Where Are They Now?

VelveteenR said:
Our USMA/Cyber son is just finishing up his captain’s course, getting married in June, and moving from Ft. Gordon, GA to Ft. Meade, MD in August to a new unit he is very excited about. Of course he can’t tell us why or what he’ll be doing. What else is new?
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DD is nearly one year removed from graduation and commission, but not yet operational. She hasn’t gone far — literally and figuratively — but happy to be working, earning a paycheck and wearing the USMC uniform. She was TAD on the Yard for plebe summer, then TBS in Quantico, now TAD in Quantico, then headed to her MOS school. It’ll be more than 21 months before she’s a fully functioning 2LT ready to lead Marines in her specialty.

aetosArmy said:
Would a field like Cyber mean little to no deployment, or are Cyber officers often sent overseas?
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Many cyber officers, regardless of branch, do end up at Fort Meade, which is ground zero for cyber warfare. But they also can end up attached to combat units training in the U.S. and/or deployed overseas. As an Army BG with good cyber knowledge told me a year ago, it’s a very new field and things are being figured out. Not YMMV — your mileage will vary — according to him.
 
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MidCakePa said:
DD is nearly one year removed from graduation and commission, but not yet operational. She hasn’t gone far — literally and figuratively — but happy to be working, earning a paycheck and wearing the USMC uniform. She was TAD on the Yard for plebe summer, then TBS in Quantico, now TAD in Quantico, then headed to her MOS school. It’ll be more than 21 months before she’s a fully functioning 2LT ready to lead Marines in her specialty.


Many cyber officers, regardless of branch, do end up at Fort Meade, which is ground zero for cyber warfare. But they also can end up attached to combat units training in the U.S. and/or deployed overseas. As an Army BG with good cyber knowledge told me a year ago, it’s a very new field and things are being figured out. Not YMMV — your mileage will vary — according to him.
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It amazes me how much time they spend training. I don't mean that in a negative way, but for those who are only going to spend 5 years in the service, that only leaves about 3 years of actual operational time. That is why they make the AF pilots serve for 10 years after they get their wings. They spend so much money on training, t they have to get their money out of them. A report from the Rand Corporation calculated how much money is spend based on the plane. Basically, the government is spending per pilot who flies anything from a F-35 along with the other fighter jets through the bombers like B-52, approx 11-12 million dollars
 
Humey said:
It amazes me how much time they spend training. I don't mean that in a negative way, but for those who are only going to spend 5 years in the service, that only leaves about 3 years of actual operational time.
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And the Marine Corps accepts six fewer months of “operational duty” in exchange for six months of Devil Dog indoctrination, a.k.a. TBS. Though I understand that it’s what makes Marines, well, Marines. 😉
 
Humey said:
It amazes me how much time they spend training. I don't mean that in a negative way, but for those who are only going to spend 5 years in the service, that only leaves about 3 years of actual operational time. That is why they make the AF pilots serve for 10 years after they get their wings. They spend so much money on training, t they have to get their money out of them. A report from the Rand Corporation calculated how much money is spend based on the plane. Basically, the government is spending per pilot who flies anything from a F-35 along with the other fighter jets through the bombers like B-52, approx 11-12 million dollars
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Wait. What? Are you saying, that to train a fighter pilot, it costs 11-12 million? Per pilot?
 
Humey said:
It amazes me how much time they spend training. 1 I don't mean that in a negative way, but for thoseip and ga who are only going to spend 5e years in the service,1 that only leaves about 3 years of actual operational time. That is why they make the AFt train pilots serve for 10 years after they get their wings. They spend so much money on training, t they have to get their money out of them. A report from the Rand Corporation calculated how much money is spend based on the plane. Basically, the government is spending per pilot who flies anything from a F-35 along with the other fighter jets through the bombers like B-52, approx 11-12 million dollars
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11 million ( each) to train first class pilots (expected to go against the paper tiger in the South China Sea in 2027) is a bargain.
 
justdoit19 said:
Wait. What? Are you saying, that to train a fighter pilot, it costs 11-12 million? Per pilot?
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20190409_Pilot_Training.jpg

This was in 2018 dollars. I was on another website where they put it in 2023 dollars and the B-52 cost was like 11 million. The report's point was to show how much cheaper it was to retain pilots than to keep training new ones. It was more cost-efficient to give pilots more money or bonuses plus easier lifestyle than to keep bringing in new pilots.
 
I guess ANYBODY can fly a C17! Probably under 300K to fly a Galaxy,😁.

Wonder what it costs to learn the E4 or a VC-25 + the 2020-2024 tutorial on : 'How To Fold-Up A Walker'
 
That is an interesting graphic and I hadn’t seen it before. I’m curious about the large difference between the F-15C and the F-15E. I can’t imagine what makes such a gap between the two. It would be nice to see the breakdown of costs and how these were calculated.
My son likes to occasionally thank me (as a taxpayer) for paying for his Viper hours over the past 12 years at $26.000 per hour. 🤨

Stealth_81
 
Stealth_81 said:
That is an interesting graphic and I hadn’t seen it before. I’m curious about the large difference between the F-15C and the F-15E. I can’t imagine what makes such a gap between the two. It would be nice to see the breakdown of costs and how these were calculated.
My son likes to occasionally thank me (as a taxpayer) for paying for his Viper hours over the past 12 years at $26.000 per hour. 🤨

Stealth_81
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Very interesting observation between the F-15C and F-15E. Could it be that the Mudhen does CAS and the F-15C not so much? 🤔 Both are fantastic aircraft!
 
Just Dad said:
I guess ANYBODY can fly a C17! Probably under 300K to fly a Galaxy,😁.

Wonder what it costs to learn the E4 or a VC-25 + the 2020-2024 tutorial on : 'How To Fold-Up A Walker'
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the C-5 is 1.4 million in 2018 dollars.
 
Stealth_81 said:
That is an interesting graphic and I hadn’t seen it before. I’m curious about the large difference between the F-15C and the F-15E. I can’t imagine what makes such a gap between the two. It would be nice to see the breakdown of costs and how these were calculated.
My son likes to occasionally thank me (as a taxpayer) for paying for his Viper hours over the past 12 years at $26.000 per hour. 🤨

Stealth_81
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if you are interested, here is the whole report
 
Just Dad said:
I guess ANYBODY can fly a C17! Probably under 300K to fly a Galaxy,😁.

Wonder what it costs to learn the E4 or a VC-25 + the 2020-2024 tutorial on : 'How To Fold-Up A Walker'
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Initial qual to make a C-17 copilot is simulator heavy with just a few flights at the FTU. Lots of hours and 3-5 total formal training courses to get fully qual'd in the jet. I've spent probably a year of my career at Altus going through upgrades.
 
I find it weird that the B-1 is so much cheaper than the B-52. The only thing difference between them is that B-52s still drop nukes and while the B-1 doesn't. I don't know if that type of training adds to the cost. Regarding the B-2, those pilots spend most of their time either in simulators or flying the T-38s. I would imagine that due to the high cost of the flight time, even with the limited actual flight training, the costs are very high
 
It has been a long time since I’ve posted on the forum. I think the last time I posted was when my son was applying for the Academy. He graduated Academy in 2018 in the top 1% of the class he went on to graduate school and got his masters degree in aeronautical engineering. After school, he was at UPT and graduated and was assigned the F-16. Following B course his first assignment was South Korea. He recently learned he will be transferring to the F 35s. He hasn’t done much TDY at this point, as most of his time was spent in training or in school. not much else to report as he still pretty early in his career. Thus far everything has far surpassed anything we could’ve imagined.
 
Somehow I never stumbled upon this thread. Just spent an hour reading it all. Awesome stuff. I hope people keep updating.
 
MidCakePa said:
DD is nearly one year removed from graduation and commission, but not yet operational.
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DD is 9+ years (Med School and specialty training) removed from graduation and ROTC commission, but not yet 'officially' operational. Three years to go in the specialty physician training cycle and to begin the 'payback' period. Made the 04 list while still in training which is common for AMEDD across all services.

Medical specialties have a long training cycle from a commitment made at 17 or 18 years old (or older if a non-traditional med student) - which is no different than the civilian training cycle as a physician. Some of her Navy peers took operational detours after initial medical training and recently returned for specialty training. No regrets with this career path so far and made the decision about 5 years ago to go with High 3 and not BRS for retirement.

The operational definition for physicians is relative... they are licensed physicians, serving patients while completing specialty training, and working incredibly long hours. Ohhhh and some of the best physician training, though in the US, is in dangerous cities/locations.

It's been tough but is content with the process and outcome so far.
 
DS just earned his SWO pin today. He has about 6 weeks left on his ship before he gets to come home for a few weeks leave before heading off to nuke school (a short school prior to that). I am planning my retirement so he will be here on my last day of work and retirement party. He will buy a car while home, then I will make the cross country trip with him. Golf, a football game and lots of quality time on tap for the trip.
 
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