Magellan

I agree with everything you said. This is valuable dialogue.

Paul you don't have a leg to stand on. You earned your Pred out of UPT just as much as he did, and have your own set of personality/professionalism quirks as well so I wouldn't start chucking stones. Mike published a peer reviewed article in the Air and Space Power journal. Most people won't agree with him, but he has no control over how people spin what he wrote. He is a super nerd with a 10lb brain, and it shows though both in his article and if you have ever met him. It doesn't mean he is a lousy officer by any means. http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/digital/pdf/articles/2014-May-Jun/F-Byrnes.pdf

Black or red...

You have clearly never worked in a for profit company...it is no better, and in some cases it is much worse.

Why don't they build one that can take our CBTs, do volunteer work, plan Christmas parties, and delete the worthless spam emails?

Worked for the 2 forms I have used it on so far as a full up editor.

Their deals have gotten progressively shittier, but the AF still keeps getting enough officers from these sources. So much so that OTS is barely producing any officers. So as long as the Air Force is getting enough meat for the grinder I don't think the AFPC folks will ever really give a shit, because they operate under the illusion of, "Hey we have enough bodies. So what if we piss a few people off...we need to get rid of some anyway." Getting back to the shitty deals...one example is the rated slot application process. Back in the day (early 2000's and before) you could apply for just one rated career field Pilot, Nav, or ABM. Then they changed it for ROTC cadets that if you apply for one you apply for all of them with RPA operator thrown into the mix as well now, and the Air Force is supposedly rolling this out at the Academy as well. So until high school kids get wise to the AF shenanigans and stop applying for the academy and ROTC scholarships the AF will always have enough bodies on the officer side so they will continue to treat us like crap and mismanage the force. The reason being simply because the Air Force is naturally more inclined to replace people than to retain them. That said the Academy is in a downward spiral according to my friend that is an instructor there that just got approved for VSP. Apparently AETC thought it would be a great idea to shit can the program that gets almost all the military instructors there the degrees required to go teach in their respective departments. Not to mention they are all but shutting down the channels for the top instructors to go on to get their doctorates so they can come back and be department heads...in short in a few years the only people that will be qualified to teach at the USAFA will be civilians.

I would suggest we apply this tactic to AFPC...Welsh you listening?

Thread Revival: Found this gem today works like a champ if you would rather not have to boot windows to work on XFDL documents on your mac. http://armyguru.com/reference/pure-edge-viewer-mac

Email to SQ exec sent with list of pencil tab patches. Will be wearing them until told that they aren't authorized, and I expect our wing commander and squadron commander to have come out with approvals for nametags, morale patches, and shirts well ahead of Friday. In other news shares of Mardon stock have quadrupled overnight!

http://www.legion.org/legislative/218182/take-action-against-cuts-military-pensions Is an article that has a link where you can easily reach out to contact your elected officials with a canned email/letter, which you can modify as you see fit.

Details? In the last 7 years I have only seen a good improvement with the TSP since it started allowing Roth contributions. $17,500 after taxes is a hell of a lot more than $17,500 before taxes.

If they weren't already I doubt they will start now.

No clue...depends on the unit...funding...how much they like you...etc. But instructor would probably be able to happen faster than the 750 if they were on board with pushing you for TPS.

The PDSM takes preference since it changes year to year. Here is the latest one. Sorry for assuming you were aware of it already. My bad.

Straight from the PDSM NOTE: Members of the ANG and AFRC are currently ineligible to apply to TPS due to suspension of all voluntary recall programs

For prior MWS from AMC mostly yes, or it was people who wanted out of the Air Force deployment/TDY grind. TAMI 21 guys were a mixed bag, but they are all being recalled to F-16s or white jets. That is unless they re-catted because they decided "careerism" was more important than waiting for a cockpit that may have never materialized. UPT direct guys...it depends. MOST of the T-38 guys are sharp dudes that straight up got a raw deal, and T-1/T-44 guys are a mixed bag across the spectrum. The 18A direct ascensions are solid, motivated, and eager. However, they aren't on an equal airmanship footing with UPT grads for obvious reasons. The prior officer career field 18A guys that retrained aren't anything to write home about with few exceptions.

Shit can all the products made by GA for starters.

Because SQ/CC's don't have enough to do already?

Munchama Quchi Well done Colbert.

That works for 75%, but what about the 25% that are late rated, FAIPs, guys that change MWS, and late bloomers.

PM Tunes he has the data...and you won't regret the purchase the watches are worth every penny.

Way to anchor your argument! Dude the lowest common denominator officer/pilot in any community 11F, 11M, and God forbid I mention 18x will probably stay in regardless of the bonus, because the rules are simple and the pay is decent. Some of the best and brightest will choose to exit the service because of how poorly the Air Force does/did X, Y, Z, and in their situation they feel they are better off on the outside. That said most of the ones I have talked are simply too proud to admit they regret it when they see their old buddies getting retirement checks 10 years later because they stuck with it, but their body language tells the true story with a few notable exceptions. Now what their wives and kids have to say about them getting out is another matter. This is simply an incentive the Air Force uses to target a specific demographic that might be on the fence about staying in for the long haul or punching. It is a BONUS for those lucky enough to be eligible not an ENTITLEMENT for everyone blessed enough to make it through pilot training. edit: changed to to too for the grammar police.

Most of them have $$ in their eyes looking at the jobs they can get after they add UAV experience to their resume when they hit the 20 year point.

Wrong