dream big
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Posts posted by dream big
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9 hours ago, Stitch said:
Don't forget Bay Orderly Dorm Manager's Bitch, Pee-pee watcher, Weeds n' Seeds and other basewide bullshit details...
His FLUG will get delayed because he was voluntold to do honor guard for six months (like our loadmasters...)
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This wouldn’t be a bad idea, if said individuals were former military pilots. There would be several advantages, but the key one would be that they could focus on instruction and not non-flying queep.
Now, this is all contingent upon getting many volunteers, which is highly skeptical considering locales and opportunity cost of airline pay.
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4 hours ago, Clark Griswold said:
Watched a presentation Kane did on his book "Bleeding Talent" at the Hudson Institute on ideas for reform.
Disband AFPC, eliminate A1 as a separate directorate, get rid of Up or Out, decentralize the assignment systems and distribute HR functions mostly to Wings/Groups/Squadrons, reform the retirement system (presentation is 2013), tie promotions to some assignments / billets, etc...
Not a bad list, keep fighting the good fight
...reward your war fighters, separate rated promotion board, FEFs go into OPRs, primary job bullets only in award packages (no fucking “spouse of the year” 31 line award packages that some poor patch that’s an exec has to edit.)..
Bare essential additional duties, those that aren’t absorbed by civilians/CSSs; green dot/suicide prevention/etc. is a one time requirement in OTS, the academy, ROTC- (for your entire career.) <Those are some ways to retain talent.
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On 12/17/2017 at 5:32 AM, Duck said:
From what I know, this has been approved and will be showing up at a UPT base near you...
Highlights from someone in the know:
-The pay as of now is not competitive. ~$100K/yr and from what I saw was a fairly flat pay scale, little incentive to stick around.
-Ideally looking for fresh separated guys/gals, but I personally don’t see how they are going to entice them away from going the Airline route. Maybe thinking people will sign up just so they can fly and not deal with AD/ARC BS? Tough sell with low pay in my opinion.
-AETC/CC has completely championed this idea from what I was told and wants it implemented at all UPT bases eventually.
-God help us.Maybe they are putting all these “sure to fail ideas” out there as bait for stop loss?
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24 minutes ago, Majestik Møøse said:
My ops group has stiff-armed the majority of bullshit additional duties out there. The officers are all concentrated on primarily mission-related duties as well as flying. There is so much (worthwhile) work to be done to improve our platform and way of doing business. We couldn't afford to have a "flying-only" guy that doesn't help out with that.
Pilots don't just pilot. Flying a plane is hard, but regular Joes can be taught. Learning all the technical shit is doable. Handling EPs is tougher. Formation is tougher. Doing all that in a jet is tougher. Doing that in the middle of the Pacific is tougher. Being responsible for multiple aircraft doing so is tougher. Add in weather. Add in GBAD and air threats and their intent to employ against you. Oh yeah, employment, that's why we're here. What, where, why, when and how will we use the thing? Meld that with everybody else's plan in real time. Who figures all that out and takes the responsibility for doing so? Who figures out how we're going to do that tomorrow and in ten years? The pilots (and navs). It sure isn't some mystical puppet master, and if it is, he's a pilot.
So yeah, I want somebody with the ability to graduate fucking college first.
Nailed it, some of the snowflakes on JQP’s article on this matter stand to benefit by reading what you just said.
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11 minutes ago, Azimuth said:
So fired with a pension at a rank that most Officers never see? Must be rough.
Some people value things more than a pension or money. To each their own.
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4 hours ago, DEVIL said:
this is the most caring and nurturing thread I've seen on base ops without any inter airframe bickering etc etc...I hate it.
Don’t go C-17s, very difficult finding the right runway and the gear handle. Better?
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On 12/7/2017 at 5:56 AM, BashiChuni said:
man up
He said that it sucks, there is nothing manly or unmanly about acknowledging that it sucks. Now if you act like a baby and cry about it, sure.
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On 12/3/2017 at 10:17 PM, di1630 said:
I’m not an Academy grad but what “if” the academy became a place that groomed pilots. I’m talking 69%+ get an aviation sciences major, full up flight education like an Embry riddle flight program for the military.
Why are we giving free education to history majors who want to be finance officers?
It used to be, then the PC culture took over the Academy.
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On 11/30/2017 at 5:31 PM, Standby said:
It’s all about the near rocks and far rocks. Right now we NEED to generate new pilots. The retention issue, to me, is a different problem but obviously related because we’re talking manpower.
I can only speak for myself (off-topic) but the AF has treated me and my family very well so I might be a skewed data point. Despite this fact, I’ve had periods of time where I thought...as soon as my commitment is up I’m punching. The weird part is that it wasn’t caused by: the amount of time I was deployed, the nearly twice-yearly visits to CATM, the unpredictable homestation flying schedule, or even the bullshit language CBTs for a culture I could give two hoots about. It was the pervasive fundamental under appreciation and lack of emphasis placed on aviation. The AF does a lot of great things, but pilots/aircrew are the fking life blood of this service. The moment the rest of this enterprise stopped looking up to the people who deliver hate to our enemies is the day we lost. It’s the daily attitude of “you’re all the tip of the spear” that ruined things for me. Example: quiet hours at the airfield for an outdoor change of command for the MSG. Guess what motherfkrs...airplanes can be loud. Guess what again...we need to train because there are soft pink bodies on the other side of the ocean that need to be reduced to hair, teeth and eyeballs.
/rant_off.
As mentioned: we are hemorrhaging as a force but sometimes you need to put some quikclot in that wound before you make it to the OR.
Shack! Also, it’s a combination of these things that’s driving people out. 0-6 walked into our deployed squadron today and brought the mustache hammer. My buddy insists that at least 3 people made the decision to punch after that (hint: it’s not about moustaches, it’s the fact that you as an 0-6 seem to care more about that than combat missions.)
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1 hour ago, carminsandiego said:
skipping 38s is ridiculous but I can actually see this being a plausible idea. Heavy drivers- would like to hear your honest opinion on this.
Horrible,horrible idea. This isn’t to discount civilian training but the fundemental military aviation skills garnered in phase 2 is critical to basic airmenship in a dynamic environment. This applies whether you’re flying low levels in hercs or orbits in an AWACS. These kinds of initiatives are going to get people killed; we don’t have the luxury of taking shortcuts in this business. Just my 2 cents..
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9 hours ago, Bergman said:
The new guys we are getting out of FTU can barely fly as it is! They get 6ish flights and take a checkride. Then show up back home and get 6-9 more flights. That is obviously with the full-up T-1 syllabus. Typical USAF thinking...save hours on a $1000/hr jet...only to spend more hours on a $10,000/hr jet a few months down the road. Idiots.
Would you expect anything less from the morons on the staff? If we were a civilian company we would have been bankrupt a decade ago.
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God I can’t believe this is a serious idea. As it is, I’ve been flabbergasted with some of the products coming out of UPT lately..HS grad to F-35 wingman in a year? YGTBFSM! I am legitimately concerned about our lethality as an Air Force in modern conflicts given all the other issues. How many mishaps have we had in the last few years where the pilot’s basic proficiency was a factor? I’m tired of losing bros because the Air Force is inept at training and equipping it’s pilots properly.
Also, isn’t the whole pilot shortage issue on the retention side? I understand there is also a bottle neck on the production side/B-course leading into fighter FTUs but what is all this talk really going to solve?
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2 hours ago, joe1234 said:
This is an interesting conversation. The answer is, if you're in Okinawa, you're just a pawn in a much bigger game being played. The government of Japan wants us there but has to placate the Okinawans and convince their own citizens to look the other way. Committing a crime -- any crime -- makes them lose face. So, the U.S. does curfews and punishments. It saves face at the cost of pissing off the pawns who justifiably bitch about it being unfair, but they are pawns and who gives a shit what pawns think.
You guys complain about bad management and poor leaders, but the truth of the matter is, the vast majority of the military will eat shit and ask for seconds no matter how badly you treat them. You can't be that shocked that most leaders will take advantage of that fact.
Uh huh, all the way until they give big blue the middle finger and laugh on their way to the bank at Delta/Southwest or any other private sector job. Treat your employees like pawns long enough and they’ll walk.
You are right about the politics of Okinawa though, but the US military loses everything here. The government of Japan knows the military leadership will bow over backwards to appease them as indicated time and time again while shitting on their own. It’s only a matter of time before that can be exploited.
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14 hours ago, gearpig said:
"appease our host nation?"
Exactly. I spent 5 years there and love the Japanese people; but was always flabbergasted at how much we bent over backwards, many times at the cost of combat effectiveness, to “appease” the Japanese. I mean, Yokota’s biggest priority every year was the stupid static display festival. You want to know how many man hours that consumed??
In no way I am I implying that we shouldn’t be good ambassadors and respect the Japanese but at the end of the day, they lost the war they started and they would be target practice if it weren’t for American presence there.
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In before JQP gets to it: the entire US military in Japan is now banned from purchasing or consuming alcohol on or off base UFN after a DUI accident in Okinawa.
This even extends to people’s residences (I would love for these cowardly “leaders” to enforce this one.)
EDIT: Here is a link to an article. https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan-based-servicemembers-slapped-with-alcohol-ban-after-fatal-crash-on-okinawa-1.498605
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Toss it. Stick to the AIM. Don’t want us to takeoff using see-and-avoid? Publish an FCIF. Also, if you are going to have so many pubs, then update them. 202 updates (and changes significantly) every 2 years while our subordinate pub, the 11-2xv3, is from 2009.
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We haven’t heard from any A-320, 737, 757, 767, 777 guys on here at all...some input on your “mission” and QOL would be appreciated!
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On 11/10/2017 at 10:03 PM, RTB said:
How do these people still keep progressing when everyone can see how bad they are? Rhetorical question but it drives me crazy. So many good leaders forced out along the way.
Because as much as some leadership preach about 360 degree feedback, none of it exists in the USAF. You are promoted purely on how well your OPRs and PRFs are written in the eyes of those above you who were successful in that same process. Heck, even with the 100% to Major our Wing King still made everyone go through the PRF process; that’s how much they value paperwork. So, in essence, you can be a class A D-bag and still get promoted really far.
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9 minutes ago, ClearedHot said:
So the douche was an ex-USAF type who was Court Martialed and discharged. Of course he was using an AR-15...let the politicization begin.
For those with CCWs how often are you carrying? I am to the point I feel naked without mine, even at my son's soccer practice.
Just got mine in Texas. I try to carry everywhere- yet there are many places where it is not allowed despite my county’s “open carry” policy. Of course, these very places are crowded/vulnerable where a mass shooting would likely occur (a church for example.)
Witnesses are saying the shooter was ultimately stopped by a citizen with a rifle. Still trying to find whether that is true.
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8 hours ago, epsilon said:
Since this deals with PT tests (which we all hate)I figured it could fall under "what's wrong with the Air Force" category.
I'm PCS'ing next week with an approx 4.5 month enroute Conus TDY. My MPF is telling me I have to retake my PT test prior to leaving even though I am current through Jan. My interpretation of the reg was that I fell into an extended TDY exemption. They were citing a newish policy that says you have to be current at gaining PCS location plus 42 days. However, unless I get excellent there is no way the math would work out anyway based on the length of my TDY. I would still not have the 42 days after RNLTD even if I took one day prior to my class start (assuming only a SAT score).
I really don't want to quibble but I don't want to unnecessarily take it because of a WOM. Any thoughts or experiences on this?
Thanks
I had a similar situation at an oversees location trying to PCS in a few days while MPF was refusing to do my final out (I would have been current through a 4 month TDY enroute plus ~20 days after RNLTD.) I pleaded and convinced them I would do my PT test at my TDY location. They agreed to sign the paperwork and I was on my way. When I got to the TDY location I conveniently forgot about the PT test and just took it at my new base. No questions asked.
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On 10/23/2017 at 9:32 AM, FourFans130 said:
"What does conventional conflict look like with a nuclear element?" - CSAF
Sir, conventional war with a nuclear element looks like nuclear war.
If I bring a gun to a knife fight, is it still a knife fight?
Brilliant.
If NK uses a nuclear weapon, I'm fairly confident that NCA will drop orders to make sections of that country into glass-floored self-lighting parking lots, and the commanders of NORTHCOM and STRATCOM won't have much of a say in it.
Where is Buck Turgidson when you need him?
There is no question we would destroy NK, but South Korea would be decimated (at least everything north of Osan) when the North Koreans push south of the DMZ
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11 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:
A GOFO doing this would fail miserably. Get a handful of crusty Iron Majors and give them free-reign from the CSAF direct to evaluate the various jobs that “need” to be filled.But will anyone have the balls to say that your most experienced WO/EP late Capt/junior Maj pilots should not be serving exec sentences when they are most valuable in the squadron teaching the young guys? A 2LT from MPF could function as the exec (and do a much better job..)
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On 10/22/2017 at 4:38 AM, RTB said:
Do tell!
No real stories...but sometimes individuals tend to suck at aviation. That’s okay, not everyone can be Chuck Yeager. However, one has to question when said individual spends 99% of their time volunteering at high visibility “diversity events,” instead of doing their job as a pilot. Said individual (3 different aircraft and didn’t make it to instructor in any aircraft) gets promoted and awarded despite multiple safety of flight incidents and busted checkrides while individuals who hacked the mission and were solid instructors were casted aside because they didn’t play Big Blue’s game. Nothing new here.
Promotion and PRF Information
in General Discussion
Posted
Heck that’s what our Wing King did (let’s have everyone complete the PRF process for “practice.”)