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I'd also be cautious, under Trump they were cutting back on programs that provided US Citizenship opportunities and they even kicked a few out and sent them home. Among that, unless he goes in already with Pilot on his recruiting paperwork, then there's no guarantee he gets to be a pilot. If he goes in as Enlisted, he'd have to get a degree and enter the Officer Candidate program and then become a pilot. So there's some barriers.
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Feb 13, 2023 19:43
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I know that being Filipino isn't a barrier to success at least. My current Chief is native fillipino and naturalized in the service. He came in as Ground radio and made his way up to Chief in less time than it took me and I'm just a terminal Tech.
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Feb 13, 2023 21:22
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Citizenship is required for all three routes to becoming a commissioned officer: for application to the AF Academy, to sign an ROTC contract, or to apply to Officer Training School. It should go without saying, but citizenship is also a requirement to actually commission. Edit: Enlisting in order to commission is a bad idea, period. Yes, there are probably a half dozen officers out there who intentionally went that route and succeeded. There are far more who failed because any of a thousand things outside their control didn't work out. Got a squadron commander who doesn't like you? You're hosed. A direct supervisor who doesn't like you? You're hosed. Bad timing of a deployment, a PT-impacting injury, a change in family status...any little speed bump can send the train off the tracks, and you're still on the hook for your full enlistment term. Godholio fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Feb 13, 2023 |
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Feb 13, 2023 23:23
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It's worth noting that the air force isn't the only branch that flies jets. The navy also has tons of jets, and my community college buddy flies F18s for the marines. He may have better odds trying this in another branch
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Feb 14, 2023 04:39
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Thank you all for the replies and insight, I genuinely genuinely loving appreciate it. I reached out to my aunt, just to see if she could shed light on his motivation and plan a bit more. Outright, he wants to be a pilot. His plan A is the AFA in Colorado. She said he already applied, and had some US Congress member sponsor him... That's a thing I guess? But, he is definitely not a US citizen and his grades aren't absolutely perfect, the Philippines doesn't have SATs, but maybe there's some hope in the wake of the recruit crisis? I'm not sure if any of this actually adds up for any of you, regardless, she said he applied and will hear back after the current school year. I genuinely loving hope he gets in, because his plan B, is you guessed it! Enlistment. And if he doesn't get into any pilot program, he's confident he can do some sort of engineering or IT work in the Air Force, but is that how that actually works? I'd assume the desk positions, aside from maybe needing citizenship for security reasons, are much more sought after than the back-breaking stuff? I'm really hoping he doesn't end up in the poo poo for 10 years, he is a good kid but extremely naive. He literally has never been independent in his life and has always been extremely sheltered. My aunt is very concerned, he literally doesn't know how to fry spam or make rice according to her, staples of a Filipino teenager's diet. I guess he's been hyper fixated on this since like... kindergarten. He was always a quiet kid so I guess I just never picked up on it whenever I visited. He says the Philippines is hopeless, and that America stands for something, and that he can join the military and make a big positive difference in the world. He's also getting a lot of reinforcement from his paternal grandfather, who served in the Philippine military. He's also only talked to one American relative (not me), who is a baby boomer in rural Utah who never served, and thinks it's a great and honorable idea. Idk if I should talk to him or not, or if he'll even want to hear it. His aunt made it very clear, that there are paths to citizenship for him outside of the military, but he's not open to any of it. He could go to La Salle University in the Philippines and major in engineering, transfer to the US, and get citizenship that way. He has some very direct paths to US citizenship, a stellar education, and an engineering degree. With that of course could very easily come a good salary and funds for a pilot's license. But it seems like he wants to serve what he views as an international force for good and receive all the honor, valor, and the snazzy uniform that comes along with it. At least, that's his perception of it since he hasn't been to America since like, 2009, when he was 5. She's pretty distraught about the whole thing to say the least. We'll see what happens, I really hope it all works out for him, but as everyone's insights here have made it clear, there are endless factors that could make this all go wrong. I'd reply to all of you individually but i'll spare everyone the wall of text. Thanks again USAF goons, really. djfooboo posted:Is he aware being a pilot involves being fit as hell? I hate to say most people aren’t cut out for it unless they’ve been prepping. Also height requirements, although I can’t speak to those. He played high school soccer, so at least there's that? Idk if he's legitimately been preparing or if he's even talked to a recruiter. I think he's done all his own research from the sound of it Hotel Kpro posted:It's worth noting that the air force isn't the only branch that flies jets. The navy also has tons of jets, and my community college buddy flies F18s for the marines. He may have better odds trying this in another branch He is apparently fixated on the air force. The navy and marines aren't on the cards for him for some reason, not that it'd make much of a difference on our overall concern edit: because i forgot to add this humorous, but true, tidbit... apparently he has been obsessed with Korean dramas where the protagonist is doing their mandatory service lmao Shogunner fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Feb 14, 2023 |
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Feb 14, 2023 05:06
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The citizenship thing is going to be the same across the services. I'm curious where his AFA packet will be rejected...he can't attend, and if he isn't already well along on the path to citizenship he won't get it between acceptance and his report date. I'm genuinely surprised he was even able to apply. If he ends up pursuing enlistment, at least talk him into doing 4. If he digs it, he can stick with it and maybe get a signing bonus if recruiting woes continue. Those recruiting woes don't extend to officer ranks, by the way, and especially not to pilots. There IS a major pilot shortfall, but it's in the experienced ranks, people with 10+ years. The "new pilot" pipeline is full every year. Engineering and IT stuff...he's not going to be designing systems or anything. That poo poo is all done by contractors or other businesses. But it might give him some direction on something to pursue in those fields, either in a career or education, then he can get there. As an enlisted computer guy in the AF he's probably going to be answering the phone and emails at a help desk. My building has an E-5 who will make a "house call" to your office once there's a ticket filed, if the remote people decide it's not a network problem. It sounds like he's got stars in his eyes. Four years will probably take care of that, but hopefully it'll set him up for something better afterwards. He'll at least get the GI Bill. Or maybe it'll work out for him.
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Feb 14, 2023 23:03
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Hey, Air Force. This is probably a long shot but here goes. I've been collecting flight gear on and off for the past 20 years or so. I scored a set of koch fittings for an ejection harness on eBay for cheap years ago and sat on them until the day came when I could find a cheap harness to put them on. Today was that day. But I can't find the goddamned kochs. I don't suppose anyone works in a shop where they can pocket some broken parts or something?
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Feb 14, 2023 23:47
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The Philippines still had a special thingy with the US government as of 2005 when it comes to entering the US military. (WARNING: Lame Basic Training story) My TI had to figure out how to track Filipino dollars when a Filipino dude was in our flight & had Filipino cash on him, and we all had to write out every single serial # of the cash that we had on hand & give it to the TI., so we could reclaim it after basic training
Jimmy Smuts fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Feb 15, 2023 |
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Feb 15, 2023 05:30
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Godholio posted:The citizenship thing is going to be the same across the services. I'm curious where his AFA packet will be rejected...he can't attend, and if he isn't already well along on the path to citizenship he won't get it between acceptance and his report date. I'm genuinely surprised he was even able to apply. I'm hoping to speak to him soon, if he's up for it. I agree, it's become apparent to me that he's extremely starry eyed about serving... the US at least. I feel like I'd understand that motivation more if he was keen on serving the Philippines but it is what it is I suppose. Maybe the Philippine military just doesn't have the prestige he seems to be after. Maybe he'll be open to the 4 year enlistment instead of 10, but nothing seems guaranteed except he's joining the USAF by any means necessary. I've never served so I just don't know, but I imagine he has some very big life lessons ahead of him whichever way this goes. I just hope he doesn't get hurt  Thanks again for the insight everyone, maybe in a few months I'll drop an update in the thread, whatever happens
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Feb 16, 2023 08:14
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So I'm watching Top Gun Maverick and I've never seen the original Top Gun before. I just have 2 random questions: 1. Do pilots really introduce themselves to each other at bars with their call sign or is that a movie thing so we don't have to remember two names for these people? 2. Does the call sign (eg Maverick) belong to the pilot themself or to the aircraft the pilot is sitting in? I mean like if 'Maverick' sits in "Hangman's" plane and flies it will he be addressed as Maverick or Hangman? tia e: i just realized i posted in the wrong thread about top gun. my bad, no shade intended. im just a dumb person that sees planes and think airforce. Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Feb 17, 2023 14:52
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Boris Galerkin posted:So I'm watching Top Gun Maverick and I've never seen the original Top Gun before. I just have 2 random questions: Maybe in the fighter world? I wouldn't know that world, but heavies: Nobody cares about your callsign, most pilots know each other by their real name. The callsign is just a cute thing for your nametape. If they are joking around they might mention it.
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Feb 17, 2023 14:57
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CommieGIR posted:Maybe in the fighter world? I wouldn't know that world, but heavies: Nobody cares about your callsign, most pilots know each other by their real name. The callsign is just a cute thing for your nametape. If they are joking around they might mention it. Alright, was just wondering because in pretty much every media with scientists, they always make it a point to introduce each other like "this is Dr. Soandso, and this is Dr. Suchandsuch, and this is Prof. Blahblah". In the real world nobody is being so formal when introducing themselves to each other as peers lol. Everyone is just "hi I'm Bob and this is John" not "hi I'm Dr. Whatever." Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Feb 17, 2023 15:06
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Boris Galerkin posted:Alright, was just wondering because in pretty much every media with scientists, they always make it a point to introduce each other like "this is Dr. Soandso, and this is Dr. Suchandsuch, and this is Prof. Blahblah". In the real world nobody is being so formal when introducing themselves to each other as peers lol. Everyone is just "hi I'm Bob and this is John" not "hi I'm Dr. Whatever." Yeah, I went to a couple Nuclear Physics conferences, and everybody just introduced themselves as "This is David from Cambridge, this is Anna from MIT, etc." The guys who were sticklers about their title in casual conversations were always the weirdos at science conferences, so that tracks.
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Feb 17, 2023 15:28
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Boris Galerkin posted:Alright, was just wondering because in pretty much every media with scientists, they always make it a point to introduce each other like "this is Dr. Soandso, and this is Dr. Suchandsuch, and this is Prof. Blahblah". In the real world nobody is being so formal when introducing themselves to each other as peers lol. Everyone is just "hi I'm Bob and this is John" not "hi I'm Dr. Whatever." I'm not a pilot, just a filthy enlisted comm troop, but I've spent a fair bit of my career working with fighter and bomber pilots as their comm support. When you're the only enlisted guy amongst officers, and you're socially competent, they kind of forget that they're supposed to pretend to be a better class of rat and start treating you as one of their own. Introducing oneself by callsign happens with pilots in real life, but it's almost always a sign that the pilot is an enormous tool. By and large, the normal people just introduce themselves by name, usually first name. In real life, call signs are also almost always embarrassing, so you don't see a whole lot of Maverick and Iceman type names. Instead you usually get names that are oblique references to the time a pilot screwed up in some horrifying/entertaining fashion.
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Feb 17, 2023 16:16
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Arc Light posted:I'm not a pilot, just a filthy enlisted comm troop, but I've spent a fair bit of my career working with fighter and bomber pilots as their comm support. When you're the only enlisted guy amongst officers, and you're socially competent, they kind of forget that they're supposed to pretend to be a better class of rat and start treating you as one of their own. Introducing oneself by callsign happens with pilots in real life, but it's almost always a sign that the pilot is an enormous tool. By and large, the normal people just introduce themselves by name, usually first name. In real life, call signs are also almost always embarrassing, so you don't see a whole lot of Maverick and Iceman type names. Instead you usually get names that are oblique references to the time a pilot screwed up in some horrifying/entertaining fashion. Yeah, I knew a lot of flight docs that would also get callsigns and it seems in the USAF it's normally a kind of light, self-depreciating humor or joke related to some event or their name (e.g. "Balls" if their last name was Cotton). I never heard anyone actually *use* them though, but most flight docs were pretty chill people. BadOptics fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Feb 17, 2023 17:12
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As I understand it, callsign culture is a lot bigger in the navy than the air force.
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Feb 17, 2023 17:13
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Boris Galerkin posted:So I'm watching Top Gun Maverick and I've never seen the original Top Gun before. I just have 2 random questions: 1) Yes. 2) Pilot. The pilot will also have a flying callsign, which everyone in the formation uses. For example, Maverick might fly with the *flying* callsign "Polaroid". Then his formation with all members in it would use that. So, Rooster might say "Polaroid 69, weapon away". This callsign would be for every formation Mav leads. The plane might also have a nickname, usually assigned by maintenance. It may or may not be painted somewhere on the jet. The least important of the 3 names here. Dominoes fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Feb 17, 2023 17:16
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I didn’t see the movie because the trailer had some cringe bar scene where they were all banging on about being the best of the best of the best, and also I hate Miles Teller and his dumb face. People tell me I’m missing out.
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Feb 17, 2023 18:03
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Casimir Radon posted:I didn’t see the movie because the trailer had some cringe bar scene where they were all banging on about being the best of the best of the best, and also I hate Miles Teller and his dumb face. People tell me I’m missing out. I really just can't stand Tom Cruise anymore. The guy is permanent cringe in my book.
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Feb 17, 2023 18:33
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CommieGIR posted:I really just can't stand Tom Cruise anymore. The guy is permanent cringe in my book. He's weird as gently caress but his singular mod-brained focus seems to be making enjoyable movies Or at least his PR firm has crafted that image.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:20
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Casimir Radon posted:I didn’t see the movie because the trailer had some cringe bar scene where they were all banging on about being the best of the best of the best, and also I hate Miles Teller and his dumb face. People tell me I’m missing out. You see less of Teller in Top Gun 2 than you see in Devotion; though I thought both movies were pretty good (for what they are). Edit: Now that I think about it the USN has a stranglehold on Hollywood films. What was the last USAF film? I think Red Tails but that was technically USAAF and the .50's having the Star Wars laser sound killed it for me.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:40
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BadOptics posted:You see less of Teller in Top Gun 2 than you see in Devotion; though I thought both movies were pretty good (for what they are). Either Eagle Eye or Transformers. Terminator 3 if you don't count them. Any time an AI gains sentience and destroys the world, it's AF.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:53
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Shogunner posted:I'm hoping to speak to him soon, if he's up for it. I agree, it's become apparent to me that he's extremely starry eyed about serving... the US at least. I feel like I'd understand that motivation more if he was keen on serving the Philippines but it is what it is I suppose. Maybe the Philippine military just doesn't have the prestige he seems to be after. This kid has security forces in his future.
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Feb 17, 2023 22:20
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Never go Open General
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Feb 17, 2023 22:47
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Don’t listen to that nonsense. The word “general” is right there in the name. It means your recruiter recognizes leadership material when they see it.
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Feb 17, 2023 22:52
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CommieGIR posted:Never go Open General Never go
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Feb 18, 2023 00:12
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I went open gen and got lucky to get med admin. I probably used up like 5 years of good luck with that one. Edit: don't go open general
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Feb 18, 2023 00:24
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Is it true that Security Forces won't accept folks who go open general? I figured that's where they got 90% of their folks from. That, and tech school washouts.
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Feb 18, 2023 00:39
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Jimmy Smuts posted:Is it true that Security Forces won't accept folks who go open general? I figured that's where they got 90% of their folks from. That, and tech school washouts. Nearly all the Security Forces people I knew either chose that career or were open general
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Feb 18, 2023 00:51
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Jimmy Smuts posted:Is it true that Security Forces won't accept folks who go open general? I figured that's where they got 90% of their folks from. That, and tech school washouts. That's just another lie recruiters use (the first part).
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Feb 18, 2023 02:46
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Dominoes posted:1) Yes. I got called out by a guy I worked with for 4 years at my last job, whom I ran into at a work function this week. Haven't seen him in over a year, but someone at this job called me by my actual name. "Wait, did he call you (name)? You don't do callsigns out here? Also I didn't even know that was your name." I deal with a lot of engineer types so I end up using either based on the group I'm with at a given time. Edit: There is/was a Global Hawk named Patches. Because that fucker was COVERED in little pieces of tape covering holes or something.
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Feb 19, 2023 01:25
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BadOptics posted:That's just another lie recruiters use (the first part). so do recruiters really just lie to kids... and is it even legal? are they held accountable to some sort of quota?
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Feb 19, 2023 03:26
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Shogunner posted:so do recruiters really just lie to kids... and is it even legal? are they held accountable to some sort of quota? They won't ever lie on record, but they'll absolutely stretch the truth in a verbal conversation to get kids to sign on the line.
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Feb 19, 2023 03:36
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One of my coworkers is also ex AF and he told me his recruiter had told him there were no four year contracts, only six (we were PMEL). Another guy in my flight had said his recruiter had told him that enlisting with a degree was the fastest way to be an officer. The TI told him his recruiter was a liar. I've never heard of any backlash for selling kids on lies like that, I imagine it's the same for every branch
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Feb 19, 2023 04:18
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Shogunner posted:so do recruiters really just lie to kids... and is it even legal? are they held accountable to some sort of quota? There were definitely quotas back when I enlisted. At my recruiting station in 2008, when I worked the Recruiters Assistance Program, the expectation was iirc 2 new recruits a month, every month. Failing to meet the quota for more than a couple of months in a row meant being on the flight chief's poo poo list and non-stop hassling from recruiting command. idk if the quota was actually official in writing. I'd be shocked if they weren't still a thing. In any given year, each branch of the US military tries to hit a particular end strength. Depending on outside factors like the relative strength of the job market, getting the desired number of recruits can be difficult. Recruiters absolutely stretch the truth in general, and lie when they think they can get away with it. That doesn't just mean lying to potential recruits, it also means lying about the eligibility of said recruits, and encouraging them to lie about themselves. To use an example, lying about past drug use and/or medical issues. My recruiter never encouraged that, but I've worked with a bunch of Airmen (and for that matter, Soldiers, Marines, etc) whose recruiters coached them to lie about those things. Part of the initial recruitment process involves a mountain of paperwork to establish medical history and background checks. For questions about drug use, prior ADHD diagnosis, etc, enterprising recruiters told their guys to think of it as YES (Your Enlistment Stops) or NO (New Opportunities). Which causes real problems if the recruit gets caught in the lie later on. I got really lucky with my recruiter. He was previously Security Forces and he became a recruiter to escape from that job for a few years. I just wanted to ship out to basic training as quickly as possible, and I told him I'd be happy to sign up for SecFo or anything else. He sat me down and told me it would be better to live in a box under a bridge than to be a 19 year old E-2 in Security Forces. And then he told me to go for comm, because I'd almost always be working indoors, and I'd have job opportunities afterwards, and I probably wouldn't wreck my spine or my knees. 15 years later, my knees and my back both still work the way they should, and I think about that conversation from time to time.
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Feb 19, 2023 06:11
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Boris Galerkin posted:So I'm watching Top Gun Maverick and I've never seen the original Top Gun before. I just have 2 random questions: I’m Navy so the answers differ from the USAF but: 1) Yes, in formal or social settings we will introduce usually either first and last plus callsign or just call sign. It does depend on platform a bit though. P3/P8 guys seem to be less callsign centric than Rhino/Growler aircrew. Helos are hit and miss depending on squadron culture (carrier squadrons more callsign centric than expeditionary helo squadrons). 2) Pilots/NFOs get callsigns generally after their first 6ish months in the squadron. Generally something dumb they’ve done or a play off their name. Maintenance will then throw their name and callsign on the side of a jet (along with some enlisted top performers on things like the landing gear doors). The jet with your name on it doesn’t mean that it’s “yours.” I’ve been in a squadron for about 3 months on my O-4 tour and flown the jet with my name on it once before it went in for long term maintenance. Each flight will have an air traffic control call sign which is generally assigned at the squadron level. Every time you check in with ATC, you’ll be something like “FAMOUS 11” with your wingmen being “FAMOUS12, -13, -14”. Second flights of the day would be “FAMOUS21, -22, -23”. Then you’ll have a tactical callsign for the flight which can either be squadron imposed, mission specific, or “just because”. You may be “NOVA41-44”, “STORM51-52” or “RAGE21”.
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Feb 19, 2023 08:38
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Of note re TP's post above: Navy tends to have... Less-flattering/more humorous callsigns than AF. Given some of the less appropriate callsigns in the AF have gotten the axe over the past few years, I can't imagine Navy callsigns have faired well!
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Feb 25, 2023 19:34
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I knew an AF major whose callsign was PFD, as in Personal Flotation Device(s), until she went to work for a 3-star. "I'm not saying that" and now she goes by a version of her name.
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Feb 25, 2023 23:14
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That's hilarious
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Feb 26, 2023 16:14
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Anybody at Minot? Or privy to RUMINT about what the gently caress is going on with a bunch of firings?
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Mar 1, 2023 02:48
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