FourFans

Excellent word choice. Exact words the Allied Powers used during WWI to talk about everything happening in that sun-scorched armpit of the world just over 100 years ago. We're still suffering from the fallout of those events. If we screw this up, it'll make another 100 years of pain. Keep an eye on Israel and Saudi. If they act bi-laterally, it could set a whole new pace in that region.

That, right there, is where you went wrong.

Ride an elephant that's doing left turns for about 10 hours. That should give you a feel. I've heard air refueling is cool though.

From the T-6 OBOGS thread, ramping up production isn't going to happen until the OBOGS is fixed (even though it sounds like they'll just ignore it for the time being)...and retention is clearly not a goal judging by the Bonus thread...all with Iran, Syria, Russia and the rest of the world continuing to catch on fire, making American airpower an increasingly hot commodity over the next decade... Is anyone at the staff correlating these events and their impacts? Is anyone up there seeing this structural fire?

Lucky you, it'll be tax free. Do you have any experience running Wing Exercises? Al Udeid is waiting. Funny how they're sourcing the 365s and the Major's list just happens to come out as those sourcing emails are being sent.

Know the rules. Work hard. Don't be a douche. The rule-BFM tactic you're advocating violates the latter.

*picks up his active duty stone*

What I hear is a focus on numbers, not quality. I think Goldfein was about to get there, but was cut off. All of us should be concerned about the quality of the fighting force. We're too small to sacrifice having the sharpest sword. Right now we are hemorrhaging all our experience due to retention. We can fix the production, but all those kids are going to have to relearn knowledge that resided in the experienced pilots who got forced out by QOL. Some of those kids will die needlessly. In fact, it's already happening (reference multiple crashes in SW Asia). I am a good IP. I want to stay and make a difference. I would happily sit in an FTU and teach if I didn't have the constant threat of a 365. I refuse to give the big blue the reigns and sign up for more if they refuse to respect the talent that they have. If the only thing keeping me in (in the face of that 365 threat) is money, I'm out. Simply. Remove the 1500/750 hour requirement, and I think you'll simply see more young pilots who only got one ops tour punch ASAP. Retention will only get worse. All the talk about the airlines and production being the root causes belies the fact that the USAF "leaders" have given up on keeping quality pilots because the solutions are too hard (from a staff perspective) to implement. That comes from a staff who has drawn the same conclusion. The system promotes it's own, and the men and women in those staffs got there by self promoting. In short, they are not a part of the pool of individuals fearful of 365's and family hardship because they have already placed career above everything else...that's how they got where they are. So clearly it's the airline's fault, because that's a metric they can measure and fix WAY easier vs telling CENTCOM to sod off about having a 365 Chief of Wing Exercises. They're taking the easiest road instead of fixing the root cause: Senior leadership from O-6 and above are disconnected from the line executors of the main mission of the USAF. P.S. Go to any airline hiring site and dig in, you'll find that they have hundreds if not thousands of QUALIFIED candidates that are not getting called or are being rejected at the interview because the airlines cannot afford to sacrifice on quality. I don't see that changing, even if the 1500 hour rule gets rescinded, especially as the USAF continues to produce quality pilots for them. Congrats USAF, you want to make the crowd in Delta's waiting room bigger by adding younger civilian dudes. Well done. USAF experienced pilots will still often jump ahead. High quality experience counts.

...and foolishly short sighted. They'll just open the flood gates a little wider. Just because all the lifeboats are full doesn't mean I'm staying on the Titanic. On the other end of the pipeline, kids wanting to fly are closely watching how this all plays out. No one wants to join an organization that doesn't respect and care for its people. If it were me as a college student right now, I'd be figuring out how to get picked up with the Guard/Reserve folks while I pursue an airline career. Get your mil flying and chase the airlines too. Way more attractive than deploy, deploy, deploy, pass over, try and screw you on the way out.

That's the "why" behind all of it. That's what the entire bureaucracy of the USAF is for.

It's a lie. Being a fighter pilot won't get you that no more.

wow. Isn't this how the Savage forum got shutdown a "few" years ago?

Nope. His cyber awareness training expired and the jet locked his account at a very inopportune moment.

That's is just a standard US Army overview slide. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Camera angle is deceiving. I'd love to read the full story.

This talk sent me digging, and I found this little gem from last year: http://www.afpc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1309786/air-force-announces-100-percent-promotion-opportunity-to-major/ - “Although the system hasn’t changed, challenges with agility, efficiency, consistency and transparency have been documented by research and in the field for over 20 years,” said Maj. Mike Lupher, chief of Workforce Development for the Air Force Talent Management Innovation Cell. “We recognized we needed to do something about it and are taking a comprehensive approach to addressing these challenges.” - "I fully trust raters and senior raters to continue to ensure the Air Force's high standards of conduct," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. BWAHAHAHA!!! ...now where's the separation date button...

...wait...what?

Just going to make the trip to the ground that much quicker.

It's a really good thing that we're spending millions to differentiate between two different colors of sand. Coyote and tan are pretty much the same color, coyote being half a shade darker...so yeah, that's worth a whole re-issue while we're still doing combat ops in Afghan, Syria, Africa...on top of acquiring new weapons systems... *donning parachute and flipping to the bailout procedures*

Revival. Poking the Dragon. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/03/05/590803578/a-u-s-aircraft-carrier-is-docking-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-since-the-war

wait...what? edit...RTFQ. Yeah, I'm was moving at herc speed on that one.

Missileers everywhere are getting the tingly feelings. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43239331 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43248794 Quality of all the sources on this crap aside, I personally like how they're targeting CENTCOM...it's about time.

If you're into NATO and Italian food, look up the DACCC at Poggio Renatico, Italy. Sits in the middle of motor valley. Two year accompanied remote because the nearest school for kids is a 1+30 drive. The USAF presence is significant enough to have a healthy national support element. It's one of the best ways to punch the short tour box if you're single or you've got a family that can homeschool. Ferrara is a great little city. Lambo and Ferrari main factories are a quick trip too.

Of course not. It hasn't sat untouched for a week yet.