dream big

America has spent countless money and blood on our “allies.” Asking our allies to step up and fight their own battles once in a while is not abandoning them nor will we be alone all of a sudden. Diplomacy and alliance is a critical instrument of foreign policy but it should never be the ultimate litmus test for policy. Further, If we keep wearing out our troops on proxy wars around the globe, they will never be ready and motivated when it matters.

Wrong, they’ll be execs and coffee getters for the 7th AF/CFACC

Got to experience some of these PTN VR sims this weekend. They are great for learning the switches, the pattern and callouts but in no way shape or form could I see these replacing traditional UPT, unless leadership is willing to get people killed. Just because a test bed of hand selected individuals are doing okay doesn’t mean that they are representative of your average UPT student.

2006-2008 YG PRFs due to the wing in a few weeks, seems a bit early. Are 0-5 boards rolling left for some reason?

Exactly. This will just make it more painful for those who maintain physical standards in the squadron. That’s being said, If you are an able bodied 20-30 year old, you have zero excuse for failing the test. Most airmen in my squadron that fail just don’t care.

Better idea, fire AAFES all together, they are worthless at most bases.

Probably in the holding pattern for CSAF...next up, virtual BMT!!

That last part is the most important. Please don’t ever forget that in your career!

You are like every other UPT student who has walked the halls of a UPT squadron before you, and I guarantee an “I know what I’m doing” attitude is the fastest way to get to the bottom of your FLT/CC ranking, despite your “performance.” Let me give you some sage advise : “Never pass up an opportunity to STFU.” UPT can be a blast but it can also be very painful if the IPs sense a chip on your shoulder.

Said no one ever

I’ll hold my breath until I see graduates of PTN roll through our ops squadrons and perform. Generally speaking, I’ve seen a decline in the airmanship of new LTs the last couple years. Good dudes and all, just seem to lack some of the basics that should be taught in UPT.

It’s easier to change / update an AFMAN than an AFI.

Study study study. Study alone and study together. Attitude is everything, walk into the flight room with a smile on your face eager to learn. You will be criticized, a lot, learn to take it and make yourself better. You’ll be good at something your classmate is not, help him out. Don’t be a BF. Unwind on the weekends, grill out and drink at someone’s house. UPT was tough but hands down one of the most fun times of my life because my job 100% was to fly and help my bros out. Also, realize that you’ll love whatever aircraft you end up getting. Best of luck, you’ll all do fine.

FWIW, the 2 38 to C-130J guys at Dyess (one of them being the one who now has a T-6 to Pensacola) we’re both formidable IPs respected inside and out of the cockpit. It’s a huge loss to UPT to have their assignments cancelled because of the waiver shenanigans.

Exactly. I bet she looks good on paper though, multiple volunteer of the year wins, with getting lucky squeaking by with a 76 every time so no one bats an eye.

BRAC is 90% political and 10% logical to the needs of the Air Force. I would chose a unit whose culture you see yourself in and in a location you desire. Right now many units are upgrading the H model avionics, may go J one day or transition to another aircraft, there is no telling.

Met him many times, while he is flat out wrong in claiming the pilot shortage is solved, he’s the best CSAF we could have considering the other crop of HPO wonder GOs.

A lot of bold assumptions in your post, and most of them are false. I assume you fly hornets and I seriously hope to god you don’t have that cavalier attitude when employing your smart weapons.

So have many C-130 dudes, just replace weapons with airdrop; 5 C-130 guys who would’ve probably stayed in the Air Force just got their orders turned off to 38s.

Oh awesome. Not a year after the push to have squadron PTLs administer tests. We trust evaluators in the squadron to administer checkrides to aviators in a job that can kill people if not done right, but we don’t trust them to administer PT tests. This is what happens when you let nonners (AFSC neutral term to me) run the Air Force.

Whatever did they do before the T-1s when everyone went 38s? Nothing you do in 38s is remotely tactical or relevant to the skills required to fly any tactical platform in combat. Pilot training is about teaching kids to land and build airmanship, skills relevant to any community. The only reason they split tracks was to extend the service life of the 38. That being said, I’m sure it is important to have your share of 11Bs and 11Fs in 38s to make sure you are getting guys ready for IFF / the B course but there is no reason not to have 11Ms considering the manning crisis.

If she is lying then she belongs in prison, along with the Kavanaugh accuser.

Well anytime a nonner sends me an email telling me I need to do X CBT, if it’s not on the CSAF’s memo of the only CBTs we are required to do, I send an email back with that memo telling them I won’t do said CBT. So far great success. While I’ve seen a positive reduction in random additional duties, there is still no shortage of the ops group having to do the job of comm, finance, CE (try getting LZ maintenance pushed through ...), etc. On the plus side we have hired like 15 civilians to do DTS, RA, etc so that has been awesome.

Well hopefully now that they eliminated “school selects” off the board; they stop using early CGO performance to determine HPO status, cautiously optimistic rated performance boards will also shift what we value in promotions. Question for the grey beards, how much do CGO strats matter for an 0-5 board traditionally? I.e 1-2 average CGO strats, tons of IP/combat time, no CGO awards, late WIC grad and then a ton of major strats with Group and Wing level jobs? Asking for a friend..!

Being a lethal pilot and progressing in one’s career don’t HAVE to be mutually exclusive...yes one of those paths means flying less as you get older; but at the end of the day, don’t we want the “lethal pilots” being the ones in charge?