On Terminal Leave :)

[thestaton]

Just wanted to gloat that I'm finally on terminal leave!!! Being a load was a fun 4 years, that went by in the blink of an eye.

For anyone looking for a career change, hit me up and I'll get you in contact with the right people.

I'll never forget the saying from many who fly on the C-5. The only thing louder than the whine of the engines are the crew members

Off to pilot school.

[Stone Cold]

Congrats on finishing the countdown!!! Now, welcome to the civilian world again, and enjoy training!

[LoadMasterC141]

Welcome back to civvy street my fellow load. Yup those 4 years go by quick, and you will probably never have better stories to tell as a result!

Get off to pilot training and keep us updated!

[surreal1221]

Speaking of Terminal Leave. . . I start my outprocessing time on Monday. Then start terminal leave on April 5th. Can't wait.

[Mike Lewis]

Congrats on the terminal leave! I got stop-lossed when I got out, so I didn't get to do that.

Good luck in the civilian world!

[Ian J]

Terminal leave... ahhh... I'll be knowing the feeling in 3 months...

Congrats man... and thanks for your service.

[SRA_kbad]

I've been on Terminal since March 22. Its wierd. I feel as if I need to be at work tomarrow. Today feels like a Sunday.
It truly is a relief to be free again, well, somewhat free. My first drill weekend at March ARB is the 5th and 6th of May. Fun Stuff!!!
With all this free time, now I can finish my ratings

[USMC-SGT]

Since we are talking about terminal leave.....

<---------60 days worth starting March 30th

[GatorFC]

Congrats to all that are getting out and thanks for your service.

Up in Norfolk, Tommy and Rumble would play this song for guys on their last day of terminal:
twenty, twenty, twenty four hours to go oh oh oh!

[Fly4Pay]

Originally Posted by thestaton

Just wanted to gloat that I'm finally on terminal leave!!! Being a load was a fun 4 years, that went by in the blink of an eye.

Me too! On terminal leave till 1 June, and I'm enjoying it! I've played more golf in the last month than I have in 10 years! Now if I can just find a job to pay the bills, all will be perfect!

[Ian J]

Sounds like a mad-dash military exodus these days. Wonder why...

[USMC-SGT]

Been there....done that......got that t-shirt


oh wait...I DIDNT get the t-shirt! What a stinkin rip-off!

[Fly4Pay]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

Sounds like a mad-dash military exodus these days. Wonder why...

Well, in LOTS of cases it's cause the military is "force shaping," which in civilian parlance is "laying people off." In my case, I was passed over twice for promotion to Lt Col and was told my service was no longer required. They let me stay until 20 years so I could retire (thank goodness, since I was at about 17 at the time), but I wasn't allowed to continue past 20.

At the time it bugged me, and I fought it, but with each day that passes I'm realizing that it's all good....

You see, we have too many people in the military. That's why we have guys in the Army on 12+ month rotations to Iraq, AF guys who are 120 days gone, 120 days back on a continuous basis, and so on.... sounds like an overabundance of people to ME!

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Fly4Pay

Well, in LOTS of cases it's cause the military is "force shaping," which in civilian parlance is "laying people off." In my case, I was passed over twice for promotion to Lt Col and was told my service was no longer required. They let me stay until 20 years so I could retire (thank goodness, since I was at about 17 at the time), but I wasn't allowed to continue past 20.

At the time it bugged me, and I fought it, but with each day that passes I'm realizing that it's all good....

You see, we have too many people in the military. That's why we have guys in the Army on 12+ month rotations to Iraq, AF guys who are 120 days gone, 120 days back on a continuous basis, and so on.... sounds like an overabundance of people to ME!

Well, I was kind of asking that rhetorically, but I like your answer.

Passed over twice for LTC? Must've been AF, right? Cause they don't do to much passing over in the Army these days.

[Fly4Pay]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

Well, I was kind of asking that rhetorically, but I like your answer.

Passed over twice for LTC? Must've been AF, right? Cause they don't do to much passing over in the Army these days.

I realized it was rhetorical, but it was a good question! (and one that's been on my mind a lot as I packed up a lot of stuff...)

Yup, AF. In my particular aircraft, pilots are gettin' the shaft as far as promotions. SO... I get to start my new career here in a month or two (I hope--should know for sure this week or next).

[surreal1221]

Yup it's a bummer.

I managed to get ACC's Weather airmen of the year for 06, have a nice letter from Gen. Keys sitting on my desk.

Too bad. . . not worth the damage to the family that will be done if I re-enlisted, and deployed. . .no thanks, not anymore.

[mtsu_av8er]

Thank you for your service. Instead of blowing hot air, you manned up, put your money where your mouth was, and showed what a real patriot is. You are a true hero.Now, youtr work isn't done. You must continue to contribute to a strong America, but you can do it in your own personal way.But not until after you bum around for a while - that's what terminal leave is all about, right? I remember my 60 . . . nice!

[alphaone]

Congrats and thanks for your service!

[HH-60CC]

Rock on, good luck with civi life. Seems like there are a lot of Loadmasters on this forum. I can't wait to start cross training to be one

[Fly4Pay]

Originally Posted by mtsu_av8er

Thank you for your service.

Hey, I interviewed last week with a RegionsAir pilot that lives in your fair city! We started comparing notes on the drive down 24 & 75 from up there!

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Fly4Pay

I realized it was rhetorical, but it was a good question! (and one that's been on my mind a lot as I packed up a lot of stuff...)

Yup, AF. In my particular aircraft, pilots are gettin' the shaft as far as promotions. SO... I get to start my new career here in a month or two (I hope--should know for sure this week or next).

Dude, I know that feeling! Good luck!

Yeah, its crazy the differences between services. They are paying AF officers to get out early and lowering promotion standards for Army officers.

[thestaton]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

Dude, I know that feeling! Good luck!

Yeah, its crazy the differences between services. They are paying AF officers to get out early and lowering promotion standards for Army officers.

The crazy thing, they are paying O's to get out. However they are starting UIF's on airmen and forcing them to get out over something as silly as not showing up to the gym.

We have had 2 guys get UIF's for not going to a "fun run". Next thing they know they where getting kicked out.

I was in disbelief to be honest.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by thestaton

The crazy thing, they are paying O's to get out. However they are starting UIF's on airmen and forcing them to get out over something as silly as not showing up to the gym.

We have had 2 guys get UIF's for not going to a "fun run". Next thing they know they where getting kicked out.

I was in disbelief to be honest.

Wow.

In the Army they raised the approval authority to the DIVISION commander level to kick people out for PT failures, overweights, etc, in order to retain more soldiers. As a company commander it really tied my hands trying to get rid of my dirtbags because it wasn't easy getting anything to the Division Commander.

[LAFF]

Originally Posted by thestaton

The crazy thing, they are paying O's to get out. However they are starting UIF's on airmen and forcing them to get out over something as silly as not showing up to the gym.

We have had 2 guys get UIF's for not going to a "fun run". Next thing they know they where getting kicked out.

I was in disbelief to be honest.

I've had 1Lt and new Captains leave and get jobs at NRO, NSA, and CIA in the past 12 - 18 months as contractors and GS types. The contractors are paying these guys 150K+ for their satellite / intel skill set and security clearance. I respect the ones that went CIA for obvious reasons.

1 guy is leaving in April - he had a full ride to MIT for his MS...He spent his 1st two years in the AF as a grad student, spent one year at satellite school in Vandenberg, and 6 months operational only to walk out the door at the 1st chance...Timing is everything...I've got a few OTS buddies going to the Army after they got force-shaped.

-LAFF

[GalaxyIFE]

Oh terminal leave...it sounds so nice. But retirement in Mar 2013? I have so FAR to go!!! Ughhh! Please tell me the last 6 years will fly by as quick as the first 14! I would have punched out in 2001, but we know what happened there, so throwing away that retirement would be stupid. If only hiring stays this brisk in 2013! I love the AF...hurry up and wait!