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Learjetter
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Posts posted by Learjetter
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I fly for another company doing manned ISR and I can you tell for a FACT, we SAVE the government money...period. Look past the monthly pay and to the support network that comes along with the US military supporting ONE airplane. We have 25% the manning, do the same job and do it in some instances, better. When the military comes over with an airplane, they bring hundreds of people..that they have to keep on the books for years. We can be gone in a month..no strings attached. Our training cost are less as well. Plus, most of the guys doing this work, did it in the military world. Much more experience in the contractor world.
As for pay, it is good. I make 20K a month. Not bad for a enlisted guy (aircrew) in the reserves flying as a pilot in theater. Some companies offering health care..I do not need it, my wife's insurance rocks. Housing cost?? What housing cost? No one thinks we pay for housing in theater right? We live like everyone else in theater, eat the same food, use the same facilities...ect. And we are directly supporting the war effort. Our customers seems to like what we do..and that is all that matters.
You can also refuse a mission and or quit. Then what's the warfighter to do? (seen it)
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GB--I worked waiting tables at a ok joint and mopping floors at an all-night convenience store, then went to early morning classes & ROTC, slept til 4, saw the wife/kid for early dinner at our crappy little hovel, then went back to work. Did it for four and a half years, lived on corn flakes and ramen w/ pell grants and student loans. Graduated only $12k in debt, got commissioned...went to UPT. It's not easy, but it is simple. Enlisting has a bad habit of derailing possibilities, and theres always a catch in my opinion...which is why I chose not to do it. YMMV. Whatever you choose...stay focussed: degree -> commission -> UPT. Good luck!
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Don't do it.
Agreed... Get the degree, have fun being a college kid, work two jobs on the side, do ROTC, and go to UPT. The degree is step 1, not enlisting. Technique only, but a proven one.
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Imagine the freedom you could give your people if the worst of them was an all-star.
There's your leadership challenge: while it's true that some of your folks (much less than 90%) ride the short bus...it's up to YOU to lead your unit/section/flight/formation to perform the mission du jour the best it can with the resources available.
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I have both. A cabinet for "display" and a safe for "security". Each used as needed. Get a slightly bigger safe than you think you need--it always comes in handy for storing other valuables when on leave, etc. But if you're PCS ing routinely, you might want to avoid the 2000+ lb monster safes--moving companies can balk at moving them, and they are NOT fun to DITY.
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Champ--it's designed that way, but there are exceptions. Contact the school and ask.
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To us gun snobs, it's not just an accessory, it can be a work of art (form and function). To each his own, I suppose.
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Hi-points are fugly. I don't buy, or shoot, or recommend fugly weps. Or trucks, or bows, or anything, for that matter. Sorry I couldn't be more help with fugly hi-points.
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I vote there's no requirement to remain VMC in a conus MOA under radar coverage (unless your MAJCOM/unit Or MOA rules requires it). You're on an IFR flight plan on a special-use airspace delay, and will be deconflicted from participating IFR traffic by ATC. Non-participating VFR traffic should be maintaining the cloud clearances (or should be smart enough stay clear of the MOA while it's active), so the main threat is an illegal VFR non-squawking pilot in IMC in the MOA. My $.02.
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Exposed to hazardous noise/chemicals? Check. Been near TCNs? Check. Exposed to weird chemicals in Anthrax shot? Check.
Just one more box to check on all of my PDHRAs.
Careful there...you know they use your answers when selecting year groups/AFSCs to RIF or not continue...
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Got it in '84 working a long summer on the ranch, and again in '98-99 cause I couldn't prove I got it earlier...
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I used Wells Fargo on my last purchase (5.875/30 fixed in 2007) and just did a no-cost (really, actually got me $22 back) refi with Wells Fargo (4.875/20 fixed). Payment went up $14/mo. No points. All transactions/paperwork via email/.pdfs. They called me once, and I called them twice for minor stuff--never on hold, and both times i called them was after 7pm. Closed loan exactly on time, they sent an agent to me, on vacation five states away from home on closing day. Maybe better rates out there, but this worked for my situation. May call these KC bank folks next time...
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I meant by "career in jeopardy" that the MEB could medically separate/retire you from the service. There are conditions that DQ you from flying but not from service, and then there are conditions that DQ you from serving at all. If any of us gets one of these conditions, and doesn't get a waiver or ETP, you're out of the USAF. Look, not flying for the AF would really really suck, I agree...but letting a very serious condition develop into something terminal would be worse, IMHO. That was the choice I faced not long ago...different symptoms than you have, but I knew SOMETHING was wrong, and put it off to keep flying. One day, I told my wife what was going on and she told me she'd rather be the wife of a c-word patient, than the widow of a AF pilot. I chose life. luckily, it looks like we didn't wait "too long", and God willing I'll be back in the cockpit again soon.
I'll sum it up here: if you can't explain your symptoms away due to generic causes, and feel SOMETHING is seriously wrong, selecting life over the AF and flying is a good choice. If you choose life, see the doc, get referred to the verybest civilian specialist you can, and get fixed. THEN, get busy working waivers to stay in/keep flying.
Good luck.
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As a student you won't have a choice, you'll be on base. If for some reason they don't have housing (they had plenty as of several months ago), move on as soon as possible. You want to be close to your class for studying/partying, and being 1/4 of a mile from the flight line makes life easy. The only folks I knew who lived off base either moved on as soon as they could, or washed out.
As a point for living off base: I went to Laughlin a lifetime ago, when housing was being renovated, and as a married Captain w/kids, I was the only stud in my class who rented a house off base. The 25 minute commute was a bit of a pain, and i did miss out on some of the study sessions and partying...but the class did reap some benefits: having a place off base to congregate on weekends, or to crash after coming back from Acuna (and not having to face the main gate gauntlet of skycops), or just to gather round the TV to watch the Masters or Superbowl was nice.
No matter where you live, learn to prioritize and compartmentalize early.
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Well...that's a quandary.
Im not a doc, but im on a long term DNIF so im getting smarter on med issues...My first reaction to potentially serious med issues is: choose life.
I'd probably try very hard to self-identify what is causing them...stress? Chocolate? Dehydration? Exercise? Allergy? High blood pressure? Etc. Do they respond to excedrin?
Do Flt docs visit your sq? Can you discuss your "brother's recurring headaches" to see what things OTHER than worst case could be causing them?
Obviously, if there are any neurological defecits (lazy eye, loss of vision, loss of smell or taste, weakness in arms/legs or loss of balance, loss of hearing, etc) then get thee to the ER right now. Choose life.
Once you tell the Flt doc you're having m-word, you're DNIF and headed for a MEB and your AF future is in jeopardy. But if it's something serious, not flying is a fair trade for long life.
Ultimately, the choice is yours...slug it out alone and risk something bad happening in the jet, or, more likely, finding out it was just stress and everything's AOK.
Good luck.
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I haven't been downrange or to the Deid since 2004, but it seemed to me at that time we were trying to prosecute a war(s) with a peacetime mentality
There should be no such thing as a peacetime mentality.
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No problem. Familiar territory for Big Blue, they went there and did exactly that in the early '90s.
They also did "feet on the ramp" for non-bonus takers...not sure we're there yet...but "RPAs for non-bonus takers" could be one of the unpalatable options offered...
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Thanks goducks. So say I'm barely within limits after my cyclo, will I still have a shot at getting a pilot slot?
You have NO shot unless you try. Your odds are 50/50.
You're either in limits or not.
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M2, I appreciate the NSFW post as much as anyone, but would you move it to another thread? GUN TALK is one I frequently access from work, and I dunno what kind of loggers and spyware big blue has on my machine, but why take the chance?
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And Astronauts
NAVY astronauts...
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"For this special event, they wore shoulder patches that said, “Gucci Girls; Unmanned KC-10 Flight.”
So, morale patches ARE authorized...if you're an all-female KC-10 crew flying AD and reservists on the same plane, for the first time?
If they're that good at unmanned flight...send 'em to Creech!
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Without a doubt, if more than 6.9 of these are sold, the FAA will require a COA to employ it...
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For example?
TDY to staff -any NAF or MAJCOM or CENTCOM, AFRICOM. 90 day tours.
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I disagree. After thinking about it for .69 seconds, it's more like this: if you're wearing a wheel cap you need to be wearing service dress. Like if you wear a long sleeve blue shirt you must wear a tie.
Edit: that's .69 seconds I'll never get back...damn
Boom Operator Q&A
in General Discussion
Posted
Holy pulled-punches, Rainman...you lay off the single-malt today?