Leaderboard

Just as I would never trivialize the sacrifices or challenges our airmen faced in Vietnam or WWII, I would expect our officers to not trivialize the sacrifices and challenges our military has faced since 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our Air Force crews have not experienced anywhere near the losses we did in previous wars, but our military has suffered sufficient losses to not be marginalized by reminiscing of better times when fighter pilots felt more appreciated. We shouldn't hope for the times when air to air combat and incredible losses resulting from ground to air fires define our Air Force's worth, contribution and legacy. We should be proud of the asymmetrical advantage we provide our nation as we engage this enemy during this time. And we should be very careful about marginalizing our military's most recent combat experiences to our joint partners. Our Air Force exists today, with significant investment of taxpayer dollars, so we don't have to experience the challenges and losses that we experienced in WWII and Vietnam. It is foolish to wish for "real air combat" and losses to fix our problems and define our worth. My Dad flew Huey gunships during two tours in Vietnam and my grandfather flew B-17s in Europe. There was plenty of admin bullshit and useless bureaucracy then. Robin Olds rebelled against the same. Don't view the past through rose colored glasses and think we are so much worse than we were in the good old days when aircraft were shot down, ground forced needed Beyer air support and morale was high. Especially when it pisses off those who sacrifice, kill and serve.

I agree with you that the AF mission in GWOT is vital and not without risk. I've been on a few sporty ones myself both in Iraq and Afghanistan, but always in the mighty Viper and not in the C model as you assume. Did you see a photo of me in Cosmo or something? Combat loss = directly attributable to the enemy (shot down, crashed while engaging enemy) Number of manned aircraft combat losses in GWOT 2001-2008 = 3 (1 x A-10, 1 x F-16, 1 x MH-53). Not sure how many we've lost '09-present but I'm pretty sure there's a couple more. Source: https://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/January%202009/0109world.aspx Number of manned aircraft combat losses in Vietnam 1964-1973 = 2,251 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_losses_of_the_Vietnam_War Would you really look a Thud or Jolly Green driver from 'Nam in the eye and tell him your missions during GWOT were "intense"? I wouldn't. Combat, real combat, hardens a fighting force and makes it very focused on just one thing: killing the enemy. We are not, despite your objections to the contrary, engaged in this type of combat, nor are we focused on killing the enemy. The Air Force is focused on SAPR, diversity, inclusion, CBTs, SOS, masters degrees, VSP, BRAC, and sequestration. Seriously, go to www.af.mil and you'll see what we're focused on. It's going to take real vision and leadership to regain our fighting focus. Gen. Welsh may be able to swing the pendulum a bit, but he's one of the few that get it and he's having to fight his own people to get it done. I'm incredibly proud to be in the Air Force. But if we're not careful the next war may catch us with our pants down.

BT, I don't know. CSAF decided to protect LRS-B by cutting force structure. 500 aircraft and a bunch of people. You would think personnel cuts would be related to aircraft cuts but they didn't look at that early on. They only looked at "overmanning" in AFSCs and year groups. This FMP has been an absolute fiasco and people should be fired. They won't be fired because we are too nice to each. We tolerate incompetence and mission failure. We only fire people if they embarrass us, which is wrong. I would love to know how many people A1 and AFPC have ever been relieved of their duties. Not many I guess. You are not asking too much. Our senior leadership has let down many people and this loss of trust will be difficult to regain. Keep nailing the PI and TOT and try to not get too frustrated by the uncertainty.

Liquid, this is not an attack on you brother, I'm just trying to make sense out of what you're saying... Now, I don't claim to be a rocket surgeon or brain scientist...nor do I claim to know anything about the Air Force personnel system...but seriously, don't you think we should have done this: "This next year will be challenging, as we assess and announce those AFSCs and year groups that we will cut" before we announced to do this: "HQ AF decided to cut force structure over the FYDP, around 25k airmen" especially since we don't know this: '"A1/AFPC does not know where we can take cuts yet." and the reality is this: "The reality is that we can't cut 25k Airmen without significantly impacting our missions and those who want to continue to serve." We've been talking budget and personnel cuts since 2007. Hard for me to believe no one saw this coming. How can you know you want to cut 25,000 airmen (nice round number by the way) and not know which ones you want to cut? If someone came up with a 25,000 figure (about 8.5% of the active force) they had to at least thought about how to cut it before making an announcement and opening a volunteer window for it. I understand a lot of this is budget driven by decision makers well above CSAF, but it is very difficult to believe that we are anything more than just beans counted on a spreadsheet who's decisions to cut/keep are being made by people so far disconnected from the realities of these cuts. All the manpower calculations formulas can't fix the mess that has been caused by this fiasco and the amount of distrust that now exists because of it. We have a budget issue because we mismanage our force because we have been trying to manage it as if we have unlimited funds and that our experience we are forcing out the door can just be easily replaced without some cost...that mixed in with a little bit of off-target focus. Remember, there is a human element to personnel management that has to be considered when making decisions at this level of impact. I try pretty hard to understand the logic...and I'm certain there is a bigger picture out there, but how off am I when I just have an expectation that the people in charge of managing personnel could just manage personnel. Am I asking too much?!? To put it into caveman tac airlift pilot speak, I guarantee you if I tried to do this: "Green light!" before doing this: "Verify drop clearance, DZ coordinates, run-in, winds, ballistics, chutes, CARP" I would get a big fat one of these: Q3. All those Masters degrees out there and we are having this difficult of a time figuring this shit out? Money well fucking spent for sure. Do I sound a little disgruntled?!? Ok, I'll get back to planning an airdrop mission...I don't know enough to talk A1 shit... BT

May His noodly appendage touch your life my friend.

Liquid, I know that leadership shouldn't feel the need to explain itself. However, since most of us are at the tail of the proverbial whip, a candid explanation like you gave can help folks keep the faith. It doesn't fix the system, but it gives me hope. Thanks.

And in Afghanistan the price of a black market Rip-It just surpassed the price of Helmand's finest opium.

Copy. See you at McConnell in sept 15 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tail between my legs? Piss off. What is your question?

If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

Wait, that's an option? So you're telling me that God/Allah/FSM isn't interested a Master's degree? I don't buy it, clearly you're trolling.

FIFY

Rip Its have contributed more to operational safety in MAF aircraft than reflective belts, gloves, nomex and iPads combined. I keep two in the deep pocket of my backpack, like go-pills. Sometimes you just can't sleep, even with ambien, and you need some caffeine 8 hours into a flight. Is it the healthiest way to live in the desert? Nope, but sometimes it's too late to live healthy. That said, it'll be the maintainers who will be pushed over the edge.

This year's IDE/SDE PSDM came out on Friday. It specifically mentions that school selects will not be allowed to sign up for ACSC/AWC DL until they are vectored to a program which requires its completion (e.g. Legislative Fellowship). Seems like a win in the battle against practice bleeding.

We just have a sensitive force these days.... I wonder how that "mass e-mail" would have gone over. I've seen a Jr FGO try to embarrass a new LT with a mass e-mail for a mistake the LT made...it did not end well for the Major. If the Lt Col was even remotely offended or thought the comments were directed at him, he should probably take a look in the mirror. Most professionals I know would have blown those comments off...especially coming from a civilian interweb site nonetheless. The real leader would have taken the mentorship path instead of pulling rank and making threats. If you have to pull rank to get your point across, you are not a leader...you're just higher ranking than the person you're talking to, and by today's standards it doesn't mean much.

This is definitely what they should be focusing on right now Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you/we do it, it's unprofessional and out of line. If they do the same thing, it's leadership. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Beerman, let the dude vent. This is an anonymous place where we can release our frustrations without worrying about getting court-mashalled. Nobody needs to take any of this stuff personally. Many of us want to leave, some want to stay. You're not a bad dude either way. I agree that those of us trying to leave shouldn't trash the joint on the way out. I will disagree with letters, it pays well, it just sucks that it pays the same no matter how hard you work. I remember when I made AC, my wife asked how much of a pay raise that was. I laughed, then reflected on what a communist organization it is that I work for.

Nothing I have said trivializes any of our service, including my own. I'm quite proud of it, actually. My concern is the prevention of losses in the next major conflict. Since we don't have the tempering process of intense combat to keep us focused, we will need bold, forceful leadership to cut through the bullshit that has filled the vacuum during 10+ years of a low-intensity conflict and keep us focused on fighting and winning the next war. Right now we are failing at that, miserably. If you can't see the bullshit that I speak of, perhaps it is you that is wearing the rose-colored glasses.

Isn't that what DEERS is for? I seem to recall dropping off birth and marriage certificates. And a bunch of other stuff.

LOL. Dude, I must misunderstand what it is that AFPC does for a living. I must have it all wrong. Here is what I think they are supposed to do: Come up with manpower requirements/billets to meet NSS objectives. If there is an overage in some areas, target the cuts to manage those overages. If you have a shortage of say Intel Officers, you don't cut them. If you have an overage of Cops, you cut them. Seems simple right?!? Here is what they actually do: Identify both critical and non-critical overage and shortage AFSCs, cut evenly across the board. Scratch head and wonder why we still have overages and even more shortages. I can only imagine what goes on at those staff meetings. I almost feel like I'm watching an SNL skit.

From the article... "The Air Force could not make these waiver delegation determinations earlier because the service needed to have a better idea of who was going to apply, he said. 'You don't know who's applying,' Cox said. 'Before you can go get a delegation of authority, you need to understand what it is that you need to waive, if it's required.'" So, basically, we told everyone they were eligible in Dec, then wasted your fvcking time because we didn't know who would apply and what waivers we would need. And we suck at doing our jobs and managing the force. Did I miss something? How about we research what is needed to voluntarily or involuntarily separate every AFSC that requires a reduction in manning and then release the appropriate information to the masses? HOLY INCOMPETENCE BATMAN!!!

Or 'tard waiver

If some nebulous, non-specific comment on a message board (douchebag, etc) is something that someone reads and immediately takes personally and assumes it applies to them, then there is a better-than-fair chance that the comment was somehow spot-on, and they realized it. Otherwise, what normal sane person would immediately take something so personally? Unless they are just incredibly thin-skinned and anything/everything triggers some victim status in them. To me, his candyass "I'm going to expose who you are!" response proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that said LtCol is indeed a douchebag O-5 ADO. Just took something like this to expose him from the woodpile. Feel free to mass email whoever you like from your desk at whichever RS there at BAB.

In AFG the kids crowded around our MRAPs like they were ice cream trucks to beg for anything we'd be willing to give them (or anything they could steal). Keep in mind that most of these kids are ADHD spoiled brats, who are one of 69 brothers and sisters, with little to no adult supervision or parenting. So they basically run amuck and do whatever they want until an Afghan adult comes along and literally beats them into compliance. Now, imagine a mob of 100 or so kids, all going crazy because Santa Claus has come to town (seriously, most of these kids have never tasted Gatorade or eaten a bag of M&Ms before), and some dick throws them some Rip Its. I remember looking back into that village as we were leaving and seeing columns of smoke raising up from various points around where we had the shurra. Now, it was probably something standard, like the elders were signalling the Taliban we were leaving, but it made me laugh because it painted the mental image that by giving a mob of Afghan kids like 4 or 5 Rip Its, we had caused a mass riot that was destroying the village. And now Rip Its are gone ::pour one out for my homies::

FYI (may come in handy...) Situation awareness (SA) involves being aware of what is happening in the vicinity, in order to understand how information, events, and one's own actions will impact goals and objectives, both immediately and in the near future. One with an adept sense of situation awareness generally has a high degree of knowledge with respect to inputs and outputs of a system, i.e. an innate "feel" for situations, people, and events that play out due to variables the subject can control. Lacking or inadequate situation awareness has been identified as one of the primary factors in accidents attributed to human error. Thus, situation awareness is especially important in work domains where the information flow can be quite high and poor decisions may lead to serious consequences.

Looks like old Fred is on his last leg. Search twitter for #FredPhelpsLastWords Gold Jerry! Comedy Gold!

Just write the damn thesis paper and be done with it mary

A quick Google search discovered 76,400 hits for "AFPC sucks" including a blog called fatties-suck.livejournal.com...

So, let me get this straight....a Lt Col sees a post on a civilian interweb forum, gets butt hurt because he thought someone was talking shit about him, so he tries to pull rank and makes threats to expose someone?? REALLY? That is professional?!? Makes sense. These are the kinds of "get-your-feelings-hurt" types we have in our military...such a sensitive Lt Col. (where in the fuck do we find these people??)

The best way to prove you're not a "assholedouchebagfuckstains" is by threatening people on the internet.

And as expected, a quick response from ARRSE...

This is the heart of the problem with the JSF. It's not really a Joint Strike Fighter anymore, it's supposed to be a Joint Everything Fighter. The logic that we only have enough money to develop one fighter amongst the services breaks down when you're asking a company to build a machine so complex that it meets the requirements across every service for completely different modes of operation. I would wager that had they had separate developments for a 85% common AF/Navy variant and separate Marine variant, it would have cost less for two aircraft programs than for one JSF program.

Mississippi has been keeping people from doing things (Like going to school or voting) for a very long time. They have a lot of practice. I'm just glad that they finally got to use their mad skills on some folks who actually deserved it!

I'm only leaving this open so people will berate the OP. StoleIt is off to a great start. Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Looking for anyone who may be joining me at Sheppard for ENJJPT this July. I'm not sure our class number...but looks like graduation is slated for Aug 2015.