FUSEPLUG

I find this amusing. Been out for two years now and not once have I thought, "Man, I wish I still had commissary and/or BX access!" I can't even count the number of times I was nearly hit by a Lincoln Town Car while in the commissary parking lot during that 20 minute lunch break I got between staff meetings. I'll take my $12 sandwich from the bakery in the KBNA terminal any day over the 2 years of commissary access "benefit."

I see 3.

And there's your fucking problem right there. When this guy stands up to offer a simple solution, he is shot down in front of his mentors and peers. How the fuck do they expect to retain talent when this happens on a regular basis? As a FY14 VSP recipient, traditional Guardsman and airline pilot, I look forward to the upcoming MAF retention crisis. Leadership built this house of cards. I expect to watch it fall while sipping my coffee at FL380 enroute to Fort Lauderdale.

When MSNBC announced Trump's win in Iowa, there was an audible grunt from Rachel Madow. By the sound of it, she apparently sat on her sack wrong. Happens to the best of us.

Just go ahead and apply to Delta. You'll have the CJO before you graduate UPT.

That's a scary thought. Glad you're back in the jet, man. I'll add that the jets are starting to show their age. I'm at a Guard unit that admittedly has some former AD hangar queens, but the maintenance issues are getting ridiculous As a Traditional, I will not take a trip without at least two days of buffer before an airline trip. While it will never be as bad as the C-5, I fly with a lot of former FRED flyers that are scratching their heads at the reliability of the jet these days.

I was starting to get uncomfortable myself. So in hopes of derailing this thread, here goes... Screw the Air Force. Leadership sucks. Go to the airlines, the grass is greener. FU Chang. C Model drivers are homos. DD-214 blanket. Et cetera, et cetera. That's better. The Baseops I know and love.

Props to the guys who pulled off the landing at Peter O. Night - they had little to do with our risk aversion. It's the "Q3 for landing 1 knot out of NVG ALZ crosswind limits then self-identifying for an honest mistake" that has castrated the C-17 community. When solid squadron leadership is continuously squashed by a clueless, self-absorbed OG - that's when a community curls up into giant "risk adverse" ball.

Correct. Though the McGuire guys might do it with less if they're tired enough.

That's fine. The real "bonus" will come when said heavy drivers hit second year pay at AA/DL/UA/SW/UPS/FEDEX. I don't see the problem (much like the AF).

He's a "bright and shiny." I don't see the problem here.

I try to do 4-8 days a month. This works out to be UTA, a Guardlift, and maybe phase sims or a couple locals. I usually drop mil-leave over one block of reserve to ease the year-one pain at the airline. It's easy since I live near the Guard unit and driving distance to domicile. Our unit is in transition so there are plenty of 30+ days of orders going around for IP/EP types and a lot of the traditionals are jumping on those. Seasoning days for guys fresh out of Altus ebb and flow. One month the NGB says we have only have a fraction of the alloted days, then then the next month it's 200%. Who knows. Someone from one of the other Guard units can correct me if I'm wrong, but deployments are really a non-issue for the Guard C-17. There are opportunities to go fly with the EAS if one so chooses to volunteer, but the only guys getting tagged with deployments right now are the AD advisors. I'm sure that could easily change in today's world.

No applicants. They're all at the airlines.

Now I feel like shit after seeing one of the Blue Angels went down today with a loss of life. This is the time for SOMEONE in a leadership position to step up and un-fuck the situation the DoD has gotten us in to. I'm not suggesting that training resulted in either of these incidents, but if we don't step up our game and fund the manpower to support our flyers, it's only going to get worse.

This is simply a preview of what's to come if the AF implements Colonel Abdeen's suggestions to aid pilot retention. See JQP - Internal Email Shows Air Force Pilot Shortage at “CRISIS” Level To quote: – Syllabi: We can NOT shoot for the “Gold-Plated” standard in this period of crisis … what can the squadrons/COCOMs accept as risk if students didn’t receive certain training?

Has anyone alerted JQP yet? That'll stir the pot....

Chang is Butters... BUTTERS IS CHANG!!

"B-21 Trump" Because even if you ignore it, it's not going away.

Shoe Flag was the driving factor in why I submitted my VSP paperwork two years ago. I guess SOS truly did pay off. You have my permission to quote that in your report.

Good gouge, thanks! I ran my situation through the H&R Block software and it took no penalty for the two month lack of coverage (even though I'm pretty sure I was good).

Were your 1095s all from DFAS? I found a 1095-C and 1095-B on MyPay. The -C looks to be my post VSP TAMP except it only shows me covered for 5 months (I thought it was 6). The -B is the Tricare Reserve Select months I started post-TAMP. My 1095s are still showing two months (June and July) uncovered which is odd because I was proactive in getting TRS started and August was the earliest they could get it to work in DEERS.

“The decision to pause and reassess the 2016 Tops in Blue season was a tough one,” said Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso.... The hell it was. An overwhelming number of members have been screaming it from the rafters for years! The SecAF has been gently nudged on this several times during her all-too-frequent All Calls. Good Riddance!

We had six non-types in my class who were paired up for the oral/sim portion. After the main academics portion ended, they got two days of type ride oral prep before going in for the test. They then go through the same sim regimine as everyone else in preparation for the final proficiency check with an LCA. The biggest difference is the non-type folks are required to demonstrate taxi and a rejected T/O from the left seat as well as a non-standard configuration approach and landing from the right seat. Like most of the training at SWA it seemed pretty low threat. There were three DAL poolies in my class all of whom got their desired domiciles (BWI, MDW, PHX) on the very first vacancy bid out of OE and will never have to commute (insert standard airline industry caveat here). Pluses and minuses at every company, but when something works for you, go with it. We'll figure out who made the best choice in 30 years.

Actually two. The original is at the BPC and there's a second being built on the CC side at this time. I'll send pics next time I transit the Deid.

I closed on a VA loan with NBoKC in March and simply had a signed letter from my Sq/CC saying I was ensured gainful employment with the unit for the foreseeable future. They don't need details on what sort of orders you are on or how long you think they'll last. As long as you can provide a full-time LES and a letter from your Commander, you should be good. As always YMMV.