BeefBears

The difference between major and ltcol pay at 20 is about 12%. With flyers being pretty much autocontinued, you really have to debate whether those extra hoops are worth jumping through.

Nah, I dont want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Sounds like there are going to be a lot less strats overall since you have to pair functional with a rank strat.

I'm not trying to agree with the bitter buffalo that showed up but did you subtract out the missed retirement payments for 5 years? For example, its about 300k for an O5 from 20 - 25 years.

How much have you talked to your family about it? Are they good with 3 more moves? Are they okay with potentially seeing you even less than before? There are other things you can be doing while you wait for the airlines. Remember to add your pension to any job you take outside the air force. If you stay in, you're essentially giving that up. On the other hand, you sound like a pretty good dude and we could use more commanders like that. Staff is hit or miss. I have had staff jobs I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and jobs that were great deals. I think it comes down to the impact on your family. Both are good options - good luck!

Honestly, we could use a few more senior leaders that bounced back from issues early on rather than the risk adverse ones we get.

The retroactive part is my big issue. The Air Force changed the rules of the game after the fact. I also like how the head shoe clerk said that it wasn't a one mistake air force because... he said so. Does every lieutenant that has an LOC for... dumb lieutenant things... have a UIF now? Does it count if the paperwork was removed? The article even mentions adding inquiries to the board where no command discipline occurred. I can think of a dozen good dudes that will get thrown under the bus by this.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2499406/all-services-including-department-of-the-air-force-to-furnish-adverse-informati/ Seems like the one-mistake air force just got a little more one-mistakier. It even retroactively includes all paperwork and inquiries/investigations back to 2012.

I am happy for you but I also want to know more about the crazy nurses

We have been eating outside, getting to go, and tipping generously because not everyone has the same pay stability that the military provides. I feel like we should help keep our local economies going. Except clovis, let that place burn.

I was told that, as long as the vaccine was under emergency approval only, it will not be mandatory for federal employees. I was also told that if you kick and scream when you see the needle you might get two lollipops after instead of just the usual one lollipop. However, if you start yelling about the shot altering your DNA, the nurse will just get annoyed and you won't get any lollipops.

Yeah, yeah. I get it. We can capitalize on the hopes and dreams of young guys before they know better. If that's the case, I say we just make it a 20 year commitment off the bat. I am sure there are still plenty of naive fighter pilot hopefuls that will sign up for that. Once they are in, we send them to be a MX officer that flies only for currency or something equally hilarious.

What's the APR on the 2.25% 30 year IRRRL with Trident? I thought the 0.5% VA funding fee was required unless 100% disabled or some other special circumstance.

Last time I ran from a burning jet I ran away at a medium pace for 1.5 miles straight off base. Then I did 80 pushups to impress the locals.

Its all about having them chicken legs while carrying just enough upper body mass to pass the pushups. That's the ideal Air Force body type. I have seen plenty of chicken-legged skinny fat dudes with beer guts full of bacon grease and bourbon that have no issue with the run.

It shows. Some of the sharpest enlisted are teaching at the FTU. If only they could incentivize the FTU for the officer side as well. There are plenty of good instructors that need a break from deploying but most communities still view the FTU as a dead-end. As pointed out above, this isn't always the case, but it has been based on my experiences. Making it a controlled tour is a start but it'll take a lot more to change perceptions at the squadron level.

Its an issue with priority. The top go to staff, the squadrons hold onto the leftover talent tightly, and what's left for the FTU? I dont think any amount of messaging will fix perceptions. Ask most instructors if they enjoy instructing new students and they'll say "yes" but you ask them if they want to go to the FTU and its normally a resounding "no."

It doesn't stop at SOS. The FTU is still viewed as a career killer in most communities. At least in AFSOC, the FTU, along with the reserve squadron (for unpromotable majors) and the new training wing, are still perceived as places for bottom tier instructors. Despite all the talk of enhancing the prestige of formal instructor positions, nothing has changed. SQ/CCs still use the FTU as an easy button for problem children and, as a result, Initial Qual students are still showing up to ops squadrons unprepared. This being said, I'm not sure its worth sending away our best flying instructors to work in a formal training unit as its usually more beneficial to have them running tactics discussions in the ops units, as deployed mission commanders, etc.

It may not get you out of 365s but I know a lucky few that were released and selected for special programs where the ADSC became a factor in releasability. According to the A1 our field is quite undermanned and getting released for anything outside flying the line is a real pain. I doubt they would fess up here but I would be interested to hear from anyone that worked assignments.

Taking the bonus is a good chunk of change but it also limits your options. Even if you are thinking of staying for 20, not taking the bonus means you have a little more leverage when talking to AFPC about your next assignment. I haven't confirmed this but it also makes sense that dudes without a ADSC wouldn't be first in line for bad assignments. It also allows you to pull chocks if you get an absolutely horrendous assignment. That being said, its hard to turn down extra money...

Its been a while, but I think I just sent the help desk a request to swap. A couple days later, it said joint warfare and had all my previous core classes still completed.

We are on the right track here... Will flyers get more pay for having to play musical chairs with public workstations that have so many user profiles that they crash under the lightest workloads?

SOS was definitely hit or miss. I loved my class but then I also heard a lot of horror stories. Downtown Montgomery bars have been getting better and better. On that note, the post-COVID digital SOS has got to be a hoot right now...

The Thunderbirds looks a lot bluer than I remember.

That's my point. It seems like they do not intend to involuntarily separate majors anymore but I am wondering if I am missing something.