Lord Ratner

No. Shell 77 was a malfunctioning part. We did recently have a plane with a massive crack on one of the main spars. They caught that one in time fortunately. Sent from my Vitamix 450x Professional using Tapatalk

This is the exact plan with the KC-135. Sent from my Vitamix 450x Professional using Tapatalk

There were no court challenges (since they weren't breaking any rules), so the SCOTUS could not do anything. Dems knew they were SOL. Raising a court challenge would have just given the gop a court victory to shield themselves with Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Sorry, I didn't mean America can't afford it financially, I mean America can't afford to have a weakened Air Force. The AF can't increase the bonus. Only Congress can. The AF shot for 60k, which in my opinion is pretty amazing, and they got stomped. We are a pretty (reasonably) cynical group here, but now we think Congress will just open the purse? That's the most optimistic sh*t I've ever heard in my life. Trust me, the day Congress allows the bonus or flight pay to compete with the airlines will be two fiscal year after there's no one left to pay it to. Your arguments are too ideal, IMO. Of course the AF can work on QoL AND money, but they won't. You know it, I know it. Now that the bonus went up I fully expect the true believers to use this as an excuse to wait a year or two and see how it affects retention, while more people leave. Maybe another "round table" or two, but no real action. I think there are a lot of leaders, way more than we realized, who find the concept of making changes to the AF to make people happy morally repugnant. They "dealt with it," so we should too. Now they can point to the bonus, which isn't enough, and say "See? We did what you asked, now stop complaining." I could be wrong, obviously. But I'm trying to think of a solution in the context of what's possible. And in the interest of full realism, no, I do not expect the AF, or Congress to get it right. I think there will be hearings about the pilot crisis that will go something like this: DC: Where are the pilots? AF: Let's give the bonus some time *Pilots leave* DC: Where are the pilots? AF: We're making changes we think will fix it. DC: What about stop loss? AF: We don't think stop loss is the right answer for this issue [after they thought it was for a while, of course] *Pilots leave, missions visibly (CNN) suffer* DC: Where are the pilots? AF: Our changes didn't have the planned effect. DC: What a about stop loss? AF: We don't think stop loss is the right answer for this issue DC: We disagree, do a stop loss AF: ok *Stop loss goes for six months or so, then makes headlines* DC: Are you people crazy why are we still stop-lossing our heroes?!?! AF: *blinking on CSPAN* ...But you said-- DC: End the stop loss! AF: ok *Pilots leave. Hollow force. Period of struggle* *Major attack, war, terrorist event, etc* *Americans step up, old hats return, patriotism and country music result in massive military spending, AF is reborn* Rinse and repeat

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here and say I hope they don't raise the bonus. They will never compete. Congress just won't do it, so they will never realistically pay enough to make enough people stay to solve the crisis. The right answer is to fix the system. Treat people better. Define realistic capabilities based on number of aircraft and aircrew and stick to them. Want more sorties? Give us more people and planes. The AF general level leadership needs to start giving Congress, and whoever the mythical, no-one-can-say-no-to COCOM commanders, real capability levels, and stick to them. No more cbts just because some bureaucrat thinks it's a good idea. No more spending skilled labor on jobs that can be done by a two striper or civilian. No more making six-figure employees pick up leaves for a staff visit. Treat the talent like a resource. If that means we drop all those things and find ourselves with excess capacity, fine, do another RIF. But treat people the way they know they are worth, and then, only then, worry about the money. A bigger bonus or more flight pay isn't going to fix this, because they will never, ever, ever be able to raise it enough. The only hope is to recapitalize on camaraderie, patriotism, and self efficacy. I don't want them to offer more money because it's going to prolong the problem, and America can't afford it. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Please. Pretty sure you've never had to take our PT test. #CheckYourGruntPrivilege Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

And the AF was also furloughing, let's not forget Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Only valid if you also assume the AF will have solved the shortage crisis at the same time the airlines tank. You can always go back to the AF (these days). You can't retroactively set your seniority. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

https://aviationbull.com/2017/mar/28/what-will-year-cost-me

The Deid won't be touched. The other countries are uninterested in impacting the base, and have made that clear Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Sure. Useful, I have no doubt. The problem as I see it is that you only get so many years in a lifetime. Our promotion and career development system, and least on the pilot side, is a game of checking as many boxes as you can. Jack of all trades, master of none. The real question is what's more true? Do you need to see the sausage maker to be a successful squadron commander (while realizing that no matter what staff jobs to do, you're still only going to see 5-10% of the bureaucracy), or will first hand leadership experience as a CGO/Junior FGO (which you will need for nearly all of your sq/cc duties) be a better use of limited development time? Perspective always helps, but there are endless examples of leaders being successful running organizations they never served in as workers. We have to choose, and toxic leadership is something of a hot topic these days, for good reason Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Jesus I never know what the f*** you're talking about. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

We had a guy in my SOS class who was being completely genuine when he said he was too tired to go out because he had never worked past 4pm, or on a Friday, every, since finishing tech school. Not saying all not rated jobs are like this, but have you ever once even heard of a flying job like that in the AF? When I told them what a week in a flying squadron was like, they looked sorry for me, as though working a 16 hour day was inhumane. But I agree with brick. If all a pilot does is fly, why should they be promoted into a leadership rank? I think many of us are talking out of both sides of our mouths. We want to fly a lot, but also get promoted to a leadership rank (LtC)? I don't think that's fair or good for the org. I think what we need is to drop the idea that staff jobs help leadership. Sure, it's useful to know how sausage is made. But a captain or Major will get more out of leading a shop of 100 airman than he will out of a desk job crunching numbers, as far as leadership of airmen is concerned. If we still want the AF run by pilots, which is not necessarily the best idea IMO, then we should change the system so exec, staff, aide, and all the other "broadening" jobs go to the support officers, while the pre-ordained future senior leaders go run a mx or SF shop, with 360° feedback, to see if they really have what it takes to run a squadron. But that means the people who choose to fly for four assignments in a row (with only flying related jobs) don't make it past Major or Captain, which doesn't seem unfair to me. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

They put in a recommendation for continuation. It's in the regs posted to myPers Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Wow. Able to slow it down substantially with the nose up. I think the 135 would just fall apart Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I wonder if this is decision will apply to the Major board as well. I want to say no, but by what logic are they not continuing Majors? Why would that not apply to captains? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Good for you, Ram. Sometimes the good guys win Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Haha, good point. Apparently I'm new here Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Is this the board for promotion to Major, or LTC? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

No no, WaPo had an anonymous source. Who ya gunna trust? I don't think this is about Trump anymore. I think it's very convenient for the opposition that's he's such a public persona disaster, because normally they have to completely invent things to be outraged about. But really this seems more like the desperate flailing of a party that has almost ZERO power at the federal, state, that local levels right now. And he may seem ridiculous on TV and Twitter, but so far his policies are not. This is how he got elected, folks. Act nuts, look nuts, sound nuts, but speak truths the other politicians won't speak. If he keeps hammering through on the action side of things (Gorsuch, dismantling EPA rules, undoing net neutrality, Obamacare repeal, immigration enforcement, etc), I don't think the people who fancy themselves "in charge" are going to be able to stop him. They failed quite spectacularly during the election, why should the same strategy work now? But if the investigation into Russian collusion yields nothing, he's going to be rubbing it in their faces very publicly in 2020 Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I just love the idea that the president of the United States isn't a high enough authority to decide what classified information we share. Isn't this the same line of reasoning our generals use to claim they can't change things to make the AF better? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

There are only those who don't understand socialism, and those who profit from it. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Ok, I get what your saying, but I don't think he has to have been near it to fake it. Let's be real, the cartoonish disconnect from reality and blind fealty to a system that clearly has no rudder is so simple and pure it can almost be said to be perfect. All you have to do to mimick it is disregard reality and never admit defeat. GC was so effective in the troll because he never tried to engage with logic or actually respond to arguments posed against his propaganda. Sound familiar? I for one applaud him. He played us, which is an internet staple, and catalyzed some great debate that I've used in my real-life interactions with the General Changs of the Air Force who aren't joking. I do think he should state quals, but not AF quals, rather, I want to know what his other account name is. Put an internet face to the internet mask, so to speak. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

How are people still confused? It was a great troll, but it became obvious a while ago. Overall I'd say 8.5/10 Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Rumor has it that Fairchild is PCSing the first major in five years who wasn't going to school or on an adsc. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk