What's wrong with the Air Force?

[ClearedHot]

On 5/23/2024 at 2:07 PM, arg said:

Fast forward to 35 min.

 

Damn ARG...got me all misty eyed and verklempt...I don't miss the AF but I do miss this.

[arg]

7 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Damn ARG...got me all misty eyed and verklempt...I don't miss the AF but I do miss this.

Wish I could've sent the smell over the interwebs

[ClearedHot]

12 minutes ago, arg said:

Wish I could've sent the smell over the interwebs

The first time I shot the 20MM's...smoke came up the flight deck and wrapped around the HUD...Murica!

[Biff_T]

On 5/23/2024 at 12:07 PM, arg said:

Fast forward to 35 min.

 

Oooooohhhhhhhh.   Direct hit.

[viperdriver1313]

I’m sure this will definitely help retention.

[dream big]

41 minutes ago, viperdriver1313 said:

I’m sure this will definitely help retention.

Should give something for the Chiefs Group to do, out here deployed they are an essentially having an OPT on base uniform wear. A fellow CC said it best: “if this is what we are focusing on while Iran is lobbing drones overhead, then we must be getting everything else right. If not, shame on us.” 

[brabus]

Hey chief, this is an easy fix, change the AFI to allow awesome mustaches and we’ll stop having “problems.” Fucking chiefs, do I have to do everything for these retards! (No offense to the awesome chiefs that comprise 0.0069% of the ranks…and are probably all in the guard).

Edited June 15, 2024 by brabus

[HeloDude]

But shaving waivers are abundant, and that’s cool…and last I saw, some of these guys don’t just have a super thin beard (ie can’t take a razor directly to their skin) but rather a thick beard.  They only get upset at the people they are now allowed yo get upset with in today’s culture.

[Biff_T]

Identify as a trans-Muslim.  You could probably get away with any hairstyle you want.  

[dream big]

https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3809385/aim-high-acc-implements-new-inspection-requirements-at-all-wings/
 

This should get interesting, I haven’t done an open ranks inspection since I was a cadet. I wonder if other MAJCOMs will follow suite? 

[DirkDiggler]

31 minutes ago, dream big said:

https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3809385/aim-high-acc-implements-new-inspection-requirements-at-all-wings/
 

This should get interesting, I haven’t done an open ranks inspection since I was a cadet. I wonder if other MAJCOMs will follow suite? 

AfSOC has already been doing this for the last couple months thanks to CAT 5.

[VigilanteNav]

Tony says all that needs to be said...

Solution in Search of a Problem - by Tony Carr - The Radar (substack.com)

[Lord Ratner]

1 hour ago, VigilanteNav said:

Tony says all that needs to be said...

Solution in Search of a Problem - by Tony Carr - The Radar (substack.com)

Isn't he the JQP guy? He's gotten even wordier, and that says a lot coming from me 🤣😂

[Sua Sponte]

11 minutes ago, Lord Ratner said:

Isn't he the JQP guy? He's gotten even wordier, and that says a lot coming from me 🤣😂

Impossible!

[HeloDude]

TLDR

[Swizzle]

2 hours ago, HeloDude said:

TLDR

BLUF: he has lingering emotional strings attached to Mother Blue and is angry she does dumb things. He attempts pursauesive logic to sway her irrationnal choice to no avail. 

[HeloDude]

12 hours ago, Swizzle said:

BLUF: he has lingering emotional strings attached to Mother Blue and is angry she does dumb things. He attempts pursauesive logic to sway her irrationnal choice to no avail. 

We have some mutual FB friends and several years ago I would see his social/political rants and my fiends’ pages —he’s a progressive leftist who truly believes that if you don’t agree with him then it’s because you’re stupid/not well educated.  He thinks he’s part of the elite because he went to Harvard law school post AF.  Let’s just say that if I agree with him on anything then it’s purely out of coincidence because he is a jerk, and that’s me putting it kindly.

[Swizzle]

10 hours ago, HeloDude said:

We have some mutual FB friends and several years ago I would see his social/political rants and my fiends’ pages —he’s a progressive leftist who truly believes that if you don’t agree with him then it’s because you’re stupid/not well educated.  He thinks he’s part of the elite because he went to Harvard law school post AF.  Let’s just say that if I agree with him on anything then it’s purely out of coincidence because he is a jerk, and that’s me putting it kindly.

I believe it, guessing he must be an idea driven man. The kind who lacks social skills and so focuses on ideas. So his human connectivity is centered about ideas.  The kind of boring conversionalist who only desires to discuss academic ideas with perfect solutions but rarily admitting the irrantional, realist ideas. And, then if your academic ideas aren't good enough he feigns interest or cut-and-runs so as not to go into his weakness - messy, irrational real life. And in the case of the USAF's monumentous agency cost blows a mental gasket. But no doubt that he produces great rational-centric arguments.

...could be wrong however. Back to a pint

 

Edited June 24, 2024 by Swizzle
Just to cover all the bases, maybe make a phone call!

[Danger41]

I don’t know the guy at all, but he’s like a lot of chronically online folks that think because they can bloviate, they are smarter than the average bear. Ironically, one of his more recent pieces clued me in to how he is just another in a long line of well intentioned dudes that just don’t get it.

He wrote an article recently about how when he was the deployed squadron commander and screwed up scheduling the rotator home for his squadron and had to tell them they couldn’t go home on time. The whole thing was a mea culpa about how he focused too much on the mission, lost track etc. This type of squadron commander (and eventual senior leader) has had so much AirPower theory and Simon Sinek crammed up their over educated ass that they forget that the main thing needs to be the main thing. All the servant leadership BS is self satisfying crap if you don’t do the actual effective work that folks care about. And that work is often not going to make it into the following years ACSC/AWC case study. It’s being brilliant at the basics.
 

Something something humble, approachable, credible, something, something. I forget. 

[Smokin]

Haven't read that story because, well, I just don't care.  But if that recap is even close, he sounds like the kind of guy that won't delegate anything because he's worried the guy he would delegate to isn't as capable and would screw it up.  So, in the process, he screws it up himself and the junior guys eventually take over as commander having not had any real responsibility.  And guess what they do?  Screw it up.

But in the meantime we've risked talking about him 3 times...

[SurelySerious]

Haven't read that story because, well, I just don't care.  But if that recap is even close, he sounds like the kind of guy that won't delegate anything because he's worried the guy he would delegate to isn't as capable and would screw it up.  So, in the process, he screws it up himself and the junior guys eventually take over as commander having not had any real responsibility.  And guess what they do?  Screw it up.
But in the meantime we've risked talking about him 3 times...

Story was really him using 9600 words go say the open ranks inspection is stupid, but we all knew that.

[Smokin]

Sorry, should have been more specific, meant the story Danger41 talked about.  I agree with that guy that will not be named at risk of his coming back to this board that the new 'standards' focus is dumb. 

It's like a E-9 from the height of the Died suddenly put on a bunch of stars.  Que their favorite Patton quote of 'if you can't get them to wear their uniform right, then how can you get them to fight right' or something like that.  Patton was a brilliant leader in many regards, but either this quote was made up (highly likely) or he had Biden moment.  Patton was a serious history buff and clearly knew that uniforms were a relatively new invention in warfare, so clearly not something that was truly necessary to combat.  Plus I doubt he would have ever passed a uniform inspection himself.  Ivory handled pistols, a sash, swagger stick, and custom non-authorized pants were clearly not in reg.

Just look at the Civil War and how the Rebels consistently had abysmal uniforms, far worse than the Union, yet man for man outfought the Union at pretty much every battle.  Rebels were often shoe-less, in tattered pants and a jacket, maybe a hat maybe not, a beard that hasn't seen a razor in months, and hair to match, yet those same guys stood out in the open 40 yards from the enemy for multiple volleys perfectly following orders.  Obviously there is no relation between fighting ability and uniform perfection, so why the newfound focus on uniforms? 

We must be doing so awesome in preparing for war with China that we can now focus on things that have zero impact on our ability to defend our nation.

[Stoker]

6 hours ago, Smokin said:

Patton was a brilliant leader in many regards

Was he? Anyone can be a brilliant leader when you have overwhelming material superiority, complete command of the air, and your enemy is so starved for fuel that your flanks are effectively immune from attack. His sole idea for motivating his men seems to be physically assaulting them, and like many of today's military leaders he seemed utterly incapable of understanding that the people he led weren't cut from the same stone as he was.

[SurelySerious]

Was he? Anyone can be a brilliant leader when you have overwhelming material superiority, complete command of the air, and your enemy is so starved for fuel that your flanks are effectively immune from attack. His sole idea for motivating his men seems to be physically assaulting them, and like many of today's military leaders he seemed utterly incapable of understanding that the people he led weren't cut from the same stone as he was.

His work during WWI was pretty impressive. Went from Lt to Col leading in battle.

[Swizzle]

31 minutes ago, SurelySerious said:

...Went from Lt to Col leading in battle.

So did an entire generation in Afghanistan, and we all know how...I digress