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If I had a nickel every time I saved a student from a murder/suicide....

I was in the last class at -6 PIT to have to demonstrate TAC for msn qual. By the time I drove back to DLF , it was nixed from the syllabus and never taught it to T-6 studs. Didn't think there was much to it but your point is noted, T-6 PIT circa 2010 had hella more washouts than the hamburger helper factory they got going on today. I'm a 38 IP these days, so it's a bit easier to tell no slack to someone without getting someone triggered, though it's starting to happen too. I'm afraid they're softening up things here too. But the AF has a production crisis they say, so standards will come down. My conscience is clear though, I document everything, and I'm 100% batting average on students I knew weren't gonna pass the B-course and got sent anyways. 2 of them in the 4 years I've been on this side of the house. One 15C and a 22. Waste of taxpaying dollars, but beats a class A, especially in the latter. I still keep the HUD tapes of the TP stall in the pattern the day I saved his life the first time (I saved his life a second time a month later) as a momento. The AF doesn't listen.

I'm doing about 60 in a 45 on Beale, and go beak-to-beak with a mil cop. No indication on my radar detector, however. I see the brake lights, and he reverses. I immediately pull over. He comes to the window: "Sir, I had you doing 61 in a 45" (I guess he had a good eyeball... pretty accurate). Me: "I'd like to see your radar screen, because my radar detector never went off." Him: "Sir, radar detectors are not allowed on Beale" Me: "While that may be true, I'd like you to explain to my commander... and yours... how you got me doing 61 mph, using an X-band radar that didn't activate my radar detector." Him (flustered and agitated): "Have a nice day, sir", and walks off.

Reading this makes my nugget hurt and makes me thankful I'm on a stand alone Guard base. Knowing almost every SP by name is great...especially when you leave your ID in the computer. In 17 years on the same base, I have never seen/heard of cars being searched on the way out of base. Hell they cant even write tickets. This just made me all the more pissed off during a recent visit to an AD base. One particular night after a long debrief, I ended up having to play their mickey mouse game of a car search while trying to leave base. They didn't seem impressed with all the red solo cups of jack n' cokes in the van, but didn't fuck with us for them...so that was nice.

All the F-69 ANG units have 5 open ARTS and a few AGR's to fill.

I always viewed the ELP as an energy management maneuver, which is what it is. It is also a judgment test as well as stick and rudder skills. Sad that they want to take that out.

Yes and no. You still have to get hired by a Sq/CC. He has to like you enough to accept you into his organization. No, it's not like applying to some primo F-69 guard unit, but still, don't approach it like they can't not hire you. And yes, guys have been fired from Cat E jobs for getting hired and then being slugs. Here's the kicker: Like I wrote in another thread, if you're moving to airline base housing in DFW, ATL, or DEN, then good luck. They can't have 6 ALOs for one high school, and you may not want to drive 3 hours to the high school they assign you when you have to see a kid in person. If you're going to commute from somewhere less saturated with airline guys, then there probably is room for you.

Yeah but you have to apply and be accepted to those, right? The Navy Reserve used to (no longer) have a "coloring book" program where you could do IRR/VTU and still earn points (No Cat E equivalent position required)

Every word above is 100% accurate for my ARC unit as well.

ARC manning is worse than AD right now and I'm not even talking ART manning. Just manning in general. Why? Mostly the same reasons as our AD counterparts with the added joy of juggling a civilian job that pays more to work less with an ARC job with an AD-esque ops tempo. Lots of AD folks have been using the ANG as a stepping stone to the airlines and once they've gotten comfy on 2 or 3 year FO pay at United or Delta they decide they want to go IRR. Most of our guardsmen who do decide to stay to 20 are pulling the handle right at 20 versus going to 28 years as a Lt Col as many have done in the past. There is no commitment for most of our guardsmen and there is no incentive bonus to stay. Instead, all of the good deals are long gone and we get thrown alternating CENTCOM and PACOM rotations to fill that have a lot of people deploying twice per year in addition to trying to maintain mission ready status at about 1/4 the cost of our AD counterparts.

TR positions are harder to get than full time these days due to the preference for airline work. Lot of turnover and burnout in the full time cadre, which affects the ability to process the TR needs. The ART hiring is a complete dumpster fire. Nobody that can actually get hired by an airline (or wants to) takes one. Which no offense to the legitimate ART guy who has a family setup where he doesn't need the money or whatever, but what ends up happening in the aggregate is that it attracts the very agents you don't want in unit leadership in the first place. But whatever, whoever wants to get umbraged about that statement be my guest. Go take it up with AFRC, they're the ones with the 55% manning command wide in ART hiring. Dont shoot the messenger type of thing. AGRs are slightly better but still in historically atrocious low numbers. The airline dudes reeeeally dont want to touch until AFTER they get the airline number, since nobody is gonna release you to curtailment outside 18-24 months from your original contract, so you'd be an idiot to do that if your goal is airlines. The problem is that it has become a real revolving door of people, some who don't give a shit about the job, and TRs suffer. But that's my bias as a career AGR who takes pride in taking care of my TRs and happy to act as kevlar on their behalf with a smile on my face. I just don't appreciate people shitting where I eat, but admittedly that's the 1% that makes the rest of us look bad. My advice to you, look for non-TFI units if you can help it and damn make sure and ask about involuntary individual mobilizations. Stay the eff away from those two, especially the latter, if you can help it. Good luck.

My Secret War, Richard S Drury, A1 pilot in 'nam. Quick read, talks about night dive bombing, uncle ho's trail, uniform standards, awards and decs writing, and retention issues. All of our favorite things.

Well at least you've been consistent over the last 10 years.

This is the part where regAF guys don't have the full picture when it comes to retention. See, when 19th went to HAF and told them to carve AETC out of the bullshit make-work so-called deployments that the USAF historically and institutionally has used to justify its money-footprint and existence to the Joint Chiefs and the Congress, they scored a win for their fiefdom. But there isn't much understanding around regAF low level circles as to where that pound of flesh was gonna be taken from. As you're finding out, that's coming out of ARC, which you folks commonly know as the AFRC and ANGB Command/Bureau. Picture this little happy Bob Ross winter scene for a second: You're a regAF dude. You're happy to get paid O-3/4 money with tax free 25% of your check on the 15th and 30th and get free medical, plus 30 days vaction a year you can't use but at least you're banking. Then regAF grinds you to a pulp. You try to hold on to the end of the commitment but say fuck it, I'm out. So you look up the hill to the AFRC/ANG. While you're tripping over yourself to submit that palace chase application to the Dementors at AFPC, 19th is scoring a big win on the QOL by shielding their boys from CENTCOM's rent-seeking combat desk 179s/364s non-flyings' to Bullshitstan. But by the time you get out it's ripe time for AFRC to get hit with the new word of the day: involuntary individual mobs for all TRs. Coincidence? If only. So now here you are, happy wife happy life, never gonna do that again and wham! You get hit with the very tasker you quit Active Duty over in the first place, while the peers you literally left behind in Active Duty are shielded from it. Which is noted, you're going in their place after all. And you potentially lose your CJO at Delta for all your troubles. How you like them apples? Think I'm kidding? Like you said yourself, "not asked, but fvcking handed". Try hiring folks in that environment, plus a double commute. So that's what's going on right now in the ARC. Caveat emptor.

Howdy folks! The 121st FS, DCANG is holding a board this spring. Expect the application to be posted by the end of the week on our career page: https://www.113wg.ang.af.mil/Resources/Careers.aspx We'll close out the application period in April, and hold the board in May. Hope to see a few of you there!