Chutdoggin

1.) We are assigned random casual jobs around the squadrons, from wing adjutant all the way down to flight scheduler 2.) There is a break in training program that requires us to fly specific amounts of time, however, for most guys on the program this means one sandbag (dont have to fly) and one sim every 14 days. It is hardly enough to keep you from sucking when you go fly. 3.) I have asked the RTU question specifically and the post IFF BIT Period is usually a lot smaller. Supposedly it doesnt have too terribly much of an impact on a student by the time he makes it to his FTU. 4.) Believe me, many times we have asked for guys to go tdy to the mc-12, faip, or some other better tdy assignment. Big Blue is still kind of stuck on the fact that you owe them three years after you finish Pilot Instructor Training and we cant get everyone in agreement on some of the other options. So you're right, it doesnt make all that much sense and we dont like it one bit. I guess you just gotta remember that we dont see what the higher ups see (and common sense doesnt always prevail... technically we aren't really even supposed to exist as a problem). If this is what I have to endure to get my AB T/O though I'm cool with it - i think its worth it in the end. Cheers

If these numbers are wrong its your own fault - Starting at the beginning of the assignment night thread and going up to SPS 08-03 (I Got Tired of Counting) I marked down 131 F-16's. I tried not to count Guard guys where I could tell but this is definitely not scientific. Still, it is a pretty big number and I think we can all agree it has been drastically reduced. I wrote down a few classes with drops of 5, 6, or 7 Vipers (excuse me, "fighting falcons") a piece and that obviously isn't on the horizon for any of the classes at this point in time.

That is most certainly not standard - There is a Bit student here at sheppard who graduated in May of last year and still has no IFF or RTU dates. There seems to be no rhyme or reason (apparent to us anway) as to who gets dates and when. My only hope right now is that these poor guys are going sooner than they think and just dont know it yet because dates for the next FY haven't been released yet. (Sans FAIPS, they are in a completly different pool) edit - also, the 09-01 Guy has been told not to expect dates for quite awhile... he is headed off to ASBC in the very near future

New budget to be reveiled today - Im sure it will lead to some heated debate on here but here is some news Im sure many of us will find not too surprising... Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the Pentagon's top weapons priorities that he said will orient the U.S. military toward winning unconventional conflicts like the one in Afghanistan rather than focusing on war with major powers. Among the major changes he is proposing includes ending production of Lockheed's F-22 Raptor at 187 jets. Gates said funding for another Lockheed program, the Joint Strike Fighter, will be increased in 2010 to $11.2 billion, which will now buy 30 jets, up from 14.