Bergman
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Posts posted by Bergman
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The guard is testing their own squadrons?
Yes.
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I'd probably go if I was hard up for the pay days, but I don't really want to PCS. Thanks for the info.
It's a TDY.
If your only motivation for going was paydays, I don't think you'd last long.
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Nor, apparently, do the dudes they pinned the AF Cross and Silver Star on at HRT yesterday.
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Vicar went to hospital with potato stuck in bottom
A vicar attended hospital with a potato stuck up his bottom - and claimed it got there after he fell on to the vegetable while naked.
Damned Murphy's Law!!! Wouldn't you know it...the ONE TIME you're hanging curtains in the nude and fall off the ladder, and what is there waiting for you? A potato! And it was somehow perfectly aligned to make it up the dude's ass rather than being smashed. "The Golden Potato"?
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Announced today during Red Flag Alaska:
From now on, every morning a senior officer will be posted at the entrance to the Red Flag building. Any pilot seen entering the building in the morning without a reflective belt on will be grounded, and will not fly in Red Flag.
Ugh. Sounds to me like the bro's need to get together on this one. If everyone is grounded, then no Red Flag, right?
Someone please tell the Emperor up there that he isn't wearing any clothes.
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Can some people in other (read: tropical and nice) parts of the world misbehave so that we can go war there instead?
Indeed! At least Iran will be a shorter drive the the Deid...
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This makes the dude that brought his kid to the ATC tower clearing people for t/o like a minor infraction
At least he was awake!
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This happened last October. A few of McConnell's lines were always covered by the Guard, not the case anymore.
Ref my earlier statement concerning MPA funding being cut. Words from AMC lead me to believe that other platforms were the worst offenders (i.e. guys at home station on continuous MPA orders for, literally, years). The tanker guys who were actually deploying on MPA got caught in the cross fire.
There is a lot of buzz about that around the 340th. No definite answers, still too far out. The way things go in the desert, nothing is for sure until the gear is in the wells. Guys have been extended after their bags were already on the re-deployer...I don't have the official numbers, but IMHO there will be a shitload (eventually ~18 jets and 30 crews) of ANG folks rolling in there beginning in October. I'll be there with two crews and one jet FWIW. Beers on me at the Fox bar.
Time will tell how this all works out, but for now I am predicting the mother of all Charlie Foxtrots as the AD moves out of the Deid and into the OUP location. I just left OUP and the AD hadn't even started to plan for the transition (they will be taking over 1 Oct supposedly). Many of us were asking what the plan was and responses such as, "We'll just extend the guard guys til 1 Nov" were common. Good luck with that! It blows my mind that AD wing and squadron leadership don't have the smallest clue how the guard/reserve work. Guess what bubbas, you can't just wave a magic want and force us to stay! We're taking our toys and headin' to the house.
$69 says the AD will have that place totally fucked up by the end of the year. Rode with the Wg/CV over there last week and he mentioned that, "O-6s at USAFE are already asking me why we don't restrict everyone to base and make them wear PTs". NSTFS. YGBSM.
For those of you wondering, the switch has been brought about primarily because the ANG/Reserve commanders do not have mobilization authority for OUP and were thus having trouble filling lines for much of the summer. Why, I have no idea. So looks like the Deid is it...some units doing "voluntold 30 days" and some doing "activation for 60 days". There was also some talk of better benefits when ARC folks go to CENTCOM, which is quite true, but I find it hard to believe that trying to hook a few guard bums up is the reason we are leaving the other location.
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I understand that about 6 months ago, the active duty stopped allowing guardsmen to volunteer for deployments. It looks like this was to get units hungry enough to vote this in. It barely worked because the economy is bad and many needed this "jobs program". Can anyone tell me when, exactly, guardsmen were stopped from being allowed to deploy?
That is not entirely true. The AD never "stopped us from volunteering to deploy", they simply withdrew the (basically unlimited) MPA day funding that the AD units had been using to send us in lieu of their own personnel. Secondly, the ANG was not getting deployment credit for those of us who were "augmenting" the AD, and that became a sticking point. The AD would point to the ANG and say, "You aren't doing your part!" but would neglect to mention that almost 20% of their deployed crews were ANG volunteers who were showing up as AD peeps. So NGB pulled the plug on that. All of this happened on/about 1 Oct 10 when the current FY budget started.
So now we can volunteer as much as we want, and the ANG will get the kudos. It's just too bad we coughed up Spain to start sending more crews to the Deid. Only a matter of time before AD screws up the current good deal in Spain.
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Awesome article & commentary.
Indeed.
Aviators have been the principal source of offensive thinking, best described by Napoleon as "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!" (Audacity, audacity, always audacity!) Those attributes of naval aviators—willingness to take intelligent calculated risk, self-confidence, even a certain swagger—that are invaluable in wartime are the very ones that make them particularly vulnerable in today's zero-tolerance Navy military . The political correctness thought police, like Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, are out to get them and are relentless.Shack.
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New AUAB uniform regs released today. Highlights:
No more reflective belts while in PT gear in the CC/BPC unless you are running on a road.
You may also hang your sunglasses around the front of your neck.
Also, no more saluting while in PT gear.
Very glad to see at least a little common sense return! I think these small changes will be great...taking away some key components of the shoe clerks' arsenal of harassment. Next target: Right Start empire.
However, while going out to fly, you may no longer wait inside the air conditioned PERSCO building for your bus/rest of your crew to arrive after you have emigrated out...you must now brave the heat and humidity for your bus/rest of your crew, and crew members will be processed one at a time making the whole dick-dance take 6-9 times longer.That's not ideal. The whole process is particularly irritating for those of us who never land anywhere other than scenic Al Udeid. At least our crew is only 3 people so the process moves quickly, even at Qatari speeds.
to the RJ/JSTARS crews for having to deal with this. -
Apparently the good Chief doesn't know his own uniform wear regs...as seen on the Military Times forum.
"Chief, those aren't sunglasses I see hanging around your neck, right?"
I'm no expert on 35-10, but isn't there a line in there that says, roughly, "Don't ride a fucking camel in uniform"??
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I have had a couple run-ins with the guy.
Never talk to the media.
Technique only.
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Spent way too much time in AETC, absolutely zero SA and mission awareness. No real world experiance.
Shack! Out of a 27 year career, he has spent roughly 20 years in AETC. In fact, he has never had a CONUS assignment that wasn't AETC. WTFO??
Totally out of touch.
ASSIGNMENTSAETC 1. July 1984 -- October 1986, Mainframe Computer System Operator, 1958th Communication Squadron, Reese AFB, Texas
USAFE 2. October 1986 -- June 1989, assistant NCO-in-charge, Info System Branch, 612th Tactical Control Flight, Pruem AS, Germany
AETC 3. June 1989 -- January 1994, supervisor, Database Management, 325th Communications Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
AETC 4. January 1994 -- February 1997, Communications-Computer Systems manager, Headquarters, Air Education and Training Command, Directorate of Communications and Information,
Randolph AFB, Texas
PACAF 5. February 1997 -- February 1998, superintendent, Air Force Network Control Center, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea
AETC 6. February 1998 - September 1999, command manager, Telecomm Operations, Headquarters, Air Education and Training Command, Directorate of Communications and Information,
Randolph AFB, Texas
AETC 7. September 1999 -- September 2003, superintendent, Network Operations and Security Center Configuration, Air Education and Training Command Computer Systems Squadron,
Randolph AFB, Texas
AETC 8. September 2003 -- September 2005, Command Information Systems inspection manager, Office of the Inspector General, Headquarters, Air Education and Training Command,
Randolph AFB, Texas
USAFE 9. September 2005 -- May 2008, chief enlisted manager, 48th Communications Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
USAFE 10. May 2008 -- June 2009, group superintendent, 48th Mission Support Group, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
AETC 11. June 2009 -- present, command chief master sergeant, 71st Flying Training Wing, Vance AFB, Okla.
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Highlights from 5 Sep 11 AF Times interview with CSAF
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Q: Are you on track to do that?
A: Yeah. In fact, it is interesting that we have actually had more voluntary separations than we have anticipated in some disciplines. That has helped…
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Hmmm...I wonder if they noticed that they were all 11X and 12X AFSCs?! The clue bird is tapping these guys on the shoulder right now, but they aren't seeing it. We'll be 1500 officers short within 2 years...and the talking heads will act surprised and claim, "we had no idea that so many aircrew were going to leave!"
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sarcasm on/
And yet I'll still bet bottom dollar that this will not be enough in the eyes of Big Blue!
/sarcasm off
Oh, I think CH will survive.
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Here's another thing wrong with the Air Force, more emphasis on on the (un)important. An email from the command chief at an undisclosed location, edited to protect the guilty:
"ASAB Enlisted Corps,
Welcome to 5MT accountability one and all. Today marks the day that you are
required to know the Airman's Creed and Air Force Song as outlined in my
first 5MT to the Enlisted Corps.....
...blah blah blah....
Chief Xxxxxxxx
/end quote
And I like his use of "vector." I don't even get that many vectors on an ILS.
Sweet Baby Jesus. My heart breaks for the USAF every time I hear or read something like this. This dude is the COMMAND CHIEF and this is what he spends his time worrying about? In a deployed location? I just don't get it. I suspect no amount of conversation with this guy could get him to see why he's out of touch.
The punctuation and grammar make me think this was written by a 9 year old, not an E-9 (and certainly not a Chief!)
I am sorry for you guys who have to serve under this type of management.
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I know I am cynical, but 15 years? Really? Wasn't the U-2 designed in 120 days or something? The mighty KC-135 went from proposal to test flight in 2 years.
Our acquisition process is jacked up.
Glad to see they're keeping at least one good-location base open for business at least.
/30/2011 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- Air Force officials said the unveiling of the F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter was a "historic occasion" during a rollout ceremony here Aug. 26.The F-35A, on display during the ceremony, was delivered here in July by Lt. Col. Eric Smith, the Air Force's first F-35 pilot.
"This is indeed a new era," said Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr., the Air Education and Training Command commander and host of the milestone event.
The aircraft was developed in a span of only 15 years, one-eighth of the 118 total years powered flight has existed, he said. The F-35 brings advanced technological capabilities for the future and the nation's defense -- something the general explained was clearly unimaginable when Orville and Wilbur Wright performed their maiden flight Dec.17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
"While this celebration is taking place in the Air Force hangar with the Air Force variant of the F-35, this is really a story about the fully integrated team of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, industry and community partners who have been working years to make this day possible," said Col. Andrew Toth, the 33rd Fighter Wing commander. "In fact, Marine Col. Art Tomassetti, my vice, (today's master of ceremonies), and test pilot, has been with this program for more than a decade. So, some of us have been waiting a long time to see this day."
During the past two years, the integrated and multi-service team "Nomads" transformed their corner of Eglin AFB into the Department of Defense's F-35 Integrated Training Center. The center includes a university setting in which maintainers are expected to live, work and train alongside pilots in operating the fifth-generation stealth fighter.
More than 400 guests watched the JSF unveiling inside a newly constructed Air Force hangar, a place where a future generation of F-35 maintainers, pilots and leaders will learn their craft.
"Eventually about 2,200 maintainers and 100 pilots a year will pass through our schoolhouse doors," Toth said. "In 2014, the program should mature enough to have the Air Force send students fresh from basic training."
Delivery and success of the new program required the Air Force overcome a great number of challenges. It will continue to do so until the F-35 capabilities reach their full potential for the interest of national security, Rice said.
"But with all the wonders of technology and the amazing physical performance of the F-35, let me say that none of this happens without magnificent people," he said.
Wing leadership said they're already reaping the benefits of multi-service collaboration in co-located facilities.
"What this aircraft behind me is a visual representation of our exciting future," Toth said. "The 33rd Pursuit Group of the past is nothing like the 33rd FW of today, except in the longstanding spirit of air power. With the F-35 program, we foresee air dominance for our services and partner nations for the next 30 to 50 years."d the JSF unveiling inside a newly constructed Air Force hangar, a place where a future generation of F-35 maintainers, pilots and leaders will learn their craft.
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This may need its own tread but I’ll add it in here for now since it applies to the Deid.
The a$$clowns that have been ripping down internet antennas at the Deid have finally been caught!
Two security forces members took it upon themselves to remove every antenna they could get their hands on for the past few months believing the antennas were responsible for the slow internet. There is a common misconception here that internet antennas hog Wi-Fi and are illegal. THIS IS NOT TRUE! While boosters are illegal here, the antennas you see hanging out most window are completely legal and this has been verified by the deid comm squadron.
Thanks for the update. I was going to order an antenna and had heard they banned them. This clears it up.
Any advice on which antennas work best (with Windows)?
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Your advice seems to be along those lines after some clarification...others not so much. The whole "bend over and take it" and "stop bitching" and "no excuse not to have a MA as a LT" crowd is who I'm talking to more than you.
Well I guess that means you are talking to me. Or are you talking to yourself:
I refuse to either do the full-stiff arm that results in total career failureYou're arguing with me tooth-and-nail about getting a MA done as quickly as possible, then you say this? Good grief.
check the boxes when appropriate, but do everything possible to both change the system and steer those younger than you on the correct path, which to me is focusing on the mission first and doing anything else second.Holy shit. That's what I said 4 pages ago.
Fight it if you want, but you'll need an AAD to be able to retire from the AF. I fought it and refused to get a cheesy masters not wanting to waste my valuable evenings locked up in some classroom in an old hangar just to get a crappy degree. At one point in my career, I even listened to some 2 star talk about how if the AF wanted you to get a masters, they would send you to school. But, I lost the fight and after getting twice passed over to 0-5, I am being shown the door at 16 years.With every swingin' richard getting a masters degree in basket weaving, it ain't worth fighting. You'll lose, just do it. If you want the retirement check, sign up for AMU today.
That is a shitty deal, bro. Sorry to hear about it. Thanks for posting at least, as this highlights the exact situation I was trying to help some of these guys avoid by telling them to get their MA done ASAP.
IMHO we have reached the circular discussion point. Skip the masters at your own peril. Wait until your 8 year point to start it at your own peril. Get it done early and hopefully promote high enough to help stop the madness.
Out.
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Mods, can you change a dude's avatar? If so, I found one for Bergman.
Well played. Couldn't be further from the truth. But well played nonetheless.
It's only defeatist if the primary goal is to be promoted. Bold for emphasis.True. My going-in assumption was career longevity is the ultimate goal here. I personally want to continue to fly USAF jets for as long as possible. If having to get a masters is a requirement for that, then so be it. I hated every minute of it and absolutely no other desire to get the degree than to satisfy the BS Air Force requirement. If you weren't planning on staying in, then there is no way in hell I would get a masters unless you wanted it for future opporunities.
That's part of why I'm giving him sh*t because that's so far from making any kind of sense...one really big excuse for not having it done as an LT and that applies to most here is flight training, which unlike in Bergman's experience perhaps, frequently can take 3+ years to produce a mission-qual'd aviator at an operational squadron.How does that common scenario fit into Bergman's mythical timeline for success?I call bullshit. 3+ years for training? NFW. 6 months casual, 12 months UPT, 12 months FTU (longest FTU?), 6 months MQT. That is three years and is worst-case. KC-135 initial qual, for example, is only 5 months. If it's taking longer than that, then there were obviously significant delays during training or a year+ in casual, which was likely spent smoking and joking in the squadron and obviously not working on a masters.
Look, my point here is not to argue semantics of who took this long to do what. My point is that if you are planning on staying in and hoping to make rank, get your masters done ASAP. Your life and career will become more busy the longer you wait.. You don't want to be the guy who waits until the year before the major's board to start the program and then gets shafted on his PRF because an unexpected TDY or PCS derailed your masters plan.
Get it done early and you will have one less thing to worry about for the rest of your career.
Bergman, nothing against you personally, but that attitude and line of thinking is exactly the reason why we waste money and no one cares to change it. You are correct, that is the way it is TODAY and if you want to get promoted high enough to help make changes, you have to do it. But continuing the attitude of "that's the way it is or has always been" is the reason why officers who bitched about these very things 10 years ago are the same ones dishing it out today. They are in a position to change it but they don't because now that they have been promoted things like that don't seem that important and why? "That's what they had to do to get promoted."Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally. I stand by my statement that if you don't play the game the way it is TODAY, you won't be around TOMORROW to help fix it. I can't speak to the douchebags who are responsible for this crap continuing but I can assure you that if I personally am ever in a position to fix it, I will. Don't get your hopes up; that doesn't seem likely any time soon.
All I'm saying is how we mandate it TODAY promotes inefficiencies and wasteful spending. Using when you complete a masters as a measuring stick for promotion is backwards thinking.I agree 100%. It's box checking and it is bullshit. But I would hate for good dudes/operators to get passed over for promotion simply because they didn't just suck it up and get it done. That is the whole reason I pitched into this argument in the first place.
Again, I feel for you guys but I am also advising everyone to be aggressive and drive the fight instead of finding yourself out of options at the floor. That's not being careerist, that's winning the engagement.SHACK! Maybe they'll actually listen when you say it.
I know two dudes who were Captains before the even made it to the FTU! Also knew quite a few guys that made Capt while in the B-Course. These were all guys who had no previous jobs...extended time on casual, UPT delays (38 crashes), >400 days from UPT graduation to starting IFF, Hog wings cracking, Eagles breaking apart, Viper bulk heads cracking! Most took adavantage of the situation and finished their masters...all used their time wisely, took leave and partied their asses off!You mean they didn't sit around whining about the requirement, not complete it, then 10 years later shake their heads when they are passed over for promotion? Say it ain't so.
I just think the system needs to change, bottom line. To expect dudes to have their masters done well before their first look at the Major's board, considering most MA programs take 2-3 years to complete, is stupid.[ /quote]At last, we agree.
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Has anyone turned down SOS in-residence recently? I.e. you get a spot and tell your boss you'd rather not go. Contemplating this with the new 8-week format. I'm SOS by correspondence complete. I'm not disgruntled, just don't feel like spending any more time away from home or with shoes for 8 weeks. Thoughts?
You would be setting yourself up for some sort of backlash if you turn it down, whether it be a shitty follow-on assignment, 180/365 tour, etc.
What if SOS turned out to be one of the best TDYs ever? Consider that. I had a similar attitude to yours (I was awaiting UPT dates when my SOS in-residence slot became available) and went anyway. We finished almost dead last but had a hell of a lot of fun. A lot of that was luck of the draw...good people in my flight and a good instructor. Your results may vary.
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I see what you're saying about not having the time as a senior Capt/Maj to work on a Masters degree the way things are run TODAY, but I think it is because you are looking at it as just a requirement to "check the box" to get promoted instead of a program that could benefit the AF. That goes back to my point from Gen Jumper's policy...If you need to get a Masters, the Air Force will send you. So YES if we do it right, you will have time as a Major to do your masters if the AF is sending you to get a Masters. While you're a LT/Capt, you'll have more time to learn your job, run Stan/Eval, instruct FNGs, spend time with family all without worrying about Master's classes because the AF will send you later when you get that staff job that requires it. Spending millions of dollars on worthless degrees so someone can look good to a promotion board and the Air Force can brag about percentages of officers with AAD is wasteful.
The way I look at a Masters degree is that the Air Force SHOULD be spending money on AADs that directly benefit the USAF. A career pilot with a Masters of Health Science degree isn't helping anyone. Sending an officer to get a Masters of Logistics Management or Operations Management or Human Factors in Safety, because you plan to put them in job that uses that degree, makes sense to me. The way we do it now does not.
I agree with you. The Air Force should use the masters/AAD programs to provide additional capability. They would be better served by sending bright young officers to an in-residence masters program at an accredited univeristy for 1-2 years than some BS PME at Maxwell (and then calling it a "masters").
The sad fact is that the AF doesn't do it that way. That doesn't make it right, that just makes it the way it is. Everyone knows the game, so just fucking play it! Check the damned box and move on. Sometimes you can't fight city hall.
Wait, you are familiar with how long training is for aviators right? And how long it takes to complete most masters programs right? Because the brand new shiny pilots showing up to my unit after UPT, FTU, various casual times and/or BITs, etc. are all either within 6 months of pinning captain or more likely already Captains. When are they supposed to do that masters again? Sooo...yea, your prescribed path isn't even achievable.If I ran the AF, anyone even thinking about getting their masters before they had a solid year in their first operational squadron would be kicked square in the nuts for losing focus on their primary job. And I'm all for education...I tried to educational delay out of ROTC and the AF told me no, so it's not about not seeing the value in having an MA, especially post-military. The timing you're suggesting is where I see a big problem and where most young officers see the problem as well.
Navs have it a little better, I was checked out and deployed right as I pinned on 1Lt. I started my masters the month I graduated nav school (i.e. worked on it concurrently with the FTU) and am still working to finish it up as I pin O-3...looks like I'm way behind on the Bergman power curve. There goes my BTZ to O-6!
Huh? You start out by saying that my timeline isn't achievable, then finish by saying that you followed my timeline exactly. WTF? I said, "...by the time you've been a Captain for a year". You're pinning on Captain and finishing it, right? Check. FWIW I had been a Captain for 14 months when I finished mine. So yeah, maybe I am just trying to pay it forward and help the new guys out on here by learning from my mistakes.
Realistically this is what most people do (myself included) but it's a defeatist attitude if that's what you believe deep down. I refuse to validate stupid shit just because it was the price I had to pay to play the game. I want it to be easier, more streamlined, and more mission-focused for the next guy.The problem is that if you don't play the game and check the box now, you'll never promote high enough to help make these changes.
I believe there was a quote out there about being someone versus doing something...I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be somebody so I might as well try to do this.Now THAT is a defeatist attitude.
Lack of Flight Discipline
in General Discussion
Posted
Perhaps because the Air Force just showed a bunch of rated folks the door and now they're worried about people shining their asses on fini flights or doing dumb stuff in airplanes between now and their BOHICA date.