ol-IEWO

Try magicJack, $40 for the first year. It's some what similar to Vonage only cheaper. It plugs into your USB port and works with a headset and mike; a phone is not required at your end. You can choose your area code and city from a list of larger cities. If you get a number in a city close to your family, all their calls to you are local calls. The telephone network doesn't care where you are, only what your phone number tells the system. I work a lot from my house which is in the country and I use majicJack as a business line with a phone number for downtown Dallas. http://www.magicjack.com/areacodes/ Only problems I've heard about involve "slow"/low computing power computers. While using magicJack with them, don't use the computer for anything else, it garbles the transmission.

The both use the same technology, CDMA, and probably the same frequency band; plus they are merging.

You can start here: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-...ce-records.html I've helped vets get copies of their own records but if you are not the vet, it can get difficult. This is not a fast process either; expect to wait several months for anything. Oh, you will get a message saying they got your request and expect an answer in 10 days, that is a target they are shooting for but miss buy several months. Good luck.

I can't answer for the current field grade officers but I can tell you my story. I was selected to attend AFIT at a civilian university for an MBA in business admin and management. After graduation, I was given a bullshit non-job with a bunch of civilians in a non-flying command. The civilian manager had no use for rated officers; two years and they are gone. I let my feelings be known and I got called into the General's office. I thought I was screwed but he was a fair guy and never mentioned my problem. The incident caused him to review my record, saw my MBA and asked me to be on his staff to provide management analysis and advice when I saw a problem. He threw some bene's in there about a follow on assignment so it was a big win for me. After finding some problems, I'd cover it at his staff meetings and list possible solutions as A, B, or C. Too often, the staff would come up with D, E, and F on how to hide the problem, shift blame or some similiar fix. After my follow on assignment (which was another desk job but was super), I went back to a flying unit, unfortunately the Wing CO saw the General's review in my records so instead of being assigned to a squadron, I ended up on his staff doing the same thing for him as I did for the General. The only difference was we would discuss it in his office. When I found small problems, I would make a casual comment about it, have a brief conversation, and some of the time he would tell me to get his Exec. Off. to fix it. Othertimes he'd say no and move on to another topic. At times he'd get upset that it was even mentioned. Fortunately, we didn't have chicken shit issues like your shoe clerks are imposing. On bigger things I would get into somewhat of a heated discussions with him, I sure wasn't pushing the envelope or anything that stupid but about the time he started to get a little irritated, he'd get a slight grin on his face and say "Major,- - this is- - -MY Wing." I'd salute and leave, letting him have the last word. I was probably one of the few people to be in a position like this. Did I make a difference, I don't know. I didn't feel like it made a difference but I gave it my best. It was a thankless job that I disliked, I felt like I was spending a lot of time and had little to show for it. Even though I was attached to a squadron and flew a lot (we were short flight crew so I flew about as much as the guys in the squadron), I missed the support and camaraderie associated with being in the squadron. I was frustrated and fed up so I got out. You can say that I quit pissing into the wind and quit beating my head against the wall.

I'm former Air Force and having read some of the post in this thread, I have to say that the AF has got too many chicken-shit assholes these days. Moustaches out of regulation limits, wrong hat, no reflective belt - good grief; is this the Air Force or ROTC? These 'hall monitors" must have a serious inferiority complex and this crap must make them feel important. Oh, they are enforcing the regulation; why? Some of these reg's aren't even enforced stateside. Well, at least at the ACC bases I've visited; haven't been to an AMC base, so I don't know about them. In the posts I've read, none of the items relate to mission or ability to do the job. I'm a Vietnam vet, flew out of Thailand from Taklhi. Regulation hat - nope, it was an Australian "Go To Hell" outback hat. Regulation flight suit - nope, it was locally made using camouflage fabric (pre-Nomex days); regulation moustache – again, no, had to fold up the handlebars to get them under the O2 mask. Our Wing CO decided to have a beard growing contest for everyone except us flyers. Great for morale until Higher HQ shot that down. When the BX had no regulation hats, the he authorized any hat, military or otherwise, could be worn with any uniform. It was before my time there, but an inspection team showed up and the CO threw them out, told them he had a war to fight and he didn't need them screwing things up. If we had your shoeclerks, there wouldn’t have been anybody on base except shoeclerks. There's a time and place for everything and from the photos I've seen of the 'Deid, it shouldn't be at the 'Deid. The 'Deid looks like the end of the earth to me. How you folks survive there is beyond my comprehension.

I was involved in the acquisition and modification of some aircraft for the "Presidential Fleet." Occasionally we had to visit the flying squadron and got to know several members. Everyone was an expert in their field, they were hand picked (special assignment), and passed an intensive background investigation. All of the enlisted guys were sergeants and the flight crew were majors and Lt. Cols. This was not a newbie assignment.

I was flying F-4's until '79 (makes me an old fart) and there was no naming ceremony in any of the squadron's I flew with. A few guys had nicknames but that happens with any group of guys. I got the impression it started in the AF after "Top Gun." I recently visited D-M and learned that new A-10 pilots get their nickname a couple of weeks prior to graduating. It's subject to be changed at their first operational squadron, so I was told.

Four digit wings were command established wings as opposed to USAF established wings. SAC had a dozen or more in the 60's. http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/4digit-home.htm For general information about wings and squadrons go here http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/rso/rso_index.html and select "Types of USAF Organizations" for an explanation. If you want to know about a specific USAF established wing/group or a squadron, select "Wings/Groups" or "Squadrons/Flights" Support groups and squadrons usually have the number designation of the parent Wing: 355 Fighter Wing has 355th Operations Group, 355th Maintenance Group, and so on. The Maintenance Group has the 355th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, 355th Component Maintenance Squadron, you get the idea I hope. More than you ever wanted to know.

You bet it's a warfighter tradition. It was one of the few the AF had. We had some of the most extreme moustaches during Southeast Asia conflict at Takhli RTAFB. Handlebar 'staches so long that they had to be folded so the O2 mask fit. This thread makes it sound like a bunch of PC wus's are riding herd and are winning. If you're flying fighters, you got an obligation to sport a "Go to Hell" moustache. It's part of the uniform. I'm with Cooter "...I say grow on brother, grow on. " Old School Vet

I've never had a problem with USAA. When my daughter was a teenage, she totaled a 3 year old car - no problem with USAA. My wife was hit by an uninsured drunk driver, hired a lawyer to sue USAA for pain and suffering - no problem with USAA. My wife totaled her pickup, no problem with USAA. They never threatened to drop me and never raised my premiums as a result of any of this. Bought a new truck for her through USAA from a local dealer, best deal I ever got.