Clark Griswold Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Good blog post on this subject (but pointed specifically at the DoD). Why does the military grow? Because the tail wags the dog. It references a 1955 article that is still available from The Economist. “It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” — Opening sentence of “Parkinson’s Law“, C. Northcote Parkinson, The Economist, 19 November 1955. He describes Britain’s creation of “a magnificent Navy on land” to replace its fleet. History not repeating but rhyming quite nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDonut Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Where's 11U on that list? Not sure how 11R is stressed, unless someone miscategorized 11 assets as 11R. Or the list is ancient and still accounts for unfilled MC-12 billets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKinnear Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Where's 11U on that list? Not sure how 11R is stressed, unless someone miscategorized 11 assets as 11R. Or the list is ancient and still accounts for unfilled MC-12 billets. 11U is folded under the umbrella 18X term. All equally RPA pilots, and still managed by the same porch...just some pilots are more equal than others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosuper Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'm a old timer and remember strippers and getting drunk at the club and looking forward of going to the club at quitting time having a drink with my boss blowing off steam as long as I was buying the round. http://taskandpurpose.com/military-overkilled-alcohol-big-collateral-damage/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_campaign=culture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoleIt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'm a old timer and remember strippers and getting drunk at the club and looking forward of going to the club at quitting time having a drink with my boss blowing off steam as long as I was buying the round. http://taskandpurpose.com/military-overkilled-alcohol-big-collateral-damage/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_campaign=culture That sounds nice. And I don't think I'll ever experience that in my career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Why would you want to? Now we get SARC briefings and Fitness assessment cells! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeA10 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Friday night bar Olympics. Shame it's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brabus Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Not gone, just well hidden, at least some places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'm a old timer and remember strippers and getting drunk at the club and looking forward of going to the club at quitting time having a drink with my boss blowing off steam as long as I was buying the round. http://taskandpurpose.com/military-overkilled-alcohol-big-collateral-damage/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_campaign=culture Been there, done that. Couldn't agree more. Spend many dollars at the club with the boss and got good career advice (what they call "mentorship" today) and heard some great stories on everything from buffoonery, to working jets (F-100/-105s, AT-28s) back in Thailand & Nam to avoiding HUGE pissed-off snakes at night while guarding garbage dumps in Ton Sun Nut in an effort to keep the VC from “recycling” our trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
di1630 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Reading stuff about RPAs/pilot shortage, made me recall an incident at my base about 10 yrs ago, that still infuriates me. A fighter pilot G-locs during a training sortie (at an operational sq). Wakes up just in time. The guy had a family, new kid etc. and had been struggling in the jet. Tells his leadership that he would like to volunteer to go fly RPA's when they were just starting up and needed people. Instead of letting a good motivated dude volunteer for RPA's, he got FEB'd, lost his wings, reflowed into an overcrowded shoe afsc and RIF'd a year later. Tough to feel bad for an organization that has manning woes after seeing shit like that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jughead Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Tough to feel bad for an organization that has manning woes after seeing shit like that. Yep. I may have posted this story before.... Circa 2006-7, when all the LTs were being RIF'd (pardon me: "selectively retained"), I knew a guy, motivated new officer / USAFA grad / 1Lt. As much as the USAFA curricula allowed, he had taken all the right classes to get him to where he wanted: OSI*. Needs of the Air Force supposedly dictated otherwise, and upon graduation he was sent to MPF. Fast forward ~3-ish years, he's caught in the thick of the RIF. He has continued pursuing the OSI angle, and had a BNR from a Wing/CC to come fill an OSI billet. OSI was undermanned; MPF was not undermanned, but through some quirk in the policy I didn't understand then or now, MPF officers were not allowed to cross-train. You guessed it: motivated young officer wants to go to a field he's prepared for and has the support of the gaining unit (to include Wg/CC), is told he can't cross-train--and, sorry, your services are no longer needed in MPF, buh-bye..... *Insert OSI joke here, fair enough--but, my point stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineapigfury Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 (edited) ... Tough to feel bad for an organization that has manning woes after seeing shit like that. I don't think I know anyone who feels bad for the Air Force regarding manning woes. I feel plenty for the airmen who suffer the consequences of moronic decisions made by the Air Force. Edited April 4, 2015 by guineapigfury 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawnman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 (edited) It's not reflected on the "stressed" career fields, because apparently across the force 12B is healthy enough...but within my community, we're hurting bad. So bad we brought back a guy who has been out of the aircraft for almost a decade, against his wishes, to put him back through the B-course. Not requal...the full B-course. Meanwhile, we RIF'd/did not retain/whatever we're calling it this year three current and qualified WSOs, including an evaluator qualified in the latest upgrade in the aircraft (the "strip out all the electronics and replace them with shit from this century" mod, AKA SB-16 within the community). So...AFPC clearly recognized we were short on WSOs, because they brought a dude back from 8 years outside the aircraft. Then cut three other current and qualified instructors. Net gain: -3 instructors, +1 WSO who was sent to the OSS and is unlikely to ever fly the new upgrade or deploy again before retirement. Makes perfect sense to me. Standing by for Chang to tell me it all has to do with year groups...because that's what the squadrons really need, not qualified aviators. Edited April 6, 2015 by pawnman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brabus Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I think you win for the most fucked up personnel story I've ever heard. A1/AFPC are just unbelievably retarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurelySerious Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 including an evaluator qualified in the latest upgrade in the aircraft (the "strip out all the electronics and replace them with shit from this century, AKA SB-16 within the community). so old... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperStud Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The problem is that these force shaping initiatives have been executed with a goal of political correctness having a higher priority than actually getting the job done. A few years back one of my bros already had a separation date - his goal was always to fly vipers, serve his commitment and then go back and run the farm. With DOS in hand, he was force shaped and given ~80K as he was "kicked out." He was told by management that one goal of force shaping was to cut from an entire cross section of the force (gotta be "fair"), so it made some dipshit bean counter's slide he briefed to a general look a lot better that there were 1-2 11Fs on it. After all, why be honest and say that we aren't cutting those dudes because they are critically manned? Much more important to be PC. I'm always happy to see good shit happen to good people, but from the perspective of force and money management, this is a joke. Fvck our culture and the management that made it what it is today. PC has become more important than mission accomplishment. It shows everywhere and I believe it is the root cause of 99% of our cultural problems that drove dudes like me out of AD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawnman Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 The problem is that these force shaping initiatives have been executed with a goal of political correctness having a higher priority than actually getting the job done. A few years back one of my bros already had a separation date - his goal was always to fly vipers, serve his commitment and then go back and run the farm. With DOS in hand, he was force shaped and given ~80K as he was "kicked out." He was told by management that one goal of force shaping was to cut from an entire cross section of the force (gotta be "fair"), so it made some dipshit bean counter's slide he briefed to a general look a lot better that there were 1-2 11Fs on it. After all, why be honest and say that we aren't cutting those dudes because they are critically manned? Much more important to be PC. I'm always happy to see good shit happen to good people, but from the perspective of force and money management, this is a joke. Fvck our culture and the management that made it what it is today. PC has become more important than mission accomplishment. It shows everywhere and I believe it is the root cause of 99% of our cultural problems that drove dudes like me out of AD. So...how long before they offer him big money to re-enter active duty due to the "fighter pilot shortage" we keep hearing about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperStud Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I doubt it will happen. The shortage is absorbed by shorting staff positions. The porch is very blunt about it and it is the right way to handle the problem. Ultimately we will be cutting deep on staff positions and we will end up with 11Ms filling positions where we really want CAF expertise, but mother Air Force will still pay lip service to the fact that it's business as usual. Who knows though, the cracks are already starting to show. The fact that there have been substantial changes to the bonus twice now in a matter of a few years shows that management is starting to sniff a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon_Tanerite Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I doubt it will happen. The shortage is absorbed by shorting staff positions. The porch is very blunt about it and it is the right way to handle the problem. Ultimately we will be cutting deep on staff positions and we will end up with 11Ms filling positions where we really want CAF expertise, but mother Air Force will still pay lip service to the fact that it's business as usual. Who knows though, the cracks are already starting to show. The fact that there have been substantial changes to the bonus twice now in a matter of a few years shows that management is starting to sniff a problem. The AF has no clue about what it's about to face in the next decade. It has this idea that there will always be pilots to fill billets at will. The airlines are just now starting to hire at an unprecedented rate. At the same time all the high time OEF/OIF/etc veterans are reaching the end of their commitments around the time they would be hot for a staff gig. You can't send a brand new UPT grad to staff, so even increasing schoolhouse output won't fix the pilot manning problems the AF is just starting to see. It's not a matter of money either, just look at the take rate on the bonus. They're going to have to fundamentally change the way they do business if they want to successfully compete with the airlines for the experienced pilots that both organizations are seeking. The AF finds itself at a huge disadvantage at this realm. Airlines are completely in control of what they do with their company, whereas the AF is beholden to congress and POTUS taskings. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dupe Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 (edited) I think you win for the most fucked up personnel story I've ever heard. A1/AFPC are just unbelievably retarded. I'm a Test Pilot School graduate F-15E WSO with a current 1042 and IWSO form 8. I have experience in the newest F-15E radar about to hit the street as well as the SDB II. I am currently a program manager for IT systems (with no experience in that area what-so ever). I ask myself every day why I am here and why @17D_guy is not. Thankfully, this dream ends soon with IDE. Edited April 6, 2015 by Dupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17D_guy Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Also, if you'll notice at the bottom of this picture it says starting 2016 funding will come from the IMSC vice MAJCOM. https://www.facebook.com/jqpublic/photos/a.467220060016167.100368.467201356684704/875082632563239/?type=1&theater "there will be growing pains" Because having to go to the MAJCOM, to go to the IMSC, to get $$ for your mission related requirements is a "growing pain." Guess we've got to justify all those generals somehow. I don't even want to think what this is going to do for the support side of the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olevelo Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I'm a Test Pilot School graduate F-15E WSO with a current 1042 and IWSO form 8. I have experience in the newest F-15E radar about to hit the street as well as the SDB II. I am currently a program manager for IT systems (with no experience in that area what-so ever). I ask myself every day why I am here and why @17D_guy is not. Thankfully, this dream ends soon with IDE. Oh c'mon, you know I win! TPS grad CSO, sole staff instructor CSO at TPS, qualified on multiple AFSOC platforms including the AC-J (who gave the first ever checkride on the AC-J? This guy!). RIFd. And hey look, my AFSC is on the stressed career fields list a few posts back! Oh, and right after I got notified, they assigned one of new grad RC-135 CSOs to a C-130 unit. Left hand, meet right hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprkt69 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I doubt it will happen. The shortage is absorbed by shorting staff positions. The porch is very blunt about it and it is the right way to handle the problem. Ultimately we will be cutting deep on staff positions and we will end up with 11Ms filling positions where we really want CAF expertise, but mother Air Force will still pay lip service to the fact that it's business as usual. Who knows though, the cracks are already starting to show. The fact that there have been substantial changes to the bonus twice now in a matter of a few years shows that management is starting to sniff a problem. Well maybe that 11M has completed IDE in correspondence or even in-res, so clearly they are a CAF expert for combat operations! My only hope is to be gone before some genius decides to stop loss or the poor decisions by upper management get me killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dupe Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Oh c'mon, you know I win! TPS grad CSO, sole staff instructor CSO at TPS, qualified on multiple AFSOC platforms including the AC-J (who gave the first ever checkride on the AC-J? This guy!). RIFd. And hey look, my AFSC is on the stressed career fields list a few posts back! Oh, and right after I got notified, they assigned one of new grad RC-135 CSOs to a C-130 unit. Left hand, meet right hand. I think you did win! Escape velocity, a pile of cash, and a fair bit of useful know. Stop that GS shit and go start your own company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaded Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 My only hope is to be gone before some genius decides to stop loss or the poor decisions by upper management get me killed. Shack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now