SocialD

Agree with Brabus, always a tough spot to be in. Circa 2013, my squadron had 10 or 11 refugees (nearly 1/3rd of the squadron) from 5 different squadrons being shut down. Off the top of my head, I think they shut down about 13ish fighter squadrons back then (or converted them). Lots of guys looking for new homes and a few of my buddies ended up just converting to non-fighter airframes due to a lack of will of moving or there just being no jobs/TX to be had. These young bucks need to cast a wide net if they want to have a good shot of finding a home in a fighter squadron. Off the top of my head, Atlantic City, New Orleans and Homestead appear to always be hiring. As Brabus said, TX spots might be the LIMFAC. If I were a young guy and I didn't have time for the Legacies, I'd grab a regional gig. Pay is damn nice right now, you'll stay flying and have non-rev bennies to jump around to all the bases easily. Hopefully, you'll get picked up at a Legacy and then can drop MLOA to convert to your next airframe. Or, just be thankful for the time you had in the jet, get to a legacy and enjoy making damn good money with lots of time off. It will never compare to a good, tight-knit fighter squadron, but you'll certainly not sacrifice as much. ...my 25 year old self would tell me to fuck off with that statement lol!

No retiree hat, but I was wearing a sand colored waffle shirt lol.

Lol this got me wondering so I checked out their pay. Unfortunately, the $100k bonus is for pilots with >950 hours 121 time. But for the current pay rates are pretty awesome. Orders dried up for a short time in 2012, so I went to Compass Airlines (no defunct) and started at $28/hr. Envoy newhires now start at $93/hr! My newhire pay at AAL was $52/hr and $91/hr at DAL. FYSA, I adjusted all these number for current day inflation. These kids are finishing college and walking straight into $100k/yr jobs...nuts. I wouldn't shy away from going to a places like envoy if you finished your career with no currency, or the legacies are not calling quite yet. With the slowdown in hiring, it's bound to happen to some. It's good money and you likely won't be there long. Apply everywhere, but if the legacies haven't called, I wouldn't hesitate to take a regional gig. I had a good time flying at my regional. I'd just recommend going to one where you don't have to commute. As someone who has recently retired, I can say you won't miss all the bullshit captainmorgan mention. I live under the pattern for my squadron and can watch SFO's from my back patio. I love to watch them, but I sure don't miss it, because I know all the stress/BS/sacrifice that goes along with that flying. They were night flying last night and when I heard the first burner light for takeoff, I raised my whiskey from my campfire in my backyard, while I was "working" (long call) at DAL...go get'em boys!

Must not be that hungry if you're worried about it not being Halal.

Fucking legend!

Damn, the incompetence of Boeing strikes again. Here's hoping its just temporary while Boeing unfucks themselves. The max delay is having a small impact on the hiring at DAL as well, although so is the 220/321NEO engine issues. This all probably just means that those of us on the 717 and maybe the 75/76 guys will get to stay in their fleets just a little bit longer. Already hearing the 76 retirement is being pushed back a few more years while all these aircraft issues get worked.

Just verified with a buddy, they're still not getting paid correctly for flight pay without a follow up payment. Every paycard submitted gets one check with the old flight pay rate, then a second check follow to bring it up to the current rate. So maddening that this can't be figured out. Only impact DSGs...of course!

SS is whole other level of fuckery. I full expect that I won't receive SS in anything close to it's current form, or even at all. I'm not even factoring it into my retirement planning. If I get it, then sweet, more 100LL cash...if we're still allowed to use 100LL in 25 years.

It's like when our FSS NCOIC came to brief squadron leadership on the new OPR system (already ram dumped the name). She made it a few slides in and said, we really don't know what's going on because this system is terrible and noone seems to be able to answer our questions. OG just laughed and thanked her for her honestly. We backburned it and continued to process OPR's like we always had via e-mail, while the AF unfucked it. Then I retired...thankfully. Lol called it. When that passed that, I told the guys they'd be lucky to see it before 2024, if ever. I was certain I wouldn't see it before retirement. Are they even paying the correct DSG flight pay right now? Or are you still receiving catchup payments because they "can't code the system" or that "the new pay system will be rolled out in Jan of 2020 to fix it all?" 2020 is not a typo, that is when I was told (in 2018) that it would all be fixed and why they wouldn't spend time fixing the current system. Loved getting 6 paychecks a month lol. Agreed, some are probably banking on it. Then you'll get to listen to those who stayed have their "I told you so" moment, as if they they were the smartest people in the room all along. I've seen this song and dance before. Fortunately for me, I never had to come back for orders because whatever happened, I can easily survive at DSG pay...that's a great feeling of freedom. Damn I sound bitter and jaded lol. I'll admit to the latter, but not so much the former. It's just hard not to laugh/cry because you see the cycle repeat itself over and over again. Promises, broken promises, promises, broken promises. It's why when I left I told my guys to always take care of themselves and their families first, because at the end of your career, they're the ones that will be there. The AF will pat you on the back, you'll be replaced that day, the machine will go on and you'll mostly be forgotten in short order. [/rant] But I'm seriously pulling for you guys, you've earned it and truly deserve it. Though I know the likely outcome, if it is ever implemented, here's hoping they're forced to back pay ya'll for this.

Was this the bonus they tried rolling out 6-9 years ago that required you to not be in a service commitment, but also not over 15 years of service? I remember when that rolled out and all us DSG's were geeked about it, until we saw the requirements. Many of us were prior-E's (or O's) and were out of luck due to our >15 YOS. We combed the squadron and figured out that only two of our 15ish DSG we're eligible, and one of them was only eligible for another 6 months because he was about to hit 15 YOS. What a joke. Then to make it worse, I think they screwed up and either didn't actually have the money, or recouped it later due to a funding issue. I can't really recall all the details because I stopped caring after I saw the requirements.

This is my stance as well, which often means I write a big check. A friend just said they were fined (block 38 of 1040) for not paying enough. His view was that he made more using that money elsewhere, so he'll pay the fine, even if we all know the fine is bullshit.

Ya, I meant for that to go above his head, but your last paragraph hits on that point, so it's might just be moot. Either way, best of luck, hopefully he's being moved to a position where he can't do anymore damage. Not that a dude like this would ever go to an airline, but I know of a squadron that successfully blackballed a dude from all his top choice airlines because he was just such a toxic boss, especially toward part-timers/airline guys. He apparently had a CJO in hand at a Legacy and ended up having it pulled. Unfortunately this type of grass roots effects aren't as successful with Generals as they're just too far entrenched and will always find a cush contractor gig after service.

WUT? If I were an OG or above, and I had a SQ/CC that handed out more than a one CC directed Q3s, I'd be wanting some explanations. More than a few and I'm probably setting aside a day to go through them all with the SQ/CC. 34!?!?! I'd probably removed the guy because clearly he doesn't know how to lead. In my entire career, I know of exactly one Q3 that happened while I was in the squadron. That was during the B-Course where a dude Q-3'd his first form 8 ride for some serious buffoonery on ground ops. ...ended up being a patch, so it didn't hurt him too bad. I've never seen a single command directed Q-3, though I know of one case that warranted one lol. Anyway, this doesn't sound like a guy I'd want in charge of our future AF leaders. This sounds like a great time for a community wide "dear boss" letter. The last thing we need is his style influencing USAFA cadets and permeating throughout the AF. This is a great time for all you dudes about to bail from service to start a grass roots movement and make one more positive impact on the AF. You're always allowed to talk to your congressman.

Minute 8+10, the guy at the bottom makes a comment that nails it. "Once you've tasted the free life...it's tough to go back." It didn't help that the last 3 or 4 deployments felt like a complete waste of my life, which includes my last trip to Afghanistan about 6 months before the pull out. ROE so tight that there really wasn't even a reason for us to be in the air. Why am I going to hang it out there if you're not going to let me do my what I'm good at and force me to watch the bad guys do bad things to good guys? Totally jaded me right at the end. I can't imagine going back simply because I love the amount of free time to spend time with my family, friends, fly for fun, go on unplanned vacations or maybe got make some extra pay at a daily rate of 6x my mil pay. My only regret is that I didn't go as soon as I hit my 20. If you're on the fence and contemplating the jump, do it, I highly doubt you'll regret it.

Just Brabus with his stockpile of tens of thousands of dollars worth of bullets and his assault knife building cabal!

Even when I was a Lt Col, I couldn't tell you which A staff really mattered to me, or what they did. I'm sure making lead wings, with A-Staffs made up part time Lt Col's will be great lol. What's even worse, on some bases where they're charging headlong into this lead wing shit, they're pulling AGRs out of the flying squadron to fill these roles. If this was such an important thing for the AF, they'd provide the positions to go along with this new plan. Pulling AGR's from the squadron just hurts the flying mission and is robbing Peter to pay Paul. A buddies squadron is already short because they're on a joint base and have had full timers pulled for BS wing gigs. Now add this in and they make life miserable for the full timers left in the squadron. I wonder why they can't keep full timers lol.

They want a space nuke to strike satellites.

Maybe more shenanigans..."imminent national security threat."

No one needs 500 rounds and assault knives Brabus!

Is yours actually going through? I submitted an updated application April of 2023 and mine still shows "work in progress." I'm retired now, but call out FSS Chief today to see if she can check into for me. I understand things can take a bit, but this is pretty excessive. Thankfully, I have about 17ish years (depending on what they say) to figure it out lol. That sucks to hear. I once knocked out 4 OPRs in about 2 days for a guy so he could have them for an airline interview. Long story on how he was missing 4 OPRs. But to your strat comment, are those sought after things within your old Guard squadron? I bet I could have queried all the pilots (non former AD guys anyway) if they know what a strat is and I bet less than 50% would know what I'm talking about and the other 50% would say strategy? Having only been at one Guard unit my whole career, it's always interesting to see how things are done differently out there. Funny story... I'm out in PHX hiking up camelback and get a call from an old college friend. I hadn't heard from her since college, but I knew she was in a high profile job at Delta, so I answered. She said, hey are you behind on OPRs (she's mil as well)? I'm thinking well that's a weird question to lead with after 20 years of never talking. I'm like, do you mean am I personally (I was)? She's says, no I mean is your wing behind on OPRs? I just laugh and say if it's not a year overdue, we're not worried about it. She laughs, and says that makes sense, thanks gotta go. I hang up like, what a weird conversation. Fast forward a few days, I'm back at the squadron and figure it all out. Turns out she was interviewing a squadron mate who didn't have his last OPR. She was just calling me to verify if his story checks out because the others on the board were asking and her base appears to be pretty strict on OPRs. Dude owes me lots of beer.

You're right on that one, I try to fly as little as possible at my airline gig! Averaging 20 hours/month right now...need to deflate those numbers a bit though. Well at work anyway. Unfortunately I have to pay for my fun flying these days...some of the best money I spend though. Anywho, on topic, it's really hard to want to go back to an organization that seems to try their level best, to make life harder for the individual. I guess if you were in a non-combat coded squadron, that never goes TDY, it wouldn't be terrible. On an unrelated note, has the new pay system been rolled out yet? I'm told it's going live Jan of 2020 and will fix part timer flight pay.

Honestly this reads like a plan you'd create if you wanted to look like you're doing something, but don't actually want it to work. Maybe it gives them something to point at and say "see, we tried," I guess it's on to stop loss lol

Only the best Charlottesville has to offer! Lol, when I was on the WB, I used to hate on my plane flying to the 'burgs & villes," but now they're going to have to shut this thing down to get me to leave lol. I'll take my MSN layover over AMS any day because I wont be dead tired walking around...I just gotta bring my sunglasses. Speaking of fight club. Anyone see that Delta clown at the Transportation Committee Hearing? The memes generated from this goober are hilarious! BTW, if you didn't know, Mr Nehls has a 63 year old Delta pilot brother. He's one of the reasons it's made it this far. I didn't watch the hearing to know if this flexing pilot is him or not. O'Doyle Rulz!

Not sure what year that was, but I was a Capt, 4-ship flight lead in 2012 when orders dried up for a bit. I went to a regional to pickup some hours because, even with my 700 hours prior to UPT, I was still shy of legacy requirements (not that they were really hiring). Starting pay was $19/hr with a 72 hour guarantee. With the staffing levels we had at the time, there was no way to make extra cash. Second year pay was something like $30/hr...$25k/yr. I think Captains we're lucky to get in teh $60s...really living large lol. But none of those dudes seem care about those years, because you're making good money right now and it didn't happen when you were at Delta. Never gonna be another down turn or black swan event!

My Terms because I've already given up a lot of my life to uncle Sam. 2 years contract, then year to year after. $100k/yr tax-free bonus (minimum), both years paid before I depart for my duty station. Flyer only. 5/4/9 schedule. No in-voluntary TDY's/Deployments (I'm probably going, I just want control). No writing or receiving OPRs/awards. Paper Voucher (1351-2). Paper Leave Forms (988)...I really don't want to have to justify why I can't fly across the country with SVTC. Duty assignment of my choosing. No Blues. I'll do PT tests because it's always fun to beat the young 20-somethings as a 40 year old overweight dude with a jacked up back/neck. Oh, and I want that time to count toward my reduced retirement pay. If there is a real near-pear, shoot-em-up war, scrap all that, I'll be first in line to come back and do what I can to help!