nsplayr
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Posts posted by nsplayr
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Reason #132 not to go the the Air Force Academy: Swine Flu!
The Air Force Academy has diagnosed 15 basic cadet trainees with swine flu and isolated another 74 who have exhibited symptoms of the world-wide pandemic.None of the cadets have been hospitalized and remain isolated inside a campus dormitory, officials said.
The cadets are part of the 1,344 incoming freshmen who arrived at the academy June 25 for training. Academy officials started isolating cadets Monday after symptoms worsened, said John Van Winkle, an academy spokesman.
“We are taking the necessary precautions to educate and safeguard military and civilian personnel, as well as family members,” said Lt. Gen. Mike Gould, the Air Force Academy’s superintendent, in a statement. “The entire cadet wing and all USAFA personnel have been informed and given instructions of actions to take if flu-like symptoms are exhibited.”
Tests sent to the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine Epidemiology Lab at Brooks City Base, Texas, confirmed the 15 swine flu cases Friday afternoon. The other 74 trainees’ tests sent to the laboratory have not yet been completed.
The entire cadet wing is scheduled to return to the academy Aug. 6. Re-scheduling that date has not been considered, said Capt. Corinna Jones, an academy spokeswoman.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said it is aware of the academy’s swine flu cases and is monitoring the situation.
“Thus far the academy has properly followed the guidance of the CDC,” said Joe Quimby, a CDC spokesman. The guidance includes isolating patients who exhibit flu-like symptoms.
Training will be adapted to account for the illnesses, Van Winkle said. That will include restricting all basic cadet trainees to campus for what was called “Doolie Day Out” on Friday.
It is traditionally the first day trainees get the day off and can leave campus to rest before they enter Jacks Valley for basic training. The day will now be called “Doolie Day Off” as academy officials are preparing activities to allow trainees to relax on campus.
“This is a serious matter and we are treating it as such. We understand friends and family are concerned about their loved ones and we will release updates as information becomes available,” Gould said in a statement.
This is the third Air Force site airmen have contracted swine flu over the past two weeks. Cases have also been confirmed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
PC Disclaimer: I hope they all get better and grow up to be outstanding AF officers etc. etc.
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Just finished First In by Gary Schroen. Excellent, day-by-day account of the first CIA operative that inserted into Afghanistan right after 9/11. Only covers a short period of time since the JAWBREAKER team members were rotated in and out before too long, but a great read. Follow-on would be JAWBREAKER by Gary Berntsen (who took over for Schroen after he left).
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Clearly you do not if you're so confident in our ability to maintain air superiority with our current fighters. People seem to think just b/c we're the US we have the greatest shit and we'll rock the shit out of any country that opposes us. That's a dangerous viewpoint to have, especially when knowing what is out there.
I guess we can agree to disagree. There are plenty of things out there that can shoot our boys down, but A) Who has the motivation to use them against us, and B) Is it a big enough priority to divert significant funds from other military needs. If you can answer those two questions reasonably then maybe you can make a pitch to Sec. Gates, the President, and Congress.
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It is possible to get AC's out of UNT, Nav or EWO, U-boats or H's. You cannot get MC-130H's though. Sorry for not being specific earlier. I have heard of a UNT stud dopping an AC FCO slot. We had a guy in my sqdn get picked up for that. I hear it is really fun, but can be very difficult training. I know several folks that are looking to go FCO.
Accurate on gunship info, all slots are dropping from nav school last I heard (Nav, EWO, FCO for both models). If you go EW you can get T2s right out of nav school...guy in my class did it. Also had one of the goofiest guys from my flight just Q1 his H-model FCO checkride so if he can do it anyone can. I mean honestly, they can teach a monkey to fly a plane with enough rides under his belt...
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Glad you're so confident, because there are a lot of other people who aren't (including me).
Are you someone who will ever potentially have to go against a rapidly-growing number (and proliferation) of Flankers, PL-12s, double-digit SAMs, etc, in any of those aircraft?
If you're asking if I'm a fighter guy then no. Last time I checked though fighter guys aren't the only ones flying against threats...
I understand the threats, but as the article on the Growlers shows, there are simply other priorities that we want to buy and buying fewer F-22s opens up a lot of purchasing power of other capabilities that can have a greater impact on future wars than more dominance in air superiority.
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I'm forced to believe that 80% of this is about money and keeping jobs in the states that make the F-22.
"I'm giddy with happiness over that one," Bishop said. "It's a major win for Utah and also the military," He noted that Hill Air Force Base maintains the F-22, and ATK in Utah manufactures the composite material used to make the plane and provide its tough-to-track stealth characteristics."
Defense contractors are smart enough to know that if they employ people in enough states then their projects have a smaller chance of being cut. Not that having more -22s wouldn't help us defeat some far-off Russian or Chinese threat even more quickly than we already would, but I'm in the camp of wanting to ramp up funding to bolster our weaknesses by scaling back on things we already kick a lot of a$$ at. If this were the mid-90s and we had money coming out of our ears then buy all the -22s we can produce...that's not the case right now and you gotta make a choice, and if you buy more F-22s what in the DoD budget do you cut?
An asymmetrical enemy will not go toe-to-toe with even a handful of -22s because he would lose quickly (what's the kill ratio against -15s again?). He's gonna hit us where we're weak and there are plenty of areas where we're much softer targets (heard of the massive cyber attack probably committed by North Korea over the 4th of July weekend?) Yea, cyber is
compared to F-22 awesomeness but I for one do not doubt future US air superiority with our stable of -15s, -16s, -22s, and -35s, not to mention superior C2, tactical SAMs, etc. etc. -
I missed the Papas intentionally. It was my understanding that all the Papas are with the Reserves now (711th SOS) and there are no active duty Papas anymore.
See 9th SOS at Eglin. Part of 1st SOW and still flying active duty birds. Been there since 1988. Got a friend at nav school who has it first on her dream sheet. The 711th flies the Talon I out of Duke from what I've read.
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MC-130...well, there's two basic variants: The Talon II and the W model...
And the Papas (MC-130P). Based at Eglin and specializing in helo refueling but still capable of the other MC-130 mission sets. To quote from globalsecurity.org:
"The MC-130P (formerly the HC-130P/N) Combat Shadow flies clandestine or low visibility, low-level missions into politically sensitive or hostile territory to provide air refueling for special operations helicopters. The MC-130P primarily flies its single- or multi-ship missions at night to reduce detection and intercept by airborne threats. Secondary mission capabilities include airdrop of small special operations teams, small bundles, and zodiac and combat rubber raiding craft; as well as night-vision goggle takeoffs and landings, tactical airborne radar approaches and in-flight refueling as a receiver."
Did I miss anything?HC-130s. Again from globalsecurity.org:
"The HC-130 is an extended-range, combat rescue version of the C-130 transport aircraft. Capable of independent employment in the no-to-low threat environment. Its primary mission is to provide air refueling for rescue helicopters. The HC-130 can perform extended searches in a permissive environment and has the capability to airdrop pararescuemen and survival equipment to isolated survivors when a delay in the arrival of a recovery vehicle is anticipated. Flights to air refueling areas or drop zones are accomplished at tactical low altitude to avoid threats. NVG-assisted, low-altitude air refueling and other operations in a low-threat environment are performed by specially trained crews. The crew can perform airborne mission commander (AMC) duties in a no-to-low threat environment when threat conditions permit."
I think if I had to fill out a dream sheet right now it would probably go...F-15E
MC-130
B-1
U-28
All Others
Good list so far. Keep an open mind and research, talk with your instructors, actually do well at nav school, etc. As a prior-enlisted and flyer I'm sure you'll do fine and should have some good stories to tell your LT classmates. Good luck man and feel free to PM with questions.
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Yea, good advice from 08. IMHO either of the formerly WSO positions (F-15E & B-1) are pretty sweet b/c you go fast and kill people. Beyond that, it's really what you think you'd be in to. Lots of travel and working with army/hauling stuff = C-130. Bombardier = B-52. High-tech nerd with lots of cool toys and a gucci lifestyle = RC-135. All of these are caricatures of the real thing and if you don't talk to the instructors who've been there you're not helping yourself, but it never hurts to think about what you want to fly. And good on ya for considering 2nd, (and 3rd, and 4th...) choices. You never know if you'll be the #1 stud or struggle to get by.
My recommendation is AFSOC but that's just me...
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With the presidents speech today stating the reduction in nuclear forces by 1/3 I wonder where that puts Global Strike Command ????
I'd pretty much say there will be plenty of nukes to go around. GSC is supposed to put the focus back on nukes so we stop accidentally hauling them across the country and shipping sensitive materials to Tawian, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have to stop reducing the overall number we have.
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I don't like popcorn
That's about the most egregious thing I've seen posted on here in a while. Popcorn is delicious and I'll defend it's goodness with my life...it's really the only thing I liked about the Transformers 2 sh*t-show outside of Megan Fox's fine self
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Cool vid...you gotta be crazy to wanna do something like that man...
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Wow, I can't believe she pulled the whole "blame him b/c he spoke Flemish and not French" line. Having lived in Beligum, Flemish and French-speakers really don't like eachother that much. And everyone I ever met in the entire country spoke decent english, so she's full of crap on that one...but what do you expect from someone who actually wanted 56 starts tattooed on their face?
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Man, I'm glad I'm not a fighter dude. I suck at memorizing crap like that...
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Because everything we see on TV is based on real life happenings in the military...... I keeeeed I keeeeed
Yea, I figured not to trust TV but had to ask. I'm not gay or a SEAL (the only possibly explanations for being in the navy...) so I'm not up to speed on navy C&C. Does anyone actually know the answer?
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Yeah, I've fought the battle a few times over the past year, but I get the same thing. Apparently if the area codes are close enough, they can do it. Even though our area codes are both from Georgia, they wont combine them. One of the guys I talked to said we could do a business plan and it would work, but we wouldn't get a discount of any type. It's worth another shot though.
Interasante...I guess that never came up as her code is right next to mine geographically...good luck man b/c you're getting the shaft by not being able to share minutes, etc. Between free mobile-to-mobile, nights and weekends, etc. we usually rack up about 120 minutes a month max. Plus there's rollover so it becomes kinda superfluous...
plus I hate apple, so this works well.Dude! Apple RULZ!!!! j/k but seriously, I love my mac/iphone combo...still have an xbox though
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Wow, what a b*tch thing to say to a guy who clearly knows about respect and C&C.
On a related thought, is it a navy thing to use "sir" for female commanders? i.e. (female skipper) "Bring ye' ole' vessel hard about to portside and swab the decks and bulkheads." (lowley seamen) "Yes sir!"
Seen it on TV and it seemed odd...
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I think I read that there are 3-4 different nav positions on that aircraft. Which station would you be at, or are they interchangeable?
I'm not a buff guy, but there are two nav seats (nav and radar nav) downstairs and an EWO seat upstairs. From what I understand the idea is to train to a point where a guy can move interchangeable between all three seats sometime in the mid-term future. Radar nav is sort of an upgrade from regular nav as well. Buff guys feel free to correct as necessary.
In terms of UAVs, my squadron CC briefed all the CSOs down here that UAVs were a follow-on possibility. The rules on whether you need a instrument rating or what training you'd have to do are very dynamic so I'm not up on the latest gouge, but either way it's possible if that's something you want to explore after your first tour.
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That and because ATT won't let my wife and I combine into a family plan because we have different area codes.
That's crazy dude, my wife and I def have different area codes and we combined out plans like 3 years ago without a question asked. I'd reattack that with a new person if possible...
Agreed that iPhone plans are expensive compared with Sprint everything plan. Used to be sprint but changed to get iPhone 3G when it came out. Haven't looked back since though b/c iPhone is undeniably sweet and feeds my time-wasting tendencies (Flight Control, watching videos, posting on baseops...)
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3 (or 4 or whatever...) on not limiting your options to what sounds bad ass (i.e. your top 3 all make bad guys go boom). All the platforms have their ups and downs and you might be surprised what piques your interest. They'll be plenty of briefs at nav school on the different platforms available and the INs there have flown just about everything that you can drop right now. It's great to have an idea of what you want but that choice is a long way off and just go in with an open mind. Good luck!
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House Committee Adds $369 million for 12 more F-22s
A late amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill slipped in $369 million for advance procurement of a dozen more F-22 Raptor stealth fighters.Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, offered an amendment to the House Armed Services Committee authorization bill that would take the money from a Defense Department environmental clean-up fund to pay for advance procurement for 12 more of the fifth-generation aircraft.
Bishop’s stance is in direct opposition to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who announced in April that the F-22 program would stop at 187 aircraft.
“There is no study or analysis we have been able to see at the committee in support of Secretary Gates’ assertion that 187 aircraft is sufficient to meet future air threats to our homeland a decade from now,” Bishop said during the bill’s mark-up. “To the contrary, Air Force Chief of Staff [Norton] Schwartz has testified in front of our committee in disagreement with the Secretary that he believes that 243 F-22s would represent moderate risk.
“We at least must work towards getting to that 243 number.”
The amendment would not fully fund the aircraft, which cost $141 million a copy, but provide money to purchase long-lead materials.
The last-minute addition narrowly squeaked into the House Armed Services Committee authorization bill by a 31-30 vote.
The bill headed for a full vote on the floor of the House of Representatives also contains language that runs counter to the administration’s budget.
Those amendments include:
* A prohibition forbidding the Air Force from retiring 250 aging fighter aircraft.
* A request for the Defense Department to study the sale of the F-22 to Japan.
* A request for a Pentagon study into cost savings to buy new upgraded F-15s, F-16s and F-18s, so-called 4.5-generation fighters.
First off, it's not enough to actually buy the jets, just to keep the lines hotter than ice cold shut down. More interesting to me is the prohibition on retiring the -15s and -16s that are on the chopping block down the road. Big props though for making the amount of money authorized end in 69
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Can we go over what the artist looked like real quick?
If anyone could pull off some crazy sh*t like drugging someone and then tatting their face, it would be a dude who looks like that...
P.S. - great reference to the N64 Pilotwings by Contrail
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Bear warfare at it's finest
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Holy crap, reply #1,001. I don't even own a gun right now and I still felt the need to post here. Here's to you guns
SERE/Land survival info
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by nsplayr
How did you manage to delay rather than going straight from nav school? Going in the winter blew...
I'd bring the gortex anyways b/c it keeps you dry and being wet in the field is not fun. Some will argue that it's extra weight b/c you still have to carry the sh*tty field jackets they issue you, but those things were worth their weight in gold in the deep snow when I went.
I think they should make this a required item...not sure how you carry an improvised pack and wield a flashlight while hiking through ridiculous terrain...a good, bright headlamp is clutch. Mine actually wasn't bright enough and it was harder to navigate more than 3 feet in front of me, so don't be afraid to get one that's a little heavier but is like a spotlight attached to your head.
Yes...REI brand served me well and were a little cheaper than smartwool. I used some nice silk sock liners that kept my feet drier but in the summer might not be necessary. The problem in the winter is that you have to bundle up so much to keep from freezing solid when you're standing still but you still get hot as balls hiking around so it's a constant battle to control your layers and keep heat in vs. letting it out.
Don't sneak food into the field b/c they'll bust your balls for it and take away more food. I was never that hungry but then again I was explosively sick for two days (not very stealthy when you're trying to evade...) so that may have contributed to not wanting to eat much...
For winter I'd say a balaclava b/c it keeps your face warm but again, NA for summer probably. I brought a better knife (benchmade) b/c the ones they issue you aren't the best. I used the benchmade for finer work and used the bolt knife for chopping down trees and other stuff that I wouldn't want to risk damaging my own tool. Hand warmers were nice.
Holy crap...am I reading this right??? I went in the winter and we got one MRE and 1 kosher meal with the snack supplement total, and they told us we only got the kosher meal b/c you need more food to keep your body warm in the winter. One MRE every day would have been gucci...
The things they issued us were a crappy old field jacket and some wool mittens. The field jacket stayed in my ruck the entire time and I wore the gortex...well worth the weight in my opinion since there was about 4-6 feet of snow on the ground at the time. The mittens on the other hand were absolutely awesome! I was very skeptical because they were really scratchy and felt cheap but man were they warm! Being a mitten helped but that wool really did it's job too. I kept those after the fact for skiing.
I bought some expensive wool ones and a backup pair of the ones they sell at just about every uniform shop for like 6 bucks. The ones from the uniform shop were actually warmer and performed just as well if not better than my $60 set. So that was $12 bucks well spent (they're green, have a hunter on the package, and are at the uniform shop...don't remember exact brand).