Leaderboard

Ha. Fair enough, but by the time I have a decade of experience, you will be back in diapers.

1, -1, 1, 1, 0, 0

Make one of them fall in love with you. Move in together after graduation, then get married. After a few years leave with half his stuff, but leave a can of tuna and the wrench. It'll be great; you could even get his mother in on the joke.

Based on this comment I think it was a valid award...no need for retaliation.

It's a hell of a lot better than listening to a bunch of lemmings dive head first into a self-licking, dick sucking, everybody's right, group-think discussion.

I must break you.

Only she thought this thread was going to stay on track. Everyone else who read her post knew this was the only logical conclusion.

Complain to your Flt/CC that you're getting treated unfairly because you're a chick. This will force your Flt/CC to rank you #1 because he's scared you'll go up the chain with your complaint. Then you'll get your sweet revenge on track select when a -38 pops up on the screen while the rest of your bros go to Tones. Not that this has happened before. Wait, what? Or just fuck one of the dudes in your class and write a poem about how he now has Herpes.

Accidentally repped you when I thought that was the quote button. FML. I'm not saying that is what is going to happen, just reporting what had occurred earlier this year. I have no dog in this fight.

I call BS. That would require the AF to admit, even if only on a minor point, that they were wrong to pass on the T-45. AF leadership would rather put out a burning oil well with their own face than ever do this. I predict us buying used T-50s from the DAKs before the first T-45 says USAF on the side.

You're mom's too heavy to make the turn.

A double facepalm picture epic enough for this "story" does not exist... therefore:

I don't know "What's wrong with Air Force", but do I know that one of the things wrong with the Air Force is all the people who have no clue how to actually do their jobs, and no desire to learn... yet are still gainfully employed/recognized/promoted.

Holy shit dude, my only point originally is that airpower is fighting in some places where US ground forces are not. I'm not trying to dip into the 'supported vs. supporting' battle; obviously we are there only to support the dude on the ground in OEF/OIF and I'm proud of it. But there is no US dude on the ground in Libya and a few other spots (both historically and currently) so from a US perspective those wars are an air show and we should be proud of that too; it's cool we can help our bro's in OEF and also cool we can have an effect on our own elsewhere. The whole conversation turned towards the chaff after that, which is probably my fault and unfortunately my ignoring it didn't make it stop. Let's just leave this alone, not the point here at all and who gives a fuck anyway? Supported vs. supporting is an ego black hole, I care about killing the enemy and winning. Back to the topic, our problem is twofold. First, leadership that cares about stuff other than the mission at the expense of the mission. I don't have an issue with uniform regs, except when they become elevated to the level of 3-1 knowledge. When the CC is coded UP on the orders but seems to know exactly how high my zipper should be zipped, he's a tool and unfit to command. Several people have expressed that essential truth in different ways. Secondly and perhaps more important, a broken promotion/evaluation system that frequently puts those types in charge; who then metastasize by promoting those who embrace their philosophy.

Back on topic... ...this one slipped by and shouldn't have. Every war. Airmen that think we are a supported service need to wake up. Flat out wrong. And THAT is a main reason our service has gone wrong. No one can deliver airpower better than we can. That does not translate to 'no one can win wars better than the USAF can'. Our job is to deliver airpower as best suits the mission. Airpower is not the mission. Subtle but critical difference. Read a book. FF

If you're getting butthurt about getting made fun of for tuna jokes, you have a long and painful career ahead of you. I strongly suggest you grow a thicker skin. Also the fact that you allegedly "rocked" your solo doesn't count for shit. Not in UPT, not ever. You are EXPECTED to be a good pilot, I don't care if you're a UPT stud or a gray beard IP. If you fall short of the excellence that is expected of you that's a whole different matter, but "rocking" a flight is never a good defense against buffoonery and clownism. Carry your tool with pride. Display it when it is appropriate, conceal it when necessary. Don't assume everyone wants to see it, but don't be shy to wave it around either. Wait.... wat?

What's wrong with Air Force? 1. Misplaced focus. 2. A culture which allows support personnel to think their job is the mission. 3. A greater amount of time spent bitching about problems rather than working solutions. 4. Not enough helicopter guys in leadership roles.

The bar should never be mandatory, nor should you give guys shit for not hanging out in the bar after a debrief every day. The bar is a great place for tradition and camaraderie (and some learning), but it should never be forced. You're just keeping dudes from their families and real lives while you shoot your watch. If you didn't get the appropriate lessons learned in your debrief in the vault in a timely manner, you're doing it wrong (or you don't have a mission that requires a vault debrief). Now roll calls, First Fridays, et al? Cleared hot. Lock the fucking door and expect attendance or assess bar fines appropriately.

I'd say this is the third 'period of insanity' I've seen in my time in. The first was in the late 80s. I was sitting in FTD class at Barksdale with a lot of other guys who just showed up from tech school. The instructor comes in, looks at all of us, and asks, "who wants to get out?" Three guys raised their hands, all had just reported from 6-9 month schools, and were out of Big Blue within a month. Guess what? The rest of us had to do Rivet Workforce CDCs and pick up their slack. The 'Peace Dividend' was probably not the first example of AF 'slam-slam' personnel management, but it was the first one I was personally involved in. The second was the late 90s 'crud' that bit a lot of us. Endless OPC/ONW/OSW deployments, shrinking dollars, pilots flocking to the airlines, etc. In Polifka, a FAIP asks the SECAF how much longer they would have to work six-day weeks because of shortages of personnel, and the guy on stage goes on a rant on how tough it was to run his private law practice. We booed him off the stage (love that 'academic' setting), and were bitched out for disrespecting him (with a wink from the instructors). Leadership just didn't seem to 'get it'. Of course, Groundhog Day ended in '01. The third started a few years back when the 'Support our Troops' magnetic decals on cars started to fade, and the country began to get 'war fatigue'. The military got it, too, as we began to forget about the mission and came up with ways to keep the troops on their toes - reflective belts in combat zones, uniform changes every five minutes and copying the other services' bad ideas, and otherwise nagging queep that has made us all bitter as hell. Big Blue has been demonstrating to a nauseating degree on how style reigns over content. Terminal in November - good luck to all of you that have to work your way out of this one. I'll tell you now, this one is the worst by far, and it will take years to crawl out of it. Short list: 1. There are Bronze Stars and there are Bronze Stars. Hey SNCOs and O6s/GOs...some of us know the difference. 2. Green Days...who the fuck are you kidding about 'saving energy'? 3. PT gear...enough said. 4. PT until you drop...permanent injuries are not worth it guys, even the 10% disability I'll get from a bum foot. 5. Ducking responsibility and making rank - sure, it's common on the outside, but I once thought we were different. My mistake.

Absolutely. "Deployments" in the tanker world are a joke. Send us TDY with a DETCO and some MX support and we'll get the job done with a fraction of the footprint. Doesn't work for everybody, but you gotta admit there is a shit ton of tail for very few teeth in the AF. Completely agree on knowing your role though. Truth is unless your toting your M-16 through the mud, you're the support in this war. The difference between me and finance is that I'll be there on time, 365 days and nights a year, in any weather, every time. I don't close up shop so I can complete my ADLS CBTs. Wish the people supporting me took their jobs as seriously as I do mine.

"For this special event, they wore shoulder patches that said, “Gucci Girls; Unmanned KC-10 Flight.” So, morale patches ARE authorized...if you're an all-female KC-10 crew flying AD and reservists on the same plane, for the first time? If they're that good at unmanned flight...send 'em to Creech!

I think we should all take pictures of things like this, 6 out of 9 times you go to a SUPPORT squadron on base they have a sign or some excuse posted as to why they can't SUPPORT you. Yea, I'm sure Finance couldn't do their SUPPORT job unless they closed at 2pm, every f#$&ing day, its like they have crew rest or something for their 6 hour work day

Good to know, and thank you!

The best way to handle it is to not let them know it gets your down or that you felt it was in any way an unfair hit. It's all part of the game. If anything, just make it part of your vocabulary. "Yeah, that was more stupid than eating tuna in the flight room." At our squadron whoever gets voted as the "story of the week", they get to carry a stuffed animal around. He has a logbook and the bros usually expect pictures of what you and he did during the week (the more outlandish, the better). I've gotten to carry it around and so have numerous squadron commanders. EVERYONE makes mistakes (no matter what your IPs say) Like someone else said, sooner or later someone else will prop their baffoonery up on a pedestal and it will top this and/or the story will pass. It's pretty minor and the story will die off. In a few months, it'll be nothing but a memory.

?? Comment on the circular "supporting" vs "supported" derail...it's not that I don't care how we talk about operations or don't want the AF to get credit where credit is due, but that I don't think we're helping our case with conversations like this. I thought quiet professionals meant hacking the mish and not giving a shit if the random person on the street even knew you were there let alone if you were the "supported" service or some nonsense like that. What I do care about right now is what my senior leadership is telling me and how that flies in the face of everything I've learned up to this point and everything that I believe to be true about being an officer and an aviator. That's whats wrong with my little corner of the Air Force.

To OP: yeah, there are assholes out there like this guy too