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After reading in the bonus thread that the bonus might not be offered to mobility pilots this year, I decided to create what I call: "The timeline of ridiculousness." Please feel free to add, I've left out quite a bit. - December '13: Force Management '14 programs announced. CSAF tells us we need volunteers... we won't force folks out if we get enough vols. - 23 Dec: VSP matrix released... pilots listed as eligible - Early Jan: RIF matrix released. Gives concrete numbers showing pilots eligible. - Late night 5 Feb: 1-3 hours before midnight CST, AFPC states that UPT ADSCs will NOT be waived, ref PSDM 13-65. - Next 2-3 weeks: Conflicting info presented. AFPC says RIF eligibiles will get ADSC waivers IAW PSDM 13-130, AFPC also says RIF eligibiles won't get waivers IAW PSDM 13-65. Still no one truly knows what's going to happen. - Late Feb: Officer RIF / FSB pushed back & PSDM 13-130 rescinded. Nobody knows why. The AF released a weird statement basically saying it wasn't ready. - Early March: Reports coming in that mobility pilots will not be offered the bonus. Some questions: Why didn't the A1 think to request UPT ADSC waiver authority from the SecAF before the officer VSP window opened? Why didn't the phone operators at AFPC know what was going on wrt these waivers. Why did the info only come out at the last minute? I apologize for the vent, but this is getting to be too much. I've seen too many folks get jerked around with this personnel crap. We've all given lots of time and energy to this organization. Everyone, including those who plan on staying, should demand better from the AF.

We always hear about take rates (I.e Air Force meeting their goal) but we never hear about numbers of eligibles who separate. I'm willing to bet the numbers who separate won't change much even without the bonus. Like RP said, most of the people who take the bonus were going to stay anyway. The only thing not having a bonus will change is in the way AFPC has to manage the rated force...they don't have the leverage anymore and they may actually have to plan ahead. My prediction: They will fail miserably.

And there's the problem chief. You have no interest in getting "tangle in Ukraine," but you're first in line to criticize the US response. Just out of curiosity, what's your solution that both meets your desire for what I'm assuming is a more robust response yet doesn't violate your own interests of us not "getting tangle?" IMHO there's not much we can do at this point beyond what's already being discussed...boot Russia from the G8, talk about sanctions, send high-level folks (i.e. SecState) to Kiev to show solidarity, etc. Ukraine is not in NATO and Russia has a veto at the Security Council. Let's be real for a sec, Russia's national interests in Crimea and their ability to affect things on the ground there both far outweigh our own. It's their backyard so while we can yell about them invading another country (which we have), unless you're advocating "launching zee missiles" despite us having no explicit obligation to defend Ukrainian sovereignty and no overriding national interest in Crimea worth starting a war with Russia over, I'm all ears for what a better plan of action is. Part of us not being Team America: World Police means being patient and at time accepting (grudgingly) that other countries can and will do things we don't like and it's not worth the effort to stop them even though we probably could. I've heard a lot of Americans say they want to get us out of "foreign entanglements" that drain our blood and treasure yet when every crisis pops up (Libya, Syria, Joseph Kony, North Korea, Ukraine, etc. etc.), these chicken hawks are first in line saying we should do more. More of what exactly I ask? I'm hoping you're not in this camp. I support a pretty active foreign policy, but there's a limit to the dumb shit we should do and say to defend what are honestly peripheral interests even to a liberal internationalist. You and I both know this isn't worth going to war over so let's see what other options are on the table before the spear party begins.

I LOLd FIFY

If you go back and read about it, you'll find that there is not a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the previous crossflow program, mostly because of the results compared to the costs the last time it was done. I don't have all the numbers in front of me, but I was going through IFF/FTU at the time that previous wave of crossflows was going through the pipeline ('99 timeframe) and on into their first tours in ops squadrons. The fact is, many crossflow pilots didn't end up performing as well as hoped at all stages of follow-on training (IFF. FTU, squadron MQT, etc). Some of them did great, of course (I know a couple that went on to perform well above average in the F-15E community), but statistically they did "worse" (in terms of pipeline training washouts and issues in operational units). Most of the crossflow pilots that were my classmates and squadronmates were superb officers with fantastic officer performance records (and extremely good dudes to boot), but that didn't always continue into performance in the cockpit. It wasn't a "talent" issue with the crossflow pilots so much as it was an "experience" issue; one has to acknowledge, weather it is politically correct to or not, that there are significant cultural differences between the fighter community and other flying communities (although the bomber community is a somewhat close relative) that translate to differences in skills/airmanship in the pilots that come from those communities. What makes an aviator great in the MAF isn't the same thing that makes an aviator great in the CAF. On the most basic level, the crossflow pilots, for the most part, were not used to being single-seat decisionmakers at much higher speeds, and much higher Gs, while hand-flying significantly more aggressive/dynamic maneuvers. Many times the core airmanship just wasn't operating well at 400 knots and pilots were just behind the jet (sound judgment, just not fast enough); sometimes a thousand hours on autopilot in the flight levels did not translate to having hands good enough for even basic admin formation work, much less more complex BFM or surface attack. This isn't unique to the crossflow folks, though; this is the same thing seen many times with ANG/Reserve fighter units that hire non-fighter guys and send them through IFF and fighter FTUs. There was a big wave of those guys about 8 or 9 years ago (mostly A-10 units at the time, but I don't remember why), and they had an unusually high washout rate, too, with some guys who did superb being the exception rather than the rule. None the less, the end result was that there was higher attrition of the crossflow guys compared to straight pipeline students, and the fighter brass largely decided it wasn't that much of a benefit. Again, not that the crossflow pilots were idiots or anything (in fact, quite the opposite -- most of them had impressive OPRs/jobs/awards, seemed to have been superb pilots in their previous lives, and were really great dudes), but their previous flying time had given them habits and airmanship that did not dovetail into success in fighters. All that being said, when Lorenz made the T-38 track at UPT "universally assignable" several years ago, one of the rationalizations that I heard discussed numerous times amongst AETC staff dudes was the future crossflow potential. Specifically, I heard a lot of folks talking about how F-35 was going to ramp up at some point in the mid-future, and the AF needed a T-38 trained pool of pilots who could quickly move over to train for that (remember, this is the same time period when the numbers of students going to fighters had been choked off to a mere trickle). Remember that even in the 98/99 crossflow, only T-38 trained pilots were eligible. I don't think T-38 trained MAF pilots would be a "starting point"; I think they would be the only ones eligible.

France Surrenders to Russia

Anyone know what kind of numbers happened back in the mid-late 90s when the cross-flow thing happened? I wonder if a program like that would actually be anywhere near enough to "fix the glitch" in earnest. It's clearly not an easy "take 1100 MAF guys and make 1100 CAF guys." I think looking at the 38 track guys who are currently in the MAF would be a sensible starting point, but that certainly won't get us out of this mess.

Here's another question...we have this intense shortage of fighter pilots, and this overage of mobility pilots...maybe we could, I don't know, train some mobility pilots to fly fighters?

Didn't pay too much attention to that-- I quickly had to avert my gaze lest I become stone..... or retarded.

Sounds like a great deal for the Taxpayers...

It makes a whole lot of sense for Russia to make a grab at Crimea -- but their justification of doing so is tattered. They should have just said that they were harboring weapons of mass destruction. These Ukranians have balls of steel. An unarmed march on a captured air base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6tFJKPHonm0 And how the EU deals with this sort of provocation: I give reddit all credit.

Damn it. The last time I did Mustache March, I said "never again". Then I grew a stache on my very first deployment; afterwards I said "never again". Then I grew a stache on my second deployment; afterwards I said "never again". I made it four more deployments, stache free. This time, March rolls around and everyone's all about it. I said "never again", and I meant it. But after reading these stories of Wing policy letters and upset generals, well damn it. I've got to do it. I've got to let that beautiful stache blow freely in the wind for all to see. The wife will be pissed and the kids will laugh at me, but this time it's too important to pass up. I'm in. Better late than never.

Wouldn't want to encourage morale-building at one of the most personally and professionally turbulent times the Air Force has ever faced, right? Jesus tapdancing Christ. I can't find a meme on the internet with enough fucking facepalms for this shit... so a papal facepalm will have to suffice.

So is it too late to restart the F-22 production line?

Hiding under their kitchen tables.

Shit...there's new PT gear?

Not wise to get into the middle of, what is by all respects, a civil war. Where one happens to live there, pretty much determines where their loyalties lie. We've made this mistake too many times. This, at worst, is an EU problem that the combined EU nations should determine what needs to be done.....sacntions, diplomacy, military action, peacekeeping or peace enforcement.

Ummmm, deaddebate, are they going to MEB me for uncontrollable vomiting?

What makes you think that hasn't already happened? What happens TDY, stays TDY, though, amirite?

What did President Obama (mockingly) say to Romney with regard to Russia during the last debates? Something to the effect of, "The 1980s called and wants its foreign policy back." In hindsight, I'll bet he wishes he'd chosen his words better.

There is absolutely nothing surprising in this except for all the highly educated DC types that are saying that they did not see this coming. Rule number 1 in foreign diplomacy: Never trust the Russians. (grammar edit)

Latest addition to my collection: Springfield Armory M1 Garand, January 1943 production. Arsenal refurbished, definitely has the original barrel and definitely not the original stock (has arsenal proof mark but thats it). Everything else appears, but may or may not be, original. M1 by bronxbomber252, on Flickr

I was taught at OTS to salute if your outside, wait for the music to be over (if it's already started) if you're inside and do not rush to change your location either way. Also, I was an Army Brat for 16 years (lived on Army Bases for most of those years) and I have never seen someone get out of the car to salute. Honestly you'd be taking your life in your own hands as you're risking getting squished by some dependapotamus in her minivan texting the rest of the herd about 50 Shades of Gray being 50% off at the PX when she should be focused on driving and maybe noticing all those other cars are stopped for some reason.

The Army is ran by ground dudes who think (to some degree of correctness) that it is all about them. But when a helicopter lands, everybody goes running towards to aircraft. Cause let's face it, we are cool and sexy and it just burns them up. Seriously, it just comes across as insecurity to me. You learn to roll with it or just tell them what they need to hear. I have had more than a few try to give me a rash in some required school or another. But I have yet to have one who wasn't overly happy to see me in OIF/OEF when bad guys were near.

Sorry Sec. Kerry, this is an act of a person who doesn't take you seriously and knows you are the little yappy neighborhood dog. I have no interest in getting tangle in Ukraine, but it is truely sad how far our foreign policy impact has fallen. Also Putin is using the vast majority of Russians that live in Crimea and are loyal to Russia as a reason to bring Crimea into the fold. We've been down this road before with Hitler in the late 1930s with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland.