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So basically everyone that is eligible for the RIF should apply for VSP so that when you are RIF'd we can file another class action lawsuit against the Air Force for the same thing it did back in 2011.

If you ever told me back when I originally signed up that years down the road I'd be sitting here glued to my computer in the middle of the night submitting an application to get out of my job as a pilot in the Air Force I would have told you that you were full of $hit. Why do I feel so let down and unfullfilled that the Air Force wasn't what I thought it was going to be? It's such a shame.

I find it interesting that we have an entire thread dedicated to how ed up the Air Force is, but when an outsider lobs some spears at us, everyone rushes to defend the organization. To be perfectly honest, I trust Gates' assessment of things more than any leader I know in the Air Force and I share his distrust of the service. Maybe he has a personal grudge, or maybe he spent just enough time in the service to know how myopic, inbred, and close minded we really are. I was happy to see Moseley go, but not so happy to see Stephen Hawking's long lost brother take the reins (honestly I expected him to be a little smarter). However, I think we're missing the forest for the trees here. The problems in the Air Force do not stem from our preoccupation with F22s or our reluctance to embrace UAVs, they come from our unconscionably pathetic ability to produce real leaders of substance, intelligence, and vision. Or, alternatively, maybe our problems are forced upon us by a system that is hopelessly corrupt and self serving and beyond the influence of any single man. Either way, it's hard to deny that the Air Force is in rough shape right now and will be for the foreseeable future. Good Luck Mark... Shut up Drew Brees

glad my terminal leave started 6 days ago.

Your Sq will also pressure you to use the club and their beer. So, use the club from 4-5pm, tell a few stories, light fare, no one drinks. Then, arrange a "real" celebration somewhere else, or even off post, and enjoy your kegs. Requirements met, everyone wins.

If it is anything like TERA, it'll be year group + AFSC to determine eligibility and then the following: 1. Once determined eligible they will change the rules 2. They take those determined eligible and determine if you are eligible;this will take 10 days depending on the eligibility of the eligible 3. The eligible that are determined they are eligible will tell their boss they are eligible... but only if they are eligible based on the new matrix of eligibility 4. Within 24 hours your boss will forward the e-mail from AFPC with your G-5 assignment to Aruba that has now been turned off 5. 3 weeks later Chang's 12 year old nephew will compare the list of applicants to the closing credits of the movie The Matrix and deny all of those not listed 6. Butters will say this proves there is no airline hiring boom coming 7. AFPC will announce a new $500K/10 year bonus for all TCN Escorts 8. Masters degree requirement will be masked on all promotion boards in favor of the new PhD requirement 9. FY 15 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA) thread started on Baseops.net by Rainman

As an LT, remember: It's always better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

Wow. I am at a total loss for words here. This has turned out more buffoonerous than I had ever even imagined it could. Unbelievable. AFPC, you guys really outdid yourselves on this one. Good thing I never planned on it working out for me anyway. But, whatevs, already got the ATP taken care of on the AF's dime. There's not an assignment out there that will convince me to stick around for one second longer than I have to. Year and a half to go...

https://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2014/box020514gates.aspx

Ahhhh, the shitshow unfolds. Funny thing is I have spent so much time ranting about how this Force Management measure would certainly rise to the same level of comical ineptitude as the last. Too bad I have to reassure young guys in the squadron not to worry about a RIF because I have seen this debacle unfold before. Every older dude I know is reading the fine print trying to figure out how to be eligible and GTF out! AFPC, you never fail to amaze me. Why have we not completely eliminated AFPC? I can take a civilian into combat zones but I have a ing clown-show shoe clerk wearing a uniform, sitting in a cubicle devising these RIF debacles every other year. Makes sense- why can't we outsource AFPC to a civilian HR company? They really couldn't do any ing worse. you AFPC. The vMPF webpage is running about as well as HealthCare.gov . I can't get very far without error messages blocking my way to submitting a separation app. I can always hope that tomorrows PSDM will make me eligible. Motherfukkers! Chang, once again great job. Please jump back in anytime with your words of wisdom and inspiration. Liquid, perhaps you couldn't understand why we are so jaded and have so little trust left in our leaders. Tell me you are taking notes and viewing this colossal mess from the same vantage point that we are.

I don't care who you are, NEVER own a house involved in an HOA.

I cannot believe it. I just had a Total Force Service Center person tell me that they never planned on waiving any UPT ADSC's and that it was my fault I didn't read enough of the regs to know that they wouldn't be and that the Guard and Reserve jobs I have applied for and the meetings with my Commander about putting in for the VSP were for nothing. She said I am most certainly eligible for the RIF based on my year group, but because I have a UPT ADSC I am not eligible to apply for the VSP and apparently all of these senior leaders talking about how we need to offer VSP to year groups before we RIF them is total bull shit. Why release a matrix that shows 2007 11R's are over by 26 out of 77 eligible and say on that matrix that you are eligible to apply for the VSP, but then in the final hours after you have toasted your AD career and jerked Guard and Reserve Units around say just kidding... we're not waiving any UPT ADSC's, but that matrix is still valid. Explain to me how the you can be a 2007 year group pilot that has completed their ADSC as of this time?! What a story!

Or use them for the pre- and/or after-drop party. We started drinking around noon on the day of our drop in the flight room and I don't quite remember when we stopped. The following Monday morning sounds about right. We had the crew bus take us to the club.

Was there ever any question that Gates had a chip on his shoulder WRT the AF? Hiring Skeletor (Schwartz) was tantamount to "cutting off your nose to spite your face." Great leadership, dick.

People with a DOS are ineligible for VSP...

FWIW I'm applying for both VSP and Palace Chase even though I have a DOS set from the 7-day option. 2007 K12S3X with 9.6 months of nav school commitment remaining. Clearly the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing at AFPC so at this point I have absolutely nothing to lose by applying for all of the above and seeing what happens. This is somehow a bigger debacle than I had imagined. for all the pilots especially who thought this was their ticket to early freedom.

both?

i'm 99.5% positive we will be denied....but lets wait and see what happens... i'd have applied for PC instead of this if I weren't deployed.

Can't wait to see how Liquid, Chang, et al try to spin this one. It's amazing how quickly you and your peers have driven this organization into the ground. For all the young folks out there who read these boards and are thinking about a job as an AF aviator (and there are a TON of them), take note. Active duty is an incredibly toxic organization right now. Plan accordingly.

Your estimated stats are generous to say the least. It's not called the Air Force Enquirer for nothing. Also, matrices. You're welcome

Looks like 11M was removed from the FY14 Palace Chase exclusion list in the new PSDM 13-65. Does anyone have the old copy handy where 11M was excluded. These notes make more sense now. Why pay someone when you can put them back on the bench. I'm tired, so may be seeing shit. NOTE 2: The Air Force Reserve is currently 500 pilots and 160 CSOs short with numerous operational vacancies in C-130 and KC-135 aircraft. If unable to locate the local ISR, call 1-800- 257-1212 or navigate to https://afreserve.com. NOTE3: The Air National Guard currently has numerous pilot positions available as well as Operations/Liaison positions. Officers should contact their local In-Service Recruiter, call 1-800- TOGOANG, or navigate to https://GOANG.com/Careers.

I brewed 3 batches of home brew for my drop night. Brought my kegs to the club and had a good time. Bought the cheapest keg from the club to make them happy and had each member of my flight bring a bottle of booze with them. Turned out to be a great night. The club didn't even realize that we'd brought outside liquor/beer in. We told them we'd set up our own chairs and tables. The club staff never even entered the main event room. Notch the threat dude.

From the A1 desk: We continue to experience higher than expected call volumes..... Man, if this wasn't my life, it'd be hilarious.

The AFPC website clearly spells out the following... "To be clear, if you are eligible for an involuntary program, then you are eligible for a voluntary program. However, you may be eligible for a voluntary program, but not eligible for an involuntary program." And then they advertise that we are eligible for the VSP because we are eligible for the RIF, but then refuse to waive ADSC's. I'm sorry. I'll stop typing now. I just can't believe an organization like this can be so corrupt, mismanaged, and immoral. I'm filing my IG complaint tomorrow.

This shit is way more exciting than that football "game" last weekend!

Weird, that's what your Mom told me last night. I have to admit, it freaked me out that she knew my bedroom nickname... No worries. I found it interesting that he admitted a grudge against the Air Force going into the SECDEF job. The spin is a bit much, but I also couldn't help but notice the standard "AF can do no wrong" approach taken by the author. Not surprising, considering the publication.

After you go to FT, you'll realize just how dumb this statement is. Meaning it is highly unlikely you'll have to draw on that emotional reserve, unless you're A) an incredible pussy or B) tempted to bail because of the overwhelming lameness.

Nice job skytruckers, there haven't been too many aviation articles with happy endings this year.

Nope. It's the basic tenet of a culture that doesn't view the volunteer's desire to 1) exclusively pursue their primary duty, and 2)to do so in the company of peers who feel the same way in a traditional-cultural politically incorrect social environment of brotherhood-in-arms in such pejorative light. The rest of the cultural differences that distinguish the QOL between AD and the ARC are but mere corollaries of that basic principle. ADCON is the legal measure that allows the ARC component to get away with it. Remove that, and the culture is quickly usurped by Active Duty. The problem with the latter is that since there is no formalized economic incentive to tolerate an antagonistic culture in the Reserves (the incentive is mainly cultural) like there is in the Active Duty, the proposition of retaining quality personnel on a formula of Active duty life with Reserve pay is an immediate non-starter. Active Duty arrogantly assumes that the ARC will be there in its present capacity even in the presence of their cultural takeover. They base all their economies of scale regarding expanded reservist numbers base and participation on the assumption of such supposed inelasticity. They are of course, fatally wrong. They don't care of course, as AD is a virus, spreading and infecting cancer into healthy organisms, until there's nothing left. People in the Reserves are largely folks with options, generally unafraid to combine civilian employment exigencies into their military voluntary service. They are generally not a group of people to find themselves economically bound/dependent to the shit sandwiches of a dismissive and ungrateful military employer. They get enough of that as civilians to know better than to pigeonholes themselves that way. It may seem like hyperbole to an Active Duty koolaid drinker, to witness a Reservist quit over cultural issues, but he would be wrong. It isn't hyperbole, it's the reason said Reservist probably left Active duty for Reserve life in the first place. Many have, and many will if these changes come to pass. The remainder will be an inexperienced hollow force of young guys who resemble AD in every way except they don't get paid like Active Duty. This of course, will never materialize. Even young people without experience to leverage, can count with their fingers. You want to change the paradigm? Flip the culture over. Make Active Duty a place where flying your ass off and going home without people fucking with you in garrison, is not viewed pejoratively. A place where the few who will end up at the top do the practice bleeding. That will never happen of course, this place jumped the shark a long ass time ago. Contrary to popular belief, money's got dick to do with it. Most independently wealthy individuals I've met in my professional and academic life, have in fact been Reservists. Active Duty is clueless.

Why the move? Flying AH-1Zs sounds freaking awesome. Unless it's a lifestyle change, it seems like it'd be hard to beat what you're doing now. ANG A-10s may be your best bet, but yeah...minimal squadrons are left and RUMINT has them fading fast.

Just because he's old doesn't mean he can't smell what the rock is cooking.

Seriously, halfway through I started having flashbacks of reading Nsplyr and Helodude going at it (STS) during the last election.