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Email Toro. Not only will he fill you in (sts), but you'll also get a backseat ride.

Well, yes, and I used to be totally against it, but now I am not. The tanker/airlift/SOF bubba need to speak to fighter WO's when planning/executing a war on a different level than most. WIC teaches that.

Perhaps. Certainly not a requirement for all to attend. It'd be nice if we could up the collective game/understanding of the communities writ-large, but that's why we send guys to Nellis it the first place, right? I remain unconvinced there is any other way to go about educating the uneducated to that level - and that's the requirement right now. You cannot build a Rosetta Stone without learning a different language - that language is taught through integration, employment, planning, etc. Nothing else comes close. I've done every course a MAF guy can do - nothing compares to the experience and knowledge gained at Nellis. Chuck

So, I need to get on here and eat crow. I bitched at length, and repeatedly, about not having Cyber people leading Cyber in my beloved AF. Well, I've had the please of interacting with the new 24 AF CC. He's a zipper suited sun god Viper driver. He's fucking awesome, link to bio - https://www.24af.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/804882/major-general-christopher-weggeman He's applying his experience as an Viper driver to our cyber stuff and it's just...a breath of fresh air. It's fantastic in every way imaginable. No micro-managing, no "meet the deadline or else" BS, he cares what our cyber-operators are executing and will call BS, to 4-stars, if something/one attempts to impede that to turn a checkmark green. He also actually comes off as really liking this stuff beyond a "help make another star" attitude, or a time sink to retirement. The attitude on staff is... I don't even know how to describe it, beyond pretty darn good. I hope that AF doesn't screw this one up and move him out in a year or less. We really need some stability at the top, and I think he's the guy to right us. Shit, if he could run it until we move to Vigilance Command, it might work out very well. News flash: Space Operations ain't. Also someone makes jalapeno popcorn in the "heritage room"... how has this not moved out to the AF as a whole. That stuff is fantastic. P.S. - the vice is a good dude too - https://www.24af.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/809210/brigadier-general-mitchel-h-butikofer

Bonus take rates updated today, CAO 1 Aug for Pilots: FY16: 42.9% (FY15: 217, FY16: 105, total 322 out of 750 eligible) FY17: 24.8% (FY16: 203, total 203 of 820 eligible) 60 days left.

I know plenty of patches who are great dudes and either already in leadership positions or definitely heading that way, all without any ballwash jobs on the resume (i.e. exec). Even if a lot of OG/WG CCs hold that #1 strat for the exec, the patch is still going somewhere as #2/3 out of 169, so who cares. It unfortunately sounds like some communities still don't understand how to best utilize their WOs; the CAF does a lot of stupid shit too, but WO utilization is something the MAF, etc. needs to take a page out of the CAF's book on. The fact that I can't even talk to one face-face from a certain community while deployed, and have to email a bro back in the states for questions/discussion is fucking outrageous.

More good video and narrative... and Lt Gen "Matic" Otto in an interview. He's a great American and military officer. For those considering a career in the U-2, enjoy the following: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-air-force-reveals-new-360-degree-video-of-u-2-pilot-perspective/

Right. The MAF doesn't have a patch problem. The MAF may in fact have an O-6 problem. Until CC's who grew up with patches reach the O-6 level (talking my own community here) it won't stop. It's starting... But until there is an across the board understanding of the roles and responsibilities, it won't change. Case in point, there is a whole reg that governs how patches will be used, placed, developed. AFI 11-415 I think. It was hell convincing wing level leadership that it is a no-shit reg that applied to their wing. It took a unit compliance inspection ding for squadron leadership to pull their heads out. That's not good, and admittedly was almost five years ago, but it's getting better... And there will always be the one who gets shit done, who's smart, has a good rep, and good hands, who gets pulled into the bosses circle (read: exec, though I've never been one) so he can get pushed. That's how the game is played. Not for all but for some. You can rage against it or accept and drive on. What shouldn't be happening is wing/cc's hoarding the smart people, insulating their nests. Doing it to push a guy, okay. Doing it to the detriment of the squadrons, tread lightly. To Champ's point: The fire and forget mentality is something that happens everywhere, it's just that it is exasterbated in the MAF because you have plenty of folks that spent their careers inside an insular community, generally devoid of integration with the rest of the USAF, in command of units that are now doing more integrating, both in training and in mission execution -- and these captains and majors wearing the target on their arms are speaking a language they don't speak, doing things they were never trained to do. Not just with other Air Force units but with the Army too. So they are forced to trust them. Once proven, they go back to that well... Again, and again, and again. I've been on the receiving and am now on the giving end of having patches working for me - they're the easy button. It takes disciplined leadership to do it right and make sure everyone, not just your bright shiney project, benefits from having them in the squadron. YMMV. Chuck

Kilo is correct. This picture is harder than the actual test since nearly all color normal individuals can score 90/95+ on the CCT. However, you can't compare this picture to the CCT as the true test has highly calibrated color co-ordinates (which are specifically chosen to isolate each retinal cone pigment type) and contrasts. It's impossible to say whether this picture is an accurate representation. That said, if you can see down to 80/90, that's a positive sign.

Perhaps not. Come to the AOC, it'll open up a whole new world for ya... The MAF literally doesn't know what it's missing. Literally. As in - the MAF is clownshoes compared to how the CAF thinks about, plans for, trains to, and then executes the mission of the USAF. That's the reason the MAF needs WOs. The future is integrated.... the (insert scoff here) "we're the MAF, we're different" garbage doesn't work anymore. Chuck

My local base has three squadrons that I was rushing, and they all had different opinions on this. They all understood I would apply and hang out with people from all three local squadrons, but one chief pilot was of the opinion that if you weren't applying everywhere else, it was an indication you weren't actually that motivated to join the reserve. The other two CP's thought this was crazy and that if you were local/established in the area, believed in the mission, and got along great with the group why would you apply elsewhere (unless you were turned down). I ended up not applying elsewhere, sticking to my guns on why I loved it there so much, and still getting picked up at the next boards. I strongly believe that everyone's background and circumstances are different, and as long as you don't act like a tool, you won't be seen that way.

https://i.imgur.com/4BIw6qH.gifv

1. Ops Tempo/Deployment 2. Lifestyle/ Family Stability 3. Community morale 4. Advancements & Future of the airframe 5. Preferred PCS locations HHH-60Gs 11. Depends on the squadron. Currently deployed to a few locations worldwide. 22. Depends on the base, deployment tasking, etc... Certain bases have better travel opportunities due to their locations, (Kadena and Lakenheath) 3. The Hawk is getting old, thus she flies less and breaks more. The young pups are flying less and less every year and it's not getting better. It's really killing morale at the bro level when the copilots fly ~4-8 hrs a month when there in dire need of experience. The mission is rewarding overall, yet Big Blue seems to still not know the proper use of its rotary-wing assets, which is frustrating considering it has employed helicopters for 50+ years. Lot of hurry up-and-wait, with knee jerk reactions in the midst. 4. We are supposed to get the HH-60W (modified MH-60M) in FY19, I'll believe it when I see her rotors turning on a ramp somewhere. 5. Lakenheath, Kadena, Tuscon, Nellis, Moody (in that order). 3

I want a WG/GP CC that knows to get information from the tactical level (SQ CC/IPs/FLs/Wingman/ACs/etc). Maybe that is the person sitting in the Exec role.....maybe it isn't.

He seems gullible, just a gut feeling based on the few articles/interviews of his I have read. I think he believes basically hook, line and sinker anything anyone writes about how the AF doesn't give a shit about the Army, USMC and how the Navy is perfect. His background professionally is all in academia with no gaps for military, government or private service and as you said, no real check from reality that would open his ideas to the tactile reality of the cultures, motives, strengths, weaknesses, obsessions and quirks of each of the services. If he had that first hand knowledge from a stint of service, particularly with anytime working jointly, I think he would be able to more readily see the competitive and somewhat cutthroat nature of the jockeying for money, power and prestige all branches of service have with each other. Just the nature of the beast and everything that any branch says about another branch should be taken with a generous dash of salt.

Our patch wearer got back from weapons school in January, a few months later he went off to the wing to be an exec. Now the squadron lost their only patch. That's what is wrong with the Air Force.

B-52H Ops Tempo/Deployment- Stable. 18 months home station, 6 deployed, although with the Buff now back in the fight against ISIS this paradigm might change. Deployments have been to Guam alone for the past decade. A generation of Buff guys grew up knowing nothing but golf, scuba diving and snorkeling as their "deployments". What the future holds remains to be seen. In an Ops unit, if you're at KBAD you can expect to see Minot twice a year for STRATCOM exercises. Throw in an occasional Red Flag and 30 hour round trip flight to some far off corner of the globe and that pretty much completes your sight picture. Morale- not bad and getting better. Leadership varied wildly by squadron and wing, and I've seen the worst and the best. Small community, so you get to know each other pretty well. Getting back into the fight has done a lot to give some of the queep some meaning. I'd say it's also pretty family friendly. Work days are what you make them. Some people pull 8-5 and do fine, while others live to work. YMMV. Advancement- if you want to advance in the Buff, you're pretty much destined for WIC. The pilot portion of the community is currently getting pillaged to backfill all the 11F white jet slots so if that's your cup of tea, chances are good. Airframe outlook- Boeing says we've got longevity into the mid 2040s. Like our Bone brethren, we're going through a fleet-wide upgrade called CONECT which is really beefing up our communications and giving us data link capability. A new radar and possibly new engines are on the horizon . Location- do you want to melt in the summer or freeze in the winter? Louisiana or North Dakota are your two options.