jazzdude

The difference is the intended use. One is personal, and one is as a commercial property. Different rules/regulations/laws. Same goes for taxi vs uber. Drivers license vs commercial drivers license. Private pilot vs commercial pilot vs ATP certificate. Part 91 vs 135 vs 121 flying (what kind of flying am I doing) It comes down to liability and risk acceptance as a society. Not saying it should be a reason for denying payment for using "non-traditional lodging", as they have no problem with me staying with a friend/family in their private home, so its not a matter of type of dwelling.

I think you're right, I guess that penguin did fall off after all

Hah, boldface in navy land. Crew, canopy, cords, crouch, dive, pull Hope the horizontal stab doesn't hit you on the way out. Don't know why that penguin hasn't been pushed off the iceberg yet...

It would fix the pilot shortage... Instead of building a new airframe to allow single pilot operations, this robot would allow legacy platforms to be automated. The idea is to bridge the gap from multi-pilot aircraft to allowing a single pilot on a multi-pilot aircraft. What makes this different from just an advanced autopilot is that it is a drop-in system; just strap it in the copilot seat. The early versions of this had a data feed from the aircraft, but the goal has been to remove that crutch and have the robot get information by reading and intepreting the instruments and looking outside with cameras to fly. Much like GPS and FMS eventually made the nav obsolete, if this becomes a proven technology, it has the potential to make the copilot/first officer obsolete, and much sooner than waiting for Boeing or Airbus to make a single piloted airliner.

I would add that, if this becomes the norm, this could help ease career pressures, and maybe even make the AF a better place. It attacks one of the fundemental problems where everything is done by year groups. This seems like the first step in making year groups matter less, and would provide a bigger pool of experience to select commanders from, so the AF wins (no longer has to pick from the best of what's left in a year group for command, and hopefully screen out toxic officers from taking command by virtue of just not getting out). But the average officer wins as well: less pressure to check boxes on an artificially short timeline to meet what in the past was essentially a one shot at promotion (where APZ really did seem like correcting for a margin of error), and time to learn a job and make a difference. Maybe there would be less pressure for commanders to cycle people through jobs every six months to make them look good on paper, and allow people to acquire some semblance of depth of knowledge and experience. And once there are people with actual knowledge and experience in jobs, maybe they can start to fix a broken system (vs now, when, by the time someone is knowledgeable enough to start to fix problems in their shop, they are moved out elsewhere, so nothing ever really gets fixed, or no meaningful changes are ever enacted). Or they could choose to just fly the line for a few years, but not completely close the door to promotion later down the line. Or just fly the line under continuation. It gives us career options again, and I think that's a good thing. Maybe I'm just trying to be (cautiously) optimistic about the AF, despite all the problems I've seen/experienced. I don't really get mad at the AF anymore, just disappointed that what the AF says it values and what it values doesn't always line up. I think increasing APZ rates is a step in the right direction though. In full disclosure, I was APZ to major. My commanders were shocked when I got passed over, and happy the AF "righted a wrong" about 7 months later. I had decided if I want picked up APZ that I'd decline continuation, primarily because there was no real career path for a continued Capt (also, I remember how AMC treats anyone not on the golden path, especially the passed over guys). That being said, once I came to that conclusion, I had an incredible amount of freedom to say no to stupid stuff (what are you going to do, kick me out? My airline apps are just waiting for an availability date, and I hear there's a hiring wave going on). It's amazing how good life gets when you don't feel like you have to play the game anymore.

I think the bigger near term danger would single pilot ops in the airlines, although that would still involve a significant investment in modernizing airliners. However, as technology and safety systems continue to improve, first officers will eventually go the way of the navigator/flight engineer/radio operator. The question is how long will it take to get to that point.

Maybe they were T-44 trained...

I think the goal is to grab heavy guys, that, after 1 fighter ops tour and "experienced", will be sent to fill an 11F staff billet. Less about flying a fighter, more about the AF saying "I need a body from a particular year group to fill an 11F staff billet in 4ish years, and I don't have enough 11Fs in those year groups to fill the staffs and operational requirements so I'll make some new ones via cross flow." If that wasn't the case, I can't see a reason for cross flow. Just increase production at the UPT/FTU level to get bodies in cockpits, and you'll have them in the community much longer. A cross flow steals a FTU seat with lower payback, so there needs to be a strong reason for cross flowing them over.

AFPAK hands nominees are supposed to be in the top 10%. Funny when you get nominated by the sq to the wing to fill the slot, but don't have any strats, even at the sq level. Even more so as a passed over guy.

I was primarily focused on the 4 star level with my previous comment, like the MAJCOM/COCOM/CSAF level. That way there could actually be some long term vision/plan for the organization, and accountability for decisions. It'd be insane for a company to constantly change out CEOs every 2-4 years just to give someone else a turn at it for career progression; why do we do it in the military? On a semi-related note, "The Generals" by Thomas Ricks is a interesting read, basically documenting the decline in leadership at the General level in the army over the years. A lot of what is discussed is easily relatable to the Air Force's current leadership problems.

'That was the last set of generals. I inherited this problem and am doing the best I can with the hand I was dealt.' What if Generals faced more scrutiny in confirmation, but then stayed in the job until they decide to retire or are relieved? Stop the turnover every few years and let one individual be able to make, execute, and follow through on long term planning.

The big problem is now they won't be able to entice people to do a return to active duty. Who would do that knowing that stop loss is looming, and would probably nullify any terms negotiated in their return for 'need of the air force'?

They were doing this when I was there for SOS. Solution? Buy a second hat...(ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer) Some non flyers in my class were happy to call out flightsuit wearers on the leg pocket not being zipped. They weren't so happy when they got called out by the staff for not having their ABU cargo pockets buttoned. "But it's where I store my cover, and buttoning it makes it hard to get my cover out." Ironic.

The law just covers you getting paid...they have to pay you IAW the JTR. However, you can still be disciplined if ordered to stay on base and you choose not to. Two completely separate things

Something like 3-5 DUIs in a short period of time (like a month or so), as well as some shenanigans involving roll calls. Vance does have AADD, and I believe casual LTs (or the baby class) are the drivers for events (track select, assignment night, graduation).

T-38 has a HUD, C-17 has a HUD...makes sense. (j/k) Or the MAF is willing (or may prefer) to absorb these guys for the time being to pay the T-38 IP billets 3 years down the road so MAF can say they are doing there part to help the fighter pilot shortage by filling UPT T-38 IP billets. C-17s are kinda the MAF shock absorber.

I heard it is a option being kicked around right now. Not unprecedented though. A quick Google search yielded this paper from the 80s on the topic: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a194382.pdf I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Vance

They already know the MAF shortage is coming...

That was about it. And that retention is hard. Also, they're pushing to reevaluate staff positions for who is needed in those positions (fighter staff billet x has been filed by a MAF guy for years, does it really need to be a fighter pilot billet?). In my opinion, it's a shell game: MAF is trying to get bodies back from helping out the CAF to make their numbers better, but unless the billets go away, nothing really changes, and MAF will probably still be forced to fill it. Sooooo...My bet is stop loss is coming

How's that old saying go? Timing is everything There is no justice Better lucky than good For a rack and stack, CCs opinion of you will carry a lot of weight, so long as your performance backs it up. However, how good performance is determined is subjective, and different CCs emphasize different things. There is no MIF items outside of UPT, and your performance will be graded on a highly subjective scale. Welcome to the real (ish) Air Force.

AFIT has a distance learning masters program in systems engineering. Same course work as the in-res students. In fact some of the DL class were recordings of the in res lecture the day prior. My transcript makes no mention of distance learning. I'll know for sure when I get my diploma this December. In addition, it's now free for active duty (wasn't free for my first 2 years in the program...) on a space available basis (class sizes running about 10ish, not sure where their cut off is)

Also in the same boat...AFI36-2501 is what you're looking for. 60 days from public release to accept or decline selective continuation. Trying to get my airline apps in order so I can publish them the day of the public results if need be...it would be a 2.5 year head start on seniority...

Yeah, pretty timely feedback...drop out of hyperspace too close to the rebel base and losing the element of surprise? That's a, um, firing? Or a force choke, same thing I guess. Then go out and contract out the hunt for the Millennium Falcon to mercenaries.