2 hours ago, Ash said:

How hard has it been to find Reserve jobs with a steady availability of title 10 orders?

2 hours ago, matmacwc said:

Statistically, you'd be wrong.

I realize that!

  I’ll update you in 1.5 years.  I’ve got 5  Major strats from deployments and wg/gp levels

fgoq x5 so far at different places. 

 Fgoy x1 so far 

perhaps all that matters is what your record looks like as an LT/early Captain....  very possible

perhaps all that matters is what your record looks like as an LT/early Captain....  very possible

I am very curious to find out what happens to you as I will be in the same situation in a few years. I made O4 as a 1 APZ and my last 3 OPRs are far superior to my first 6. But if LT/early Captain are all that matters I should bounce and not play the game.

1 hour ago, bennynova said:

I realize that!

  I’ll update you in 1.5 years.  I’ve got 5  Major strats from deployments and wg/gp levels

fgoq x5 so far at different places. 

 Fgoy x1 so far 

perhaps all that matters is what your record looks like as an LT/early Captain....  very possible

I hope it works out better for you then it did for me. My wins/strats were similar to what you posted, except I had 3 FGOY (Gp/A2 lvl), multiple Gp/A2 quarterlies and one MAJCOM FGOQ.

My Lt/Capt records were all average, no strats/only a couple quarterly awards and no negative indicators. I did have 2 OPRs where I didn't see eye-to-eye with my raters and my push lines were "ready for greater challenges" and "IDE look" (ironically, that same rating chain got me an O-4 PRF DP). I think those two OPRs really damaged my overall record.

Wow, thats pretty absurd, 14N

   Af gets it ring quite often though

for every 1 who should make it, there are 5 turds who do make it

13 minutes ago, bennynova said:

Wow, thats pretty absurd, 14N

   Af gets it ring quite often though

for every 1 who should make it, there are 5 turds who do make it

I very well could be a turd too. I honestly don’t know if winning awards means anything. I don’t know how the AF considers one set of records to have more leadership potential than another set of records.

I should have done a lot of things differently in my career and I own my mistakes; I just wish somebody would have given me a road map (or I would have figured it out) on what I needed to do to not be in the bottom 30% of my year group at this point in my career. I think that’s what’s going to eat at me for a long time.

This all of this is gross.

Pretty sure I was brought to the MLR with a better record than the dude who got a DP.

I got the “if I had one more DP to give” push. I’m not crying in my beer because of that.

However the fact that a dude could be a DO in a boarded position in his community and not get picked up is just beyond me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like lots of us are in the same boat. 

I've had consistent strats since my 2nd OPR, several yearly's, 3 FGOQs up to the 2-star level, 2x DG , was an evaluator, 1500 combat hrs, never bought a checkride downgrade and no PFT busts.  I honestly thought I was squarely in the middle of the bell curve.  I guess I can GTFO, though.. which I will gladly do.

Some of y’all are just now realizing the game isn’t worth being played. 

They all like schiesse porn.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

47 minutes ago, joe1234 said:

Seriously, I don't get all this hand-wringing over staying in a career where you're shit on, unappreciated, kept in the dark about your future, and probably being paid half what you're worth

How many times do y'all have to eat shit and ask for seconds before you say enough is enough?

I’m gonna keep eating until they give me free money for the rest of my life

 

Pride comes second

Edited October 8, 20187 yr by bennynova

2 hours ago, joe1234 said:

Seriously, I don't get all this hand-wringing over staying in a career where you're shit on, unappreciated, kept in the dark about your future, and probably being paid half what you're worth

How many times do y'all have to eat shit and ask for seconds before you say enough is enough?

Wolves vs sheep.... 

On 10/7/2018 at 8:15 PM, MDDieselPilot said:

Sounds like lots of us are in the same boat. 

I've had consistent strats since my 2nd OPR, several yearly's, 3 FGOQs up to the 2-star level, 2x DG , was an evaluator, 1500 combat hrs, never bought a checkride downgrade and no PFT busts.  I honestly thought I was squarely in the middle of the bell curve.  I guess I can GTFO, though.. which I will gladly do.

From what I was told 3+ years ago... not much of that matters to be honest.  The awards should be a mechanism to push you to a senior rater strat.  With no strat they don't mean much by themselves.  The board cares about strats period.  Who they are from.. what kind of strat... etc.  Your flying has little to do with an O5 board.  They care about leadership potential.. so evaluator, combat hours, checkrides... matters for not much for your O5 board.  Not my words.. just what I've been told. 

Aren't the HPOs picked pretty much by the time they are senior captains? Seems like if you aren't identified as being on that path, well, awards and strats don't mean really anything at the FGO level.

The AF becomes a little more fun once you've gotten passed over and realize you don't have to play the game any more. Freedom to pursue what you find rewarding/meaningful, especially now when rated manning is in such bad shape.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

A lot of people believe getting awards and strats put you on the path to being an HPO. It’s actually the other way around. Being an HPO wins you awards and gets you the killer strats. Unfortunately, there is NOTHING you can do to become an HPO, it is gifted to you and once it is, it basically takes blatant sexual misconduct to pull you off the path.

53 minutes ago, Chicken said:

From what I was told 3+ years ago... not much of that matters to be honest.  The awards should be a mechanism to push you to a senior rater strat.  With no strat they don't mean much by themselves.  The board cares about strats period.  Who they are from.. what kind of strat... etc.  Your flying has little to do with an O5 board.  They care about leadership potential.. so evaluator, combat hours, checkrides... matters for not much for your O5 board.  Not my words.. just what I've been told. 

All true, and I agree.  I mention some of that queep for context, not because i thought combat time was going to get me picked up for anything.   I got senior rater (Gp/CC and wg/cc) strats, as either #1 or #2 joint officer the last 3 years leading up to my IPZ PRF.  Apparently something else on my PRF read like a steaming pile of dogsh1t, though.

Anyhow, no one GAF.  just throwing it out there for anyone curious.

1 hour ago, jazzdude said:

Aren't the HPOs picked pretty much by the time they are senior captains? Seems like if you aren't identified as being on that path, well, awards and strats don't mean really anything at the FGO level.

The AF becomes a little more fun once you've gotten passed over and realize you don't have to play the game any more. Freedom to pursue what you find rewarding/meaningful, especially now when rated manning is in such bad shape.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

What’s even more awesome is when you leave AD for the Guard, make rank and still get a federal retirement while not dealing with the fallout from those HPOs 

20 hours ago, jazzdude said:

Aren't the HPOs picked pretty much by the time they are senior captains? Seems like if you aren't identified as being on that path, well, awards and strats don't mean really anything at the FGO level.

The AF becomes a little more fun once you've gotten passed over and realize you don't have to play the game any more. Freedom to pursue what you find rewarding/meaningful, especially now when rated manning is in such bad shape.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

Traditionally, yes.  The HPO process was formalized by being a “school select” at the 04 board.  However, now that they haven’t designated school selects on two 04 boards in a row, it’s more of less open game.  Those who would’ve been selects will probably still go and become a HPO and those who still want to play the game have a better chance/ more time. 

Well, the USAF gave me its second thanks, but no thanks for O-5.  Not that I expected much, but it was a last chance for big blue to plant a seed of hope that they see the light.  I guess the pilot problem isn’t bad enough to need to give high time IPs hour a reason to stay.

My morale is gunna be pretty darn good...with delta, or southwest, or fedex, or...

 

Data point for the masses: clean record, 3300 hrs, MWS Pilot WO, JDAL staff complete...never touched the HPO track.  

This is what the USAF does not want: professional combat expertise.

 

Palace front (hopefully) in 16 months.  Apparently I have to avoid a BIS to keep my 20 year retirement viable.

@FourFans130 go get scrolled now. It takes ~6 months. It is the single best thing you can do right now. The second best thing is to find a unit (many) willing to waive your 2x passed over-ness.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

A lot of people believe getting awards and strats put you on the path to being an HPO. It’s actually the other way around. Being an HPO wins you awards and gets you the killer strats. Unfortunately, there is NOTHING you can do to become an HPO, it is gifted to you and once it is, it basically takes blatant sexual misconduct to pull you off the path.

So true. Listen dudes, if you are at your 10-12 year mark and you don’t know you are a HPO or you don’t have a special patch on your arm, you are most likely a needs of the USAF body/AFPC spreadsheet number.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have some kickass assignments and decent gigs, it just means that if you have big career dreams or ideas of leadership grandeur, you will probably be disappointed.

You will often find yourself working twice as hard for less results and if it comes down to a good deal between you and your patch/HPO counterpart, you will lose whether you were the right guy/gal or not.

Just keep it in mind when you are offered that bonus or ADSC extending assignment vs a chance for guard/reserves.

I’m always amazed at the guys I’ve seen neglecting their personal lives/families trying to gain favor with Big Blue when in reality their career fate was sealed years prior...just nobody told them.



Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

9 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:

@FourFans130 go get scrolled now. It takes ~6 months. It is the single best thing you can do right now. The second best thing is to find a unit (many) willing to waive your 2x passed over-ness.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Scrolled?

9 hours ago, FourFans130 said:

Well, the USAF gave me its second thanks, but no thanks for O-5.  Not that I expected much, but it was a last chance for big blue to plant a seed of hope that they see the light.  I guess the pilot problem isn’t bad enough to need to give high time IPs hour a reason to stay.

My morale is gunna be pretty darn good...with delta, or southwest, or fedex, or...

Data point for the masses: clean record, 3300 hrs, MWS Pilot WO, JDAL staff complete...never touched the HPO track.  

This is what the USAF does not want: professional combat expertise.

Palace front (hopefully) in 16 months.  Apparently I have to avoid a BIS to keep my 20 year retirement viable.

If it helps, I can tell you the Guard Herc community undergoing a massive shift in full timers abandoning their Tech/AGR positions for traditional positions. I've seen a few guys hired that have been twice passed over. Many units are having trouble finding prior-Herc experience so they're hiring Majors that have never seen the inside of a C130.

The AF just opened the door to a thousand better possibilities for you.

Scrolled?

You have to be on the “scroll” to be able to transition from the RegAF to the AFR. Talk to your base in-service recruiter (ISR). It is very easy but it can cause a break in service if you’re not scrolled before you try to transition.

Well no IPZ luck here.  11F on third ops tour.  Not stellar records but not bad either (strats, OEF, DG, awards etc..).  Time to get smart on the guard and airlines - glad I had enough SA to avoid the bonus.