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Looks like a Rorschach Test to me.

Does it come with a sweet Rebel Alliance flightsuit and helmet like the guy in the back is wearing?

...But, you see, the problem is that GC & his cronies are trying to solve their WSO/CSO/Nav problems with UPT grads (at least indirectly), but they refuse to acknowledge that they are doing so. There were about 5,000 Navs (by this I mean Navs/CSOs/WSOs--whatever you wanna call them) in the AF in 2005. Now, we've got about 3,500. The OSS/staff/command/CAOC/deployed to Buttkrakistan to backfill Army guys/etc. workload didn't decrease by 30% over the last decade, so guess what? Pilot types have had to backfill billets that Navs might otherwise have filled. Ergo, we are trying to use UPT grads to solve the WSO problem . . . an expensive proposition that ticks people off and makes them all the more susceptible to the siren song of life outside of Big Blue. Tying this back to the ACP discussion, I find it odd that there's so much handwringing over an 11F shortage, when the pilot shortages are across all MDSs. Sticking to what I know/my parochial interests, the Nav community that's taken the biggest hit over the past decade is the 12Ms. Not surprising--with the advent GPS/better avionics, one doesn't need 'em. Problem is that 11Ms are filling billets that 12Ms would normally have filled, at the same time the civilian sector is drawing 11Ms away from active duty at substantial rates, while at the same time MAF folks are backfilling CAF & SOF billets . . . yet global airlift & tanker requirements ain't really subsided. The resulting experience loss across the board is substantial. In 2005, there were 3,500 Command Pilots in the AF. Today there are 2,100. In '05, there were 1,900 Master Navs; today, there are 600. That sure looks like a helluva brain drain--notably in the mobility community--and given the current civilian hiring picture, I don't see our ability to retain experienced aviators getting any better. While I fully understand that certain pilot communities are hurting worse than others, I can't escape the conclusion targeted bonuses for select pilot communities in FY17 ACP would be a galactically bad idea. Rant off. TT

Good luck getting AFRC to give more money. ART jobs just aren't desirable like they used to be, even with superior qual/recruitment/retention bonuses. Everyone wants MPA while their apps are in at the majors .

Here's an interesting map. It sizes the counties according to population, and it shades them according to how much of a majority was won. It really shows that the nation is far more politically blended than one would expect.

Gentlemen...Please Please... Stay on Target.

Yes, the Porkins Package is a factory option, but it cuts into the useful payload.

I was unfortunate enough to have to spend an extra 6-9 months at UPT due to a medical issue. I just stayed put until I was was healed, then was placed into the class that was close to the point where I went DNIF.

Illinois, my favorite electoral map this year, is a current Democratic stronghold. Let's play a couple guessing games: 1. Where is the city with some of the strictest gun laws located? 2. Where is the city with one of the highest gun-related murder rates in the US is located? HINT: One city is the answer to both questions - sometimes nicknamed "Chiraq" for it's warzone-like atmosphere.

Nice thread derail going on here. A 4-ship doing OCA works as a single unit with their radar assignments and what not. Same concept as a crew airplane, just spread to 4, single seat jets. And if you think you're some higher level thinker because you're a single seat guy, ride along in a family model Viper doing CAS or something. All that chatter going on the aux isn't discussing why Dez Bryant is a dumpster fire for a fantasy football team this year. It's the same conversation going on amongst a crew on an ICS about how to accomplish the mission. On that note, ask the original Weasels back in Vietnam if they would've rather unloaded the "noise maker" in favor of more gas. And those gibs literally mean Extra Weight Onboard (EWO).

What he said, and if you're on orders for more than 30 days before you get hurt they CANNOT take you off orders.

As a Guardsman/Reservist on long-tour orders, if you get hurt while on orders and it's determined to be a Line Of Duty injury (VERY IMPORTANT), you'll stay on orders until you're healed.

Fellas, I said systemically, we as a service, should weigh the desires of the officer lower than the performance/potential of the officer and the needs of the service. Good or not, this is what we do in all things... Further, it is an incorrect assumption that the board can choose to promote or not promote any individual officer. We don't know the cutoff, the number to be promoted, or any of that data. We simply score the record as it sits. We do not know that all 7.5's get promoted and 7.0's do not. So we cannot just give every letter writer a 6.5 to ensure we honor the wishes of that officer above all other criteria. We also ensure every record gets a fair shake with the split system to resolve such differences in scores. It would be a shame if a board member saw the letter as the first thing in the pile and scored 6.5 and didn't even look at the rest of the record. Same with please promote me--should member just score 10.0 without looking at the rest of the record? Of course not. So..the officer's DESIRES as written in a letter to the board are of LESS concern than the rest of the record. I never said the service should promote someone who doesn't want promotion. I said that person's desires were weighed as equal to someone who DID want promotion but had a lousy record. I also said I don't remember ever hearing that a letter writer was forced to accept promotion. I'm also saying that if you permit someone to DQ himself before consideration that's a bad thing. Look at the bigger picture for a second. The up or out system has a few drawbacks. But it also makes long term career paths possible, ensures a quality force, and attracts the determined, adventerous, hungry kind of person we want to attract into Service. Do you want to serve in an organization that doesn't care about career paths and individual growth? That's the postal service or DMV, or any other civil bureaucracy. Up or out makes room for younguns. It sustains the all-volunteer aspect (you can still refuse promotion). By ensuring EVERY record gets looked at at specific intervals we try to ensure the best performers who demonstrate the potential to serve in the higher grade get a fair shake. Im sure some of these concepts are also codified in the officer promotion reg. Does SOS not cover the promotion process anymore? Don't you get to score actual records and discuss all these theories in class? It used to be so. Probably have some federally-mandated social justice training instead. PM me if you want to tell me I'm a f.u.c.k.in' idiot. Definitely PM me with your thoughts after you sit a board or two.