quote:

Originally posted by sniper_17:
I would like to drive so I would have my truck but that's around a 20 hour trip. No thanks

I had a 20 hour trip myself, it is not that bad compared to months of living without a vehicle. Trust me, you will regret it! You will actually look forward to that 20 hour drive home as well.

I'm weighing the pros and cons of driving to Lackland from Ohio. I've got a short tech-school compared to some, only 6 weeks. It would be nice to have my own ride and I wouldn't be limited in what I could take with me like I would if I would fly. Wouldn't mind taking my Trek with me to ride on base to save on gas during the week, can't fit that in a carry-on. The only cons are the cost of gas [Dodge Durango] and the 20 hours of road trip.

quote:

Originally posted by sniper_17:
I'm weighing the pros and cons of driving to Lackland from Ohio. I've got a short tech-school compared to some, only 6 weeks. It would be nice to have my own ride and I wouldn't be limited in what I could take with me like I would if I would fly. Wouldn't mind taking my Trek with me to ride on base to save on gas during the week, can't fit that in a carry-on. The only cons are the cost of gas [Dodge Durango] and the 20 hours of road trip.

When is your tech school? I am stationed at Lackland and if you decide not to drive I would be willing to help you out with getting around SA as I have done for others in the same boat as you. In fact there is a guy coming from NY for tech training in Jan that has taken me up on my offer when he needs a ride. PM me offlist and I will give you my cell and personal email if you want to take me up on my offer.

Driving your own vehicle will make life easier on you.

quote:

Originally posted by aplcr0331:
Ahhh, good read. Lots of folks here have been to Keelser (where I am going) and that helps.

Looks like I am going down in late Jan early Feb for 3C2 Tech School. I live up in Wash state, not sure if I want to drive my car down.

Another former Army Guard dude, former active duty Marine as well. This hopefully will be a decent school and sounds like it won't be too stressful (other than the curriculum).

If you live on base in the AF Inns, do we still rate Per Diem? Or do you only get per diem if you live out in town?

Cory

Hey Cory --

I'm ex Army Guard also and I'm going to 3C2 Tech School at Keesler on Feb 5, 2008. You might see me in your class. I'm leaving from California so I'm not driving. I initially told them I wanted to drive but after thinking about it I don't want to deal with it. I usually look for someone else with a car. I've been to some long Army schools and got by without a car. It sounds like AF tech school is going to be pretty nice compared to the Army schools. I always stayed in barracks in the Army schools and shared rooms. They didn't care what rank you were.

Joe

quote:

Originally posted by 6938046:
Hey Cory --

I'm ex Army Guard also and I'm going to 3C2 Tech School at Keesler on Feb 5, 2008. You might see me in your class. I'm leaving from California so I'm not driving. I initially told them I wanted to drive but after thinking about it I don't want to deal with it. I usually look for someone else with a car. I've been to some long Army schools and got by without a car. It sounds like AF tech school is going to be pretty nice compared to the Army schools. I always stayed in barracks in the Army schools and shared rooms. They didn't care what rank you were.

Joe

When does your class graduate? Interesting that you are coming down in Feb. With everyone talking about how the AFSC's are in the middle of a re-org, its weird that they seem to have a lot of classes going on.

I hear ya on the other service schools. I went to one school and stayed in a open squad bay. The only redeeming thing about that school was going to Tijuana on the weekends.

I have an older Porsche 944 that I contemplated driving down to Keesler, but decided against it. I'll just fly. I'll take the loser cruiser or whatever public transpo the base and town have.

Anyway, good luck at school and I'll see you down there.

Cory

quote:

Originally posted by sniper_17:
I'm weighing the pros and cons of driving to Lackland from Ohio. I've got a short tech-school compared to some, only 6 weeks. It would be nice to have my own ride and I wouldn't be limited in what I could take with me like I would if I would fly. Wouldn't mind taking my Trek with me to ride on base to save on gas during the week, can't fit that in a carry-on. The only cons are the cost of gas [Dodge Durango] and the 20 hours of road trip.

You won't be paying for gas man, the Air Force will. I think my complete travel round trip (20 hours as well) was like $400 something, that included lodging.

Guys...

DRIVE your CAR to SCHOOL.

I just finished a 1,950 mile drive, and thanks to my orders getting COMPLETELY hosed up, I had to do it in 2 days...16 hours per leg (CA to Albuquerque, and Alb. to Little Rock.) Sucked bad, but I have my van here, and I paid, with lodging included, under $500 out of pocket. I did not get mileage authorized, but if you don't get that, you'll typically get the govt.'s equivalent cost (airfare price) reimbursed to you in your travel voucher. Talk to finance and get the scoop on how they will pay you.

But drive. For sure. If it's EAUC, you can get by, but if you think you are going to use base transportation on Lackland, you are going to be in for a rude surprise. It sucks. Aircrew school is NOT next to billeting...it's outside the gate, down the road, and in the gate of, technically, another base (Medina Annex).

If your orders have you NOT going back to home station after EAUC, but onto follow on training, then just drive to San Antonio. Trust me on this. A little cross country pain up front will save much B.S. later. I ended up with a rental car OUT OF POCKET...

As far as the per diem, don't be so sure about the 180 day rule. I just FINALLY won a battle to change my PCS orders to a TDY, and the rule I was quoted was 121 academic days. My orders here at Little Rock were from 07 JAN to 22 MAY, so do the math. They were cut as a PCS, with no per-diem (and no POV mileage, by the way), and I had to scream to high Hell to get them ammended before class started 2 days ago.

If you do go on base, your per-diem while occupying government quarters, and with govt. meals available, can be around $10-$12/day. If you are off base, but orders say to be on base, you MUST have the Statement of Non Availability sent into your Finance guys. That was the difference for me between $11/day and the $56/day full rate that I am now getting (just a little difference, eh?).

If you find yourself jammed up with the PCS or no per-diem problem, please feel free to PM me from my profile page you can access off my username. I will be happy to chat with you about it after class and see if I can help you to not have to chase the same smoke trails that I did at first.

But bottom line...DRIVE your CAR if you are going to be gone for 30 days or more. It's going to be painfully obvious to you why that is a good idea after you get there. Unless you have a really good battle buddy already there, just buckle down and hop on the interstate.

As far as how people get treated in tech school, as a prior service Army dude, I will have to say that I feel more privileged than permanent party around here. No booty-duty, no "area beautification" details, no CQ...basically, if you are an E-4 or up, life is pretty much all about doing well in class. Your job is school. PT is, for the most part, an individual responsibility...with certain exceptions (base runs, occasional unit PT, etc.) Just don't get stupid and get arrested, blow a DUI, or whatever other dumba$$ thing...and you'll breeze through.

One caveat to my advice, however...if you are going up to Fairchild for Survival School, or down to Pensacola for Water Survival, take the govt. airplane ticket. There is NO need for a car in Fairchild (you are far too busy). In Pensacola, there will be plenty of officers who drove down to catch a ride with into town for a good McGuire's steak and a beer (or 2, or 3...that's why it's good NOT to be the driver...beer is KILLER there...have the New York Strip and the house Porter beer).

Hope that was useful advice.

Is there anyone here that has just finished Tech at Keesler? Care to share your experience? Thanks!!!

quote:

Originally posted by 119FWMXS:
I'll be in the same situation only going to Goodfellow as an E-5. I've been told by other people in my unit that have done the same thing that the Marines run the PT for that group. I'm going as a 1N1 but I'm not sure what "that group" meant.

I went to Goodfellow as a pipeliner but a third of our class (1N0) was prior-service and they did PT on their own time. Air Force intel and Marine intel didn't go to school together, Marines had they're own building. But Air Force and Marine firefighters did school together, so maybe you heard that from someone who went to fire school. But that was back in '99, so they might have changed it.

What career field - comm? Offier/Enlisted?

quote:

Originally posted by mouseyy:
Is there anyone here that has just finished Tech at Keesler? Care to share your experience? Thanks!!!

Was emailed by someone asking if you get reimbursed for travel to/from tech school POV, yes you do. They will pay you up to the amount a plane ticket would cost, which was way plenty for me coming from Florida going to Sheppard. They don't give it to you up front though, consult your unit about using your BOA card for it if you need to. I rather not use that damn thing personally.

The email was not working so posted here, hope you get it.

I got the "constructed cost" of government airfare for driving here to Arkansas from California, and I used the BofA card for fuel and lodging only (thinking I had to...otherwise, I don't use the damned govt. card for SQUAT!!!)

They allowed me to file an accrual voucher the first month I was on station, and in that voucher, they reimbursed all the constructed cost (you need to ask finance and TMO about this before you leave...it is NOT automatically done for you), and paid the credit card amount directly to the BofA govt. card (split disbursement).

I got just about $1,000 for my travel, and gas was $400 1 way. I have to pay the return cost for fuel out of pocket, as I've already been compensated for the whole trip (so it's not REALLY out of pocket, is it?). I'm thinking that the gas prices might increase my $$$$ expenditure for the trip back west (in 2 weeks).

Anyway...my $0.02

Hey thanks alot Im kind of freaking out about this trip, because Im comin from Oregon its gonna be expensive. Ill be the hvac tech school so Im there for six months, and I dont even know how far the barracks are from the school. Other than that what is this unit pt Im hearing about for the prior service guys is that true?

I have been on orders since October of last year, and have yet to do ANY organized PT. It is expected that you do it on your own...at least in my experience so far.

6 month long school, eh?

I must say it again.........

Make super-sure you understand the PCS/TDY rules on your tour. Guys are getting SEVERELY hosed right now due to this (to the tune of TENS of thousands of dollars)...I was almost one of those guys. MAJOR problem for the long schools if you are in the Guard. (you'll see a whole new forum thread emerge about this in the near future).

So, be sure you get the straight poop from your Training section about the status of the orders you get BEFORE you leave...and if there is any chance they will get modified by way of Amendments to a PCS status.

I know I sound like a broken record on this, but I can't stress strongly enough how sure you need to be about this if you are going to a long school. There is a MSgt here whose career is about to get tanked over this...along with several others in trail behind him.

Not sure if this is happening all over, but it's a big deal here at Little Rock, and it's already gaining huge visibility, so I thought I'd bring it up again, for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread. Know the regs, and know the JFTR BEFORE you hit the road on that tour.

Thanks for the reply sgt the finance dept. is getting angry with me from bothering them. These guys are trying to tell me Ill be on TDY, but the school is 6 freakin months it should be PCS. This whole enlistment has been TARFU the from the start. For the last couple of years I have been with Blackwater kind of wishing I would have stayed with em. But again thanks for the info Sunday I will know everything about this fun trip I get to take.

For prior service: If your tech school is over a year, can you request off base housing to have a spouse come down?

quote:

Originally posted by 11076160:
For prior service: If your tech school is over a year, can you request off base housing to have a spouse come down?

If your tech school is even over 5 months the AF will pay for your family to move with you. So yes, over a year, definately. You'll have the option to live on or off base. You can either live in base housing or go off base.
I'm a prior and my tech school is close to 6 months long and I opted to live off base (the Staff and below dorms were at 120% capacity at the time I got here).