viper154
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Posts posted by viper154
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2 minutes ago, SocialD said:
LOL that remind me of our last TDY to DM. I'm leading the first 4-ship out the gate, and since we're TDY and we get last pick of airspace, it was ballz early (first t/o for the day). Controller says, bring on the the noise complaints, you're cleared takeoff... Holy crap did they ever pour in! Apparently, those north of the 10 don't like us. I think some of the complaints made it to the the base before I hit the airspace. Sadly many are retired military who, "know how them jets should be flying..."
Back on topic, we can carry onto base, but still have to keep it locked in the car. Argued for days with the SF shirt (buddy from my enlisted days) on this. His argument is that his guys who know who is who... I've seen your reaction time, I'm not worried about being confused by our cops as the perp...I'm more worried about the minutes before they show up.
Sadly my plane makes very little noise, but our base carry policy is the same, and I got the same explanation as you. There are many people in my squadron that shoot almost every week, do 3 gun, etc that I trust way more that waiting 5 minutes for SF to show up with a bunch of A1Cs that never shot before there military expierence
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1 hour ago, Tank said:
Luckily you’re grandfathered in the old rate...
PCS is after the new year, so not going to get the old rate.
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42 minutes ago, Champ Kind said:
2019 BAH rates are out
Love seeing the rates drop even with housing prices/mortgage rates rising. Down almost $80 for a 0-3 with dependents in the Eglin/Hurlburt area. In the process of buying down there and the housing prices are deff on the rise............
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How much you willing to fight the good fight? If you got the time/energy/documentation and they still refuse to pay because of reasons like “it’s just the system we use/that’s how it’s always been” I would politely let them know if they can’t provide documented proof of reasons not to pay you that you will be making a IG complaint, and actually follow though and make one.
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14 minutes ago, gorams5 said:
Any more info on the C-146? Besides the old post I can’t find anything on it. Is it possible to drop one out of upt?
Yes. There is another thread on here with some stuff. There is reason you can’t find much on it. NSAV is pretty hush, you bring people/things to places, and you wil be stationed at Duke. Probably as much info as you are going to get.
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11 minutes ago, 08Dawg said:
Just saw a new guidance memo, with parts effective 15 January 19...OCP patches authorized on the FDU. Color patches still authorized. The stupid part is that they’re writing the reg to make bag patch wear mirror the OCP set up. Get ready to wear your squadron patch on the left and and wing/WIC/TPS/flag on the right.
In the last 2 years my wing has gone from from left shoulder IR flag, to right shoulder IR flag, to right OCP pattern flag, to this brown pumpkin spice flag. Each change has cost he squadron a few thousand a pop to re issue new flags.
But I’m sure their aren’t more important things to focus on, like doing our jobs or pilot retention.
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1 hour ago, herkbier said:
I’m not an 11R.. but I can’t imagine the multitasking in a E-3/8 or RC is that difficult for the front end.. I’m gonna guess U-28 since he’s looking to move to a crewed aircraft.
I would guess CV-22, that thing doesn't fly like anything else. I'm about to head to the U-28 schoolhouse my self, everything I have been told by U-28 guys is that the plane is very easy to fly stick and rudder wise, its meant to be flown by doctor/lawyer types, the hard part is the mission/tactical side. Original poster said it was the initial check ride that caused the FEB, so from my understanding he would have been hooking the initial qual phase that doesn't incorporate any of the tactical U-28 things.
Someone please correct me if any of that is wrong, my U-28 knowledge comes from a 3 hour fam ride and bs ing with the 28 guys getting some info on the schoolhouse.
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2 hours ago, MooseAg03 said:
This is what sucks for those of us who were farmed out to RPAs and why those of us who returned to cockpits will all be leaving. Upon coming back you can either choose to fly your ass off to regain some credibility in your MWS, or you can sit behind the desk and work for that DO/CC push.
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkThat choice is easy, fly. The last 3 years I’ve been robbed of flying. You can bet your ass off I will be in the air every second I can, mostly because I just love being the air, but partially to bolster my airline app.
My life has been much better since I stopped caring about all the other bullshit and focused on being a pilot.
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15 hours ago, Bojangles said:
Semi-related question. So just about everything goes off of your home of residence. I've been told before that the background check for buying a weapon uses the state where you are stationed and not the state for home of residence. Essentially I was denied buying a weapon while on leave in my state of my home of residence because they said the ATF (or whoever) would consider my home of residence as an out of state purchase since i actually reside in a different state. That may have came off really confusing but anyone had a similar experience?
You certainly can buy firearms in both states. Bring your orders if you are in your state of duty. Only gotcha is the firearms laws in different states. You can buy a lot of things in most states that are very illegal in places like NY and Cali.
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10 hours ago, LICECUB said:
So I will be keeping my current state of residence my entire military career, unless I choose to change it? Updating my current home address will be no big deal but sounds like storing it getting on and leaving base is the biggest issue.
That’s one of the beautiful things of mil serivice. You can keep your state of residence or change as required. Do your research into your states income tax code and the states you are stationed in. You can possiably avoid paying state income tax as filing as a non resident, or changing your residency to the state you are living in if it does not have a income tax, like TX, Fl, AZ, and some others. I would think this would have no effect on your CC permit, but the laws are different in every state. Every base also has different refs on CC, so check your local base regs. FYSA Every base reg I have seen requires you to leave your weapon in your vehicle if you are allowed to bring it on base.
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21 minutes ago, waveshaper said:
What type ordnance was used on this mission? I imagine he was carrying a few of them brand "Spanking" new GBU-69 Lubricated Muffin Penetrators designed specifically for BC type missions. Hopefully the fuzing was set properly and functioned in the long-delay mode, generating some muffin induced tremors/a smoking hole. I would consider this mission a failure if the fuzing functioned in the instantaneous mode or worse yet - the premature mode or was a dud .
Don’t discount the “hight above burst” fusing, it’s great for getting that frag right in the face/head/chest area.
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2 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:
I kind of prefer having a Task Force or Special Ops Task Force at the airfield. Also, having attack helos on the ready comes in handy. I wouldn't feel safe with Security Forces trying to project power outside the wire. Not like they are going to be able to call in CAS. This is a joke right? Willing to bet a shiny penny came up with this concept.
The idea has been thrown around to get some of the more specialized SF guys that do go out side the wire (Ravens/Guardian Angels, Dagger types) some familiarity with local ISR/Attack assets and some expierence on the radio. I have actually been able to do a little of it with some of the guys at my base, it was very much a more bro level deal than anything official, but I think it was good training for them.
As a armed ISR/CAS asset I don’t nessisarly need the guy on the ground (especially guarding the wire) to give me a 9 line, if they can get on a radio and in a clear and concise manner tell me where ish they are taking fire from I can provide great info on enemy movement/numbers/etc for them to take proper action. Worse case I can always shoot under self defense ROE, especially if we are talking about the wire about to breached.
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1 hour ago, Lawman said:
Ah I misread that, yeah that makes more sense.
Fair warning, the Velcro they use isn’t high quality. If you wash your stuff with the tapes/ranks in place it’ll fray at the stitching holding the back on after a while. If you remove the Velcro every time you wash it will quickly turn the Velcro it’s self weak and probably tear the stitching up as well. I’ve got it both ways for sewn on for “regular” and Velcro for “beater.”
The prisoners making our uniforms are really sh!t seamstresses.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
For some reason it’s only the name/AF tape Velcro that sucks. Taking a patch off the arms is about as hard as getting your drunk recently divorced buddy to leave the strip club.
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20 hours ago, GoodSplash9 said:
You guys are both right, what I typed was wrong. I'd venture to say most pilots (if not all) in the Air Force have made awesome contributions on the battle field and tactically in support of their mission. I've definitely done stuff I'm proud of that I feel like made a difference in the reaper.
The bitterness for me and what I should have said comes from the fact that despite what commanders usually say, actions and follow through don't usually line up supporting that "mission first" and "performance in primary duty" are really valued as desired traits for officers. I got tired of VIP/DV visits, change of commands, and other QWEEPY BS that leadership pushes to set you up for award packages, strats, and "desired" jobs. It came to the point where the time required to stay tactically proficient and actually lead the people while doing those things wasn't worth the cost for family and personal life. Nothing new, same stuff driving most pilots out.
Viper, you still flying RPAs? I'm a little bit of a unicorn as a UPT direct dude that recategorized voluntarily about 2.5 years ago. I was hoping to "make a difference" and lead some people. The above factors and a medical issue at a bad time led to me re-evaluating. I hit my 2 year mark this month, and my SQ and OG leadership know that I plan to 7-day opt any orders and get out if I can't get back to a real cockpit. I was about 95% there for scoring a white jet gig a few months ago, and my medical status changed only letting me fly a crew aircraft. I'd be grateful if anyone has advice on persuading my SQ/OG leadership and AFPC to consider pushing me back to a cockpit (preferably AMC). I'm already 100% committed to looking for Guard/Reserve flying gigs, but I'd be happy to stay on active duty if I can fly.
I’m still at my RPA squadron but I am PCSing to a cockpit after the new year, got my assignment a few months ago, finally dropped orders today. I was a UPT D from the round 3 years ago. As a recat your only option is white jet, so with your med status T-1s are probably your only bet. Hopefully you can snag a jet. I here the AF is looking to ramp up UPT, going to require more instructors
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28 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:
Not sure what RPA you are flying, but there are cockpits. I just recently had a bro go from herks to RPAs to tankers. My other buddy went from legacy herks to RPAs to the C-130J. They are releasing flyers from RPAs and not allowing flyers to go to RPAs from what I heard. I think I saw a PSDM where if you haven't actually flown your MWS aircraft in 4-5 years, you stay in RPAs. Don't quote me on that one because I think it was more date specific.
If you been in RPAs for 5+ years there was a recat board a few months back, odds were not good if you were in that boat. If not your odds are good of getting back to a jet. We have had two to T-6s, one to T-1s, a 130J, U-28, AWACS, EC-130, C-17, 135. It was a mix bag of returning to previous airframes and going to a new jet. We have a few more prior manned dudes that have been told to expect an assignment in the next 12 months. It’s a mass exodus of manned from RPAs right now.
Back to regularly scheduled PRF/OPR talk.
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1 hour ago, Starfox said:
Thank you all for your responses and information.
Neither of us have any true aspirations for fighters. We both think A-10s and B-1s would be pretty neat, but we understand that realistically that probably won’t happen, especially with Join Spouse.
We have our sights set on primarily anything AFSOC, as we’ve both extensively worked with that community. We’re also both linguists, so to fly on aircraft that lingusits fly on (except for NSAv) would be pretty cool. NSAv, Gunships, MC-130s, and U-28s is what we’re hoping for in that order. RC-135s wouldn’t be the end of the world for me, but it would be for her, haha. Aside from that, I suppose we’re pretty open. If we can’t get a mission we’re particularly passionate about, then we’ll try for aircraft that have good duty station we wouldn’t mind living in. Most important thing is staying together. I personally have been fortunate enough to have a very rewarding/cool career to where I feel I can do something not as sexy in order to be with her.
War007afa, what question might that be?
Once again, thank you all for your insights.
I know two couples in AFSOC that were successful at working their assignments. Both couples were FAIPs, one decided to roll the dice, both were able to get gunships as a second assignment. Other couple didn’t want to risk it and volunteered for RPAs.
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It’s a total crap shoot. If you both do really well in would advantageous to have a rack and stack of the most common aircraft/bases at the top. C-17s to Charleston/McChord, 130s to the Rock, KC-135s to Fairchild, look at the assignment night thread and you can get a good idea of what is “common”. That F-22 or C-17 to Hawaii are hit and miss, and odds that it will be in both drops and you both finish high enough to grab the assignment aren’t that great.
I would think your best bet for staying together would be biting that FAIP bullet, odds are most people in the class won’t want it, I would think your CCs would have a little more pull getting you to the same base after a FAIP tour, they have a “FAIP drop” for their follow on assignment but I’m sure there is some wiggle room to make things happen.
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24 minutes ago, Danger41 said:
Other side of the river would’ve started the invasion of Mosul early by some SOF guys and helos.
They would have had a stack full of Reapers within minutes with weapons armed ready to lay down some hate, I’m sure every other armed asset would have been on station shortly after. Much as the RPA gets a bad rap they are darn good at finding shit, steady stare, and blowing shit up, and also their connectivity back to C2.
I always briefed my crew flying the line, i don’t care who we are following or what target we are working, if there is a fallen angel I’m coming off station to go get him, if you disagree put it on the tapes but it’s going to happen.
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He was a great f ing dude. We met at IFS, he shuttled me around since I didn’t drive up. Got to meet up with him a few years later when he was going through pit.
To him. 🍺🍺
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Expectation management is key. It’s not the “good ole days” anymore, and it’s a government organization, the beurocracy and bs are alive and well.
That being said, it’s still a amazing experience, Im glad I choose to be military aviator and worked my ass off my USAF wings. I went straight to RPAs after UPT, it was a major let down, I missed being the air everyday. But I learned more than I ever thought, and was closer (even though remotely)to the pointy end of the stick than most will ever be. I got one of my top choices of assignment out of RPAs, and recently have returned to the jet. I don’t take any flight for granted, and I’m usually smiling like a fool from the moment I step until engine shutdown. I’ve been lucky, I have had some pretty good leadership in AFSOC, I’ve also seen some not good leadership in other organizations both in my wing and in others.
Im still torn if I want to stay or punch at my 10, I’m not on the HPO track, and that’s fine. If I do decide to leave AD when the time comes it’s likely I will try to find a guard/reserve gig. Going AD was probably the only chance I was get to fly anything bigger than a 172, and it has opened up my opportunities in the aviation world.
Some things have been awesome, some have sucked, I still don’t for a second regret the decisions I have made.
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2 minutes ago, tac airlifter said:
This is a common misconception. Anecdotal, not data: Nearest guy with AFSAS access to me is several hundred miles away in a different group. I’m a DO of an operational flying SQ; if I struggle gathering safety lessons learned, how can a line AC do better?
I copy and appreciate your encouragements towards personal assertiveness, and a fix is imminent for my situation. However there is an institutional problem here surpassing your proposed solution.
I agree, I’m just a lowly crew dog but at any given time the odds are better that our safety guy is deployed/TDY than home. I had AFSAS access for a few months for a course I attended but it was quickly taken away.
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13 minutes ago, matmacwc said:
We briefed the whole AETC Wing at a white jet base the Alaska C-17 accident cause everyone needed to know that. The problem would be with your local safety shop. BTW, don't watch that brief without some booze on hand.
I’ve seen it several times, always a tough one. As I said in another post, my MAJOM/wing has been pretty good about getting us the info but many others are not. How many people know about the two U-28 incidents, the Aviano F-16, the 135 yaw mishap, MC-12 in Afghan, and the couple T-6 and 38 mishaps we had this year. That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head after a few to many beers.
The Air Force as a flying organization needs to reevaluate how this info is distributed. I get ORM and safety first bs from leadership constantly, but as a organization we aren’t doing enough to get this info/lessons learned to the crews.
Its only going to become more important as the crusty knowledgeable guys leave for greener pastures.
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2 hours ago, matmacwc said:
Blue 4 News is supposed to do this
5 years of flying on active duty and the first time I ever heard of blue 4 news was when I went to the safety program manager course. The system is broke, we as aircrew should probably be getting that briefed to us every month.
Maybe I am biased, aviation safety is something I am passionate about, and learning from the mistakes of others to not repeat them myself is also something I feel passionate about.
To much red tape/fear of recourse from leadership has made the safety process useles.
To many of our aircrew have no clue about most of the fatal accidents the USAF has had in the last few years. Their are countless lessons to be learned and re learned.
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On 11/10/2018 at 11:25 AM, 17D_guy said:
Additionally, getting some of the HHQ shoe clerks to think outside of TDY's to CONUS locations and what it takes to go to some of these places has been extremely difficult. Required to wear civilian clothes...we need a civ clothing allowance for our E's. The retired MSgt running XP shaking his head "No," since they can just go buy it out of pocket. WTF.
We made a push for this a few years ago. Unfunded request through the the group RAs. Required a lot of justification from the SQ/CC. Other units skin the cat by making the civ clothing part of the initial issue gear you get when you get to your unit. You get a a gift card to REI, or whatever store meets your clothing needs, and a shopping list of required items, xx polos, xx khaki pants, shoes, mutlitool, etc. Allows everyone to build their own “kit” so they can get items that meet the needs/sizes/preferences of the individual. The gift card takes the hassle out of having to have a government charge card holder go with every person to buy their stuff.
I would probably recommend sending a NCO or O with the young guys, giving a couple hundred dollars on a gift card to a young airman is a recipe for disaster.
Military Discounts
in Useful Product Reviews & Military Discounts
Posted
My wife got some weird text back in the summer from Verizon about a extra military discount. I called because it looked like a scam but it ended up being legit. After taxes and the bs charges it’s $100 for 2 lines with unlimited everything. I haven’t noticed any speed decrease in my phone but the wife’s phone which is newer than mine has been really slow, I’m guessing it’s a phone issue since mine is normal.