Here are the pictures from our visit to Niagara JARS and a flight on one of their KC-135R (?) aircraft. We did the base tour, sat in on the preflight, took off and flew down the eastern seaborad. We refueled a C-17 out of Charleston AFB who was en-route to Ramstein, Germany. I don't have pictures of that but I did take a movie from the observer's position in the refueling pod I just don't know how to upload it and I don't want to put it on youtube. After that we remained on station for a little while longer, ending up somewhere near the southern tip of Florida before turning North to head home. On the way back North one by one they let us go back down in the pod and "fly" the boom (under the supervision of the boom operator of course lol). The "bed" or whatever you wanna call it that you lay on to operate the boom looks very uncomfortable but I def could have fallen asleep on it lol.
Right wing
Cockpit
Cargo hold
More of the hold
Left wing
Me flying the boom
My buddy getting directions
More of the same
My other buddy getting directions
View from the window
Our bird after we got on our bus
Driving back to flight ops
Last shot of our bird. A bunch took off after we landed so I would assume ours was going back up soon after we left.
-Joe W.
"I love the smell of jetfuel in the morning....smells like VICTORY!!"
Thanks for sharing those jumpshot; are you guys ROTC or Air Cadets? Just reminds me of my time with the Air Training Corps here in the UK and our trips in VC10 tankers not long after they came into service, and in those days, we weren't allowed on actual tanking flights because it was deemed formation flying and hence too dangerous for young cadets!!
Well, it's late and I promised myself I wasn't going to post anything tonight, but those pictures brought back a lot of memories, and I just had to share a little.
Back during the Viet Nam days, (I was in the Army) I had an interesting job which required that I fly around the Far East on KC-135's - Okinawa to Thailand to Guam, the Philippines and finally back to Okinawa. Not all in one day of course. However, I made the trip often enough that I became familiar to some of the crews. I quickly learned that a smart guy would get to know the boomer, as if he knew you and trusted you, he would allow you to go back to the boomers well and use one of the side couches for a nap. Those canvas jump seats weren't soft, and the only alternative was the floor - damed cold! One one occasion, as I was napping, the boomer came back to the well, and said if I was quiet, I could watch him refuel an F-4. We were over Nam at the time, and I guess he was low of fuel and couldn't make it to his regular tanker. That was fun! Then the boomer invited me to do the same as you got to do and fly the boom a little. Most amazing! He told me that he could force the a/c to make a turn by moving the boom to the extreme side, then, (after getting permission from the flight deck - I head, 'cause we were both wearing head sets) he proceeded to demonstrate - of course not a large turn, as we had a schedule to keep, but a turn never the less.
The view from back there was fantastic, and on numerous occasions instead of sleeping, I'd just lay there and watch the world go by. On occasion I even had permission to have the visor in the raised position while wool gathering (boomer did this, not I, even though from watching I could have done it myself, but I'm not stupid and didn't want to wear out my welcome).
I have many stories, but not just now. I did enjoy those trips a great deal.
I had a go lying in the boomer position at Spangdalem about 10 years ago. It was not very comfy and god knows how they manage to do it for real (Our KC135 was parked up!)
Just about got my big Ar** out of there!
barry
Last edited by btaylo24 on 19 Mar 2008, 06:25, edited 1 time in total.
nice pictures! I too had a nice expierience in a 135 when i was 15, while my father was stationed in Iceland we took a space A hop from Kef to Wright Patterson, I got to lay in the boom, and sit in the cockpit during landing, i can honestly say that day alone is what made me join the AF, I always wanted to fly but..things happened and i'm hapy where i'm at!
good times!
all the rest of my times in a 135 were miserable on deployments they pack you in like sardnines and those cargo seats really hurt after a while.
good luck with OTS!
The only military aircraft experiences I had were deployments in:
C-160
B707
A310
I agree with DJ: cargo seats are really uncomfortable. I do not remember how long it took us to fly from Ovar, Portugal to Cologne, Germany in that C-160 Transall and it was so noisy. Luckily enough I made it onto the jumpseat while on final approach until we stopped at the Cologne military area.
One day we had a deployment to Piacenza (sometimes we Navy guys helped out the Air Force guys that were located in the neighborhood). We took of from ETNH heading south for a stop at ETSA. While the captain said something I could not understand because of the noise we landed just after about 45 minutes. I thought 'Hey, that was a short trip!' and left the plane. I wondered why the place looked so familiar and I was told that we've had a technical problem and returned to ETNH.
The beloved B707 also comes back to my mind with a little story: We came back from LIED (must have been in 1998) and we hit the the runway pretty hard. The captain said while leaving the runway: 'Ladies and gentlemen, as you PROBABLY noticed we landed at Schleswig (ETNS)...'. The guy next to me said: 'And we PROBABLY killed it.'
For the A310 there is not much to say about - it was just a boring working horse. Although I had a food/drink service onboard a military aircraft for the first time.
Jan
Former technician in MFG2 at ETME (home base of PANAVIA The flying computer TORNADO. sadly closed now)
Most amazing! He told me that he could force the a/c to make a turn by moving the boom to the extreme side, then, (after getting permission from the flight deck
Yea, funny story actually when it was my turn to "go play" we got about 5 minutes "stick time" on the boom, and as I was climbin out of the well my buddy was standing there eyes wide open holding on to the seat and said "DUDE!! WHAT were you doing down there!?!?". Apprently I cause quite a bit of turbulence
As far as OTS goes I'm getting the run-around from recruiters. It's starting to get very frustrating. I've spoken to 4 and they all keep sending me to another who then sends me to another who sends me back to the frst guy etc.... Someone give me a definitive answer!!!! Lol
-Joe W.
"I love the smell of jetfuel in the morning....smells like VICTORY!!"
As far as OTS goes I'm getting the run-around from recruiters. It's starting to get very frustrating. I've spoken to 4 and they all keep sending me to another who then sends me to another who sends me back to the frst guy etc.... Someone give me a definitive answer!!!! Lol
well, not to discourage you, but i know many active duty people who have tried to go to OTS after recieving their degrees and were turned away simply because the AF has too many officers. it might be different for you tho since your coming in fresh but i don't know, just keep trying!
It all depends on what you're applying for. If you want to be zipper suited sun god, it's going to a difficult(albeit clearly not impossible) path. Academy grads and ROTC fill out most of the rated slots. If you want to be weather, engineering, law, medicine, etc... it won't be too tough. Non-rated slots(other than previous mentioned) are very competitive as well. And a fair amount of those come from prior enlisted. So AFSCs like INTEL, MX,SVS,TRANS, etc... are going to difficult to get. SFS is probably an option though. As the military continues to cut muscle after fat, the numbers of those getting commissioned will continue to shrink and the selection criteria can afford to be more stringent.
Getting to be a ninety day wonder is pretty difficult these days unless you're sierra hotel.
What are they giving you for reasons they sending you to different recruiters?
They want you to enlist first, then apply for OTS once on AD. Competition via that route is high and slots are low. Pay you nickel and take your chance sort of deal - no guarantees except that you help them make quota. My son tried the same route, except he had just graduated (w/very high marks) from Baylor U. Same run around. He finally accepted a great offer from MS and makes major bucks, and has no mil affiliation. Their loss.
What are they giving you for reasons they sending you to different recruiters?
My top choices for job which I told them all:
1) pilot
2) Nav
3) Intel
4) Aquisitions
5) ABM
Recruiter 1: Best bet: Enlist first then apply for OTS. Think about it and come talk to me.
Recruiter 2: Your best bet is rated slots. non-rated positions are more strict than rated. Contact recruiter 3 to get the paperwork going.
Recruiter 3: I'm new to the OTS thing, the other guy just left. I don't really know much yet. Your best bet probably is a rated position but I'm not 100%. I would suggest you contact recruiter 4 though since your still up at school and it would be hard for me to help you.
Recruiter 4: There's no way you would be competitive for rated. It's easier to get unrated positions. Since you're graduating in May though it will be hard for me to help you once you leave. You should stay with recruiter 3, you're third choice of Intel would be a good bet.
In a nutshell that's what has been going on up till yesterday. Everyone is saying something different
-Joe W.
"I love the smell of jetfuel in the morning....smells like VICTORY!!"
Unless the process has changed, your packet will only go in with three choices. The first board you meet will only look at your first choice. So if you list pilot first and are non-select you'll have to wait to meet the next board before they look at all three choices. Once you meet your second board, if you are a non-select, you have to wait... I think 180 days but it might only be 90.
Non-rated and rated boards meet at different times and do have different minimum criteria for selection. Depending on your college career, rated is usually the easier to go because they allow for a lower GPA without a waiver and they are usually hurting for ABMs. So your rated list would be pilot, nav and then ABM. Pilot is going to be tough to get. You need to have impressive numbers throughout your AFOQT as well as a good PCSM score. It will help if you already have flight time. Nav will be easier but still difficult while ABM is the easiest of the group.
Non-rated is going to be very difficult. As stated, a lot of prior enlisted who want to OTS stay in their unrated AFSCs. So you're competing against a fair amount of prior enlisted, who already have proven records in the eyes of the USAF, as well as civilians at the top of their game.
I'll comment on your recruiters:
1. Could very well be right. This depends on your academic career as well your testing scores. If you have great scores to go with letters, you've got a decent chance.
2. I actually agree with this guy. Although as stated, it depends on your college career. If you have a great college GPA(3.75-4.0) it probably won't matter.
3. I'm not sure how it is in NY but in most states and sometimes regions as a whole(like NE) there is only one officer accessions recruiter. So it is very likely he is telling you the truth and if he is new to the gig than you don't want him writing your packet. You want someone who has quality selection rate.
4. This seems odd to me. Why would he not be able to help you once you graduate? He must know your AFOQT as well as your college GPA so if he saying non-rated would work better for you he might be right but I've never heard that before.
Jump,
Do remember the Guard/Reserves, that's why I am on the forums at baseops.net, lots of good info and I hope it will help me with my transition to the AF Reserves. It helps to get the right info from guys that are there and having done exactly what you are looking for. Just weed through the "my buddy said this" BS. My path will be different, but the OTS/AMS route is pretty much the same across the board.
on deployments they pack you in like sardnines and those cargo seats really hurt after a while.
) but I'm going through the process now to apply for OTS for the USAF
