I'm getting very upset at the lack of information the Air Force puts out for retraining. They tell you what's open then fail to provide proper requirements for the job...

I know there is more of a requirement than:

quote:

3.5.1.1 See attachment 4 for additional entry requirements.
3.5.1.2 Prior qualification at the 5- or 7-skill level in the 1A0, 1A2, 1A3, 1A7, 2AXXX, or 2M0 career field ladder, or possession of a valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Engineer certificate, FAA private pilot license, or valid FAA aircraft and power plant license or Aircraft Maintenance Technician license.
3.5.2. For entry, award, and retention of these AFSCs:
3.5.2.1 Physical qualification for aircrew duty according to AFI 48-123, Medical Examinations and Standard, Class III medical standards.
3.5.2.2. Qualification for aviation service according to AFI 11-402, Aviation and Parachutist Service, Aeronautical Ratings and Badges.
3.5.2.3. Must maintain eligibility to deploy and mobilize worldwide.
3.5.3. Specialty requires routine access to Secret material or similar environment. For award and retention of AFSCs 1A131/51/71/91/00, a current National Agency Check, Local Agency Checks and Credit (NACLC) according to AFI 31-501, Personnel Security Program Management.

I know the requirement to lift is K, which is equal to 70 LBS...

The PULHES is 111121, General ASVAB score of 57... What about:

Color Vision
Depth perception?

Standard Class III covers the vision. You are not going to get a waiver for either color vision or depth perception to enter the 1A1 field. You need both...in a big way.

The feeder AFSC is no longer a show stopper. I went to BFE school with a Dental Admin troop.

I just finished up Flt Eng school IQT/MQT. if you have any questions...i might/prob. have the answers.

quote:

Originally posted by sttawb:
I just finished up Flt Eng school IQT/MQT. if you have any questions...i might/prob. have the answers.

Really? I've been done for a while now..........and I still don't have the answers. Just had a "No-Notice from a guy at HQ/AMC.....and he admitted he didn't even have all the answers...........weird. LOL

sttawb didn't say he had ALL the answers.

That would be dumb.

He must be married...and as such, has already figured out that WHATEVER answers he may THINK he actually has, that they are in face WRONG, and she has the right to be pizzed until he comes up with the RIGHT answers...with no assistance from her.

Sound familiar to anyone?

It's like having a no-notice...every day of your life...and while you were sleeping, all the pubs were changed around on you with no FCIF to give you a heads up.

Now hurry up and get back out to your Gucci bird, mtmccormick. There's tea and crumpets waiting for you. Wouldn't want the tea to get cold, now would ya? That would not do.

I'll say this about answers...

...when I left this place after Initial Qual last summer, I had a LOT of answers in my head. There were numbers pouring out of my ears at night.

I got back here last month for Mission Qual, and even though I'd been in the books over the summer/fall...through my other schools...I just about choked when I started to have to regurgitate the stuff that was "old hat" for my last checkride.

Long story short...in this job, and especially through school, there is no time to slack off the books, or to get complacent. If your track has you breaking schools for 3 months or so (like a lot of folks here are doing), your butt needs to stay in the books a lot more. We have 1 dude that finishes here, and then waits 3 months to go to Kirtland. That's 1/2 of what my break was, and still too long.

Or at least, long enough to get complacent and forget things.

The law of recency fully applies.

Just my $0.02 to FE hopefuls, or people starting out school. Read and heed, so you can avoid my pain (i.e. here it is a sunny Saturday, and instead of puttering a Cessna around central Arkansas, I am sitting in a hotel room, going over Emergency Procedures and systems again)

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
sttawb didn't say he had ALL the answers.

That would be dumb.

He must be married...and as such, has already figured out that WHATEVER answers he may THINK he actually has, that they are in face WRONG, and she has the right to be pizzed until he comes up with the RIGHT answers...with no assistance from her.

Sound familiar to anyone?

It's like having a no-notice...every day of your life...and while you were sleeping, all the pubs were changed around on you with no FCIF to give you a heads up.

Now hurry up and get back out to your Gucci bird, mtmccormick. There's tea and crumpets waiting for you. Wouldn't want the tea to get cold, now would ya? That would not do.

LOL......Gucchi bird huh??? Well, being here at McGuire.....the 17's are the new Gucches on the block.....but I will say this, it sure is nice dropping a ducer in an actual lav....as compared to a honey pot. Do you guys have any kind of privacy on that 4-fan trash can?

Why would an Eng be out of his seat long enough to drop a deuce?

You mean you actually LEAVE those OFFICERS up there for that long?

ALONE?

Braver than I, fella...braver than I.

There is a little piece of canvas you can pull over to block the PAX view of your bits and pieces...but that's for people without gargantuan members, so I just don't bother.

('scuuuuuse me, while I wip dis out.....)

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
Why would an Eng be out of his seat long enough to drop a deuce?

You mean you actually LEAVE those OFFICERS up there for that long?

ALONE?

Braver than I, fella...braver than I.

There is a little piece of canvas you can pull over to block the PAX view of your bits and pieces...but that's for people without gargantuan members, so I just don't bother.

('scuuuuuse me, while I wip dis out.....)

LMAO!!!! Good stuff.

THIS was considered a decent turd house...back in the days I wore greens with a blue cord around my shoulder.



Gotta remember, this old Grunt has a different perspective on what is super cool over here on the blue side. That honey-bucket has it's advantages...(i.e. no scorpions or widows chilling under the wood plank with a hole cut in it, waiting to explore YOUR bungholio...or fire ants crawling on you, and "walking the plank" when you least expect it...etc.)

But maybe someday we'll get a warm water bidet...like you Gucci boys.

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:


But maybe someday we'll get a warm water bidet...like you Gucci boys.

Funny, this looks like the bidet in the 5 star hotel I stayed in at Sigonella a few months ago. Hit a bird at FL210 and busted our radome....downtown Catania for 3 days.

I hate you.

I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!!

(like I said...actively hating)

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
I hate you.

I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!!

(like I said...actively hating)

Still think I'm Gucci???? LOL!!!

Fokker

Having a really tough time in this mission qual course. Everything was going well, and all of a sudden, I got back in the airplane again...at night...and it ain't going so well.

Too long of a break between courses. Feeling like I got behind the 8 ball a bit.

Much stress.

Wish me luck, gentlemen...think I might need it.

You hit a bird at 210? The highest I've seen is coming out of Southern Iraq at night and hit one at 9000. I still don't believe that story and it actually happened to me.

Gonna REC tonight, and hopefully Check Wednesday.

I was scheduled outta Kirtland on 03 JUN, so it's been a little while here at the ABQ (got here Saint Paddy's Day). Ready to get up outta here.

Wish me luck, fellas...this 2 year retrain is possibly coming to an end soon...(then I get to do Shadow conversion...woo-hoo)

quote:

Originally posted by JamesTheEngineer:
You hit a bird at 210? The highest I've seen is coming out of Southern Iraq at night and hit one at 9000. I still don't believe that story and it actually happened to me.

Yeah.....we all could not frigging believe it until we pulled what was left of the damn thing out of the first layer in our radome. We were over Egypt when we heard a "thump"....but our altitude shot down all discussion of a bird...and all my systems to include pressurization were normal. We were dragging A-10s out of the Deid to Sigonella.

Not a bad place to spend an extra 3 days waiting on the part.

Alas, MT...I ain't gonna have these great "per-diem" stories like you Gucci punks or my FREDdie friends have.

I'm stuck at night...down at threat pen...with bad illum and A/C packs not worth a hoot.

But it beats the Army...so I'll hang wid-it.

(I check tomorrow...wish me luck, fellers. Last check in the AETC world...)

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
Alas, MT...I ain't gonna have these great "per-diem" stories like you Gucci punks or my FREDdie friends have.

I'm stuck at night...down at threat pen...with bad illum and A/C packs not worth a hoot.

But it beats the Army...so I'll hang wid-it.

(I check tomorrow...wish me luck, fellers. Last check in the AETC world...)

Wish I had more......I've been DNIF for a while....shoulder surgery. Good luck with your upcoming check.....I'm sure you'll knock it out!!

MT

Amazing, we started at the same time, and I am STILL in the schoolhouse. Most guys I graduated Inital Qual at The Rock with are already coming up on their annual checks, and I'm just now coming up on my schoolhouse check.

Rescue...gotta love it.

Just repeat this (to yourself) "Fuel, forms TOLD" and you're golden. If you find yourself sitting and doing nothing..."Fuel, forms TOLD".

More to it in Rescue..."Fuel, forms, TOLD, eyeballs outside for the NVG low level, torque gauge that creeps up toward 19,000 in. pounds with every 420 foot ridge crossing...low light on the RA...threat maneuvers where the CP likes to descend WELL past the low light and bleed his airspeed off"

Then we get to the HAR track and joing up with the helos...run hoses and pass gas (howDY)

Then we hit the IP and run in for the drops...over, and over again until everyone is complete.

Then off to the runway(s) for SCA's...over and over again, until the engines are trying to cook off the wing (no oil cooler augmentation here), and the brakes start speaking to you in that chattering language that only brakes and FE's can speak.

The AIRCAT and the 781's are the easiest part of my night...the fuel panel is easy when first balanced on crossfeed (save for wet contact HAR stuff) and normal and Max TOLD isn't a problem anymore...even in the dark on a green lip light in turbulence.

So why did I screw up the HAR panel tonight, then? The world may never know. (note to self...when a fuel qtty. indicator is FUBAR, and you KNOW you can't use the dump pump to feed gas to helicopters...WHY do you accidentally let your left Aux tank crossfeed itself to a Tank Empty light, about 1 minute before the ARCT with the -60's?

As Carlos Mencia would say...

..."DEE Dee dee"

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
Alas, MT...I ain't gonna have these great "per-diem" stories like you Gucci punks or my FREDdie friends have.

I'm stuck at night...down at threat pen...with bad illum and A/C packs not worth a hoot.

But it beats the Army...so I'll hang wid-it.

(I check tomorrow...wish me luck, fellers. Last check in the AETC world...)

Huge load of dung there. You are in a guard/reserve unit. You will be staying in a fancy hotel while the AD guys sweat it out in tents somewhere. Nice try though! AD goes to Lawson Army Airfield and lives in tents, reserve unit goes to Savanah and stays in hotels by the airport to work the same exercise.

quote:

Originally posted by caninedale:

quote:

Originally posted by lstgnfghtr:
Alas, MT...I ain't gonna have these great "per-diem" stories like you Gucci punks or my FREDdie friends have.

I'm stuck at night...down at threat pen...with bad illum and A/C packs not worth a hoot.

But it beats the Army...so I'll hang wid-it.

(I check tomorrow...wish me luck, fellers. Last check in the AETC world...)

Huge load of dung there. You are in a guard/reserve unit. You will be staying in a fancy hotel while the AD guys sweat it out in tents somewhere. Nice try though! AD goes to Lawson Army Airfield and lives in tents, reserve unit goes to Savanah and stays in hotels by the airport to work the same exercise.

Then get out of AD and join the Guard/Reserve's...don't hate.

We are in Portland right now and a HC unit was up here and brought a TENT to operate out of when there was PLENTY of space for them.

There is an old saying, Work smart..not hard.

Caninedale...he is on a KC-10...he will ALWAYS have the better per-diem stories.

And his workday will be much more vanilla, and much less helmet fire. (lucky guy...but I can't lie...I talked to the KC-10 folks before i called up Moffett too...I ain't no dummy)

And I have yet to see what it is like living large on Air Force trips. All I know is the schoolhouse(s), and before that, the Army life...so I hope you speak the truth.

I don't hear a whole lot about that from the guys in my unit, though. A little here, and a little there. I know there is no tent action going on, but buddy...I done PAID my dues in that tent living world, so I ain't gonna feel all too guilty if i get a nice hotel and a good steak dinner on a few of these upcoming trips.

I will report back on this matter...either way.

quote:

Originally posted by sttawb:
I just finished up Flt Eng school IQT/MQT. if you have any questions...i might/prob. have the answers.

About the retraining process, I MAY/PROB have the answers...I know that I just didn't just come out and say retraining specifically but I felt that was understood back from the original question that was asked. Having to figure something out may be a little hard for you coming from KC-10's, I do realize that there isn't a master caution light staring you in the face telling you to use your brain. Plus, I'm almost sure we went through training pretty much at the same time because I think that you're friends with my buddy John Webb and I went through with him.

quote:

Originally posted by sttawb:

quote:

Originally posted by sttawb:
I just finished up Flt Eng school IQT/MQT. if you have any questions...i might/prob. have the answers.

About the retraining process, I MAY/PROB have the answers...I know that I just didn't just come out and say retraining specifically but I felt that was understood back from the original question that was asked. Having to figure something out may be a little hard for you coming from KC-10's, I do realize that there isn't a master caution light staring you in the face telling you to use your brain. Plus, I'm almost sure we went through training pretty much at the same time because I think that you're friends with my buddy John Webb and I went through with him.

First of all....if you read it (your post) again you can almost see the sarcastic yet joking around smile I had on my face. And believe me, being an Engineer on any aircraft can be quite challenging....even the 10. This is true that if a light comes on we don't have to regurgitate any kind of info on what random canon plug might have been disconnected to cause the light.....but at the same time we are expected to have an extensive knowledge of all systems on the jet. And yes.....my buddy is Webb....he started. EAUC the week we were finishing BFE

For you FE's currently in the pipeline...what assignments/airframes are people getting out out of training these days? I will be starting EAUC in Jul '10 so I'm trying to get a heads up what to expect. Can't wait to start this journey!

A very long journey- Fly Air Force!

quote:

Originally posted by xCHICOx:
For you FE's currently in the pipeline...what assignments/airframes are people getting out out of training these days? I will be starting EAUC in Jul '10 so I'm trying to get a heads up what to expect. Can't wait to start this journey!

I got assigned to C-5s found out at the end of Block 5. We had another guy in my class get assigned to CV-22s and the rest of my class were overseas returnees so they already had thier assignments. The class a week behind us had a few get CV-22s, E-3s, and I'm not really sure about the rest of them.

Are you at Kelly now? Heard they were putting all new folks through the AMP CBTs and sims.

quote:

Originally posted by XxLoadClearXx:
Are you at Kelly now? Heard they were putting all new folks through the AMP CBTs and sims.

I am at Kelly right now, finishing BFE next week. But I talked to some of the guys that are currently going through C-5 IQ and they said this is a true statement.

quote:

Originally posted by jennything:
I got assigned to C-5s found out at the end of Block 5. We had another guy in my class get assigned to CV-22s and the rest of my class were overseas returnees so they already had thier assignments. The class a week behind us had a few get CV-22s, E-3s, and I'm not really sure about the rest of them.

Thx for the reply. I heard they were opening up the CV-22 to new FE's but wasn't sure. Congrats on C5. That should be a very rewarding experience.

The CV-22 is taking FE's staight from BFE. Make your intentions are known as soon as possible, and you stand a good chance of getting a quota.

If I get an FE as my job when I retrain, do I get the Choice or a dream sheet at least to pick what airframe I would want to be on? Or is this a random decision? Or how does this work out?

quote:

Originally posted by AirforceSSGT:
If I get an FE as my job when I retrain, do I get the Choice or a dream sheet at least to pick what airframe I would want to be on? Or is this a random decision? Or how does this work out?

Assuming your not an overseas returnee, you will get a Sheet you first day of BFE that lists out all 29 base/airframe choices for an FE. Then depending on training availability, time on station, how many other people in your class need assignments, blah blah blah... The functional will try to match you up as high on your list as he can. I got my first choice for airframe second choice for base. Not everyone gets quite so lucky but there was no one that was disapointed in my class. The functional visits the school house once a month. Don't be afraid to talk to him, it's highly encouraged to do so in the aircrew world...

Great thanks! Im assuming you are an FE yourself right? What Airframe do you fly on? And do you have any words about the job? i.e. Do you like it, are you gone often, how long is the average day? Stuff like that. Any info is greatly appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by AirforceSSGT:
And do you have any words about the job? i.e. Do you like it, are you gone often, how long is the average day? Stuff like that. Any info is greatly appreciated.

The job is pretty awesome. I retrained March 08 and have never disliked it. Average days are from 0730- 1530 on non flying days. Flying days can be pretty long. I retrained outta Maintenance and have never looked back.