aspec
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Posts posted by aspec
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Perhaps a change of culture start with AFPC...go check out the Promotion and PRF thread where you can see in the O-5 promotion statistics that AFPC is still tracking AAD's. If AAD's aren't required until O-6, why track who did or didn't have one and whether or not they did or didn't make it?
Maybe I misread the statement from Welsh (forwarded to me via email a few days ago titled "What We Value") but I thought it said a masters degree will not be included in the promotions board until O-6?
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Isn't it a sad commentary that the highest ranking officer in the Air Force says, "Guys, don't waste your time with a Master's," and we say collectively, "Nice try, but no thanks. We don't trust you. We're not going to change a thing." I fear it's a bridge too far to fix the underlying issues.
It's definitely a cultural change that won't happen overnight - certainly not when people aren't willing to change. I stopped working on my masters a year ago after finishing a few classes. I couldn't continue to waste time on something that has zero value other than filling a square for a bunch careerist on a promotion board to look at. I accepted the fact that it may hurt my "career" in terms of promotions and schools, but I also accepted the fact I'll be able to look back on my life knowing I spent that time otherwise wasted on enjoying life itself. So, I'm definitely riding this one out based on the mindset Gen. Welsh has of not wasting your time on a masters degree if it's simply to fill some ridiculous square for a promotion board. He's still encouraging folks to pursue higher education, but the results should be reflected in your job performance since ultimately that's what the masters degree should be for. I think most people in the operational community get it (well, even that is becoming questionable), but convincing the rest of the Air Force that we actually have a mission that we need to focus on is the challenge.
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Has anyone done the "new SOS" DL course? Just started...not fun!
Why are people doing the SOS DL course?
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Those jobs exist in our Sq's too, and are just as souless and non-mission directed.
How about we just give everyone back a Sq. orderly room instead?
Supposedly we are getting them back, or at least it was mentioned among the higher ups. It would definitely be a step in the right direction.
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Yeah, she should volunteer to help with the worthless self-licking queep in an ops squadron instead of doing community service. Great idea.
Sounds like a wonderful idea to me. Instead of people working two jobs in the squadron with flying being the tertiary job, it would be great to have flying being the primary job again. Plenty of non-worthless queep that people could use help with.
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Wow, came across this forum on a google search. Great job putting down all non rated officers. End of the day, here to serve with and for you. For all CGOS out there trying to make a difference, keep it up! Even one minute dedicated to community service, volunteer work, or helping to lend an ear to an overworked Lieutenant still tryint to figure it out, should be celebrated.
V/r
Khalisha "What" Savage
When/if any of you become Wing Commanders, hopes are your mentality may change so you can look out for your "entire"military community and not just the flyers.
Nobody is putting down all non-rated officers. With all the free time you have to invest in community service and the CGOC, why not walk over to your nearest flying squadron and see if they need any help? I guarantee almost every squadron is severely min manned and would greatly appreciate your help. Not only are you directly contributing to our primary missions, you know, the whole "flying" thing, but you can still write yourself an amazing OPR bullet so you look better than your peers and get promoted.
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You're not losing your mind but the reality of today's environment can make you feel like you're losing it. It was briefed a week or two ago at Cannon that at least BAC+ (the deeper the better, sts) and SOS in correspondence must be complete before officers can attend SOS in-residence. No SOS attendance and AAD incompletion were the top reasons 27SOW folks were passed over on the last Major board. AFSOC,apparently, struggled at the last Major promotion board. Currently, Cannon's Ops Group eligibles for Major are behind (AAD incomplete, SOS in-res not complete or both) while the Wing's other three Group's eligibles are all AAD and SOS complete. This isn't from the MAJCOM it was/is the criteria the Air Force is using to promote folks. So if Skippy wants to do something with his down time and cares about playing the promotion games down the road, as much as I regret advising and typing this, he should get as far ahead as he can while he ain't distracted by anything else. Maybe General Welsh will guide us down a different path, here's to hoping at least.
Since extending SOS to 8 weeks wasn't bad enough, now it's mandatory to do SOS in-correspondence before we can attend in-residence? I'm really glad I did ASBC. But I'm sure our leadership knows what's best for us. Between the time spent [wasted] at ASBC, SOS in-correspondence, SOS in-residence and an extremely useful degree from AMU, I'm sure we will truly embody the Air Force warrior ethos and be much more effective and efficient at our jobs.
I really hope Gen Welsh can refocus our priorities as a service. We are far too undermanned to be doing shit that makes absolutely no sense and is a complete waste of time. Every person I've asked has said SOS is pretty much worthless yet we're extending the program to meet the learning objectives (which should be covered in the commissioning program) of the failed/cancelled ASBC.
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Roughly three to four months ago I started noticing a lower back pain. I don't know what exactly caused it, either flying or weight lifting but regardless, it wasn't anything unusual as I've had a sore lower back after working out before. It slowly got worse over the course of about one to two months and it seemed to become really aggravated after driving for two days during a PCS. At that point I had my flight doc check it out during in-processing and he said it's likely just the muscle that can take a while to heal. Over the next month or so it would feel better some days and worse on other days (wasn't flying during this period). Once I started flying there wasn't much change. It started getting a lot better until today (having not flown in about 12 days) while under G (6-7) I felt something weird in my lower back like the muscle slightly pulling (not painful at all) and sure enough, the pain is back and seems a little worse than before now.
Has anyone experienced something similar to this? I've never had any issues with my lower back until this. The pain is not radiating to my legs or anything. When I'm standing up it's hardly noticeable but when I'm sitting down or trying to touch my toes from a standing position, the pain occurs. My main concern is this turning into a permanent problem. I'm thinking a chiropractor is in order but I'm interested to see if anyone has had a similar issue.
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I think CGOs should be completely focused on their primary duty and strive to be the absolute best in their MDS. Additional duties should only be what is essential to keep the squadron running efficiently. I disagree with the notion that if you can't do CGO queep, then you will not succeed as a staff officer for a couple reasons. The first reason goes back to my first statement - CGOs should be focused on their primary duty. These are the folks that should be at their absolute peak in their ability to employ their MDS. Second, do we really believe how well a person can plan the squadron's Christmas party to be indicative of how well they will perform as a staff officer? Most of the queep I've seen is mindless work that requires little to no skill or thinking, just a significant amount of time (unless you believe Powerpoint to be a skill which I guess requires thinking if you're trying to make animations). How well a Mission Commander plans and executes an LFE holds far more weight than how well a person planned and executed a change of command. Personally, I would rather be in a service led by folks who were the best and brightest from each MDS rather than folks who got their masters before pinning on 1LT, PME in correspondance twice before going in residence, but just "got by" in their primary job. Why? Because I want the people making the higher level decisions to truly know what's best for our primary mission.
Like you, I'm no where near the position to fix the system either. I have very little motivation to "play by the rules as they stand" because when the balloon goes up, I know that useless degree from AMU, time spent on queep, and PME that is 90% useless is not going to save me from the emerging threats in this world or more importantly, perhaps save someone else's life.
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I think you need to grab a brand-new airman and watch him try to self-navigate through it in order to get this right. Whenever you have to say something, you need to write it down, because that's where DTS failed to be intuitive.
Spot on. Trying to figure out how to use DTS is an absolute nightmare. It is mind blowing we have dumped $500 million into this program and it's still terrible. In fact, every DOD program we have does a horrible job at being intuitive (GTIMS, ePex, JMPS, etc). Give me $1 million and I bet I could find a couple college graduates in the web development/programming field that could create a program that is significantly easier to use, and that's with me pocketing $900,000 of that. It has most of the functionality to get the job done, but the delivery is terrible. Most of the previous posts have already mentioned it but it needs a logical flow and when there are fields or options that might be confusing, maybe put a ? button next to the option/field that explains what it's for and some examples of how it's used.
In all seriousness, what does finance do on a daily basis? I went into finance recently to in-process and they tell me, "oh sir, we can't in-process you here, you must do it on ePIPS". So I ask, "alright, well, what do you guys do here then?" and they reply, "well, if you have problems with ePIPS you can come in and we can help you." Fortunately, ePIPS is a little easier to use and I was almost able to complete the entire process without help.
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Aerospace phys. just needs to accept the fact that trying to determine a persons g-tolerance with a weight lifting test is pointless and drop the FACT altogether. Replacing a worthless program with another worthless program doesn't fix anything. I'm sure someone will get promoted though.
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Did anyone ask why we're no longer allowed to wear black t-shirts and boots? I'm curious about the reasoning (bullshit) behind that change.
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That article has been updated and now says it's a fake.
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Be yourself, study like your career depends on it (because it does) and the rest will work itself out or is out of your control (like AFPC being in idle or max with fighter assignments).
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When you file your travel voucher, do you submit that letter with it even though it specifies that you were to stay at another hotel for a certain rate? The base lodging staff is convinced we would only get paid the $39/night (base lodging cost) if we do not stay at the La Quinta Inn in which case we would get $70/night to cover the cost for that hotel only. They will not hand out non-availibity letters since they claim La Quinta Inn is a contract lodging facility even though we're paying for it on our personal GTC.
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Here at Randolph they are full on base but handing out letters that say to stay at the La Quinta Inn at $70/night. Per diem for lodging here is $106/night. The letter doesn't actually say non-availability on it though. Based on what I'm reading in this thread, I'm not required to stay at the La Quinta but am I only eligible to receive $70/night? Or can I stay anywhere up to $106/night?
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For anyone that has been there recently, can you verify this is correct for the required items? It's from the latest S-V80A & B Student Handout (9 Oct 09) I could find.
• ABUs, BDUs or flight suits (2 pair). Wear one, carry one.
• No Orange colored items unless issued
• Combat boots (no zippers or steel toes). Jungle boots are only authorized 1 May-30 Sep. See additional description above in Section #5, General School Information.
• Leather gloves (inserts required 1 Oct - 30 Apr)
• Wool or cushion sole socks (5 pairs)
• ABU/BDU cap. No organizational caps will be worn
• Thermal underwear, 2 sets (1 Oct - 30 Apr). Synthetic fabric is preferred. Get it issued from your home base/losing base.
• Watch or clock
• Blousing straps
• ID card or CAC
• Stocking or watch cap (knit, navy blue or black)
• 2 flashlight batteries, size D
• Prescription eyeglasses with strap
• Female students: hygiene items, moist towelettes, Ziploc bags, and birth control pills
What I gather from this thread, the two recommended optional items to bring are a camelbak and some sort of light that attaches to your dome. The student handout also recommends bringing a bunch of other crap but one item that's interesting is tobacco. Is this just for smokers or will they have other uses, like slangin' them for food?
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The 38 side at CBM was an F-15E, F-15C (guard), B-1B, T-6 FAIP and a C-17 McChord (first choice). Two of the C-17's were reserve on the T-1 side.
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I think it does clearly state the time period. Rule 7 says:
"Start the transit rate when the member is in a travel status between duty/training stations"
Which translates to the time you EAD, followed by tech school and/or to when you get to your PDS.
Then it goes on to say:
"Start the new PDS-based BAH rate the day the member reports to the new PDS"
Which is your RNLTD to your gaining station.
Read Rule 9 on that page:
"New accession – Academy or ROTC graduate remaining at the graduation/ commission location awaiting follow-on training and not assigned GOV’T QTR"
"Pay graduation/commission location-based BAH through the day prior to departure en route to the training location. The Transit rate applies thereafter. See rule 7 above."
Then rule 7 applies. Either way, I doubt we'll get paid but I still have yet to see anything that says this does not apply or that we have to EAD first.
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Page 728 also states it again:
"New accession – Academy or ROTC graduate remaining at the graduation/ commission location awaiting follow-on training and not assigned GOV’T QTRS"
"Pay graduation/commission location-based BAH through the day prior to departure en route to the training location. The Transit rate applies thereafter. See rule 7 above."
Rule 7:
"Start the Transit rate when the member is in a travel status between duty/training stations and start the new PDS-based BAH rate the day the member reports to the new PDS (including a training location for 20 or more weeks). For an RC member, pay BAH based on the primary residence location at the time called/ ordered to active duty for the accession training duration if the member maintains a residence and continues to be responsible for rent, or owns the residence."
I talked to finance today about it and they told me we cannot get paid for anything prior to our EAD date. Apparently a bunch of Lt's have brought this up and all have been denied thus far.
One could argue this only applies for AD Lt's who remain at the ROTC detachment to work until they report to their first PDS, but aren't those Lt's simply paid like any other active duty Lt? Or do they not get base pay and just BAH?
Anyways, if any of you have luck with this, let us know.
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^ Nice theme. I agreee about the jailbreak.
My favorite apps are:
PocketInformant (replaces default calendar)
ForeFlight Mobile (AMAZING flying app...well worth the subscription...its no longer $80)
Facebook
Skype
RunKeeper
and Cylay (Jailbroken app...lets you track your phone via website if it's ever stolen)
Agreed on ForeFlight Mobile. The subscription is still $74.99 a year though. I've been using the free 30 day trial the past few days during our cross country. Nothing like being able to drop a deuce while planning my flight. I wasn't able to get the flight plan filing part to work though (kept getting some error message).
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The problem is a preemptive strike will kill the nuke facility, but not the ginormous number of artillery tubes nK has within range of Seoul.
I forget the actual number of tubes the north has, but even a few rounds raining down on a city of 10 Million would be an epic catastrophe.
If I'm not mistaken, it's 30,000+ artillery pieces aimed at Seoul. I remember reading somewhere that Seoul would lay in ruins in a matter of hours (assuming that many artillery pieces are actually used). I wonder what ever happened to those tunnels North Korea was digging to Seoul. Either way, it would definitely be a catastrophe. Maybe the ROK needs to create another "Unit 684" like they did back in the late 60's except actually use them this time.
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Hanauma Bay. Great for snorkeling and stuff. It's been a couple years since I was home, but if I remember correctly, they now charge about $5 a person for beach access unless you have a local ID. Just something to take into account, as just about every other beach is free.
It's free with military ID. Definitely a place to see.
Thoughts on the Air Force's Electronic Warfare Sustainability
in General Discussion
Posted
"Growlers are not front-line aircraft for the first week of war, Hostage argues."
He actually has a valid point, for highly contested scenarios. We definitely need more Growlers though.
"But Hostage says, as do other senior Air Force and Marine officers, that an F-35 pilot who engages in a dogfight has probably made a mistake or has already broken through those IADS lanes and is facing a second wave of enemy aircraft."
That, however, is a bad arguement. I've heard people use this statement to justify why fighter aircraft no longer need to be as maneuverable. PK miss...
It would really be unfortunate if they decided not to put a gun on the F-35 in the highly likely event that a pilot finds him/herself at a merge... oh wait, they did (F-35B/C).