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Show-horses, Workhorses and Jackasses. These are the three types of people you have working for you. Show-horses are easy to identify, they are pedigreed, their reports are above the board and they have done no wrong, but at a certain point you can’t prove what they have done right… they have been preened and primped for so long that the next good deal is expected. In a certain amount of your requests to the squadrons for nominations for the next good deal job, there are some that will deliver less than the workhorse. They are the type when handed a shitty deal, will pull stakes and tell you no, because this assignment is beneath me…. The workhorse is the person you want to take note of. This person may be number 3 or 4 on your squadron commander’s list of people they want to see for said good opportunity. They are probably the guys and gals that everyone in the squadrons see as the go-to for when stuff needs to get done, the people that get overlooked because there are a couple show-horses in the way. The often respected and narrowly rewarded workhorse getting rewarded with a good deal usually elicits the following response from squadron mates: “about damn time that guy/gal got a good deal he/she is solid and I know they will work for me up at the Group/Wing etc.” The response when an overtired prima-dona show horse gets an impressive job is usually de-motivating. Seen as a reaffirmation of the status quo. Thus, as a group commander the people who are at the top are there because of past performance but not necessarily recent performance… The challenge is to identify the workhorses who deserve a showhorse treatment and identify the showhorses who need a kick in the ass. Speaking of asses, the jack-ass… causing the often mentioned 95% percent of your time devoted to the 5% causing the problems. It will distract you because you think the other guys, the other 5% who are the show-horses are solving all the problems are good… and carrying your load… it’s not true, at least at the squadron level…

Lots of good stuff. I'll add: - A SQ/CC cannot lead from your office. Remind the Wing/CC you can't lead from his. - If you request anything non-trivial after 1400 and ask for it before 1000 the next day, you just tasked a CGO to stay until 8 PM to do it. It took him until 1530 to find out about it, and he'll need to have it in someone's inbox by 0800 for it to clear the wickets to get back to you. If necessary, do it. Just be cognizant. - If you have a civilian Deputy CC, be skeptical of them. They might be a source of continuity, but they are a tremendous source of inertia. Unless you convince him otherwise, the day you leave, your favorite project is dead in the water. - You have far more power to make things worse than to make them better. Work hard to improve things, but focus on the low-hanging fruit first. Minor process improvements that make day-to-day life better are more actionable and over time have a bigger impact than your grandiose vision. - We know what we're doing. If there's something we don't get, explain it to us... Then trust us to once again know what we're doing. - Know what you know and what you don't know. If you've never flown an MDS under your command, don't pretend to understand it. If you've never served in a crew position under your command, don't pretend to understand it. Bring your experience to the table, but respect the experiences of the people around you.

I have too much time on my hands, which generally means I have some other important thing I could be doing that I don't really want to do. Having said that, I would have written that article slightly differently. Public Affairs would be a difficult career field for me...here is what I read when I clicked on that link (I'm sorry I did that): Over the next 269 days, every Airman across the entire Air Force will be forced to redo work they have already done based on a law we’ve known about for over 1,600 days. We were a little busy working our way through all the shit the Military Commissions Act of 2009 was doing to our operations in Guantanamo Bay to get to this until now. These redundant actions will allow the Air Force to validate that an audit means that these records are “fully auditable”. It is unclear what it will mean if this audit does not prove this theory, but considering this category of money amounts to $5.4 billion, the Air Force is hoping it does. Senior leaders in charge want everyone to know that being not “audit compliant” does not mean there is a problem, it means that we “lack the required documentation for our spending” to know if there is a problem. There is a difference, it’s important that you know that. The goal of making everyone do things again is to be sure that we have this documentation and that we can audit these expenditures if NDAA 2016 makes us. The Air Force, at this time, does not intend to actually conduct this audit, only to ensure it is auditable. There is a difference, it’s important that you know that. Do not bring any documentation prior to being notified just because you think it is a convenient time for you to do so. The special super-duper scanner at the finance offices will not function correctly if you do not provide the paperwork at the time and choosing of the Air Force. Airmen will have 30 days once notified via email; hopefully, this will be enough to overload the system enough separate times to create errors across the entire data set that can be later used as an explanation should the audit prove the data is not “fully auditable”. However, the official story will be to avoid “unnecessary duplication of effort”. The Air Force also plans to implement a “Strategic Delay” somewhere in the middle of this process to assess the auditability of the audit. Once the process is completed, this documentation will be stored for longer than the current practice of 6 years in order to meet requirements, however, this will not prevent the need to re-audit and members will need to re-accomplish this task should a future NDAA require an an actual audit, not just an audit to prove auditability. From the highest level, the Air Force needs every Airmen to know: Your finance-related documentation is your responsibility, not just the finance office’s. Even if you turn in all the required documentation, check your pay to ensure it is correct, and notify them if your personal situation changes, you may still be required to re-accomplish tasks to ensure that what you have provided is still in your possession. If you have lost your marriage certificate or any other financial documentation, do not expect finance to have it, go through official state channels to obtain another one, and whatever you do, do not attempt to recreate any documents in crayon. The Air Force plans to audit everything. Did you save the receipt for that pencil? Units will have until next year to ensure that they have receipts for every process, procedure and transaction that spends Air Force money. Any accounts valued at less that $5.4 billion will be handled directly by AFPC. Bendy

Yes, my knowledge of totem poles is only Wikipieda deep. Cut and past is easier than typing all that shit out. Oh, and I love the Guard. Why shouldn't each state have it's own independent CAF? We will need it when they come for our guns.

Or because Big Blue thinks we are all essentially the same person with interchangable parts.

To me this is a generational issue. Nobody over the age of 35 ever drinks these energy drinks. But everything he says about energy drinks can be said about coffee. People use coffee to compensate for not sleeping well, poor work/sleep cycle, drinking too much coffee keeps you up at night, it dehydrates you, causes ulcers, etc. But nobody would ever think of taking a general's coffee away from him/her. Since its only the younger folks that drink rip-its, then its not that big of a deal.

I'm sure it never occurred to her... But maybe she was left out and ostracized by the "boys club" because she's a whiny annoyance and just plain unpleasant to be around. This crap is ridiculous, as mentioned by others, there are plenty of awesome females who make it in the "boys club" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now I know why I have 2 monitors at the office...so I can keep working while I leave the other on my TERA status. Well done AF.

"Rip-It!" is a required call on the C-17 as a step on the Combat Entry Check.

No one wants to hear stories about your time at the zoo. There's a group cc at my base that graduated from the zoo in 1990 and still brings up that damn place every time he can. No one wants to hear about that great CEO job you have lined up next either. If you give the slightest indication that this job you're in now isn't the most important assignment to you then that causes trickle down effects of others losing faith as well.

Even if it were a real gun, why would that merit calling the cops? Did he pull his tattoo out and threaten anyone with it?

I have a feeling that you struggle with your depth perception portion of your eye exam.

Well if it's the Deid, the porn, the booze, the tobacco, now the ripits?!?! Ermagherd it's totally the Ramstein of the Middle East...

yes tnkr, I guess sarcasm can be tough to judge on the internet based on the number of "down votes" I get every time I post on here. This is a good place to vent, and a valuable resource to share rumors/lessons learned/and "heres what my vMPF says today." Thanks CHS17 for your funny memes, they make me laugh before I make the long walk to my GCS every night. Those of you who have been able to stay in a cockpit, I salute you. Please keep those of us who went through UPT only to be banished to a life of watching video feeds in your prayers.

Mission: Know your troops. Accomplish the mission. Trust Sq/CCs to run the squadrons - it's okay if they do things slightly different then you would. They (should) have a better pulse for the squadron than you. Train like we fight. Our culture is so safety minded these days that it seems safety is more of a focus than max performing our leadership, training and aircraft capabilities. Encourage dudes to push it up in the jet (within the aircraft limits and regulations) and take time off work to truly live and enjoy life. Don't just talk about work, work, work. This will show your troops you're a real person, and not just a robot. Accomplish a full review of local regulations/addendums to AFIs and rescind those that aren't necessary. They usually make the mission more restrictive and/or create additional and unnecessary work. Simplicity to the max extent possible (see line above) in every facet would alleviate a lot of the hand-cuffing, Admin: Don't auto-populate leadership in squadrons based solely on pedigree. Pick the right person, not the right pedigree- this can go in the Mission section too. Don't be afraid to fire people that suck at their jobs. Stop making dudes get grad degrees when it's not a requirement to make O-4 Stop making dudes accomplish PME-correspondence to go in-res at all levels (i.e. practice bleeding). Rack and stack dudes based on (primary) job performance, leadership, and additional duties-in that order (i.e. not a masters, PME-correspondence, Volunteer of the Yr, etc.). Put your top dudes in the jobs that will make the OG the most combat ready (i.e. don't make them your execs), then strat them accordingly (#1, 2, 3). Don't pick dudes for upgrades because their about to pin on Major/Lt Col, etc... --- this is more at the squadron level, but the principle can be applied at the OG level too. Don't pick quarterly/annual award winners because "it's their turn." Pick based truly on merit!

Both of these. Sadly, it would be a real breath of fresh air if senior leadership actually focused on the mission for a change. We have so many distractions (uniform regs, CBTs, PME, advanced education, budget cuts, fund raisers, CFC, MICT, CUI, UEI, etc.) that most days are spent on everything except the mission. I could retire if I had a dollar for every day I asked, "what the fuck are we doing here?" Focus your Group on the mission. Stop telling everyone they're warriors. Stop telling everyone how they are the most important people in the military. This breeds a sense of entitlement that leads to discipline problems, laziness, and severe attitude issues. We wonder why there are insubordination issues and sexual assault problems in the military. It's because we've given an entire generation of people the impression that they can do whatever they want because they are special warriors. Instead, try to instill a sense of responsibility and respect. Explain to people that they are accountable for their actions and they are replaceable if they aren't willing to move the Group towards completing the mission.

While the regulations permit you to be more restrictive, it's not mandatory. Not every rule needs an additional base or group supplement.

Figure out how to enable us to cut out the crap. The Chief himself said "If following a regulation doesn't make sense, stop doing it and stop doing it today." He's used the AF Form 1800 example ("preflighting" vehicles) in numerous speeches. At the same time, it doesn't seem like the message is making it down. Folks down the line need a way to say "Boss, we shouldn't do X because it just doesn't make sense."

Sometimes leadership means simply having the courage not to change everything for the sake of change.

Judging by her picture, I find it very hard to believe anyone has actually winked at her...

I can absolutely guarantee any amount of money saved by catching the one dude who's cheating on his BAH (though I'm still unsure how this will catch anyone) will be dwarfed by the metric ass-ton of man hours lost by having the entire Air Force stop what they are doing, find the documentation, go to FSS and be immediately and efficiently helped. Sort of made up the last part. Kind of impressive really, someone measurably reduced the productivity of the entire USAF active duty work force...for an OPR bullet.

Don't underestimate the importance of good ol' fashioned bullshit sessions with your folks. It's the only way you'll really get to know them.

Let your Sq/CC's be Sq/CC's. Don't micro-manage every little detail because you're afraid they're going to fuck up and get you fired. Don't tell them, unless their decision is very gross and negligent, how to maintain good order and discipline in their squadron. If you don't have 100% confidence in your Sq/CC's, then maybe they shouldn't be Sq/CC's in the first place. You're going to be an Group Commander. You were "brought up" in a certain community, career field, MDS to your current position. However those days are gone. All of the communities under your command are equal. Don't show favoritism towards "your boys" and give that perception to those under your command. Get to know the other communities, processes, culture, fly with them, how they work, problems they have as communities, etc. Be very careful on the Chief you hire as your Group Superintendent. Make sure they're a Chief, not an E-9 trying to be an E-10.

And will now vote Democrat in the next elections in America...

Take the hint and stop posting.

Holy jesus tapdancing christ. Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

In a good number of places, especially those without open carry laws, wearing a real gun in that manner could be construed as brandishing a firearm or public menacing depending on local and state statutes. Other element to this is we have no idea what the 911 dispatcher actually relayed from the original report. Look I get 2nd amendment shall not be infringed and all that but seriously it's not like this guy was arrested and charged. Officers went on e side of caution as is trained and standard when a firearm is suspected in any call these days. Would you rather some dispatcher question the report and say "nah doesn't sound valid we don't need to roll a unit." And seriously the guy got a tattoo of a gun so it would look like he had one tucked into his pants. Bitching about this is like being the guy that gets the Hindu symbol that just happen to look like something else at a glance and wondering why everybody assumes your a Neo Nazi.

Looking for anyone who may be joining me at Sheppard for ENJJPT this July. I'm not sure our class number...but looks like graduation is slated for Aug 2015.