Chida

Accessible Aviation near Columbus AFB. I did the written at an FBO near my hometown after I bought and studied with Sheppard AIr study software. Carl Nuzzo is the owner/operator of Accessible Aviation. He sent me all the info I needed to study via email. I showed up on a Fri evening, we went over the things I studied. That night I studied some more. The next day we did a flight in the morning and a flight in the afternoon. Sunday morning we did a flight and Sunday afternoon was the check ride. This was 2 years ago and I was on a short timeline so I was unable to be scheduled with his regular DPE. He was able to get another DPE for me anyway and it was fine. The checkride was fine and I got my ticket. The flying is in a twin Piper. Total cost was around $2500 (again, 2 years ago) and I stayed in the VOQ on Columbus AFB. However, if you like you can stay in the lodging provided by Accessible Aviation because it's included in the fee. I did not because I brought my wife with me and it's sort of a shared living arrangement with other students, meaning that you're in an apartment and you each have your own bedroom, but the living room, kitchen, and bathroom are shared with zero to three other individuals. Not to step on any toes, but my advice is not to blow money on a 737 type rating unless you need one (i.e. intend to be hired by SWA). The 9/11 GI Bill will pay for your ATP written and ATP check ride at the least. If the school meets certain guidelines they will also pay for the training up to $10000 per school year. Check with the individual school to see if they qualify for 9/11 GI Bill reimbursement (to you). I did mine before this new VA rule came out, so I was only able to get the ATP checkride reimbursed ($350). Make sure you keep your receipts! The proportion you will "spend" on the GI/bill is $10000=9 months. So if you went with Accessible it would be approx $3500=4 months of GI bill benefits, according to my understanding. https://www.gibill.va.gov/resources/education_resources/programs/flight_training.html

You're protected by a DAV code for 30 days after you PCS to a new assignment. The DAV code can be easily waived though. You're "protected" from doing a PCS during the first year after you arrived at a new duty station. I don't know if AFPC is still classifying 365's as a PCS. I'd suggest looking at the Assignments AFI. Until you get a DOS you're fair game for anything within these limits. My opinion is that once you get a DOS, you're probably not going on a 365. You could get a 6 month deployment, though. Don't let fear stop you from doing what you need to do. Your sq commander is the authority to grant/deny terminal leave/terminal PTDY. When I separated, local policy allowed for a max of 120 days terminal leave/PTDY. ADSC doesn't matter if you're twice passed over and get non-continuation or decline continuation. The reason is Title 10 says 2x passed over guys must be separated, and a lesser instruction (AFI) dictates the ADSC. Title 10 trumps AFI.

I've done max SDP on all 5 of my deployments and have netted $2284. That's worth the slight risk of finance holding onto my money.

I think it's funny there's so much indignation in regards to Lt's getting passed over, and there's so much RIGHTEOUS indignation as to majors getting passed over and not continued, yet there's indifference to Captains getting passed over on this message board. Just an observation.

My only insight is that MPF/MPS and the total force service center is sadly lacking in knowledge of the regs they're supposed to be experts on. Press on with your PC app and if anybody gives you guff just point out the chapter and verse. Once you PC you'll receive a new ADSC which is based on your UPT ADSC, capped at 6 years. ADSC is a term that is used in the reserve as well, so it doesn't necessarily mean "active duty", but should be read as "service commitment" meaning you'll need to serve in the SELRES (participating reservist or guardsman) for at least 6 years.

I know someone from C-130s who recently palace chased before the second board results were released (albeit this was for a major's board). This person had about 2 years' ADSC left. So it seems to me that you may get special consideration as a once passed-over dude to palace chase before you're twice passed-over. Of course, if you palace chase instead of waiting to get passed over again, you miss out on separation pay. The reason this specific individual wanted to palace chase before getting passed over a second time is because of some recent (in the past 3 years) misconduct that would have been made it extremely unlikely to get a 2x passed-over waiver from the ANG/AFRES. In your case, if you have no misconduct and you think (or talk with him and know) you can get your wing commander's endorsement I'd say getting a 2x passed-over waiver would not be difficult. I know of several that have done it and even some with misconduct in their records, although the misconduct was more than 5 years in the past.

Find a hole!! (sts)

I could see them hiring a bunch of reservist IMAs. Is that a possibility to get support back without breaking the bank?

It wouldn't surprise me. I knew this one guy (at band camp) who landed at the wrong runway at Little Rock National Airport. It has two parallel runways that are 8200 ft and a 6200 ft one that is off-axis by about 45 degrees from the others. He was a WO having his student do a circling approach and they did a T&G on the 6200 ft runway. Priority one for him after this was to file an ASAP report and blame his error on the approach's construction. I realize this is not as serious as the C-17 incident, since the TOLD for the Herk was probably OK and the PCN was probably OK, but I don't see it as an appropriate use of ASAP. It's simply a thing where he made a mistake and I think he should have just taken his licks.

Yeah I just looked at visajourney.com's stats for China on CR-1 and K-1 visas and it looks to be about the same amount of time. I'd also go with the CR-1 visa in this case since it's a lot cheaper and easier. I only went with the K-1 because it was faster for Japan at the time. So I guess since you're doing the CR-1 you'll want to get married ASAP so that she can join you once you're halfway thru UPT or maybe done with UPT?

There are 4 things: security clearance, immigration, military, and SSA. -Security clearance: just report your marriage to your security manager and chain of command. They should know what needs to be done, if anything. When I got married I had recently re-done my security clearance in which I listed everything for my then-fiancee and reported her as such, so I didn't do anything after we were married. Since then I've had an additional periodic re-investigation and there were no problems. -Immigration: You should know that if she is not currently in the US on some type of visa, and then you get married and try to get a marriage visa, that it takes about a year from application to acquire the visa and that she cannot stay in the US with you during this time. I did the fiancee visa which is the quickest way to get your fiancee over here (but also most expensive) and then get married in the US and adjust status to permanent resident. During the adjustment of status she is to remain in the US. See visajourney.com and uscis.gov. -Military: Once you are married, go to the ID card office. Bring her passport and marriage certificate. She should have a visa in her passport which will be OK for the 2nd form of picture ID. She does not necessarily need a social security number at this time. Go by the tricare office if you want to sign up for Tricare Prime, otherwise you're on Tricare Standard by default. You can also sign up for Tricare Dental at this time if you want to. They will take ~$12 out of your monthly pay on your LES for dental premiums. Update your life insurance beneficiaries (SGLI) and your record of emergency data (VRED). -Social Security: If you do a marriage visa, SSA may give you an SSN as part of that process, but if they don't go to the social security office and sign up for a SSN for her. This took me 3 visits and a month and a half since they're basically unfamiliar with the fiancee visa and there were some issues with the name check. The issue was her visa was in her maiden name, then we were married so her name changed and everything from that point was in her new name except that her passport still showed her old name. I'm pretty sure that's about it. The immigration process was the height of bureaucratic foolishness, but they didn't give me any problems. The time from application for the visa to the actual visa issuance was 5-6 months. She came over, we were married within a few days and then we applied for adjustment of status so she could get her green card. I taught her how to drive and she got her license within a few months. It cost me more than $3000 for her entire process, the majority being USCIS application fees. Other associated costs are embassy fees, doctor's fees, immunization costs, document fees, etc. She's from Japan.

Last time I was in downtown Seattle (Mar 2012) the bums had taken over the city. Of course, you'll be able to see that once you start looking around. I'm not kidding either. I couldn't walk more than 2 steps without a crack head begging for change. They were pretty agressive, too. Reminded me of this ICP song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp65NrfPb6s

https://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123309969 Little Rock is doing a 6-month trial with tablets for FLIP. Will someone at LR answer these, please? -Who is going to maintain these, hardware and software? Comm squadron, PFPS contractor, SELO, SARMs, duty dog, or some poor copilot? -Are these issued by the duty dog to stepping crews or are they issued to individuals to keep? -Is paper FLIP still used for local-only flights? -Is there a provision for NVG use in place?

All right, all right. I apologize. I shouldn't have said something so inflammatory. In the future, I won't be insulting to such an ill-defined target.

This is the most f*ked up bs I've ever read. Keep jerkin each other off, fools. I'm so glad I'm done with active duty.

Right on Karl H. As an aside I've encountered many active duty "lifers" who have an attitude that if you "quit" or are "kicked out" of active duty your life is over. But that is so far from the truth it's laughable. Cue the guy who says, "What are you going to do?" To all DBs who have such sentiments, and this is directed to no one in particular, I'll remind you that one day or another and sooner or later we all leave active duty. "But what are you going to DO?!"

There was a certain infamous person about a decade ago (or more) who had washed out of UPT in active duty and then went to the guard and re-attempted and became a C-130 pilot. He ended up destroying a C-130 down in Central America somewhere (Tegucigalpa?) and then during the accident investigation all these background details came to light. I don't know if it were this incident that prompted the regulation to prohibit do-overs, but whatevs.** **Disclaimer: This was told to me by an old simulator instructor, so I take no responsibility as to its accuracy BL: Your only shot at military pilot training is Army, Navy, or Coast Guard. Seek that out. Inquire at airwarriors.com, maybe.

Yes but it's a 3-day option under ITDY's like that. While you won't automatically get a 365 from showing your cards, nothing prevents you from getting a 6-month non-flying deployment bad deal from showing your cards. Don't let that fear stop you from doing what you need to do, though.

Yes, I did for most of my MS. The 9/11 GI Bill had not yet come out for my first two classes so I used TA and my own money (since TA covered only part of the expense). After that, though, I was planning to get out of AD and didn't want to pay my TA back (due to unfulfilled ADSC), so I used just the 9/11 GI Bill thereafter and that covered the entire cost (except for books). Since I was planning to get out of AD the transfer of benefits to children was not something I wanted because of the extra ADSC. And I still have 22 months of benefits remaining on the GI Bill.

Yes, it's actually mandatory, but you should do SOS in correspondence at the very least. If you want to put it off until the last possible second it will achieve the same result on AD as not having done it at all. There is a time limit on it, I'm pretty sure, before you're ineligible to do SOS. Also I don't know if you have any interest in free education, but if you do want to get your master's degree on the USAF dime, you don't have to report that you actually got it. So you could have the degree, but it won't be on your records thus achieving the same result as not having one. Then when the timing suits you, you can put it on your record (Reserve Major and/or Lt Col promotion boards). Also for your timeline: let's say your second board meets Nov 16. The board results will probably be released in Feb 17. Your mandatory DOS will be Aug 17, but you can ask for an earlier DOS. So in this scenario you could possibly get out Feb-Aug 17. Just do the TAP (Transition Assistance Program) class at the Airman and Family Readiness Center well prior to the board release date since they won't let you go until you get that done. That class is the only potential roadblock to getting out on a short timeline. One more thing. If you're 2x passed over on AD you'll need a waiver. To get the waiver you'll need your losing and gaining wing commanders to write you letters of confidence/recommendation which go to a General somewhere in the Reserve bureaucracy. Then the General says yea/nay based on your record and these letters.

If you're 2x passed over ADSC does not matter, so don't worry about getting PCS'd. I knew a guy who got PCS'd inbetween his first pass-over and his 2nd and it was to Yokota. He was only at Yokota for about 4 months since he decided to take so much terminal leave. If you get 2x passed over and they offer continuation just refuse it and you'll have a mandatory separation 6 months from when the board results are released. If they don't offer continuation just take that money to the bank! It should be around $70000 for involuntary separation pay, plus you can sell your leave back (60 days=~$10000). If you really want out bad, once you have a DOS set, you can move that to sooner, although I wouldn't recommend giving yourself less than 2 months to get your stuff together to outprocess.

Depends. Do you have 2/3 of your initial ADSC done? Initial ADSC means the one you got from your commissioning source. So for USAFA that's 2/3*5=3 years and 4 months. For ROTC it's 2/3*4=2 years, 8 months. Go ahead and apply. It will probably get denied, but on the bright side you'll self-indentify that you don't want to be around which can lead to getting passed over for major which can lead to your separation before your ADSC is done. On the other hand 6 years is a long time and there will probably be multiple opportunities in the coming years for early outs in the form of force shaping, RIFs, VSP, etc.

Yeah, no sh:t. As if you're going to rescue the reputation of this fine institution.

I'm really surprised that the AF is still paying TA at all, since the 9/11 GI Bill covers everyone, pretty much, these days. Once the bean counters figure that out, then TA will probably stop. Why pay for something that's already covered under a separate program?

Would it be possible to just get rid of the authorization(s) for trips on air force aircraft/flight orders? I remember when it was paper vouchers, we would just fly the mission using orders from the squadron aviation resource managers and then file the paper voucher once the mission is done. When I was RA for my squadron, I would not accept anything except group authorizations for TDYs using air force aircraft. This saved me tons on time and it saved everyone else in the squadron tons of time, but the next best thing would be no authorization required. If this were to happen, a group travel voucher would be a good idea. The lead traveler would make the "shell" and then it would spawn to the individuals involved. The individuals would then only upload receipts and add additional nickel and dime items such as laundry, taxi, etc, if need be.