DirkDiggler

Rest easy brothers

I care. A lot. My commitment takes me to almost 16 years and as much as the AF sucks sometimes, I still love what I do and plan to stay in. The low bonus take rate is (or should be) seriously concerning to the guys that decide to for whatever reason to stay in. I'm in a fairly small community and in the last 18 months we've had a serious attrition rate of senior instructor O-3/4/5 types getting out from VSP/retirement/TERA/commitment up and sick of the AF reasons. My airframe is hurting, badly, on instructors right now. I can't go out and create a high time O-3/4 combat experienced instructor pilot out of thin air, that shit takes time as you well know. I've been in a sq that lost an airplane during a mishap; lack of proficiency and low experience were big factors in the crash. I have no desire to ever repeat that; the AF needs quality guys to stay in and carry the torch. If the low bonus take rates and the airline hiring thread are any indicators, the Air Force's rated officer problem has just begun and things are gonna get worse before they get better. That means it's a problem for guys like me who stay in and thus why I care. The AF needs to recognize that it has some serious internal problems and get on positive vector (I believe Gen Welsh is sincerely trying) quick or we're in for some really hard times in the not too distant future.

I can't explain why it makes sense but I can shed a little light on the process of why the AF selects people so early in their career for grooming to O-7. The entire AF officer promotion system is based on a Pole Year to general officer at 24 years. In order for an individual to be realistically competitive for O-7 at 24 years, he or she needs to be a BTZ guy at least once, if not more. If someone isn't BTZ, their chances of O-7 are practically non-existent (I'm sure its theoretically possible but extremely unlikely). The system is biased in such a way to select officers fairly early (in today's environment IDE select off your O-4 board is a big one due to how difficult it is to get a school slot as a candidate) and build on their forward momentum, especially once someone makes BTZ once. A lot of good SQ/CCs and SRs may realize that many (if not most) officers have little or no interest in O-7 but the promotion system currently in place is fairly rigid in what it rewards and recognizes as promotionable/BTZ material (I've seen 2-3 guys that were marginal or poor SQ/CCs that continued to advance within the current system because of already being BTZ/fast track guys). While I don't know Rat personally (thankfully) if he was the SECAF speech writer then there was a good chance he was working for a general officer who had DPs to give and a very small pool of officers to dole them out to; jobs like that are very promotable even though they pretty much are devoid of actual leadership experience. Guys like him are also usually hyper aware of their Pole Year and what they need to progress, generally at the expense of their colleagues and anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck under their command. Cleared Hot or Liquid may be able to explain this more clearly or correct anything I typed above that's incorrect, a lot of guys don't know much about this stuff cause the AF as a whole doesn't explain the promotion system very well or at all to new officers. Hope this helps.

Did they both punch?

Glad he got out and is safe, hope the law of threes doesn't make for a bad end to safety for the fiscal year

Thanks for the work

Well said

Did a JCET with those guys in 2010. The US arms embargo hit their military pretty hard, they had a serious lack of spare parts and experienced Mx personnel for the US aircraft in their fleet. They were nice guys and eager to learn but the lack of resources/training was very apparent (their Mx/FEs were very eager for classes on basic green machine shit like engines and props). One of the -130s I took a tour of had all the fuel gauges inop (they would just fill it up and call it good), another had some serious hydraulic issues that they didn't have the parts to fix but both planes were flown regularly. The news report said engine trouble right after takeoff, my guess is they were close to/above 155K with a high temp dev and poor TOLD performance. Guessing further, I'd bet they hit either 1 or 2 engine out VMCA or had no 2 engine service ceiling and couldn't control the A/C sufficiently right after takeoff to make it back to the field. Sympathies for the crew, pax and their families.

If he's including AADs in his rack and stack then he's shortly going to be in trouble. A Gp/CC I know that recently went through the CC course at Maxwell told me that its being emphasized from on high that commanders will not have AADs on their R/S. As to it being considered unofficially who knows.

Not sure if this was the best thread but interesting reading nonetheless https://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/2015/06/24/brad-carson-personnel-systems-reform-outdated-ash-carter-attrition-retirement-human-resources/29208959/

Is anyone else as relieved I as I am that he finally wore her out and got back to modding?, I think I was going through a little BODN withdraw there...

Anyone seen the list/have any info on the stats for this latest LtCol board? Been away from my .mil computer.

Well said

Seems like something more than an AFCM would be in order, I get one of those for just being at a base doing my job for 3 years.

Checks

False, it's shim

Checks, however, he's not in AFSOC/SOCOM at the moment, hopefully will not come back.

I'm not sure Fiel was really a legit member of any tribe. Honestly curious as to where you see a rise of acidic leadership?

When Hostage spoke to us he stated that ACC would like to have some -15E and Viper units focused on CAS as their primary mission as the A-10 retires. He did acknowledge that with the limited amount of Sqs in the AF they would probably only be able to focus 2 or 3 and maybe some Guard formations on the CAS mission.

Here is one of the many gulfs of misunderstanding we're talking to each other across. When I say ops, I'm not just talking about deployments. They've held fairly steady in my community over the last couple years. Even as deployments have gone away in OIF and OEF those blocks have just been filled by other requirements Non-stop ops is all encompassing of the deployments, TDYs, and intensive home-station training most AFSOC units deal with on a constant basis. There isn't enough of us to go around so we're constantly busy. Most guys come to AFSOC understanding this; most guys relish it. But it gets tiring. A lot of dudes that want to go do something else for a tour aren't released because the manning doesn't support it. School slots for candidates are very difficult to get right now and guys aren't being released in any serious numbers for staff. So they start to get burnt out, bitter, jaded, whatever you want to call it. Lately, a lot of them have ended up punching. I don't believe the sky is necessarily falling in the AF or my community but things are tough right now. We've had over fifteen 12+ year guys leave in the last year for the civilian side; in a community as small as mine the loss of that experience is very difficult to deal with. Your data may say things are getting better for some communities and in some places it may be true. Those numbers are only part of the whole story. I talked about the lack trust one two star felt was prevalent between senior leadership and the ranks. This little discussion we're having is symbolic of that. You, in the HQ are saying things are super duper awesome and the line guys are saying we're in serious trouble. The reality is somewhere in between I'm sure. Like I said before most dudes have a serious issue with what you spout because it doesn't match the reality they see on the line.

Do you really think the majority of the people who frequent these forums (a lot of whom make daily life or death decisions employing airpower in combat) don't have pride in what they do, know that they're part of the 0.5% that volunteered to serve, and recognize the responsibilities of their positions? Your "voice of optimism" comes across as real condescending, especially considering the amount of operational experience present among the guys on this forum. A lot of guys on here are bitter and disillusioned for good reason; toxic leadership, 13 years of deployments, constant instability, and, up until recently, a promotion system that didn't always focus on what's important. That doesn't mean they're out there actively poisoning the AF youth, on the contrary, most of the guys on here are pulling the serious weight in line squadrons. Dudes want their units to succeed, it's often difficult to believe that will happen when a lot of the O6-O7 level leadership comes across as careerist managers that actively resist the course the CSAF is trying to chart. AFPC's actions and messaging lately hasn't done anything to reinforce a sense that the AF knows what its doing with its people. If you truly have insight into the intricacies of the A1/personnel system, a lot of guys on here would be thrilled to listen. Your "voice of optimism" posts fall flat on an audience that deals with the difficult realism of non-stop ops with lessening personnel and resources.

The funniest thing about Chang's posts on here is that, at least at AF IDE (a program Chang talks up), the senior leader guest speakers specifically reject the kind of officer he presents himself as. Most of the 2-4 stars that come here to talk are very candid about the long list of problems and challenges the AF currently faces. Last week a senior leader asked the audience if they thought there was a serious lack of trust between senior leadership and the rest of force, to which almost the entire audience raised their hands affirmative. This 2 star thought that a lack of trust in the AF was one of the biggest leadership problems in the AF today. This week a 3 star briefed that many of the AF promotion and personnel practices were inefficient and out of date. He also mentioned that "yes men" were a serious problem in the force. Multiple four stars here have noted that, with the really tough fiscal times ahead, the AF needs no shit leadership; "yes men" and guys unable use brutal, honest assessments of the state of their units aren't going to cut it. The military studies courses here give numerous examples of how in combat (an experience that I suspect Chang knows very little about), guys like him get their people killed. Officers like him also contribute to an institutional rot (LtCol Tater Tots and the missile fields article comes to mind, followed by a blood bath of firings of leadership despite same leadership saying everything great, nothing to see here) that is dangerous for a lot of reasons. His contributions here aren't helpful and fly in the face of most of the guidance being put out by the leaders he holds in such high regard.

All the Marine and Army officers here at the wayward school by the river who already have their assignments (in some cases have had them for months) really seem to be envious of the dozens of AF officers who are still completely in the dark as to where they're going in 4 months.