M14 Forum

rscalzo

Years ago one of my Patrol Officers who is Air Force Reserve managed to get me a ride during a tanking mission. Spent a lot of time down with the boom operator. He made it look so easy that I almost thought I'd be able to do it.

The day made me a believer in the outstanding capabilities of the Reserves.

dragon6097

It may not be the pointy end of the Air Force but have you considered becoming a maintainer or dirt boy? I was a B1 Crew chief for 4 years before I cross-trained. Only time I ever sat at a desk was to put aircraft information into CAMS (maintinence tracking software). Rest of the time, I was out working on airplanes, turning wrenches and kicking tires. Some crew chiefs get to fly with the aircraft as well depending on airframe, don't know if that's possible with your limitations though? Now I'm in weather, which may be desk bound but since the army doesn't have their own weather guys, I can get attached to an Army unit and play army but still be able to pull the AF card from time to time. It's a good gig but much more deskbound than I would like.

Since you're supply, you know the dirt boys are a bit more pointy end. CE was outside the wire quite a bit in Iraq and AFG. Needed someone to fix all the stuff we bombed and CE is a pretty broad career field. Can do everything from plumbing to HVAC to Bio to electrical to construction...tons of opportunities there. Ops tempo can be a bit rough though, depending on which side of CE you choose. Some shops are currently on 1 to .5 dwelltime. Don't know if the policy changes recently but back when I was a first-termer, a cross-train was all but guarantee'd if you wanted it.

For the love of god, don't go SF. OSI, sure...not SF :p

AirConda

I am going to have to say that I read this post and laughed. I know what CAMS is because I worked Lan for supply and then MSL... I hate CAMS... lol. I have thought about being a mechanic and I have thought about CE... if this all falls through I will consider them.

But as of right now... I am very qualified for EOD which is kind of CE lol. I just got my ASVAB scores back and I got General 68 and Mechanical 67. What I needed for EOD was General 64 and Mechanical 60. So I guess I get to blow things up now??? Then again I do have to get my run time down to 11:00 for 1.5 miles.

Tommo

Sorry to hear about your bad news. I tried to join the Air Force in 1970 and was rejected because of problems with my feet and knees. Soon after that the Draft Board classified me 4F.

B 2/75

So... you're not out running right now?


Congrats on the favorable ASVAB results. Now go PT some more, and get the run down to a 10:30... in boots

hammer 1

Nothing wrong with blowing stuff up, as long as you dont go up with it. Good luck with it buddy, youll do fine. The 2 mile run was my weak point, push ups was my strong. Ive been out awhile, excuse me for a little hijack , but I have to ask. Quicksilver, what is this 18X SF candidate for E1 to E4? I remember you had to be E4 pro. Obviously, things have changed.

AirConda

Dont worry man I will lol. 10:10 is what I would have needed for Combat Controller. I am going to shoot for Combat Controller marks despite the fact I have medically disqual'd. If I can hit those marks. EOD's physical will be a breeze.

Now my biggest worry is the "test" that you cant get wrong that everyone is telling me about.

dragon6097

Grats on the ASVAB scores man. Head over to the mobility dock, sign out an interceptor with full plates and hit the road. You'll hate your life but I bet your run time will improve!

EOD here at Minot is right across from our building. I've BS'd with them a bit (probably shouldn't mention anything from the movie "Hurt Locker" around them :p). They said the school was tough but the people who didn't make it usually broke more cause the pressure they put on you than the test. You can study your ass off for a test...being able to do it with instructors setting off arty sims near you is something different.

And remember, it's always the red wire. Always.

82nd ABN

Sorry to hear your down in the dumps over it brother. Thanks for your service anyway. Is there anyway you can leave the AF and transfer into another branch? I know if you went into the Marines they would require you to go to boot again. they are the only ones. I wish you all the best my friend, my first gig was a 63S heavy wheeled truck mechanic in a general supply company. I wanted to slit my throat, everyone was so lazy, its not what I envisioned the Army to be. When I re enlisted I made sure I was never going to be in a general supply company again, got them jump wings and found a new home where I was happy. Look at it this way, it can only get better. Keep on trying and you will eventually find a new home. Please don't get depressed over it, there is always a brighter side to everything, there are a lot of people out of work on the outside. There are a lot of us on the outside wishing they were back in but can't due to injuries. I would trade with you to wear a uniform again. In my thoughts airconda

CNelson

Single synacople episodes from head trauma, where conciousness is not lost longer than 5 minutes is not immediately disqualifying... A flight surgeon can submit a waiver request. I don't understand how you were NPQ'd from loadmaster. You did see a Flight doc right? Did an aviation physical?

Everything you would do as a loadmaster is easily eclipsed by EOD and then some. Guess who gets on the same planes as the loadmasters. EOD. Only difference is depending on the mission EOD might find themselves parachuting out of the back of said plane, sometimes even on oxygen... Parachuting into open water and swimming ashore is alot more strenous than riding in a pressurized aircraft...

Trust me brother, I'm fighting the same battles as you. On a deployment to the middle east while off duty I stepped off a deck and rolled my ankle and chipped the tip of my fibia bone and had to be carried to the corpsmans tent and i promptly passed out. Because it was a one time occurance and was due to trauma and pain, and i regained full conciousness in less than 30 seconds I didnt even need a waiver. Alot of people stuck up for me when some of the non flying officers who had a clue about aviation medicine started asking questions. Especially since I was down for 3 weeks in a combat zone. They really wanted to send me home.

Edit. I'll also add that you probably don't want to be a loadmaster in the airforce. I've dealt with some regularly when we had to load our helo's into C-5's... Lets just say the loadmasters themselves never impressed me. The rest of the crews... sure. nice people. loadmasters? Sticks in the mud. Not to mention all of them were a little soggy in the midsection and probably should have been wearing a larger flight suit...

AirConda

I can handle being yelled at... this apparent 1 day of class, no study material, and only allowed one question wrong thing... that might be a different story. I never test well. I can quote stuff all day but the moment you say test... I dont know.

I dont think mobility will lend out a plate carrier with full plates to me lol. We are a tenant unit and they dont usually help us that much unless we really need it.

Trust me man. I wont give up my uniform that easily. I had a civilian friend telling me that I could get out of the Air Force and get a Job with her working systems at Ft. Lee... yeah... not going to happen. She said I would get better pay but I never joined the military for the pay.

Well... I would be a different breed of Loadmaster if I made it. Especially when it comes to taking our fallen home. You would most likely see me shed a tear or two. My patriotism is my soft point. Gets me every time. I am proud to wearing the uniform and want to do whatever I can to honor those who have given more than I have.

As for the EOD vs Loadmaster physical... yeah I hear what you are saying. Pissed me off when I heard that. I was told my eyes were good and shouldnt need a waiver but because the eye surgeon at the Navy hosipital put in my records that I have possible Keretaconus (as a percaution to DQ me from refractive suregy) they flight surgeon at the time put in a waiver for it. Waiver was denied despite my eyes showing no progression towards that disease what so ever for the past 6+ years.

As for the head injury. What you said is exactly what the Flight Doc told me. To medically considered to have a head injury you must be knocked out cold, no response or alertness whatsover, for over a minute. I was only out for 15 seconds, but because no one told me this I put on my medical form that I was knocked out when getting ready for the initial flight physical. She said that if she had caught me before hand she would have told me to never do that. Since I did. She had to submit a waiver which too was denied because it was declared as an unidentified head injury.

She is stepping up to the plate for me though. She apprently called AETC to figure out why I exactly DQ'ed when I didnt need to be.

Sorry for the rant but it irritates me a bit (as you can tell). I had my eye set on SERE or Combat Controller. With Loadmaster next then EOD and then In-flight refueling.

CNelson

Bunch of our guys met some combat controller's awhile back when we were assisting in some disaster relief... Pallets of rice, evacuating refugees and people in need of medical assistance. Most of the LZ's they were operating from were pretty busy with all the coalition aircraft moving around. So they got a bunch of AFSOC Combat Controllers to work the LZ's. Turns out quite a few of 'em were ex H-53J Pavelow guys, and they were quite excited to see our 3 engine H-53E's... Supposedly a great bunch of guys. I got to the det right after they got back from the disaster relief efforts so I missed out.

lelandEOD

I was AF EOD for six years, then an agent with AFOSI for another six.

When people ask me what I did in the service, I say EOD.

2336USMC

Marine Corps EOD does a personal interview with every Marine that requests a transfer to EOD. The results of the interview are final. As a Marine EOD NCOIC I did a number of such interviews, and I will tell you that based only on what you have written here I would "not recommend" you.

If you don't want to be an EOD tech, don't waste everyone's time by requesting and maybe getting and then wasting a seat at the school. And by "want to be" I mean want to be more than anything else.

The story about "The Test" is slightly warped, because it was told by a lame flunkie that wasn't around long enough to find out that it's not just one test, it's about 387 tests and that's just to graduate as a slick badge, then it's untold ungraded tests every day where the final exam is life or death.

If being EOD is low on your personal list of goals, and the thought of so much as one pass or fail test in peacetime without any possibilty of death freaks you out, look elsewhere. You can get killed in the blink of an eye on a bright sunny day while the birds are singing, and kill a lot of your friends at the same time.

If on the other hand you are willing to step up to the plate and pass any test thrown at you, life death or otherwise, and

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

then I wish you the best of luck.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

AirConda

Never said that taking tests freak me out. I can and will be giving my all when and if I go for EOD. All the final work hasnt been completed yet. I would love to do EOD. I would lover for an opprotunity to do the best that I can but I am also being real and realize my weak points. One of which is testing. That doesnt mean I am going to sit back, wait, and hope that I come through when the time comes. I am going to give it my all. I am going to do all that I can in my power to get through the training. If I dont make it through, fine... it wasn't meant to be and I am not out to be an EOD troop, but I will be darned if someone tells me it is not for me.

Any body that truely knows me, know that when someone say, "you cant do it," "it isn't for you," or my favorite "I dont see you succeeding." I take it as a challenge and I do it to the best of my abilities.

For example, though not as extreme as joining EOD, when I was getting ready to join the Air Force I had my principal from high school pull me aside and literally look me straight in the face and say, "The Air Force is not for you. I dont see you making it very far and in fact I see an early release for you." That pissed me off more than anything and I accepted his "challenge" if you will. I am now 6 strong years in the AF starting at E-1, receiving early promotion to E-4 (BTZ) which I have been told my package that was reviewed was weak cause I didnt volunteer enough or go to college enough but when they reviewed the duty portion of the package and interviewed me in the board, they were impressed. They were impressed with how I carried myself and I strive for the best in my work. This got me #1 pick out of the others who had 10x stronger packages when it came to the off duty portion. I have also made E-5 the first time and will be going up for E-6 in March. This is the hardest rank to make aside from E-9 (so I am told) and because of this I am being told that I will not make it on my first try... Again challenge accepted. I am currently 24 and I would like to think that I have done a fair job proving my principal wrong.

No offense to you and I understand what you were saying but I am going to have to set it aside and let it pass away. All you have done was create a challenge for me and I accept your challenge. I joined the military to serve my country and hope of giving back what has been given to me by those who have served before me. A little stress, difficulty, and suggest that I am not cut out for something is not going to stop me from doing what I can at the best of my abilities and never say die.

I will say this. I appreciate what you said and I am not upset with what you said but I am not going to accept what you say. If I give up now, then all I am doing is proving you right and admiting that I am not able to do what I know I am capable of doing. I can't have that.