Jump to content

StoleIt

Supreme User
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,541

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    29

 Content Type 

Posts posted by StoleIt

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    20 hours ago, dream big said:

    The same people in EUCOM who are currently running humanitarian relief efforts in Turkey had to deal with a PR distraction so Biden could get his photo op in Ukraine..don’t see a problem with that? Oh and later this week FLOTUS is taking a Safari to Kenya that precious resources get to be wasted on. You probably don’t see a problem with that either. 

    It was planned months in advance. Sadly, shit happens. If we cancelled every DV movement because something else was happening in the world nobody would ever go anywhere.

    Considering I'm one of those resources that gets wasted for all this travel, you'd be correct, I don't see a problem with FLOTUS going to Africa. Countering China's advances/influence in the African continent is a huge priority.

    • Upvote 1

    Release of the B-21 Raider

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 2/6/2023 at 10:23 AM, Sua Sponte said:

    It’s probably similar to what happened when the KC-46 stood up at McConnell. There’s tanker, airlift, fighter, and bomber drivers that went to the -46. That also included patches from various MAF/CAF backgrounds.

    Hopefully they try to avoid the poisonous, backstabbing, terrible environment that went with putting a bunch of #1 strat/fast burner types all in the same squadron that McConnell experienced...but doubtful.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    China & Chinese Shenanigans

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, Lord Ratner said:

    I don't mean this is an attack on you, but your post demonstrates why these things rarely change.

    Let's operate on the assumption that this guy actually has the authority and approval to put these types of changes into place. When an organization is run like dog shit for so long, you end up with a lot of lost-causes who simply can't move on from the amount of shit they were forced to eat for so long. I'm one of those people by the way.

     

    So when you come in as a leader with an attempt to make a drastic and immediate change to the very character of the organization, it's not going to work if you don't first go through and sweep away all the dead bodies. A perfect example of this is Twitter, I think they got rid of 2/3 or 3/4 of the company at this point, and that's what it takes to make sure the cynicism born of the previous however-many years of terrible leadership and decision making don't poison the future.

     

    The leadership infrastructure in AMC is built upon a system that this guy is trying to flip over. That means the leaders now are literally the opposite of the leaders he needs. The AF picked the current AMC sq/gp/wg commanders based on ability to process and adhere to administrivia. Now he wants leaders who excel in undefined environments, with a much, much higher probability of failure. We're talking polar opposites in terms of leadership characteristic. Is the air force ready for what accompanies those types of leaders? Considering the last decade of squadron-culture-eradication, I doubt it. 

     

    This will not work until the stakes are so high that the AMC/CC can literally remove a commander on-sight and install his replacement on the same day. You need alignment of vision to make something like this work, and the outgoing leaders will not take their exile idly if they are removed one-by-one over time. Mini will not be the CC when this happens.

     

    He's the leader we need, but remember the first rule: timing is everything. He's too early, and as such he will fail. 

    Not taking it as a personal attack. I'm one to dismiss, ignore, and skirt every type of queep/bureaucracy to get the mission done (sidebar: it actually made for a great TMAAT story at my legacy interview).

    But Mini is what...at least the 3rd 4-star in a row to talk about how we need to accelerate or die, right? What has changed? Has anything gotten better? I see it all as empty words. Go in and publicly fire some people that are holding up progress. Publicly promote the dudes who solved the complex tactical issue that CH mentioned. I don't disagree with Mini's intent but, after 6-9 years of hearing it, and not seeing any traction take place I just can't be bothered anymore.

    • Like 1

    China & Chinese Shenanigans

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Kinda weird that the memo is dated 1 Feb (a couple days in the future from when it was sent). But, overlooking that slight anomaly, I think it was a poor attempt to try and (re)galvanize AMC into a wartime mindset. The people that are going to have to worry about their vRED and getting slapped around by China don't need to be told to empty a "clip" (WTF) into the head. Ops and MXG already have that mind set. Get the other groups onboard. But that will never happen. The frozen middle administrators in support roles in AMC make everything harder than it needs to be.

    I want to be optimistic about what he is trying to accomplish but this memo was a piss poor attempt IMO.

    February:

    My bases CATM literally can't keep up with the current demand so all the pilots we have no longer keep up weapons qual. Now they want everyone to shoot in the month February? Okay...that's not going to happen.

    Update vRED. Neat. Can I just wait until it's mandatory for me to update it or do I literally need to waste time and look it over? Also, thanks for reminding me that in a war with China I'm gonna die. I'll just add that to my pros/cons of getting out of the Air Force list...how much QOL is dying worth? I guess the $400k SGLI will be nice though...anyone know if civilian life insurance covers PL-15's or is that something I have to get specific policy for?

    March:

    Go see JAG to get my household affairs in order. Neat...again. Maybe the JAG will know the answer about my life insurance question. I think I'll just push the separation button slightly earlier actually. I can do that from my office instead of going all the way to the JAG.

    We can't even get a working autopilot on the -135 and you want to modify it to be a drone carrier? How about we get it back into RVSM airspace as a realistic and achievable goal.

    /rant

    • Upvote 1

    The new airline thread

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    4 hours ago, disgruntledemployee said:

    Changes AA to procedures aside, why the hell did that crew continue the flight?  They nearly caused a WB/NB collision.  I'll bet the entire flight was a distraction of what they just did.  I'm willing to bet the controller that made the abort call (not exact words, I know) was taken off shift, because, ATC needed to review everything to see where the mistakes were made and can't have a controller continue duties until cleared.  Delta crew made the right call.  If the AA crew called someone, that someone should have pulled them from the flight, so that's at least two levels of poor decision making. 

    Last I read it was a CKA and "new" (to the 777) FO. I can't believe they continued either...I guess it must have been premium.

    • Like 1

    The First Amendment, Freedom of the press.

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    3 hours ago, dream big said:

    Well unfortunately for the media, worldwide coverage of Afghans falling off a U.S. C-17 taking off from Kabul is pretty hard to spin, and a pretty fitting sight for the most incompetent administration and defense department in history. 

    I think we see if that way...asking around to my non-military friends I firmly believe the general population thinks we did a great job. The spin worked. They didn't fall off the plane because of our crappy plan, they fell off the plane because of the Taliban/Afghan's government's failure.

    The new airline thread

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by StoleIt

    9 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


    Company made a safety/CRM disaster at the beginning of the month, and they won’t own it.

    And the majority of pilots rolled over and still departed on time rather than review the procedures on the clock...and now they floated their vacation against APA's direction. Our pilot group is too broken to save at this point IMO. I'm hoping the 7k retirements in the next 10 years might lead to better unity/cohesion within APA (or ALPA if that happens).

    • Like 2

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    4 hours ago, FLEA said:

    What exactly do you guys think is going to happen to those weapons if Russia experiences internal collapse? 

    What happened the last time they (USSR) collapsed? I'd imagine, assuming a semi peaceful transfer of power and a status quo in the escalation of the current conflict...it will be the exact same as what happened in 1991.

    New Fitness Rules

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    19 hours ago, nsplayr said:

    Was it a whoop band around your wrist or an oura ring? Oura is approved in our SCIF already along with a handful of other devices.

    Did you do tracked metrics in lieu of the annual fitness assessment or just in addition?

    A fitness tracker would work well for RPA specifically, we literally have a gym in the room adjacent to one of our GCSs haha, no excuses!

    I’m interested on the details of what y’all did particularly if it was in lieu of the annual PT test. My CC is interested and I’m trynna make it happen. Accelerate change or lose right? May the odds ever be in our favor…

    The ring. And yea, I just heard at todays intel brief we can wear the ring in the vault.

    And I haven't heard anything official about it being a substitute for the PT test.

    New Fitness Rules

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    7 hours ago, nsplayr said:

    Humm…quick math says max waist for a 5’10” person is 38”. And I know a handful of people fatter than that and shorter than me 😅

    What I wanna see is what I’ve heard the Space Nerds…er Force are doing with a wearable and tracked metrics year-round in lieu of a once a year test.

    Some people may not like that and I wouldn’t want to see it as a mandatory program, but I’d love to try that out sometime. If anyone knows an AF squadron that has figured out a waiver or experiment among those lines holla at me!

    We wore the "Whoop" ring for ORM purposes. It went away pretty quickly when the tech dude who did all the work to get set up PCA'd.

    My only issue with using a wearable device to track healthy/fitness (which I'm a fan of, I love my smart watch for this reason) is that if you work in a vault or do any significant amounts of flying I can see you get flagged and put in the bad camp. Sure, even if I hit the gym and run 2 miles before a flight, 24 hours stuck in a metal tube eating a ton of calories isn't gonna help. I do get a kick out of it when my watch tells me to get up and go for a walk when I'm halfway across the ocean and have 3 more legs to go. Airplane mode needs to apply to fitness!

    • Haha 1
    • Upvote 1

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Interestingly, a buddy of mine ended up getting selected for the program to get a Master's right out of ROTC. He regrets doing the program because all it did was put him 2 years behind his peers. I guess if he wanted to go to TPS it would help immensely but, otherwise someone would really have to dig into his records to see he got selected for that program in the first place, unlike Phoenix. It didn't help him at all professionally.

    So, even when the Air Force claims to value advanced degrees...they really don't.

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    15 hours ago, JBueno said:

    Just playing devil’s advocate here.
     

    Is it possible that not having a master’s will have zero bearing on promotions for understaffed career fields?
     

    Yes, but now that the order you pin on is based on your rack and stack at the board (not saying that's a bad thing BTW), getting ranked last costs you in missed pay and BAH at the higher rank. So, assuming how you price out your time, getting a minimum effort degree that costs no more than the TA reimbursement will eventually pay out several hundred dollars higher a month for the extra 6-9 months you wear the rank.

    O-3 -> O-4 and O-4 -> O-5 are roughly a $500 month difference and BAH is (rough average) about $200. So if that moves you to the middle of the pack it's $4200 extra by getting promoted 6 months earlier.

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, HuggyU2 said:

    Oh, but there is a way to provide direct feedback.

    I won't post it here, but simply look on The Global for: 

    - Kendall, Frank, SECAF

    - Miller, Caroline M, Lt Gen. 

    - and maybe your MAJCOM A1.

    A "feedback form" isn't needed. Simply provide your well-developed, professional thoughts on the matter. 

    True, as I get a little closer to my separation date I will just let them know directly next time they come up to the cockpit and ask me how it's going. Granted only one of those people rate my jet.🤣

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I really wish there was an "exit feedback form" we could fill out to let our "leadership" know some of the reasons why we are leaving. It would be cheaper and more accurate than all the RAND studies, IMO.

    Not that anyone would care...but at the very least it would be cathartic and it could be something our civilian elected officials could use to hold the senior military officers accountable for mismanaging their personnel so badly.

    • Upvote 3
×
×
  • Create New...