I'm giving this some serious thought...feeling I may be vulnerable for a 365 soon anyway, so I want to pick something I might actually enjoy doing...something new and different, something challenging and rewarding. And some may call me crazy, but Iraqi UPT in Cessna 172s and Caravans...now THAT's something different and may be a good change of pace.

And as a Herc guy, there's also a possibility of doing Herc training for the Iraq AF at Sather/New Al-Muthana Air Base.

Anyone with first or maybe second-hand knowledge of these gigs, please let me know what you (or your buds) think.

Mox

 

Hey Mox....shoot me a PM. I'll put you in contact with a good bud who is there now. Aside from being away from home and family he is really enjoying the job.

I may even see you there, I am seriously considering the conractor side for the big bucks.

Cheers,
Tweet

 

Go somewhere fun and less dangerous for 365 like Philippines or Korea. I'm sure there are other areas that have year long deployments, but are kept secret.

 

I know of a Marine that was in on the beginning of the Iraqi UPT - basically set up the program. He loved it. He said it was one of the best things he has done.

USMCFLYR

 

I had a bud that found and is doing a 365 as the AMC rep in St Croix or one of those other islands.

 

I missed that one! Took a herk through St. Croix on a few occasions. The only thing I can remember was the girl in tight white shorts handing out a bottle of rum to each crew member as we got off the plane. From that point until engine start a few days later were nothing but a vague blur.

 

Volunteered last week and got picked up right away...going to Kirkuk in November. Looking forward to it, this will be a nice refreshing change from my current MDS, a good challenge, and should be rewarding too.

I've gotten some info and feedback from a couple guys already there...Tweet46, I heard from Jammer and he's been giving me the scoop. And from what I've heard, there aren't many non-vols for this thing. So I wanted to move quick once I heard of the positions that were opening.

I called the 365 functional on Tues Feb 24 to check what was available, and he told me of 4 positions in Oct/Nov. The AMS Robot email for those 4 positions went out about an hour after our conversation...I waited (im)patiently to talk to my commander (he was TDY)...finally cornered him first thing on the following monday to ensure he was ok with it, then emailed the 365-day POC at lunchtime to confirm I was a volunteer. By the end of the day he confirmed what slot I'd be in, telling me that one of the slots had already been filled on Friday (27th). My CC got the official notification letter quickly and gave it to me on Wednesday. Signed it and turned it into PRF, then the UDM got the tasking RIP at the end of the week. SWEET!

 

I have never seen a dude so excited to do a year remote. Congrats, I guess..
Lord knows mother AF needs peeps like you.

Seriously, enjoy and don't get your a$$ shot off.

 

Yeah, well I've been wanting to break away from the Herc for a while now. Ground the fleet to inspect for bad nuts that hold the WINGS on... just an example among many reasons of why I've been wanting to escape.

I'm single, so the family thing is not a big concern (I do have kids, so it is a factor, I won't be able to see them as often as I normally do)

I posted the story just to show how quick these things can go...I've heard they get plenty of volunteers. Robot email was sent out COB tuesday, one slot was filled by friday. My squadron's been hit with a few 365s and some near-misses lately. If I was going to end up doing one anyway, I figured this would be one of the better deals.

Do my year, come back with some good $$ in the bank, and then I'll have less than a year left til retirement. And a non-deployable year at that. I see it as a good way to prepare for the transition to civilian life.

 

I heard a stat that 365's are filled with something like 85% vol's. That said, our take here has been a bit more cynical--got a guy here who was notifyed he was next on list (lot of prior E time), so he found a flying job. Bang, he's a volunteer.

That said, we have two other guys here who no kidding vol'ed. Good on them (and you). I think it could be a good time, but I got no desire to be gone from my family that long. Six months was long enough and I'm in hurry to go that long again either.