Leaderboard

Well this post didn't age well...

You’re 100% spot on. I spoke with Chief Wright recently and was underwhelmed. He genuinely believes that quote. Results don’t matter, only attitude. It’s based on the theory that a proper attitude will eventually produce results, but he can’t articulate that and within a bureaucracy lacking accountability the quote is correct on its surface. Gents, the USAF will not improve the way it treats people. It doesn’t care about you. They hear your comments, and don’t care enough to pay you better or change their policies. People on these forums are generally aircrew with a culture of caring about results. The Air Force does not care about your results and they don’t care that you care about results. They just want you to act happy and smile and have a thin waist, they do not care if you lose wars. The sooner you grasp the nature of our service culture the sooner you can be at peace with your decisions within it, or your decision to leave it.

This seems to be the AF’s official position on the pilot shortage. I have never understood it. Guardian nailed it with “best way to fill a bucket with holes is to pour more water in.” Looking at this from a money standpoint, I don’t see how the AF gets away with it. They’re going to spend millions over 2-3 years to make a single rookie pilot, but they can’t spend more than 35K a year to retain an experienced one. If I was in the CSAF’s shoes, I would march straight to the hill and demand a revision to the law to let me pay my people more. “I’m going to dial down production, and use the extra resources to retain. This is a money allocation problem, not an ‘I need more money problem.’ It makes no sense to spend 50 times the money to make a product than you could spend to retain one with 10 times as much experience.” If that could be realized, a six figure bonus would be reasonable. Make that an option, I bet you’ll see a lot more folks consider staying in. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Please don’t rush to judgment on the Mueller report, people! We need to wait and hear the opinions of Alyssa Milano and Robert De Niro before we can draw a final conclusion! 😂

I love to know the best way to fix a bucket with many holes in it is to pour more water in.

Agree, as someone approaching the next higher age bracket, I can attest to how much aging occurs from 30-39. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s not like Congress is on board to pay more either.

Not sure this invalidates his argument. Are you really measuring VO2 max with anaerobic events (like max piss-poor reps in a minute)? And he’s right: the age bands are ridiculous. A 39 year-old is leaps and bounds different than a 30 year-old. Can’t even imagine what the poor 49 year-old bastards go through.

I really hate the age categories. The current Army test changes the age standards every four years, ie 18-21, 22-25, etc. It also counts push ups, sit-ups and the run equally.

Depending on how this is played, could be a HUUUGGEE gift for 2020. People that pull this shit cheat though, and I’ve heard some strange things are going down in FL right now. The Demo’s have proved they are a bunch of whiney bitches grasping at straws with no new or real ideas (of this world) that Americans aren’t buying, “Hate Trump” isn’t a platform, but it seems to be theirs, keep it up, hope they do! Banning planes is a good idea.

Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Yeah ask around for sure. I’m curious about why they are saying that. Hasn’t been what I’ve seen at all, and without proof of a reg stating CAT Es are different, I’d have to assert that we are protected just the same. But it is a weird little niche of the AF, so keep digging just in case. That’s why I put in the call to AFRPC. Good luck with the transition. If you are coming in as an additional duty ALO, it’s a quick and painless process. If you are coming in as a primary duty ALO...well, brace yourself. And plan for plenty of time to get transitioned over Let me know if you have any other questions. Overall I’ve found it to be a fairly enjoyable job. Most of the kids are sharp and motivated. Once you understand that you are now pretty much on your own regarding the AF queep and readiness tasks, and figure out how to navigate all of that, it’s a pretty good way to get to retirement.

VR. That what is replacing experience. That and the “we will accept all risks”

As a primary duty CAT-E ALO, I can tell you what I've heard at a very recent area meeting regarding promotions: Three big things are required to get a DP to O-5: 1) Participation. Min points for a good year is 50, but they want to see more activity. I think 70-90 was thrown out there. As a minimum. More is better, and it is easy to find extra ways to contribute and earn those extra points. Just takes a little time and motivation. 2) PME. Has to be done or you are dead in the water. 3) Leadership positions. In the ALO world, you need to hold at least the Deputy LOD title to show you are doing/seeking leadership stuff. In a real squadron I'd say this amounts to being an ADO or maybe a DO (that's probably a stretch though). If you meet these three requirements, you have a good chance of getting a DP, and for ALOs with a DP, promotion to O-5 has been 100%. If you want to get promoted, the ALO/USAFA team (at least in my region) wants to help you get promoted. If you do #2 above, they will help with #1 and #3. If you don't want to get promoted and just want to min run it, you can. I'm not sure where you heard sanctuary is different in the CAT E world, but I've talked with ALO leadership and a personnelist at AFRPC to confirm if or some reason I don't make 0-5, and I'm inside 2 years remaining, I can stay on, and I've been told this is the case by all. I'd need to see a reg that states CAT Es aren't the same as the rest of the AF regards to that if you've got it. Hope that helps.

Why would that matter? An F-22 Pilot is more valuable (money invested already/percentage of the force) in terms of retention than an Army pilot. Tactically, the Apache guy is worth his weight in gold in his role but the Raptor guy is a much rarer commodity and represents a much bigger loss when he isn’t retained.

Best early Sunday morning coffee time I've had in a very long time. Magnificent.

Keep the current test in place; eliminate the “minimum passing standards” for each event. All that matters is if you get above a 75. Unfortunately the fear among the generals is seeing a bunch of fats kids in their uniform, so therein lies the purpose of the waist measurement. There are multiple ways to skin the cat, and it all depends on what you think is the best way to achieve fitness; i.e. Running, weight training, or HIIT.

I would hope they would at least give you a few days notice. I don’t stress about the PT test but I avoid eating certain meals the night before and have a light breakfast. God forbid they popped me for a random PT test and I had the Mexican supreme meal #7 for dinner the night before or picked up a breakfast burrito with my morning cup of Joe. I would make it about 200 yards before I dropped my swishy shorts and called “weapons away” and “splash one”. Not to mention I tend to be a little errrrr “dehydrated” on Monday’s during football season when I’m not flying.

As someone who dreads every test...I hate this part most of all. "Welcome back from Thanksgiving leave... You have a PT test on Monday". "Christmas is on Monday this year, family day is Tuesday... You test on Wednesday" No thank you.

That's funny...I always look at the stuff that tries to explain what you actually did. Hmmm...always looking at the parts that "don't matter" (blonde, thin, firm boobs, thigh gap, rich, etc.). I really need to learn how to live. ~Bendy

Eh, I'll throw you a bone. The shape of the airfoil, camber, is only one factor in lift. Trying to explain lift only with Bernoulli's equation is overly simplistic. A high lift wing is going to have that text book curved top, flat bottom, since it is designed to be efficient while flying upright. As others have mentioned, aerobatic wings tend to be symmetrical. So how do they generate lift with a symmetric wing? Angle of attack. A high lift wing could fly inverted, but it won't be very efficient, requiring a greater angle of attack than if it were upright. Maybe this inverted angle of attack required exceeds the critical AOA, resulting in stall and a plane that cannot maintain level inverted, or maybe not. The T6A at ~220 knots level has a pitch roughly at 0° to maintain level. Inverted level is roughly 15° nose up, which is held there with forward stick pressure. Also, more AOA means more induced drag, requiring more thrust to maintain level flight. Don't think of the horizontal stab as providing lift for inverted flight though, think of it as a mechanism to set your AOA regardless of whether you are upright or inverted. For a symmetric wing, the level AOA upright vs inverted would be very similar. Lift is almost solely based on AOA in these wings. There's your 2 cent overview of inverted flight. Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators is a good read if you want to nerd out on aerodynamics, or you can just push the "I believe" button. Now for some homework... 1) how do some airplanes fly knife edge (90° bank) and still maintain level flight? 2) is flying level inverted the same as passing through inverted in a loop or barrel roll? Or is there another force to consider?

Putin is happy, and that's all that matters with this administration.