Bergman

As stated by my copilot, while climbing out the other night over Doha, Qatar, a sprawling city of well over a million people, located a distant 16-19 miles from base yet might as well be millions of miles away to the average crew dog: "We aren't deployed. The Air Force just hates us." Truth.

Did you get the Bluetooth? Or at least the version with the 3.5mm plug jack? It's life changing on long sorties.

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.

Punish the guilty? Charge him with murder; prosecute to max extent allowed by law. Lock him up and throw away the key. Done.

Imagine the CEO of Southwest Air Lines telling all 55,000 employees nation-wide that they, or their family members, can’t drink or buy alcohol. Just for perspective. Absolutely asinine. We’ve devolved from leadership to management...and now we can only muster “really shitty management.” FML. Where’s the exit? This incident involved .001% of the military people and dependents on Japan. So let’s punish everyone.

It's good to hear that you've been happy so far. Let's see how you're doing after the staff tour! haha

Only funny because it's true. So much for comm brevity! lol

"Maverick, you just did an incredibly brave thing. What you should have done was land your plane! You don't own that plane, the taxpayers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash. You've been busted, you've lost your qualifications as section leader three times, put in hack twice by me, with a history of high speed passes over five air control towers—and one admiral's daughter!" Peggy Benjamin??

We are seeing the same thing as well. Many of our part-timers were really guard bums, averaging 20+ days a month at the base in some fashion (Drill, FTP, alert, SOF, office days, whatever) but now our part timers are TRUE part timers...drill weekend and then maybe 2-3 additional days a month. With 6-9 formerly productive guard bums getting hired, that's a swing of 120-180 days of effort per month that isn't being covered by other people. We've had 20% of our squadron retire at 20+1 day in the last 6 months. Several guys are just not taking checkrides and/or otherwise maintaining MR status for their last 6 months. Stickin' it to "leadership" one last time. hehe

I'm headed over there soon. Have been told that the Sq/CC is a typical clown act more interested in making O6 than actually taking care of the crews. Anecdotal evidence verifies....Was forwarded a lengthy email directly from said clown concerning approved patches and hat wear. Focusing on the important stuff apparently. SMH. edit to add: have been told they are using 8 hour show-time windows for crews now. Apparently the way we've done it for 15 years wasn't good enough for this guy so they're re-inventing the wheel.

Meh, fuck 'em. If he's pissed enough, maybe they'll kick you out and you'll be happier at the airlines 5 years sooner. An OG getting butt hurt about something like this, and the fact you're fearful of reprisal, is messed up. Totally believable, but just plain wrong. SMH. We need better O-6s and above.

Where Are the Heroes

Possibly flying a SU-27

Crazy talk, indeed. Just doing my part to help solve this retention crisis...

Truth. Air Force circa 1985-1990 sounds about right for starters. All airline talk aside, if the AF was serious about using money to aid retention, they would have doubled the previous aviator bonuses. $1000/mo increase would at least get people's attention. Edit to add: OBTW, give ARC guys the full flight pay whether they fly or not that month, just like AD. End this pro-rating the flight pay to a daily rate bullshit.

I've met a few guys who are making that kind of money, but if we are being honest they are very, very senior in their category and also work their asses off. I'm a commuter that only works 12-15 days a month at the airline due to ANG commitments (I know, I know...I need to retire already), and I don't do any short-notice premium pay flying, so that's where my $200k number came from. The captain I flew with last week mentioned he made $180k/year working 8 days a month. Buys his own first class tickets to get to/from work and doesn't have a care in the world. I want to be like that guy!

Hell yeah, a $160/month raise?!?! Screw that $200,000/year airline job now!! All sarcasm aside, its a step in the right direction but honestly a drop in the bucket, and likely the wrong bucket at that. Let's work on decent leadership and looking out for your people.

Oh wow. This will end well, I'm sure. Guys who are topped out at O-5 with over 20, with an outside airline gig, who are just staying around (losing money!) to fly the mission and teach the young guys, are going to bail in droves. Probably 20% of my squadron fits this demographic, and I promise you none of us will do a 6 month deployment.

Tell your brother to get his shit together and start pulling his weight for the family!

Shack. I've used this many times and it works. Stay polite (don't give up the moral high ground!) but don't leave until you get some concrete answers from someone who knows WTF they are talking about.

Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity by finishing the quote.

Echo what Evil said. Will add that yes, you can apply to any ANG/AFRES unit you want. Most people send apps to several units, if not every single unit. It helps to have local ties or a logical reason why you are applying at that unit, as most units have been burned by the guy who applies, gets hired, then bolts for his hometown unit 6.9 months after finishing training. Not sure that a huge amount of flight time beyond PPL is all that big a factor, at least at my unit. Soloing and having a license show aptitude. The AF can teach the rest. More important is not being a dick. The AD boards are all about scores and GPA but in my experience the ANG is much more concerned with personality and fit.

I don't know a single RC-135 EWO that has struggled to find a comparable salary job on the outside. Even the guys that got RIFd a few years ago. Many of these guys are just as highly trained as pilots. The training pipeline is probably longer honestly. They just don't have the airline pull. But they do have striped polo shirts, leather weave belts, velcro shoes, and cell phone holsters. So they've got that going for them.