plus college) ready. Plus, how many CSOs ever touch a aircraft sensor before their B course? Just what I am told, but a AC-130 buddy of mine tells me that the RPA sensors straight from Holloman are much better at doing sensor things than the CSOs they get from IQT. Personally I think a light attack asset would be a great aircraft to pair with both our ACC/AFSOC RPA fleet. You have the RPAs for the constant ISR, and high in the stack for the strike/op, and your light attack on call at a near by airfield in XXXshitholeXXX country. Shit goes down get the light attack in the air to clean up the mess, or provide more than 4 hellfires and a GBU 12 for the strike/op. Potential for dual qual'd crews in MQ-9s and light attack X, and provide that manned flying for those of us 11s stuck in droids. I think a bigger hurdle would be convincing the powers that be to let T-1 trained guys that have been flying RPAs in a 2 seat attack plane. (we would have the back seater get ATIS) Just a thought. Curious what the peanut gallery has to say. My experience in making things go boom is all from a remote perspective.

When your casual, most jobs 8ish, unless you get a shitty gig. UPT? its not a 9-5 desk job. Some mornings you will be there at 3,4,5 am. Sometimes you will show up at 2,3,4 pm to fly at night. Hours are never the same, except most days for the next year of your life will easily be 11-12 hour days. I lived on the north side of town, its about 10 mins to base. I also lived on base, you will be rolling the dice, the old houses suck, the new ones aren't bad. I recommend anywhere on the north side of town. Avoid the southern areas, especially the south east corner. Its the hood.

I got married right after I commissioned from ROTC, so the wife wasn't on my orders. I just dragged her along and showed our marriage license to the MPF dudes and they got the orders amended. So to answer you question it don't matter. Deff want that marriage license in hand when you get there or you are going to be residing in the dorms. As sofforron said, just do it now and grab the extra money.

No, I just responded to someone in another thread with a similar question, I will give you the same answer. It was 14 hours when I went through 4 years ago fyi. Building has no windows, food is mediocre, its a super stressful environment, and is another opportunity to loose you ticket to the big dance before you get there. If you have the opportunity to get your PPL I would recommend doing it.

IFS is a miserable time. I guess its a little more low stress now but still unfavorable. Its another place that you can get kicked out of, might as well avoid it. In complete honesty, I would avoid it solely for not having to basically live in a building with no windows for 6 weeks, and the food was mediocre at best. Also, you will have a check ride to accomplish if you go because IFS does not give you a PPL for the training.

The JTR, If your leadership there has not declared marshal law and forced people to live on base via a memo then you are good to go. I know several people that have completed IQT in both the 130s and whirly birds in the last 6 months there and they all lived off base. Even if there was a memo, you could still live off base and get paid, you could just get paperwork from leadership.

Ive had moderate success using the threat, never actually had to get the IG involved.

Our entire RPA program/pipeline relies very heavily on contract instructors that do everything (sims, local flights, inerts) only thing they can't do is fly combat lines. I am sure they have no problem keeping guys at Randolph (UPT guy so I didn't go through the school there) but having been through schools at Holloman, Creech, and Cannon, the location/pay ratio have to work. All these places have enough guys to keep them going but usually people get out of mil and transfer as a civilian instructor because of temporary personal reasons or getting their foot in the door at a much better paying place. (and the handful of old crusty dudes just waiting to die). As said above, how do you plan retaining these guys in places like DLF when they can rack up a few thousand hours in 2-3 years and make bank in a desirable location. Its cheaper for the AF to force Lts to be FAIPs for $33,000 a year +BAH/benefits than to shell out 6 figures to a civilian dude.

I don't know anymore than you about the Iran RQ-170 incident, but I can say that RPAs have a very accurate INS system with minimal drift. Easy fix if GPS hacking is what your getting at. You can't control a aircraft from a GPS signal/hack, only make it think somewhere its not. ATC would notice the aircraft is off assigned clearance, or the autopilot would realize the error between the GPS and INS, a GCS would be alerted, and a pilot would take over. I don't like the idea of RPA airliners anymore than the next guy, but I don't thinking hacking really is worth while argument to make.

If your trolling then touche, you got me. If your serious, then no. We do it every day with 70 RPA caps. Encrypted datalinks.

Got picked up with a 2.7 in ROTC, that was about 5 years ago when the first knee jerk oh shit we need pilots thing happened. Guard/Reserve is your best bet for AF, things can be explained in a interview, especially if you have great scores on PCSM and are a bro. AF AD, I could see that getting you a RPA slot, and I would advise against that, but still don't hurt to try. Bust your ass and try, better to try and fail than to give up and wonder what if. Best of luck.

I have to agree. The crap product the AF/DOD bought for RPAs can do some sweet stuff, but there are a lot of glitches and problems that need a human in the loop. Obviously the commercial sector would have a much better product than what we (mil) are currently using, but what happens when that automated jet hits a flock of birds/has autopilot failure/whatever and someone has to take the plane on a satcom link that has been monitoring 10 other planes and bring it to a safe landing. Anyone in current RPA ops knows the SA of a safety observer running into a GCS as you receive a 9 line and are setting strike posture. They usually have no idea whats going on, are a SA drain on the crew, and can barely make sure you laser and missile are on the right code. 99.9% of the time drone airline flight would be fine, but I just don't think a crew with minimal SA on the ground monitoring multiple jets would be able to step into a no shit Sully situation and save the day. Just my opinion. Also, we would need to figure out the satcom delay problem for a ground crew not co located at the airport to be able to land in a emergency. I have only done it in the sim, but trying to land a plane on a 1.5 second delay in just about impossible.