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Three cheers for dick-sucking!

We've been waiting for you.

This entire thread reinforces the age-old addage: timing is everything, and there is no justice. My advice as a 12 year major/11F: do what's best for you and your family. We will all (most of us) spend a much longer part of our lives as husbands/fathers or wives/mothers than active military officers.

You know...all this talk about masters degrees, PME and the like...fine. Got it...I'll deal with it. Blues on Monday? It sucks and I don't like it...but a minor issue. It's when I'm being told that getting ACSC done before you pin on Major is now the new yardstick to measure leadership ability that makes me sick to my stomach. When we've got 30 people in a wing who haven't done a deployment in 3+ years go unscathed yet the guy who did a 365 a couple years ago gets stuck with another 182 day deployment (for a total of 540+ days deployed while in an AETC assignment)...and when he points this fact out to leadership he's told "well you volunteered for that 365 so you did it to yourself". Really? Is that the best you've got for us? Or how about the time when crews were bringing up the issue of non-TCAS aircraft canceling IFR in Kuwait, setting up the perfect storm for a mid-air collision...we tried to get the leadership to address this issue but they were only concerned about making sure our socks were just right and everyone wore reflective belts. Thank God no one hit anyone else while flying around in that hell of airspace controlled by Moholab. But hey, we all had on the right underwear. I've seen guys become the new golden children of leadership because they had an engine fall off a C-130. Granted, it took skill to land it, but that doesn't mean that dude is the next Robin Olds. I've seen bros get sent up to be the 4-star's exec because they got shot at (and hit) in theater. Nice...I got shot at and the bastards missed me but I guess bringing the airplane home sans holes in the fuselage means I was a failure and don't deserve a rock-star career. I could go on, but you get my point. Leadership in the Air Force has been stripped of any sense of individual thought and common sense and it's measured based on silly power point metrics and stupid things like how fast you got ACSC done, not how well you even did on the damn courseware. THAT is the bigger picture that I think most people are frustrated with...the fact that by and large, most people in leadership positions lack the brass balls that past leadership possessed at some point in this Air Force's history. Instead it's all about career survival, and the bros sense that.

If this whole conversation was happening in a real squadron bar I would kill myself.

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

SHACK! I get it...commanders are busy. Senior raters just don't have the time to get to know EVERYONE. Using PME/AAD as a discriminator just makes their job easier when dishing out Ps and DPs. I've seen it firsthand where senior raters don't even look at packages (STS) but separate the P's and DP's by who has a Masters and who doesn't. They are essentially trying to make it easier to distinguish between officers that they perceive as "leaders" because they show drive and initiative and those who "just do their jobs." It appears that they aren't even looking at OPRs anymore. Why would they? It is time consuming, has a lot of fluff, and everyone is a winner. They look not only at IF you have an AAD/PME but WHEN you finished it. Really? That makes a great leader? I guess that makes our missileer force the best of the best since in the course of doing their jobs on alert, they are afforded the greatest opportunity to finish PME/Masters the fastest. So, in short...I do the ACSC Master's program, takes a year and a half to finish, I graduate with a 4.0, I get another Masters out of it...but somehow Capt Shmuckatelli does the crash course, finished in 6 weeks, min ran the program with 75% (or whatever the min score is) and somehow he is a better leader than I am? Is this really the line of thinking? CC's and former CC's please chime in... One last time on the Masters issue. I know the Air Force isn't a "business" but I'm making this comparison to make my point about the way these "leaders" think. They keep talking about our benefits as they compare to the private sector...well, why don't we look at our TERRIBLE "business practices" as they compare to the private sector. Name ONE company out there who pays for all of its employees to get Masters degrees so they can use that as a measuring stick to promote them (regardless of the type of degree)? I'm all for TA and our people getting degrees that could help them when they decide to get out, but don't FORCE people to get a quickie Masters just to make them promotable when the degree they are forced to get doesn't help the individual or the Air Force. How about measuring how effective people are at their jobs, promote them, and then send them to specialized schools to make them even BETTER at doing their jobs? You can talk about doing it to "check the box," thats how it works these days...and it is wasteful, inefficient, and does nothing to help the AF. Brilliant thinking "leadership." I see this "business" going far!

I was unaware the T6 had a galley.

Nsplayr, Your posts are long enough. You don't have to double-post on top of them.

This. Masshole, I think you should re-read these last couple of sentences, and really take them to heart. This might seem like a jab to you, but this is some solid career advice. Once you commission, you will realize this is not some hypothetical joke, it happens all the time. I'm sure everyone on baseops has witnessed the girl in the class/SQ/GP/WG that uses men and attention to get what she wants...until it doesn't work anymore and everything comes crashing down. Don't be that girl. Be the one that takes the attention in stride, and builds a career completely independent of being a woman. I work with some women that I truly respect. Sadly, I also work with some that excel only in using their "assets" effectively. EDIT: I also want to add that I can sympathize with your plight. I joined baseops when I was still a cadet. I thought I was hot shit, because all I knew was the retardedly small and false world of ROTC. One day, I made some smart ass comment to Clearedhot, and he very bluntly called me out, and put me in my place. Here's the take-away, baseops is an excellent place to learn real Air Force lessons, without actually being in the real Air Force. I learned a lot of shit that saved me from making those mistakes when it actually mattered. Learn from this now, while you are anonymous cadet girl. It will pay dividends when you are Lt Whoever and there are real consequences.

On the up side, she has now been drug and alcohol free for 30 days. Longest sober streak since she was 11.

Yes, I am quite familiar how conversations work. You post, I post, you respond, I respond. I do not think you are being mean to me. I read this board before I started posting and am familiar with (and fond of) the way you post. If my last response was out of line, then I apologize, but I am keeping with the ribbing theme. If you cannot handle the heat, go back to the kitchen- right? I did not know what a Rugby Queen is, but thanks for the debrief. I do not enjoy the attention any more than anyone else that posts here. I am getting a lot of advice and killing down time by posting here. I think you have the wrong impression of me and that is fine. If thinking I am a stupid whore encourages you to keep making these posts, then by all means, assume I am a stupid whore. I was hoping you would shit a brick in response to my post so I could make a Metamucil joke.

No, Rainman, it isn't the deployments and ops tempo. While I don't like to be away from my family, I enjoy deploying because it eliminates much of the queep from homestation (granted, it substitutes other queep...but that queep is generally the easily ignored type) and allows me to focus on mission accomplishment...flying, mission planning, or pre-flighting for other people to go flying. No, what really wears on me is practice OREs, going TDY right after a six-month deployment, doing SOS online so I can do it in person, spending more time away from home doing something that doesn't matter. Squadron Christmas parties can be fun, until the SQ/CC or OG/CC's wife gets a hold of the planning and you're all showing up in mess dress, so you have the added bonus of buying new medals from the last time you had to wear it. Not to mention the several hundred dollars for a formal dress so the wife can come. Woo, fun! No, Rainman, it really is the queep. And it isn't even the individual pieces of queep, although they are incredibly annoying. It is the persistent and total lack of mission focus by the people who implement these pieces of queep. Only tan shirts? Really, missions were not being accomplished due to black shirts? Planes were falling out of the sky due to morale patches? So for me, at least...it is the queep, not the deployments.

I'd crack open another beer and grab a seat.

Thanks, fixed it. So his advice and maybe yours should perhaps be calibrated for the realities of today's young officers. You immediately discredit yourself (not you specifically, more bergman I'm talking to) by recommending a person knock out their masters as an LT but after their MQT when that is impossible to accomplish because of timing. The fact of the matter is guys are showing up to their first operational squadron green as any LT ever was but with captains bars on their shoulders, that changes the career advice they should be getting because they've essentially lost years of leeway due to training/delays/etc. Before becoming the advice-giver preaching "hey, you young guys should be doing this," take a look at the facts on the ground. At what point in my career is bitching allowed? 4 years? 6-9 years? How about hueypilot, Bitte, pawnman, busdriver, tac airlifter, Karl Hungus, etc. Are they also insufficiently experienced to be making essentially the same argument I am? I don't think so...and that's just from the last 2 pages of this one thread. Criticize the ideas, not the person. I may still be a f*cking lieutenant for another week or so but that doesn't mean I'm wrong when I say that dudes are being driven towards getting out because of a loss of mission focus on the part of leadership.

Wait, you are familiar with how long training is for aviators right? And how long it takes to complete most masters programs right? Because the brand new shiny pilots showing up to my unit after UPT, FTU, various casual times and/or BITs, etc. are all either within 6 months of pinning captain or more likely already Captains. When are they supposed to do that masters again? Sooo...yea, your prescribed path isn't even achievable. If I ran the AF, anyone even thinking about getting their masters before they had a solid year in their first operational squadron would be kicked square in the nuts for losing focus on their primary job. And I'm all for education...I tried to educational delay out of ROTC and the AF told me no, so it's not about not seeing the value in having an MA, especially post-military. The timing you're suggesting is where I see a big problem and where most young officers see the problem as well. Navs have it a little better, I was checked out and deployed right as I pinned on 1Lt. I started my masters the month I graduated nav school (i.e. worked on it concurrently with the FTU) and am still working to finish it up as I pin O-3...looks like I'm way behind on the Bergman power curve. There goes my BTZ to O-6! Realistically this is what most people do (myself included) but it's a defeatist attitude if that's what you believe deep down. I refuse to validate stupid shit just because it was the price I had to pay to play the game. I want it to be easier, more streamlined, and more mission-focused for the next guy. If I can do anything from my humble perch as a crew dog to stop the practice bleeding for PME, if I can somehow influence the system to allow guys to focus on getting proficient in their airplane versus getting their MBA, I will do so regardless of the fact that the system required me to do those things. Work to make things better, not to just get by, "play the game" and get promoted. I believe there was a quote out there about being someone versus doing something...I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be somebody so I might as well try to do this.

The real question is if any of the people "bitching" and identifying these problems today will be around in 10 years. My guess is no - of course this assumes there is no stop loss initiated.

Yet she has the lips to step up to the table and play the game... FWIW, I say let her play on.

Not a psychological assessment, just an assumption based on my experience, direct observation and history lessons from others that chicks with attitudes like yours (even if you say it is a joking one) tend to f-ck up every class, organization and squadron you get into. You might try to control your ego, but you will fail because statistically chicks have 69% less control of emotions than even flaming gay men do. Just wait until you don;t get what you want and you'll have to choose, do I keep my mouth shut, or do I cry/whine/make an ordeal to get my way. You'll choose the the latter like many have before you. Also, the future of the USAF is already ######ed so you'll just be an addition.

I've seen the chicks with attitudes like Masshole in both ROTC and UPT and in the CAF. Usually they have more ego than skill and when shit doesn't pan out they A. Complain about unfair treatment, sexual harassmant, etc. B. ###### someone in a position of leadership. C. Marry some hard-up former USAFA guy who is tracking to fighters and tug on the leaderships heartstrings not to break up their happy family so she can fly a fighter too. D. Get to their Sq, suck at flying, ###### other dudes, get divorced. Play chick card to get upgrades while discrediting the shithot female pilots. Just from people watching. Good luck Masshole. I already feel sorry for the USAF as a whole and anyone who has to deal with you at UPT. If you feel you can talk like this with ZERO cred, imagine you attitude when you think even more of yourself.

No... he's saying that in the civillian world, you aren't always forced to search for a new career half way through (with the exception of the few who are able to make it to a high enough rank to last that long). In a civilian career, you can, with the right attitude in most situations, work the whole time in one career field. It's not as common anymore, but definitely more common than in the military. I know you're just being a bit of a devil's advocate in a few of these threads, but come on man.... His point was a valid one which is not brought up frequently, and you are certainly intelligent enough to understand what he meant.

Yes, because all women are fragile. It takes two to tango, meaning the pussification is also attributed to men in command having sympathy towards women who cannot take a joke. If someone complains about a joke being sexist, tell them to ###### off. Most will learn and become callous towards it while others will not and eventually fall out of the picture.

Your experiences are not my experiences are not Bergman's, etc. I was fully qualified in my airframe as a 2Lt. I started AC upgrade as a 1Lt. BFD. All this bitching in the thread is rather useless when you show 1) how ######ing green you are when you aren't even four years in (to pin on Capt); 2) you don't even follow your own "kick someone in the junk for losing focus." Should you do the master's and check the box? Yes. Should you do it as a Lt or even a young Capt? No. This is what people like Rainman are talking about when they say stiff-arm the bullshit and BFM the rules. Here's a ######ing cluebird for you: even in places where the asskissers seem to be ahead, if you keep your head down and do shit hot at your primary job and don't slack on whatever shitty secondary duty (or duties) you have, you will do well for the first several years and be that uber-awesome pilot/nav/whatever you wanted to be. Once you've built yourself that reputation, even early on in your career, it becomes the most effective shit-blocker you'll see for years. Step 1) Be Johnny ######ing Bravo Step 2) ... Step 3) Profit!

I can't believe I just read this whole post...

Not sure how to read this one. Did Rainman just ask another dude to go down on him?

Your opinion is noted but irrelevant. Brandishing with piss-poor insults to assert your "male dominance" does not work. I expected you to be able to take a joke and have more game, but your post was only intramural-type game and void of any actual verbal skill. I will happily fly and serve my country- I am grateful I am allowed to do that. Feel free to write to your Congressman if that bothers you. In the real world, that is how bitches get things done. To put this simply in words you find communicable: Bend over, bitch. We are going to run the minority train on your ass. Oh hell no. A gay cadet is the only thing worse than a female cadet. Masshole.

Hopefully one that's rigged to explode mid-flight