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Addressing the OP: If you thought the USAF screwed you over, just wait until you experience an airline during contract negotiations. It sounds like outside influences have been crafted your outlook for you. It may be completely true that you were actively screwed by the system, but getting bitter only means you're letting the system win. The airlines will happily assume the role of screwing you over if you let them. I can show you a large collection of 30-year widebody captains making millions of dollars who are thoroughly convinced they've been screwed by the system. They are no fun to be around. It's all perspective. Pick your's with care. Choose gratitude instead of trying to pinpoint who's screwing you over. The answer to that question will always be "someone and/or everyone". Conversely, if you focus on what you're grateful for, you'll find a lot of good things in life. Pick one, you can't focus on both. I punched at 17 years and joined the reserves for 3 years. Now I'm at a major airline. In all three of those locations it is VERY easy to look around and wonder why the grass isn't as green as advertised. Reality is that the grass on the other side is just a different kind of grass. Once you get into a new organization, you'll see all the warts. You get to decide if it's good or bad, but if you let the system decide, it'll definitely suck. Truths: The system (usaf or corporate) doesn't owe you anything. Your hard work will be overlooked, but it will craft your reputation among your peers. Once you're gone, the system won't care. Maximize your personal gain without screwing others over, ignore the BS, do your work will, keep your integrity in tact, find a niche you can enjoy. Focus on good things, and your next career will be great. Focus on the hate, and you'll hate it. It's a DAILY choice.

Hard to believe this was 12 years ago. For all of you out there deployed or remote standing watch...you are not alone, you are NOT forgotten. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. God Bless

Negative, that’s just the strawman thrown out by Putin simps to argue that the current Russian state poses no concern at all to Eastern Europe. Riga/Tallinn ≠ Paris. Trump is right that this is a European problem and NATO has atrophied. Europe needs to contribute more and some are starting, but one major weakness of the West is the DIB. We can’t print F-35s or munitions overnight. Our DIB is slow and obsessed with high end. Boeing is a shitshow. While we try to dig out of that hole, we shouldn’t just about-face and leave our NATO partners in the dust. Trump’s approach is anti-Teddy. Instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, Trump runs his mouth and serves up TACOs. Maybe it will work. Regardless of his style, appeasing totalitarian heads of state has proven to be as effective as pissing into hurricane-force winds.

Once again I'll disagree with Ratner and do it in a less verbose fashion. Finding the right guard/reserve unit is an absolute game changer. This isn't just work for everyone and it only takes one or two bad leaders on AD to be the difference from the best 20 years of your life to 10+ years of "fuck this shit..." I know a number of CAF dudes that have had similar experiences. I've been there myself. That being said, there are guard/reserve units that have all the things AD should have (good leaders, commaraderie, purpose etc.). Good luck.

Was #4 a photo chase?

One of the better uses of AI I have seen to date. Imagining the old lady as Congress. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DAuJ7XTnC/

Dibs

@fire4effect Lots of “credible” sources said the laptop was fake news. Lots of “credible” sources backed Russiagate. I’ve been around the block quite a bit in the terrorist killing world (as have many on here), and I’m calling complete bullshit on the whole thing. If a whole JOC watched DEVGRU execute a couple unarmed dudes who didn’t pose a threat at all, then we’ll be seeing war crimes charges and trials commencing soon. That hypothetical scenario is not something anyone (especially an E/young O) would walk away from unmolested (in the legal sense). Personally, I’ve been involved in four separate occasions where someone “credible” said something happened that was a complete lie. Thankfully every time there was data to prove them a liar and nobody got screwed.

Get out and go Guard or Reserve. I absolutely understand what you are saying...I saw it time and time again. Many times it is luck and timing other times it is the broken system that is our USAF. In UPT a dude in our sister class got a DUI AND tried to fight the cops, he still graduated top 3. He was also a complete Chode but he was an academy grad (as was his father), and a lot of senior people stepped in to influence the process. It was blatant and soured a lot of people. In other cases we see people like Fat Tony not only survive but thrive despite ruining careers and extreme narcissism. It is not fair. A CJO is a great thing for you and your family, a fresh start but I can almost guarantee you will see things in your airline career that will anger you and make you shake your head in disgust. Going Guard or Reserve can also serve as a fresh start, but you have to know you will find warts on that side of the fence. All of that being said, life is not fair...it just isn't and the sooner you accept that and make the best of where you are, the happier and likely more successful you will be. Good luck!

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Two words… Go Guard/Reserve. .you got 11 years invested don’t throw it away

Complete asshattery. How in the world do you say refused ILLEGAL orders is sedition?

keep telling yourself that. i only see one side offering peace plans.

I think a snapshot in time...and disappointing in many ways. Electing a communist mayor in NYC...an Attorney General in VA that no only called for KILLING his opponent, but also putting a bullet in the head of his opponents kids...that is the new DNC. I really wonder what will happen in the mid-terms with the DNC slipping so far left they are openly supporting socialism and in some cases communism. Seriously, the new leaders are FAR left lunatics. Nancy just tapped out, Schumer is on the ropes. Who is the leader of the DNC? Is it Jefferies? Pete? Come on... Kamala is talking about another run perhaps linked with AOC ("they" think they will win all 50 states with that combo....ummm yeah). Hating Trump is one thing, but is it enough for the rest of the country to go full retard?

I'm a retired old fart MSgt, got out at 21 mainly because I would never see another stripe, all my time was on the flightline, had a boss tell me all you did was deploy a bunch and do your job, never saw you at Sq parties or top 4 meetings. When I was stationed at Andrews, I was more an aircraft detailer than Crew Chief, I absolutely hated being there, hated the mission. Back in those days I could call my AFSC's manager at Randolph and ask for a PCS. He said you want Iceland, hell yes, I said just to get out of Washington DC. Guess what happened, I loved being in the USAF again. I think being in the Air Force is a lot like real estate, location, location, location. Before that I was ready to move on, get out and go home to Chicago and be a cop. I'm Sure glad I didn't do that. Now I'm semi-retired living the life in my mountain home in Colorado getting 4 checks monthly because I decided to stay in not go back to Chicago. 15 years is a bunch of years to walk away from, think really hard about it.

Yeah, Huggy said person, which excludes the need for a WSO..

Not getting caught diddling an E is a pretty low bar. Photo evidence submitted at Ratner's trial:

You're not necessarily leaving with nothing. You received skills/experience that landed you a CJO, hopefully with a legacy, which is a pretty amazing job. You also learned many skills that you probably don't even realize are skills because it's just normal amongst your peers in the military. Hopefully you also gained some great life experiences, friendships, etc... You should also be leaving with some TSP, so if you don't want to join the ANG/RES then you're not totally losing out there. If you want to join the ANG, the world is your oyster. Get into a squadron and seek opportunities outside of the base, we've had guys all over the place the last 10 years. We've sent IP's/FL's to overseas AD bases for 60-90 day stints. We've had a guy on MLOA from the airlines, in cush gig at USAFE for years. He keeps broadcasting other gigs that are available for the taking, shockingly no takers lol. We have another guy who just got back from Hickam, who only came home because he got a SQ/CC spot on base....his orders were indefinite. A few years ago they came around asking if anyone wanted to take three year orders at some pretty decent AD locations overseas (not today satan lol). Luck of the draw on getting "action," many of us are were in the same boat. I had a squadron mate who PCS'd to Luke a month before his squadron went to Desert Storm I. He then flew F-16 continuously, until 2015 and never once employed a weapon in combat. He had a 26 year career during near continuous combat operations and he only slung concrete at ranges in the U.S. We had an uncanny ability to end up in deployed locations during down times or where the ROE was so tight, we were just very expensive, high-speed cheerleaders. As to your job satisfaction, I understand that to an extent. It sucks to end up where you don't want to be, but as already stated, only you can control your attitude. As Rainman (don't say his name 2 more times lol) used to say, "bloom where you're planted." Frankly, I enjoyed my flying career in the military (Guard guy only because an mentor who was hosed by AD pushed me that way), but the more I learn, the more I get pissed about how many lives were lost (continue to be lost) and how much of our lives were wasted in the never ending quagmires. However, I have just learned to let it go, not worth dwelling on, life is too short! If you're the type that needs satisfaction from work, I have bad news, you probably won't find it flying 121. I find that work isn't where I want to seek satisfaction in life. I still strive for excellence and it's great to enjoy your job, but what I love about this gig is that it gives me an insane amount of time off, with plenty of money to do the things that really make me happy. I can work six days in a month and make more than I ever made as a 22 year LTC. That gives me plenty of time to go make up for lost time hanging family, flying my own planes and travel to places other than the green bean in yet another deployed shithole. Best of luck and thanks for attending my SocialDtalk.

SKIing...Spending Kids Inheritance.....

If the plane is carrying nukes and/or flying 40 hour missions, it should have a 2nd person. Pilot, CSO... even RPA pilot. Someone smart who can think and make solid decisions.

That sucks, but also only you can control your attitude. Go forward with life choosing a positive outlook and find something that gives you purpose/sense of accomplishment. The airlines are great for pay/benefits/QOL, but you will get zero feelings of accomplishment or satisfaction out of it. Your AF career should not define the rest of your life.

Haven't y'all heard?!?

Hard to stay in position as #4 in a T-38 when the formation is in burner.

You're touching on a related issue. As time goes by more and more roles and platforms will be automated/uncrewed especially in the military given the advantages and reduced risks to our personnel. Fewer military pilots available for the airlines overall. Airlines will arguably be the last things to go single pilot but so many other lower-level jobs in aviation will be automated. The CFI pyramid scheme is just going to get worse on the civilian side with things like pipeline patrol eventually gets taken over by drones. A few on here are old enough to remember writing checks all the time and that pilots built time back in the day in beat up twins flying checks in bulk back to the bank. A lot of kids now are staring at 6 figure loans with no real way to pay them off and AI/automation is already on its way taking the entry level jobs across a whole range of industries. My biggest concern for the B-21 is will we build enough of them? For the B-21 and its overall contribution and value to national defense the expense of putting in two pilots is relatively small IMHO.

And then there was one. "Hal stop turning into the sun!"

This is the part where Trump's infantile ego pushes him to stupidity that will cost Republicans everything. I had hoped he could at least make it to the midterms. Oh well.

I know, and am friends with, several great dudes who are WSOs. They’re also smart and very capable human beings. That said, get rid of their positions in totality as aircraft advancements allow. There’s good reason we don’t have FEs on airliners anymore or navs on almost all aircraft models. There was absolutely a time and place, but those days are long gone. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole. They all need to accept this fact and move on… retire/get out early and transition to civ employment Shift to a different AFSC USAF reduce WSO production commensurate with current WSO-required aircraft retirements Stop trying to stupidly argue WSOs are required on new aircraft

Who puts it together, the LPA?😁

I could be pissed and resentful that the Air Force came after me for an accusation that every judge or JAG in the process saw as obviously absurd. It cost a lot of money and it put my family through quite a bit. Or I could be thankful that I made my stupid mistake in 2015 instead of 2007, when the Air Force was balls deep in the "women never lie about rape" narrative. I'd probably still be in jail if it had been in that era. I choose the latter. Most people on earth would cut off their right arm to be where I am professionally, financially, and medically. Timing is Everything It's better to be lucky than good There is no justice I wish I remember who the first person to share those rules with me was, because while they aren't a moral framework, they've always been a quick antidote to any potential pity-parties I've thrown for myself. You're never going to have men and women working together without fraternization. I know you know that too. I wasn't mad they went after me, but the mock indignation was pathetic.

😂 same...I literally laughed in his face and said 'no thanks'

LOL…he’s old…and I’m just happy to be still a Living Dino in Baseops. Huggy2 is just my younger Bro.

Thank you for the advice. I'm not freaking out about it since I've been expecting this for a while based on my OPBs with no strats/awards. The year will pass either way so might as well do my best, I'd hate to be a quitter (no hate on people with different priorities). A lot of the boxes I'm trying to "check" (fitness, masters, IP) are personal goals anyway and it's just lucky they might make me more competitive on promotion boards. I do have about 3 years left on my ADSC so the difference in pay will run into the 5 figures, plus I'd like to say I left on my own terms rather than being forced out.

This is probably the most unintentionally funny thing I have read on Base-Ops in quite some time. You win the Rodney Dangerfield award.

@TheLaughingCow Consider not caring about any of this, start making connections in the guard and working on your airline apps, laugh all the way to the bank in a year or so. Obviously continue to care about flight performance/the mission/the bros, just not about the rat race.

@disgruntledemployee Well a WaPo reporter claims DEVGRU was ordered to execute unarmed people (and did), so it must be true. You actually believe this bullshit?

I left active duty decades ago after getting hosed bigger than Dallas and getting the shoulder shrug when I asked someone to explain what happened. It was a bitter pill to swallow but the AF paid for my education, my training, and gave me job experience that I could use elsewhere. I initially went full time with the Reserves then got hired on with the airlines, went part time, still got promoted, and retired years later. Not having to move every 3-4 years, I got to pick where we live and 25 years ago became part of a wonderful small town. I didn't have too worry about the next job, the next promotion, the next school, or what the AF might do to me next. Even with getting hosed on active duty and going through 9/11, faux bankruptcy, age 65, real bankruptcy, and a couple mergers at the airline, I'm retiring in 9 months with more money than I'll ever spend. Revenge may not be the best word but success is the best form of it. I still look back at getting screwed over as a personal insult but, in reality, I'm far better off than had I stayed in. So, the point of all this is you have skills that the AF is throwing away. Take those skills elsewhere and you can be quite successful and happy with your life. Best of luck to you.

Lol, that post wasn't for you. And not just because I didn't include any pictures. You're more of a "color inside the lines" guy. Nothing wrong with that, the military needs guys like you more than it needs guys like me. But our disgruntled poster here is either a "why do things that way when it doesn't make sense" type of guy, or he just expects his rewards to be a direct reflection of his efforts. The military has never and will never be a great place for those type of people.

Absolutely talk to the Guard. You can pick mission within reason. Try for a different mission set. ANG removes many of the active duty pain points and allows you to keep earning time toward retirement.

👆 what Huggy said. F-35 sorties from Israel were probably 6-8 hours, while US B-2 sorties were 37 hours. You need a second person just to cross check what’s going on after you exceed the normal crew duty day. To your point, AMC has discussed single pilot ops in the Tanker fleet. Most here on this forum declared that to be a bad idea. You can do any mission with one human in the cockpit. The latter part of my AF career was in Cyber, and I have seen what happens when technology fails or is denied/degraded/disrupted. That is why I would push to have any rated position on a B-21 and why I am skeptical of the reliability of CCAs.

for sure get out, go airlines, and part time guard/reserve. luck and timing affects us all. move forward and don't look back life is too short to be miserable.

For any young readers seeing this, I will say a lot depends on the community you go to, the average leadership in that community, etc etc. We all complain about the same things (aircrew have a masters degree in sport bitching), but in the end I don’t personally know a single pilot who has left the AF with extreme dissatisfaction. Obviously it happens, but I do not think it’s the norm. I think it’s fairly normal to be glad you’re getting out at that specific point in life, but don’t mistake that for equating to “it was all terrible, I hated every minute, and it was totally not worth my time.” I’m excited to be done soon and fully transition to”phase 2” of life, but in spite of the BS that drives me crazy, the last ~20 years has been phenomenal overall and I have no ragrets.

Definitely recommend getting out. Like others said its an awesome new chapter and its up to you on how you look back. Accept the dogshit but embrace the good (people, good trips, etc.). Don't try and paint it perfect. You are gonna find a lot of people are having a similar experience. There is a 311 page thread about what's wrong with big blue.

I felt similarly on my way out. Almost a decade later I'm grateful for the training that's enabled me to go out to civilian life and make more money than I ever thought was possible. Once it started to stack up, it got much easier to look back without resentment.

The AFGSC/CC said “Unleashing the Raider’s full potential demands a complex blend of skills: airmanship, weaponeering, electromagnetic spectrum operations, sensor management, real-time battle management and agile replanning in combat.“ Could pilots go to EWO school? Sure. Do they want to? Hell no. It makes more sense to have two aviators working together providing different skill sets rather than having two people with the same training on the airplane, or making a pilot go through another year of training to be a pissed of PWSO.

Sorry to take us off topic, but if anyone here hasn't read Hauling Checks by Alex Stone they should.

No need, I'll take this one.