Leaderboard

What's the story on this dude?

Ditto. I don't know if this generation of AF "leaders" / other public officials (very last boomers / oldest Gen X'ers) desperately trying to seem cool realizes that Millenials can smell their cheesy lame attempts at "connection" a mile away. My oldest is amongst those oh so ironic sensing cohort and I may be naive but I have her respect by not attempting to be just like them, you know young kids, but I act like an adult, reasonably mature and not ham handily trying to emulate their idioms, mannerisms, humor or fads. Unsurprisingly, I am treated well by her and her friends because more than anything people respect honesty. This goes not just for AF leadership but other public officials: people (especially young people and those serving in a defined hierarchy) want to respect the person in charge more than they want to identify with them on a personal level. You can't respect someone that is not genuine and honest, you may not like someone but if they can have your respect and loyalty if they are honest, capable and moral. Give them reasons to respect you rather than reasons to like you.

LOL. Don't forget, "Thank you for your service." This killed me.

Since the daily picture thread is gone this is the next best place to put this. Looks like the Midwest is getting screwed with the latest weather system.

The only reason the F-16s are at Holloman is because the NM congressional faction blew their lid when the Raptors were fragged to get moved to Tyndall. A token F-16 presence there assuaged their fears of that shithole drying up completely so I doubt they’ll be leaving. Airspace can be awesome. Supersonic everywhere. Can also suck ass since White Sands Missile Range owns it and can steal unreasonable chunks. Town is dreadful. Nothing to do. Liquor licenses are held hostage by the town elders so very few around, at least as of a couple years ago.

Strictly responding to the "microaggression" apology at the Academy. Senior military leaders do not know how to respond to social media criticism and demands. The conventional thinking is to immediately appease to the younger generation and the social media witch hunts because it will win internet points and avoid online backlash. This method is effective in temporary quelling the social media faux outrages (often not the core audience), but in the long run it erodes good standard and discipline, esprit de corps, and effective military command and control. The correct thing to do is simple, everything in the military comes back to the standards/core values. Defend the standards and the core values and you will eventually be absolved from the internet accusations (whether or not the person has the courage to do this is a different topic for discussion). Mattis is the only person I've seen unaffected by the social media and traditional media attacks. He receives generally favorable supports from military members and civilian alike, because he stick to his core values/principles, simple and truthful with his answers, and his body of work gives him credibility. When I think of the SECDEF I think of lethality, he only cares about lethality (have stated many times) and it's my job to support his priority. I cringe when I see senior managers create selfies and mannequin challenges (Debbie James) or the NSA Director wearing t-shirt and mom jeans in Vegas (Keith Alexander) in an effort to connect with the younger crowds.

Is it considered a micro aggression or a macro aggression if I tell someone to grow a pair of goddamn balls. Probably highly offends the gender neutral sensibility as well. I vote Democrat lately and consider myself somewhat left of center. This is the kind of thing that gives liberals such a bad name amongst conservatives. These people need to understand how to be progressive without being such pussies about it.

All "volunteer" force....

Is "ecosystem" the new "synergy"? YGBSM USAF Problem statement as written by career execs: "The Air Force's damaged aircrew ecosystem must be healed through stable and predictable funding along with incorpartion of advanced technologies to enable long-term systemic recovery required to FLY, FIGHT & WIN!" If it were written by Pilots: "Increase our budget so we can pay our pilots more and improve technology that will make our pilots' lives easier; both initiatives will increase our combat capability".

Why, thank you!

Fuse...you need to update your profile pic...that's not 737 landing gear!

At least in my unit, the person doing the certifications/authorization is often at a desk, in an secluded office, clicking "approved" 100 times per day. There is no reasonable method to ensure validity of requests because you're likely to piss off 99 people to catch the one unscrupulous individual who doesn't have an alibi. We've simply added complexity without value.

Sweet, so you're saying we're back to a one step process to get paid for UTA/AFTPs? I miss the days of the paper 105 cards (and paper vouchers). So simple and so easy! I would slightly retract my statement that nothing, over the course of my 16 years in the ANG, has made it easier on the part-timer. But in this case we're simply removing an obstacle that was needlessly put there and still are not back to how easy it was with a 105.

Dude in my unit got divorced many years ago and signed away rights to half of his “AD military retirement” in the process. Immediately after the divorce went final, he separated and joined the ANG. He retired as a technician with something like 7298/7300 pts. Ex-box is getting zero. Well played.

Shoot, I had a single digit PCSM and am pretty sure my PT score is 10 points better now than 15 years ago.

2015 (381) and 2016 (345) rotc numbers for comparison.

By burying their heads in the sand and pretending there isn't a problem? Don't have to fix what you don't admit is broken. You already have some LTs from rotc waiting for nearly a year to enter active duty or spending a ridiculous amount of time on casual status. We have some of the highest paid gate guards, bus drivers, marshalers that can't marshal, etc. as a result of casual. I'm a little more concerned that the average pcsm of a pilot select Cadet is down 14 points, GPA down 0.13, Pfa by 1.5. CSOs are down by similar numbers as well. Do y'all think that there will be a noticeable difference in quality of the average stud? Or a higher washout rate as a result? Obviously these #s aren't the best metric in the world to predict flying ability but I would expect to see some future correlation.

643 pilot selects from ROTC this year vs. 345 two years ago... any idea how they plan to push this many pilots through when there is already a massive backlog? Short of cutting down UPT or adding another training base I'm not seeing how this is going to be possible.

So true man.....small data point but A1 just swiped all of our "open" full time positions and voila are now reporting us from "less than 50% manned" to fully green on full time manning....

Pretty sure I remember him self-IDing as a troll last spring sometime.

Tucson is better, delay as long as you can to come here. The UofA coeds clothing will be getting skimpier as the months pass. We travel more during the B course and we have a decent amount of dissimilar training. We've taken students to New Orleans, Klamath, Portland, Key West, San Diego and Nellis just to name a few. Kelly is an improvement on Holloman though ,as far as jets, we've taken delivery of at least 8 Hill F-16's with plans for more. Kelly has some limitations, namely they come to Tucson to drop bombs.

Too late to change my B-course from Holloman to Kelly?

You can't have one without the other--progressives own the overly done PC/microaggression bullshit. You don't have to like it, but don't be so naive about it.

Curb your ISIS enthusiasm. Why did I laugh so hard at this?

I get it...will you answer one question? Are smart folks at least trying to tell them the approach is wrong?

I much preferred the days when Academy staff used macroaggressions to show cadets what worthless maggots they were enroute to earning a commission and respect.

This is sad to read about what could be such a great job....however as I take stock of things and look back, when I was a Lt, many of the D-bag capt/maj types we all hated and hoped would never be in charge are now wearing eagles and stars. Most of the guys I looked up to for their skill, attitude and bromanship are out altogether or in the guard/reserves. Sadly, from a line flying FGO perspective 10 years later, many of the young guys being pushed and groomed for success are the ones that are simply going to carry on the current problems as they look to maintain the system that got them where they are. Of course there are exceptions on both sides but it’s a damn shame.

wasn't keflavik the base in red storm rising that got hit by the long range russian bombers? what a great book. rip tom clancy

Agreed but the MX and sustainment cost of the B-2 is prohibitive given the small production run and consequently low parts availability from premature truncation of the program. Didn't realize the B-21 had a lower range unrefuelled than the B-2, that's UNSAT. If anything, give the next bomber greater range to keep from telegraphing its ingress when it ARs pre-strike and push the tankers further back from the beginning of the A2AD area

Choo Choo

Round & round we go! My crusty old dad was a career F-4 pilot. When I became OG/CC, he asked me, "What the hell is an OG/CC?" When I explained he told me that was a new one on him and said that used to be the wing DO.

false. the air force has been very successfully producing pilots...for a long time. production is not a "significant part of the problem". that type of thinking IS the problem. if a water pipe in my house breaks i don't call the water company and tell them they need to pump more water to my house. "you're not producing enough water!" it's ridiculous when you think of it that way. someone needs to stand up with some cojones and say "no we cannot fix this with production. production is not the problem. and we will make unintended problems trying to increase production on 50 year old aircraft or cutting syllabus sorties." but that's not built into how we think in the military. every problem is "solvable".

I really don’t understand this concept in the first place. Let’s see if I have this straight.....The USAF is going to send a guy to the airline side to get training on an airframe they both operate. Presumably this will be on the 767 unless they are planning on sending new Lts straight into C-40s and C-32s, or unless United has some super secret F-16s on order. Once the guy has his type, he heads over to the AF side to complete his 10 year commitment. Now the airline gets him back with 10 years of seniority and likely has to re-train him in new equipment because they no longer operate the type he was on, or his seniority allows him to hold something else. What’s the upside for the airline? Think the union might want a say in this? This whole concept seems like a pipe dream dreamt up by some shoe clerk who literally has no fucking clue how airlines work. I imagine airline management laughed in the CSAF’s face when this was brought up in their little meeting a while back.

“There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.”

And everything old...is new again.

I know that some multi-wing bases actually had an "Air Division" that was the overall headquarters and support organization for the base.

Yeahbut...

I'm beginning to wonder if the decision to eventually enact stop loss hasn't already been made. Could be the reason why retention hasn't been a focus, because they know deep down they will retain us anyway. This way they save some money regardless of what it will do to morale.

My pilot training commitment was up in 1998. I aligned my tuition assistance and PCS commitments with my pilot training one so I had options. Airline opportunities were good from 1996-2001. Plenty of good dudes got out and plenty stayed in. There was a lot discussion about quality of life, pay, AF bullshit, bad leadership, retirement benefits, etc. The biggest factor impacting pilot retention is airline hiring demand, period. The airline job and lifestyle are very appealing to many people. I stayed in because I was good at it, I enjoyed it, and I didn't want to drag a black suitcase behind me on the way to a hotel for 10-14 days a month. I liked flying in the Air Force and the additional money and free time weren't that important to me. I decided to stay in before the bonus was offered. I took it, but I didn't stay in because of it. 9/11 changed everything for me. We saw many people quit their airline jobs to return and serve. After 9/11 I decided to continue serving until I was told my talents and service were no longer needed. We are a nation at war with an enemy determined to kill our families and destroy our way of life. I serve because someone needs to defend this great nation from the evil assholes that will attack us whenever they can. I'm still good at my job, I still enjoy it and not many people have the opportunity to do what I do. I enjoy taking the fight to the enemy and kicking the shit out of him on a regular basis. We are on the cusp of a big airline hiring surge and we will see retention drop. Good people will do what is best for them. All of those who leave service for other options should be genuinely thanked for their service and assisted with the transition to civilian life. Most will be combat hardened veterans who have earned the respect of a grateful nation and Air Force. They are not "quitters" or disloyal, they are incredible men and women who volunteered to serve honorably and have more than paid back what they owe for the training, resources and experience the AF invested in them. They are also not all disgruntled, or are quitting because senior leadership has lost their minds, or they are in mourning because their traditions have been ripped from them. We shouldn't attempt to broadly characterize why some don't stay and we shouldn't broadly categorize why people stay in. The reasons are complex and usually based on the individual's preferences more than institutional advantages or shortcomings. We should not tolerate talk and actions related to post-service employment at work. Do the f*ing job you are paid to do and plan for your post-service job on your own time. Stop the airline conversations in the pilot shop and make sure people are earning their damn paychecks. Flying hours and modernization will continue to be cut. Afghanistan and deployments will wind down. Staffs will be reduced. School opportunities will continue to be cut. Congress and POTUS will continue to cut defense spending and expect reduced costs. The all-time high retention rates we have seen will drop and we will have pilot production and retention challenges. Our all volunteer force will step up and meet the demands our nation asks us to meet. It will all work out.

Nobody cares what you talk about on your airline job. You should not be paid to work on your next job while at work on active duty. Do that on your own time. Yeah, yeah, we have transition programs. Do it then too. It is incredible how many people bitch about how hard it is to find the time to knock out AAD/PME/DTS/CBTs/fill in the blank additional duties and how much is distracts from their -1 studies, warfighting focus and professional development, but think it is perfectly fine to surf the net, network and bullshit about their ATP and interview. Make up your ing minds. But make sure you do the job the taxpayer expects you to do first. When I was a Captain and encountered pilots chatting about their airline prep in the pilot office, I would give them a no-notice ground eval to check their systems knowledge and combat readiness. It was amazing how fast that reduced the around time and set the standard that we actually focused on at work. Remember, while you are planning your next career, there are plenty of other people in the squadron that will be there for a long time and could actually benefit from your experience more than hearing the details of how and why you are separating.

I think many people are missing the point to a degree. Yes, this is a retention problem. However, there is also a production problem, too, because retention has gotten so bad. This is proposal (of several hopefully) to fix part of the entire problem. And it isn't focusing on culture, support, dwell, or money because this is AETC, the command responsible for producing pilots, trying to figure out how to increase production. Obviously things need to get better, but let's not shit on the people looking at different ways to fix a significant part of the problem.