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  • #31
    It depends on where the contract is, but if I got hired it would be a base housing type situation, they have appartments they put you up in and it is all tax free. The Saudi AF is always looking for engine techs and they pay real well. I could contract for a year, take a year off, go again, take a year off...

    Tiem will tell but that is the long term plan. the kids will be older and moved out by that time...they wont miss me at all. The wife...she wont care neither. My cousin did 4 years in Iraq as a contractor on drones and is now retired at 48....rough.
    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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    • #32
      Just dont end up 'forcibly retired' like some of us. A buddy of mine who started out in SVS at the Inflight Kitchen sewed on Chief a couple years ago. He hasnt been a cook in 15 years. You are doing ok to sew on at 18 TIS. You could still make Chief if you wanted to, unless some of your EPRs arent the best.

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      • #33
        Originally posted by JOES66FURY View Post
        this is a common question among those not in the know.

        first and foremost I am not licenced to perform the same work on the outside which would put me at a huge loss in pay if someone were to hire me.

        second. I pull in a little over 5200 dollars a month and I do not pay for untilities in my house, I do not pay for medical care that I get for me and my whole family at no cost. With 2 children with special needs the savings is astronomical.

        Third. If I left now I would be stupid considering I have been in 18 years and will recieve 50% of my base pay as a pension at 20 and 2.5% more every year there after.

        The job market sucks and if I were licensed I would have to move to find work. The cost of living in the places where I will find work is high. Then I would have to uproot the family and my wife would have to drop the potential at a 6 figure job within the next 3 years.

        I do not have a bachelors degree to qualify me for anything else

        there is a certain ammount of pride in what I do that I will never have working in the civillian sector, nor will I have the responsabilities, respect and challenges I currently have...sometimes it aint about the money.

        A licensed A&P doesnt make all that much money.

        I plan to contract to the UAE when I retire. Work 2 years, to make enough to pay cash for a house and be 100% retired by the age of 48.
        Good game plan Joe and Congratulations! I know the feeling of being at the top of my game then promoted to way over my head but chugging my way through it and succeeding. You can do it
        Escaped on a technicality.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by Thumpin455 View Post
          Just dont end up 'forcibly retired' like some of us. A buddy of mine who started out in SVS at the Inflight Kitchen sewed on Chief a couple years ago. He hasnt been a cook in 15 years. You are doing ok to sew on at 18 TIS. You could still make Chief if you wanted to, unless some of your EPRs arent the best.
          HYT changed so I will have 2 shots at Sr before I hit 24 and have to go. My EPRS and record are good and clean. If I want to make the sacrifices needed to make Chief I suppose I could. But to dedicate all my free time to the USAF and take time away from my kids to do it just is not me, I have seen so many guys go down that road and it baffles me how they can dedicate all their time and energy to make rank...that aint my bag if you know what I mean. I will fill in some blanks and if I get a stratification and make Sr, great...if not...well thats okay too.
          If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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          • #35
            Congrats again Joe, sounds like you already know the meaning of the saying:
            "Sometimes it's best to be happy, right where you're at"

            I've come to a similar conclusion as it sounds like you have - the amount of BS required to get the next promotion for me, just doesn't seem worth the sacrifice.

            I heard a report recently about over 700 contractors killed since the "rebuilding" of Iraq began. That's a scary figure - I guess they don't call it "hazard pay" for nothin.
            There's always something new to learn.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by JOES66FURY View Post
              this is a common question among those not in the know.

              first and foremost I am not licenced to perform the same work on the outside which would put me at a huge loss in pay if someone were to hire me.

              second. I pull in a little over 5200 dollars a month and I do not pay for untilities in my house, I do not pay for medical care that I get for me and my whole family at no cost. With 2 children with special needs the savings is astronomical.

              Third. If I left now I would be stupid considering I have been in 18 years and will recieve 50% of my base pay as a pension at 20 and 2.5% more every year there after.

              The job market sucks and if I were licensed I would have to move to find work. The cost of living in the places where I will find work is high. Then I would have to uproot the family and my wife would have to drop the potential at a 6 figure job within the next 3 years.

              I do not have a bachelors degree to qualify me for anything else

              there is a certain ammount of pride in what I do that I will never have working in the civillian sector, nor will I have the responsabilities, respect and challenges I currently have...sometimes it aint about the money.

              A licensed A&P doesnt make all that much money.

              I plan to contract to the UAE when I retire. Work 2 years, to make enough to pay cash for a house and be 100% retired by the age of 48.
              I worked part time at a Domino's pizza when I first moved to Cali. One guy who worked weekends was a C-5 at Travis AFB. He was going to school to get his A&P license. He was going to school to learn what he was doing for a living so he could work in the private sector. THis was all before the first gulf war. He may have made a career out of the AF, but not sure.
              BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

              Resident Instigator

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              • #37
                Congratulations on many, many jobs well done, Joe!!
                Ed, Mary, & 'Earl'
                HRPT LongHaulers, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.


                Inside every old person is a young person wondering, "what the hell happened?"

                The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there. -Vince Lombardi

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by JOES66FURY View Post
                  I would be proud as a peacock to be "gunny" hell of an accomplishment man congrats! I have been filling a E7 billet doing 7 work for 6pay but the uppers do not take you seriously untill you have the 7 on the sleeve no matter how hard you work and how often you prove youre the subject matter expert.


                  It can be super difficult to make rank in the USAF still, due to retention down sizing, budgets and manning in a particular AFSC (MOS).
                  I ran into the same thing when I was an E6 doing an E7 billet. It amazed me how much of a difference the extra rocker made. I think part of it (for me) was that when the Marine Corps was increasing its numbers for the war lots of MOS's were promoting up to E6 or E7 like a rocket. An example was a guy a worked with before I got promoted, he was an E6 with less than 8 year TIS, and I was an E6 with almost 16 years in, but other than me looking older the higher ups looked at us as if we were the same despite the 8 year difference in experience.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Orange95Z View Post
                    Sorry to derail the thread Joe, but this is BS where thread derailing is a common occurence. Congratulations to you also Gunny, and thanks! What's your MOS, target?
                    Thanks Matt! I'm what the Marine Corps calls a 2171, an Electro-Optics Tech...I work mainly on optics and night vision equipment, but it is a pretty wide ranging field that also includes guidance systems for missile systems, sighting systems for howitzers and mortar systems, and laser rangefinders and target designators.

                    Joe...sorry for the derail. Now lets get back to celebrating your promotion!
                    Last edited by Page2171; August 2, 2012, 02:35 PM.

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                    • #40
                      Its a good derail if it derails about the military!
                      If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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                      • #41
                        Now that you mention it, every Chief I know has no kids, or they are grown/living with an ex. My bud doesnt have kids, and the last four Chiefs I worked for had no kids either, except for the Reserve guy who had his head so far up his ass I doubt he had taken a breath of fresh air in 20 years.

                        I was lucky as a Staff that my kids didnt live with me, having ten airmen on two different shifts in two different shops, and three of them being problem children left me with hardly any free time. I was the only E5 with more than two airmen in my entire unit, and I only had two years TIG when I got out, how the hell does that work? The other guys who were new didnt have any airmen, they gave them all to me along with 12 extra duties including Safety NCO for two duty sections. I asked my E7 why I had so much shit to do, he said that I was being "relied upon" so apparently the other E5s were shitbags or something.

                        Just making top three is quite an achievement on its own.

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                        • #42
                          i know kids who rarely see their dad because he is out chasing that stripe. Not this guy. I am dedicated and work hard to make sure things are taken care of at work but I will not sacrifice my family time to make rank. thats why it too me 6 years to make E7, I just didnt want to put in that time to study knowing my wife was in school or busy networking for a better job and not be there for the kids. I want to be a good NCO, but I want to be a good dad and husband more.
                          If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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                          • #43
                            Originally posted by JOES66FURY View Post
                            i know kids who rarely see their dad because he is out chasing that stripe. Not this guy. I am dedicated and work hard to make sure things are taken care of at work but I will not sacrifice my family time to make rank. thats why it too me 6 years to make E7, I just didnt want to put in that time to study knowing my wife was in school or busy networking for a better job and not be there for the kids. I want to be a good NCO, but I want to be a good dad and husband more.
                            enlistment date, 1994?

                            you are just right for that. The realm before that one, thumping455 must have been in it... hard core is not even the word for the voluntary life as ranks climbed.

                            my own was hack up between cold war and the everybody-loves-gays military. Going in as family men, or a good unit...twenty years must be a pleasant memory.

                            I guess I'd be a greaser from way back..with just 3 years difference in enlistment from yours. Alot friendlier the last 20 years.(even my younger sister climbed with a smile...she is a master as well)
                            Previously boxer3main
                            the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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                            • #44
                              Congrats Joe! I'm sure you busted your ass to get this.
                              I R Bob
                              You can't drink all day unless you start in the morning!
                              2007 LH, 2008 LH, 2009 LH, 2010 LH, 2011 LH, 2012 DNF/BLOW'D UP, 2013 LH, 2014 LH

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                              • #45
                                Congrats MSgt JOES66FURY! Enjoy that first layer of shingles on your house!

                                Got to call and congradulate one of my guys yesterday about him finally getting a rocker. Double exciting news since he just had his 3rd child a week ago.
                                Central TEXAS Sleeper
                                USAF Physicist

                                ROA# 9790

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