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Choke yourself, with my hand, fucking idiot.

Or you don't know their situation and don't say stupid shit, technique only.

Wow, had I known he was a FAIP I don't think I would have glorified his reply WRT this topic with a response, but I suppose it keeps the conversation moving along. Sage advice that I have had given to me in-person from a wide variety of people on many occasions. I'm proud of my service and of the service of those I've flown with. That being said, I would be content to walk away from it all today. I feel satisfied that I've "done my part". There are other things out there. At this point in my career, I am going to need to be convinced to stay in. As I am not special, and the AF machine will continue on long after I would leave, I am not expecting much in the way of "convincing".

Wait, let me get this right . . . . you think you have MORE money after you get married?

Well gents, 25 days until the start of terminal leave. I was fortunate enough to fly 16 out of 21 years to include the last tour in the cockpit. As I look back at my misspent youth from the apex of my admittedly mediocre career, I can discern one simple truth for every single one of us, no matter which community we belong to: your time in Big Blue will end when you decide you have someplace better to be. It's that simple. The other side to this is that the Big AF doesn't really care about you. If every general in the Pentagon disappeared tonight, the parties thrown by the O-6s would be legendary. The Air Force doesn't take care of people...people take care of people. If you're surrounded by sh*theads, expect to be treated accordingly. More importantly, if the organization you're part off seems to encourage and develop said sh*theads, you might wish to consider a different line of work. Also consider, however, that the sh*thead gene is strong and can also be found in most organizations, military and civilian. Now excuse me while I get my black socks and flip flops and figure out where the satellite pharmacy is. And get the hell off of my lawn.

...and his name was Shaved Dog's Ass

Nope. My number one priority is always the family. Sometimes I have to go away, but they are still my number one priority. From show time to debrief, I try to compartmentalize any feelings as a result of those priorities, but make no mistake-- in the end, I would try to come home ASAFP if my family needed me. Any other swinging dick can lead an airdrop or fly a bandage mission. My kid only has one father and my wife only has one husband. Last I checked, there were more than a few C-130J pilots on the Letter of X's where I work. We are probably just arguing semantics, as one could say that my compartmentalizing comment above "counts" as a priority shift, as others have alluded to.

Go help yourself to some milk and cookies.

The 2 track approach is used somewhat effectively in the private sector. Not everyone wants or can be the top tier in mgmt and is happy to a guru or SME. In my company we have 2 tracks, the technical track and mgmt track. No longer are you limited in pay and/prestige because you are happy staying in the trneches doing the work that needs to be done; this allows for continuity and deep experience to help the newbies as they enter the field...

Anybody else read the comments on the Small Wars Journal page? Mostly a lot of "boo hoo USAF guy, cry me a river" from the Army types who populate the page -- it strikes me that it's this perspective that is the precise reason we're in the position we're in (and obviously inspired this latest Dear Boss) -- people who fundamentally do not understand what the actual unique capabilities of the USAF are with respect to National Strategy, and because of that lack of understanding see advocacy of that position as out-of-step with the current wars. It's the very reason that the SECAF and CSAF were fired.

So, what do you guys actually think of the new "Dear Boss" letter? I hadn't heard about this letter at all, outside of seeing the link in this thread. It's not making it's way around the bro email network in my sliver of the AF world -- is it causing discussions in your squadrons? Certainly the 2009 letter DID spread like wildfire through the email chains, and I even remember the 1997 letter getting pretty good distribution, even being posted in the O'Club bar bathroom at Nellis back in the day, and being printed as front-page news in AF Times. So, what's up with this one? Personally, I think this 2012 Dear Boss is a bit different than the previous three letters in an important way: this one's primary complaint is with the Senior Leadership Management in the USAF, and focusing on the post-Buzz Mosely-firing kotowing the USAF has done to the SECDEF, the other Service Chiefs, and the other Secretaries over our role in the current US national defense strategy. The previous letters focused on the squadron- and wing-level problems from the Captain's point of view; how changes and decay to the way the USAF was operating had compromised the ability to conduct combat airpower at mostly the tactical level. There was the occasional swipe at the Strategic level, but it was never the main focus of the reason the authors were deciding to get out of the USAF. I also find the frequency of these letters of interest; 1974, 1997, 2009, and now 2012. Is it that Gen X officers are just more pussified, needing to write a new, different letter only three years after the previous one because it didn't have enough of an impact? Or is it indicating a real significant sea-change in the last 3 years that warrants its own separate series of complaints? The real funny thing is, we haven't yet seen the fighter/pilot/officer exodus promised by the frustrations in the 2009 letter. Sure, we know it prompted our next CSAF to take a look at the bro-level problems, but there sure hasn't yet been enough of a giant-sucking-sound (sts) of officers walking out the door to put a punctuation mark on either the 2009 or 2012 letters. Real crises are the only thing that the senior level is going to respond to....certainly a letter in Small Wars Journal, that doesn't seem to be making waves at the bro level that I've seen, isn't going to have the least bit of impact on decisions and attitudes at HAF. It's all just crying wolf if there's no action to back up the words, and so far, I haven't seen any tangible reason why the senior level would be inspired to change course based on the "threat" of departure leveled in the last two letters.