r/AirForce

Today I learned that AMC can rent non-DOD users USAF aircraft for $36,362 per flight hour.

Are you wealthy? You can charter a C5 or C17 through AMC.

TLDR: if I get a prescription out of pocket for GLP-1, could I still later on get a prescription covered by Tricare through my PCM?

I’ve been trying to do as much research about this as possible, but I still have a few questions. If anyone can provide any information, I would appreciate that. Basically, I have been trying and failing for the better part of the last five years or so to have long lasting success at weight loss. I might lose some of the weight only to regain most if not all (and then some) time and again.

Because of this vicious cycle, I began doing a bit of a deep dive into GLP-1, and I think that they are right for me from everything that I’ve gathered. Since being in, I’ve gone to my PCM, a nutritionist twice, and tried many different diet and exercise routines—all to no long lasting avail.

Here is my question: if I pay for GLP ones out-of-pocket, is it still possible to get a prescription from my PCM through Tricare? I will do everything on my end by the books! I just want to know if getting it on my own will negate any possibility of the our insurance covering it later on. I just don’t want to wait any longer and jump through any more hoops. I’m tired of being obese.

First off, thank you all for your service. My friend is stationed at Al Udeid and I’m sending a care package to his APO. Just arrived. He asked for some snacks and nicotine pouches. For people who’ve been deployed there recently, what stuff did you actually want in the mail? Anything to avoid because of heat, customs, or base rules? Really appreciate any advice. Thank you all again not only for your responses but for your sacrifices.

What a great jet. With only 4 of them, it was harder to get a slot to fly than the B-2. Plus the sandwhich on the bird...so good.

AND WHY????

AI image content is low-effort garbage and you all should feel bad. I would rather see a million posts of dumb questions and Nessie 3.50 stories than a single AI-generated slop image. Yes I’m aware even our top leaders can’t help but generate some AI garbage every 5 seconds.

If you made it this far, I’ll have a triple baconator meal and two chocolate frostys please.

Why the fuck do I need to talk to a “nurse” for my UTI symptoms? And it’s always 20 questions just to have to answer those questions again with a provider.

“Hello, these are my symptoms. I have had them for a week. No other symptoms.”

“What are your symptoms?”

“How long have you had them?”

“Have you had this symptom?”

“This symptom?”

“This symptom?”

Once you get through that gauntlet, you get to talk to the care advisor, who asks you all to the same questions.

After an hour on chat, which if I close safari on my phone to look at something else, it fucks up the connection, they recommend that I go to the ER and can’t provide me a referral to an urgent care. When I say that I do not want to sit in an ER for eight hours, they tell me to talk to my PCM on Monday.

Everytime, I always regret talking to them, and I wish I had just paid out of pocket for telehealth.

Edit: in my hour talking to the nurse advice line, I could have been done with a virtual appointment at urgent care. I might have even been done with an in person appointment at urgent care.

When official leadership utilizes overtly evangelical rhetoric in official addresses—such as labeling the armed forces' mission a "spiritual battle" and instructing service members to "put on the 'full armor of God'"—it directly violates the protective boundaries established by DoDI 1300.17.

Under DoDI 1300.17 and service standards (such as Air Force Instruction 1-1, Section 2.16), leaders must ensure their personal expressions are never reasonably associated with their government role, and they must avoid extending preferential treatment or creating an environment of implied conformity. Because the chain of command relies on absolute obedience, any blending of official authority with specific religious frameworks inherently compromises the voluntary nature of faith. Under that instruction, leaders are strictly required to ensure their personal religious views are never associated with their official government roles, yet framing duty through a sectarian lens creates an environment of implied conformity.

To some it doesn't make sense to start talking about macro-level policy or institutional shifts that haven't caused an immediate, catastrophic crisis in our specific sections yet. But if you work in maintenance, you know the flaw of this organization all too well: we have a bad habit of only fixing things or providing resources when a shop starts to fail or a jet breaks on the flightline, instead of tackling the stress fractures before they snap. We wait for catastrophic failure instead of doing preventative maintenance.

That exact same mindset applies to our culture and our values. If we wait until an airman's career is actively ruined or unit trust is completely fractured, we've waited far too long.

We are an instrument of the secular state, and that means our strength has always rested on the bedrock of the First Amendment, balancing both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause. When official channels, command settings, or institutional messaging start leaning into specific sectarian viewpoints, it blurs a line that we need to keep clear. Preserving good order and discipline requires that our command environment remain entirely neutral, ensuring every single service member—regardless of what they believe or don't believe—feels equally valued and unpressured.

Under DoDI 1300.17 and our core service standards, leaders carry a heavy weight. Because our chain of command relies on absolute obedience, any blending of official authority with specific religious frameworks inherently changes the dynamic. It creates a subtle, powerful pressure to conform. When personal beliefs get mixed up with official command messaging, it compromises the voluntary nature of faith and puts people in an impossible position where their career progression feels tied to ideological alignment.

I'm looking for honest discussion, if any Chaplains or Christians can explain why this isn't the case, I would be willing to hear you out. I just don't want to be confused or keep this feeling of being left out simply because I'm not Christian.