Execs

[Fudge]

A huge "2" on that one, but let me guess: the remaining 2/3rds of the taskers you got were for obscure awards which no one applied for?

The Exec is a bullshit screen for you guys on the line and tries to prevent a bunch of pointless crap from hitting the you guys. In order to minimize the stuff sq bros had to do, we would often just ask if there were any names the Sq's wanted to submit for awards and only then ask for packages. That way we'd get back 10 "no" replies pretty quickly and send a "no" back from the group a week in advance of the deadline. Most of the rest of it is just like Fud said (and here's an example),

General Numbnutz made an offhand comment wondering if anyone is having problems with process XYZ, so the MAJCOM Exec sent out a request for info and wants an answer in 2 weeks. The NAF execs get this and, because they want a few days to compile the results, put the due date 10 days from now. The Wing Execs get it and back up their suspense date to 5 days from now. So the Group Execs get it and ,realizing this it is currently 4 PM on the Thursday before a 4-day weekend, and put the due date on the day you get back from your extended weekend. The Squadron Execs see this and say they need some time to compile results so they put the due date...uh...hmmm...well, I guess it's overdue when they arrive back from their weekend...<clicks send>. And that's how a General's musings become an overdue tasker.

And there is the AF in a nutshell.

[polcat]

General Numbnutz made an offhand comment wondering if anyone is having problems with process XYZ, so the MAJCOM Exec sent out a request for info and wants an answer in 2 weeks. The NAF execs get this and, because they want a few days to compile the results, put the due date 10 days from now. The Wing Execs get it and back up their suspense date to 5 days from now. So the Group Execs get it and ,realizing this it is currently 4 PM on the Thursday before a 4-day weekend, and put the due date on the day you get back from your extended weekend. The Squadron Execs see this and say they need some time to compile results so they put the due date...uh...hmmm...well, I guess it's overdue when they arrive back from their weekend...<clicks send>. And that's how a General's musings become an overdue tasker.

So true. Thank God I'm no longer an exec. I hated this crap. By the way, the number of awards out there numbs the mind. There is an award out there for everyone, as long as you're not male, caucasian, rated, and an officer. Being a small flying unit, we would just send back negative replies to the group since most of this stuff wasn't applicable.

About secretaries. We have one (retired MSgt) as well as a director of staff (a la head of the execs). The secretary would still do a lot of the paperwork functions and answer phone calls, but wouldn't touch any of the taskers or awards. At least he'd review EPRs and OPRs for us and would catch the miniscule errors that the group or wing would send back.

[Fud]

A huge "2" on that one, but let me guess: the remaining 2/3rds of the taskers you got were for obscure awards which no one applied for?

Nope...our OG/CD made us write up every single one. It was a huge pain in the ass working there. I had a cut off time of 7pm and I'm sure he stayed much later into the evening, and I know he came in on the weekends.

[BQZip01]

Nope...our OG/CD made us write up every single one. It was a huge pain in the ass working there. I had a cut off time of 7pm and I'm sure he stayed much later into the evening, and I know he came in on the weekends.

Nothing quite like a pointless exercise in paperwork. Yeah, not many people apply for those AF-level awards and occasionally the low-level submission gets through. But the amount of effort involved usually isn't worth it unless they are a genuine candidate for the award

[FUSEPLUG]

###### me.

It surprises me you are just learning of this...

[Majestik Møøse]

I'm posting this just so the ACC types can see the level of bullshit that we've reached at our large, West coast AMC base. The Group has 2 full-time execs plus a bunch more dudes on a rotating schedule. The rotating guys spend their entire time only editing OPRs. All pilots. Our Sq has six Execs - mostly to ensure there are always two in the office at any given time. Again, all pilots. We're deployed and TDY a lot. We also have a civilian secretary and usually some additional Major has a Director of Staff title. Plus three pilot flt CCs and three pilot assistants. Multiply this times four flying squadrons plus an OSS.

It's not really kosher to "negative reply" a tasker, unless it's an award for a Native American or something, of which we have none. I guess if we did he could clean up! Or she, let's be realistic.

My Squadron leadership hates this stuff as much as I do, and I think the OG does to some extent also. Telling your boss "no" is easier said than done. That's why change needs to come from the top-down.

[Guest]

The Group has 2 full-time execs plus a bunch more dudes on a rotating schedule.

Our Sq has six Execs - mostly to ensure there are always two in the office at any given time. Again, all pilots.

We also have...some additional Major has a Director of Staff title.

Multiply this times four flying squadrons plus an OSS.

Speechless.

[Wandering Dog]

[BFM this]

Speechless.

Anyone you know still at DM? Give 'em a ring. Just for laughs.

[BQZip01]

The Group has 2 full-time execs plus a bunch more dudes on a rotating schedule.

The rotating guys spend their entire time only editing OPRs. All pilots.

Our Sq has six Execs - mostly to ensure there are always two in the office at any given time. Again, all pilots.

We also have a civilian secretary and usually some additional Major has a Director of Staff title.

Plus three pilot flt CCs and three pilot assistants.

Multiply this times four flying squadrons plus an OSS.

"Wow" doesn't even begin to describe it

It's not really kosher to "negative reply" a tasker...

My Squadron leadership hates this stuff as much as I do, and I think the OG does to some extent also. Telling your boss "no" is easier said than done. That's why change needs to come from the top-down.

Perhaps your leadership needs to know how much effort is wasted on these pointless packages (sts). We sometimes solved this by bringing these up at the commander's meeting (like at the end of the year when quarterly AND annual packages (sts) are due along with a slew of end-of-year BS awards) and asking for inputs and vetting the candidates right then & there. It took an extra 10-20 minutes, but it sure put a lot of pressure on commanders to know their people AND it didn't waste the time of every squadron.

Example: Best GS9+: Only 6 squadrons had someone that qualified. They talked it over about their best candidates for about a minute each and then they took a vote. If it was close, the top two submitted packages (sts), otherwise they would submit the next available. If someone felt that their candidate wasn't given a fair shake they could still submit a package (sts) for the OG's consideration. It made the process MUCH simpler/efficient.

Now a slew of OPRs? Don't get me started on that.

[Majestik Møøse]

Now I will say that there are a lot more guys in a heavy squadron. Upwards of 120. So there are a lot more OPRs/EPRs to manage and bullshit to slow things down. But the amount of Quarterly awards is the worst. We no kidding have 14 awards packages to submit every quarter. Everything from "Airman" and "Airman Performer" to "Jr CGO" and "Civilian Cat II" etc. And yes, in the 4Q we submit all of the same categories for the annual awards too except they literally have 3 times as many bullets.

If anybody hasn't figured it out yet, I'm a Sq exec. And though I wish I and the others like me had more time to concentrate on flying, I actually like my job because it gives me a chance to streamline the bullshit process a little better so we all go back to flying better. My Squadron leadership has the same goals. But bureaucracy is a tough bitch to undo.

[Guest]

Anyone you know still at DM? Give 'em a ring. Just for laughs.

I don't know many young guys anymore.

I know all of the patchwearers in leadership positions from Buster down.

I'm afraid to ask them about execs, not sure what I would do if they said "Oh yeah, having a shit ton of pilot execs is fucking awesome."

I would be ashamed, actually. I would have to figure out where I went wrong.

[Majestik Møøse]

Basically, from what I understand, the CSS went away to save money. Unfortunately the bureaucracy increased, so slack was taken up by pilots who have no training in such matters. Of course we've figured it out anyway because we're good at stuff. So it looks like a great idea. But only a silly person would claim that it doesn't hurt flight training and ops.

[Warrior]

If anybody hasn't figured it out yet, I'm a Sq exec. And though I wish I and the others like me had more time to concentrate on flying, I actually like my job because it gives me a chance to streamline the bullshit process a little better so we all go back to flying better. My Squadron leadership has the same goals. But bureaucracy is a tough bitch to undo.

This was my attitude when I was a Sq exec. I did it solo and still found time to fly - but it helped that my CC gave me a lot of leeway to streamline the BS. I'm not sure when it became "not kosher to negative reply" because I did it all the time. Granted, I never did that in order to pass on doing something, and I would have had no problem explaining to the Sq/CC, OG, Wg or anyone else who asked why we didn't do XYZ. But if we didn't have anyone who could compete for the Sijan award, we didn't submit one. If we had someone who had a legitimate shot (sts) then we did - and this filtering out of BS allowed us to write better packages (sts) when we did submit one - I'd argue that putting real effort into awards that our guys could win is the better way to "take care of people" than the shotgun approach of submitting everyone for something.

[brabus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-03vYYAjA

Rainman's reaction when reading Hoss' post.

[BQZip01]

This was my attitude when I was a Sq exec. I did it solo and still found time to fly - but it helped that my CC gave me a lot of leeway to streamline the BS. I'm not sure when it became "not kosher to negative reply" because I did it all the time. Granted, I never did that in order to pass on doing something, and I would have had no problem explaining to the Sq/CC, OG, Wg or anyone else who asked why we didn't do XYZ. But if we didn't have anyone who could compete for the Sijan award, we didn't submit one. If we had someone who had a legitimate shot (sts) then we did - and this filtering out of BS allowed us to write better packages (sts) when we did submit one - I'd argue that putting real effort into awards that our guys could win is the better way to "take care of people" than the shotgun approach of submitting everyone for something.

HEY! That kind of common sense has NO PLACE in the Air Force!!! There is a time for thinking and there is a time for action. By God, this isn't a time for thinking!