BONE WSO

http://www.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123445666&source=GovD 4/20/2015 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force have directed the realignment of the Air Force's B-1 bomber fleets and Long Range Strike-Bomber program from Air Combat Command to Air Force Global Strike Command, effective Oct. 1. The move will realign the Air Force's core mission of global strike and all of the service's bombers under a unified command responsible for organizing, training and equipping Airmen to perform this mission. "This realignment places all three Air Forces bombers under one command and brings the LRS-B program with it," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "Consolidating all of our Air Force assets in this critical mission area under a single command will help provide a unified voice to maintain the high standards necessary in stewardship of our nation's bomber forces." Sixty-three aircraft and approximately 7,000 people will transfer from ACC to AFGSC under the realignment. Since moving from Strategic Air Command in 1992, the B-1 has played an essential role in combating the nation's enemies, either projecting combat power from bases in the United States or from forward operating locations around the globe. Airmen who drive B-1 operations have demonstrated the platform's long range strike capability, delivering its conventional weapons on target from home station, making it a perfect fit for joining the B-2 and B-52 under AFGSC, James said. "With a single command responsible for the Air Force's entire long range strike fleet, the Airmen in AFGSC will benefit from better coordination and increased sharing of expertise across the five bomber wings," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. "Consolidating all conventional and nuclear capable bombers within the same command allows the Air Force to streamline the global strike and strategic deterrence missions, and create a lasting positive impact for the Air Force's global strike capabilities." Both the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and the 28th BW at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota will continue to serve as the host wings and provide installation support and services to other units on the bases. "We expect the transfer to be imperceptible to the majority of Airmen at Dyess and Ellsworth as they will continue to work for the same supervisors and units," said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command who was recently nominated to serve as the vice commander of U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb. "The impacts of the realignment will become noticeable over time as crosstalk among maintainers and aviators increases across all three platforms, creating opportunities in training, tactics development, doctrine development, aircraft modernization and acquisition," Wilson said. The consolidation of the global strike mission under AFGSC follows the Air Force's plan to elevate the commander of AFGSC from a three-star to a four-star general officer position, which Gen. Robin Rand, currently the commander Air Education and Training Command, will assume.

This statement makes me very angry. We did not cut the bottom 2%. For example, in the B-1, one of the guys that got RIFed was an instructor/evaluator WSO with a Masters Degree, ACSC complete, and about 5 deployments. He was also the Chief WSO in OGV and had normal progression throughout his career. He is known as one of the sharpest guys in the community. Please explain how that is considered "the bottom 2%"! Nobody is going to "have pride" in A1 leadership. To say that you made "remarkable strides" is spin and an absolute joke. What strides? Please tell us!

There was a B-1 pilot that recently got approved with 3 years left. But he is going to the B-1 Reserve Unit, not sure if that was part of the deal.

Didn't happen with 04 year group. There are still guys pinning on.

The G Fund cannot lose money so you could move it there if you wanted and you would get the same effect as cash. "The G Fund assets are managed internally by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. The G Fund buys a nonmarketable U.S. Treasury security that is guaranteed by the U.S. Government. This means that the G Fund will not lose money." https://www.tsp.gov/investmentfunds/fundsoverview/fundManagement.shtml

I would not agree that it is either one or the other. It is not that black and white. Here is how I break out how the AF evaluates people, at least in the B-1 community. The guys/girls that are in either group #1 or group #2 are the ones that get promoted and have above average careers.The people from these two groups form the leadership of our community. 1) WIC grads, OG & Wing Exec 2) Non-WIC grads that are good at primary job and still get the admin stuff done. (CFC, Party Planner, etc) 3) Guys that are great at primary job of flying, SOF, etc, but don't lead anything 4) Guys that are average at their jobs and do nothing extra I never see the guys in group #1 planning Christmas parties or doing CFC, etc... They don't have to. They are considered the tactical experts or have high visiblity Exec jobs that keep them very busy. As long as they work hard at their primary jobs, they will progress and be near the top of the strat pile. If they can be the squadron patch and also lead projects around the base, they will be considered a superstar. If you are in group #2, you must be good at your job, attaining at least some proficiency (instructor, evaluator, not a dirtbag) but you don't have to be the absolute best in the squadron either. As long as you meet this bar, you are good. Be good at your job and knock out a lot of admin stuff to help your CC and make the squadron look good. The mistake many guys make, that don't want to go to WIC, is to try to be in group #3. It is not enough to be the very best pilot or WSO in the community. You will not be rewarded for knowing more than every single person in the squadron, or taking that extra deployment. When these people don't get promoted or get RIFed, everyone is shocked because they are seen as the backbone of the squadron, but this is not what the AF rewards or promotes. After you become good at your job, don't spend all your effort on being the best, you should back off a bit and aim to be in group #2 by volunteering to lead some projects. Unless you are a rockstar and can be the very best at your job and still able to knock out important taskers for the boss. Guys that are in group #4 usually will have a below average career and may not get promoted or may get RIFed. I'm sure I will take some spears from others for this but this is based on my experience in the B-1 community. I realize that some guys will say this is BS and that you should strive to be the absolute best at your job and to hell with everything else (group #3), like Joe1234. This is valid, but if you want to stay in for a career, it will be very difficult for you to go this route and you probably won't be the CC.

Yes, this is an extreme example. The point I wanted to get across, and I added a few more sentences to the end of my post to make it clear, is that you must lead at least some events outside the squadron if you want to stay in and progress. When you are a young guy, nobody tells you that. At least nobody told me that. I thought being excellent at your job was all you needed. I was in 7 years before I figured that out.

Please bear with me while I tell a little story highlighting what the AF truly values. Hint: It doesn't involve flying or deploying. When I was a Lt in a B-1 Operations Squadron, I was a scheduler and a line WSO. All I did was fly a lot and bust my ass in scheduling. I received very good strats and excellent OPRs. I never once did a holiday party or any other such BS. When I got to the FTU, I continued that same routine of flying a lot and being great at my ground job. When I received my first OPR, it was terrible. I was furious. I asked my rater why it was so bad and he said it was because I never did any volunteer work. Being the smart-ass that I am, I told him I would volunteer for every single thing that came across my email for the next year and pay little attention to flying, and that is exactly what I did. I really just wanted to prove a point at how ridiculous the AF is. I ran the CFC for the entire wing. I organized, no shit, an ice cream social at the WG/CC's house. I led 30 airmen to paint the B-1 at the gate. I organized a flight line social for the city of Abilene. I led the LtGen Rand visit. I led a tour for Sen Cornyn. I even got myself elected as the VP of the CGOC for a few months. Because I was doing all this, I never flew or sat SOF. I only worked on this BS. I flew only 12 times in 2011 but the strange thing was that nobody cared, exactly as I expected. Not once did anybody question why I was never flying with students or doing my job. I logged maybe 50 hours the entire year as an FTU instructor. I constantly received praise from the SQ/CC and WG/CC about everything I was doing and got all #1 or #2 strats. I won CGO of the Year for the squadron and the Ops Group. The next year I went back to my normal self, and my average OPRs. This example taught me that there is no incentive to be good at your job, or even care about flying. The guys that are logging the most deployments and flying the most with students get shit on careerwise and the guys that shirk flying so that they can go plan the christmas party are getting school slots and becoming commanders. This creates a lot of resentment from the guys actually out there doing the work of the squadron and severely lowers morale. The 3 guys they RIFed in the B-1 were perfect examples of guys that were busting their asses get the job done and they get the boot. Refusing to play this game, I took the VSP a couple months ago and now love life in the ANG. For the young guys, if you intend the make the AF a career, you have to play the game at least a little bit, not to the extreme I did, but you have to lead some stuff around the group and the wing. I have seen more than a few guys not get promoted, and now guys getting RIFed for being very good at their jobs, but not volunteering to do stuff outside the squadron.

Agreed. If you guys want specifics, you should have access to everything you want in the vault. Go talk to intel and get them to point you in the right direction.

I would not say they are "delegating threat detection." The DSO seat is where threat detection occurs. Also, realize the WSO's are also mission leads and will direct every aspect of a mission when they are the ML, with the exception of safety of flight and other aircraft specific stuff like fuel management, when to RTB because of an EP, etc...The way you worded your post makes it seem like the pilots can accomplish everything on their own, but we split the duties up to make each crew member more effective in their specific job, which can cause a delay due to the added communication.This is not the case. One of the best things about the B-1 is that each position is critical and the job cannot be done effectively without everybody pulling their weight. Like any other platform, we have TTP's and standards that everybody in the jet follows. All bomb-runs are prebriefed, and if not, are expected to follow the B-1 standards. This means that you could accomplish a bomb run without any comm whatsoever. The pilots still have SA where to turn to get the bombs off the jet, time to release, etc... They are not up there without total SA just waiting on directions from the OSO.

Not sure what you want to know about CRM. I don't think it is any different than another crew aircraft. Everybody on the crew has specific duties and expectations that need to be met to make the mission successful.

You do have healthcare immediately if you are TAMP eligible. I ran into the same issue but ARPC will gain you much quicker than that. I called Tricare while still on active duty and they also said they would backdate and pay everything. The day after I separated I called Tricare to check my status and the TAMP was in the system and my family and I were fully covered. My guard unit told me it would take 4-6 weeks to get gained into the system but I went back to the Dyess ID card office 1 week after swearing in and they said I was showing in the system as gained and gave me a new, normal CAC, not the green one, and my TAMP card. The TAMP benefits are essentially Tricare Standard. If you were on Prime before you may need to select off-base Dr's with Tricare. Also beware that you do NOT have any dental insurance through TAMP until you call them and set it up. They charge around $80/month for a family. I agree that it is a huge clown show. I spend at least 15 hours on the phone and running around base trying to get this sorted out before I left active duty but never had any luck. However, since the day I left, everything was very smooth and the insurance was available right away.

We had a handful of FAIP's that came through a couple years ago that never flew 38's, they flew T-1's, so I don't think that is a dealbreaker. However, I have never seen anybody come through as an AC. Also, I was in the FTU for 4 years, until I separated two weeks ago, and I never saw one person crossflow from another platform. Even though you have experience flying another aircraft, the B-1 community is big on not allowing somebody to be an AC until they are competent enough to lead tactical missions, including could they make mission lead type decisions while on a combat sortie. While you could technically be an AC but not a mission lead, and let a WSO be the mission lead, I have never seen anybody updgraded that way.

I think it is an approval from the Reserves that you can join. I met with the Reserve Recruiter and he took a bunch of info from me and told me it takes a couple months to get scrolled and to do it early so that there is no break in service.

VSP Update: Separated on 26 September, Final Pay deposited yesterday and VSP paid out today!

Tunes PM me your number and I will call you and give you the gouge I have on the program. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your Prime ends on the DOS. We are authorized TAMP for 180 days. I have searched through the forums but have not determined yet how to get enrolled in TAMP. I talked to FSS Separations, Finance, the ID card office and my ANG unit and none of them have any clue as to how to actually get enrolled in the program. I will have a 1 week old baby at separation so this has been a high priority to get solved and so far I have had no luck.

Being charged with a DUI is not the same as being convicted of a DUI. If they parade you up in front of everyone in service dress it creates the impression that you are in fact guilty and could sway the potential jury members that are on that base. I'm sure a smart lawyer could bring this up at the trial, if it was on base, as unlawful command influence.

In the year after doing this you will probably end up taking the standard deduction instead of itemizing. After doing some research, it seems that many people alternate taking itemized deductions one year and the standard deduction the next to maximize your itemized deductions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Two more ways to keep more of your VSP shielded from taxes. First, pay your January mortgage payment for all of your houses in December. This will allow you to deduct that extra interest this year. Next, pay all of your property taxes for next year this year. So far I have: put $17,500 in traditional TSP, put $5500 in wife's traditional 401k, pay house payments for 2 houses month early, about $2000, and pay property taxes for primary and rental houses this year, which is around $8000. These efforts will shield $33,000 from taxes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just fill out the Pre-Separation Order Worksheet ASAP. It took me about two weeks to get the orders after I filled that out. I have orders in hand and still have over 120 days to DOS.

I just got my orders and it clearly says 20 days of PTDY authorized. I don't think the orders are cut at the local FSS so I would expect yours to say the same thing. Initially the MPF airman told me I was ineligible and then when I showed her the FAQ she admitted I was right.

FWIW, I considered working until the very last day and then selling back 30 days for $6500. However, they will take taxes out of that, and I'm not sure if it will be the same rate as the VSP, which will be a huge chunk. I decided that I am going to take half the leave and spend the summer off with my family. I know that I will never again get the chance to take off a large portion of the summer to spend with them so I am opting for that, plus I am ready to mentally checkout. According to the AFI, you cannot take PTDY on consecutive M-F so I plan to take it one week M-F, followed by leave M-F and keep that rotation for about seven weeks. I am going to come back in for a couple weeks at the end to outprocess, so its really not terminal and only uses 15 total days of leave.

In addition to maxing out my traditional TSP, I am also planning on opening a traditional IRA for my wife and putting $5000 in there.

FYI, this may be common knowledge but it wasn't for me. When I got VSP approved, the A1C at the MPF sent me the email verifying it and it said, in all caps, "Since you are separating voluntarily you are not entitled to 20 days PTDY." This is not true. If you look at the FAQs on mypers it clearly states that we do get the 20 days. I brought it to her and she said "Oh yeah, you do get the 20 days, sorry." I also talked to Airman and Family Readiness Center and they confirmed that even though VSP says we are not entitled to TAMP, if you join a Reserve Unit as a drilling reservist you will get 180 days of active duty healthcare.