C-21's going bye bye

[Guest C-21 Pilot]

Mark,

When is your official "drop" coming down?

Here at ETAR, several of us C-21 guys have the opportunity to move over to the C-20...not me, unfortunately. They drew the line at prior MWS w/ 2500 hours total.

BTW, our firm numbers are losing 5...USAFE is battling to only lose 3. We begin our RVSM config beginning next month.

Good luck getting back to Offutt.

[mmkk111]

Nate-

That's just it. Everybody is telling us we're shutting down, but nobody wants to tell us just how everything is going to work out. I have absolutely no idea how they are going to work the assignments out. All we know is that we will be closing around September. If I had to guess, I would think they would move the older guys out and then keep working towards the younger guys like myself. At least that way they could slowly move us out and hopefully not overload the system all at once.

What I also don't know is how we fall into the system with the UPTers, FAIP's, and the other OSA guys. They'll have to keep their assignments going, but with 40+ pilots getting thrown into the pot out of cycle, where do they get the planes from? All I can think of is we'll be sitting around for a while waiting for training slots to open up a little at a time.

Anybody have any experience with a squadron shutdown like this?

Bergman-

I can see it!

Cheers,

MK

[Techsan]

As far as I know, no one here @ Pete wants an RC. Most want either a 10 or a 17. Oh yeah, there is those few that want a KC-135.

Interesting to see what happens with all of you WP guys. Good luck!

[Guest gtyj98]

Originally posted by mmkk111:

Anybody have any experience with a squadron shutdown like this?

Nate was with me for a brief time at Offutt. When we were getting shut down, we were in the dark too. It sucked b/c the leadership from the MAJCOM/Wing/Sq were all saying it was official, but technically it wasn't b/c the SECDEF hadn't signed off on it yet. Eventually he did, and we began our shutdown.

It was kinda depressing b/c we weren't getting any new dudes, and all my buds were leaving (to include Nate to Ramstein). The silver lining in that cloud was we got to instruct co-pilots from other units i.e. we got dudes from C-Springs, and we had a chance to fly at KCOS. Also, all our jets were being absorbed by other GSUs/Sqds. Eventually we were down to only a few pilots and one jet. When I left the only others left behind were my DO and ADO. The DO retired and our ADO went to fly the E4s across the street. They were responsible for assigning all of our 'stuff' to other organizations i.e. plasmas, computers, furniture etc. Overall, not the highlight of my brief career.

As far as drops, it went well for us. Everyone but one person got their first MWS choice. Locations varied, but everyone was happy for the most part.

Good luck with the shutdown, b/c it's a be-yatch.

[Techsan]

Originally posted by gtyj98:

They were responsible for assigning all of our 'stuff' to other organizations i.e. plasmas, computers, furniture etc. Overall, not the highlight of my brief career.

Yeah, we have ya'lls golf cart.

[mmkk111]

gtyj98-

We're on the flip side. Apparently the AMC vice CC has seen paperwork saying we're shutting down, yet nobody will say, “yes we're shutting down” (we got this info from "other" high ranking individuals!). This sucks for a few guys because they would like to put their houses up on the market, but how can you when you have no time frame to go off of.

Good to hear your drops went well, I hope we fair the same!

MK

[Guest gtyj98]

Originally posted by C21Cowboy:

Yeah, we have ya'lls golf cart.

That thing was pretty sweet--cost more than a lot of cars. We called it our UAV--Urban Assault Vehicle.

[Herk Mafia]

Since we are starting to shut down Pope by '08 they are already asking who wants to stay and who wants to go. I would really like to get on C-21's, but all of this kind of throws a kink in things. Should I,in your opinion, still pursue this route or just go ahead and look elsewhere like a T-44 instructor? Thanks

PS- Mark hit me back with a pic of baby Klech.

[Techsan]

21s will be definitly be harder to come by in the near future, seeing that >50% of the fleet will be cut by the fall. However, I think they are moving towards only having Prior Qualified Pilots (130s, 10s, 17s, or 135s) come to the C-21 community, and not having any first assignment guys. Kind of like a mini-89th. So, maybe your chances won't be too bad.

[mmkk111]

Aaron,

Check your work e-mail, the pictures are attached

MK

[LockheedFix]

Originally posted by AFUPTstud:

Since we are starting to shut down Pope by '08 they are already asking who wants to stay and who wants to go. I would really like to get on C-21's, but all of this kind of throws a kink in things. Should I,in your opinion, still pursue this route or just go ahead and look elsewhere like a T-44 instructor? Thanks

PS- Mark hit me back with a pic of baby Klech.

The process of shutting down Herks at Pope has already begun? I hadn't heard the details and didn't know if that had gone through yet. Is one squadron going compeletely before the other?

[Herk Mafia]

It wont start until '08 and the 41st and 2nd should be shut down around '09. This is the last I heard about it around a month ago from an 0-6 during the wing inprocessing meeting.