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I was an IP there not too long ago. The SQ/CC is a PC, uber-religious SASS grad with zero credibility in the jet and squadron. Said FAIP was a great dude with an old-school fighter pilot mentality. PC principal had an opportunity to screw over something he sees as bad for the new-age AF and acted on it. Need proof? My first interaction with this CC was immediately after returning from Afghanistan. He showed up while I was deployed for a brief stint as DO. I sat down across a desk from him and he said two words, then paused, reached across the table, fondled my zipper and sat back down. Before he continued he said "sorry that was too low had to fix it, where were we?" It's like he read the handbook on how to lose credibility in a flying squadron in the shortest amount of time and followed it diligently. Doesn't help that he's a clown in the airplane after all the exec, school and staff time. Too bad there is no recourse for shit leadership.

Yeah there is, it's called an 11F shortage. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I sincerely hope OK ANG doesn't take anyone from the former active duty MC-12 squadrons, and that they re-build it. Sure, there were some quality people in the program. Some really good ones, in fact. But the MC-12 culture was horrendous, and better to miss out on getting some good folks than to bring in any of the virus. Good to see they are going to use CSO's on the crew. The active duty should have done that. FYI: I spent a year in the MC-12.

Wanna scare the career ball washers and cake eaters? Spread a rumor that FEF's will now be part of the PRF's...

It hurts a little bit but I find myself missing it the way you miss muscle pain after a good lift. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

ADMIN NOTE: It was posted that the 157th already selected their primaries and alternates and that those calls already went out. Another individual reported that this was not true, and might result in misleading potentially selected applicants or those not selected to be notified before official notification. As such, the post has been hidden until such time as we get confirmation one way or the other.

Technically the viper, but to his credit he didn't even really claim it because it was only one assignment. One of his only conversations with me where I had to give him some credit. From what I recall, his assignments: FAIP, one Viper tour, aide-de-camp, school, nerd school, staff, then to Vance for touch-and-go as DO and his command. There was a late rate thrown in there for either post-USAFA (surprise) masters or something. That timeline reflects everything that is wrong with how we groom leaders: no operational experience, never credible in an MWS, several non-CAF/MAF assignments; he's basically a career ball-washer. Take a dude like that, thrust him into a flying command and its no surprise when he self-induces a dual compressor stall going out the top of the airspace and almost loses one of the jets. Complete shitshow.

APACS has been required for non-US territory OCONUS leave for as long as I can remember. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Whatevs, you can kill your date in a river but still win if your name is Kennedy.

Still check the FCG, there may be requirements beyond what the cruise company is aware of...

I tried that line on my wife back when I was forty and she told me I was not wired for 220... Going on married year 37 now and not broke.

This is like a commercial for Bad Idea Jeans. Apply for the normal tourist passport and pay the $60 to get it expedited if you're in a hurry. https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/services/expedited.html

Pull the Foreign Clearance Guides for each country you'll be stopping in, it'll give you the leave requirements for each to include what passports/visas may be needed. Also remember you need to put in an APACS request for the trip, even if it's leave. Cheers! M2

Some countries require official visa for official passport, so if your visa doesn't match the passport type it *may* cause an issue. Also if you get pulled into the secondary, you might have to explain to Customs, State Dept, Embassy, and first O-6 in chain why you are using USG passport for personal travel. I want to say if you are traveling on official passport, you are supposed to put in for country clearance via the GCC to the local embassy. I'm not smart on the country status of those places you mentioned. not worth it man...

I've been told the red passport is for official government business only just as it says. But granted that's my organization. ***break*** I think the other location is Tortuga. According to Captain Sparrow it's a partying place.

I'd argue against the notion that the O-6s - O-8s are "powerless." I accept the previously posted anecdotes as truth, but I say you will always have a choice to do something and not merely be "powerless." It's a matter of how far you are willing to go for your cause and believes. The AF CGOs, for the longest time, were thought to be powerless and replaceable, yet they've successfully got into the Big Blue's OODA loop by exiting, turning down IDEs, and etc (yeah it took several years to get here)... I have to believe If the AF senior leaders/managers really wanted to see changes, they would have made it happen already, provided they are willing to put their careers on the line like the CGOs (imagine O-6s exodus en masse). The problem is everyone has aspiration to further their career, especially at the higher levels when so much more is at stake (and more risk adverse). Nobody wants to be known as that senior guy who quit/got fired based on principles (it would be hard for me as well). I'm not faulting them for their choices/decisions to not challenge the system, all I'm saying they do have a choice and are not as powerless as they seem to be. If the CGOs can take a stand then why can't the O-6s? If you are going to enjoy the DV perks & benefits that come w/ the rank, then you better accept the responsibilities that come with it as well. Additionally, the O-6s and O-8s do have a plethora of power and authorities to motivate Airmen/improve QoL/do good. But what have they done when given the opportunities? 1. Made local PT/uniform/leave/TDY/alcohol... policies more stringent than the AFI (just about every base/levels) 2. Pushed out excessive voluntary/involuntarily tasker/programs and task saturate the entire Wing (every Wing) 3. Reclama'd (against AFPC and MAJCOM for 2+ years) entire staff and group from all deployments and PCS w/ less than 4 yr TOS regardless of circumstances. (we call you Maj Gen "No"). MAJCOM CC only did something about it right after the 2-star retired and claimed ignorance. 4. Restricted an entire AFSC from cross-flowing into other AFSCs (again, Maj Gen "No") 5. Allowed lower-tiered toxic leaders and sexual misconducts to fester and deny any knowledge when challenged (AETC bases *tsk tsk*) 6. Allowed your E-9/E-8 goons to undercut officer authorities unchecked (AF-wide) The list goes on and on but the point is that these are the QoL issues that are w/in the O-6s - O-8s control, and when given the chance to do something about it, they usually keep it status quo or deny accountability. I can't tell you how many times I have heard O-6 commanders said that they are at the end of their career and have nothing to lose, only to fall inline w/ the rest of them and not rock the boat until retirement. So no, I don't believe O-6s - O-8s are "powerless."

Yes.

Bacon. Coffee. Nicotine. Everything that makes you drop dead at age 40 is generally good for g tolerance. Of course the best exercise for pulling g's is .... pulling g's

I think the real question is not why people don't want to go to school, but rather why do people not want to command. Having worked directly for Sq, Gp and Wg Commanders it's amazing how little power they actually have over their own people. Give the right Commanders back their power and watch the good guys want to stick around because they think they can make a difference. As long as people see their Commanders wasted time and effort, few will want to be in Command, except for those using it as a stepping stone to another level. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I'll bite, but have to clarify a few things first. 1. Not an O-6 to O-8, haven't even pinned on O-5 yet. 2. Will embark on the sq/cc experience next summer. 3. Never been an exec, but spent the last two years close enough with enough GOs to speak from that experience. 4. Lastly, I stopped commenting here so much largely due to the many who refuse to engage in discourse in which there is an actual conversation. That and there's just not enough hours in the day. Opinion: There's too much TL/DR bullshit on this site. While brevity is the soul of wit, these problems won't be solved in 140 characters. To solve them, even to understand them, you have to engage your brain. That takes effort, god forbid. But... I still read this site everyday... Seriously! That said, retention of the right people-aviators-is one of many problems facing the officer corps in the USAF today. It's is a nasty problem that the USAF has no clue how to fix and that's going to deepen before it eases. This is evident in the hamfisted closing of loopholes fits and starts we've seen thus far. The USAF as the tech force throws money at problems (or punts), whereas the Army for example throws people at problems... There's more to it than money or easing the add'l duty burden or reinvigorating the squadrons. QOL plays a part, and part of that is morale - the feeling that your work matters, that you are accomplishing the mission. When you treat people like crap, overwork them, and give them no hope that things will change, morale plummets. That's what's happened. Read General Tunner's description of aircrew morale in China-India when he arrived there in his book 'Over the Hump' and you'll see. We have a morale problem manifesting as a retention problem. Period. (Though it is not universal, this is what is killing the squadrons...) Next let me clear up a common misconception... Colonels and low ranking GOs have far less power to affect change and make things better than you'd think. Not all colonels are equal, just as relationships (at least in public) between GOs shows that they are not all equal. (Reference: any staff, anywhere) While in some aspects their words are holy writ, in much of their daily duty they have very little power to make changes. Everyone gets a say, so consensus building logically takes time. You better get it cleared with your boss and your bosses boss and the the lawyer, etc. or else your neck is on the line... this manifests in bureaucratic delay and stagnation of decisions, at the worst case it shows up as risk aversion. Rarely are "go-do" orders so easily given, thus change is slow. This reality can be frustrating for the young. For the most part it's good that change is slow (ironically) because we have a lack of depth, experience, and real education out there at those ranks. Yes, people have been to the schools, but many retain little and few are genuine experts (not to mention the wide variety on quality of the school experience). We use variance of assignments to get people "experience" thereby producing an effect that broader and broader officers are seemingly always in charge, always getting their feet wet. General Officers are for the most part exactly that: generalists, by design. Some communities have taken this to the extreme, my own included, in making younger and younger officers as broad as possible - with the result being a lack of depth in the general population, but especially at the senior ranks, again with few exceptions (WOs - take a look at how many MAF GO WOs there are out there...). That reality is only further exasterbated by the fact that we don't expect pilots to just be pilots, nor do we reward, promote, or encourage expertise in that narrowest of measures. We evaluate and promote everything else, and what gets measured gets done. We've done this to ourselves, simply by allowing it to be accepted as the norm. You fix the morale problem with a focus on what matters - job performance and mission accomplishment. And I don't mean job performance like as in "Captain X, who is scheduler # 12 is really good, I think he's our CGOQ..." I mean take a look at who the best is in their primary job - start with the flyers and work your way from there. Stop with the "well all he did was fly missions, no volunteer hours or anything in self-improvement." That's how you reinvigorate the squadrons. MAF dudes - how many units out there have a "top hauler" or "top boom" award for the most missions/tonnage flown, hours flown, or gas passed in a month/qtr/year? My guess is few to none - I've never seen it. That speaks volumes when everyone knows who the Volunteer of the Qtr is for the wing because they have a parking spot at the commissary.... Now then, as for the bonus - I tell guys to follow their hearts, do what's right for the family. And I don't mean the USAF family. I've had a lot of success in my career, and struggled as much as I've done well. I earned a divorce out of it, and don't have kids. As an "old" major, about to be sq/cc, that makes me the oddball. I have a wonderful woman in my life now and that's made me reevaluate what and how I operate. But I don't wish the lousy parts on anyone. I nonetheless have no regrets, even though I'm facing a one-year remote amid a budding relationship. But my situation is not the norm, and I take that into account when advising my guys. If you come for career advice, you'll get it with the bark on - that's what you're owed for asking. And some people don't like hearing they're not the best or that they should pursue other endeavors. While I won't temper my fire, I've never scoffed anyone who wanted out or to take care of their family. I won't. My own experience made the difference, and I'm not sitting here chugging blue kool-aide. You must do what's right for you, regardless of if it aligns with big blue's plan.... This problem is bigger than the O-6 to O-8 crowd indicted in the post above... and none of us can change it alone. You'll never push over the wall, but if you try you can find loose bricks... Chuck

we are over obsessed with promotions and school in the air force i've never looked up to a combat leader and thought "god damn look at that mother er right there he went to school!" maybe i just don't get the bigger picture.

What were they thinking? T-1s are no place to prepare new pilots for a large airplane or the CRM that goes with it.

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Yep, and let's not forget overspeeding the flaps solo. I can understand the buffoonery as everyone has made a stupid mistake or two in the jet, however if a FAIP or other new guy did the same it was treated quite differently. Unfortunately for FAIPs, commanders have ultimate control and discretion over the assignment process and can use whatever metric/opinion to rack and stack. The bad ones tend to reward the wrong things and take care of dudes who align well with their own values while others who don't sometimes get the shaft, regardless of job performance.