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That does suck. Reading the above (and from a fighter guy's perspective) I'm surprised at what's happened with respect to your job/assignment progression. In the fighter community, a 1st assignment dude who made IP would have a pretty high strat, regardless of being deployed a ton or not. Naturally, I have no idea about how it works in the heavy circles -- obviously things are different (and apparently for the worse, IMHO). Don't get me wrong, you appear to have gotten a pretty shitty deal (it would have been nice to know all that to get some perspective on your previous rants), but you shacked it in your 2nd to last sentence -- Blue doesn't owe any of us jack shit (good or bad). And, you're right...when your ADSC is up, you should punch with pride and not let anyone give you the slightest bit of lip about it.

No I got my UAV while I was in c-17 IP upgrade. And no im not a bottom feeder. I was first to upgrade to AC & IP out of my peer group. I just had a CC who didn't really "know" me b/c I was sent to the wing right before his change of command followed by FSO and then a ground deployment away from my squadron right after. I've just been a flying whore my first 3 years on station and never said no to the schedulers. Well guess who's the boss going to send to a uav? Not the execs, dudes who plan dining-outs/golf tournaments and booster club prez. He's going to send the guy who's not strat'd b/c he's been TDY the last 3 years. Funny thing is I volunteered for an ops assignment 6 months prior then later to go to altus. However at that time AFPC would not let me go OPS yet because I didn't have enough time on station and then later altus all of the sudden became a good deal and was hard to get... ridiculous Well I think I got my point across. I'm bitter. But life's not fair.. it is what it is. The air force doesn't owe me anything and I don't owe the airforce anything after my ADSC. until then embrace the suck!

Hoss, I agree with you. UAVs ARE the AF's future, like it or not. Proof: compare what is and what isn't funded. Personally, I want nothing of it, but this is the capability AF leadership selected to maintain both our future relevance and funding. From an efficiency perspective, UAVs are high value (capability/investment). With that said, strictly sending the "best and brightest," or the "weak swimmers" to UAVs damages the AF. IMO, the best answer is to send volunteers. TX dates, school slots, and assignment preference to those with UAV time are easy ways the Air Force can get a mix of "upper tier" volunteers. Offer leadership development to those HPOs selected to stay in the UAV AFSC. Promising good things then reneging, however, guarantees the poisoning of any MWS culture. As we are now, I think it's best to man UAVs with CAF FLs/Navs-people who have experience of combined execution with UAVs. We haven't built combat doctrine around UAVs, they're simply assets that usually do what the on-scene commander dictates. The real-time, in-the-cockpit, perspective adds a lot of value to UAV effectiveness. I was at the briefing with you and heard the same thing. Patches will maintain their due on the predominant share of FS/CC jobs. However, ACC/A3 (I think) is the weight behind the "breadth of experience" comment. IMO, he's one of the best officers in the AF-hopefully in line for CSAF. I trust what ACC/A3 says and think we'll see more emphasis on UAV experience as he gains more influence. To reemphasize, I have no desire to leave my current cockpit.

Where to start...perhaps with some empathy, I get it, trust me...I get it. I could tell you horror stories about getting banked, no fighter slots, nonsensical rated force management, and on and on. Bottomline brother, sometimes life is not fair. I will not throw service in your face, I won't patronize you with the "satisfaction from the mission" speech, and I won't ignore the fact that you got a bad deal. Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to deal with it and move on. Not trying to tell you tough love is the answer, just saying that if you can't change it, do the best you can and move on so you can enjoy your life. Having myself been a victim of some past rated force management issues (banking), I watched some of my friends go through some very destructive over a three year period. When I showed up to my non-flying job I was lucky enough to have a navigator as a squadron commander who listened to my sob story and gave me a few minutes to play the martyr. He understood my situation at the end of the meeting he told me I had two choices, I could wallow in it, or I could make the most of this assignment and forward. I went home that day and spent the weekend doing a little soul-searching. Ultimately, I decided to make the most of it and I while I wanted to be out flying, I actually enjoyed my banked job and it ended up opening a lot of doors for me down the road. If there is one constant in the Air Force it is "things change". We probably change too much, but situations change, policies change, and people change. Don't let your bitterness prevent you from making a difference and being ready when things change. I wish you the very best.

several great points made in the last couple of pages, though I think we're all just circling the Root Cause. Service? Yeah, Hacker, I'm leaning toward the EABOD crowd on that one; if you want to drive the "service" point home, give Randolph a call, I'm sure you'll have a RIP before you hang up the phone. Well, no, I don't really think that you should do that. Why not? Because right now no pilot in his right mind should volunteer for this black hole. That takes us a step closer to the point. I've spent the better part of the last three weeks getting at best 4-5 hours a night, waking up several times with one central thought every time: "I'm going to UAVs". That thought really sux. But wait, what sucks about it? The mission? Schedule? Stress? Learning/broadening/advancement opportunities? Nope, all of my friends who've been or are there have nothing but great things to say (caveat that they DO want back into a jet), and truth be told, this nerd is actually a bit motivated overall. Getting warmer. So why is every rated Officer that’s worth a shit avoiding this assignment like The Plague? I’ll throw a “service” spear—right at AF leadership. Their actions over the last 5 years have been self serving, myopic, and damaging to this mission. Self serving because their only concern has been to give their Masters short term solutions that were flagrantly flawed over the long term. TAMI-21? Permanent MWS assignment? Non-vol? No ALFA credit? Return to flying boards? YGBSM!!! Where does the buffoonery end? At this point, Leadership and AFPC have ZERO credibility with those in the field who are getting, in, or even considering this assignment. I personally think the RTFBs are a red herring at best, if not completely disingenuous. We’ll see. Here’s two steps toward fixing this problem and giving this a permanent place in our assignment system: 1: this field will be 100% manned. Already been stated by leadership. This IS an important mission: press. 2: this will be a CONTROLED ALFA tour. Exceptions will be voluntary. No compromise. It has to be no compromise, as a contract, made by AF leadership to those that they should want to fill these positions: the best and brightest rated officers. Not the unwilling, kicking and screaming crowd that they have DESIGNATED by design to fill this field right now. 3: You want volunteers? Guaranteed TX course follow on. Assignment of choice for a 1 year extension. Add up #1 and #2 and you have a real personnel problem reaching across the CAF. Not insurmountable though. The rest of the assignment system will be strained by manning and assignment length. The UAV community itself will suffer those same stresses; RTU will go into overdrive in the short term. At some point the 18X AFSC should dovetail to help even things out. The way we’re going right now is toward another bathtub. Oh yeah, there is absolutely no reason that this problem should have ever reached this point. Side note: IMO, 18x aside, this mission should NEVER be completely devoid of rated participation. Separate discussion. BL: Leadership is trying to sell this as a great experience, with great opportunities, while every real action and policy has treated this asset/mission like they don’t really believe in what they’re selling. Leadership doesn’t believe that a promising officer should even want this as a “broadening” tour. From what I’ve read and discussed with friends, this mission is a valuable broadening experience, on par with ALO or UPT/IFF, if not more so. Meanwhile the mission has suffered from the “min qualification O2-converter” mindset of current manning policy. Leadership is treating the “ALFA” poker chip as a personnel management tool, they’ve completely lost sight (or just don’t care) about their greater responsibility to shepherd the development of future officers (at least within this narrow scope). OPR signed, another assignment, another star, UAV manning: forgotten. Those in place right now (Leadership): put your $ where your mouth is.

Is this "Son-of Reflective Belt" guy on facebook legit? Or some kind of spy sent to destroy us all? Just wondering... the crackhead tried to "friend" me... like I know who the f#ck you are or something.... ya know I could even get into a long pet-peeve story about people that do that, but I won't.

Sending someone to PILOT training with a ten year commitment and then assigning them to an UNMANNED aerial vehicle (UAV) for 10 years is breach of contract. Pure and simple. It would be like sending someone to pilot training and saying you owe us 10 years after this, but you will be a finance officer or a mx officer instead of a pilot for 10 years (bait and switch). Sending someone to PILOT training with a ten year commitment and then assigning them to remotely PILOTED aircraft (RPA) though is OK. Genius.

Back then? Yes. Today? Eh- maybe if I had a few in me...