KingHerc

I am assuming since NGB was shorted like $100 Million figuring out how to shuffle the money around may take a few weeks.

First and foremost I have the utmost respect for what the jollys and pjs are doing in Afghanistan. You guys risk your lives to live the rescue motto. Total props to you. My only complaint about the show, and I know we play a limited role in Afghanistan, is it portrays USAF combat rescue as two parts, helicopters and pjs. There is a third, the kings. We have always been and will be part of the rescue triad. Unfortunately this show portrays our rescue community as only two parts and as a king guy it's disappointing. Again not to take anything away from what you guys are doing, and if I had my choice we would be there right along side of you, but that's my two cents.

So i saw the post about the wheel cap and went to 36-2903 just to take a look and here is what it says "6.2. Headgear. 6.2.1. The Men’s Service Cap (Wheel Cap). Will only be worn with the service dress and service uniforms. Women are authorized to wear the men’s service cap. For placement of appropriate clouds, darts and cap insignia, see figures 6.6, 6.7, and 6.8. 6.2.1.1. The visor-type service cap is banded with dark blue 1 ¾ inch braid and has a front black chin strap. An optional version has a braid of an open mesh construction and an optional black leather back strap. The cap sits squarely on the head with no hair protruding in front of the cap. Officers wear the service cap insignia without a circle and with the appropriate clouds and darts (based on rank) centered on the front of the cap. Enlisted wear the service cap insignia with a circle, centered on the front of the cap. Service cap is mandatory for Majors and above and optional for all others." I hate to say it but it sure looks like if your a major or above you are now supposed to wear your wheel cap in service dress.

I know this is a forum for the CSAR-X but what about the Kings. Has anyone heard any new rumors on the acquisition of our J models. I gotta say atleast the 60's will get something "new". it might only be an 80% solution but its something. The Kings are dying and quickly. If we dont get a replacement soon you guys will have no tanker at all.

They are waiting until they announce that CSAR is going back to AFSOC.

Yea the standard rules for the ongoing palace chase which does not fall under any special programs like force shaping, is that when 2/3 of your commitment is complete you are eligible to apply for palace chase. But you are still at the mercy of AFPC and the chain of command to let you go. I have no idea what the environment is like right now, I PC 3 years ago when they were letting everyone out without even looking.

You are probably right, and something that actually makes sense and seems logical would of course be unfavorable for the air force.

I am curious what other rescue guys are hearing about the possibility of us going back to afsoc. i know the rumors have been going around a bit here, but has there been any actual rumors about any move like that in the works?

Well i just read that a couple of congressman are proposing to eliminate any future osprey procurements stating that it has been a total failure. it has not delivered on anything that it was promised to do. It cant defend itself, it cant land on the smaller navy ships, it requires too many parts. all in all if this really goes through then the marines and air force will be looking back at rotary wing assets. since afsoc got rid of all of theirs then they will be dying to get rotary wings back and the quickest way to do this is to acquire all CSAR assets.

K-FED if all you are is a UPT stud.. then stay out of a conversation of rescue and army professionals actually out in the field and in a situation where our future is at risk. until you actually join the community then dont throw stones.

Like I said the only way for the helo community in the air force to have a future is if we all move into afsoc. i guarantee afsoc would kill for helo's again after giving everything up for the cv-22.

Ill second that one

yea i great way to improve your magazine.... dont include uavs, just a suggestion

I personally think that the Army could in no way support the CSAR mission and realistically doesnt want to. they have enough on their hands as it is. I think what Gates and the CSAF is doing is setting up a situation where the end result is a massive plus up for AFSOC. They way i see this playing out is they cancel the csar-x, they let afsoc take the first two years worth of hc/mc-130J, and the continue to use words like joint when it comes to rescue. once the budget is approved i think they will then go to congress and basically say listen af rescue is dying. they have no new helicopter they are already falling behind in the tankers with most now going to afsoc. the community will not survive unless they let them move all rescue assets under afsoc and end the long proud tradition of air force rescue. All remaining units will be redeisgnated sos and sow, afsoc will get their over 2000 personnel plus up they want and the rescue mission now becomes a joint socom mission that can be accomplished by the air force in conjuction with the army 160th soar. to me this is the only possible way for the community to survive, in addition it is the only way for the guard to hold on to its critical rescue assets that are heavily used in the civil sar arena. the agreement would be that those three units will at home station just specialize in civial rescue to maintain a capability new york california and alaska refuse to let go of.

its inevitable, af rescue is coming to the end of its life. its a shame and a waste but i dont see any other end result in all that is happening. the only way for the csar community to survive is if the secdef and csaf moves all remaining assets under afsoc as actual afsoc assets. no more rescue wings or rescue squadrons, just sos and sow. its the only way for us to survive. Besides if they make that move then afsoc will have rotary wing assets again, and more shadows to relieve the over tasked shadow squadrons out there now.

Third generation Air Force Pilot Grandfather (dad's side) - B-17 and B-24 Pilot in WWII Gradnfather (mom's side) - Navy Submarine engineer Great Uncle (dad's side) - B-24 pilot shot down over germany Great Aunt (mom's side) - Worked for the Office of strategic Service during WWII Uncle - C-141 Pilot Father - C-141 Pilot Me- MC-130 Pilot

the program is called TFAP. It is still going on. what happens is when a guy is at the end of pilot training and the drops come down, included in those drops may be assignments to a guard unit. for our unit the drops would come down at corpus for guys to come to our guard base. the assigment system still has them listed as possible assignments so i know the program is still goin on. in fact we have a guy right now who is about to upgrade who is an AD guy. do a search you will find this topic has been talked about before

I palaced Chased out of active duty this past January. I was only 6 months out of the schoolhouse in kirtland when I got it approved and officially had wings for only a year and a hlaf when i finally seperated. PC is a fairly easy process or so I found it to be. How it was explained to me and the way it seems to work is like this. The first thing you need to do before you tell anyone what you are thinking is shop around and find the units you want to go to. Unless you are just desperate to get off of active duty and will take anywhere, find only the units that you would really want to be a part of. after you locate a unit start talking to them and try to get an interview. Once you secure an interview, before you even go out there, this would be the time to let your squadron commander know what you are thinking about and what you would like to do. It usually helps if you have a solid plan before letting your leadership know what you are doing. A commander will be less likely to help if you have no plan. Anyway after you interview and saying that you get hired on, the paperwork can take as quick as a week or as long as a month to run through your wing. Once it gets signed off by the wing commander and is sent on to AFPC it usually takes about a month for the answer to come back. You have to wait for a board to convene and review your package. From what I was told there is usually a board every month or so. At this point even if you have everyones permission if AFPC feels that you are not worth letting go your package will get denied. I had alot of friends try the same time i did and their packages were all denied. At that point your basically done, just get ready for seperation. Now seems to be a good time to try, AFPC is so frantic over the force shaping that guys are slipping through the cracks. That is how I got out. My word of advice is just know what you are getting yourself into. You may not like active duty but really look at what the guard and reserves are like. It is a different world. In my case it is a much better world and I am extremely happy with my decision but I also think I got lucky. Just take your time and really look at it.

I dont know When I got out of active duty there were AD guys who were pissed

I second this one, It was a great book and a great story about our spec ops predecessors. That is it really shed light onto the idea that sometimes the rules will get you killed.

I just got done with the rock and am now out in kirtland doing the king school house here, and I have to say I feel so behind the power curve. I wish I had my rides sitting as the copilot, then the transition wouldnt be so rough, but now not only am I have to learn the spec ops way of doing things I have to learn stuff I should have already learned at the rock.