wikz

na, im not worried. its not gonna show and I don't see a point in asking someone I don't work for yet. I appreciate the clarification.

thanks for the info. should I tell my recruiter about me getting one before shipping off? would he care or would it delay the enlisting process?

What's up y'all. had a question about tattoos and the regulations. I did a search and did find a thread back In 05 and was wondering if they're still the same. my situation: been hoping to get a tattoo for awhile, but wanted to wait till after BMT to get it. Long story short, I was DQ'd at MEPS for the most menial thing ever a few weeks ago and have been waiting to get my waiver approved. I also was hoping to get shipped off after the Hollidays so I can have family time and finish up my 1st semester of college. this gives me about a 2 month window to get a tattoo and let it heal. When going through the medical process I was quite frequently asked if I had tattoos (I don't), and was wondering if having a tattoo is distasteful to the AF ( I know, a dumb question because a lot of military people have tattoo's, but just wondering why they ask this during the medical process). I was hoping to get some small kanji on my back (covered), nothing too major. what are some tattoos that are prohibited for enlisted folks to have? Will having covered tattoos make you a less competitive applicant when applying for the UPT board? (I know its a long way away, but just hoping to get some insight) I was going to ask my recruiter about the tattoo idea since I'm waiting to be shipped, but Ive seen many threads about recruiters bullshitting and I though you guys would give me a more sensible answer to see if it was feasible or not. TIA.

B E A utiful.

no offense taken. your totally right; with all due respect, I don't know much about the capabilities hence " please elaborate if I'm wrong." Im sure every aircraft has its pros like the f-35 being stealthier than the f-22 or vice versa the f-22 being faster and more agile. I haven't dug too deep into the capabilities and which aircraft is better, but I am glad you brought this up because I am now interested in learning about it. like you said it depends on the mission. for example if we want to be better than china in the air, the f-22 is our best bet for A-A combat. but if you look at the bigger picture the f-35 does carry more mission sets than A-A making it a more fine choice. I wouldn't say I am a fanboy of any F, but ig I am drawn to the f-22 because it is my home units aircraft. to be honest they all have the same level of badass (maybe not so much the 15, sorry boys haha). I am sure you know way more than me so Im curious on your take about the replacement for the raptor. do you think switching to the 35, EX etc. is better in the long run?

My question is the problem with retiring the f-22. With the NGAD not being in the Guard like you said for probably another 15+ years, ( I know no one can answer what the replacement will be) is it really gonna make a favorable impact to replace f-22's with probably something like the f-35, EX, f-16 etc. "We can't afford to keep upgrading our most capable and feared aircraft so were gonna take a step back and switch em out for X-XX which may be the same gen fighter but it doesn't have the power of the raptor." it just doesn't sit right with me (Im assuming this is their next move; I have no idea. please elaborate if I'm wrong). I thought their whole idea was "we want to be more superior in the air." I feel like any aircraft replacing the f-22 when were waiting for the NGAD would be demeaning to the Air Force.

Okay, Thank God. Aren't they trying to reduce the number of fighter squadrons or did they come to a consensus on a minimum of 25? For the A-10 and and F-15 C/D models being retired and replaced, the pilots would be cross trained into different aircraft (F-35, F-16 AND MQ-9s), correct?

I think the probability of acquiring the holy grail guard slot just became 69x harder. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-national-guard-fighter-fleet-bill/#:~:text=A minimum of 25 fighter,with at least 18 aircraft

Thanks. I thought it would be too good to be true.

I live in Oahu and the national guard is involved. plenty enlisted folks down there are scavenging what they can and trying to find people in need of help. As of right now, I think all the fires have been alleviated and extinguished. My uncle works in the coast guard and he said that there are some volunteer opportunities, so ig the coast guard is getting involved too. A LOT of people lost their homes and are getting shuttled by major airlines (Hawaiian airlines) to Oahu. Anecdotally, I believe they are staying hotels. Very sad news for us indigenous people, I hope everything works out.

haven't seen this one on the forums yet and was wondering if anyone has every heard of this?

Anyone ever watch battleship? watched it for the first time in awhile today and it was very entertaining despite the embellishment. great cast (2012 Rihanna was beautiful). CGI was decent and the way they portrayed the aliens was badass (maybe I only liked their armor because it reminded me of the halo days). definitely recommend if your into sci-fi/ end of the world..

i am glad they finally made an article. Huge congrats to Major Clark. Excited to see the impact he has in the next upcoming years.

if you don't mind me asking, what was your PCSM? congrats btw!

more so pilots. can reserve/ ANG fighter pilots get accepted on the TB's to be one of the 6 without being AD beforehand?

Thought this was one of the better drop night videos.

@O FaceAhhh, I am sorry. Always kinda felt like I was putting too much feet forward trying to answer questions based off of everything I've read and what I learned. I definitely wasn't trying to pose, I just enjoy this thread and helping people out. no indignation; I understand my mistake and thank you for the mental and characteristic check.

a little off topic question, but I've been watching some thunderbird airshows on YouTube and it got me thinking.. I believe airshow teams like the blues and tbirds are active duty only, but do the tbirds hire fighter pilots from the reserves or ANG? I did a search and according to google in the past I believe there has been only 3 ANG fighter pilots that have been selected. here's the twist. even though they were current enlisted in the guard, they all came from an AD AF background. ultimately my question is, can you still get picked up on the tbirds without any AD service? TIA, wikz.

like ryley said, lots of good answers to your questions all over this forum; but I have no problem taking a swing at your questions. Your AFOQT scores are great. you could definitely get picked up by a fighter sq. (assuming that's what your interested in?) but expect them to ask a question like "your rated scores are outstanding, but why are your other sections low?" in an interview. I would advise against retaking the AFOQT and mitigating your stress. keep those scores because if you retook the test they take the most recent rated scores, not the highest. if you feel like you are competent enough to get the same or higher rated scores, go of it. the last three sections will take the highest scores of either tests. I wouldn't say leadership experiences weigh too heavy on the application side, but it is an all around beneficial characteristic. any kind of leadership will boost your application. In regards to your LOR's, I suggest getting it from college professors, your boss, or if you have any high ranked military personnel connections. (mentors) if you're interested in it, bogidope.com has a good deal. they scrutinize applications and help you prepare for interviews. 2 on what ryley said, the younger you are, the more appealing you are to units. start shooting your application. best of luck!

I'm currently not enlisted yet. I am taking my asvab here shortly and hoping for an open f-22 crew chief or life support slot to get the most exposure to the pilots. thank you for the insight though! I will try to utilize the advice when the time comes.

for some reason, every thread that I have read where you have answered a question, I cannot understand jack shit of what your saying. maybe your vocabulary is exponentially better than mines..😠 (I admire your competence)

appreciate the advice and the additional info @O Face! what is your definition of an annoying person at a unit? I understand you should "never miss an opportunity to st*u" but how are you able to make connections and let people know what you want to be in the future, without feeling like your imposing. I think about that a lot because I would like to connect with the pilots to a certain level where if they see me around the unit, they say "hey its a bro." and not "oh its Kawika, the annoying guy that keeps bugging me asking questions about my job and letting me know his aspirations." (maybe I'm getting over my head assuming pilots are distasteful about talking to others) funny story. the only opportunity I had talking with a fighter pilot, I stuttered and shook so hard I almost tripped on my way out. I kinda geek out about it. Me personally, I think pilots are rockstars and I would hate to bother people and implement a wrong face/ characteristic at the unit I'm about to get into.

Good afternoon aviators! As mentioned in the title, I was curious if there was a specific order that would maximize test scores. Hoping to get picked up for pilot, I need to start working on getting my PPL, taking the AFOQT, and the TBAS. To go more in depth, I will be starting full time college in a couple months (freshman) and part time enlisted in the guard. My plan so far was to work on the qualifications during summertime, because I think it would be hard to juggle college, work (ANG), and studying for one of the three. (PPL/AFOQT/TBAS) Is it a good idea to attempt one of the three only in the summertime to give my full attention to the tests, or is it possible to do while in school? Is there an order in which I should take the tests? (ie. get your PPL first to give you GK when you take the AFOQT and TBAS in the future) what was your guys' sequence? did it help, or did you complete them whenever without an itinerary? TIA, wikz.

wow, thank you!! I appreciate the advice and examples.

I totally agree. To be honest, I know that the sim wouldn't put forth too much assistance as far as doing maneuvers etc. ahead of time; but would having your own sim be more useful than chair flying in UPT? With the new technology at UPT, do studs even chair fly anymore, or do they rely more on sims?