Scooter14
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Posts posted by Scooter14
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How many foxbat-esque supposed world beating weapon systems have to be exposed as dogshit before we start to understand that corrupt communist dictatorships massively inflate their military capes?
These keep the military industrial complex going so they will probably continue to exist.
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That's a difficult read.
It’s horrifying yet it keeps happening.
Nuke tests in the ‘50s
Agent Orange
Depleted Uranium
Burn Pits
Artillery that causes CTE
I’m sure I missed some. It’s maddening.
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I just can’t understand why people don’t want to sign up…
https://dnyuz.com/2023/11/05/a-secret-war-strange-new-wounds-and-silence-from-the-pentagon/
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On the bright side, the Captain and FO now have a good “Tell me about a time…” story on their next interview.
Indeed.
However, it might be a little awkward if they are Alaskan airlines interview…
Alaskan interviewer – “Tell me about a time you faced a conflict or dispute with a crewmember in the aircraft and how did you resolve it?”
Well ok, there was this one time back in October of 2023 when I was flying for Horizon and we had a jupseater from Alaskan show up…Do you need me to keep going or should we just move on?
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[mention=2076]HuggyU2[/mention] or [mention=1097]Scooter14[/mention]
Did I win anything good?
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Somewhere between “we are all gonna die tomorrow” and “nothing to see here, everything is fine” is the truth.
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Yes. Please start quantifying and tracking gender based performance so we can identify our shortfalls.
Once it all gets averaged out we should be able to identify the truly superior gender and place others in appropriate roles. That should end well. /s
divide and conquer ….
The last line is my favorite…
“One team, one fight!”
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Life free or die, baby.
Seriously, New Hampshire is awesome. Skeptical of government but with functioning schools. Plus, bleeding trees for a living sounds great.
Gotcha. My sarcasm detector has been intermittent lately. I’ll get it fixed.
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Can’t prove the counterfactuals but…
But seriously, the real problem in the union is New Hampshire. That place is horrific. Stay far away. Seriously, not just saying that so there’s more maple sugar trees for me. Really.
Please explain
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Its the daily grinding against the densest bureaucracy imaginable.
This was my causal factor.
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I get what you're saying, and agree to an extent. But having lived both lives, I understand how much better it can be. When I was full time, I didn't realize how much it consumed my life. We give up things that the vast majority of the U.S. couldn't fathom, because we think it's normal...it is not.
I don't shit on them for staying, you're right, someone has to do it...or they could rotate to the airline then back onto orders as desired. Shit will get done eventually. However, I'll certainly show them how much better my life is now vs. when I was full time. Lots of squadron mates who said they'd never go to the airlines, are now at the airlines and are kicking themselves for not going earlier.
100%.
I think we are saying the same thing in different ways.
I also didn’t realize how much being a fulltimer was consuming me until I left…and my wife and kids told me how much happier I was when I got back from trips. That was eye opening for me as well.
I’m happy to talk to Active Duty folks about the Guard. I’m happy to talk to Full timers about the airlines. My QOL definitely improved when I went AD->ANG and even more so when I went ART->Airlines.
I just do my best to stay objective and not make them feel like their decision is “wrong” if it doesn’t agree with how I personally have done it.
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Hopefully your mileage varies but it’s not often that easy. Whereas staying AD is easy and safe for a lot of folks. Don’t necessarily think that’s the best reason to stay AD, but not everyone that stays is an idiot and deserves to be shit on.
Back about 7-8 years ago in my ANG unit we experienced what became known locally as the “Techsodus”…a mass exit of many of our Air Reserve Technician pilots to seemingly greener airline pastures.
A growing bias against the full-time techs took shape. “Dude, how can you stay a Tech? Being a Tech SUUUCKS”
A lot of young guys got swept up in the wave and followed the older techs out the door and it definitely hurt our ability to do business.
One of the DSGs made an observation one day after overhearing these conversations at drill. He said something along the lines of “you guys understand that, in order to exist as a Guard unit, we actually need some people to stay full time right? Like…if EVERYONE goes to the airline then nobody will be left here to build a schedule, create training plans, run a Stan/Eval program…so maybe just consider that as you run down the hallway talking about how much being a fulltimer sucks to all the young guys that look up to you…”
I feel like the same thing is happening today. There is so much hate on the mil meme sites and it’s all a one-sided “ F*** Active Duty! The bonus is for chumps! Come to the Guard and get your line number! If you don’t you’re stupid!”
But…the less Active Duty we have, the less Big AF is able to man UFT and FTU training, deployment taskings, headquarters manning, etc, etc and that hurts the ARC’s ability to train and equip which in turn makes it harder to be a DSG/airline guy.
Bottom line - the airlines are a great deal, but it’s not for everyone and if someone’s beliefs, goals or family situation dictates that it’s better to stay on Active Duty, they shouldn’t automatically be vilified for that decision.
Full Disclosure - I was Active Duty for ~8 years, Guard for 20 as an ART and as a DSG on and off orders.
*Edited to add my censored F bomb back in for effect
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What about seasoning AD orders. Are you likely to get on most trips? Or still depends?
Speaking from the tanker side yes. That’s what they are there for. Of course the budget fluctuates but by enlarge they want young mobility guys doing mobility stuff.
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It depends. Are enough people raising their hands to go, where they don't NEED you to go? Then no, you won't NEED to go - unless you're already fragged for that as part of an upgrade, you're a junior guy who needs the experience, etc.
If there aren't enough volunteers (AKA - the trip probably sucks, or the ops tempo has been high), then...you're probably going if you're on orders/AGR.
Or, depending on the type of orders you are on, maybe you wont go because the funding stream won’t allow it, mission requirements, etc
For example, if you are on MPA for a MAJCOM or specific mission you may not be able to go on the trip you want to go on because you have to stay behind and support the trip, alert or mission that they are funding you for.
So like Lockjaw said it depends
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It’s in their agreed-to contract that the Army is now enforcing. What’s the issue? They agreed to the terms!
This is equivalent to all the sniveling weenies who ran up significant college debt saying, “Uncle Sam, it’s your fault. Forgive my debt!” Screw that! You agreed to sit in the pig stall, now go wallow in the mud and stop griping about how “unfair” your life is. Man up.
I disagree
From the article
“In letters the Army sent this month to the affected aviators as well as to members of Congress, which were obtained by NBC News, it said it “realized” after conducting a “legal review of this policy” that the three-year BRADSO requirement has to be served separately.”
I don’t think they knew. I would put money on the fact that, when they signed up, they asked if this commitment would be concurrent and I would put money on the fact that some personnel NCOs said yes.
How many times have you talked to someone at MPF and gotten a confidently wrong answer from someone and gone with it only to find out later that the info was incorrect?
I can give you multiple examples of personnel inconsistencies
When I was awarded a Nav slot in 1994, the commitment had changed from 5 to 6 years. I had to cross out every 5 in my contract, change it to a 6 and initial it. One of my friends was at a Det that didn’t do that. Guess what? She got out at the 5 year mark.
My kid was told in Jan 2021 that he could commission into the ANG from ROTC in 2021 under the Bow Wave program. Everyone was on board, he found a unit and got hired…then in April 2021 A1 ended the program and didn’t tell anyone…not the gaining state recruiters, not the ROTC det, not the unit. They did all the paperwork to submit in May only for AFPC to say “sorry, that program is over, the moose out front should have told you.”
I could go on and on.
So to make a blanket sweeping generalization that every single one of these aviators read a contract that apparently the entire Army didn’t even understand and they all need to man up?
It’s another case of the member getting screwed and the incompetent bureaucrats run free.
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Their inability to get a bonus out before the 8th month of the FY, is a perfect metaphor for how things go in the AF.
Nothing like spending a monumental amount of effort on TDYs that just get cancelled. Not knowing if the money will be there for a TDY until the day prior to leaving (true story). Even then, the money didn't flow, just told, "Trust us, it will be there." it...let's roll!
$50K isn't enough, not in today environment. It will be a nice perk for those who were staying anyway.
Shack
Everything the DoD does is a day late and a dollar short and then some.
The ART to AGR conversion in the Guard…5 years too late.
This bonus…5 years too late.
Takes forever to get vouchers through because the money doesn’t flow from AMC…even though they know that Coronet season happens every April and October.
Units run out of AFTP money, etc, etc, etc.
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There are only 3 optimum points to get out:
-the moment your pilot training commitment is up.
-at exactly 20 years
-when they kick you out for High year tenure.
Any other point on the timeline and you’re giving something up.
I agree, but I would also offer that the something you may be giving up in the Air Force may be of a lesser value.
If you are at this point in your career, you (and your family) have been Service Before Self-ing for a lot of years.
All too often I’ve seen people take that remote or non-optimal assignment in the hopes that the Air Force will take care of them.
Sometimes it works out.
Other times not so much…either they are miserable in the job or their family is miserable because they are separated once again.
By all means please stay if it’s working for you and your family but you have to know when it’s time to fish, cut bait, or get out of the boat.
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I recommend sticking around. At O-6, you can make changes to better the organization in tangible ways for the future. Follow your core value of “Service Before Self” and you can never go wrong.
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I’ve known several pilots who didn’t make Major and still got offered continuation to 20 as a Captain.
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Ah yes, the US Air Force
“We don’t have enough pilots”
Then they don’t promote the pilots they have
Then they wonder why they don’t have any pilots….
Let’s see here:
Continuation to 20 as a captain vs. get a line number and join the ARC and try to make Major there.
Which one makes way more financial sense?
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If Kamala or Gavin are so bad, then why were they able to win their Dem primaries in California?
You pretty much answered your own question.
Because it’s California, that’s why.
You think they would win anywhere else?
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I still haven't heard what they did with guys that were on a 365/180 to Kabul during the collapse. Did they get sent home, or re-deployed somewhere else to finish their sentence?
All of the above, but from my limited viewpoint they finished their sentences.
When ATIS and I were at the CAOC (we got there around Oct 2021) there was a dude there who was on a 365 to AFG. CENTCOM pulled him back to the Died and if I recall he volunteered to help out the CoS with some projects. I think he could have gone home but he figured he was already there…
I also know from my time working with the ECEG that a bunch of the firefighters that we deployed from the Died out to the garden spots across the AOR had come from HKIA and they finished their tours o/a Jan ‘22 (I remember this because it was a huge goatrope getting them home in time to quarantine and make their redeployment date
since most were reservists. Those guys dealt with a lot of shit.
Other guys got sent to Shaw to finish out their tours. That was true of “run of the mill” CAOC dudes as well…lots of transition in those post AFG months.
Same thing happened when they closed Al Jaber, a few CE from my base was there and they just pulled them back to the ECEG at the Died until it was time to go home.
Some probably got cut loose early, but for the most part by the time the dust settled I feel like they just recapitalized the manpower they already had in theater until the swapout in January 22 and those dudes didn’t get replaced.
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So, I'm 17 and am a senior in high school. My goal is to be a pilot in the reserves or ANG and, after doing some extensive research and talking to many recruiters, I've developed A semi cohesive road map on achieving that goal. My plan is to enlist in the AD Air Force a few months after graduation. I'm hoping to enlist for 6 years as to give me so extra cushion time as well as a better starting pay. I'll probably go into some sort of maintenance AFSC although I scored pretty well on the ASVAB so I should be qualified for everything. During my time in the AD Air Force, I Plan on using the benefits such as TA as well as many benefits online military colleges give, to get my bachelor's degree. Along with this I will hopefully be able to get a PPL and some flight hours under my belt. With all of this I hope to have a somewhat competitive chance to get on with a squadron (hopefully fighter). My concern Is that I might not possibly have enough free time/money to get these things in a reasonable timeframe, as I've heard maintenance jobs work very long hours. And even If I can, I might not have the time to study and such to keep my GPA to an acceptable standard.
Does anyone have any tips or insight on how to improve this plan or whether it is viable in the first place?
That’s a solid plan.
Another course of action would be to see if your state’s Guard offers any sort of tuition waivers. I know a lot of the Northeastern states offer 100% tuition waivers for state schools. You could go to school full time and get your degree faster while serving in an enlisted AFSC as a part time Guardsman.
You wouldn’t have all the pay and benefits of an AD airman which may be a drawback for you, but you would have free college and a pretty solid part time job with more time to focus on school and potentially get to work with the very people that may someday hire you to be a pilot in that unit.
There’s many different ways to skin the cat.
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So...ops normal for an airlift unit commanded by a crossflow turd snorkeling tanker clown?
I think the “crossflow” part is probably the root cause of the problem…
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Special pay for extra quals would be pretty easily tied to your AFSC prefix, W-, Q-, K-, S-, etc. If they want to pay FTU instructors more, make up a new code for that. Easy.
In fact, add B- and C- code special pay and it’ll start to make a lot more sense. Taking on commander duties deserves a lot more cash than being a line Lt Col.
Now you’re on to something.
I would never want to see someone take a command position strictly for the money, but you are 100% correct in your thought that the SQ/CC has way more on their plate than your run of the mill “LC AC in the KC” as we called them in the tanker world.
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Retirement / Separation Considerations
in General Discussion
Posted
This almost happened to me but I was able to stay on orders a few more months to complete 3 full AD years TIG . I was very fortunate. My delta was only about 105 days.
If you don’t have 3 years AD TIG (1095 days on orders in that grade) here’s my understanding of what will happen as explained to me by various FSS and ARPC types if you apply for an AD retirement. I don’t have any AFI sources, but here it goes:
You will get an AD retirement at your previous rank that you actually held for 3 years in an AD status. That’s what your ID card will say.
Your pay will be based off your highest 36 months (high 3) and you will start collecting that 1 Oct.
On either your 60th birthday (or at whatever date you’ve reduced it to based on deployments, T-10 AD, etc) you can go and get the retired ID card that you would be eligible for if you received a reserve retirement. In other words, since you have 3 years TIG as a reservist in the higher grade, you’re eligible for that.
Disclaimer: I don’t know what the “go to FSS when you’re 60” process entails, that’s a question you should ask if you decide to go that route, especially with the reduced retirement as it relates to Tricare.
Feel free to PM me if you want and congrats on the upcoming retirement!
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