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I compared the costs with my current employer (Major defense contractor) and Tricare Retired Reserve is still cheaper for similar levels of coverage compared to my company's offerings.

Well if a former SWO says another service is rigid in their approach to things then maybe he knows what he's talking about.

This seems to be an Army thing in general. I've found working with numerous Army non-aviators that their culture is very rigid and creativity isn't to be expected.

So are Aviator/NFO lat transfers not very common in the AMDO community? You've piqued my curiosity.

Is AMDO really that restrictive that they wouldn't see you doing a Fleet JO tour as an NFO beneficial to your career and overall Fleet knowledge/ability to support the Fleet? As an EDO, we mandate that our officers serve as a URL designator before making the transition into the community. From...

How are you doing this exactly? Are you using an LLM? If so, is it a closed garden? If not, this will likely run afoul of DoD guidance for usage of LLMs.

I really think the Navy missed a golden opportunity to revive some Naval history when they didn't revive the LTA wings for drone operations.

Yes, the Founding Fathers originally had senators elected by state legislatures or appointed by state governors. It was like that until the 17th Amendment was passed. We really need to repeal the 17th Amendment as soon as possible.

I believe he flies it under experimental type regulations, same with his UH-60. I believe his Dolphin is certificated because it was a former medevac helo.

OHP Class FFGs mentioned!!! :D 🥳 The benefit of having lots of ship production capacity is that you can repurpose it for ship repair which we will absolutely need tons of. Our expeditionary repair capability (Tenders, repair ships, and Seabees building repair piers) and tons of shipyard...

Brett, which statement below did Randy make that was inaccurate? Even official Navy sources have acknowledged the issues within our shipbuilding and maritime maintenance infrastructure and workforce. I can tell you from personal experience that these issues exist and that we are working on...

Dude, choose the SP5K purely for the vibes, as the kids say. The AAFES exchanges have good deals on SP5s and SP5Ks from time to time and the no tax is a huge benefit.

My NRC put out the word in December and made us all get the passkey set up which was good. The bad news is that the process they put out for doing it didn't seem to work for anybody. Many had issues getting certain checkpoints completed and others who "successfully" completed the checklist found...

Oh neat. That's great. BDCP always seemed like a good deal.

Provided you can qualify medically, being a nuke instructor isn't a bad gig. Your odds of transferring into a certain community are going to be based upon your timing and what's available when it comes to switch out of the nuke instructor community. It's hard to determine what will be available...

Did they bring that back? I thought they cancelled BDCP a few years ago.

Yeah, I'm happy I'm on TRS. Tricare Retired Reserve still beats my current employer's high end plan with similar/better coverage by a few hundred a month. That said, I'm definitely going to be shopping around when the time comes. I'm fortunate to have coverage through work available but it's...

With the talk of Tricare in the Greyzone, is it still worth it for paying for the Tricare Retired Reserve even at the ~$1250 a month or are there better insurance companies out there? I've still got a few years but looking through it, it seems like Tricare almost wants to get rid of us while...

Out of curiosity, at what point do those who want to stay on the test and acquisitions side usually transition to the AEDO community? For us Surface types, we usually hop over to the EDO community sometime after our second sea tour and before our first DH tour. I transitioned at the end of my...

1 Pelham East was the best bar in the area when I was at OCS. The Black Pearl has the world's best clam chowder. The Narragansett Brewery is a fantastic time. Battleship Cove is always a cool day trip. There are tons of great things to do in Newport and the surrounding area.

Yes, it works almost exactly like Tricare Reserve Select but it's more expensive. https://www.tricare.mil/trr Here are the VA priority groups which determine how much you pay for VA healthcare: https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/priority-groups/

I know that guy! Or at least I knew him when I was at 6th Fleet. The billet is an O5 billet somewhere at NRC Atlanta at the NAVEUR-NAVAF-C6F support unit there. He was busy though since he was like our liaison back to the reserve side and I think was also the CoS for the C6F Reserve Staff (CO...

Flag officers have discretionary funds (Usually RDTE and OPN) with which to purchase and sponsor pet projects. Not sure how much CNAF would have "personally" but there are ways that flag officers can directly contribute to CNIC/NAVFAC projects. NEXCOM is under NAVSUP so there are ways to get...

I just noticed that Santa is a Naval Aviator. Merry Christmas, y'all!

So why are you lying about your age on your profile (Says you're 31) and even asking us if you don't care what we have to say?

Is Thetan Level 8 like getting a COM or something?

I'm glad the Navy's courses aren't as immaculate, it hides all of the divots I leave behind 😬

You forgot to mention the pristinely manicured golf courses on every USAF base. The best military course I've seen is in Port Hueneme. The Seabees use it as a training platform for doing Seabee things so they are constantly working and tinkering on it. It's a beautiful course.

Considering that both the VA and the DoD as a whole are slowly implementing ways to better treat and deal with TBIs and the after effects of them, I am confident that they can extend some of that to aviators. I've had plenty of friends who have received some really top notch care from both DoD...

That could mean many things. It might be "confidential" to protect patient information under HIPAA. I am participating in a similar program through the VA tracking long term hazardous material exposure and genetic markers and whatnot. It is kept very confidential, all of my data is anonymized...

I really hate how the DoD and govt in general are incentivized to sweep things under the rug. As flawed as it is, I think the PACT Act is/was a major step in the correct direction.

They don't build 'em like that anymore

It's wild to me how wildly we (Big Navy) swing back and forth between selection rates for DH and promotion to O4. Just a few years ago, my Airdale buddies were getting their walking papers and a big middle finger simply because they transferred at the wrong time. Now everybody is getting picked...

Have a pulse, apply to go there on your shore duty, and expect to be there 1-2 years. Most of the officers I met there (Both when I was at OCS and afterwards) got stashed there on their way to SWOS for Dept Head School. Others were preparing to get out and wanted to be close to family. The last...

My homeowners and valuable property rates are pretty good but my car insurance rates have been steadily increasing over the last few years. Unfortunately, GEICO and others aren't much better so I've stuck with USAA for my insurance. That said, I've dropped all other USAA services. They simply...

Yeah, those Global Hawks sure are cool. Probably the coolest airframe the US has ever developed. :p

Are there still any units at Point Mugu or have they all been moved to China Lake? I always though Port Hueneme and Point Mugu were the hidden gems of the Navy's bases.

They only offer their tactical gloves like the Overlords from overrun and surplus on government contracts. If they haven't made a batch for a government contract then they likely don't have any in stock or on the horizon.

2012-2013 timeframe. Again, I'm not privy to all the details other than what they told me.

I know a couple of people who had anthro waivers. One was for height (He got E-6s anyway) and I don't know what the other was for. I'm not sure on the details but I know they had waivers for something anthro related. Either way, anthro isn't an all or nothing thing. I got anthro'ed out of EA-6s...

How are you going to get a Flight Doc to measure you without being at OCS? Are you not even going to try for a waiver? Seems like a waste of time going through the application process just to shoot yourself in the foot like that.

SWO-XXX now have to complete 2 DIVO tours (About 4 years of sea duty) before they are redesignated. There's a NAVADMIN somewhere that made the change plus gave SWO-XXX the option to decline their redesignation if they loved being a SWO. I don't know anyone who ever chose that path. Yes, the IWC...

We had gas turbines on the FFG, the Dassault has gas turbines, how hard could it be? ;)

Anyone wanna go halfsies on one? :D https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/231336829/1981-dassault-falcon-50-jet-aircraft

Yeah, this dude has had huge success but most people don't ever get there. He also has several businesses that he uses his YouTube channel to market for. Well, HeavyDSparks (The YouTuber in question) owns a diesel mechanic and customization shop and a salvage/rescue business. I believe he has...

It's sad seeing all of the tri-engine planes head to the boneyard. I always thought they were so cool.

I met them nearly a decade a ago. It would not surprise me that they are all retired now. They were all O6s and seemed like they were super old but that was probably just my view as a freshly minted LT. I think many were on their twilight tours in Bella Napoli.

I have known some former GURLs during my career and they were never permanently GURLs. From what I can gather, they spent a few years as GURLs stashed in various "non-combat" billets and then were forced to transition to RL or Staff Corps communities. For instance, I know quite a few HR O6s who...

Some info on the Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps to get you started: https://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/nrotc/

The EDO designator has been around since 1947 when several different officer communities were combined into a single Engineering Duty community responsible for all construction, ordnance, weapons systems, maintenance, salvage, and disposal of Navy ships and submarines. At least according to...