zach braff

He's got a USAF connection - I served with his brother in Iraq in 06. That's where I got schooled on the whole hot dog eating game. zb

Shut up dude. You're trying way too hard to impress the "cool kids" with this post. But I'll bite. 1) No I don't think our boy has that mentor - he said he's at a joint gig. Other services don't always get our secret code. And even if he does - the game changes all the time, particularly at the FGO level. I've got excellent mentors who are straight up with me that they don't know what's going on with this stuff sometimes. 2) Nice quote about core values at the end. They are clearly important to you as you laugh behind other people's backs as you cite in your post. zb

They will for a lot of programs but you still have to get picked for in-res like everyone else. If/Once that happens then they'll credit you for it. zb

Do you have a "if I had one more DP to give..." or anything similar in your bottom line or just the definitely promote verbiage? Statistically you probably have a good chance considering your boxes but going from having a strat as a maj to not having a strat might counteract that (check the AFPC stats from last year for P with ACSC correspondence & masters on their site). Hopefully you'll score a few points for the deployed time (that's a lot for a mission support type). I'd say you're right on the border, but with a slight lean towards getting promoted. Take my advice for what it's worth, going strictly off what I saw from a stint working on a senior rater's staff where I saw plenty of PRFs and the resulting promotion selections/non-selections. Good luck! zb

Not me.

I dunno man. I have a girl dog and I catch her humping the sh-t out of our couch pillows (she plays the dude) all the time. zb

It's fun to reminisce about the good old days when this thread was about PRFs and Promotions. So just for old time's sake - what format is everyone's command using for PRF writing these days? Mostly I've seen the "C-Zone" with a career-summary top line, strats & other good stuff along the left, and the bottom line being the big one. But there are also some folks who fill the top two lines with the strats & big stuff, the bullet/impact stuff in the middle, then the bottom line still as the big one. Not sure which is considered stronger though... zb

I did not get picked up for BTZ. Then two weeks later I got picked up for ROTC scholarship. Moral: Not good enough for SrA? Just become an officer instead! zb

As for what Stick said, a good boss' priorities should be having his/her people take care of each other and the mission. So if the LTs and Capts are taking care of each other and the mission - then they are making the boss's priorities their priorities.

Brand new. Just joined the board in 2006. Thanks for the heads up on everything about the board and the Air Force. Maybe you could mentor me from here out? If a guy showed up to pilot training talking like this kid - he deserves everything. But a kid who for christ's sake hasn't even joined ROTC yet?!?! Come on dude. A little ribbing is fine but some of these members were straight up dicks. Sure they're not anonymous within the Air Force, but they are to this guy. And then the kid gets some e-balls to stand up to the e-dicks and everyone got all butt hurt about it and ganged up on him. I highly doubt if this guy goes ROTC and gets his pilot slot or goes CE that he will show up to the Operational Air Force with this attitude. zb

Kid - The guys on this board are very knowledgable about the Air Force and flying. And many are also knowledgable about the anonymity the internet offers which allows them to be dicks from the safety of their own computers. Keep in mind that this board is a d-ck measuring contest that happens to have a lot of very valuable info and humor about the Air Force. Once you weed through all the guys jumping at the chance to impress their internet friends by bullying a young kid just looking for some info you'll find some good advice here. Good luck. zb

If you would only love to become a pilot, maybe the Air Force isn't for you. If you would love to become a military officer who also gets to fly airplanes - then you might be on track. Also - some of the closest and happiest families I know are the ones who sacrifice the most due to service. You'd surprised at what normal can look like... zb

Class A DSN line in residence is pretty standard for senior leaders, Wg/CC and above. That really ticked people off there? There has to be better stories, or more to this one... zb

Our boy wrote about this. I disagree very much with the stuff he says about the GOs' overturning of verdicts (sorry but it seems the witchhunt led to the convictions, not the facts), but he makes some good points on the culture in Camp Air Force and some interesting suggestions I think many on here would agree with. http://www.jqpublic-blog.com/?p=383#more-383 zb

Ha. I made a bet with myself that flat screens would be mentioned within the first 5 replies. It only took one. zb

If you're the type to sweat an AAD, I'd say it's more important to have it done in time for your Wg/CC to see that it's complete when he/she's allocating Ps & DPs rather than sliding it in to the board just in time. Yes, if it gets finished they'll update right up to the moment the board starts, but if you've already got a weaker PRF due to not having it done when your Wing built the PRFs it may not be as helpful. zb

Disagree. This guy is a wing commander - it's his job not just to meet the standards, but to exceed them. It's not like this is a no-notice UCI, or a flight mishap down in a squadron that he had not direct oversignt over - it's his own freaking PT test - you have all year to stay in decent enough shape to pass. Any other guy fails? Yeah, the usual administrative slap or bad EPR/OPR, but again, this guy is a wing-freaking commander. zb

I know I got some masters credit in leadership/mgmt for SOS in-res from my shady for-profit school. As a comm/cyber guy I think some schools give credit for our new cyber training too but I don't have any techie degrees that would do me any good for. You'd think an embry-riddle could give a buttload of credits for UPT (except if you give too many credits it's not too profitable to the schools)... Somebody should put the question up to AETC. Oh yeah, back on track. As a commander's lackey I built a brief using these statistics on AAD & SOS and stuff before but my boss was good to point out that they are useful only after job performance is looked at (read: the strats & push notes the CC's push up to the Wg/NAF/etc are the most valuable). However, the simple fact is in a lot of cases the guys who are kicking ass in the squadrons are also the guys who know the game and are able to get their PME & AADs done. So as stated above - if you're not a #1 or #2 but want to get promoted - AAD & PME are a good way to 'statistically' increase your chances. zb

I like that on the www.af.mil site, three articles below where it says Big Blue is cutting TA there's an article about how Anderson just saved $25 Million with their new Contamination Cleanup Concept. Why not just use that savings to fund TA for the rest of the FY? zb

He says he was on the way to the top, but then says all the OPRs look 90% alike - so how are we to be sure he was a General-to-be and not a "stellar performer" like everyone else? Good points, but nothing new - most captains could tell you the same thing. That said, if this garners any attention from brass/civilian leadership (not holding my breath) maybe it'll be worth it. zb edditeds fer bad speling

Doesn't look like our boy is gonna choose Macon anyway, but in Macon's defense, while the crime is terrible it's concentrated in a few bad areas. I lived in historic downtown and never had so much a stray dog pee on my lawn. I lived in WR for my first two years there in a nice suburb community just off of Russell Pkwy like everybody told me to and had my house robbed by meth addicts. I'd bought into the "Macon is too dangerous" stuff and gotten the place down there, but made a bunch of friends in Macon. After the robbery my wife and I said "eff it, if we're gonna get robbed anyway let's move somewhere we like," got a spot downtown and never looked back. I had amazing neighbors that all took care of each other; in WR I rarely got more then a grunting "hey" from the neighbors when I saw them. My downtown community in Macon was hands down the best neighborhood I've ever lived in.

If you're looking for the grown-up life then the Bonaire recommendation is spot on. But I'll say again if it's to make the best of Robins and be near what little nightlife/dive bar scene there is then go Macon (downtown Macon or North Macon). During my Robins tour there weren't many of us in Macon but those of that were loved it. College town, walk home from bars, cut 30 mins off the Atlanta drive, had a HUGE place, etc... 22 minutes door to door commute (in honesty, add 5-10 if you're going to the JSTARS side though). The added plus was except for the only slightly longer commute (see my earlier post in this thread), I rarely had to drive around home. Downtown had most of what I needed - mind you at the time I was there all I really needed was alcohol! But if you want to buy a house and secure your future and talk investments and dividends and stuff then Bonaire is the spot. There are also lots of good house parties that go on there since a lot of people live around there too. But you will need lots of cab cash or a friend with a pad in Macon for First Fridays. Just saying don't count Macon out unless you're dead set on buying or have kids in school. And Huntington Village is sh-t. zb

Those are safe. For now anyway. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/pin-ups-wont-be-removed-from-historical-planes/nTQQJ/

Not a pilot so no insight into whether or not this is the dumbest idea in the world (likely), but why not "turn in in your wings" Cougar style and not be a pilot just before you meet your board? Then they'd have no reason to continue you as a pilot. Or bust a bunch of check rides til they DNIF you? Not a good idea if you want to fly post USAF but if you really really want to not be continued... zb note - this really is probably not a good idea

For the LTs, I'd say OIC of pretty much anything should look decent on a SURF for the guys. Especially in today's era of boarding to Captain - if you can get some leadership-ish title in there before entering the 2-4 years of training reports I think it would be very helpful. zb