Champ Kind

From what I saw at the last board, at least on the rated side, SOS in-res and combat experience were assumed. Other than that, there were three big boxes to have checked (in no particular order): -Flight Commander -Instructor -AAD If you had at least one of those, you were good. If you were missing all three, you were in danger of being passed over.

They should be. I joined for all of the idealistic reasons that everyone else did: fly airplanes in defense of my country. It didn't take long to realize that flying airplanes, despite pouring my soul into it for about 3 years trying to learn how to fly and then how to employ, took a backseat to "professional development". Whoever that was earlier in this thread that said that they can trace the destruction back to 2007 is spot-on. Guess who took the reins as CSAF around that time. I truly feel sorry for the current CSAF -- he inherited a sinking ship. I can't wait to see upper mgmt eat their words when people start bailing left and right. What was that about record high retention, again? Oh, I should feel lucky to be here? Right...

This thread has the potential to be epic enough to bring Rainman back.

Fair enough... Full disclosure: I've never been through PIT.

Yeah, experienced guys teaching guys how to be instructors... What a waste! Say what you guys want... Find a Lt Col line flyer with no other job and I submit you'll find the happiest MFer in the squadron.

Trust me, I've been there. I get it. I'm not shitting on the crew at all. I understand... "shit happens". My point is that the conditions in Afghanistan are not so unique that it is impossible for us to establish good habit patterns at home so that we are ready to do the Lord's work when we arrive in theater. Whenever our next adventure kicks off, we are not going to have the luxury of "over the shoulder" educational rides in a mature, uncontested theater like we enjoy right now.

"Solid copy" is always good, too. "Solid"... as opposed to what?

I will ask this though... Is there any reason that a fresh-out-of-the-schoolhouse -J guy shouldn't be able to stick a landing into any of those three fields without bending metal? A pilot can prang an airplane in anywhere. A pilot can input the TOLD wrong anywhere. It doesn't have to be in Afghanistan.

How copy...? If we are going to have a thread on radio etiquette we could have one hell of a thread jack on command post personnel.

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No offense to the tanker toads, but a tanker dude going to AMLO...?

Aren't the winglets overmanned as shit with it being a rarity for 1st assignment guys to have a 2nd assignment in that plane?

Scoobs, shhh.

Exactly. Some dudes in the MAF are so busy trying to be Tommy Tactical that they wind up doing the enemy's job for them.

Do you guys really have time to show off the sim, you know, with being so serious and busy and all?

There has been at least one per rote since early 2012 (maybe before, but I can't remember a specific instance). In every situation that I know of, it was a shitty approach that the PF tried to salvage and could have been avoided by calling "go around." We are doing it to ourselves.

Isn't that what ejection seats are for?

My point is that it's the process screwing those other guys over, not the guy(s) that declined the 365. Spot on.

Am I reading this wrong? Are you implying that a dude telling the AF to "pound sand" to a 365 is responsible for the next guy in line getting tagged with it?

Pure gold!

And the t-storms in Paki

God bless her.

While I am the last person to condone tool-like behavior, have you ever heard of "cooperate and graduate"? When you have to do a bullshit BVR course in order to try to get selected to go in-res (or keep your boss off your back...or both), and all you have to do is type complete thoughts, reference some shit from the BS courseware, and virtually "act" as if you're happy to be there... well, then so be it. Icebreaker post fail: "Fuck all of you shoeclerk tools, I am just here because someone said I have to be here." Just play the game...

My personal favorite was a story about a dude that had a picture on his desk of him and his wife from a vacation somewhere tropical, and she was wearing environmentally-appropriate attire. It had to be removed. IT WAS A PICTURE OF HIS FUCKING WIFE!

No argument... Just sucks that those guys will permanently have that gift that keeps on giving from the AF on their records.