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Lol, that post wasn't for you. And not just because I didn't include any pictures. You're more of a "color inside the lines" guy. Nothing wrong with that, the military needs guys like you more than it needs guys like me. But our disgruntled poster here is either a "why do things that way when it doesn't make sense" type of guy, or he just expects his rewards to be a direct reflection of his efforts. The military has never and will never be a great place for those type of people.

To pile on, I had subpar leadership most of my career, with exception to my last assignment (SQ/CC and both DOs were amazing). I left AD this last year for a Legacy airline and a Reserve unit. First year out was a little bit of a challenge, airline training while not hard is fast paced, a FTU for the reserve gig, lots of changes. That being said, it my situation it was 100% worth it. I’m much happier, make more money, and enjoy my time home more. Best of luck, everything is what you make it, and having a good attitude is free.

2 pilots on the B-21, sure (primarily due to mission length); point on that specific airplane is if you’re going to have two dudes, there’s no good reason to have a WSO over a pilot (unless you’re going to make financial/airline-related arguments). If the B-21 wasn’t flying long missions (hypothetically), there would be zero reason for a second dude.

Once again I'll disagree with Ratner and do it in a less verbose fashion. Finding the right guard/reserve unit is an absolute game changer. This isn't just work for everyone and it only takes one or two bad leaders on AD to be the difference from the best 20 years of your life to 10+ years of "fuck this shit..." I know a number of CAF dudes that have had similar experiences. I've been there myself. That being said, there are guard/reserve units that have all the things AD should have (good leaders, commaraderie, purpose etc.). Good luck.

While I disagree with the first part of Huggy's statement, reference cold war era single seat fighters that had nuke missions, the long mission part makes sense. That being said, if pilot homeboy is asleep I'd rather not rely on HAL, Goose, or someone that couldn't get into UPT (no offense) flying/monitoring the most expensive aircraft since the space shuttle whilst possibly starting WWIII. Definitely precedent for having 2 pilots unless one of them loses their shit whilst carrying nukes though...

Luckily promotion percentages to Major are in everyone’s favor, but you’ll have a tough time. Flight commander and instructor help will help, as well as letting leadership know it’s what you want. This tells them to keep pushing to get your records across the line or force them to have the conversation with you that they don’t think you’re a future FGO. If you want major though it’s not an insurmountable hill even where you are at.

Another left field idea from moi but why not make this the golden apple to reach for in the WSO/CSO world? Selectees get a UPT slot then go to the -21? Longer tour in the -21 to begin to recoup the additional costs but setup a training program and syllabus, communicate what a competitive applicant would have (strong flight record, commander endorsement, civ ratings, etc…) I’d build a stand alone UPT program, probably establishing a Companion Training Aircraft program to go with the B-21, dovetails with ACE 2.0 PC-21 and a T-54

To this point specifically, don't listen to the people telling you that you're wasting 11 years by not chasing the retirement. The money you make at the airlines can be astronomical. It will more than make up for the retirement, including the medical coverage. That being said, the guard and reserve are a great way to get to retirement after you have a seniority number at the airlines. But if the military made you as unhappy as it sounds, the garden reserve are not going to be enough of a change for you. Especially the way they are these days. To the broader topic, I was fortunate enough to figure out the game very early in my career. So I just didn't do the things that I didn't want to do or didn't enjoy doing. The catch to the whole system is that you have to do a bunch of unpleasant stuff to get ahead, but getting ahead just puts you in a position to have to do more unpleasant stuff. Some people loved the queep. Some people tolerated it. I hated it. So I didn't do it. Now ironically my Air Force career ended rather spectacularly for unrelated reasons, but even if I hadn't been court-martialed, my career was never going to go anywhere. I flew a lot, that's about it. It would have been more upsetting if I had put a lot of effort in to things I hated doing. But still. Suck it up. It's just work

Absolutely talk to the Guard. You can pick mission within reason. Try for a different mission set. ANG removes many of the active duty pain points and allows you to keep earning time toward retirement.

My PRF just came back and I'm ranked in the bottom 15% of officers in my wing eligible for Major. With a P and not a DP obviously. I assume this means I have essentially 0% chance of promotion to Major IPZ if they're willing to put it like that on paper. Does anyone think differently? Tangibles: LAF-A Aircraft commander in 2x MWS's, no IP experience SOS complete No negative info in my file (90+ on all PFAs, no discipline issues, no check ride failures, no long term DNIF, etc) No Masters. Just finished my 5th class for BAC+ but it didn't go into my PRF No awards or strats on any OPR 2x ASCM, have all the mid-tour/PCS decs that make sense Roles held, in reverse order: Shop chief, Shop chief, Asst Flt/CC, Asst Flt CC, OIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gameplan for APZ board: Get the BAC+ in my records Finish the masters, (although sadly the degree won't be conferred until about 2 months after the cutoff date for the board) Get more hours and upgrade to IP ASAP Consider flight command if it's offered (will this help me? Will this be "regression" after shop chief?) Max the new PFA (personal goal, but it probably won't hurt me with the new boss's focus on fitness) Do these goals make sense? Are any of them a waste of time? Anything else I need to do to improve my chances?

👆 what Huggy said. F-35 sorties from Israel were probably 6-8 hours, while US B-2 sorties were 37 hours. You need a second person just to cross check what’s going on after you exceed the normal crew duty day. To your point, AMC has discussed single pilot ops in the Tanker fleet. Most here on this forum declared that to be a bad idea. You can do any mission with one human in the cockpit. The latter part of my AF career was in Cyber, and I have seen what happens when technology fails or is denied/degraded/disrupted. That is why I would push to have any rated position on a B-21 and why I am skeptical of the reliability of CCAs.

If the plane is carrying nukes and/or flying 40 hour missions, it should have a 2nd person. Pilot, CSO... even RPA pilot. Someone smart who can think and make solid decisions.

Working it, I have a guard unit lined up so maybe that will change some things when I get in a different environment

for sure get out, go airlines, and part time guard/reserve. luck and timing affects us all. move forward and don't look back life is too short to be miserable.

Two words… Go Guard/Reserve. .you got 11 years invested don’t throw it away

So what single seat 5th gen guys do. I’m not trying to be a dick, but technology has changed substantially and those things no longer require a second person. Same way technology will continue to advance and some day we won’t even have one person in a machine (at mass scale). The idea of more is better (2 vs 1 person) is outdated for future CAF and AFGSC assets. It makes things worse (vs. enhancing) 95% of the time, given current and near term technology (not to mention further out future tech). The WSO/EWO/CSO was absolutely required in several airframes (and still is in some current aircraft), driven by the tech of their time. We’re well beyond that time in history for any newer/future production CAF/AFGSC aircraft.

For any young readers seeing this, I will say a lot depends on the community you go to, the average leadership in that community, etc etc. We all complain about the same things (aircrew have a masters degree in sport bitching), but in the end I don’t personally know a single pilot who has left the AF with extreme dissatisfaction. Obviously it happens, but I do not think it’s the norm. I think it’s fairly normal to be glad you’re getting out at that specific point in life, but don’t mistake that for equating to “it was all terrible, I hated every minute, and it was totally not worth my time.” I’m excited to be done soon and fully transition to”phase 2” of life, but in spite of the BS that drives me crazy, the last ~20 years has been phenomenal overall and I have no ragrets.

Not commissioned, I’m including the time it took to get the commission too as time spent chasing this dream. Commissioned it’s about 11.

Honest question: You're punching out at the 15 year mark?

Yeah I didn’t word things really well. Long story short I got a really bad must-film because people couldn’t or wouldn’t upgrade/pass training and I’ve been stuck ever since.

Thanks, it seems more common these days than not.

Definitely recommend getting out. Like others said its an awesome new chapter and its up to you on how you look back. Accept the dogshit but embrace the good (people, good trips, etc.). Don't try and paint it perfect. You are gonna find a lot of people are having a similar experience. There is a 311 page thread about what's wrong with big blue.

I felt similarly on my way out. Almost a decade later I'm grateful for the training that's enabled me to go out to civilian life and make more money than I ever thought was possible. Once it started to stack up, it got much easier to look back without resentment.

The AFGSC/CC said “Unleashing the Raider’s full potential demands a complex blend of skills: airmanship, weaponeering, electromagnetic spectrum operations, sensor management, real-time battle management and agile replanning in combat.“ Could pilots go to EWO school? Sure. Do they want to? Hell no. It makes more sense to have two aviators working together providing different skill sets rather than having two people with the same training on the airplane, or making a pilot go through another year of training to be a pissed of PWSO.

The way you phrase it makes it sound like you have a superiority complex and blame external things when you don't get what you want. That may or may not be true, but that's the one-post impression. If the AF doesn't do it for you, go seek greener pastures. Figure out what is important to you, and go do that. Best wishes that you find what fulfills you.