pawnman

Don't forget...we cut a current, qualified evaluator WSO, completely qualified in the newest block of the B-1 (one of like 8 dudes dual-qualified)...and in the mean time, 12B manning was so bad we brought back a guy who has been out of the aircraft for 8 years, non-instructor, as a LtCol, to go back through the B-course. Good dude, sure...but is that really a great trade? What's the ROI on a guy who could train dozens of new guys on the newest evolution of the jet versus a guy who isn't a qualified instructor and will be lucky to fly twice a month, when the squadron isn't trying to train the new guys for the next deployment?

But maybe, just maybe...by breaking out AFSCs at the promotion board, you can promote more of a stressed or undermanned AFSC (say, 18X or 11F) and fewer of an "overmanned" AFSC (like, apparently, 12B. And I AM a 12B). Then, maybe the cuts to personnel could be shaped year to year, instead of making everyone undergo the RRF exercise every time there's a drawdown.

The "big hand in the sky" certainly controls how many of those ALFA slots get dumped on a squadron. But then, where else will you dump them? Gotta feed the machine somehow...those 365's aren't going to fill themselves, even with the drawdowns. Lord forbid some SQ/CC or WG/CC in a desert location have to list that he led fewer people than his predecessor.

Perhaps. But where the system fails the other 90% of us is when it doesn't realize not everyone WANTS to be a general.

We've consistently sent inexperienced guys to ALO slots or back to UPT as instructors. Commanders often used it as a tool to protect more "promising" officers on track for weapon school, sending the young, not-quite-as-promising co-pilot to fill the VML so the more experienced pilot or WSO can stay in the squadron and upgrade. For a period of time, we were dropping orders on people at the 18 month point, with a RNLTD at exactly the 2 year point.

And even if it isn't a good leader, at least that captain now has a senior officer shepherding their career. Guess we should take those aide-de-camp AFPC robot emails more seriously.

This was off the OPR, not the PRF. Although it does depress me that carrying out the primary mission of our branch is considered "lesser" than planning parties, getting DG at SOS, or watching over airmen botching travel vouchers.

Well, I've certainly learned something today. I always thought the air medal citations for twenty combat missions were cookie-cutter (mine all are, and so are 95% of the ones for guys I deployed with). I thought it was standard, pre-approved verbiage, not individually broken out statistics. I'll file that knowledge away for future deployments.

Well, ideally. However, since I don't have any single-sortie air medals, they all just say "employed the aircraft at extreme operational limits, blah blah blah"...no actual number of hours or weapons dropped in any of the citations.

No, it didn't change. I've actually had combat bullets (weapons dropped, lives saved, enemy killed) taken off my OPR because "they aren't competitive". Replaced with things like "Air Force Assistance Fund" and "tour guide for local civic group".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/02/air-force-captain-sentenced/22762041/ That wasn't so fucking hard. Now my reply:

Didn't you hear? We're not doing combat any more. We're out of Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama said so during the SOTU address.

And intel.

Why court martial the Col, when you can court martial the CGO who came up with the scenario at the Col's request?

You know...a bunch of us huddled around the desk, sharing the answers at the beginning of the month, as the commander walks by...something like that. Do other communities have the "periodic testing" every month? Pulled from the same MQF as the closed book check ride test?

So, when will the AF figure out that the bonuses don't make up for the current impression we are making on potential recruits?

Think we can get some flyers together to cheat on a boldface and get the bonus raised?

That is the trick, isn't it?

I don't know that we usually sentence people to five years with the Taliban for sexual harassment.

If I had to guess, this will either go nowhere, or not result in a conviction. All you need to know is the last line: "All the while, he remained a trusted adviser to Mr. Obama..."

We can use all the A-10 pilots when we retire the Hawg.

I don't know, didn't work out great for this guy.

Of course, you are operating under the assumption that the government is paying for the things it is buying with tax dollars. Right now, we're paying with some IOUs.

The point still stands that the population is growing. That population growth will driving building of houses, restaurants, shopping centers, recreational facilities... Based on my years in Rapid City, I think I'd prefer Minot to my current West Texas environment.

It's also why we're buying tanks that the Army said they don't want. You only have to look at any major weapons program to see this at work.