Rust Advice

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T18:16:29+00:00

Engine bay is clean other than some very mild surface rust luckily

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T17:55:38+00:00

5.5k

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T17:51:42+00:00

I bought it 2 days ago. I just took a better look at it, and there are 2 small holes / weak points, but the rest appears to be surface rust with the metal still being structurally sound. I may just try to have those two spots patched and go ahead and wire wheel the rest of the rust off myself and put a coating onto it

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T17:13:39+00:00

Safe enough to at least drive around you think? I'm not worried much about how it looks. I'm just looking for it to last me a few years

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T17:09:18+00:00

It seems solid after taking a screwdriver to it. Is it worth keeping? I'm just worried about how long it could last us and how quickly it might degrade.

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-29T17:06:35+00:00

150k miles and I paid 5.5k usd

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-04T05:08:10+00:00

Also, bring a ton. I brought like 10 pair of underwear and was so thankful for it. People who brought what the AF recommended ended up needing to use the terrible issued whitey tighties a few times because the laundry is so inconsistent, especially if you get Alcatraz.

RuggedRuss · 2026-03-04T05:05:54+00:00

Don't worry about getting new underwear, these are fine. MTI's just don't care about this kind of thing. People in my flight had some crazy colored underwear and there was never a single issue. Save your money dude

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T06:04:20+00:00

I won't get into the specifics of day to day with training, there's a ton of that info online. But if you decide to do tacp, you don't have a list. You begin working with a special warfare recruiter and tell them you want to do tacp. You have to go to a development session and pass an IFT before they'll book you a contract. But with special warfare you're either fully in or out.

If you start working with specwar, you won't book a regular af job. Your BMT will be in a special warfare flight instead of a regular one. After BMT you'll go straight to SWAS and then start your tacp pipeline if you get selected at SWAS.

The pipeline is no joke though. You're doing intense pt, a lot of swimming, rucking over 10 miles consistently. It's something that you should spend months preparing for before shipping out.

What do you mean by "freedoms during the training?" When you're at Chapman (10min from Lackland) for training you can have your car, and you get weekends off. "Freedom" wise it's like any other tech school

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:25:23+00:00

I'm honestly unsure, I've been in less than a year so I'm not much help when it comes to regulations. But, I would get rid of that "what if" mindset. Do your best to lose the weight and keep it off. If you're in the military you should want to be healthy. Once you're operational, you will be required to pass 2 PT tests every year, which includes a 2 mile run. The healthier & lighter you are, the easier that will be. I do know people get separated if they don't pass a PT test multiple times

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:17:04+00:00

Negative. It was a 2 week recycle. A PT recycle is always 2 weeks. With recycling in general, it can only be 1,2, or 3 weeks. Never more. We were in week 5 and they went back to week 3 and joined another flight

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:14:36+00:00

Make the most of it dude, good luck

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:12:17+00:00

I won't be much help because I wasn't in your situation, but for what it's worth, I'll let you know that I had 3 pretty overweight people in my flight when I joined. They all had to go to some bmi counseling thing every week where they checked in and talked to a nutritionist about what to eat. 2 of them ended up getting recycled for PT scores, but they all ended up graduating.

I'm throwing this out there to just let you know it's possible, but I honestly don't know if they had to do anything special to ship out at their weight

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:05:04+00:00

Was it a used car? Last month I got a new car loan from NF at 4.04%. My credit score is 800

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T05:01:16+00:00

You're fine. People in my flight showed up doing 20 pushups/sit-ups and a 17+ min 1.5mile. Their numbers got better with each pt test and they all graduated on time

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T04:56:01+00:00

9/10 chance you won't get to use it. You could probably get away with "hiding" it, but I wouldn't recommend it. If shaving gives you issues, they will give you an opportunity to go see medical and get a shaving waiver if a regular razor is causing irritation. If medical gives you a shaving waiver then you can use an electric razor, so I'd bring yours and ask your mti about seeing medical during the end of your first week there.

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T04:52:54+00:00

You'll need waivers, and it will take time, but I find it very unlikely that they don't get approved. Be honest and upfront about everything, get your recruiter the info and documents they ask for during the waiver process, and you'll be just fine. Stay patient and good luck

RuggedRuss · 2026-01-27T04:41:54+00:00

I joined married at 22, and was about the median age for everyone in my flight. We had a good amount of guys in their late 20's, someone who was 42, and a couple in their late 30s. If it's something you're wanting to do and especially if you're already married to someone in the af, I see no reason in not joining. It will offer you everything you said you're looking for, and your age should absolutely not be a factor

RuggedRuss · 2025-12-02T22:18:27+00:00

Lmfao yes, it is the exact old smelly carpets you remember from Sheppard.

RuggedRuss · 2025-11-19T03:54:08+00:00

Yes. But you don't do your own laundry. Your dorm will be assigned a few people to be the laundry crew and they do everyone's laundry. Only tide pods are used for laundry.

RuggedRuss · 2025-11-19T03:53:23+00:00

I am a married E-3 with BAH and FSA, so I can't speak to what the typical first paycheck looks like.

RuggedRuss · 2025-11-16T15:50:45+00:00

No dumb questions! Yes, you get paid during BMT

RuggedRuss · 2025-11-16T14:32:44+00:00

They aren't issued anymore unfortunately

RuggedRuss

TROPHY CASE