FlyingBull

I don't think we'll be out of Afghanistan in three years. Almost certainly there will be a reduction in the number of troops there, but so long as there are still Al Qeada and Taliban types running around AFPAK we will still be there. No Politician wants to pull out, then have any type of terrorist attack happen and be blamed for it. Another place these things could be useful is in Africa. We are still setting up AFRICOM, and aside from humanitarian aid; if we ever intervene with force (like say in Darfur or the next African genocide) these type of aircraft could be useful.

Oh Jesus don't bring that debate to a 69th thread. And whats with the negative comments? Sure it would be better to have this sooner, but at least it is coming.

I hadn't thought about the Brooks thing but that makes perfect sense. I've got my Det NCO's involved and if the Flight Doc doesn't budge and I can't get glasses in time (less than a week now till Commissioning), the NCO's said they could get a waiver from HQ to commission and then finish the flight physical since I already have a commissioning physical from MEPS. Should know for sure tomorrow.

Two seats eh? Hot damn! Maybe its some place former C-130 Navs can go once the J's totally take over. Combining this with the 60 Light Lifters the Air Force wants to buy, there will be more manned cockpits and I'm wondering if this isn't an attempt to prove that UAVs aren't the only or maybe the most cost effective way to address irregular warfare needs.

From military.com: Link: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/07/30/af-wants-60-light-airlifters/?wh=wh I guess the good news is that there are going to be 60 more manned aircraft.

I commission on August 10th and in April I was upgraded to a CSO slot. Naturally I had to go get a FCIA physical at the local base. Did that and there were some minor dental issues I needed to get fixed and I did that and handed in the paperwork. I get a phone call yesterday and I'm told (less than two weeks before commissioning) that I need to get glasses to 'prove' my 20/30 vision in my right eye is correctable to 20/20. This is a bit confusing because in May, the Optometrist on base told me I don't need to get glasses until training starts and my physical should be fine because he 'proved' my eye was correctable in the eye exam with the mechanism they use that has all the lenses on it. It makes sense to me, but the flight doc now says he won't sign off on my physical without me first getting glasses. Well I'm working on that but there is no way I can 1) get an appointment 2) get the glasses 3) get another appointment at Flight Medicine and 4) have all the paperwork processed by HQ before August 10th. That is critical because one of the NCOs at my Det said I can't commission as a CSO without a complete flight physical. I find this dubious because I know of someone at my Det who was upgraded to Pilot just days before he commissioned, and won't go to Brookes until after his EAD. Also I already had a commissioning physical done at MEPS before I was upgraded to CSO so there is a current physical on file, just not a flying one. One last thought is that what if I was upgraded today instead of April? Would I have to delay my commissioning for months while I waited on the paperwork? That just doesn't seem to make sense but I can't find the AFI or AFROTCI which says what the rule is on this situation. Anybody have any answers?

Could you imagine the conspiracy theories that would have exploded if the plane went down? How many people would have blamed Hillary?

moostang, some of your posts come off a bit.....nerdy. Thus making them easy targets. You then seem to lack the sense of humor to just roll with it when you get made fun of. Just loosen up some. Have a beer. If Megapieboy can recover from his 'incident' and have a good time here, there is no reason you can't as well. Its cool to be excited about flying in the Air Force....its why we're all here. Just be a little bit more socially aware of who your audience is. For instance, instead of being defensive about Buddy Spike's post you should have instead made a joke about it. Rather than this: Try this:

I very well might be one of his future classmates. Think your girlfriend could help me feel better about it by introducing me to some of her hot friends?

That makes sense. Since GSC is a "nuclear command" it would make sense someone who spent their career dealing with nukes would be put in charge of it while keeping the flying wings under command of flyers.

My understanding is that the GSC Commander is going to be Lt Gen Klotz. So I have a few questions for those in the bomber community: 1) I thought there was a law/reg about only rated officers being in command of flying units so is there a waiver or something for Gen Klotz? 2) Are the flyers uncomfortable with a career missile officer being in command? ETA: This is the general's bio http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=6081

Scholarship funding is separated by fiscal year and when award a scholarship it is for the fiscal year you are expected to graduate. If you are going to major in physics and will need 5 years (which is very common for tech majors) then it is unlikely you can keep your scholarship. But you do still have some options: 1) Work your ass off during summer (sucks double cause the scholarship won't cover it) and extend into the summer of your graduating year 2) If you aren't contracted yet, you may be able to switch to a non-tech major. If you want to fly and don't have your heart set on being a test pilot I would HIGHLY recommend you do so as your GPA will be MUCH better when rated boards comes around and you are alot less likely to get kicked out for grades.

Wow. When I read tac air's post I assumed he was just kidding about the tea bagging....I guess thats not how it was meant?

How do you decide who the "next" person is? Rack and stack at IFS? There will be brand new officers from three different commissioning sources, as well as officers picked up on active duty. Is there really a way to decide who the "next" guy/gal is during IFS?

magnetfreezer, so then does that mean there won't be a "track select" type of thing for WSO's and you'll find out if you are going to be a WSO based on the platform on assignment night?

A question from a soon to be butter bar (one more month of summer class) for the more experienced folks. If you are an officer, being treated very disrespectfully by a SFS NCO for no justifiable reason like the above story what would be the appropriate response from an officer? Grin and bare (sts) until you contact your chain? Put the asshat in his place right there? Do what above poster did by being a smart ass and then getting the chain involved? Something else entirely?

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't get the big deal. They aren't talking about reading every captured insurgent their rights, just certain high value targets that will eventually face prosecution: Link: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...mirandized.html It makes sense. If you are going to prosecute someone, even a war criminal/terrorist, then there are certain procedures you have to go through.

I got a Type II scholarship my AS200 year. They consider GPA, SAT/ACT, AFOQT, and PFA scores. As others have mentioned, a 2.4 isn't really going to cut it. If I were you, and I say this as a former engineering major, I would seriously consider switching to a non-tech major. I've seen too many people who otherwise would commission get kicked out due to grades because they couldn't hack the engineering stuff. I switched (was awarded the scholarship while an engineering student, saw the hand writing on the wall, and switched before contracting) and since things have been smooth. If you are struggling with engineering and still have your upper level courses left, then I would say bail on engineering.

It probably isn't helpful for anyone to speculate too much. Though it would seem that something had to spur the investigation, there is no information about what that might have been and getting a bit specific with the speculation could easily lead to nasty rumors that this guy may have to fight on top of whatever legal action he his undergoing.

Lets put this in perspective for those claiming "he got caught, tough". As another poster pointed out, under the UCMJ oral sex pf ANY kind is just as illegal as gay sex. How would you like OSI questioning your wife/girlfriend about how many blowjobs she's given you or if you have gone down on her? How would you then like that to be the reason your career is ruined? Its the same thing. The only difference is that DADT is enforced. Our of curiosity (sts), if you are a commander, can you decline to investigate someone under you for DADT violation?

It looks like all FY09 commissionees are going to Pensacola. All the CSOs at my det have dates for Pensacola and the one that was slated for Randolph has been moved to Pensacola. My CSO class start date is 13 July 2010 with ASBC and IFS obviously before that. It will be a while before I start, but I'll try to provide updates to this thread as I go through the process so that any FY10 folks can get a heads up of how the new program works.

I had to go to MEPS for my commissioning physical as I picked up a rated slot only recently (just got my FC1A done yesterday). MEPS is like a goddamn prison, and they treat you like it. They assume that EVERYBODY there is a recruit about to ship out to basic. I was treated like absolute garbage and my physical took 12 hours to complete. Here is my suggestion. Go to Staples. Get those colored circle stickers and bring one of each color with you in your pocket. They will give you a color when you get there to put on the barcode/name tag/inhumane brand thing, and it will be the lowest priority. You will see some people there with 'priority' tags. The day I went it was red. Go to the bathroom, put the priority color on your name tag, skip to the front of all lines, and get out of that awful place in a fraction of the time. I wish someone had given me this advice rather than having a whole day ruined and called "recruit" while being talked down to by some dumbass Army NCO who has no idea why I'm there or what ROTC is while telling me how bad basic is going to be for me.

Hacker, the Military.com story says pilot. But I'm obviously not in the Strike Eagle community and it wouldn't be shocking that a reporter doesn't know the difference between a WSO and a Pilot.

I guess whoever the 'tipster' is deserves the douche bag of the year award. Wait...isn't investigating "asking"?

A Lt Col and F-15E pilot has been kicked out of the Air Force after 18 years of service because he is gay: http://www.military.com/news/article/af-bo...-being-gay.html I know it is the law, but couldn't they have at least given him early retirement or something? It's likely they will have to give him retirement benefits/reinstatement anyway after the law is changed sometime between now and the midterm elections. ETA: Anyone else get a creepy feeling about the OSI spending time, money, and manpower looking into people's sex lives?