Could the Air Force guys help me here???

have you served? just curious because those are big words coming from a person that never signed the dotted line

 

i have no problems with that if it would get me back in

 

Seconded... Most civilians that say that kind of stuff couldn't do what I do in the environments that I have done it for even a day, and most of the military members would struggle with it too.

Sounds like that guy is just trying to start something beyond the friendly service rivalries.

 

I am sitting at 18 years and the AF has busted my body up pretty good. I have lower back issues, left shoulder issues, right hand issues and a breathing problem...but they say all is well!!

Back in the day, I would have been the best salesman for serving in the military...now, not so much. I am proud of what I have done but I am sick and fucking tire of the lack of leadership at all levels. There is way too much careerism at all cost.

They are nickle and diming the force in favor of broke ass programs and WASTEFUL spending. Our squadron recently spent nearly 50K on Polaris RZR's. We already had 4 other ATV's and only two of those were really used. Now we have a ration of one ATV for every 6 crew members. 50K..and I had to buy my own green boots!! A few years back, we bought a 50K FATS (Fire Arms Training System). It has been out of the box twice..once to figure out how it worked and the other time we spend 8 hours playing with it!

We can talk about trips to BBQ joints for lunch if you want...at $5,000 dollars an hour of operating cost. By the way, it is a 6 hour round trip.

 

Nope...our ships are coed (for the last 10-15 years) AND our women shower twice a day!

 

Like to see you say that to a SEAL face-to.

Hell, I'd like to see you say that to ME face-to... been known for my temper.

And for being in bar brawls on every continent but Australia and Anarctica.

 

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! And be patient when your disability app is being processed, it takes a while, and THEN file your appeal. The original processor will deny everything that did not involve surgery. And like you, I was tired of the lack of real leadership...was actually glad I got passed over for E-7 and had to muster out at 20...had long been tired of the BS and politics.

And to top it all off, just found out that A) my last Command Master Chief just got booted for sexual harrassment/assault, and B) one of my old pilots was involved in that crash in Va. Beach...but we've been expecting something like that to happen for the last 15 years.

 

.
It is very difficult to explain the military (all good & bad parts of it) to one who has never served ... really impossible to explain.
.

 

One last broadside!

 

+1.

Every branch has its roll. Every branch allocates its funds differently, offers up different quality of life to its troops and families, and treats its ranks differently. We can all talk smack about other branches but I think we (at least I do) realize that every branch needs the other.

The Army is the Air Force's biggest customer when it comes to airlift. Plenty of Army grunts would talk shit on us fly boys until they've served in a combat zone and an A-10 saved their ass or mid fire fight a C-130 was dropping much needed ammo. I'm assigned to a Naval Air Station and work daily with Sailors and Marines and see how their relationship works.

Fly Air Force!

/rant

 

True dat, Brah!

 

I work a joint billet currently and find the some of the Army the most unhappy. They complain about everything little thing. Again, that is some of them. I have a lot of respect for some of the others though.
If you are thinking of becoming a medic, the Navy has outstanding medic training. They really seem to rotate their corpsman fairly well early on to make sure they get the required experience for upgrade.
The Air Force has been good to be, as well as bad. The BS is in every branch but I have seen a lack of leadership recently as well. When you can't get someone at MAJCOM or higher to standup and help when you need it, it can become extremely frustrating.

As for Lazylegs, if you've never stepped up and said "I do" after the oath then you can sit down and shut up. You don't know the first thing about how the branches operate and/or interact. Their are differences; mainly due to mission rolls as well as inter-service ribbing. But if you aren't in, then you are out...of the conversation.

BTW...The Army is great, we like to call them Self-Loading Cargo!

 

my turn to put in my 2cents...

i enlisted in the air force in 06... quick shipped, got stuck with a medical job... Public Health technician. worked at Andrews AFB from 06 to beginning of 11. job had its pros in cons... regular hours 730-430, never worked a weekend... didn't deploy in that time... i did food facility inspections (health inspector), hearing test, trapped and analyzed mosquito's. i was awarded airman of the quarter at base level in 09, had the opportunity to have an incentive flight with the 1st heli squadron, got a 3 hour tour over DC in a Huey.. bad ass. decided i wanted to fly... so i retrained to a flight engineer.. if you want to see the air forces mission first hand, as enlisted. flight engineer is the way to go. i flew the E-3 sentry AWACS out of tinker... only enlisted spot on the flight deck, with a crew of 40, the flight engineer is the one anyone goes to... i even tell the pilots what to do. work the throttles, talk on the radio, control fuel burn, its my aircraft.. the Medical side of the air force is far different from the operations side... and the maintainers is a different side as well....

any flyer will tell you how respected a flight engineer is.... Its hard work. i was in training for the last year and a half, came to a flight before my check ride and washed out, not for academic reasons. now I'm retraining to ATC

those guys who are trying to talk you out of the air force are just jelly because there asvab scores went high enough to let them in...

 

Maintainers ARE the AF. We are the only reason for it's existence!

Any flyer will tell you how respected a flight engineer is... and when you land and walk off that deck, a maintainer will tell you to shut the fuck up and remind you that you are still enlisted, and to leave the maintenance to the real workers... haha

And just to make sure it is known, this post is all in good fun

 

haha.... no hard feelings... i know how maintainers are....

 

Hehe... spend a day on a launch truck... Things that are heard cannot be unheard...

 

funny thing... i always see the crew cheifs alsleep in the airstairs while i was doing my preflights...

 

Debatable.

Debatable. You did not fly the E-3, even if you were the only enlisted aircrew member on the flight deck.

Debatable. And bullshit. You don't tell the pilots what to do. You probably never got to a CRM course if you think this way. The AC/PIC holds the ultimate power. The FE will certainly give suggestions, may be "allowed" to manipulate the throttles to control fuel transfer and burn, but it is NOT your aircraft.

I respect FE's for what they do. They are the onboard inflight maintenance specialists. But I'd be willing to guess you carry a Dash 1 inflight because even your STAN EVAL doesn't know everything about the airplane and how it works.

I would ask him what his ASVAB score was before talking shit like that. Plenty of jobs in every branch require high ASVAB scores, so don't be an asshole. Just for the record, being a flight engineer only requires a M44 and E33 score. I'm unsure what your previous AFSC was in the medical field, but it doesn't require a whole lot more.

Not trying to attack you, just pointing out your obvious oblivious opinion of military aviation, specifically the Air Force, how the crew concept works, and an enlisted flyer's place on the crew. And believe me, I'm not knocking on what you've said because I'm some asshole officer who thinks enlisted crew members are worthless. I was a TSgt, 7 Level C-130 Loadmaster before becoming a butter bar, and every crew member has its place.

If anyone has questions about what a Flight Engineer does in a C-130 outside of AETC and in a combat role, please ask, and I would be happy to enlighten you.

 

you oblviously never flew on the E-3 sentry.... i gave MY opinion on on how i felt about my job.... i ran the throttles on the E-3 for takeoffs, and transistion. No i didnt "fly the plane" and yes i gave my suggestions to the pilot, and ultimitly its the AC's desision as it is HIS aircraft.

yes i have taken a CRM course... i understand crew coordination..


but whatever... you can be a douche about it all you want. i was only offering my suggestion on how he was looking at a career in avaition.

wow.

 

You really are clueless to what an engineer does...
All engineer's carry the dash 1..... even your 130 engineers did. On an E3 its the engineers job to run the thottles. Dont belive me look me up on the global and i'll email you the TO .130 engineers are different then E3 eng's.

Next time before you decide to call out people you really should know what your talking about