Arkbird

KCBM 24-04. Drop included standard T-1 and T-38 class as well as first Fight Bomber Fundamentals class and direct from T-6 to FTU drops. F-16 Homestead FL RC-135 Offut 3xF-16 TBD B-52 Barksdale (T-1 Grad) EA-18 Whidbey Island F-22 Langley AFB KC-135 Birmingham ANG (Active duty TFI straight from T-6, skipping T-1) C-17 Jackson MS C-130H Peoria IL 2xF-35 TBD C-17 Memphis TN F-16 Tuscon AZ C-130J Little Rock (Direct from T-6, skipping T-1) F-16 Tulsa OK C-130J Charleston WV 2xT-6 FAIP Columbs KC-135 Fairchild AFB C-17 Martinsburg WV 2xF-15E Seymour Johnson A-10 Davis Monthan B-2 Whiteman C-17 Dover C-5 San Antonio TX U-28 Hurlburt Field (Direct from T-6, skipping T-1) MC-130 Kirtland

Saw these while going through UPT recently. They belong to any of you guys? The stickers were on old projectors they were getting rid of.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/29/1215765229/us-military-aircraft-crashes-southwestern-japan-coast

Not sure. It has its highs and lows. The program definitely weeds people out and 2.0 was a terrible syllabus so it's hard to say. Best advice is to go in with an open mind ready to learn and be humbled.

As someone who was picked up on that board, I love it. Rooting for you guys to get selected. I just finished upt today. Feels like a dream.

Lots of delays with the T-38 guys because of maintenance cancels. They all wanted to go AFSOC so a number of them put U-28 #1 on their list.

KCBM 24-03: C-17 McGuire 2x T-6 FAIP C-17 Charleston AFRC KC-135 Ohio ANG KC-135 Fairchild B-52 Barksdale (dropped from T-1s) C-17 WV ANG MC-130 Kirtland C-130 Little rock 4x U-28 Hurlburt 3x F-15J Japan

Next drop is November 9th. I'll post results for KCBM.

I just finished T-6 so I have a few more thoughts on this now. Honestly, I don't think those extra few months saved are worth it. Better to go through the entire thing in my opinion. Yes we have some knowledge and know concepts related to flying as an 18X but it's nowhere near as in depth as you'd need to have a TX transition. If you're good, you'll PA some rides anyway. If not, you can use the extra rides to get better. I do think on average we probably had better hands and knew the T-6 a little more than someone who hasn't gone though any formal flying training for the Air Force but not enough to make a TX course worth it.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/173rd-fw-eagle-driver-becomes-the-first-ang-fighter-pilot-selected-to-be-a-thunderbird-demonstration-pilot/

Good luck!

I'm at CBM so unfortunately all I've heard is rumint as well.

From what I've seen, the Air Force doesn't care what anyone at a UPT base has to say about training unless it saves them money. See UPT 2.5 and retiring the T-1 while still keeping OBOGS related T-6 tails flying after a hypoxia event.

Unfortunately. Air Force says they don't want to keep paying to maintain the T-1 and its engines. They're still going to keep a few AMP tails around for IP currency but they're still planning to make it go sim only soonish.

Well the news (good or bad depending on how you feel about the syllabus) is that UPT is going to something similar to the old syllabus. Should be about three checkrides with one after trans, one after nav, and one after form. Mission to top off then track select and graduation a few weeks later follow by T-1s or T-38s. So there is that. Dunno if that means it's getting more rigorous or not.

Negative, just one guy in the entire drop was T-38 tracked. But there are rumors here that a 38 FAIP is gonna go heavies and a 1 guy is gonna get buffs in a trade (dual mil FAIPs with with one a 38 track and the other a 1).

KCBM 23-13 C-17 Elmendorf C-17 Travis C-17 McChord C-17 Charleston C-17 Pittsburgh (ANG) T-6 FAIP (11S follow-on) KC-135 McConnell B-52 Barksdale C-130 WY (ANG) C-130 MO (ANG) 2x C-130 Dyess 2x MC-130 Kirtland AC-130 Hurby

I'm in T-6 right now and I swear we barely talk CRM outside of the form and mission briefs before rides. This must be more of a T-1 thing because our IPs pretty much expect us to do everything in our profiles without their intervention unless we're doing something dumb or dangerous.

Guard and reserve guys are being told they have to move out of the dorms for the incoming academy studs. They can move to an on base house if there's availability or off base.

You won't be waiting as long as the new Lts. They try to prioritize guard/reserve and crossflows since we're just sitting around making money.

If no one else will, I'll take it. I'm only in upt right now so if someone else is actually flying mil, go for it.

KCBM 23-06 F-35 - Luke A-10 - DM T-38 FAIP (11B Follow-on) B-1 Dyess KC-135 HI ANG C-17 McChord x3 MC-130 Kirtland C-130 Dobbins x2 MC-130 PA ANG C-17 TN ANG C-21 Scott C-17 MS ANG C-146 Duke C-130 Dyess C-130 WV ANG C-130 Yakota T-6 FAIP (11M Follow-on) U-28 Hurby C-17 WV ANG

Yeah he's a good dude. Was always solid. Gotta get myself through upt first but assuming I do, I'll be sure to head out there in a few years.

Any plans to come out to Columbus this year? I've got a friend out there flying U-2s and from the one picture I've seen, he seems pretty excited about it. Went to OTS with him and he was a FAIP out there at Beale.

I agree. I was selected on last year's board and I've had a few friends tell me they know guys with "better" packages than mine not get selected. Better in their minds were higher scores and PPLs. I told them I'm sure those help but scores aren't everything. Maybe I had better bullets, a better personal letter, or a better LoR. I was doing things that affected every Air Force MQ-9 but my peers seemed to think the scores mattered most. I was 5/6 in my wing and 3/3 in the squadron (I had been there the least amount of time) and I still got picked up even though our #1 strat for the wing didn't. Point of this isn't to brag but to say focusing on the job and really making those big impacts with your job or leadership really affect your board scores and ranking.