noodles

McGuire-- Lots of folks live in downtown Philly. Some even live in Hoboken, NJ...across from NYC. Can't beat that...if you like city livin.

In the AOR - http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123158406

I’m slow on the uptake…but what is the final story with SOS and flickerball? Are they still killing Fridays with it…but just not using it for points? A complete waste of time…the only redeeming thing was beer at the end…and not the swill-foam out of the “grapecrusher” keg. Now there was an “award” that shoes and shoe spouses (and shoe kids?) would get all excited about. God…choke yourselves. I never understood why mid to senior level captains…most with deployment experience…many with combat experience (in the air…or on the ground) had to kill four weeks solving logic puzzles and engaging in team building activities…not to mention the “command post exercise” and its ugly twin the CAOC simulation. Really? That’s the best thing you can do with 500+ 0-3s during a four week period? While there were plenty of decent things (some of the briefs were very good) they were not the focus. I recall one clueless member of my flight…thought a C-17 was a fighter and believed any job brief by a pilot was too technical…walked out of the Irregular Warfare Wing concept brief saying “well, that was a waste of time. Why are they telling us about that?” Some folks do not get it….but SOS does not tell them otherwise. Look at the sister services and what they do at their SOS-equivalents (USMC EWS) and you’ll see why we are laughed at. Figuring out what colors go with what numbers…playing flickerball…writing an MFR…that’ll help us win the fight. The AF has changed in the past 30 years…but the SOS curriculum has not. There is a problem with that. Dig up the flick fields, build the M2 Center for Common Sense Leadership.

Nebraska State Treasurer..check http://www.treasurer.org/about.asp

Sounds like you’ve never been there. It’s worth a trip. Charlie’s has made many an Altus TDY tolerable. The “grill your own” has fed thousands who are sent to Altus w/o rental cars over the years (and probably a whole lot more as squadrons try to save for that plasma screen for the bathroom). It’s dark and has that authentic worn-down lived in feeling. I’d be surprised if any C-141/-5/-17/-135 pilot/nav had something bad to say about the place. I’m not sure if any club has the ability to deny service to ‘clerks…but they only have to look around (and note the hundreds of leather and cloth nametags on the walls that go back decades) to know it is not their place. They leave early. Charlie is easily the hardest working services employee in the AF…the fact the place is named after her speaks volumes. She’s an institution in the MAC/AMC world. Hell, they even bring her to the Airlift/Tanker Assoc convention each year to work the Altus “recruiting” booth. It is not located with the “club” but is its own entity by itself. This has (apparently) irked a number of SVS/CC who have passed thu there over the past 20 years as they attempt to increase business as the “other” club (never been there…no plans to either)….and who wonder why the place is named after the bartender and not something generic like “Wright Brothers” or “insert generic aviation-theme name here” If more clubs were like this one…I’d consider being a member. Don’t see that happening tho.

Wow. Is this a new thing there?

AFCENT Band visits Bagram?

No, Samuel L Jackson is the solution

"take a destroyer and turn on certain lights to make it look like a commercial ship. When the get close enough to figure out there mistake, it is game over" I say let them board a commercial ship...only to come face to face with Samuel L Jackson.

Three Options: a) A few commercial vessels are sent into the area with (insert security team name here) to play "wild weasel" with the pirates. Pirates attack said weak-looking vessel, get rolled up, and hung from the yardarms (not really). Pirates, unable to figure out which ship is armed, become confused (at the least) and stop attacking (at the most). We’ve got air marshals…why not sea marshals? b) The USS Constitution is put back out to sea to take on the pirates just as it did in 1803-1805 in the Med. Pirates become frustrated that the US mocks their abilities be dispatching a 200+ year old ship and its ceremonial crew to take them on. Interestingly Comm. William Bainbridge (of USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) fame) served in the same anti/counter-pirate operation as the Constitution back in the day. Ironic? c) We go back to Somalia I vote a then b…with c as a very distant, undesirable option Hats off to our special operators…who will not get the individual credit/attention they deserve for their work—and they’d like to keep it that way.

Here one that worked for me: Master in Social Science from Syracuse University http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/exed/mssc/ Good: 30 credits, no GRE required, school that you can find on a map, interesting coursework, no deadlines, no proctored tests...just "read a book, write a paper" format, and a total of four weeks of on-campus class work (Syracuse in the summer...lots of KFFO C-21 folks can vouch for the city), plenty of military have completed this since the 1970s. Bad: Cost ($1069 per credit hour), residency requirement (you can get PTDY if your CC is flexible...otherwise you burn 4 weeks of leave while completing the program). TA is not going to cover this at all...but GIB plus TA can take a decent chunk out of the cost. This is ideal for all those folks who wanted to get an MA in history or political science but were unable to find a distance learning program. By far the most military friendly program (except for the cost) that I have seen. Your coursework is not "done" until you complete the residency...so if it takes you 1-2 years before you can complete the requirement...so be it. The on-campus residency gives you a break from life on the road...gets you back in a college town for two weeks at a time (2-2 wk residencies needed to complete the degree) and gives you a chance to interact with the faculty and students (lots of Navy 02s-03s in this...guess they have a better TA benefit). If you can get past the tuition cost it is a worthy program. They also have a MBA that runs 54 credits and requires much more time on campus. I've met one Army aviator that did that. Great if you have deep pockets, a whole lot of leave and an accommodating schedule