Bergman

Can anyone further substantiate the rumor that the ANG tankers/crews will be moving out of OTBH at the end of this fiscal year, due to the ongoing cat fight over mandatory 60 day rotations of aircrew? I've heard Oman is a likely new location.

THANK YOU for saving me the time it would have taken to say/type that.

Randolph is a great base (despite every HQ on earth being there). Definitely recommend for a first assignment, as San Antonio kicks ass. (Location of Randolph is way better than Lackland/Kelly/Wilford Hall - although those are at least in SA).

While I have a lot to add on the 'guard participation' aspect of this thread (esp since I just returned from my second voluntary OEF rotation with a full guard crew...in the past 4 months)...I will keep the thread on track: I would have never left active duty if they had given me the goddamned 5 year commissioned service waiver for UPT. Ended up getting it via a guard unit, and the ANG has been good for the past 7 years. Having said that, return to AD is still an option I consider frequently. Once I'm not within 2 years of a promotion (i.e. the board results are released) it will be nice to have my options back. The grass is definitely not as green as it may seem. Your results may vary.

Great story from a great book. Good luck finding a copy, however.

Yes, this is very common (moving fighters with tanker support). It is much quicker and easier to air refuel than stop, plus the likelihood of an aircraft breaking seems to go up exponentially every time you land or shut it down. It seems likely that with the F-22s now stationed in Alaska that these transits will happen more often - due to Red Flag, other exercises, or threat of international date line crossing perhaps.

In my experience, an extra 1000'-2000' lower doesn't mean nearly as much as being near the engagement. An A-10 can lose 2000' in a matter of seconds, vs. having to drone for 4-5 minutes if the tanker clowns drop them off 20 miles from the TIC. Murph - Good points. I would like to point out that if the -135s aren't slowing below 190, it's due to boom controlability more than anything else. I agree that if the tanker won't slow to 190, they either have no talent or no balls.

Okay okay...now that they have won a Superbowl, can we PLEASE stop hearing about Katrina every fucking time someone mentions the Saints?

It's actually $180.17 per month. Free for 90 days before you deploy for an OEF/OIF trip of more than 30 days, plus the 180 days after you get back. Thanks, NGAUS for the congressional lobby!

Check out my reply, as well as several others, in this thread. That will at least get you started. From there, ask away with any questions that you might have.

Nah...they just moved the tugs and towbars out of the way before they snapped the pic.

What civilian work experience do you have? If you think being in a military flying squadron is similiar, in any way, to Office Space then I respectfully submit that either A) your squadron sucks ass or B) you have no real civilian experience. While there are less desireable additional duties in a flying squadron, I would take that 10 out of 10 times as compared to any office job. I don't have the time to give 69 examples right now, but suffice to say that at the very least the work you are doing in a miliary squadron is in some small way important to our country and it's citizens. Compare that to the civilian sector where what you are typically doing is helping someone, generally not YOU I might add, get rich. I'll take serving my country every time.

All of this for a UCI? I thought only an ORI rated that level of buffoonerey. Of course, none of the inspectors will think any of this is odd or just a dog-and-pony show for the inspection. Not a chance. UFB.

I figured I would take some heat over that number. My assumption was that by the time a guy reaches 12-15 years and O-4, he's probably an ADO or Flt/CC and just ins't pulling the 180-200 that most of the company grade guys fly. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. Life is all about attitude, bro. It would be very easy for me to say "I hate flying tankers...I should be flying XXX...I can't believe I got this crappy TDY..." and on and on. And, truth be told, I have complained about some of those very things over the years. But the fact is that we make our own reality. I focus on the great parts of my job, and almost magically, it makes the shitty parts seem not quite as bad. Self-fulfilling prophecies can be very powerful.

Hmm...I prefer to think there just isn't any justice. As always...Rule #1: Timing is everything, Rule #2: Life isn't fair, Rule #: There is no justice. The three tenets of a happy AF career. Or, perhaps there is justice. If there wasn't, they wouldn't have been able to get back on AD or make O-5. That all depends on how you define "sweet gig". Yes, their pay scales are industry-leading right now, but quality of life is not so good for the junior guys. I have watched first-hand as many of my squadron mates have been displaced from their cozy Louisville, KY, domicle to scenic Anchorage, AK. The good news is that they were "forced" to switch to the MD-11 or B-747, but the schedules they fly are awful, especially since most of them haven't moved to Alaska. They will have 13 day trips, off for 5 days, then another 13 day trip. Add a day-long commute on either end of those UPS trips and they get 3 days off. Oh wait, they still have ANG obligations to fulfill, so make that 1 day off. FedEx is doing the same thing...displacing peope to Paris, Hong Kong, etc. I just think there isn't any "fairy tale" airline career any more. The days of making $300,000/year to work 10 days a month, plus fly F-4s with the ANG on the weekend, all the while living in domicile, then getting a sweet $100,000/year company funded retirement are over. If you have a realistic expectation for an airline career - $80,000-$100,000 and gone from home 150-180 days per year - then you won't be disappointed. Compare that to $110,000+ per year as an AF Major and TDY 100-120 days per year, plus pretty good job security. I'll stick with Uncle Sam on this one.

Like Butters said, they weren't being pulled, they were running to the airlines. A lot has changed since then. With all of the airline bankruptcies, pilot pay is a fraction of what it used to be (for example, all Delta pilots took a 34% pay cut after 9/11, plus lost their company-funded retirements), what little job security there was with the major airlines is essentially gone (nearly every airline has furloughed pilots since 9/11. UPS is talking about it right now!), plus the fact that no one is hiring right now, so even if you wanted to go to the airlines you are screwed. So yeah, definitely not as attactive as they once were. IMHO, the only way an airline career would be viable is to have either a spouse that makes enough money to support the family, or have a 20 year retirement check from the government, so you know you're covered when you get furloughed. To get out of the AD at 32 years old, a few little kids, and stay-at-home spouse, and count on an airline to provide for you for 20+ years is, these days, pure folly.

Oh Lord, please don't open the "military vs. civilian" can of worms! For me, I don't regret it for a second. I wouldn't have it any other way, and in fact if I can find a way to feed the family while never having to fly commercial aircraft, that'd be great by me. I am assuming you meant commerical aviation (semantics difference there vs. civilian). Don't know if there is any comparison between military and GA flying, other than the laws of physics. FWIW, I plan on building an RV-8 some day, so I definitely will be flying civilian eventually.

My job and airframe are both awesome. I have the best seat in the house, and get to go places and see/do things most people can barely even dream about - or at the very least would pay a shitload of money to go on vacation to do. I know many others will scoff at this list, but I'm still stoked...in 2009 alone I flew the tanker to Hawaii, South Korea, Japan, Alaska, Washington state, Florida, Maine, England, Spain, Portgual, and Kyrgzsyan, and made a fantastic living doing it. Questions?

If that's what you were originally asking about, then rest easy. That sort of thing is a near-daily occurrence. At least in the tanker world. Shack!!

I've been following this discussion and was pretty much on your side - I think you are sincerely just trying to make your squadron better, and I can appreciate that. But after rereading the above quotes, all I can think of is "entitlement generation" (i.e. SNAP). You are among the newest, youngest members of the squadron with the least amount of family/work responsibility. I hate to break it to you, but it IS your job to encourage people to hang out in the squadron. It is NOT the squadron leaderships' job to make sure these things happen. If the Sq/CC walks in and says "Everyone have a beer!"....that is called mandatory fun. In every single squadron I've been in, the leadership isn't even remotely involved with running the bar, roll call, etc. They let it happen, sure...but they sure as hell aren't the cheerleaders out front trying to get everyone involved. The most involvement I've seen from a CC was when he would get on the all-call at 3:43pm (we were the 343d) and announce that the beer light was on, thus giving tacit approval without being the bartender. With regard to being unable to find drinking time on Friday nights...you're not trying hard enough. We would routinely have 1800 takeoffs for a 10-12 hour sortie, and would still be in the squadron bar drinking, throwing darts, and shooting pool with the music blaring when the Sq/CC would arrive at work around 0630. He'd ask us to turn the music down, but that was about it. Your results may vary, but if you don't even try the answer will always be "no". Grow some balls, and try being the informal leader who sits down after a sortie and says "Who wants a beer?". You might be drinking alone the first time or two, but I guarantee it'll catch on.