ram02

And here's the ever-so-inspiring resignation letter from the wing commander: http://timesfreepress.com/news/2014/mar/27/nuke-missile-base-commanders-resignation-letter/ In classic missile fashion, instead of taking personal responsibility, he blames the crew force: One would think the "leadership team" would be able to proactively ID and fix problems within their own wing without a BRAA point-out from a mystical "silent Airman," but I guess it's the crew force's fault for not diming themselves out. And the "I told you so" part. The whole letter sounds more like one final admonishment from the WG/CC instead of a mea culpa.

Ready for another round in CY15? BOHICA. http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/473737/air-force-continues-force-management-programs.aspx

Checks. IIRC, she also had to take a speech class to receive the prestigious, be-all, end-all CCAF degree.

Reminds me of a MSgt I had working for me. She had a master's degree completed before entering the military, yet was still required to complete her CCAF to obtain senior rater endorsement.

http://www.afgsc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123401166

And you didn't have any busybody off duty E-9s chase you through the terminal?

True, and I'm familiar as well with the dog/pony show having crosstrained into ABM after a missile tour, but the heart of the matter is that in a flying wing the GP/WG leadership still has some "skin in the game," so to speak. By insulating the GP/WG leadership at a missile wing from alert duty, it creates an "us vs. them" environment where to an average crewdog it seems that higher echelons of leadership are deliberately shielded from risk and can in fact still get promoted for things that anyone else would get hammered for (e.g. I miss one question on my monthly test and I get reamed by the DO but the WG/CC can fail a nuclear surety inspection and still make general officer).

Which I never understood as a line guy. In a flying wing, the WG/CC and OG/CC still fly, so in a missile wing, why don't they pull alert? To me, the ultimate mark of credibility would have been for the WG/CC or OG/CC to pull an alert every now and then and demonstrate some actual leadership in the field instead of simply making motivational speeches at pre-D (And what if they were actually ACP/SCP qualified? Imagine that, an OG/CC pulling alert at an ACP, actually leading his OG). By not having WG/GP leadership pull alert, it always seemed a little protectionist to me, but then again apparently you can fail an NSI as a WG/CC and still go on to be a general officer.

"I'm sorry, who is this again?" http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/473240/secdef-makes-surprise-calls-to-malmstrom-afb-officers.aspx I wonder how candid these "candid" conversations really were.

The missile culture can't accept the fact that there will be mistakes. Any mistake, no matter how small, is unacceptable because perfection is the standard when dealing with nuclear weapons. There is no such thing as "recognize and correct" to a missileer. Until the retribution-based culture changes, you will never see an honest debrief environment like the flying world where someone stands up in front of everyone and fesses up to their mistake, because once you admit you made a mistake, you will immediately be punished. So, instead of bringing mistakes to light so everyone can learn from them, missileers from very early on learn to bury and cover up their mistakes lest they be made an example of.

2. I went from missiles to ABM and am absolutely happy I made the switch. The first time someone told me I was going to take an MQF test and that I would have the questions AND answers, I knew I finally found some sanity.

There's a services airman who works at the missile alert facility and cooks for the topside cops and underground missileers. Some are really good, some not so much.

"What's that you say, Lt Jones? There's no funding for TA? Stop quibbling and use your GI Bill or just pay out of pocket. You do know you can't get a decent strat without a master's, right?"

Ah, you are correct. Poor vis recce on my part.

And what exactly were all these space/missile/cyber/acquisition GOs supposed to do in the AOR? Edit: I see multiple AFESRs with gold borders. They may not have made it to Afghanistan or Iraq, but at least they've deployed.