Leaderboard

Said no one ever.

You could, ya know, call the 714 TRS. Oh, look, here is a document in Baseops.net: https://www.baseops.net/c130gouge4/TIPS-Guide-20Apr09.pdf I'll bet there are phone numbers in there. I recommend Miss Marti. Out

My thoughts as an 11F after 20+ in the AF: - Promotions up to Lt Col generally get it right. But occasionally blows it big time. - Continuing education SHOULD be a good thing...implementation in the form of our current slate of PME offerings is horrible and is NOT continuing education. After IDE in res (after correspondence of course!) and SDE correspondence, all 3 programs, IMO, were years behind the times, taught by out of touch, irrelevant instructors, using terrible courseware. Each felt like a huge waste of time. - Command selection process at the Squadron level leaves a LOT to be desired. Many good, far too many bad. The good seem to retire afterwards at too high a rate. My reaction of "WTF?" happens WAY too often. Too many baffling picks for Sq/CC in the CAF. Same holds true for OGs and FW/CCs, many good but still too many not. How do the crappy ones continue on when their Groups and Wings can't stand them? At the Squadron level, too many GO-directed disruptions of 'gameplans' to ensure 'their guy' got hooked up. - Too much career risk-aversion from senior leadership. Too much unwillingness to do the right thing for fear of what might happen to them if doesn't turn out roses. So many missed opportunities because someone with Stars was unwilling to trust their subordinates... - SOS DG after a 7 week program as a young Captain carries WAY too much weight in a career. Guys ride that strat all the way to Squadron Command! Crazy. - Combat experience SHOULD be a discriminator. Unfortunately, our "system" has passed out combat medals for the most mundane stuff diluting their significance. - AADs add nothing to the experience and if the AF feels they are necessary for senior command, they should send you to get one after a squadron command tour. I have my ERAU degree and it is useless outside the AF. Aerospace Technology? I think I was able to re-use the same paper 3 times. I was just trying to get through and survive the load flying the line at work, keeping the family happy (failed) and chugging through the masters at the same time. Having guys flying the line, going through IPUG, working scheduling in an undermanned squadron while attending night or online classes is stupid. Family is so important to the AF? People are our biggest asset? Bullshit. The AAD is too important to the machine. Get it or get out. Your family will understand...makes me fume! Actually stood in a FS MBR and heard a General tell one of our pilots that he just wasn't good enough at time management if he couldn't juggle everything. We thought he was joking. He was dead serious. YGBFSM. - Good leaders and pilots punch out way too early because the requirements of the machine are too onerous. And then there are the 365 iTDYs... Really? To WHERE??? I've seen way too many guys bail who would have been great for the AF. Too bad. At least the Guard got their talents. I sound bitter. I'm really not. I was offered command "opportunities" but they didn't match up with my family QOL requirements so I bowed out. And I'm very happy about it. But my list of observations about the AF machine still frustrate me on a daily basis.

I almost posted a long winded response that pretty much says the same thing this one does. No one in upper management will ever say the "system is broken" because it is working for them. But that "system" is actually perpetuating this environment where people are becoming more and more self serving. I have NEVER met anyone who volunteered for a staff job in order to make improvements for an organizational process...or improvements to anything else for that matter. They volunteer for staff assignments so they can get a school push or a PRF written by a 3-star or above. The goal today is not to make the organization better, but rather to secure a promotion so I can make it to 20. Just ask around and see who actually plans to stay past 20...I haven't met any yet. Why 20? What is so magic about that number? Why aren't people talking about making it to 30? Why, because we have a self-serving goal...and for a lot of people, it isn't making this organization better, but rather, doing enough to get by without changing anything or making any important decisions that could get me in trouble, non-selected for promotion, and (nowadays) possibly kicked out of the service....I have to make it to 20. That my friends, is the min-run Air Force...and we have created this environment and have rewarded people for living it. The reality is if you want to make it to that magic number, you have to play the game and take care of yourself first....which from what I remember in SOS several years ago is exactly opposite of those things they call "Core Values." Mission first (alone) will not help you succeed. It is self first, and I'll get to the mission after I'm done with my Masters paper, but I'm only going to do enough to get noticed for my efforts and not get in trouble. The secret to success in this organization is simple given the current environment: take care of yourself, prepare for life outside the Air Force, do the best you can while you are still in the Air Force (in that order). People on this thread aren't just making this sh*t up. If leadership is lurking, please listen to what your junior members are saying. Junior members, bitch, yes, but give some solutions to the problems as well. Sure, this isn't going to change overnight, but we need to change the culture back to the real "Core Values"...whatever they are these days. Stop rewarding self-serving behavior. Ok, so that was still long winded...

Remember everyone, "Shoe Clerk" is not a job ... "Shoe Clerk" is a mindset and attitude. "Shoe Clerk" is a 2-hour lunch or taking gym time when there's actual mission to be done. "Shoe Clerk" is surfing Facebook while someone stands waiting at the customer service desk. "Shoe Clerk" is closed for training and not actually getting any better. "Shoe Clerk" is saying 'no' rather than actually trying to help people or solve the problem. "Shoe Clerk" is thinking the bureaucracy and/or the processes are more important than the results. Don't be a Shoe Clerk. It's a decision YOU make.

That is only pertains to the uncommited eligible. I fall into the same boat and the only bonus I can take is the initial 5 year which will take me out to 22 years TAFMS. Slides directly from the ACP website for FY12.

Alright one, what's fringe about this?

And yet, no bonuses for 12B. I guess it's easier to get new ones than to keep the experienced instructors.