[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

2 hours ago, tac airlifter said:

Some constructive criticism: stay away from articles villifying commanders based on a single email.  Those commanders might be wrong, or they might be right.  It's impossible to know without context, and articles lacking context diminish the credibility of your conclusions.  You do much better on stories like the Laughlin debacle where you've investigated both sides, or attacking the say-do gap at higher levels.

 

This is totally fair. If I'm pushing stories that leave readers with the impression of inductive reasoning based on a single random email, I'm missing the mark. Appreciate the input.

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

4 hours ago, GlassEmpty said:

 

Not only random, but that guy is actually an great dude from all the IPs I talked to there. Everyone was happy to work for him and he was friendly as shit. It's like TV hasn't gotten over the Laughlin drama from the previous regime.


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Is "great dude" really the test you want to roll with? Mark Welsh was widely regarded as a great dude. James Post too. Brian Hastings -- great dude according to many people. Britt Warren can be a great dude overall and still be dead wrong to punish people for exceeding fitness standards but falling short of his pet standard.

As for Laughlin ... I don't think I'll ever be over Macho Grande.

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

4 hours ago, Steve C said:

The last straw for me was when you decided to shit on some random OSS CC for his PT policy. At that point it was obvious you had run out of interesting topics to bitch about.

We just have a difference of opinion about the substance and importance of that article. Sorry you feel that way, but no apologies for the story itself. While I'm sure that CC has a fan club, his policy was punishing airmen who met the USAF fitness standard. It was worthy of a callout and was fact-driven. And the guy is a commander, not a random anonymous henchman who can expect zero scrutiny. It's OK to critique what he is doing with the authority he's been granted, and we don't have to agree about it.

My one regret on that piece was not using a few more words to make it clear many CCs were/are doing similar things. Shouldn't be up to Britt Warren to carry all of the burden for a practice that exists in many other locations.

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

1 hour ago, ViperStud said:

TC, for what it's worth I look at you the same way I look at Welsh's stint as CSAF. In the beginning, there was so much hope. As time went on, the hope never materialized. Welsh eventually sold out. You eventually stopped prioritizing the vendetta against shit leadership and, instead, started caring about website traffic and shitty writing for the sake of said traffic. 

 

What happened?  Did you go all-in with a new job and need to outsource JQP?  If so, realize that your brand would have been better served by stepping away rather than delegating it to people who don't quite get it. 

I suppose that's a fair take, even if I don't see it that way. We got some huge wins and moved the needle consistently for three solid years. We continue to get wins occasionally, but two things have changed. The first is that I can't personally dedicate the time to the blog that I was able to commit from '13-'16 (because as you intuit, I went to work) and have therefore grown to rely on others. The second is that I believe the USAF is genuinely trying to turn things around. As opposed to the season of darkness, when I felt Welsh and James needed to be called out on every valid example that came around the bend because they didn't even have the right intent, I'm interested in giving Goldfein and Wilson a bit of space and time to pursue their valid objectives.

There was never a shift away from pursuing the vendetta against shit leadership. In fact, I caught hell for pursuing that vendetta further than many felt was wise or constructive. Likewise, I never shifted to making editorial decisions for the sake of generating clicks. Of course I want people to visit the blog, but it's because I want them to read what I'm writing. I don't get paid by the click and no one edits my work or decides what I will publish. I don't write click-bait headlines and I don't (purposely) bury leads. My writing is too clunky and complex to ever prevail in a click-for-cash environment. Honestly, if I wanted to get rich online, I'd roll with cat videos or a meme generator ... not a military affairs website only interesting to a tiny sliver of the population.

Entering into business to make the site self-sustaining was a tough call, but on balance the right one. The site is still doing good things and the USAF still has to keep it in the cross-check. If it tars my image with some of you guys for the time being, I can live with that.

Edit to add: meant to say that yes, there have been missteps and stories I wish I hadn't written or permitted others to publish. My response above shouldn't be taken as a claim that everything's been done perfectly. The intent has been right, but not always the execution.

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

TC here. Some fairly large judgements in the comments above. I won't go defensive and address them all, but feel free to ask questions if you're actually curious. 

Where applicable, thanks for the feedback. Fly safe.