gearhog

Apparently, he lost two legs but only needs one prosthesis to walk.

Old guys: "The AF sucks. I'm leaving." New guy: "Yes, it does. I want out." Old guys: "WTF? Snowflake! ! You're going to get yourself or someone else killed! Be positive! It's all worth it! Best job ever! Your marriage is in trouble! Seek counseling!" euser, Your experience is your experience. If you believe you are having a poor experience in the AF, then you actually are having a poor experience. Your grievances aren't anything new or unique, so why are you being blamed for them? As the new guy, you need to realize anything you post here is not a contribution for selfless intellectual discussion, but an opportunity for a few others to practice self-righteousness and judgement, but not empathy. While there are many good discussions here, just be aware that you're currently involved in one where your post is being used to feed an addiction cycle of empowerment among some of the regulars. Remember that despite what appears to be "advice", the goal here is to make you respond indignantly and emotionally, not help you. The best advice you'll ever get on this website is never, ever, come here expecting to have a serious and honest exchange, about anything. This forum is only a game. Pot stir - Complete. 😄

I'm in this for the long haul. I intend to stick around here and give my advice as to how the Air Force and its pilots should operate well into my retirement years. I'm pretty sure my best years are behind me and if I don't consistently remind you what a badass I used to be, you can't expect me to get any sort of validation in my sunset years as a gear puller where my ego isn't regularly fed a steady diet of online recognition? Geez, can't someone just admit this is the funniest exchange ever precipitated by an animated snowflake .gif? I mean, I'm working my ass off here to make sure everyone is having a good time. FFS.

Don’t tell me what it “actually” was because you have no more information than the rest of us. I trust the guy telling the story know more about whether the dude was being a prick than you trying to put words in another O-6s mouth while simultaneously bitching about caustic leadership. You need to figure out what your position is and once you do, do not make mistake of assuming I give a shit. I’m also not interested in what a new airline guy thinks will serve an 11 year airline guy well. The Air Force is different than when you punched. The desks practically fly themselves these days.

Well, none of us were there so we're left to infer the context and tone with which the threat was made. The simple fact that a threat was made doesn't seem to be in doubt. Where did you read this guy merely told them to "be vigilant"? That's not what was written nor what I read. I will agree with you: not everyone should be an IP. However, having been an IP since 2004, I certainly understand the frustration that comes from being blamed for increasingly complex and broken process that an IP has no control over. If another IP's gradesheet is overdue because he's been flying an ad-hoc schedule for several 12 hour days because they can't find anyone else to get a dozen crewmembers current before they leave for deployment next week while the network is down, don't expect me to wring my hands in worry that you'll take my cert away. I'm also not going to bag on the guy because he went home for dinner instead of writing me an essay in GTIMS. An OG threatening me for his performance makes me think he's completely out of touch and expects all his IP have a predisposition for fcuking up. People tend to live up to or down to the expectations set for them. You are correct in saying a CC should set clear positive expectations and priorities. You are incorrect in saying a CC should set clear expectations, priorities, and make threats, especially over "paperwork". As an OG, If someone didn't do a gradesheet, you ask your SQ/CC to talk directly to that person. You don't personally threaten all the other IPs with being decertified. That type of leadership style has been rode hard the last few years. If you think it's an acceptable one, let's have a look at the situation we presently find ourselves in.

Threatening to downgrade an IP to an AC before they've even been cert'd as an IP for crimes that have not yet been committed counts as professionalism? If you're going to threaten me with less responsibility, less paperwork, and the exact same amount of pay for not being able to overcome broken processes (i.e. GTIMS), forgive me if I smile and shrug. The value of an IP cert on an airline app is declining rapidly.

If a US military aircraft participates in any airshow, it is by definition being sponsored (in part) by the Government. Should I assume by the implied conviction of your belief that you've never participated in or attended an airshow with military aircraft performing? I will agree that this parade thing is a bad idea. Not because of the funding, but because I'm afraid everyone marching will look like the USAFA cadets at the Trump inauguration - embarrassing.

The AETC slides seem so bizarrely ignorant that I think something must be missing. Consider: the slides are from AETC and they most likely would not detail retention initiatives. Those slides exist elsewhere. Quality of life and financial incentives are likely being addressed by different organizations, and they may be separately trying to solve the crisis entirely, as AETC looks to be doing. I believe bonuses are in the works: http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2019/fy2019_m1.pdf FY 2018 Air Force Officer Incentive pay budget: $236,704,000 FY 2019 AIr Force Officer Incentive pay budget: $284,437,000 (proposed) $47,000,000 (20%) increase for all officers, not just pilots. In FY 2017 there were 574 CAF and MAF bonus eligible pilots ($80K per year each?) I don't know what the pilot bonus target take rate is ( I would think 100% at this point) or how the extra money would be allocated among officers. Would a 20% increase in pilot bonus be enough? Defense Budget Approximate Approval Timeline: February 12, 2018 – DoD Releases Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Proposal Spring/Summer 2018 – Congressional committees submit “views and estimates” of spending and revenues. Summer/Fall 2018 – House & Senate Armed Appropriations Committees work on the FY2019 defense bill. Summer/Fall 2018 – House of Representatives and Senate pass their versions of the defense bill and negotiate differences. November/December 2018 – The House of Representatives and Senate pass the final version of the defense bill. December 2018 – The defense bill is signed into law

If these guys bust daily rides/checkrides, the IPs are going to be blamed. They'll get 88/89 rides and the CC will push them through because he's going to be evaluated on his ability to max produce pilots and send them off to be someone else's problem. Being an IP for during next few years is going to be soul crushing. ALL the focus going forward will be quantity, not quality.

At least in my unit, the person doing the certifications/authorization is often at a desk, in an secluded office, clicking "approved" 100 times per day. There is no reasonable method to ensure validity of requests because you're likely to piss off 99 people to catch the one unscrupulous individual who doesn't have an alibi. We've simply added complexity without value.

You're probably right. Not possible. As LiquidSky said, the Air Force is trying to their hooks into as many young people interested in flying as possible. They'll create a large pool of casual status lieutenants who will be doing busy work until the ideas proposed for ramping up production are implemented. Air Force assumptions: Production capacity isn't going to decline further in the near term. Pilot production ideas proposed by AETC will be funded and implemented quickly. Those ideas will work effectively once implemented. Casual status lieutenants are willing to wait possibly years for a training slot, and are willing to incur another 10 year commitment once winged. As is demonstrated again and again throughout the "pilot crisis" slides and memos: People are merely resources. They're going to stockpile these resources on the front end and treat them as though they do not have a shelf life.

LOL. Don't forget, "Thank you for your service." This killed me.

Curb your ISIS enthusiasm. Why did I laugh so hard at this?

We must be more careful with our words. If we want our young leaders to be successful in macroaggressions during war, we must avoid exposing them to, and victimizing them with microaggressions.

“Hello, AETC? Can we get a new pilot over here? This one seems broken. No idea why.”

I was there recently. Hard to book downtown because tourism demand exceeds lodging capacity by about 1000% they told us. Game of Thrones and LOTR has made Iceland hugely popular. Burgers were around $24. Expect to pay $50 for a pizza. We stayed north of Kef in the lighthouse inn at Gardur. Nice family owned hotel, but in the middle of an open field with not much around. but the scenery is amazing.

According to the .doc posted above, 100% of the focus is pilot production. It looks as though they intend to surge (unsustainably) until the dozens of separate complex COAs and programs can be implemented. They don't seem to consider this is going to burn out the current IPs and exacerbate the problem. A pre-planned transition to the airlines? Sim training: Contract IPs: I'd like to see that contract. Put all the T-1s at a single base. Great idea. Break Glass? Translation: screw the current workforce to build the new workforce.

I don't think it's a forecast, it's a "today" snap shot of every year group and how many are left (per 1000). The black is pilots who have separated. It looks as though it should be more of a linear decline as years of service increase, but the huge dip in the 11-14 year range is creating the concern.

The Air Force isn't interested in saving money, it's interested in spending money. Take a look at historical budgets across the AF. Money never actually gets "saved", it gets moved. Falling short of the 12,696.9 pilots the Air Force says it needs is being called a "crisis", but we're larger than the next 10 or whatever Air Forces combined. (I don't know if that's accurate. i made that up). Even if we reach a point where a lack of pilots results in excess flying hour program money, they'll simply shrug and move that money elsewhere. Calling this a crisis with impressive presentations of stats on ppt is a tool to be used to fund new programs and acquisitions. If the Air Force has to choose between paying a few guys to stay in a few more years, or potentially being funded for new initiatives costing hundreds of millions to increase pilot production, they're going to go with the latter.

To win a war against Russia, we must first win the war against Earth's climate. Sounds reasonable.

Bye Bye Bone. B-21 is going to Dyess (sometime in the mid 2030s) http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/main-news/dyess-afb-to-be-the-home-of-the-new-b-21-pending-congressional-approval/970100807?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KRBC_News

737

Yea, same here. There's a thousand different ways to fly the plane and I'm not so set in my ways that I can't adapt. You want me to do your technique? Fine. I was told just last week to never use LVL CHG in a descent. Always use VERT SPD because LVL CHG is a violent maneuver for the FAs in the back. Never heard that before. Also, set zeros in every MCP window before leaving the aircraft because... well just because.

I really want you two guys to fly together so I can be on the jumpseat with a bag of popcorn.

An ancient form of written communication before wireless digital connectivity. Some of the old folks still print words on the same type of material they wipe their ass with. Weird.