jice

Turns out there is a user for a 26 century long PED cycle.

You mean they’re adopting a model that captures the value of previously funded training? Crazy talk. They’d be much better off pulling folks off the street and pushing them through a too good to be true training program. Shareholders and passengers would agree.

Totally agree... but! if there’s going to be any hope of actually using pay to help solve the problem, we can’t frame it as an admission of guilt or failure on the part of the AF. “Acknowledging market forces beyond our control and taking the most fiscally and strategically responsible actions as recommended by numerous panels of independent experts” is far less likely to be met with Capt Closedfortraining’s “that’s not fair” or Sue Neverservedaday’s “you joined the military” or Sen Goodolboy’s “what’s wrong with your culture?” This is as much about avoiding/defusing irrational arguments against a pay increase as it is endorsing the rational action of making one. Plagiarism-ish: “Subordinates and peers respond to complainers-in-chief; all else see whining.”

Get a feel for a few schools and chat with a couple instructors at those schools. You’re purchasing a product, and you want to find a structure that works for you and primary instructor who is genuinely interested in your success. After chatting with a few CFIs, I’d be surprised if you don’t find somebody who offers some instruction off the clock (let them offer; it is not the norm or expectation). Remember that the school’s incentives may or may not align with your goals. Talk to other student pilots about their experience and who the best instructors are. Pick somebody with whom you find it easy to communicate. Ask a technical question about airplanes. Ask them a question about aviation history or regulations. Ask them a question about an aviation career. If you don’t actually feel more educated than when the conversation started, try again with somewhere/somebody else. Finally, there are a lot of douchebag CFIs out there who will unashamedly lie to you or make ridiculous claims of their abilities. Don’t feed them. The really great ones won’t have to tell you about how great they are.

Re: production vs retention. We must think we’ve really found out how to replace experience with something else. I hope we don’t find ourselves looking back and trying to figure out why the job became more dangerous in training. Worse yet, I hope we don’t find ourselves with any reason to wonder about the value of experience, in hindsight, after a full up global conflict.

If only there were a 600 year old, well developed, universally respected [sans the military] field of study that could neutralize emotion and very accurately spit out a number (that would look a lot like the RAND study number) to change behavior in a group. Economics in the military: “yeah, yeah... but the value of quality of service is up to you. If it isn’t valuable enough to change your mind, you’re not patriotic enough.” Economic behavior is a natural force. Keep trying to defy gravity, big blue. Your experience will watch the show from our new boats.

True for you. Not for all. Show us the money and let the market sort it out. Edit to add: preserving options to leave would only help. The service commitment functions as a multiplyer on the bonus of somewhere between 0 and 1 depending on the individual’s situation.

Sorry to hear it, Duck. In our thoughts.

Could be an opportunity to align incentives and encourage the right folks to volunteer for these jobs. Want an SOS/OTS instructor (for example) with a rated background and a clue? Offer a (slight but measureable) advantage at promotion. Rated shiny pennies stay where they’re at; hopefully CCs have chosen those wisely... Slightly above average officers and average aviators who may be unlikely to earn a DP [and can stomach it] volunteer for what was formerly a dead-end job in order to increase the expected value of their career-long/life-long pay. Commanders, in turn, are incentivized to send folks they wouldn’t mind coming back to the community at +1 rank. (Nobody wants to figure out what to do with a no-talent, non-bro, lump who outranks most.) We’d need to guarantee flight pay and some kind of return to fly assurance [tanking the airline opportunity works 100% counter to the intended incentive scheme], but incentive-wise it could be better than the “looks good for your career” half-truth-mostly-lie.

Classic enabling.

AFE shops without a strong flyer in charge usually suck. This addiction to rules is a real illness and should be treated as such. Unfortunately, if the addict isn’t responding, the only way to fix it is to remove/diminish their influence. Should happen naturally as the rest of the shop comes around. Loyalty to a real leader should trump loyalty to one dependent on blind faith in rulebooks. Might take extreme investment on the leader’s part. YMMV. Will probably cost you the relationship with the addict and others. Sounds like it’s worth it in your situation.

For a free option, most libraries have a digital media program where you can access their audiobooks with an app. Overdrive is a popular one. Normally just requires a current library card. I’ve got accounts with the Air Force and two local libraries and can usually find a given book and always one worth a listen.

Sounds like you guys ultimately had to make a choice to prioritize one career over the other in order to be together. That sucks; it’s a hard life to live and a hard choice to make. That life and that choice are not exclusive to mil to mil. The results usually hurt the Air Force regardless of the spouse’s military status. Good thing. Wouldn’t want to have anybody consider what your needs are as a human in order to improve your quality of life. /Sarcasm. A lack of sufficient control to influence the situation is understandable. A lack of interest is completely unacceptable.

Thanks for the info and IP demo of the never briefed, rarely practiced flip-phone, T9-word-degraded BODN post.

Is each aero club an entity unto itself or is there some part of ‘big air force’ that sets policy for everybody? In other words, who is responsible for taking the fun out of flying for fun, and who can call them a cockbag on the telephone without serious repercussions?