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Champ Kind

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Posts posted by Champ Kind

    What's wrong with the Air Force?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Part of the reason the MAF sucks in a lot of places is: Phoenix Eagle.  Many of the MAF’s leaders are part of this self licking ice cream cone of careerism.  


    I know what you meant, but for clarity, I think the exact program at which you’re (rightfully) spewing hate is Phoenix Reach (ie, MDS crossflow).

    Phoenix Eagle is the MAF squadron CC selection board for O-5s and O-5 selects.
    • Upvote 1

    Finance Problems

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, nsplayr said:

    Had a Finance SSgt go above and beyond for perhaps the first time in Finance history. He just...did everything for me, and it was magical.

    He created my CTW worksheet for me and uploaded it into DTS, doped out my per diem for an upcoming TDY even though it had to be broken into different amounts about 69 times on the same voucher due to stupid rules, AND he told me to just email him my lodging receipts directly while I'm traveling and he'd take care of attaching them to my voucher and updating the per diem and etc. Also showed me the details of the exact schedule of partial payments that I can expect.

    Bravo Finance SSgt, for today you were a true American hero* 🍺

    *I retain the right to revoke all praise if I'm not actually paid as fragged and in a timely manner

    Can't be active duty.....

    ?s on ADSC (Active Duty Service Commitment)

    in General Discussion

    Posted


    Can medical issues for the member be spun as "hardship" for them (pain management) or would that be more of a MEB concern? If permanently non-deployable would it be "best interest of the AF" to get rid of someone to make the metrics better?


    Are you looking to fly post-AF? If so, would your medical status that keeps you from deploying also DNIF you and affect your ability to stay current or, worse yet, obtain a FAA medical?

    KC-46A Info

    in General Discussion

    Posted


    Just pass gas and move stuff. I realize that’s an over simplification. But that doesn’t make it false.


    Yes, it is an oversimplification—particularly when we get called to stick it to someone else other than jihadi goaters.

    The KC-46 is an absolute shitshow, but I think it’s getting tanker bubbas to realize there’s a big world out there other than just “passing gas and moving stuff.”

    I’ve ever flown a tanker and I never will, but I think that community is in need of a major culture change. The dudes I’ve seen try are regarded as heathens.
    • Upvote 1

    What's wrong with the Air Force?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    21 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

    People don’t have fun in the MAF because it’s run by Chiefs, wanna-be Chiefs, support officers, and some rated guys that pander to all of the above. Life in garrison is dominated by bureaucrat queep and non-support, so any fun doesn’t start until you’re at least 69 tacans away from the MOB, and only then if you have a good crew.

    This was life at Travis 5 years ago, for me at least. Sq/CCs, in unison with the OG, once reminded aircraft commanders that they were still responsible for checking their .mil emails on the road daily, just in case someone required an immediate answer for some queep. You’re in crew rest? In Thailand? With only your personal laptop and CAC reader you stole from DOV? Well we need quarterly award bullets from 2 of your boom operators yesterday, and by the way we all hate you because we’re still in the office.

    When I was there, the thought of Travis AFB, and by extension its AD flying squadrons, generated a near-Pavlovian wretching action associated with non-stop, no-gain bureaucratic queep churn. There was no squadron morale, and certainly no desire to hang out for any amount of time in the building when the emails slowed down enough to allow it.

    The U-2 is a complete 180 from that. The MOB is fun, FOLs even more so, the flying is rewarding and fun, and the work is all to make things actually better.

     

    9 minutes ago, joe1234 said:

    What's there to get? You extrapolated your personal bad experiences at Travis into being a MAF-wide problem, and how life is better being in U-2's. Which, I'm sure your new life is a great experience and all, but the problem was never the MAF, it was your priorities. I somehow managed to exist in the same MAF as you, at the same time, and had a much different experience. Because I had different priorities.

    It reminds me of the dudes who choose career over family and then bitch and then complain about how the Air Force ruined their marriage and estranged them from their kids. Like, no dude, that's your own damn fault.

     

    1 hour ago, Standby said:

    If you play into that game it’s your fault.

    This is a good discussion and worth highlighting for any youngins reading.  

    First off:  it is douchey for a boss to expect crew members TDY to work their queep while on the road.  To expect that is an admission that you either can't manage suspenses or you've placed too much responsibility on one individual. 

    If you find yourself in a situation where you're expected to work office stuff while TDY, you have a choice.  Like Standby and Joe have said, if you agree to do so, you do so willingly.  You have a choice.  You're not going to receive paperwork or something for being TDY and not working an awards package/OPR/etc.  But choosing to do so could mean "punishment" in the form of your douche boss (that we can all agree shouldn't be asking in the first place) not "pushing" you for jobs/strats/awards, etc.  Nothing you can do to stop that, and it will have effects down the road if you're interesting in making a career out of the AD AF.  On the other hand, if you're trying to advance in rank/position for whatever reason, and you have a douche boss that asks you to work office stuff while on the road, you'll probably keep yourself in the running by doing so.  Again, as Standby and Joe said, you do forfeit any reasonable right to complain when you knowingly participate.

    The good news is that crew dogs are in a buyers' market right now.  You are all but guaranteed to make O-4 these days as long as you have no derogatory info in your records, and that should take you to your UPT ADSC.  You can fly the shit out of your aircraft and push this stuff off and not have much to worry about, especially if you plan to get out anyway.  

    • Upvote 1

    Military Discounts

    in Useful Product Reviews & Military Discounts

    Posted

    On 8/17/2018 at 1:15 PM, Sit On Acorns said:

    Anyone seeing this in your Verizon "My Offers"? If it really is $30 off on top of the current military discount, that's a total $45 off. I keep getting an error page when I click continue, so I can't confirm if it works.

    image.png.69ab9a2a5ef352ad09541decb13188cd.png

     

    On 8/17/2018 at 5:42 PM, baileynme said:

     

     


    Image isn’t working for me but if it’s a military discount on unlimited data it’s definitely a thing. I got a random text and called Verizon because I thought it was a scam. Saving $10 a month now for unlimited (previously had 8 gbs/mo).


    Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

     

     

     

    On 12/18/2018 at 6:56 PM, uhhello said:

    I used their chat function.  Much easier.  My monthly bill for two lines unlimited is $97 after taxes and bullshit. 

    Was there a certain code or verbiage that you used to get them to give you the discount?  

    Also, I'm currently on an 8GB/month plan.  It's usually just barely enough.  Considering switching to unlimited, but I heard the speeds decrease.  Any truth to that?

    What's wrong with the Air Force?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

      Plus, I'm not sure how it is in your community, but in mine, people are holding their cards close to their chest until the last minute then BAM.  It's hard for leadership to reach out if they don't know your mind is already made up.

    A symptom of the deep-seated trust issues in the AF.  

     

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1

    Aviation Continuation Pay (ACP - The Bonus)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Something else I just discovered that happened under the table late in 2016...
    Even if you have completed all your gates, which previously would have entitled you to AvIP through 25 years of aviation service, you will no longer receive AvIP ("Flight Pay") if you are in an assignment outside of aviation for more than 48 consecutive months.
    Exceptions are Joint Duty Assignment List assignments, resident PME or AF-funded education programs, or positions requiring an aeronatical rating.
    The more you know...
    Also it sounds like Professional Pay is off the table.
     


    So why even bother with “gate months” anymore then? Makes zero sense.
    • Like 2

    Finance Problems

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    11 hours ago, ViperStud said:

    After all these years, I've found new issues with finance - currently engaged two circle with losing cues.  Anyone have experience getting the following reimbursed: Citi Cash Advance Fees, ATM fees and a Visa overstay fine?  Big picture: TDY OCONUS to a country where cash payments were the only acceptable form of payment for lodging and driver.  No one has a problem accepting that; the issue is with getting the associated expenses reimbursed.

    City CA fees: found a pamphlet (not JTR) that mentions they're not reimbursable.  Nothing in the JTR that finance or I could find.  Their default position - no reimbursement, regardless of the fact that payments could only be made in cash.

    ATM fees: there's a blurb in the JTR stating they have to be approved by the "Secretarial Process" by O-6 or greater ahead of time.  My OG approved them.  Finance chief says the "Secretarial Process" means routing approval to SECAF for my ATM fees, but says she doesn't have that in writing anywhere.  YGBFSM.

    Visa overstay: issued a 30-day tourist visa in my official passport upon arrival and overstayed it a few days.  Embassy gave me a MFR asking immigration to waive the overstay fee.  They won't (standard slightly-underdeveloped country cash grab) and there is no reference of anything like this in the JTR.  Their default position - no reimbursement.

    Pile-on: CPTS wants to use a website called OANDA for daily conversion rates.  I kept meticulous notes of the overall cash I withdrew against the GOVCC and have an overall conversion rate that I realized.  Using OANDA instead of the real conversion rate nickel and dimes me on every transaction.  When pressed, they said there is no guidance to use OANDA anywhere but it's what their training courses used so it has stuck.  That's a best practice, not guidance.  This is the smallest of problems (monetarily) with this voucher but I want to fight back out of priciple.

    Anyone have experience with the expenses above?

    This sounds a lot like commander shit.  Have you gotten him/her involved?  After Hoss' advice of trying to work it out with an O in CPTS, that would be my next stop.  If nothing else, telling your CC that you're going to be "red" for GTC payments for a while until this gets sorted out should help gain some traction but hopefully the motivation to help is beyond that.  

    • Like 1

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I would also add: if you’re IPZ for O-5 and still working below the Wing, this is a good indicator that you’re probably bottom 50%. 

     

    YMMV but I know easily a dozen people that never had a wing job but either went to IDE in res or received IPZ O-5 DPs, but I’m sure they were receiving strats in the manner I described above.

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    One thing in the PRF discussion that I haven’t seen mentioned yet:  push notes.

    For those of you that are wondering/care where you stand in the overall rack/stack, a good way to find out before the PRFs are even signed would be to schedule time with the person directly subordinate to your senior rater.  In most flying organizations, I assume your senior rater is the wing commander and the person immediately below him is your OG/CC.  This needs to be, at a minimum, 6 months before PRFs are due in your wing.  Honestly, to make any sort of actionable difference, it probably needs to be about a year out so that there is time to fix any perceived deficiencies in your record (i.e., get you that upgrade you are missing, that job you haven’t done, or award you haven’t got)...again, assuming you care to do so.  Before that meeting, for promotion to O-5,, if you care about getting promoted and you haven’t received any documented strats in rank/grade categories (as opposed to contrived categories related to jobs/AFSCs), you are probably in bad shape and most definitely not in the running for a DP.  At that point, you are trying to find figure out where you’re at in the pool of other “P’s”.

    I’ve been involved in more PRF processes than I care to count, and I can tell you that a critical factor in deciding how strong a middle-of-the-road guy guy gets pushed (or not) comes down to what the OG says to the Wing/CC about that person as the PRFs get sent up for review.  This usually comes in the form of a push note (typically hand-written to accompany the PRF folders) that effectively says anywhere from, “This guy rocks and needs a DP to keep him going” to “This guy shows up and flies the plane well but that’s it.  Solid P” to “While I know you’ll be short on DPs, this guy should be next in line because of such and such.”  Almost without fail, senior raters will go with what their group commanders recommend for a person up for promotion that they don’t personally know.

    So, all this to say, if you know ahead of time what your OG/CC plans to say about you as PRFs are coming due, you’re going to know where you sit overall.  Yes, after signed PRFs come out, you have the opportunity to meet with your Wing/CC and find out the rationale of his promotion recommendation and what you can do in the future, but honestly at that point, it is too late.  Much better to find out where you stand early so that you can start planning an exit strategy or work some last ditch efforts to boost your record.

    I wouldn’t say that this aspect of the process is intentionally secretive, but it certainly is not well-advertised.

    TL/DR: find a way to talk with your group commander well before PRFs are written to find out where you stand in his/her rack/stack.

    • Like 1

    It's Official, OCPs are Coming!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    So the draft memo had coyote boots as the only boots with the green bag starting in 2021. A-2 jacket would be allowed with the two piece as well.


    Glad to hear the leather jacket isn’t getting killed but truth be told that Massif jacket is the most comfortable uniform jacket I’ve ever had.
    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1
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