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It is an officiall ethics opinion on what you can and can't do post-government. It mostly applies to acquisition types, but some defense contractors want to see one if you go to career fairs while still on terminal leave. For a LT squadron type I can't see it mattering, but it wouldn't hurt...

MB, did you get a safe harbor letter?

Some of us older guys have said it often before, but it's worth keeping in mind: it doesn't matter how good you are in the plane. Sure, it doesn't hurt to be a good stick or tactically proficient, but it is far from the most important factor. And in some communities, some of the "best"...

That is easy to answer: there just aren't enough gedunk jobs for our pregnant airmen, so this way they can also hand out base parking stickers.

I would not suggest Bravos - too much chance of you getting screwed on your transition to Romeo's.

I admit I haven't hung around the Fleet a lot in the last 8 years, but I've never heard of this "earn the right to wear a flight suit" thing. That's what the AF wears - why would you care? If ROTC/OCS/boat school let Mids wear that I guarantee they would and they wouldn't be asking if they had...

It can be shorter because you have to be a SWTI before you can use LOLCAT's.

This is the part where the beltway types start singing "circle of life".

They were in right echelon. Honestly I think -2 followed without thinking and it was just too late to fix it (he ended up on lead's 6 about 2 rotor diameters behind). There's no break to give them, of course they screwed up. But it was funny to watch and listen to.

/threadjack On my disacossiated tour at night a flight of four Phrogs come in for the break on a big deck amphib: Lead: Cutter 06 and flight, numbers for the break Tower: left break approved; establish your interval, report abeam. (dash 1 breaks, and dash 2 stays in parade on him) Tower...

That is true if you are trying to just fly, but if you can/will take on some management responsibility as well you can still make good money. But like others, I think that well is going to start running dry soon.

I'm still using Leroy Jenkins - haven't found anything better yet.

There is no "WTF" about this if it is true. FRS/SWTI are the favored sons (along with a few folks in one-off jobs like aides, etc) and as such will have a better record to support a board. But the communities need folks to fill production jobs, lower-tier staff and boat jobs, and to get the...

Copied from a post I put up in the FTS thread, but it explains a little why BUPERS does what it does: The statutory requirement is DOPMA (Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-513). Promotion opportunity is supposed to be consistent over a 5 year period. The CBO did an...

The MY is on time and under budget. Now, that doesn't mean that earlier contracts were. But that one is. Don't get me wrong, I understand the frustration with how the development and LRIP contracts blew through money. But that money is long since spent and nothing we do with the program is...

Look, I'm the first one to support staying in the cockpit (18/20 years here), but exactly how are you going to keep first tour guys "on track" with squadrons full of "super" JO's? Best case you have two #1 and two #2 competitive EP's a year/squadron - that's it. And no, nobody is going to...

Here is what some people in this thread are failing to understand: It's Big Navy's team, Big Navy's field, and Big Navy's ball. To me, that makes it obvious that Big Navy (which is not the JO's) gets to say who the winners and losers are going to be. Don't like that? That's cool; keep it to...

Random stupid question for FTS/whatever USMC calls their full-time reservists: I've always assumed you get your retirement pay immediately upon retiring just like active duty - is that correct?

Another vote for Oxford here - great stuff, way better than the issue.

That's the saddest thing I've ever heard.

Nonsense. Every helo takeoff has a corresponding landing. Some are just better than others.

Needs to have the points incapable of alteration by the user + incorporation with the smart heads + flight testing. Not to mention negotiating the costs of the updates.

The statutory requirement is DOPMA (Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-513). Promotion opportunity is supposed to be consistent over a 5 year period. The CBO did an interesting (if a little nerdy) study on the last couple drawdowns and how the services handled them...

The ass monkey math makes it look like opportunity is consistent (a statutory requirement). "Figures lie and liars figure".

I guess you haven't watched a Sierra tow yet...

There is a decent summary here on the Sierra's OT results. Boot time for the common cockpit gets better with PC/OSI fully implemented (not great, but better). I don't doubt that the SEAL's want a better organic capability, I just doubt the Navy's financial commitment to that.

The Sierra really struggled with OT in these areas, but the reality is that the Romeo functionality was more important to the common cockpit, and the mission isn't as important to Big Navy as it is to the given communities. The SEAL's aren't arguing H vs. S, they are choosing 160th over anybody...

No, it does not transfer and you cannot buy it back.

Yeah, but wouldn't that be part of the "are the airliines the show or not" discussion? If the airline gig was good enough then nobody would think twice about paying for their multi-engine qual and eating a turd for 3 years (or 5, or whatever it currently takes) in the regionals to get to a major...

I don't think anybody can dismiss themselves as not qualified - if HAL can do it as an NFO, then nobody can say they can't do it, helo trash or otherwise. Now, if they argue they don't want to spend the money for the multi-engine qual themselves, or eat the turd of a regional job, or potentially...

[Full disclosure: I have no dog in this fight - I've never been and never will be in either a tactical platform or an airline job, and if I decide to continue flying after I retire next year it will most likely be in a test/production job at a contractor's facility, but I think I can translate...

TSP isn't amazing as far as the funds go - but you get the tax benefits and don't get crushed by fees and can roll it into an IRA when you get out. Well worth the effort.

TPS isn't nearly that competitive - tightest competition I saw on the board I worked was ~28 guys for 2-3 slots, with only 15 of them really qualified. CAG/admiral endorsements don't hurt but plenty of guys get picked up without it. A lot of guys have had to suck up an IA during their payback...

Two questions: what issues would a JO be better able to address on a CO's behalf in khakis than he/she would be in smurfwear, and which jobs that females are eligible for are they better able to perform at, for instance, 30% body fat than they would be at 33% body fat?

You have to lighten up, Francis. Seriously - I understand the hate, but there are so many other alligators closer to the boat, longer poles in the tent (insert whatever saying the biggest tool in you wing likes to use here) that you got to be able to have a sense of humor even about the crap...

So a good dose of camel toe will make us more professional? Pass.

I'm making fun of promotional videos for an aircraft still deep in development. I'd like to see them meet cost or schedule or performance (let alone all 3) before the high-fiving starts. (And when you consider that all the mechanicals and avionics are new, it is hard to think of it as just a...

Especially for an airplane that only exists on paper.

This an outsider's perspective (no matter how you look at it) but... Helo/prop/etc guys go into their DH tours competing for a chance to make CDR and maybe CAPT. VFA frontrunners can legitimately consider themselves Flag candidates (assuming they are willing to commit to a lot of time away...

They prefer to be called "chicks".

I'm curious about the thought process behind the smaller amounts. $5k/year doesn't seem enough to affect anybody's decision significantly; I wonder if they put out token amounts to reduce the resentment we used to have from the communitities who would get nothing (a pre-emptive strike against...

Not really. Defense Industry Daily has a good in-depth article on the program and all the contenders if you are interested.

Selling arms to India is a brutally painful process. Technology sharing and industrial give-backs will have been important factors in the decision, but politics is a major driver as well, which is why they really aren't anywhere close to finishing a deal for awhile (and given India's recent...

How is somebody going into Naval Aviation suddenly not good enough of service to his country? And on a side note there is more than enough blame for both political parties here for both the economy and foreign policy.

I got to an ejection seat aircraft very late in my career (after 16 years and thousands of helo hours) and it took an effort to translate out of the "ride it down" mentality. You have to make a commitment to the handle before you walk to the bird.

So should they return the extra money they would get compared you, or just not accept it in the first place?

A little long, a little old, and a little off-topic, but this thread reminded me I had saved this: The U.S. Navy answers the question: "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Naval Education and Training Command (NAVEDTRA): The purpose is to familiarize the chicken with road-crossing...

No EOT award stands out in the tank like a week old dead hooker. More Rebel without a Clue than Rebel without a Cause.

Honestly, since this year is already FUBAR in a budget sense, I've switched over to hoping for a nasty shutdown fight in the hopes that we don't repeat this process next year.

Neither. Lay that one at the feet of the Program Office. (Who will talk $$ vs. Requirements until you get bored and wander away).