Leaderboard

You realize how many 12X stereotypes you just validated here, yes...?

JS, I kept it short, about 8 minutes. Focused on the graduates and their families, talked about their individual assignments and missions. Added a little lame humor, gave some quick advice, and got off the stage. I got great advice from this board and a few recent UPT grads. I thought it went well, but WTF do I know. You'd have to ask the audience to get real feedback. I'll send it to you if you want it. I'll need to sanitize the names.

Yup every time he got up on stage...although his phlegm filled lisp speech detracts from all of his attempts at dispensing verbal greatness

Wait...what kind of "Dude" was that...was it an excited "Dude, you play too?!?" or a "Dude, want to play?" or a disappointed "Dude, did you really post that?"

Talk to the lowest levels of your Group to make sure your SQ/CCs aren't smearing bullshit and misery everywhere and just doing a really good job "show-horsing", ass kissing and covering it up. This happens way too often.

Bob Hoover, the polar opposite of Yeager. Here is Ole Yeller... :beer:

9 Incredible Achievements Of The 91-Year-Old Retired Air Force General Who Broke The Sound Barrier Yeah, the lack of a "shut the fuck up and live with it like the rest of us" option negates any reason to vote in this "poll"...

SECAF came to our deployed location yesterday and I was able to attend a brief talk she gave. There were three interesting tidbits that at least I hadn't heard before: 1. In regards to force shaping: "We did a poor job of communicating with you." That's pretty close to a direct quote and she said it two or three times. I think that constitutes an apology for poor performance and obviously means A1 and AFPC are under the gun. 2. There will be 2 RIF boards now, but if you're eligible for the first you won't be eligible for the second. There was a lot of double speaking surrounding why they went to two boards and no details about who will be eligible for the first and who will be eligible for the second. She did say that if there were discipline issues between board 1 and 2 you could end up eligible for both. Sorry if that one is redundant news, but it certainly hadn't filtered its way out here. 3. Pay raises below the employment cost index are merely slowing the growth of pay. They're not a cut in pay... definitely not a cut in pay... trust me... that's an order.

NNNERRRRRRRRRRRDS!!!!

So what was excel sheet on AFPC called RIF Eligibility Matrix?

Funny moment from SOS with the Commandant-in-question: It was Day 1 or 2 of the course and he was giving his intro speech. He said words to the effect of "Take a look around, for 80% of you this will be your last in-residence PME experience" Next to me was a SpecOps pilot who was silently shaking and pulling his fist in celebration... I don't think our esteemed leader thought his words would have that effect.

She has me a little excited... I'm going to change my name to Noonan and see if she wants a sidekick.

Here's a letter a retiree wrote. I'd recommend changing some of it (and shrinking it down). It's not perfect, but it's a good start. For example, the RQ-4 is out of electrical power. You can't plug any more into it. (Correct me if I'm incorrect, RQ-4 drivers on here). Oh... and be sure to mention the fact that they just announced the RQ-4 will require $1,900,000,000 in upgrades to match the U-2 capes. Of course, you KNOW that figure is probably way high, and the contractors will come in under budget... just like the RQ-4 did. Oh wait!!! Hi Mr Nunn! Hi Mr McCurdy! Subject: DO NOT LET THE AIR FORCE RETIRE THE U-2 Last year, the US Air Force received congressional direction to reverse their decision to de-fund the remaining three Global Hawk Block 30’s and put almost $500,000,000.00 into the Global Hawk account and killing the U-2 program in the process. The United States, the Combatant Commands, the warfighter, and the taxpayer cannot afford the loss of the venerable U-2! The Global Hawk unmanned system has served this country well. Its capability, in terms of autonomy and endurance are very noteworthy. It has provided valuable intelligence data for use by decisionmakers. But…at best, the Global Hawk is merely complementary to the U-2. While it's understandable to view the Global Hawk and U-2 as interchangeable reconnaissance aircraft, they are not! It does appear that the congress has received and acted upon information on the Global Hawk that is false! The U-2's multi-INT reconnaissance sensors are far superior. The U-2 operates in all whether conditions at altitudes ten to fifteen thousand feet higher than the Global Hawk and carries a robust defensive system that allows for operations in more challenging environments. The Global Hawk doesn't have any self-protection equipment and is limited to operating in clear skies since it doesn't have an anti-ice capability. That said, the Global Hawk does not possess the aggregate capabilities of the U-2. The Global Hawk does not fly as high as the U-2, it does not “see” or “hear” as far as the U-2. While the U-2 soars through 65,000 feet in less than 30 minutes and operates between 65k and 70+k feet, the Global Hawk takes many hours to pass through 50,000 and takes 15+ hours to climb to its maximum ops altitude of 57,000 feet. And much more… The U-2 does so much more. The U-2 has the ability for Multi-Int (IMINT & SIGINT) cross-cueing that can be dynamically re-tasked. The Global Hawk does not. The U-2 is modular in design and can “plug-in-play” its sensors. The Global Hawk does not. The U-2 has a defensive system. The Global Hawk does not. The Global Hawk requires dedicated, and expensive, AWACS for DUE REGARD in the PACOM AOR, the U-2 does not. The U-2 is also communications node for 5th to 5th and 5th to 4th fighters and US Navy combat ships. Fortunately for the taxpayer, the U-2s have been modernized, been re-engined, have glass cockpits, and have a service life well past 2050. With the incredible budget challenges facing the United States, we cannot afford to fund a partially capable system of the Global Hawk and force the USAF to ramp down the U-2. Just ask the Combatant Commanders!! Therefore, I request action: Provide congressional direction to Defense Department and USAF to continue to fund, sustain, and improve the U-2 program until such time as an adequate system is developed to replace it. Signed, US Citizen & Taxpayer

Meh.... M-word outdoes that in the first 3 minutes of any speech or interview....

I'm guessing that's how he qualifies each nugget of advice he dispenses to the crowd.

Well as a graduated squadron, and wing commander...

Must be an idiot, cannot locate baseops.net app for iPhone in apple App Store, and the pop up that took me to the App Store didn't bring it up either. Can I get a PAR to the app?

I was extremely embarrassed when we did our trade with the Maneuver Captains Career Course and got an Army Infantry Captain. SOS in its infinite wisdom had us making towers out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. "Is this what you guys do all the time here?" "Nah dude, last week we played with puzzles and watched a Hollywood movie."

Or because Big Blue thinks we are all essentially the same person with interchangable parts.

Lol @ the option "take this up with congress and change the law"...this dude has a serious hard on for the old guy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mission: Know your troops. Accomplish the mission. Trust Sq/CCs to run the squadrons - it's okay if they do things slightly different then you would. They (should) have a better pulse for the squadron than you. Train like we fight. Our culture is so safety minded these days that it seems safety is more of a focus than max performing our leadership, training and aircraft capabilities. Encourage dudes to push it up in the jet (within the aircraft limits and regulations) and take time off work to truly live and enjoy life. Don't just talk about work, work, work. This will show your troops you're a real person, and not just a robot. Accomplish a full review of local regulations/addendums to AFIs and rescind those that aren't necessary. They usually make the mission more restrictive and/or create additional and unnecessary work. Simplicity to the max extent possible (see line above) in every facet would alleviate a lot of the hand-cuffing, Admin: Don't auto-populate leadership in squadrons based solely on pedigree. Pick the right person, not the right pedigree- this can go in the Mission section too. Don't be afraid to fire people that suck at their jobs. Stop making dudes get grad degrees when it's not a requirement to make O-4 Stop making dudes accomplish PME-correspondence to go in-res at all levels (i.e. practice bleeding). Rack and stack dudes based on (primary) job performance, leadership, and additional duties-in that order (i.e. not a masters, PME-correspondence, Volunteer of the Yr, etc.). Put your top dudes in the jobs that will make the OG the most combat ready (i.e. don't make them your execs), then strat them accordingly (#1, 2, 3). Don't pick dudes for upgrades because their about to pin on Major/Lt Col, etc... --- this is more at the squadron level, but the principle can be applied at the OG level too. Don't pick quarterly/annual award winners because "it's their turn." Pick based truly on merit!

Both of these. Sadly, it would be a real breath of fresh air if senior leadership actually focused on the mission for a change. We have so many distractions (uniform regs, CBTs, PME, advanced education, budget cuts, fund raisers, CFC, MICT, CUI, UEI, etc.) that most days are spent on everything except the mission. I could retire if I had a dollar for every day I asked, "what the fuck are we doing here?" Focus your Group on the mission. Stop telling everyone they're warriors. Stop telling everyone how they are the most important people in the military. This breeds a sense of entitlement that leads to discipline problems, laziness, and severe attitude issues. We wonder why there are insubordination issues and sexual assault problems in the military. It's because we've given an entire generation of people the impression that they can do whatever they want because they are special warriors. Instead, try to instill a sense of responsibility and respect. Explain to people that they are accountable for their actions and they are replaceable if they aren't willing to move the Group towards completing the mission.

Sometimes leadership means simply having the courage not to change everything for the sake of change.

You would resign your commission because you weren't called on to ask a question? Holy shit. You must lose your mind when they are out of mint chocolate chip at the DFAC. Here is the answer she would have probably given you if you hadn't been so disrespected, dishonored, abused and embarrassed that your hand was raised so high but you weren't picked: We have not approved ADSC waivers yet because we want to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and protect the investment we have made into training and readiness. We did not want to specifically exclude VSP options for those with ADSCs because we may have the opportunity to match the needs of the Air Force (reducing pilots in certain aircraft in certain year groups to meet budget targets) with an individual's desire to separate prior to finishing the terms of the ADSC they agreed to. We were surprised by the feedback from commanders that described the high cost to readiness and training that releasing 415 to 2563 pilots early would have. We probably should have asked the commanders before releasing the eligibility matrix but we wanted to make as many people as possible aware that we were planning on cutting up to 25,000 people in FY14. We are conducting the analysis now to determine how to best balance our fiscal challenges, maintain readiness, and give people enough time to plan for an earlier than expected transition from active duty. We have struggled with this due to NDAA language, congressional inquiries, a larger than expected AF top line in the president's budget and bad weather in the DC area. I recommend you reapply for TSP and be patient with us as we get through these challenging times. Thank you for serving your nation in the world's greatest Air Force. Next question.