KC46Driver

McConnell KC-135 out of T-38s? Woof. This. MacDill is on the way in the late 2020s, but wont start deliver or PCS until the other MOBs are full up. March, MacDill, and Selfridge are the near rocks.

Yes. My wing recently had 2 must fill slots come down. From my understanding it's still a fairly good deal. A lot of hours, type rating, and an ATP if you play your cards right. We had dudes getting like 700 hours over the 6 months there for very easy flying.

I am biased, but as a dude that's done both I would choose the 46 every single time. Feel free to DM with specific questions, but to keep it short: KC-135: Simpler, storied, better bases IMO (Mildenhall, Kadena, nice TFIs), you can go do other things outside of the 135 if you want. Obviously with older jets there comes old jet problems. KC-46: Nicer jet, very automated. Ops tempo is very much picking up. Once you go KC-46s you are there for life, so if you're interested in special programs (U-2, 89th, GD, etc) forget about it. Not happening. Current bases are McConnell, Travis, McGuire, Altus, Seymour and Pease, with others on the way. Constant changes going on in the pubs. If airlines are your goal it's very easy to do so. Like most of the MAF, we very rarely have people stay past their commitment, so take that with what you will. The 767 type rating was a thing when the program first came online but it's been dead for awhile.

Promotion results have dropped to senior raters. I personally don't know anyone in LAF-A that didn't make it, but I'm seeing shit on other social media that's more indicative of a blood bath. Some dude on reddit was saying their rates were at like 65%.

Wow this really got away from RIF talk.

Can anyone that was around for the Hunger Games of 2013-2014 describe what it was like or what to expect? RUMINT says that there's going to be something similar to that or other RIF effort coming down the pipe in the coming months. Normally I would just ignore that, but RUMINT has been right about a lot of shit recently that turned out to be true - Body comp, open ranks inspections, etc.

I love finding this out from online news instead of leadership FFS.

I would suggest going to your leadership right now and letting them know you want to go RPAs and let them go from there. I will say there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to fly RPAs, but there is something wrong with taking that coveted pilot slot or MWS from someone who really wants it.

T-38 guy to Fairchild KC-135s? Can't say I've seen something like that before.

Consider going to the FTU if you don't want to leave your airframe. Altus actually is not terrible IMO if youre a 135, 46, or 17 guy, and it's basically the ultimate networking assignment. You're going to meet someone from about every guard/reserve unit in your MWS, and you're going to meet someone that flies for every airline.

I literally lol'd

Looks like it might be time to change my display name

Hey man, I dm'd you. As a capt I worked directly for someone who previously sat on an O-4 board, and got some career mentoring on what they look for - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's much more in depth than this but the big ones are: Things they like: +IP/EP in your MWS +Weapons Officer +Flight Commander/Shop Chief Doesn't look good but not a clean kill: = No jobs outside of the squadron =Jobs in the same function i.e. you stayed in safety or training for 4 years, etc. Any of the following will basically put you at the bottom and you better hope someone sucks more than you do: -Not SOS complete -Any sort of paperwork. No LORs, UIFs, no PT failures, etc -No strats, and dogshit push line. You could also consider yourself blessed based on your career goals. You got multi million dollar training for free, likely have an impeccable resume, and a guard/reserve unit will pick you up no problem as long as you're a good dude, so hopefully you haven't burned many bridges. There's a dude in my unit that purposely didn't try and make it for this exact reason. His PRF basically said he turns O2 to CO2 and once in awhile drives a jet. Don't let the air force's ridiculous, ever increasing careerist requirements define you. Your worth does not amount to a push line or a SURF.

I think the VML opens up in a couple weeks for assignment preferences (I think Apr 22nd?), and I don't think that the actual qual or rank of the crossflow matters. We've been getting copilots, ACs, and IPs from crossflow, LTs all the way up to Lt Cols. Copilots are now mostly coming from UPT, but we still get a couple copilots coming from communities like the AWACS where the upgrade timing is a lot longer than your typical MAF platform. Seymour and Pease are TFIs for AD, and they're usually very competitive to get. Much smaller footprint than the big 3. Think like 40-60 people vs hundreds at Travis/McGuire/McConnell.

On previous VMLs in Talent Marketplace there's specifically a "KC-46 Crossflow" billet to all the 46 bases, and in the description it will say "this is to crossflow to the KC-46, not for current KC-46 pilots, etc"... You may have to change your filters to find it. Easiest way would be to probably search "Crossflow" or filter it under 11M. Increase your chances by applying to the main active duty ones (Travis, McConnell, McGuire), but the higher QOL IMO lives at Pease and Seymour. Also, buyer beware that if the 46 is your first or second assignment, there's a strong chance you're going to Altus at some point in your career, and almost a guarantee if you're sticking around for 20. Interesting, I did not know that. My RUMINT was off then. I applied to this once and was not selected to interview but it sounds like a pretty cool opportunity if you're one of the few guys that gets the call.