Gen Welsh - USAF Chief of Staff

[Champ Kind]

JQP posted on his FB page last week a rumor that serious consideration is being given to Gen Hyten (Space Command CC)

http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/108115/general-john-e-hyten.aspx

[di1630]

Very little the USAF is doing these days is about keeping America "safe". I was drinking beers the other night with some civilian peers...they barely know about ISIS, think we are done with Iraq and forgot about Afghanistan.

Call me to deploy and make sacrifices when we have some strategic objectives for the country and you need my help to solve it. Otherwise, I'll bow out if given the choice.

You want a ppt monkey at the CAOC, GFY. Want me to train afghanis to fly...GFY.

If you wAnt me to sacrifice my life/family happiness, it better be for more than tax-free and to keep doing the failed strategy we have been going on 15+ years. Otherwise it's just a paycheck, no guilt.

[Homestar]

3 hours ago, di1630 said:

Very little the USAF is doing these days is about keeping America "safe". I was drinking beers the other night with some civilian peers...they barely know about ISIS, think we are done with Iraq and forgot about Afghanistan.

Call me to deploy and make sacrifices when we have some strategic objectives for the country and you need my help to solve it. Otherwise, I'll bow out if given the choice.

You want a ppt monkey at the CAOC, GFY. Want me to train afghanis to fly...GFY.

If you wAnt me to sacrifice my life/family happiness, it better be for more than tax-free and to keep doing the failed strategy we have been going on 15+ years. Otherwise it's just a paycheck, no guilt.

[bb17]

I've read through most of this thread and just see nonstop complaints about how bad everything is. Full disclosure: I'm an FNG so i don't know jack about the Air Force yet so I am not judging anybody for how they feel. But having worked as a consultant in the private sector for nearly a decade I have to admit that the civilian world is usually a cluster as well so the grass isn't exactly greener. When rushing squadrons, my observations were that AF officers (at least Guard/Reserve) seem to be happier and overall have a better quality of life than some office drone grinding away for 60/hrs a week in a cubicle.

Are most of these complaints geared towards the AD side of things? I'm going reserves so my plan is to serve the squadron in a part time capacity to the best of my abilities - with realistic expectations and realizing that as an O-1 I'm the part of the totem pole that sticks in the ground and will be for the foreseeable future - meanwhile doing part time consulting as time allows on my own schedule. I think this would provide good flexibility and hopefully limit some of the heartburn that seems to be prevalent. Please feel free to tell me if this is really stupid and naive. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by bb17

[hispeed7721]

words

Through all the complaining, there are some very real issues with the AF. Some of it is just the kind of sport bitching you'll find in any career field. I'm AD and have been for my entire time. I personally don't have a whole lot of complaints, but there are a few.

It seems like you're at least ahead of some guys, understanding that you're not going to show up day 1 and have it all figured out. There's some unavoidable naivety, but that comes with anything. There's some great guard bros here that can help you out with that side of things, but really just don't show up and act like a douche and you'll be off on the right foot

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[ChkHandleDn]

26 minutes ago, bb17 said:

 When rushing squadrons, my observations were that AF officers (at least Guard/Reserve) seem to be happier and overall have a better quality of life than some office drone grinding away for 60/hrs a week in a cubicle.

Probably because they were also airline pilots.  I know I'm a lot happier now since leaving AD.  I have much more QUALITY time home with my kid now that I've left and that's with commuting to both jobs.

[bb17]

35 minutes ago, hispeed7721 said:

Through all the complaining, there are some very real issues with the AF. Some of it is just the kind of sport bitching you'll find in any career field. I'm AD and have been for my entire time. I personally don't have a whole lot of complaints, but there are a few.

It seems like you're at least ahead of some guys, understanding that you're not going to show up day 1 and have it all figured out. There's some unavoidable naivety, but that comes with anything. There's some great guard bros here that can help you out with that side of things, but really just don't show up and act like a douche and you'll be off on the right foot

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Do you think a big part of it is that the typical AF pilot is a Type A personality that just has to have it their way - the "BK way" as Rainman used to say? Similar to my consulting profession where the more senior engineers you get involved in a project the worse the project ended up turning out because nobody wanted to be second in line and the end result was just a collage of conflicting ideas. Meanwhile our lower-level technicians, who actually are the backbone of the company in my opinion and produce most of the work, couldn't be happier with how things operate. When I listen to Gen Welsh's speeches it sounds like he is very level headed and the AF he wants is not the AF he has. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by bb17

[Duck]

As a dude who has been Guard and AD. I can tell you that complaining is part of life. You are never going to be 100% happy with how any organization, big or small, is run. Having said that, AD has some serious issues. Manning, deployments, assignments, retention, toxic leaders, scandals, just to name a few. The Guard has its problems too, however it was always on a micro level and much easier to handle, especially for those that were part timers and could just walk out the door middle finger held high and come back a month later as if nothing had happened.

As far the Reserves, I put their QOL between AD and the Guard, as I have heard of some shady stuff going on there lately like 365 deployments and crap like that. This would never fly with the Guard.

[di1630]

I'm curious other peoples' letdowns with Welsh.

I realize as a former hog guy, my main issue is the fact that on his watch AF brass has proven themselves as liars or tactically inept idiots when it comes to discussing CAS and the A-10 v F-35 debate and that's a big one because hearing his "statistical misrepresentations" to put it nicely and or ineptness lost my trust.

But what other big things for you dissenters?

Or positive views.

[Day Man]

pros: undid blues monday

cons: *

[BADFNZ]

I think the problem with Welsh is he didn't live up to the hype.  Once he won the nomination, people were quick to exude his greatness from previous experiences working directly for him, in his MAJCOM, Wing, etc.  Out of the gate, he killed Blues Mondays, which only set the bar even higher for him for the rest of his regime.  Then he kind of held the status quo for the rest of his term, and didn't do anything earth-shattering, so everyone was left wanting more.  We thought he was going to be this huge breath of fresh air, but it turns out that maybe once you become CSAF, the political weight is too much to make any huge change.  Compound that with the fact that a lot of negative shit went down AF-wide under his watch (Mollygate at Laughlin, Little Rock, F-35 procurement, etc) and today is the result.  It's a bit depressing because I feel this was the one chance we had to see a difference, and if Welsh can't do it, maybe it's not possible.

[ned1]

My friends, it's time to face the facts: this is an impossibly broken system that is only being propped up on the backs of the downtrodden, who are crushed beneath the weight of this disgustingly corrupt government tool of imperialism. And praying for some kind of ubermensch to come and change the whole system is nothing but a fools hope. We can see this with welsh already.

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[HuggyU2]

2 hours ago, ned1 said:

And praying for some kind of ubermensch to come ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Übermensch

[60 driver]

On January 16, 2016 at 10:38 AM, Bender said:

You do what you do when you put on your uniform for the Air Force? This what was just implied and to use Champ's words, "absolutely the wrong answer." This might be part of our collective problem right there. You should be doing it for your family and your family's families, as distinctly and directly as it could possibly be. If you are doing it for the Air Force itself, it's just a job and you should make your snappy quips to the management at Delta or Costco. You've lost your way in serving your country and need to recage or separate.

To do your best to care for families and bring them with us out the other side is "absolutely the wrong answer"? You think we should, specifically as a service to our country put ourselves (by proxy our families) first? Interesting prism...you can put your family first by going to work at Costco. We need to do better, I absolutely agree, but if "trying our best" is "absolutely the wrong answer" (particularly when that's all you have to offer) it as hollow as the guide we're currently possessed with.

It's not an all or nothing, or a "you're all in" (a statement I loathe by the way). However, if you are going to go out of your way to avoid hardship while others bear it...get the out of the way. If you think what you do isn't important to the welfare of the people and principles you thought you protected when you signed up all the years ago...get the out of the way.

I think your family is important. I also think this work we do is important. If you leave it up to Big Blue to take care of your family, you're a tard. Make the choices you need to make, if it's too much for you, step aside and let someone else with more flexibility step in to help. There is a massive gray area here when almost everyone is threading the line of maintaining the Homefront while executing the down range mission...it's on you to work it out, all you should ask of someone else is their honest best to balance things.

There is and will never be any doubt who one would chose if you had to choose one or the other...if there was, you should probably file for divorce (Oklahoma is a good place for that I hear).

Give me a ing break, Champ. Sometimes you're such a tool.

You know I know you're not, but sometimes...

Bendy

 

What have you done with the real Bender?    

 

They grow up so fast...<sniff>