Danger41

I think having MAF guys train upt 38's is a great idea. It's well within their abilities. However, making them be IFF instructors is a bad idea. They could pick up the basics of rate fights, jinks, setups, etc, but they would have no credibility with their peers or the students. Same thing if was a C-17 guy going through airdrop school and some Viper guy shows up to teach me how--I'd scoff him big time.

Thanks!

This isn't a "problem" per se, but wasn't sure where to put this post. I recently returned from 2 TDY's. The first voucher I filled out normally via DTS and everything was fine, payment received NBD. The second one, the organization wanted a voucher in the old 1351-2 form. I filled that out, haven't seen the balance show up on my GTC, but today in my checking account I received $1700 titled "DCD Misc Pay". My questions are: 1. WTF is DCD Misc Pay? 2. I didn't put any kind of split disbursement on the 1351-2 and never gave that group my checking account info. Could they just pull it from my SSN on the form and send money into my checking account instead of dumping it all into the GTC? 3. Where's the nearest casino that will accept $1700 bets?

For as much Eagle bashing as you do Ram, you sure want to suck off BeerMan lately.

I'd recommend core exercises and hamstrings/glutes. That helps get a foundation, but it gets easier the more you do it.

So here's a good example of an assignment being what you make it. If this dude is really an "old school fighter pilot mentality", he will be pumped that he gets to fly a jet that is taking it to ISIL right now and has arguably the most badass history of any jet in the Air Force. Or he can hold onto the mindset that his jabroni commander screwed him over because he was too much of a badass faip for this guy to handle. My best friend from upt was a T-6 faip that got Buffs and he is a total bro. He is also just a space to fill on a spreadsheet, just like me.

So my initial response was to type, "eat shit, cadet", but since I was given a direct order to "expound", I will do that. When you say something along the lines of "I was worried there was only 1 T-38 but now there's probably 6, I don't have to worry!" it indicates a couple of things. That you are already planning the path of least resistance and you haven't even commissioned yet. Secondly, you think highly enough of yourself that you're going to be able to coast into a T-38 and then go off to slip the surly bonds in whatever you put at the top of your dream sheet. Point #1 - Things change, and by the time you go through UPT they may be in a mobility pilot shortage and now you're destined for AMC. Not likely, but who knows. The only thing you can control is how hard you study, prepare, learn, and help your bros. There are other variables that are totally out of your control that will have a large effect on your assignment. But if you're already looking forward to taking the easy route, you'll find yourself left out of the party. Point #2 - How many people in your ROTC det got UPT slots? I guarantee it wasn't 100%. It's the same for all sources. There were plenty of people that wanted slots who didn't get them. People that get to UPT are not the type of people that fall ass backwards into it. They're usually types that have been good at everything they've ever done and are used to success. The rub of it is that most of those people are not naturally gifted towards aviation, but they have developed a work ethic that will get them to be good aviators. Good luck earning a higher desired assignment than those people. Please rebut my points and anything else I've written because it's been awhile since a Cadet came here and went full retard.

You also may want to check out hedonisticsexualdeviantfighterpilot.com for better ideas.

Keep up the min run attitude and see how well that works in your flying career.

Dang, that was insane. I think that is the best pilot reaction ever. Literally 1 minute hack after almost getting decapitated, he figures it out "it wasn't my fault". Lol, I love that.

^What BashiChuni said. Going to UPT as a Guard guy would be great. Knowing what is waiting for you at the end of the training would be great. The luck and timing thing of AD is very real and if you have your heart set on flying one thing and that's not in the drop, then tough luck. For example, the first drop I witnessed at ENJJPT was back in the days where if you could fog a mirror, you'd end up in a Viper. The next one, half the class went to RPA's, 5 others went to U-28's, and 1 guy went to Strike Eagles. It's back to mirror fogging = Viper now, but the unpredictability sucks as a student.

Sun shades for the 38's?! Back in my day we had to carry 40 pound parachutes into the Texas summer heat for a double turn and we liked it! The ramp was uphill both ways if memory serves correctly. Cool video!

Not knowing anything about this situation, but all the IP's out there know how frustrating it is to give syllabus ride 2 after some chode IP in the sq pencil whips the first gradesheet, gives you nothing that the student has to work on, or just marks everything up to MIF by clicking "quick complete". However, as Capt Nobody in the AF, I'd be pretty disillusioned if my gp/cc told me that.

^That is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

If your lifelong dream is to fly a fighter and it didn't work out for you in UPT for whatever reason, I say jump at it. I flew Eagles for a much shorter time than I flew U-28's and I look back on that time very fondly. Don't give into the Baseops "everything sucks" mantra, and make your own decision. Trust me, the first time you strap on a fighter and go rage around, it will be worth it. If you don't go for it because of whatever reason, you'll regret it and have that "what if" thing. And if you want to be successful in fighters/tactical military aviation, you've got to be confident. To become confident, you better work your ass off. If you don't work for it and still think you're the best, you're out to lunch and are a joke. Fortune favors the prepared.

Confirm quals?!!?!

No they're not, students now are obviously just superior performers and their assignments reflect that.

As a fighting pilot/American who has spent significant amounts of my kids' lives fighting low intensity conflict aka terrorist hunting, I'd much rather have the right tools for the job at hand than some gold plated waste of resources being misused. Listening to fighters/bombers getting tasked to do NTISR to eventually drop on a bulldozer for the 9th time is such a frustrating experience. We need to just get pretty much every CAF asset out of the OIR fight and let you guys train for your actual missions. And how many fancy nukes do you want? It was those old piece of shit nukes that kept Ivan from crossing the line and Taiwan full of freedom. I think the hundreds we have now that work are adequate. All this future war planning is funny to me. It's like saying that deck will look great on the house when it's done but not fixing the water heater. Yes, you can still get clean but it's a miserable experience.

I'll believe it when I see it.

U-28 1. Ops Tempo: High but stable for now. 3 gone, 6 home with usually a week in transit on both sides of that. 2. Lifestyle: It's fine but expect hours switching around a lot with night flying and early mornings regularly. 3. Community morale: Good but the older guys are getting worn out. 4. Advancements & Future: This thing evolves all the time so it's always on the cutting edge technology wise. That's a plus. In a few years, the U-28 will be replaced by something else. What that will be, I have no clue. 5. PCS Locations: Hurlburt and Cannon. 2/3 chance for Hurlburt. And in AFSOC, all roads eventually lead back to Hurlburt. Bottom line, if you pick based on mission, this airplane has one of the best in the AF now. If the big one with the Commies kicks off, we will not participate. But in the current counter terror fight, we get to have a big impact.

Interesting back story on Gucci's post above. Shortly after I made my post at the top of this page about rehacking expired CFI via IP Form 8, I contacted the FAA trying to get either an exception to the rule or get the rule changed. After several messages and phone calls, the guy said he would see what he could do. I hadn't heard anything else until my instructor at AIS mentioned the change and then Gucci's post corroborated. So shockingly, it appears the system worked.

If your final product is less than one, you're a God damn sexual Tyrannosaurus, swinging dick Air Commando, U-28 driver.

A lot of you us sound like my wife in that every problem is the end of the world. I apply the same game plan of nodding and saying "okay" to most of these gripes. There are some serious problems in the AF, but to not even join based on queep is ridiculous. And you don't get excited flying a jet with USAF on the side? Wtf excites you? Maybe CAF/MAF life is just totally sucky, but in AFSOC you won't get anywhere if you aren't a mission hacker--regardless of PowerPoint skills. 2Niner, do what you want, but if you join don't show up jaded and crusty like a lot of these guys. Your career will be miserable if you do. Instead, snapshot your lowest moment in a cubicle and compare it to your lowest moment as a pilot, and they won't compare. When I get down about work, I think back to when I was roofing houses and my mood drastically improves. And the coup de grace about military flying is that I don't keep in touch with roofing buddies, but I'm still close friends with my UPT class. That camaraderie is rare and makes it worth it.

If every kind of review is flawed, what do you suggest? I like the idea of peer reviews and think people are mature enough to see through bullshit and rank people accordingly. Especially in an instance like this.