Greetings

[Stephen_G]

I am new to the forum, but not to reading it...if that makes sense.

About myself:

I used to be a fuels troop in the United States Air Force, where i refueled jets and took Jet fuel, Diesel, and MoGas samples as needed.

My Vehicle: 2003 Mercury Sable GS, with the 3.0 Vulcan OHV V6.


Prior Vehicles, 2006 Focus 2.0 Duratec Sedan, 2010 Kia Forte SX 2.4L, and a 1992 Mercury Sable GS 3.8L in that order, the focus got traded in on the kia which got repoed when i was seperated from the USAF, and the 1992 sable died due to a burst hose on the radiator while doing 65.

The oil i use:

Currently, bulk oil when i had my oil changed by a local place which had a deal (24 bucks with a car wash) But i normally use Mobil Super 5000, The 1992 took 10W30 (it had about 200k on the clock) the 2003, 5W30 (168k on the clock) Despite ford reccomending 5W20, which i feel is too thin for a OHV engine with that many miles.

Oil Filter: Motorcraft FL400S, debating switching to a Napa Gold/Platnium with my next change

Any questions about me, or my experience, feel free to ask.

 

[Astro14]

Welcome to BITOG!

And thank you for serving...though I am Navy, I flew airplanes, my kid brother was USAF, I've deployed to Al-Udeid AB, and I was the EA to a LGEN, USAF once...so, I speak little bit of "light blue"...

Cheers,

 

[Stephen_G]

Thank you for the thank you for serving, it means a lot.

I only was ever deployed to turkey, i served 1/2 my enlistment before being admin seperated for off duty nonsense (room inspection,pt test kind of stuff) the USAF was overmanned in 2010 when i was let go.

 

[jstutz]

Welcome to the forum

I was in the USAF also. I was in from 96-2000. I worked primarily on the avionics systems on the A-10 on Pope AFB. I also worked a short time on Al Jabar air base Kuwait on the F-16 lantern system. I did help another crew put a fuel bladder in an A-10. What a smelly job.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
Thank you for the thank you for serving, it means a lot.

I only was ever deployed to turkey, i served 1/2 my enlistment before being admin seperated for off duty nonsense (room inspection,pt test kind of stuff) the USAF was overmanned in 2010 when i was let go.


With the impending budget and changes in force structure, all the services are overmanned, even the USMC...and the standards for retention have become incredibly high. USN is separating folks with good records and good careers because we simply have too many in their area of expertise...it is a great time for the military, they have high recruitment and high retention, but it's a challenging time for the individuals serving...

 

[Stephen_G]

USAF now only lets firewall 5's stay in,

For those not in the know, every year in the USAF you get a Enlisted Performance Report (EPR) and it is on a scale of 1-5, firewall 5 is perfect fives all down.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Welcome and Thank You for your service!

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
USAF now only lets firewall 5's stay in,

For those not in the know, every year in the USAF you get a Enlisted Performance Report (EPR) and it is on a scale of 1-5, firewall 5 is perfect fives all down.



Yeah...it's like "grade inflation" in college...or Lake Wobegon in which "all the children are above average"...

USN addressed this 20 years ago through forced distribution. When EPRs are done for a particular paygrade in a command, a reporting senior has to distribute the promotion recommendations: 20% of the group can be "early promote", 20% "must Promote" and the remaining 60% "Promotable" or below. So, it's clear in a group of peers who is ahead, in the pack or behind.

Further, when it comes to grading the reports, the reporting senior's average grade for that paygrade is recorded and updated. The report is then recorded in the member's record and it shows 1. the promotion recommendation (which determines part of the advancement calculation) and 2. the grade compared to that reporting senior's GPA.

Got rid of the "firewall 5" equivalent that we used to have. If everyone is a firewall 5, how do you tell who the front runners are? It becomes a "game" of reading the narrative, and then, too much is left to the style, and savvy, of the reporting senior and it's very hard to compare reports from across the service.

As harsh as forced distribution can be, it allows fair comparisons across commands and compensates for the stylistic differences in reporting seniors...

 

[Stephen_G]

One advantage of leaving the USAF, got me out of north dakota, and back into NJ...i was stationed at Grand Forks AFB for my entire, short, career.

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
I used to be a fuels troop in the United States Air Force, where i refueled jets and took Jet fuel, Diesel, and MoGas samples as needed.

When I was in the Army, they were going to phase out the MoGas, and just run everything off Jet Fuel and Diesel. Do you know if the military still uses MoGas?

 

[Stephen_G]

They still use MoGas for GSA fleet vehicles, and most bases have E85 now for flex fuel cars

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
One advantage of leaving the USAF, got me out of north dakota, and back into NJ...i was stationed at Grand Forks AFB for my entire, short, career.



Why would anybody want to go back to New Jersey?

 

[Stephen_G]

Why would anybody want to be in North Dakota?

-40 windfreeze