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ShavedDogsAss

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Posts posted by ShavedDogsAss

  1. I've got the original Pixel, with Garmin Pilot that I run in the background during flights either off station, or IMC.  No complaints, so long as I open it before step, and allow it to refresh (automatically) any chart/plate I have.

    Flight plan function is limited to speed/timing, as it doesn't have any mil aircraft programmed for fuel burn or filing purposes.  

  2. 23 hours ago, viper154 said:

    We just had two bros get T-6 and T-1 waivers/instructor slots, they were A tour dudes who didn’t recat though, and only been out of manned for 3 ish years. I’m a UPT-D dude from the 2015 round, just got my drop sheet for my new assignment, expecting a return to manned at the end of the year. They denied waivers for 3 of the latest UPT D guys to recat. We are all getting forced back. 

    Dont give up hope brother. 

    2.

    I was out of the jet for way longer than 3 years before the start of PIT.  It wasn't all smooth sailing, but even old dudes can catch up.

    It took many years, and a LOT of underhanded threats/ultimatums from AFPC, but I refused to ever re-cat.  Haven't regretted it once.

  3. Our current CSAF was completely against those dudes going back. Don’t forget. You aren’t a pilot. You’re a volunteer. Wonder if he still feels that way.
    Not sure that's 100% accurate.

    His exec during his time as CFACC was a TAMI guy, who subsequently made it back to a gray jet.
  4. Thread revival......because well....I’m still bitter and what’s going on now makes part of me smile.
    I like to think of it as the ultimate loss of innocence when dealing with AFPC. Lt's who worked thier asses off to get to their dream job of flying a fighter get it absolutely yanked from underneath them, through absolutely no fault of their own.

    The justification, execution, and subsequent "re-cat" program all served to irreparably destroy my trust in the Air Force, and every commander who tried to half-heartedly back it up.

    I don't like putting negative posts up here, but this was absolutely inexcusable. It served only to refocus my priorities on what is best for me and my family, with no allowance for "needs of the Air Force" anymore.

    Every single pilot retention survey I get, my response begins with "TAMI-21..."



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  5. Thanks all!  This was strictly for a tourist trip.  I think we are going to shift a little east to.....Scotland!  Any tips on Scotland would be appreciated!  (Tentative plan is to stay in Dundee and split time between touring and playing the classic links courses.)
    Grantown-on-Spey. Perfect basecamp for anything Speyside.
  6. For what it's worth, I'm all for the Fly-Only career track. Hell, I'd sign up for it tomorrow if I could.

    Here's the but: there are only so many "bad deals" that can be eliminated at the system level. If we swing the pendulum too far into the Zipper-suited Sun God's corner by allowing them to stiff-arm anything outside of bankers hours at a homesteading base, then the pool from which to draw from for the needed bad deals shrinks evermore. Thereby, the "traditional" career path (for argument, our next leaders) would know little more than that they are perpetually the ones getting stuck outside of the cockpit, further diminishing their tactical skill set, and credibility for combat leadership. This would only exacerbate the problem we've all seen develop.

    A Fly-Only career track can not be essentially an airline pilot wearing green/tan. Recognize that a pilot's talents are needed all over the Air Force and DoD, to include the Fly-Only. Compensate appropriately, but don't create a separate, "protected" class of pilots that somehow believe that graduation from UPT supersedes the commissioning oath.

    My solution:

    1. Let pilots be pilots. Ensure the ability to maintain currency in the primary MWS (or similar) no matter what school/ staff/ RPA/ ALO assignment is forced upon them. Guarantee I'll never be forced into a dissimilar MWS without my expressed desire.

    2. Eliminate 365's.

    3. Incentivize the bad deals with guaranteed follow-on's and increased hardship pay. Korea isn't going away, but it doesn't have to be so painful to go.

    4. Re-establish the aviation culture of the Air Force. Celebrate the heritage we've earned, and not relegate it to the back room of the squadron. Analogous to "Every Marine a Rifleman", find and grow a common foundation for support airmen to understand that each and every action they take should be focused towards enabling that jet to get airborne.

    5. The Bonus needs to go up. How much, I don't know. Tie it to some sort of inflationary index. $25k/year for decades without any raise for inflation is just insulting.

    ...Rant off.

    • Upvote 1
  7. Is this actually a question, or just nerves? If you truly want fighters that badly, put them first, with FAIP second. Don't look back. You'll love anything you get, and no advice from anyone is going to tell you how to feel.

    That being said, should you get FAIP'd, realize that it's only another 3 years to wait, where I'm sure your desire to fly fighters has been far longer. Meanwhile, you'll be getting paid to gather flight time, experience, and cross-country "friends".

    • Upvote 1

  8. Tami 21 guys who didn't re cat who got re flowed to holloman because the didn't re-cat didn't.


    Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums


    "Sorry man, I know you're on an ALFA, but since we released all the TAMI guys, we can't send you back as well. They met the Re-Cat board, so the Air Force has made them a promise. I know you're still 11F, but since you didn't meet the board, you don't have that promise.

    Here's another RPA gig for you.

    Oh, and don't worry about the re-cat'd guys we are sending to jets for 'career broadening'. "

    -OG/CC
  9. The easy fix is Guam and Hawaii.  Both US soil and offer sufficient time zone spread to avoid mids.  All we'd need to make this work is a couple of buildings and some GCS's.  "Deploy" people there for 6-9 weeks a pop and we don't even need to stand up new squadrons.  This could get done in 6 months if the Air Force actually wanted to solve the problem.



    Sadly, none of these arguments weighs into the calculus.

    My $$$:

    I'd expect DM for the active flying. (Great ranges and ready restricted airspace access, along with tenant guard DGS on-site)

    MCE will go to Langley. Huge DGS on-site, with the added bonus of political theater whenever you need it.

    Yes, they are new locations, but QoL or shift-work timing would not overpower airspace, politics, and DGS self-aggrandizement.
  10. ...I have heard from many RPA pilots that the job is intrinsically rewarding work...

    These being the "RPA pilots" that suck up invaluable IP time simply to get the qual on their Surf just in time for an O-6 promotion board, then give exactly 0 time flying the line before leaving for that Pentagon staff job?

    Are those your "RPA pilots"? Are they the ones throwing down their policy opinions as RPA experts? Because those guys know less about flying RPAs than you know about inspirational leadership.

  11. You know, I love Cyber.  I've been doing it for close to 20 years.  I crossed from E-to-O into it.  I set life goals based on the AF telling me that's what I'd do.  I read about it at home, much to the annoyance of my wife (who doesn't want to learn about the new Win10 hack?).  All the pilots I've met that actually love to fly do the same thing - study it in their off time, talk about it... sometimes even dream about it.

    If I'd graduated from my commissioning source and tech school to be told I'm now going to be a MFP/Services officer I'd want to burn it all down.  Hell, if they told me I'd fly a Viper I'd still be angry - it's not who I am.  That's not being jaded, that's being human.  Doubly so if I went to any of the shit-holes the RPA bros are at.

    This doesn't even begin to touch the outright lies and blunders the whole RPA community has had directed at it from on high.  It's almost the same as the missile fields, without the long heritage of shit or "investigations & programs" to fix it.  Basically, "You're so important to the USAF and Nation.  But not important enough for us to put money, men or brain power to fix it."

    It's an affront to justice we're taught as Americans and the trust we placed in the institution of the Air Force to go through what some of the RPA dudes have gone through.  That doesn't end because you make O4/5/6.  It doesn't end because you get to a cushy staff job off the line.  It doesn't end because you get more money, or a ribbon with some metal on the end of it.

    Your lack of compassion, empathy and understanding are very telling.  Broadly, you're just another troll, well done.  Specifically, you're myopic view on status and money are indicative you're lining right up with that part of the AF machine for box-checking promotion - more concerned about yourself and what you can get, less concerned with the people executing your mission.

    Shack.

  12. This is accurate.

    I think you may see SOME 07 guys get kicked in the junk though.  That said the result may have been the same for them had they been AMC guys the whole time...

    Unfortunately, many non-RPA commanders still perceive RPAs as a dumping ground for the "unwashed".

    Until that mindset is changed, it would be unfair to match percentage to percentage against other MDS. I'd like to think that a dirtbag is a dirtbag, regardless of MDS. Let's hope the boards see the same.

  13. I've been lucky enough to fly, work, and talk with Fingers on a few different occasions. He's definitely one of the few who "get it" and understand captain level concerns. Let's just hope he's given a little more leeway by Congress to make the long term changes we need.

    Regardless, I believe he's got the right vector in his heart.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Baseops Network Forums mobile app

  14. Do people actually learn stuff at PME like ACSC or AWC? SOS was an 8 week vacation from the CAF - I expected ACSC to just be a 12 month vacation with nebulous benefits.

    Somewhat of a derail:

    A bit of both. While the part-time banker's hours were a great sabbatical and chance to be with the family, there was a significant amount of material to read.

    On the surface, they advertise that they want you to "think strategically, and solve the complex problems of the air force". And a lot of the international relations/military theory courses do teach you a huge amount that engineering type minds wouldn't necessarily be exposed to.

    Realistically, they are bound by JPME curriculum and handcuffed by the AETC formal course mentality, grading rubrics and "approved" solutions.

    Then, there are the near daily parade of stars wanting to give advice to an audience of Majors. Pros and cons abound...

    Definitely learned a lot...Definitely wouldn't consider it the "Harvard of the South"

    • Upvote 2
  15. Finance is flat-out wrong on this one (imagine that)....

     

    Thanks for the info. It's taken me 3 months just to get a partial reimbursement, and now I expect it to take another 3 to get the rest.

    It's as if they are trying to convince me that 1) I was in the wrong by doing anything other than what they find most convenient for the paperwork and 2) that I should fund my own PCS in no small part.

  16. Has anyone seen this fun one?:

    PCS'd from school to an overseas GSU back in June. Did the circuitous travel, approved with normal constructed point-to-point cost from school. I even self-procured my tickets (approved) and saved the AF over $1000.

    Here's the wrench: my planned flight through Chicago was cancelled the morning of. We were auto-rebooked through Dallas the next day.

    Now, finance is trying to argue not only that the tickets would have been cheaper via Dallas than what I bought, but it would have been more advantageous for my family to drive from AL to Dallas before leaving, then they used the Dallas cost as the measure versus the cost for leaving direct from school.

    Therefore, while I was authorized over $10k for the normal tickets, I self-procured for $9k, finance has only paid $6k.

    I guess I should have foreseen my flight being cancelled and rerouted, then rented a car to drive from AL to Dallas?

    Looks like I'm being penalized over $3k for the airline canceling my flight. As if having to repack and reshuffle 2 toddlers on an international flight wasn't bad enough...

  17. Raptor has had it's day? We all get a chuckle when it checks in with its ridiculous SCL. It remains irrelevant in our current fight...

    I'm not a huge Raptor advocate, but we need to acknowledge 2 things.

    1. Any Air-to-ground mission it fulfills is inherently a secondary mission. A2A is still primary.

    2. That's OK. Yes, it may not ever meet the aerial hoardes in an epic battle, but it may not ever have to in order to be successful. The simple fact that we can meet any threat skull-on may be deterrent enough to ensure it won't happen.

    Would it not be a strategic victory on our part to instill a sense of inevitable defeat, should our enemies challenge us in the air? Hell, our purse beat the Soviets, not our power. The raptor at the very least intimidates our near peer, and provides us a cushion from which to operate our other, more CAS-centric wars.

    As msn/cc, I would never base my plan on the raptor A2G capes, but at the same time, their specialized capes can certainly enable a more efficient plan.

  18. A terror organization that melts into the background just as they are being confronted is tough to target from the air. If Jordan is truly serious about destroying IS, they must close the border with Turkey. And that means putting some serious pressure on them to be more active in this fight. Most of IS's recruits and money come through Turkey. Lean on them effectively, and we've got a chance.

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