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1. You will change your mind. It's a mere function of time and life stage. Don't fret it. The young ones want to fly helos these days after MWS day out of UPT because they don't want to get "stuck in an airframe that doesn't see action". Nothing has changed much in that regard from 50 years ago. The crusty majors and above roll their eyes and welcome a family-friendly PCS duty location, or conversely 7-day opt in order to save their families in the absence of one. The two archetypes were the same person at one moment in time, bear in mind. You will be no different unless you opt out of a family, which is perfectly fine too. 2. You're misunderstanding the exodus. Just like the retirement of the baby boomers, job replacement will not occur on a one for one basis. The jobs are GOING AWAY. The 11F shortage is an 11F head count (sts) shortage for 11F coded staff jobs, NOT an 11F cockpit shortage (i.e. false advertisement). Ergo, there is NO net vacating spot for you to jump into. You're competing for less jobs, which makes your desires MORE competitive. It's not impossible, but watching all this experience leave is not leaving you with more opportunity merely because you feel willing to go where the ones before you are running away from. Understand this difference for your own sake. It will lessen the disappointment. 3. You'll quickly come to chastise your own statement. I know you're being flippant, but you really have no concept of how old queep gets. It is fundamentally defining in the career of a flying officer, that his flying duties, in paper listed as primary duties, are in effect tertiary duties after he pins on O-3. You will not escape that (there is no WO program in the AF). The closest you will get to attain such an outcome is to be a Guard/Reservist and deal with just getting to do it on a part-time basis (even full time reserve guys are being fired too, for your SA). Understand what this means. This means they'll pay you to not get to do what you're willing to sell your soul for in order to get to do in the first place. You will reject that construct in due time, like most of those before you, and again come to chastise your own words. Look, none of this has to be accompanied by a moral adjudication either. Some kool-aid drinkers could say airline_guy is a shitbag for having such an openly disdainful attitude (by proxy) for which he took an officer oath that had nothing to do with flying airplanes. Others (myself included) would view such means to an end as an admittedly apathetic but par for the course answer in an organization that's bigger than the kool aid drinker, myself or airline_guy's, and certainly an organization who doesn't care one flying fuck about me, airline_guy or even the kool-aid drinker. The only truth I know is to keep doing something until it stops making sense or you get fired. Words I live by and it's kept me sane. What makes you a SNAP is not that you think you're willing to do things others are not (you're not btw), what makes you a SNAP is that you foresee yourself as immune from these dynamics by simpleton attitude. You're not immune and you will find out. Whether that transition is a fluid one or a life-embittering one largely depends on how much common wisdom and free internet advice you're willing to accept or dismiss today. Good luck to you either way and thank you for your service.

Don't do it unless you really need the income/tricare. AFPC screwed this up, not you. Don't let your commander/buddies corner you into "helping the squadron/community." The Air Force is so bloated, this is the only way guys will figure out what really is mission essential. Work on your resume and set up interviews, let them get ready for ORIs and barbq competitions.

Holy shit he nailed it. Cut and paste most of that post in the "Why I'm getting out" thread and sign my name to it. Fuck no. I will leave with my dignity intact. I'll do everything in my power to get out (VSP, Palace Chase, Palace Front, 7 day opt, whatever other program they dream up...) but I'm not going to lie and pass my bad deal to you. I'm not going to look my son in the eye and tell him I got what I wanted because I lied.

Well, only one of those things will have more than 9,800 men and women run through it then...

If anything is apparent after these past couple months is AFPC wouldn't know a shitstorm if it punched them in the face. They are a bureaucratic machine far removed from the ops tempo of the air force. They wont feel it, they'll just grab the next name on their excel spreadsheet.

They should make it like flight pay. You have to pull x number of shifts in the hole per month to be eligible. You can even do gates. Then make missileer WG/CC, OG/CC, and SQ/CCs pull those alerts to retain the incentive pay, much like we do in the flying world. And just as folks who are long-term DNIF will lose their flight pay, we also take missileer pay away from folks who go long-term medical DQ from PRP.

I found this interesting, in a "I just threw up in my mouth a little" way...

Do you get a Light Brown Tater Tot Cluster for subsequent awards of this medal?