Life in Active Duty (ask a Captain anything)

To piggyback on this question... RPA pilots are all officers right? Are they the ones flying the drones for hours and hours sitting in a room or do they supervise enlisted "flyers" if that's the term and make the decisions to fire/bomb a target? I'm imagining 3-4 "flyers" in the room and an officer walking around behind them checking what's happening during that time. Sorry for the question or ignorance but RPA has also been discussed by my cadet as part of the plan. I greatly appreciate this thread because I feel we are quickly moving from the "chance me" threads into the " what happens after USAFA" stage in our cadet's life. Thank you for your service!

I think AFrpaso answered your question, but I will add that if you take a peek into http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/ you will see many threads and posts on RPAs. That is a big community so keep in mind that you will find good and bad info. Some are open minded while some are so cynical they can't seem to find the good in anything. But, there is definitely good information there. There is also a thread dedicated to pilot training and showing what airplanes have been dropping at which bases, so that will give you an idea of what state the AF is in (i.e., are there 25% RPAs or 10%? are there 50% fighters or 10%? etc etc).
 
jbjtitleist124. Thanks for the additional information. Next time I speak with her, I'll ask if she's had an opportunity to speak with Lt Col Hyer. I took a look at the suggested forum.
I think it has some good perspective from those who are, or have lived it from a (boots on the ground) perspective.
 
jbjtitleist124. Thanks for the additional information. Next time I speak with her, I'll ask if she's had an opportunity to speak with Lt Col Hyer. I took a look at the suggested forum.
I think it has some good perspective from those who are, or have lived it from a (boots on the ground) perspective.

It definitely does have good perspective, and there should be TONS of info on the RPA subject. Just know the difference between good info and bitterness. It is definitely a growing industry and she would do well on the outside with it. And as far as AF career goes, its a good community if she wants to Command at nearly any level. They're actively looking for good people who are interested in that career field. They're just having trouble generating interest. Especially when they're burning people out operationally.
 
USAFA10s, I'd love to hear more about your experience in physics while attending and after graduating the academy. What were some of your favorite aspects of the physics program while attending? Also - what is it like working in the field? (Do you think you'll stay with the AF for a long time?)
 
pixiestudent, for a little background, I did a double major in physics and math as well as played IC tennis (my first two years prior to getting injured).

My favorite parts about physics were probably how interesting all the classes were combined with the solid teaching. I found that the teachers of the upper level physics courses were some of the best I had in my Academy experience. I also LOVED what was called the "capstone" project when I was there. It was basically a small research project you worked on senior year (for me all year because I combined math and physics). I had the opportunity to work with USAFA's fast tracking 16in telescope to collect some data and analyze it. That work was recently completed by a couple students following me and published (http://opticalengineering.spiedigitallibrary.org/article.aspx?articleid=2461778). I also had the opportunity to present my work towards the end of senior year at a space situational awareness workshop (basically a meeting of scientists all working a similar problem).

The thing you should know about majoring in physics is that it is one of if not THE hardest majors at USAFA. The workload is insane as is the level of difficulty of that work. I am not naturally gifted in physics and had to work very hard to get decent grades in those classes.

As for my experience after graduation:
I was assigned to AFRL, Sensors Directorate for my first two years after graduating. Most of my work consisted of working with the civilian contractors and government (still civilian) scientists on a test of a LADAR (laser detection and ranging) system that was being developed. I was primarily responsible for setting up and running test equipment in one of our trailers as well as programming some of that test equipment, cleaning optics, and just doing what needed to be done to get the test done.

The typical Air Force scientist will manage research programs, usually involving contracts with companies like Raytheon, Boening, etc..., making sure the government is getting what it asks for and helping make technical decisions (answering questions like which proposal for a project is the strongest? Is one claiming they can do something not physically possible?)

For staying in...hmmm....
I have a little over 2 years left on my PhD then I am headed to work at another AFRL lab. After that I hope to get a teaching assignment at USAFA. I honestly don't see myself staying in after that point. I like to be involved with the science and a lot of the higher ranking officers I see just get stuck managing programs with very little technical work. There are other factors as well though, my family is from Oregon and all of the assignments for physicists are not anywhere near there. I think I would be more likely to stay in if I weren't so tight with my family and wanting to move back there in the relatively near future.

Oh, and if you are interseted in a typical Air Force schedule...mine is not it. As a 2d Lt in the lab, I had "flexible hours" meaning I HAD to work from 0900-1500 but could tack on the extra 2hrs a day anywhere. Most days I came in at 0700 and left at 1500. As for now...I am in school so my day is dictated by my classes. This quarter I get up at about 0600, work from home till 1100, grab lunch, then head for class from 1200 to about 1600 depending on the day. After that I typically burn off some steam on the tennis court. Like I said, not typical, but about as chill as you can get.

Hopefully that helps! Let me know if you have more questions or want more specifics
 
What is one of your days in the Air Force like (can you give me a general schedule)?

A typical day really depends on a lot of things, most notably AFSC, flying schedule, the type of person (some like to show up really early and leave a little sooner), supervisor requirements, etc. I can tell you how a typical day for a pilot is at an AETC base, where I'm currently at, in the OSS Aerial Events shop.

0730: Show
0730-0900: Check/Reply to email
0900: Staff meeting (usually just one day a week)
1000: Take care of office work (i.e., check and reply to email, eSSS's,)
1100: Depending on the day, we may have a Noon Meal Formation flyover to go "control"
1137: Flyover TOT
1200: Gym
1330: Back to the office to check/reply to email
1630: Go home

If I am flying that day, usually that takes my morning up, so just substitute flying for that morning. As you can see, it's not super exciting, except for the flyover part, which usually only occurs maybe once to twice a week. Obviously, right now, we are super busy getting ready for graduation, so we're doing a lot of flyover coordination as well as airfield tours/Orientation ride requests. Hope this helps! The main takeaway I want you to realize is that, generally, even if you're a pilot, you have MANY additional duties that take up a lot of your time beyond just being a pilot. You usually have an office job (training, stan/eval, exec, etc) and are also required to fly/sim. Then, there are the additional, additional duties like CFC Rep, Voting rep, OPSEC manager, Unit Fitness monitor, etc etc.
 
I don't post very often anymore, but I'll try to chime in where I'm able. For those that are not familiar, I graduated from USAFA in 2013, went to Vance for UPT, and am now at Dover AFB flying the C-17.

What is one of your days in the Air Force like (can you give me a general schedule)?

As a young copilot, my schedule really depends on whether or not I'm flying. If I'm in the office, I'll generally work 0800-1600, with breaks for lunch and the gym (depending on how busy I am) included. Sims may or may not be during the duty day, with start times ranging from 0600 to 2200. I'm probably in the sim a couple times per month. Local training flights are usually about five hours, so those will take up an entire day once everything is said and done, plus most of the day prior for planning and briefing. Most of our OCONUS missions are usually gone for 5-7 days depending on where they are going and how many stops there are planned.
 
buffalo,

Just curious do you do the mission planning or do you have contractors that do it?
 
My schedule depends on the flight schedule, quite a bit.
For days when I'm not flying:
0730-1100: office work (I oversee the sq. training functions)
1100-1200: lunch
1200-1630: more office stuff (mix in some random chatting, and whatnot. Usually 1500 and later is pretty relaxed, because I have most pressing items dealt with and am sticking around more to be able to answer questions than anything else.)

A typical flying day might look more like:
0700: Show up, make sure the crew is all there. Check the weather, NOTAMs, flight profile, etc. Make sure we have a good plan to meet everyone's required training.
0800: Brief
0830-0845: go to the hangar to gear up
0900: step to the aircraft
0930: Take-off
1200: land, post-flight, debrief maintenance
1230: crew debrief
1300-1400: lunch
1400-1630: Office work

Of course, some days you might wind up doing two flights, flying overwatch for a convoy, or a night trainer, in which case, most of your day is taken up with flight related stuff, and you might have to get to work at 1400 or later, and stay till after 0100, depending on details.
 
@raimius How many days per week do you usually fly? I know it depends on the airframe, but what's it like for yours in terms of hours?
 
I usually fly between one and three days a week.
For Huey guys, we usually get 200-400hrs a year, but that depends on where you are assigned, how often you go TDY, etc.
 
buffalo,

Just curious do you do the mission planning or do you have contractors that do it?

Our missions are flight managed, which means that when we are alerted to fly and show to the squadron (or command post or wherever) we have a mission package that has our flight plan, estimated fuel, weather, NOTAMs, diplomatic clearances, other pertinent info, etc. We are then checking to make sure everything is in order, because while our planners are usually very good, they are human and can make mistakes. This is all managed by a planning cell that oversees the execution of AMC missions worldwide. A few days prior to the mission, as a crew, we are looking at where we are going, long range NOTAMs that might affect the airfields we are going into, looking at approaches/departures, receiving our intel/tactics brief (if applicable), etc. Basically making sure everything is in order.

We are in charge of planning our locals. So the day prior we are developing our timeline, flight plan, fuel plan, creating the low level chart (if we're doing one), putting in a weather request, etc. If the local has AR, our ops folks have coordinated for the tanker, but we will call whichever unit will be supporting us to make sure we're on the same page. Once all that's done, we're briefing as a crew to make sure our training plan and requirements are clear, and we'll go over general knowledge for awhile.
 
pixiestudent, for a little background, I did a double major in physics and math as well as played IC tennis (my first two years prior to getting injured).
How hard was double major, do you have regrets doing it and did you have to take summer classes?
My son declared double major in math and aero engineering and I was trying to advice him against it and focus on one major since anyway the goal is to be a pilot or ALO/CRO/etc.
Apparently counsellor thought it is possible and build 4 year schedule based on it though he had to drop Russian minor and language immersion trip idea as a result.
 
How hard was double major, do you have regrets doing it and did you have to take summer classes?
My son declared double major in math and aero engineering and I was trying to advice him against it and focus on one major since anyway the goal is to be a pilot or ALO/CRO/etc.
Apparently counsellor thought it is possible and build 4 year schedule based on it though he had to drop Russian minor and language immersion trip idea as a result.

The key for me was that I validated a fair number of general courses (a whole year of math and a semester of computer science), but even without those classes I had some tough semesters where I was taking upwards of 22 credit hours with 4 majors courses although I never needed to take summer classes. I don't regret it at all now because as a physicist I am VERY happy to have the additional math background, it has been incredibly valuable. I also really like having both the perspective of a physicist and a mathematician. However, had I known for a fact that I did not want to pursue a higher degree in physics or math AND that there was no way I would even consider putting down a scientist/engineering job on my dream sheet, then it would have been a smarter choice to focus on the one major. I sacrificed a lot in terms of stepping up and taking on leadership roles both in and out of the squadron because I just didn't have enough time. For me it was a smart decision given my current career, but @vshun it sounds like your son may have different career goals. I would say if the goal is to be a strong leader in the fields you listed, the double major is probably just asking for trouble, but if there is even a chance he is interested in a technical career, it is probably worth it.

The other option is to go for the double major now (I am assuming he is a freshman) and if he decides it is too much as responsibilities increase and goals shift, drop down to a single major. Most of my math classes ended up in my second semester senior year anyway, so it would have been easy to bail on them, but by then I knew what I wanted to do with my career and it made that semester almost enjoyable (even if I had 4 more finals than most of my classmates before my fountain jump...)
 
I'd be interested to hear what a C-17 deployment consists of.
Buffalo might have a little better gouge on what the current ops tempo and deployment lifestyle is like, but for me (2010-2013), we started out with 120 day deployments and by the time I left, we were down to 60 day deployments. It also depends on what C-17 base you are at. Charleston was very busy while deployed and also while at home. My first deployment was to a smaller base in Southwest Asia that was fairly barebones when you compare it to AUAB. We actually stayed in tents, but all the other aspects of the base were awesome. Great food, great gym, great MWR, easy flight line access (just walk out on the flight line instead of having to process customs/PERSCO), and great leadership (they focused on the mission and not petty stuff like uniforms and haircuts). Typically, on our deployments (again depending on the squadron and base), we would get put with a hard crew for a few weeks/month to fly with. Missions ranged from 8 hours to 16 hours with multiple stops. They were usually flying stuff in/out of country as well as within country. Then, depending on the ops tempo, when you got back, you would be set for an alert in 18-36 hours. Then, usually, after a couple of consecutive days flying, they would give you a couple days off and rotate your crew back in.

Then, most copilots get rotated into scheduling/tactics ground duties, which includes no flying for a few weeks, and IP's usually get rotated into ADO duties, with no flying.

Deployment flying is a lot of fun because it's the most fun flying and copilots usually get the most experience out there, building their confidence in the airplane. Plus, you get to deploy with your squadron, so it is good for unit cohesion. I liked deployments, but I think it went a little better when they changed it from 120 to 60 days. That did change the amount of time between deployments, but two months was a good length.

Let me know if this sparked any specifics you might have about deployments. There is a lot to talk about with deployments, but if you're curious about something specific, feel free to ask. Hope this helps!
 
I will throw in that I am a 2012 grad (HAAAAAAAAAP) with about as different a career as you can get from the OP. I am a 61D, Physicist. I spent the first two years of my assignment working in the sensors directorate of the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL). I then switched over to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and got my MS degree (physics). I am now working on my PhD on a similar topic. I am happy to answer any questions those that see themselves as potentially joining the nerds of the Air Force have :)

USAFA10s, my DS is wanting to follow a path very similar to yours. He is attending the AFA SS this Sunday and, then, after a week in between, will be flying to Johnson Space Center to participate in NASA's HAS program. Both will be very valuable in helping him direct his goals. He is in the process of trying to write down all of the questions he is likely to have for both programs. Can you suggest questions that it will be beneficial for him to ask either or both of these? Thank you for your posts. As the mother of a future "rocket scientist," I so appreciate the telling of your journey.
 
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