Bigred
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Posts posted by Bigred
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I stayed because I love military flying and deploying. The pay isn’t airline pay but it’s comfortable. The only reason I’m gonna hit the retirement button is because my airframe is likely going away and after 20 years of never leaving the cockpit, I’ll be dammed if I’m going to a staff.
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17 hours ago, Anon1 said:
1. Did anyone use their gi bill? If so how much did it pay out and how many months did it use up?
2. Sanders offers onsite accommodation. How is it or book a hotel?
If you have any chance of using the GI Bill for higher education, for you or a dependent, save it for that.
Right now my daughter is getting just over 90k a year for school from the GI Bill. So when I got my ATP, I bit the bullet and paid for it all out of pocket.
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12 hours ago, uhhello said:
What level will he get retirement for?
The Navy/DoD will do an Officer Grade Determination to decide at what lower grade he last served honorably. In theory that could be as low as an O-1.
If he were still active and received a dismissal he’d lose all of his retirement. Since he’s retired I’m not sure if that’s an option. The sentencing will be interesting to see. -
50 minutes ago, brabus said:
Huh? What have you heard that I haven’t?
Was proposed several years ago. Sounds like Lawman is seeing it actually happen
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23 minutes ago, tac airlifter said:
To summarize-- If your kids were in an ODA working sources in enemy territory with an ambush imminent and could only get 1 aircraft assigned to them, would you rather have a U2 or armed ISR? The answer is obvious; I'm not disrespecting anybody else's platforms or jobs or usefulness, but the answer in that situation is obvious and this discussion is silly.
Bit of a false dilemma because your two options are tactical and strategic ISR. The U2 has adapted to tactical ISR but it was not designed as such, so it obviously cannot carry weapons.
To you point, the answer is obvious, but the greater answer is simply having someone overhead is better than none.
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On 2/14/2025 at 12:39 PM, brabus said:
A fairly standard technique was wear it “normal” for the most part, but when you went somewhere outside of the squadron and felt like raising some blood pressure, do the tie thing, ascot, etc. Had a bro get his new ID picture with full ascot. They pushed back hard trying to say he couldn’t have that in his picture and he whipped out a printed card with the applicable regs - he won. The small victories were priceless.
I haven't worn a uniform in my CAC ID picture since roughly 2008. My most recent iteration is from deployment where I was rocking a hawaiian shirt and a wildly out of regs mustache. Funny story is that I had recently been around a cat (I'm allergic) and my red eyes and ginger skin ended up with me looking like a cancer patient. It's gotten belly laughs from gate guards all the way to TSA agents at the airpot.
There are zero rules saying you have to be in uniform for your CAC picture. And, if there are, no one has batted an eye.
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2 hours ago, SocialD said:
How long until we hear cries about shutting down the base?
I spent almost a decade in San Diego and it’s pretty common. Developers froth at the mouth at the idea of getting that land.
It’ll never happen. Same as people bitch about San Diego airport and how it should move to Miramar and be a joint airfield with the Marines.
The department of the Navy is well entrenched in San Diego and I think it’ll be a cold day in hell when they move out and let the city take over.-
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On 12/28/2024 at 1:13 PM, Skitzo said:
Having had my first UA since getting to Naval War College I can say that the Navy handles it way differently. Probably owing to the fact that they have to be able to do it while under way as well.
Every Air Force base I’ve ever been to has a dedicated place to go, and a civilian manager usually runs it. The list is tightly controlled and I’ve only ever been notified by phone. You have to sign the order to go. There are templates and examples for how to fill out the information etc.
War College: List goes out via email to everyone. There is no official paper signed order to go. There are no examples or designated places to put your sample. It’s just not as standardized.
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkFirst time getting notified of a urinalysis in the Air Force, after so many years in the Navy, was an interesting interaction.
I get a random phone call in the morning
Random GS civilian - "sir, you have to come to office 6969 and bring your id"
Me - "ok, no problem, what for?
GS - "i can't tell you, you have to come here"
Me - "ok, if you won't tell me, I'm not coming. have a good day"
I ended up having the urinalysis monitor come to my office and explain it to me. He was pissed but I told him I don't answer to random GS civlians that won't explain what they want. Still had to give the sample but the monitor ended up apologzing to me about it.I still don't understand the AF formality of it all. The Navy, you'd get a phone call or an email and it was essentially "hey man, go pee by the end of the day".
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20 hours ago, the g-man said:
8 is still less than 10.
The math checks out
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On 12/10/2024 at 1:21 AM, the g-man said:
Boy you’re sure a boomer.
remember that the Navy only has 6 year pilot training commitment. They bone their aviators in different ways though to ensure “retention”
The 6 year commitment changed to 8 years about 20 years ago.
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Sadly it's now turned into a recovery versus a rescue operation.
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On 9/12/2024 at 8:21 AM, Biff_T said:
I got gay ass helos. Helos were fucking awesome.
Just because you got gay, doesn’t mean you have to disparage God’s chariots by calling them ass helos.
But yes, I miss helos. They were fucking awesome
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On 8/1/2024 at 9:46 AM, Sua Sponte said:
Is a chip indicator on an Osprey a "land as soon as practical" or AC's discretion during a training mission?
I am surprised land as soon as practical was/is even an option. I would’ve expected it to have been either land immediately for imminent failure or otherwise land asap.
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On 6/1/2024 at 1:32 PM, Majestik Møøse said:
There’s a principle in car racing called “mechanical sympathy”. If you don’t have to lean hard on it to get a result, don’t. You’ll reap the rewards at the micro level and eventually at the acquisition level.
My understanding isn't that the jets are running out of landings, it's that the airframes are timing out. So while I agree with you to a certain extent, the trap rate is built into the design and it's not been a limiting factor (that I'm aware of).
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16 hours ago, Danger41 said:
My question is if you’re bringing pilots back, I certainly haven’t gotten the impression that B Course/TX courses are sitting around going unfilled. If they are, this is very much my Milton getting moved to the basement because I’ve been striking out right and left looking for a flying sunset tour.
With the U-2 going away, a lot of dudes are trying to find flying jobs. The words passed to us are that a lot of ACU and B-courses have significant backlog.
Aka, a lot of the guys are staring at an AETC future.
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23 minutes ago, gearhog said:
I’d argue a GED is more about commitment than intelligence. I was in boot camp with a bunch of really dumb kids and at that time it was tough to get a waiver to join with a GED.
I’m not naive to the fact that recruiting is hurting, but you might be surprised at how many high school/GED kids don’t get a 50.
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I’m a weird one, but the more distracting the environment, the better I study. TV on, radio playing, etc, and I can focus and retain.
When it’s dead quiet I find my mind wanders and I get bored. Its probably also why I wasn’t ever really good at group studying because most folks didn’t like Metallics blasting at max while reciting EPs
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58 minutes ago, Blue said:
I thought the only "recent" change in MWR funding was ~35+ years ago when everything was moved to non-appropriated funds (NAF) - meaning all MWR activities had to be self-funded.
Was there something more recent? Or am I not understanding the history of MWR?
I think it was the 2018 NDAA that forced those sorts of activities to become self-funded/sustainable versus being subsidized by NAF.
Shortly thereafter, several smaller bases closed their lodging because they couldn’t afford to keep them open. I don’t know what all activities were covered by that NDAA but I believe golf courses was one of them. Now, underutilized activities on base are closing.
It’s also why some Wg/CCs have tried to mandate TDY travelers stay in base lodging. I understand the reasoning but that’s in violation of the JTR and the mandate usually goes away quietly.
It’s the ultimate catch-22. Lodging jacked up prices to offset expenses but now the normal traveler that would go on base to save money (retiree, PCS folks, etc) go off base for the same cost and better facilities. The on base activities can’t fund themselves and usually can’t get funding to upgrade to match off base activities.
Not sure why Congress felt it was a good idea but it really screwed a lot of smaller bases and their ability to have services and infrastructure available all the time.
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On 1/1/2024 at 9:42 AM, Biff_T said:
Yeap. Lol. Piss, shit and fell down reading this.
Most Excellent!
Well, if that’s what happened your unicorn dildo must’ve worked.
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According to the BBC, the entire US and Japanese fleet is grounded.
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8 hours ago, disgruntledemployee said:
My time at DJ, the local Navy dudes ran a Ward Room, tent at 1st, then self funded/built a hard building. Open on Fri and Sat nights. Me and the guys would sip drinks, play corn hole, and bust chops. No drink limits, just a basic rule; behave.
And most did behave, save for a P-3 dude that hit on some other unit's lady officer and got shown the door after a little physicality. P-3 unit was banned for a month.
My boss asked if I went to the Ward Room. Yep, proudly. Got some work/networking done too. He mentioned something about drink limits and I mentioned the O-6 Scotch stash. We all behave and that's why it works. Our little gang had zero issues. Treat people like adults, they often behave like adults. Such a foreign idea to many higher ups.
I’m actually wearing my Wardroom tshirt as I type this! That place was great, when I was there the drink ‘limits’ were supposed to be two marks on your hand. Most nights I’d go back to the connex with most of my hand covered in marks. Those bartenders were awesome.
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37 minutes ago, HeloDude said:
If that’s the case, then every Army pilot is better than you as well, which I seriously doubt. Hovering is challenging, but so is flying a T-37 or T-6 without much flying experience. Besides, when you’re learning to hover, you’re not making much/if any radio calls. You’re just hovering over a certain area and unless you want to go somewhere else there’s not much to say. Kind of like flying in a MOA until you’re ready to leave.
My onwing at Whiting made me make ‘radio calls’ (internal ICS) at every corner of the hover box from my first flight in the helo. He also had me calling every bit of traffic in the pattern at Pace/Spencer as I maneuvered along the hover box. Maybe that wasn’t normal but it freaking sucked, and to do that brand new would’ve been damn near impossible.
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5 hours ago, HeloDude said:
Ummm…the Army does it all the time. Also, going back to straight to rotor wing only training for Air Force helo pilots is how it was always done before the mid/early 90s.
I never said it was good or bad, I just said I couldn’t imagine trying to learn to hover while also learning to talk on the radios. Guess you’re a better pilot than me.
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2 hours ago, Biff_T said:
There was nothing wrong with the helicopter pilots starting in fixed wing and then moving to helos. It helps build airmanship. It is easier to learn to fly a fixed wing then transfer to helos than it is just to start off in a jet ranger. Learning to hover takes a few extra brain bites. It's hard to talk to ground and tower when you can barely taxi your aircraft without the fear of dieing. And like @raimius said,
This.
Besides, flying upside down builds confidence.
I couldn’t imagine trying to talk for the first time while also learning to hover. Talk about the monkey fucking the football bat.
A-10 retirement
in General Discussion
Posted
U-2 bros right now