StrikeOut312

I think this is the most important factor. We could stay here and I'd be in base for both jobs, but moving to where the wife's family & friend network lives also puts me in base for the airline job and a few hour drive from the Reserve squadron. I've met enough dudes that have picked up orders cool places I think I'll be able to find some cool gigs myself, if I feel inclined. I like reading folks' bios...checks out, lots of GOs did IDE/SDE in-correspondence. I'm 36, I think I COULD get an AD retirement if I hustle and string something together. Not sure how much that juice is worth the squeeze...it'll be nice going back to a legacy. Thanks for the advice!

I’d like to command a flying squadron, I’m in one right now. I’d also like to do staff in Hawaii or Europe. GO…shoot man, let’s see if I even make it that far. I’m leaning towards going back to being a TR and picking up MPA, seeing if I can get what I want that way. The Mrs and I would like to buy a forever house in-base for the airline. Trying to get informed on all the options before I close a door. I’m not sure in-res does anything for me, but trying to confirm that suspicion. But maybe it opens up some cool opportunity I haven’t considered.

Thread revival. I palace fronted a couple years ago, got on at a Legacy, picked up some AGR orders because it made sense for family. I find myself in a position where I can apply for IDE in-res. I did WIC-->OLMP-->ACSC, so doing more IDE doesn't hit any wickets that I'm missing. I'm intrigued if doing IDE in-residence opens some kind of door for cool opportunities in AFRC that I'm missing. The plan leaving Active Duty was to keep my foot in the door while being an airline dude, so I've done well on that front. Wasn't planning on getting an AD retirement, but these AGR orders popped up unexpectedly and take me to 15. I think if I can figure out how to get to 20, may as well, I already have the line number.

Helluva thread revival. I had a flight doc a few years ago basically say, “Umm no, we’re gonna say you drink less than your reply.”

#TankerLivesMatter RIP friends.

@bs98 Are you gate complete? If you need to take a break from flying, find a staff job or IMA job. I left Active Duty last summer and my mind is boggled by all the ways to serve/get paid as a Reservist. Should be way smoother to get back in a cockpit going that route than by switching to RPAs.

My dog is a lab mix, for a reason. Easiest option, IMHO, is to get a vet or a piece of paper that says your dog is a mix breed. Not sure how the emotional support animal strategy would play out. Good luck. Very sweet looking pup!

You mean the Caspian right? I agree with you in principle, but my head spun for a second. Unless you’re thinking of the other war going on over in that hemisphere.

What's your plan if you DOR and separate? Think long and hard about that. The airline hiring pendulum has swung back the other way from 1,500 hour wonders getting hired at the legacies. Once you get through pilot training, it is a different AF, and flying is (usually) awesome. You're in an exceptionally competitive program...study hard, let it ride. My gut says stick with it. My $0.02 is you'll regret it if you hang up the flightsuit.

If you have to ask, get out. If it’s good for you, good for your family, you’re having fun, and you like what you’re doing, stay in. Otherwise, punch when your ADSC is up. Keep your doors open by finding a job in the ANG or AFRC.

Not even close to the dumbest thing I’ve seen from the boom operators.

I was surprised when we didn’t leave in 2011, and surprised when we did leave in 2021. Not surprised we’re going back though…we love doing that kind of thing.

I don't disagree with this sentiment, Trump's "shock and awe" playbook is absolutely disrupting stability. We are in a position now where we get to wait and see how the dust settles. Right or wrong, what's done is done. Maybe Congress will stop ceding power to the executive branch, or the R's will get trounced in '26. If his strategy is to create chaos and get to a negotiating position, perhaps it's working, or that's my misguided optimism.

If you're active duty, you are essentially on retainer. If nothing is going on at the squadron, don't be there. If you're a supervisor and your folks aren't busy, send them home. Depending on the organization/mission, that mentality can be more/less tricky to implement...but in my life AD life flying the tanker, there were plenty of times I was called or my bros got called last minute to go into crew rest. Going home when the squadron is slow means you're making up for the time when you're gone short notice for an indefinite amount of time. Acting SECAF is either a clown or a puppet directed by clowns. Bad policy put out at a bad time.

Globalization was great during the "end of history" period (what a bunch of hubris). For all the virtue signalling that happens in the US, it's funny to me that folks are ok exploiting cheap labor overseas so us Americans can feed our consumerism addiction by ordering more cheap stuff than we know what to do with...go abroad, you'll be hard pressed to find 1/4 of the self-storage places we have here in the US. If we're anticipating another big conflict, makes sense to me we'd bring back some industrial capacity. There was a time where we made stuff here in the US, then it got cheaper to make it overseas, so we sent manufacturing abroad...at what cost? Got it, life will get more expensive, but we might claw back some self-reliance instead of depending on other folks to make our stuff. This episode was posted in another thread, applicable to this thread, and worth a listen.