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Based on when they will probably cancel the U-2, most of the younger pilots will go to the new U-4 transonic high altitude recon platform. A handful may be initial cadre in the SR-76. Some of the older pilots will go to AETC to fly the T-52 trainer (an Alenia M-346). A few will get to fly the new T-6 replacement.

He was my best friend. Here's to you Will, you goofy SOB. You are already missed by 1000's and the world is a lesser place. A nickel on the grass...

"Galactic Space Virgins X" Pretty sure it's a trilogy

Don't know if this was posted yet, hadn't come across it yet.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGJGuH59qw

When I was there in Sept he told me the one in Landstuhl is supposed to open the beginning of the year...

That dynamic can certainly hold true--perhaps, because the MAJCOM is too busy to meddle, they'll give the ops wings a bit more control. Having been in an overseas assignment where my unit was the only flying my MDS, I can say it was nice to have more input into MAJCOM Supps & such than would have happened in AMC, because those at the MAJCOM were too busy with other taskers. That said, it also meant that, because the MAJCOM and NAF were undermanned, the Wing got the "opportunity" to give folks in flying squadrons the unique experience of working in the CAOC, being the lead MDS rep for large theater exercises, and individual deployments to . . . well, everywhere. Will you get the chance to do some unique things, while still assigned at the Wing/below level? Sure. Will you be doing MAJCOM/NAF staffers' jobs for them, while your SURF only shows duties at the Squadron/Group level? Yep. Will it also further increase an already-painful ops tempo? Absolutely. - I view it as unlikely that CAOC billets will get shortfalled, so I don't see how Wg/CCs will have any more control over combat mission execution than they did before. Perhaps Wings will be given more control over their training programs. I imagine they'll be given wide latitude in finding creative ways to use Sim's to accomplish training requirements If you want specifics on 12B/12F manning, I suggest you talk to your Sq/CC or AFPC functional. I'm just trying to help folks follow the logical bouncing ball with regard to the second- and third-order effects of enticing/pushing 11 & 12Ms out the door. The last time I saw anything official on 12X manning was a few years ago. At the time--according to AFPC metrics--12Ms were overmanned, 12Bs & 12Rs were just about right, and 12Fs & 12Ss were significantly undermanned. - From what I've read on this forum, it appears that the Air Force has "fixed the glitch" WRT 12Ms - I would assume that CAF functionals would want to backfill 11F staff billets with 11 & 12Bs, 11 & 12Rs before taking 11 & 12Ms . . . which means that you go/have gone from being "right-sized" to being effectively undermanned - The net effect of the Air Force apparently refusing to acknowledge the extent to which 11 & 12Ms have been backfilling other communities' billets is that the CAF community's net effective manning shortfall is/will be even worse For the AFSOC community, again based on old data, both the 11 & 12S communities were hurting badly. Doesn't look like the CAF community is gonna be much help. The mobility side is or soon will be out of Schlitz. I'd love to hear from General Chang, rtgators or anyone else with a clearer picture of current aviator manning. I'll willingly admit that I might be wrong in my outlook. Thus far, the silence from them/other senior leaders on this forum is deafening.

What I mean to say is, in the immortal words of George Clooney, "Damn! We're in a tight spot!" - Due to AFPC and/or AF/A1M buffoonery, we used to just have shortages of 11Fs, 11Hs, 11Ss and 11Us--due to underproduction and/or community growth--but a surplus of 11Ms (which could backfill other communities in AETC, on staffs, etc.) - Now, we have a circumstance wherein--as I perceive it--we don't (or soon won't) have any excess 11Ms to provide those backfills. Don't forget that the 12M community has also taken it in the shorts recently--so all the mobility aviator billets they might otherwise fill will also keep 11Ms in mobility jobs - If the AFSOC situation described in an earlier post is accurate--nobody going to staff/MAJCOM staffers still flying the line--this might indicate how it is going/will go in other MAJCOMs How a bill becomes a law: 1) Not enough 11Fs/11Ss/etc. to fill ops cockpits and staffs, so ops units get filled and staffs get shortfalled 2) 11M functionals refuse to give up bodies to backfill, because various force management initiatives have carrot-and-sticked any excess out of the service. Long-term trends aren’t much cause for optimism 3) ACC/AFSOC functionals are now on the horns of a dilemma: continue to shortfall staffs, which means they have even fewer people to advocate for their relative positions and/or build viable plans, or shortchange ops units and thus make it even harder to meet operational requirements? 4) My guess is that folks in the ops units will see even worse decisions come out of higher headquarters, while experiencing the same or worse ops tempo due to manning shortages. Folks in higher headquarters staffs will be all the more frustrated, because not only will they be overworked by virtue of being undermanned, but they’ll have to deal with even louder griping from the ops units, since they’ll be forced to push work down to wings/groups/squadrons that used to be done by MAJCOM staffs Will opportunities to be released to staff improve? I dunno. I’m not sure you’ll want to go to staff, however, if the above dynamic is truly at work. The “good” news in such a scenario would be that, by process of elimination, your chances of making O-5 should be pretty good. The Air Force appears to have taken a tough problem and made it intractable. Edit: fixed ridiculously large font.

Fu*king fail and a half! Pvt. Gomer Pyle and nothing else.