ViperStud

Smack will still make sure you know he was a Thunderchicken within 5 mins of meeting him, at least as of a few years ago. No shame and no humility whatsoever. Someone please tell me he's not around anymore.

Make more attached guys that would fly the bare min and always put in availability for only 2nd go, but never after 3? F that. How about we just have our own promotion boards so dudes Tripping over their johnson to compete against the finance Capt or pharmacy tech with an extra 20 hrs a week to throw towards planning parties or being the Asian Pacific Islander heritage month POC?

This. If someone is one of the (exceedingly rare) dudes that got screwed 100% by circumstances/timing, it'll be an afterthought. If a dude ends up passed over because he's lazy/bad then that comes out when we start passing names around the squadron. Overwhelmingly though, getting passed over for Maj is a symptom. The promotion rate is generally 95%; Do good/don't suck and things will take care of themselves. No one is going to fool a guard unit into thinking they were a victim of circumstances if there are other issues.

Incorrect. ANG isn't having the easiest time manning them either. We punch to gain control of our lives, not continue the suck outside AD. My understanding is that if an RPA dude punches, flying them as a contractor is the way to go.

I'm not an RPA dude but I still don't get why they can't park GCUs at Hickam, Luke or maybe even Europe if our civ leaders could twist some arms. Why the must we park them in terrible locations?

It's a step in the right direction, but actually falls a little short of the rumors our CCs heard at NGB recently. Rumint: tiered bonus of X/yr for pilots, Y/yr for IPs and Z/yr for patches, with amounts approaching $100k at the top end. The attached warning was that it was "several years" down the road. Technician rumint: ~30% bonuses (comprised of 3 components) with quicker implementation because 2/3 of the mechanisms are already in place. I still think the AD piece won't make the numbers right without changes directly affecting QOL - bring back CSS, hire full-time/full-function schedulers, eliminate BS staff & deployed billets, etc. Even at $60k/yr, the airlines still make more financial sense. Also, there is a lot more than money driving people to the airlines. That all being said, at least big blue is listening...well actually - reacting. "Listening" would mean a lot of this would have been done 4 years ago. Yep, they're reacting. Heed the warning though, young ones - everything points to the fact that HAF is doing this begrudgingly and way too late. If our resident staff weenie Chang really does pass an accurate picture of what his bosses think, numbers on Excel files are far more important than substantive QOL improvements. In the meantime, expect a lot more 1.X% raises and deployments.

BAMF, put down the scotch and sleep it off. I've been there, bro - stop posting until tomorrow and while you're at it, don't text any ex-girlfriends either...

I love the irony of the situation Big Blue finds itself in. For a decade, rated retention was an afterthought; airlines weren't hiring, the economy went south and they enjoyed ~2 years where no pilots could get out. During that timeframe queep mounted as CSS troops were cut and flying hours were slashed. At the tail end of it all they reward the military with pathetic 1.X% raises and lower BAH. Their attempt to recapitalize the fleet (JSF shitshow) is falling squarely on the shoulders of AD troops. Almost as if on cue, the economy finds its footing, airlines start hiring like gangbusters and every ANG/Res unit is looking for good people. There is actual movement on bonuses for technicians and the AGRs will likely partake in whatever boost their AD counterparts get. AD has competition both from airlines and a RC that may have decent bonuses to offer. Sorry, Big Blue - timing is everything.

I think a big part of what you're missing is that due to several problems created by poor leadership over quite some time, this has just become another job. The Airman's creed is a joke, a poor attempt at a PC credo that rings hollow. Even the core values have been eroded; how stupid would I be to blindly assume them to be infallible guidance when it is so clear that big blue leadership does not? The end result is that this has become just another job to many of us, and right now the competition for our skills is high. It's a seller's market. If you want to compete, you have to make the JOB better. You'll never compete with airlines (and several other careers; I'm not personally targeting airlines) on money alone, even with higher bonuses. You can't honestly think $35K/yr will make the bonus numbers stop sagging, so something needs to be done to fundamentally change the fact that the rank and file view this as just another job.

One of two things is true: he's either (1) an FGO at best with enough insight into our GO leadership to confirm our suspicion that they're completely out of touch or (2) actually an 0-7ish who has been pissed at pilots for 20 yrs and relishes the opportunity to spout off to us behind the anonymity of the interwebs. Either way, the result is the same: confirmation that senior leadership has fornicated away rated manning and ignored the obvious for years, only to hide behind money and core values. Sorry dipshit, your reference to core values will get only laughter from most of us. Gearpig shacked it. Yes, I will call you a dipshit regardless of your rank because you are one. Authority is issued commensurate with rank; respect is still earned and your ilk have earned none. If you were here in person I'd save the "dipshit" name calling but tell you the same thing: the problems you are trying to solve are of your own creation; your peers and their predecessors are bad leaders. Funny thing is that I actually enjoyed my AD time, got good assignments and never left a jet. I was going to school and would have been taken care of. I left without a bitter taste in my mouth. After 20 months of life in the ANG, I look back and realize how fooked AD really is and all I can do is laugh. The grass is so much greener on this side that another $10-20K/yr won't fix the problem - yet that's your only tangible solution in the short term. To to those of you on the fence, get out before stop-loss is invoked. Heed Chang's words and read between the lines - it will have to get substantially worse until leadership realizes their tactics are completely ineffective. Only then can real change happen.

So much stupidity in this post. Did Skycops keep people safe at Ft Hood, Chattanooga or Lackland? The stark reality you speak of is that SF doesn't have access to my vault, but internationals do. SF takes 6-9 mins to respond to anything and their first inclination is to cordon and isolate, not kill the shooter. My glock 42 will do a better job at saving my life than any Skycops will should something terrible happen in close proximity. Allowing operators who employ weapons regularly to carry on base is not "cowboy law" and if you think so, you're a fvcking idiot.

I agree. That being said, you can't make every decision based on the lowest common denominator. Put restrictions in place, require training or a certain rank, and press. The lowest ASVAB scores in the AF are the ones carrying every day. They're not the ones shooting innocent people.

I'm in the ANG and carry every day. Some on base (SFS idiots) cried about all the buffoonery that would ensue. Fortunately, good leadership told them "noted" and pressed. It's amazing how well things work when you treat adults like adults. Prayers with those at Lackland.

When did that change? My first form 8 was in the Viper; I'm pretty sure our punks now are the same way.

When was the reg last updated? I used the tables to nix my 3-yr ADSC from PIT and reset it back to UPT ADSC; that was back in 2012. AFPC was familiar and didn't fight me. I was never a FAIP. It worked; 2.5 yrs from PIT I was already in the guard. Did they fix the glitch?

Nickel on the grass

I can count precisely 0 IPs I know that were sent to UAVs; maybe I just don't have a lot of friends or it's a community thing. My 3 buddies that I see as data points were all TAMI dudes, so regardless they were coming back as wingmen. I don't disagree with anything you are saying, just acknowledging that they were given the choice to go back with very shitty timing WRT going back and being relevant in the viper for a decade. I say to AFPC because I doubt that timing was a coincidence. "Give them the chance to go back, just so we can say we did..." Agree on all points about treating it like a FAIP tour for those dropping them now. I just hope they send them to a manned cockpit after 3 years. Stretch that out to 5+ and you're handing these guys the same shit sandwich. The fact that you don't give a shit about being a general doesn't necessarily mean that you're shameful for wanting to be a DO/CC in your eventual MWS; that'll be tough for these guys if they're kept in UAVs for 5+ years.

Same thing happens after an AETC tour, and anyone with their head on straight tries not to be the brand new guy on base when PRFs are due. Multiply the problem when you've been out of the entire community for years. Careerism and box-checking are bad, but it's not like the only other option is to say "fvck my career I'm flying!" It's also not a matter of the community treating them poorly - the choice was given to them by AFPC while they were still in RPAs and they had to sort it out there. Commanders are put in a tough spot when guys show up and are becoming wingmen again while their peers are IPs. Not everything is black and white, dude.

"All expected to go back to fly" is total BS and I hope the young'uns understand it may not be that simple. I know at least two dudes that were offered the chance to go back to Vipers - and be wingmen when their Maj board hits. Big Blue is making it untenable for some 11X-types to go back; once you are so far deep into UAVs, these guys found it to be career suicide to go back to their prior platform. Get passed over and you're out - without the hours to get taken seriously by the majors. Just because the option exists to go back does not mean the AF makes it a palatable option.

Anyone who thinks that only the "top 1%" could get through UPT is seriously insecure. I spent 2 years teaching 38s recently before my Viper RTB and I was amazed at how difficult it was to wash people out. Combine that with the zero control that CCs have over drops and we sent plenty of LTs to fighters that were not strong swimmers. We saw several FTU washouts and a few that surprised us after they got their wings. BL - it doesn't take top talent to get wings.

This isn't a future problem; it has already happened. Where do you think guys like Rat, Yogi and that idiot at the pentagon who got housed by a chick came from? The combination of picking generals at the Capt ranks along with our leadership/culture problems and poor incentives to stay have left us in a position to bleed talent for many years. Few good dudes stay and several people thrive in this culture when they would be total failures if (A) they were in the private sector or (B) someone had the balls to take them off the path they got put on when they got their SOS DG and kissed ther commander's ass for their first strat. We don't promote the best, we promote the ones among those that are left who best fill their containers An old an old squadron mate was pushed hard by leadership as a Capt/Maj - eventually goes to (I think) Shaw to be a SQ/CC. The other CCs there learn that this new dude picked up the #1 CC strat before he's even set foot on base. I mean, you've gotta keep the golden boy on the golden path even if objectivity goes out the window. My point: the bonus is small potatoes compared to the cultural and leadership problems. Can it help if executed well? Sure, but there are bigger problems that make the bonus almost irrelevant WRT retaining talent.

The 365 and at least two 179s (I know, they are handled differently) went to guys less than 5 years removed from Korea. It's just a fact - AFPC and commanders shack people that they can. Korea does reset our STRD. ETA: buddy of mine is finishing up his command tour. The functional contacted him to see what he would do if hit with a particular 365. His answer was that he'd 7-day opt. Several of his peers said the same. Eventually someone was enticed with a good deal in the backside and "volunteered" for it. Interesting change from the porch - are they realizing they can't keep bleeding several bodies to fill one BS tasker? Or are they treating him differently as a graduated CC? He dodged one bullet but is ready to punch and finish up in the guard if need be.

Very naive. I've seen too many bros get shacked with a 365 or a 179 after 7-day opting, completing their command tour or getting within 1.5 years of retirement. Someone at AFPC is looking at a lot more that STRD, because those numbers were all over the place - some ancient and some fairly recent. The thing they all had in common? It was little/no ability to say no. 7-day opting can leave you with 1.5 years of ADSC remaining. I've seen one 365 and a slew of 179s thrown at dudes in that exact situation.

From what I've seen its all option 1 or 3, mostly depending on how bad they need bodies at the new location. If you don't mind, what's the airframe? Down vote for thug U by the way.