zach braff
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Posts posted by zach braff
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Why not take a hard look at our war on drugs? Seems to me that a big part of this mess is folks wanting to escape the criminal organizations that have grown & prospered due to our own demand for their products. And also members of criminal organizations trying to get over here to help their gangs with distribution & such.
Long term solution I know - and I agree 100% that border security is the short term solution - but in the long term so long as we want their drugs the narcos and gangs will continue to wreak havoc in Central America. That's going to keep both the gangsters & the refugees flowing our way.
Not saying I have the specific plan or answer, but any real fix is going to require people smarter than I to look what's causing this mess.
zb
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She seemed to have a good sense of humor about it. Also notable that she jumped in for a regular practice, not a special flight…so she experienced what the T-Birds & F-16 can do without causing extra funds or (too much) additional hassle on the unit. I like this SECAF.
zb
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My story isn't nearly as cool as most of those already posted, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. My enlisted recruiter did mine.
When I first tried to join the USAF, they didn't want me - I'd been in too much trouble. My recruiter had no trouble meeting her monthly recruit quotas and could have easily discarded me and got back to working with the more eligible kids who could easily ship off to Lackland. However, she fought her flight chief and even commander in pushing for all the waivers and additional paperwork to get me in. It took her 9 months but eventually she convinced the Air Force to give me shot.
I did okay and got picked up for AFROTC two years later. When commissioning time rolled around she was the obvious choice as none of it would have been possible without her help. She flew out for the event and said she enjoyed tracking down her old flight chief to let him know that the lost-cause kid just became an officer.
zb
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Chuck,
I typically agree with your posts, but I've seen this line of discussion from a number of officers. "We cannot afford to be the worlds police." I understand the sentiment, but it fails to ask the cost when peace breaks down. We rely on the free flow of world trade to support our economy. The news is already starting to ask if events in Iraq will effect gas prices. Its important because "every $10 increase in the price of oil shaves 0.5 percent of global growth." When global security breaks down, it comes with a cost. I believe that the cost of ceding our leadership and security role will exceed what we save on decreased military spending. Beyond that, I am not sure I trust another nation to enforce a world order that would still be favorable to our way of life.
So... Maybe we need a new commissioning oath?
"I raise my hand and take this oath,
in defense of oil and global growth."
zb
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This is something else that is wrong with the Air Force. The fact that all comm was renamed "cyber" and that most "cyber" Airmen have no idea what is actually happening in the cyber ops world. Cyber ops (offensive and defensive network warfare) should be an ops AFSC (17D) and called cyber, because it is an actual domain that is contested and can be used kinetically i.e. "supported." This AFSC should be filled with smart people. Base comm and all of the other comm functions that have zero to do with cyber ops should be a support AFSC (33S) and called comm i.e. "supporting." This AFSC can be stocked with anybody. They also need to move Cyber Command out of AFSPC and make it its own MAJCOM. It is far too important to be a NAF in a MAJCOM that operates in a completely separate domain.
Standby...There may or may have not have been a very similar recommendation on your AFSC gripe from the comm/cyber community that may or may not have been signed off by CSAF at most recent Corona.
zb
edit for edit's sake
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Sounds silly if they'd throw the '06 majors board only 4 months after the '05 board. The whole point of canceling the '05 board was to cut down the wait time between selection and pin on. A March board would throw the captains right back into 18-24 month pin on waits.
My hunch is that it's just a rumor and the '06 board will happen in Fall 2015. But the Air Force has done sillier things so who knows...
zb
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Anyway, the Marines' Memorial Club has a very nice and very reasonably priced hotel. It's basically half of what you would normally pay in San Fran. There's also a free happy hour on the top floor every early evening.
Stop telling people about this - you want the place to be booked up when you're in SF? And don't tell them how each floor is like it's own amazing museum of Marine and military memorabilia and it has a whole museum & library and a free brunch either. Geez…
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Part of the PRF/OPR/EPR issue I've witnessed is every time there's a workshop/lesson/mentoring/whatever on writing, it's always about how to write the strongest report. You learn all the techniques to make someone stand out as a winner, but those events rarely/never address how to write for the average (not bottom of barrel but not top 20%) to get across that they are top 40%, 60%, 80% etc.
I can draft a sh-t hot PRF, RRF OPR on anyone but I'd struggle to write for a good performer who isn't going to be a school select (but that I still want to keep moving).
zb
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I dropped out of CCAF as an Airmen when the Ed Center told me they would only transfer 2.33 credits from all my pre-USAF college classes. Since I'd gone to school for a year in Washington State, which at the time had trimesters instead of semesters, they wouldn't give a full transfer. Where the hell was I going to find .67 credits anywhere?
When I went ROTC, go figure - my 4 year school transferred everything no problems. I now have a bachelors and (worthless box-checking) masters but still probably would not qualify for a CCAF.
zb
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Bump
With all the talk about force management, has there been anything going on with the Major board that's supposed to happen at the end of the year? It seems like every year prior, the promotion board to O-4 has been a hot topic around all the bases, but with the Force Mgmt fiasco going on, it seems like the intel on the promotion boards has dried up.
Haven't heard a thing - let's get some RUMINT started!
- Masters Degrees? Masked or Unmasked? What's it gonna be?
- Promotion %... Same as previous years (~90%)?
- School slots... Still top 20%? Reduced to allow some candidates to go in the future?
zb
edit fer speling
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I have rarely (on only two occasions) seen Rip Its for sale in the USA. Are they a regional product in a region I've never lived?
If not then my guess is that the war/defense dollars are the prime source of their business. Will the publicity from this attract enough business to cover the loss they'll take due to this?
zb
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Thanks one1 - good info. I think I will end up just forfeiting the remaining and get the year for my kid - I don't want to ever learn anything again myself and would rather get the transfer done soonest so can get the service commitment started (and in case the RIF goes bad for me, the transfer needs to be done before boot-out notification).
Plus now that I think about it I think it's much less than 10 months remaining anyway. I was forgetting I used a bunch of top-up while checking my masters box.
zb
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Anyone have experience with transferring a post 9/11 after using part of their Montgomery GI Bill? FAQ says if you completely exhausted your benefit you can still get 12 months to transfer, but it doesn't say anything about if you partly exhausted it.
I used most of my GI Bill during ROTC (school paid for by ROTC, beer & party cash from VA!) but still have approx 10 months. I'm applying to convert/transfer to my kid...
So how many months should I expect to be awarded? Only the 10? Or the 10 plus the 12 months they give to those who have exhausted Montgomery?
Hoping it's the latter - wouldn't make sense that someone who already used the full 36 months of Montgomery would be awarded more benefit than one who did not.
zb
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What happens when Airmen denied VSP are subsequently RIFed other than leadership's loss of what little credibility they still have?
The Force shaping PDSM was amended to state that if somebody is denied a VSP then subsequently cut, they can reapply for VSP - so they can still deny you but then boot you, but if they do you can get the 1.25% sep pay.
I imagine they'll do the same for RIF. But who knows.
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"Senior Leaders Challenge Airmen to Reaffirm Commitment to Core Values"
We thats it folks. That should fix everything, time to shut this thread down. Leading by webpage, who knew?
It was the email that really moved me.
zb
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And obviously, they haven't announced if the '06 promotion board is this year or next year.
I think they announced that via the board schedule for 2014 which does not include a board for the '06 group. Future year "estimated timelines" on the AFPC site show all Capt year groups pushed back a year for the O-4 board.
Back to topic - I still haven't got the RIF delay mail via my official chain or MPF, but plenty of buddies forwarding the info.
zb
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So the PSDM for RIF stated eligible officers would be notified and given instructions NLT 14 Feb. Anybody see anything yet? I haven't.
zb
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How do you 'taint' someone? Sounds painful.
Read the "What's wrong with the Air Force" thread and you'll see how the Air Force is 'tainting' Airmen every day.
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I was an O student in an E heavy AETC TRS for over a year at DLI. Couldn't have had it any better. The squadron (considered a TRS from the Goodfellow Wing, with Intel CC & DO) was almost completely hands off with us. It was a big boy program - Pass your PT test, work hard in class, don't get a DUI and you're GTG.
They would ask us to help out with the occasional event (think wingman day or parade) from time to time as there were very few perm party Os in the unit, but it was not frequent and most of us actually enjoyed that as it was a chance to connect with junior Airmen who hadn't been tainted yet!
There was no 29B or reflective belt nonsense. We were asked to be professional and to "help" the Airmen where we saw honest mistakes as they were still new. Additionally, to keep us in the loop - the Sq/CC would bring the Os in about once per quarter and let us know what was happening in the USAF/AETC/Sq.
Frankly I was surprised after hearing about all the AETC nonsense elsewhere, particularly since we were part of the Goodfellow wing. But while the school itself was tough I thought things on the unit side were about as good as can be.
zb
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I had a ROTC instructor my first year that was a missileer. He told me how great it was and that I should consider it - but I just thought, "if it's such a great job why did you become a ROTC instructor to escape it."
BREAK
I think they should send Lt Col Tatertots to Malmstrom to fix the problem - she's clearly the expert.
zb
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92 officers suspended. Other bases are pitching in officers to help out.
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I'm curious as to how far back the investigators are digging... If this is a "trend" how long has it been going on? Sounds like it may not be that new of a phenomenon. Will they ask (under oath) the current Flt/CCs, DOs, & Sq/CCs if they ever cheated or were aware of it going on during their crew-dog days? And if they do what happens depending on what they find out?
zb
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ZB, how else would you propose we strat people? Doesn't a senior rater know better who the bottom-rung officers are than a random board member?
Absolutely. The SR is in the best position to strat. But I would suggest in the instructions to the board to use that as a tool, but not the end all be all for the decisions.
In my force shaping example - my buddy and I compared RRFs after the board. His narrative and records were clearly stronger than mine. But I had been in a 'meh' wing and had ranked quite well (good records but not absolutely superior...). He was in a shit hot unit but where everyone had loads of decs and deployments and accomplishment, so his record while stronger than mine hadn't ranked as high with his SR.
That's all I'm saying - I hope the strat is a tool, but not the easy decision maker for the board.
Zb
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So the PSDM says no Definitely Retains and that SRs will use the "In his AFSC he's X/X and year group he's X/X officers..." statement... But it doesn't say where that statement goes. Last time we used that it went in Section VII I think but the instructions say that section's not used. So does that statement become your bottom line of the RRF?
That's going to get ugly too. I remember in Force Shaping on the LTs in the early 00s there were several guys all from a heavily tasked, heavily deployed unit all stratted against each other. We had a guy PCS from there to my less-tasked unit but after the accounting date so they wrote his RRF. He was the #5/5 guys but had 3 AFCMs, deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan plus a sh-t ton of other stuff that would have ranked him WAY higher in any other unit. If he'd PCS'd to our unit a couple months earler and been stratted in our wing he'd have been GTG.
So that's a long way of saying I hope the board doesn't use only the SR strat this time...
zb
Promotion and PRF Information
in General Discussion
Posted
The PSDM is out for the O-4 board ('05 YG). Interestingly - states that education info will be in your OPB. However, the PSDM also includes the O-6 NC board so perhaps that part only applies to the O-6 side.
zb