There's a transient BAH rate that you'll get. You'll get your current BAH until you inprocess at your new base, but then they'll take it back and repay you the transient rate.
You'll probably have to explain the transient rate thing to the kid at finance. It's in the JTR, it's like $800 or something like that.
This *may* only apply if you've got dependents. It applied to my specific situation a while back, so I don't recall all the details.
Driven by that area in Cali - pretty empty and meh, but great year-round mountain biking and easy access to Tahoe.
There's not much immediately next to the base but yeah you're a short drive from the sierras, if you're into more outdoorsy stuff. Lots of good fishing around there.
If you bring your motorcycle central Cali it's awesome year round riding. Lots of popular bike stops around.
Vandenberg CA, Cape Cod MA, Buckley- Denver CO, Schriever- Colorado Springs CO, or Cape Canaveral FL for me.
So apparently the kind of training class you take needs to coincide with the mission of the base, which makes sense of course, but the training class you get is dependent on timing. I wasn't aware that part, and with my timing, none of these bases were even possible.
It was either Beale, Thule, or Cavalier, and I got the one that doesn't involve a parka. (They would have had to ask for volunteers for the other two if they needed, but they didn't.)
Anyone know anything about Beale, aside from it being northern California?
I know some Comm guys hated it.
Those same comm guys hated Germany though...so take that for what it is. Any assignment is what you make of it ultimately. A lot of cool shit to see in that area if you are up for a drive.
You're out in the boons a bit from what I understand. Which can be a downer at times. Might be a good spot to do school while you can get it in.
Minus space training, school is already done... forever. I'm digging that I'll finally be able to ride my goddamn motorcycle for more than two months of the year.
Housing allowance is *half* of what I have now. Speaking of which, and I've tried the google for this, but if you go to TDY en route to PCS, do you still get BAH from your old duty location if you are without dependents? Because at OTS, those of us without dependents got zero BAH. I'm wondering if it's the same thing because OTS was also a TDY en route to PCS.
In addition, I'm looking into the intricacies of Palace Front'ing. It seems too good to be true.
@VeritasVR buddy of mine I was talking to is stationed at Beale without me realizing he was there. Just got this from him: " I live about 35 mins south in one of the Sacramento suburbs and do the commute. It's a nice area. I've fond that most of the people who hate it here live up by the base in the middle of nowhere. I figure that it doesn't get cold/snow and it's not AF space, so it's a good assignment."
Vandenberg CA, Cape Cod MA, Buckley- Denver CO, Schriever- Colorado Springs CO, or Cape Canaveral FL for me.
So apparently the kind of training class you take needs to coincide with the mission of the base, which makes sense of course, but the training class you get is dependent on timing. I wasn't aware that part, and with my timing, none of these bases were even possible.
It was either Beale, Thule, or Cavalier, and I got the one that doesn't involve a parka. (They would have had to ask for volunteers for the other two if they needed, but they didn't.)
Anyone know anything about Beale, aside from it being northern California?
I know some Comm guys hated it.
Those same comm guys hated Germany though...so take that for what it is. Any assignment is what you make of it ultimately. A lot of cool shit to see in that area if you are up for a drive.
You're out in the boons a bit from what I understand. Which can be a downer at times. Might be a good spot to do school while you can get it in.
Minus space training, school is already done... forever. I'm digging that I'll finally be able to ride my goddamn motorcycle for more than two months of the year.
Housing allowance is *half* of what I have now. Speaking of which, and I've tried the google for this, but if you go to TDY en route to PCS, do you still get BAH from your old duty location if you are without dependents? Because at OTS, those of us without dependents got zero BAH. I'm wondering if it's the same thing because OTS was also a TDY en route to PCS.
In addition, I'm looking into the intricacies of Palace Front'ing. It seems too good to be true.
@VeritasVR buddy of mine I was talking to is stationed at Beale without me realizing he was there. Just got this from him: " I live about 35 mins south in one of the Sacramento suburbs and do the commute. It's a nice area. I've fond that most of the people who hate it here live up by the base in the middle of nowhere. I figure that it doesn't get cold/snow and it's not AF space, so it's a good assignment."
Also what is Palace Fronting?
Palace Front is when you finish your service commitment and roll right into a reserve/guard billet as soon as you separate from active duty.
Palace Chase is when you cut your service commitment short to roll into a reverse/guard billet. This is considerably harder to do.
I plan to live in the same area as your buddy, about 30-35 minutes south in one of the Sacramento suburbs. Perhaps I could ask him about good places to live?
I assume you guys are talking about Lincoln. There's not going to be a bad area per se in Lincoln. It's all mostly just middle class housing for people working somewhere else.
I assume you guys are talking about Lincoln. There's not going to be a bad area per se in Lincoln. It's all mostly just middle class housing for people working somewhere else.
Vandenberg CA, Cape Cod MA, Buckley- Denver CO, Schriever- Colorado Springs CO, or Cape Canaveral FL for me.
So apparently the kind of training class you take needs to coincide with the mission of the base, which makes sense of course, but the training class you get is dependent on timing. I wasn't aware that part, and with my timing, none of these bases were even possible.
It was either Beale, Thule, or Cavalier, and I got the one that doesn't involve a parka. (They would have had to ask for volunteers for the other two if they needed, but they didn't.)
Anyone know anything about Beale, aside from it being northern California?
I know some Comm guys hated it.
Those same comm guys hated Germany though...so take that for what it is. Any assignment is what you make of it ultimately. A lot of cool #### to see in that area if you are up for a drive.
You're out in the boons a bit from what I understand. Which can be a downer at times. Might be a good spot to do school while you can get it in.
Minus space training, school is already done... forever. I'm digging that I'll finally be able to ride my ####### motorcycle for more than two months of the year.
Housing allowance is *half* of what I have now. Speaking of which, and I've tried the google for this, but if you go to TDY en route to PCS, do you still get BAH from your old duty location if you are without dependents? Because at OTS, those of us without dependents got zero BAH. I'm wondering if it's the same thing because OTS was also a TDY en route to PCS.
In addition, I'm looking into the intricacies of Palace Front'ing. It seems too good to be true.
@VeritasVR buddy of mine I was talking to is stationed at Beale without me realizing he was there. Just got this from him: " I live about 35 mins south in one of the Sacramento suburbs and do the commute. It's a nice area. I've fond that most of the people who hate it here live up by the base in the middle of nowhere. I figure that it doesn't get cold/snow and it's not AF space, so it's a good assignment."
Also what is Palace Fronting?
Palace Front is when you finish your service commitment and roll right into a reserve/guard billet as soon as you separate from active duty.
Palace Chase is when you cut your service commitment short to roll into a reverse/guard billet. This is considerably harder to do.
I plan to live in the same area as your buddy, about 30-35 minutes south in one of the Sacramento suburbs. Perhaps I could ask him about good places to live?
I'll ask him if he would mind me handing out the e-mail to you.
You know you're in rough shape when your shoulder is aching all day and the only thing that makes you better is a two and a half hour helicopter flight.
I'm going to the Pentagon. I've heard both "fuck Maryland" and "fuck Virginia." I'm single and dont have a POV, and will probably want a roomate so I can oay off student loans a get a cheap POV. Where should I live?
I'm going to the Pentagon. I've heard both "#### Maryland" and "#### Virginia." I'm single and dont have a POV, and will probably want a roomate so I can oay off student loans a get a cheap POV. Where should I live?
@Quid and I are out here. Congrats on the assignment.
Some place close to a Metro line. Blue and Yellow line both hit the Pentagon. http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm
I'll ask around and see if anyone knows a cheap roommate situation. I work with a guy who lives near the Greenbelt stop that for a while was renting out his basement. It's a college area, so it shouldn't be that hard to find a place that's decent and cheap with roommate.
Whats your RNLTD?
Like Radiation said the blue and yellow line both hit the Pentagon so I'd check the apartments on those lines first. And honestly if you can work and do medical (ie Bethesda) from the metro then you really don't need a POV. That said, pretty much everywhere is expensive.
You can also get away with being near any metro as well. For instance, everytime I go into DC I usually drive to the New Carrolton station and metro in, which you could transfer from there to the yellow line at L'Enfant plaza. Most of it will depend on what commute you are willing to live with. I have a buddy that's a realtor in the area (mostly does VA stuff), he's a good dude and I can give you his info if you want. Not really what you are looking for, but maybe you could snag a place then pick your roommate rather than finding a place and hope it has a roommate you like.
When I was in DC I lived just off Rt 1 in Virginia, just south of the beltway. I had a lot of friends who lived in the Riverside apartment building and liked it. My lady friend lives in a swankier place off King Street (Old Town Alexandria) which was awesome since it was walking distance to just about any kind of restaurant or bar you could want, plus of course the metro was right there.
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Waffles or whateverPreviously known as, I shit you not, "Waffen"Registered Userregular
Question guys
Does being a Lieutenant/Officer ever get easier/better?
I've been at my unit now for six, going on seven months now. I haven't had any real opportunity to prove myself since the unit I'm in is at 160% Officer Strength (Abundance = Lieutenants) As a result we're getting stuck with crap jobs. In my case, I essentially do a 92Y job since my supply NCO alt f4ed and has been riding it out to retirement. All I do at this point is work as my XO's personal aide (IE all of his work while he and the other LT who used to do my job just sits on his ass and fucks around all day). So overall, I end up doing all the maintenance stuff, ordering, picking up, signing, and miscellaneous stuff like Vehicle Commanding our Armorer to do bullshit details as well.
Maybe its just work place frustration that I'm experiencing today/last week/last month but does it ever get better overall? I feel like I'm a Specialist wearing Lieutenant rank at this point.
Does being a Lieutenant/Officer ever get easier/better?
I've been at my unit now for six, going on seven months now. I haven't had any real opportunity to prove myself since the unit I'm in is at 160% Officer Strength (Abundance = Lieutenants) As a result we're getting stuck with crap jobs. In my case, I essentially do a 92Y job since my supply NCO alt f4ed and has been riding it out to retirement. All I do at this point is work as my XO's personal aide (IE all of his work while he and the other LT who used to do my job just sits on his ass and fucks around all day). So overall, I end up doing all the maintenance stuff, ordering, picking up, signing, and miscellaneous stuff like Vehicle Commanding our Armorer to do bullshit details as well.
Maybe its just work place frustration that I'm experiencing today/last week/last month but does it ever get better overall? I feel like I'm a Specialist wearing Lieutenant rank at this point.
Does being a Lieutenant/Officer ever get easier/better?
I've been at my unit now for six, going on seven months now. I haven't had any real opportunity to prove myself since the unit I'm in is at 160% Officer Strength (Abundance = Lieutenants) As a result we're getting stuck with crap jobs. In my case, I essentially do a 92Y job since my supply NCO alt f4ed and has been riding it out to retirement. All I do at this point is work as my XO's personal aide (IE all of his work while he and the other LT who used to do my job just sits on his ass and fucks around all day). So overall, I end up doing all the maintenance stuff, ordering, picking up, signing, and miscellaneous stuff like Vehicle Commanding our Armorer to do bullshit details as well.
Maybe its just work place frustration that I'm experiencing today/last week/last month but does it ever get better overall? I feel like I'm a Specialist wearing Lieutenant rank at this point.
It depends on what job you're in. Here's an officer guide I wrote a lifetime ago.
There has to be a reason you guys are overstrength like that, otherwise your S-1 and potentially your BN/SQDN CDR isn't doing their job. Are you guys deploying, deactivating, or taking on some special mission somewhere?
In any case, I'm going to give you some advice that you've probably heard before. Proving yourself, at least in the Army, is doing the best that you possibly can regardless of how shitty or lame your job is. Being a supply officer (that's what it sounds like you're doing) is HUGE. I recall you being branch detailed signal, but if you ever even consider taking command somewhere or staying in the army, a strong understanding of property accountability is paramount to your success. (if you plan on staying in to any extent, command is important - even if signal KD is being S-6 somewhere. it also gives you the opportunity for sweet grad schools.)
It sounds like you're getting your fundamentals built up exceptionally well. You guys live or die by your vehicles, so tracking maintenance is mega important. You're already working on supply so that's also pretty important. You've essentially worked and built exp on two subjects that officers are usually ultra-shitty at. You've been in a unit for about 6 months, assuming you've 8 months in TRADOC, so that means you've got about 26-36 months of lieutenant time left. The conditions are set that you will take a platoon, and if you've taken your current job seriously, you will excel as a platoon leader.
Finally, what is your relationship with your troop/company commander like? Does he see what you see, as in your peer lieutenants are fucking off, or has he tasked them other additional duties? Have you communicated your desire to lead a platoon at all? You're totally within your rights to ask for your professional timeline. Your commander owes you that much, at least!
Anyway, I don't monitor this thread as much as I used to. if you have any questions PM me. good luck!
Waffles or whateverPreviously known as, I shit you not, "Waffen"Registered Userregular
edited April 2015
There has to be a reason you guys are overstrength like that, otherwise your S-1 and potentially your BN/SQDN CDR isn't doing their job. Are you guys deploying, deactivating, or taking on some special mission somewhere?
We had a sister Brigade Deactivate Recently (@bloodycow was one of those guys), but the cut off for those guys started in 2013, not 2014/2015. (Two friends were scheduled to go to 4/2 and had their orders pulled last minute and they went to Bragg instead). Other than that, we aren't deloying anytime soon and we're also about to take on more Lieutenants from a sister unit that is about to deactivate.
I do want to make a self correction that I only really had two real moments to prove myself. The first being handling of that Staff Sergeant and a MILES Gear Draw. I thought I did okay on counseling and putting said Supply NCO back to work, but after I left for a FTX in February he fell back into old habits with nobody watching him and the 1SG took him directly under his control upon return. The second was signing for MILES Gear for the HQ's element. My Troop who wasn't charged for lost items. (Every other troop lost something). Those were my two only defining moments so far.
Finally, what is your relationship with your troop/company commander like? Does he see what you see, as in your peer lieutenants are fucking off, or has he tasked them other additional duties? Have you communicated your desire to lead a platoon at all? You're totally within your rights to ask for your professional timeline. Your commander owes you that much, at least!
I think its okay with my Captain. I've never been counseled, initial, quarterly, or event based. He seems to treat me like every other Lieutenant he likes. Such as he jokes around, pokes fun at me, and gives me stuff to do. The Lieutenants he doesn't like he talks down to them and doesn't give them things to do. He knows that I'm not excited about being an Armor Officer because I wanted to be SIGO More than Combat Arms, but this actually made him want to send me to a Line Troop even more.
Honestly one of the best ways you're going to "prove yourself" is having a work place devoid of issues. Which is, long, boring, and also far more indicative of strong performance than any single instance.
My previous Navy LT was routinely filling in for the commander likely because her division never had any problems and she made her expectations clear with us. Some of it was annoying from my end but the benefit was obvious and life went on. So much so that when she had to take her attention away for a couple weeks to focus on the department as a whole we were fine.
Does being a Lieutenant/Officer ever get easier/better?
I've been at my unit now for six, going on seven months now. I haven't had any real opportunity to prove myself since the unit I'm in is at 160% Officer Strength (Abundance = Lieutenants) As a result we're getting stuck with crap jobs. In my case, I essentially do a 92Y job since my supply NCO alt f4ed and has been riding it out to retirement. All I do at this point is work as my XO's personal aide (IE all of his work while he and the other LT who used to do my job just sits on his ass and fucks around all day). So overall, I end up doing all the maintenance stuff, ordering, picking up, signing, and miscellaneous stuff like Vehicle Commanding our Armorer to do bullshit details as well.
Maybe its just work place frustration that I'm experiencing today/last week/last month but does it ever get better overall? I feel like I'm a Specialist wearing Lieutenant rank at this point.
There has to be a reason you guys are overstrength like that, otherwise your S-1 and potentially your BN/SQDN CDR isn't doing their job. Are you guys deploying, deactivating, or taking on some special mission somewhere?
160% manning isn't entirely unheard of for junior officers across the DoD. Almost every AFSC (MOS, for Army types) in the Air Force has something like 100-180% of their 2LT and 1LT authorizations because so many punch at 4/5 years in service. It's a numbers game, unfortunately. By the time most AFSC's (MOS's) hit their junior/mid level Major's billets there aren't enough bodies to go around.
ninja edit: My knowledge is from prior DoD Hunger Games of 2012/13/14. Just wanted to caveat that.
Do they do a quarterly counseling as part of the OER like they do for NCOERs? If so, you should probably see about getting your counselings done. Gotta get that paper trail that says you're rad as fuck.
Also, while you may be doing other people's work for them, it should be good experience for when you get slotted as an XO. My brother (a CPT) said that his time as a non-officially billeted XO when he was a butter bar was the most hectic and stressful time he's had in the Army. If you can learn how to manage aspects of the job now, as well as having been in a staff position, you should be sitting pretty when you have to officially do the job.
Currently at IST for 64Ps. I think I have a good chance at being a DG. Have a 100 so far on everything, but a few others do as well. Thankfully I think I am pretty damn good at public speaking so I'll make a good impression during briefings. After that, its whoever the instructors like the most if all the metrics are equal. So far class is crazy easy. Its common sense for most of it, and I enjoy the fact that part of the contracting job is navigating grey areas. Understandably a lot of 2LT work is scut, but at late 1LT I could get a warrant and have a little more decision making to do.
And read that article. Yeah, the personal relationship strain is my biggy at the moment. Can't see myself doing more than four years. My GF is incredibly ambitious and has an excellent career ahead of her which is not mobile. Even if we don't make it through four years of long distance her personality, independent and ambitious, is most attractive to me, so it would be an issue in the future I imagine.
But that author is naive as hell if they think that's going to change ever. Its the military, moving around is kind of necessary. What's the alternative? Not deploying? Yeah it blows but that's what you give up by being in the military. If given the option I don't think I'd sign up again, but other than with relationships I'm quite happy in the AF so far! Haven't been paid yet, but that's sadly normal (I have enacted Operation Squeaky Wheel, so don't worry guys I'm on it).
So I'm part of that 2LT manning issue. Sorry!
Although if the AF were to approve an application the Uniformed Services University to be a clin psychologist that would be awesome. But that requires being released from 64P and hahahahahahahahahaha that doesn't happen. Ever. Except maybe pilot. It's that bad of a critically manned career field. At the post LT ranks, I mean. It has a decent amount of LTs, but as @Iceman.USAF said the AF just throws bodies at AFSCs to see who sticks. It's cheaper than adding incentives.
But yeah. I'm pretty happy with my choices except for that one issue.
But that author is naive as hell if they think that's going to change ever. Its the military, moving around is kind of necessary. What's the alternative?
Alright, credit where credit is due: once the Navy actually got hold of my application, things moved really fast.
Twenty days ago, I posted a rant in this thread about how long my application had been held up at MEPS. Since then, the Navy got MEPS to make a decision, sent me for a physical, requested an eye exam, I got the eye exam, and today I got a call saying I'm going down to MEPS on Tuesday to join the Navy.
So, yeah. Evidently that's a thing. The worry now is that evidently I can't take the DLAB until I am actually "in the Navy" so I need a placeholder job of some kind, and I've heard a lot of horror stories that start with that kind of placeholder job. It doesn't at all seem like my recruiter is trying to stick me somewhere I don't want to be, but the fact that he could is...well, actually, it's probably a feeling I should get used to, isn't it?
Alright, credit where credit is due: once the Navy actually got hold of my application, things moved really fast.
Twenty days ago, I posted a rant in this thread about how long my application had been held up at MEPS. Since then, the Navy got MEPS to make a decision, sent me for a physical, requested an eye exam, I got the eye exam, and today I got a call saying I'm going down to MEPS on Tuesday to join the Navy.
So, yeah. Evidently that's a thing. The worry now is that evidently I can't take the DLAB until I am actually "in the Navy" so I need a placeholder job of some kind, and I've heard a lot of horror stories that start with that kind of placeholder job. It doesn't at all seem like my recruiter is trying to stick me somewhere I don't want to be, but the fact that he could is...well, actually, it's probably a feeling I should get used to, isn't it?
I've heard the horror stories of placeholder jobs. Sometimes those place holder jobs work for people, so different strokes. Just make sure the job you choose as a placeholder is one that you would be okay with, because if things go not as the recruiter promised, you would still have had some say.
It's a hard lesson, but the person that will best look out for your interests is you. It's nice to think that your recruiter isn't trying to pull one over on you, but at the end of the day he has numbers he has to get to, and you may just be one of them.
I took the ASVAB forever ago (well, not forever; it hasn't expired) and got a 99. I'm good as far as that goes. My top choices for jobs are Nuclear and the CTI stuff, but I'm over the nominal age cap for nuclear and I haven't taken the DLAB. I'll look at CTN/CTR; those sound like better placeholders than ET.
Just remember you can walk away at MEPs. If they aren't helping you get what you want and are trying to push you into a job you're not interested in, walk.
The military is great if you like what you're doing or it can be a fucking nightmare if you get up every morning hating what you do for a living.
Good luck on the DLAB! I walked out of that room confused and knowing that I bombed the shit out of it. I took it overseas and the website you get your score from was down for maintenance at 9 am Netherlands time, so I stewed for two hours until they called me to tell me I actually scored pretty high.
Fuck that test lol.
" I am a warrior, so that my son may be a merchant, so that his son may be a poet.”
― John Quincy Adams
If what you really want is CTI or nuke then I'd definitely shoot for one of the CT jobs as a placeholder. If there's an age cap on being a nuke then no amount of time as an ET will change that. Meanwhile CTRs, Ns, and Is all have people who started in one then switched to the other a few years down the line since it was a better fit.
That's different. The DLAB is just a test you take in a room.
If they insist on picking some other job beforehand take CTR first or CTN after. They work in the same community as and often with linguists.
Yeah. Hell, if anything I'd almost suggest it if you aren't super good at languages, though being a linguist is good for a few thousand extra dollars / year though.
Also, god fucking dammit, cadet command:
There's so many problems with that event, if nothing else, the risk assessment should be super bad due to a near guarantee someone fucks up their ankles after wearing high heels when they neither know how to purchase or walk in them correctly.
Unless they changed the policy sometime in the last 6ish years, you absolutely can take the DLAB without a placeholder, I did. Also don't let a recruiter tell you anything without it being documented. The military will bend you over and fuck you, and "he said" is never going to pass as anything legitimate. Otherwise CT stuff seems all more or less the same.
Depending what you end up being interested in most, you should look to see where those jobs get stationed as well. I know there were a bunch of CT(x)s where I was that hated the place and wouldn't have gone with it had they known that is where they would be stationed. CTI's for example have very few stations specific to which language they get.
Oh, ROTC. You so silly. Thankfully no one at my campus was forced to do stuff like that. Also, the idea that forcing extra stuff like that to be mandatory smells wrong. Like, there can be de facto mandatory. IE, selection to your field training is based 50% on your commanders written evaluation of you. So you better be showing face all the damn time. But man.
Also doing that in uniform. Boy I hope someone up high approved that.
yeah, that break the battalion's ankles walk is all kinds of messed up. Doing it in uniform is wrong, I would just say no it isn't in the regs. Making threats for punishment because of it smells like something that should go to IG.
Oh, ROTC. You so silly. Thankfully no one at my campus was forced to do stuff like that. Also, the idea that forcing extra stuff like that to be mandatory smells wrong. Like, there can be de facto mandatory. IE, selection to your field training is based 50% on your commanders written evaluation of you. So you better be showing face all the damn time. But man.
Also doing that in uniform. Boy I hope someone up high approved that.
CG (Major General Combs?) of Cadet Command issued it out as a mandatory policy for all schools. All I really know is my commissioning source's Commander said, "Rofl. We aren't doing that".
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Waffles or whateverPreviously known as, I shit you not, "Waffen"Registered Userregular
Oh, ROTC. You so silly. Thankfully no one at my campus was forced to do stuff like that. Also, the idea that forcing extra stuff like that to be mandatory smells wrong. Like, there can be de facto mandatory. IE, selection to your field training is based 50% on your commanders written evaluation of you. So you better be showing face all the damn time. But man.
Also doing that in uniform. Boy I hope someone up high approved that.
CG (Major General Combs?) of Cadet Command issued it out as a mandatory policy for all schools. All I really know is my commissioning source's Commander said, "Rofl. We aren't doing that".
Welp, back from MEPS! They managed to get me a DLAB spot after all, and I did well on it, so I signed up as a CTI. Looks like I ship in November! Might still see if I can get a Nuclear waiver, but I've been told it's not especially likely, and CTI looks pretty interesting.
Great Lakes in winter! That's gonna be fine for someone who's lived in California their whole life, right?
I'm looking at Palace Front as well, my DOS is in six months (which is the cut-off for Palace Chase) so I've been building my package and applying to companies so I can still feed the family. Feels weird.
Posts
You'll probably have to explain the transient rate thing to the kid at finance. It's in the JTR, it's like $800 or something like that.
This *may* only apply if you've got dependents. It applied to my specific situation a while back, so I don't recall all the details.
There's not much immediately next to the base but yeah you're a short drive from the sierras, if you're into more outdoorsy stuff. Lots of good fishing around there.
If you bring your motorcycle central Cali it's awesome year round riding. Lots of popular bike stops around.
@VeritasVR buddy of mine I was talking to is stationed at Beale without me realizing he was there. Just got this from him: " I live about 35 mins south in one of the Sacramento suburbs and do the commute. It's a nice area. I've fond that most of the people who hate it here live up by the base in the middle of nowhere. I figure that it doesn't get cold/snow and it's not AF space, so it's a good assignment."
Also what is Palace Fronting?
Palace Front is when you finish your service commitment and roll right into a reserve/guard billet as soon as you separate from active duty.
Palace Chase is when you cut your service commitment short to roll into a reverse/guard billet. This is considerably harder to do.
I plan to live in the same area as your buddy, about 30-35 minutes south in one of the Sacramento suburbs. Perhaps I could ask him about good places to live?
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Yes, and great.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
I'll ask him if he would mind me handing out the e-mail to you.
@Quid and I are out here. Congrats on the assignment.
Some place close to a Metro line. Blue and Yellow line both hit the Pentagon. http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm
I'll ask around and see if anyone knows a cheap roommate situation. I work with a guy who lives near the Greenbelt stop that for a while was renting out his basement. It's a college area, so it shouldn't be that hard to find a place that's decent and cheap with roommate.
Whats your RNLTD?
http://www.wm.edu/offices/dcoffice/documents/dc-and-va-metro-map.pdf
Like Radiation said the blue and yellow line both hit the Pentagon so I'd check the apartments on those lines first. And honestly if you can work and do medical (ie Bethesda) from the metro then you really don't need a POV. That said, pretty much everywhere is expensive.
Does being a Lieutenant/Officer ever get easier/better?
I've been at my unit now for six, going on seven months now. I haven't had any real opportunity to prove myself since the unit I'm in is at 160% Officer Strength (Abundance = Lieutenants) As a result we're getting stuck with crap jobs. In my case, I essentially do a 92Y job since my supply NCO alt f4ed and has been riding it out to retirement. All I do at this point is work as my XO's personal aide (IE all of his work while he and the other LT who used to do my job just sits on his ass and fucks around all day). So overall, I end up doing all the maintenance stuff, ordering, picking up, signing, and miscellaneous stuff like Vehicle Commanding our Armorer to do bullshit details as well.
Maybe its just work place frustration that I'm experiencing today/last week/last month but does it ever get better overall? I feel like I'm a Specialist wearing Lieutenant rank at this point.
Pertinent?
I'm a dirty blueshirt, but after 11.5 years it seems pretty on-point.
It depends on what job you're in. Here's an officer guide I wrote a lifetime ago.
There has to be a reason you guys are overstrength like that, otherwise your S-1 and potentially your BN/SQDN CDR isn't doing their job. Are you guys deploying, deactivating, or taking on some special mission somewhere?
In any case, I'm going to give you some advice that you've probably heard before. Proving yourself, at least in the Army, is doing the best that you possibly can regardless of how shitty or lame your job is. Being a supply officer (that's what it sounds like you're doing) is HUGE. I recall you being branch detailed signal, but if you ever even consider taking command somewhere or staying in the army, a strong understanding of property accountability is paramount to your success. (if you plan on staying in to any extent, command is important - even if signal KD is being S-6 somewhere. it also gives you the opportunity for sweet grad schools.)
It sounds like you're getting your fundamentals built up exceptionally well. You guys live or die by your vehicles, so tracking maintenance is mega important. You're already working on supply so that's also pretty important. You've essentially worked and built exp on two subjects that officers are usually ultra-shitty at. You've been in a unit for about 6 months, assuming you've 8 months in TRADOC, so that means you've got about 26-36 months of lieutenant time left. The conditions are set that you will take a platoon, and if you've taken your current job seriously, you will excel as a platoon leader.
Finally, what is your relationship with your troop/company commander like? Does he see what you see, as in your peer lieutenants are fucking off, or has he tasked them other additional duties? Have you communicated your desire to lead a platoon at all? You're totally within your rights to ask for your professional timeline. Your commander owes you that much, at least!
Anyway, I don't monitor this thread as much as I used to. if you have any questions PM me. good luck!
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We had a sister Brigade Deactivate Recently (@bloodycow was one of those guys), but the cut off for those guys started in 2013, not 2014/2015. (Two friends were scheduled to go to 4/2 and had their orders pulled last minute and they went to Bragg instead). Other than that, we aren't deloying anytime soon and we're also about to take on more Lieutenants from a sister unit that is about to deactivate.
I do want to make a self correction that I only really had two real moments to prove myself. The first being handling of that Staff Sergeant and a MILES Gear Draw. I thought I did okay on counseling and putting said Supply NCO back to work, but after I left for a FTX in February he fell back into old habits with nobody watching him and the 1SG took him directly under his control upon return. The second was signing for MILES Gear for the HQ's element. My Troop who wasn't charged for lost items. (Every other troop lost something). Those were my two only defining moments so far.
I think its okay with my Captain. I've never been counseled, initial, quarterly, or event based. He seems to treat me like every other Lieutenant he likes. Such as he jokes around, pokes fun at me, and gives me stuff to do. The Lieutenants he doesn't like he talks down to them and doesn't give them things to do. He knows that I'm not excited about being an Armor Officer because I wanted to be SIGO More than Combat Arms, but this actually made him want to send me to a Line Troop even more.
My previous Navy LT was routinely filling in for the commander likely because her division never had any problems and she made her expectations clear with us. Some of it was annoying from my end but the benefit was obvious and life went on. So much so that when she had to take her attention away for a couple weeks to focus on the department as a whole we were fine.
160% manning isn't entirely unheard of for junior officers across the DoD. Almost every AFSC (MOS, for Army types) in the Air Force has something like 100-180% of their 2LT and 1LT authorizations because so many punch at 4/5 years in service. It's a numbers game, unfortunately. By the time most AFSC's (MOS's) hit their junior/mid level Major's billets there aren't enough bodies to go around.
ninja edit: My knowledge is from prior DoD Hunger Games of 2012/13/14. Just wanted to caveat that.
Also, while you may be doing other people's work for them, it should be good experience for when you get slotted as an XO. My brother (a CPT) said that his time as a non-officially billeted XO when he was a butter bar was the most hectic and stressful time he's had in the Army. If you can learn how to manage aspects of the job now, as well as having been in a staff position, you should be sitting pretty when you have to officially do the job.
PS4:MrZoompants
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3DS: 2122-5983-8919
Currently at IST for 64Ps. I think I have a good chance at being a DG. Have a 100 so far on everything, but a few others do as well. Thankfully I think I am pretty damn good at public speaking so I'll make a good impression during briefings. After that, its whoever the instructors like the most if all the metrics are equal. So far class is crazy easy. Its common sense for most of it, and I enjoy the fact that part of the contracting job is navigating grey areas. Understandably a lot of 2LT work is scut, but at late 1LT I could get a warrant and have a little more decision making to do.
And read that article. Yeah, the personal relationship strain is my biggy at the moment. Can't see myself doing more than four years. My GF is incredibly ambitious and has an excellent career ahead of her which is not mobile. Even if we don't make it through four years of long distance her personality, independent and ambitious, is most attractive to me, so it would be an issue in the future I imagine.
But that author is naive as hell if they think that's going to change ever. Its the military, moving around is kind of necessary. What's the alternative? Not deploying? Yeah it blows but that's what you give up by being in the military. If given the option I don't think I'd sign up again, but other than with relationships I'm quite happy in the AF so far! Haven't been paid yet, but that's sadly normal (I have enacted Operation Squeaky Wheel, so don't worry guys I'm on it).
So I'm part of that 2LT manning issue. Sorry!
Although if the AF were to approve an application the Uniformed Services University to be a clin psychologist that would be awesome. But that requires being released from 64P and hahahahahahahahahaha that doesn't happen. Ever. Except maybe pilot. It's that bad of a critically manned career field. At the post LT ranks, I mean. It has a decent amount of LTs, but as @Iceman.USAF said the AF just throws bodies at AFSCs to see who sticks. It's cheaper than adding incentives.
But yeah. I'm pretty happy with my choices except for that one issue.
Reserve/Guard
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Twenty days ago, I posted a rant in this thread about how long my application had been held up at MEPS. Since then, the Navy got MEPS to make a decision, sent me for a physical, requested an eye exam, I got the eye exam, and today I got a call saying I'm going down to MEPS on Tuesday to join the Navy.
So, yeah. Evidently that's a thing. The worry now is that evidently I can't take the DLAB until I am actually "in the Navy" so I need a placeholder job of some kind, and I've heard a lot of horror stories that start with that kind of placeholder job. It doesn't at all seem like my recruiter is trying to stick me somewhere I don't want to be, but the fact that he could is...well, actually, it's probably a feeling I should get used to, isn't it?
That's different. The DLAB is just a test you take in a room.
If they insist on picking some other job beforehand take CTR first or CTN after. They work in the same community as and often with linguists.
I've heard the horror stories of placeholder jobs. Sometimes those place holder jobs work for people, so different strokes. Just make sure the job you choose as a placeholder is one that you would be okay with, because if things go not as the recruiter promised, you would still have had some say.
It's a hard lesson, but the person that will best look out for your interests is you. It's nice to think that your recruiter isn't trying to pull one over on you, but at the end of the day he has numbers he has to get to, and you may just be one of them.
DO NOT TAKE UNDESIGNATED.
Edit: Wait, have you even taken the ASVAB?
The military is great if you like what you're doing or it can be a fucking nightmare if you get up every morning hating what you do for a living.
Good luck on the DLAB! I walked out of that room confused and knowing that I bombed the shit out of it. I took it overseas and the website you get your score from was down for maintenance at 9 am Netherlands time, so I stewed for two hours until they called me to tell me I actually scored pretty high.
Fuck that test lol.
― John Quincy Adams
We really need good nukes, but don't do it unless you're sure it's something you want.
Yeah. Hell, if anything I'd almost suggest it if you aren't super good at languages, though being a linguist is good for a few thousand extra dollars / year though.
Also, god fucking dammit, cadet command:
There's so many problems with that event, if nothing else, the risk assessment should be super bad due to a near guarantee someone fucks up their ankles after wearing high heels when they neither know how to purchase or walk in them correctly.
Depending what you end up being interested in most, you should look to see where those jobs get stationed as well. I know there were a bunch of CT(x)s where I was that hated the place and wouldn't have gone with it had they known that is where they would be stationed. CTI's for example have very few stations specific to which language they get.
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Also doing that in uniform. Boy I hope someone up high approved that.
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CG (Major General Combs?) of Cadet Command issued it out as a mandatory policy for all schools. All I really know is my commissioning source's Commander said, "Rofl. We aren't doing that".
CG (Major General Combs?) of Cadet Command issued it out as a mandatory policy for all schools. All I really know is my commissioning source's Commander said, "Rofl. We aren't doing that".
Great Lakes in winter! That's gonna be fine for someone who's lived in California their whole life, right?