Hey there gents! Longish time lurker but my life just got accelerated. Long story short was that I had to drop my retirement papers yesterday in lieu of getting hammered with the Bahrain unaccompanied tour. Just couldn't do it to my family and I was at that 19 year sweet spot for the monitor to jump on. Unfortunately the sweet deal that I had worked out to leave my joint tour to Pensacola flying T-45's is now gone (that currency thing), and I am now roughly 15 months from my retirement date. Here are my particulars:
2400 total Mil, all turbine, 2200 in F/A18 A-D in the USMC. 100+ civilian. Weapons and Tactics Instructor, ACTI, WTI LATI, Flight Lead Stan Eval, Mission CDR, Division Lead, Post Maintenance Stan/Eval, Section Lead, FAC(A), TAC(A)...partridge in a pear tree. Also ASO school trained with a couple Class A SIR's under my belt. My last operational flying tour ended in Aug 2013 and I have been pushing paper since on my staff tour.
So as I see it so far...
1) Get the Apps started ASAP.
2) ATP ASAP
2) Continue to reach out to squadron bubbas in the Majors and work that angle.
3) Listen to the smart folks here for rudder steers.
I know currency will be an issue and a regional may be unavoidable. What will constitute current? I have been flying bug smashers here, have my own single engine "complex" airplane and have access to the aero club twin, but I doubt any of that will help.
Thoughts?