Leaderboard

Let's see.... I'll take a stab at this. The Guard and Reserves used to be a real good deal, but things have changed a lot since 9/11. We're being abused. The difference now is that we have options and leverage. Is it still a better deal than AD? In a lot of ways, yes, but our government's expectations from the ARC is over the top. They've gotten used to the ARC's willingness to bend over backwards to get'r done for a paycheck. Furloughed airline pilots, ARC bums, ART's looking to close the gap between a shitty net pay and an AGR salary, you name it, the ARC has risen to the occasion with just about everything they've thrown at us. Yeah, we all raised our hands and are as patriotic as the next guy, but at the end of the day you have to make it worth our while to do rotation after rotation to PACOM and CENTCOM. We don't have the reprieve the AD guys do of a staff tour (gasp), being detailed to the Wing or getting a white jet tour to break up the monotony of living in the desert. Traditional guardsmen/reservists are pretty much line pilots for life. You have the option to stay in as a Lt Col for 28 years and fly the line every day of those 28 years. We've relied on a lot of volunteerism, but when you've got guys who've been doing this for 15-20 years, they're getting tired and it's come to the point where it's just not worth it to them anymore. I don't care what some of the AD guys think, it's not easy to be a mission-ready pilot at less than 1/3 the cost of our AD counterparts while holding a full-time civilian job. We don't have to do any less training than anyone else out there. Add that to the mountains of ancillary training, DIY administrative queep, and the neverending shift toward support agencies being allowed to run the AF the way they want it run, not the way it should be run. Our traditionals don't get a bonus to stay past 10 years. In the past, our retention program was good deal trips to cush destinations and unparalleled comradery while we were there, but those deals are few and far in between. Add that to anal retentive policies that have shit-canned just about any fun you could possibly have in fear of an article 15 or worse, jail time. On the full-time side, the ART program is going to destroy the ARC's ability to maintain mission-ready flying squadrons and they're about 10 years too late trying to fix it. So yes, I see there being many challenges for the ARC and I'm not looking forward to it. I need 5 more years to get my guard retirement. It's gonna be the longest 5 years of my life. Speaking of retirements, this new military retirement system coming online soon will NOT work in the ARC's favor for retention. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

So glad I retired... In many ways it is sad to watch this happen, but in a twisted sort of way it is gratifying. I used to love the Air Force and serving, but a small group of spineless leaders sold their souls to get promoted when they could have fallen on their swords and sound the alarm. Who knows, the outcome might have been exactly the same. It sickens me that I put faith in some of these guys, Christ I flew with people like Rand and really believed the bullshit. I truly hope you guys and girls don't end up as jaded as I am. Now it feels like I am comfortably sitting on my front porch watching a kid poke the hornets nest when I told him 10 times what would happen and while I don't want anyone to suffer, I will feel a small bit of satisfaction when he gets stung.

I can tell you (at least roughly) how it's going to play out for the MAF year group(s)--like the one that's currently graduating--which get shorted for bodies, in favor of the CAF: - They'll all start their flying careers being really busy, flying a bunch and getting sq jobs folks in prior year groups would never have gotten so early - Way too early in their careers, the bright and shiny types will be identified, and will quickly join the protected class which rarely flies or deploys/is set up for the string of jobs/assignments that will make them really promotable. The next tier down--the ones not on the leadership track, but who are competent/dependable--will get crushed with all the important, yet non-sexy (read hardship) deployments & home station jobs. The middle of the packers--good flyers, but not great leaders/staff types--will fly their arses off and also get crushed with deployments. Those (at least according to AF perceptions) who are at the bottom of the pack will likely enjoy a level of job security that in prior years they never would have had. That is, until such time that they get RIFd--because, of course, the AF needs to retain its critically manned 11Fs (even though in this year group the 11Fs will be overmanned relative to 11Ms/others). - About 10 years from now, the bright and shinies (the ones who bother to stay on AD) will be in IDE & will already be largely disconnected from ground truths in the mobility community. The second-tier & middle of the road guys--if the civil sector is hiring--will get out in droves. The bottom of the pack folks will likely stay in. - 20 years from now, the bright and shinies will still be bright and shiny, and more importantly will have had careers that in no way reflect the experiences of the masses. The second-tier and middle of the road folks will all be retired, or--at best--will still be on AD, but enjoying cush jobs (the only kinds of jobs that could entice them to stay in). The bottom dwellers who survived being passed over/RIFs/etc. will still be on AD, too. They'll be the middle managers. The O-6 and above MAF leaders will have some really awesome ideas, after having spent so much time in schools/as execs/on staffs. Problem is, their middle managers--the passed-over O-4 and O-5 types--will almost exclusively be the middle of the roaders and bottom dwellers of yesteryear. Those executing the missions will almost exclusively be folks with less than 10 years rated service--i.e., folks who haven't yet had the opportunity to punch. In sum, we'll have a whole bunch of good idea generators, but lack adequate numbers of competent people to put those ideas (whether good--or more likely good-sounding but questionable) into action. Funny. This situation I describe twenty years from now kinda sounds like where the MAF is today: out of touch O-6 and above types, a razor-thin slice of competent O4s and O-5s trying to keep the ship afloat, and a bunch of junior dudes who are 1) eyeing life outside of AD, and 2) unimpressed by the AF clownshow. Problem is, ten years ago, we had the "good fortune" of 9/11, the Great Recession, and FAA rule changes to encourage folks to remain on AD. Consequently, we were able to retain at least a degree of talent. Barring another catastrophe, I don't see the Air Force future as being quite so rosy for the current crop of recent MAF SUPT graduates. The MAF will be even more broken, but at least there'll be enough CAF bubbas to fill the AF's senior leadership roles, going forward. So we'll have that going for us. TT

Un-scoreable at ?

"You'll always lose money chasing women. But you'll never lose women chasing money" -My mom

So the memo is out, 40,000 Airmen assigned to and under OPCON of the AFDW are banned from consuming alcohol for 48 hours surrounding the inauguration. Air Force civilians are strongly encouraged to adopt the policy as well. All of the promises from Fingers made to look like a steaming pile of poo in one moronic action.

Agreed but he is not above weakening, distracting, disorienting, intimidating, influencing in ways that border on aggression in several ways. Breaking up the EU to further divide and conquer is probably the long term strategy. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-europe-idUSKBN14R0G8?il=0 All great powers meddle with lesser powers and to some extent push or probe other great powers but his tactics and goals cross lines we (usually) don't. Good article on whether or not NATO serves our or their purpose of collective defense: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2016/02/03/obama-wants-u-s-to-spend-more-on-europes-defense-europeans-should-pay-instead/#1b726effb949 There's good place to put assets that could come home from Europe:

1. It would be easier for the AF if we back-filled you with a UPT grad. Even a fresh one. Your community has pretty much screwed everything up in a major that you have been responsible for since at least 2013. Anyone else could do better. How have you not been fired? Oh wait, you are a product of the personnel system. 2. Ha, riiiiight. In between training days at the bowling alley. You know something is wrong in your world when you have to specifically emphasize that you had people work many hours for an event in order to support your argument. "Guys, no wait, listen...we actually had personnelists work for this. And not just any work. It was many hours of work. Trust me, this is going to blow your mind!" Wait for it......We will replace the outgoing IP/EP, stan eval chief types, and all the others leaving with 10-12 years of experience with UPT grads. Problem solved. Ok now that that's done, where are we going for training day? By the way, is anyone else just totally wiped out from all that work that we just did? You know what, skip the alley, let's just all high-five each other and go home.

Laughlin circa 1990ish Caught by a State Trooper who noticed the tire marks and thought kids were drag racing so he did a little stakeout and was a bit surprised when "Cool-25" did a little touch and go. Yes there was a patch...need to search my archives in the attic. There was another group, I think the "Turtle Club", that would zoom the T-38 and when they got below 50 knots, open the canopy and quickly place a sticker on the outside that was then "verified" by someone read-in in the RSU. All went south went an IP couldn't get the canopy latched and ultimately lost his canopy over Ft Stockton. Allegedly.

True but I think that is starting to wear thin, Merkel is still the Chancellor so they are not there yet to assert sovereignty / control immigration, but getting close. On your anecdote, they (average Germans) must not view or value engagement (military) outside of Germany as a priority or their responsibility... A Quora thread on the subject with several posters stating they are from Germany and their responses: https://www.quora.com/How-can-Germany-spend-so-little-on-defense-thus-rely-on-the-United-States-and-NATO-treaties-for-defending-them From the thread: Bernhard Støcker, Native German and "Kölsche Jung" Written Jul 30, 2014 why should we spend more? our army is able to handle its tasks. germany is not interested in participating in any war, so the money spent to military only needs to cover the nessecity to self-defence. and since germany is in regards to engineering one of the leading countries, we are able to use very good technologies making it unessential to have a bigger army. we like to spend our money on important things like free education and social protection. something that is maybe also a good idea in the US, doesn't it? Guy could be just a troll / poser but from the perspective of the average German, when America is willing to do the dirty, dangerous, unpleasant, expensive missions around the world to keep the current international order / stability / deterrence / etc... why do they need to do anything? Follow on: If we don't want to leave NATO just restate our relationship that we'll come to help if the territorial sovereignty of the members is violated/increase deterrence presence if necessary/etc... then how much foot print do we really need there?

Treat 'em like children, then wonder why they act like one...

CBM 17-04: 38s: 2 x F16 to Hollowman 1 x F16 to Tucson (2 Iraqi F16s, 1 Saudi F15c) 1 x A10 DM 1 x T6 Faip 1 x F22 Tyndall T1s: 2 x C130J to Dyess T1 FAIP E3 Tinker 2 x E8 Warner Robbins (1AD, 1ANG C17 West Virginia ANG C146 Duke CV22 Cannon C130J Yokota C5 Travis

Feasibility with a President Trump of a call-out on the free riders? Somewhere between good and really good. Looking at you Germany... Implications of Associate Membership for the US to the Alliance? Could be not that bad but it depends if they step up to the plate and take a leadership role. Looking at you Germany... NATO should be lead by one of the strongest (economically) members with the most to loose from a meddling, aggressive Russia. Looking at you Germany... Cato think tank option piece on the subject: https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/should-us-leave-nato From the article: Retired Gen. Robert Scales, commandant of the Army War College, recently complained that: “At 30,000, there are fewer American soldiers protecting Western Europe, a piece of the planet that produces 46 percent of global GDP, than there are cops in New York City.” But why can’t an area that accounts for almost half of the world’s production (an overstatement, but never mind) and has a larger population than America provide its own soldiers for defense? Why can’t an area of such economic prowess, which has around eight times the GDP and three times the population of its only possible antagonist, Russia, deploy an armed force capable of deterring any threats? We're going to have to kick them out of the nest or in the ass to get them (Germany and company) to self-actualize and basically double to triple their capabilities. For the life of me, I can't understand why the Europeans are not on the rapid build up with: Russia overtly and covertly taking territory, aiding rebels and conducting hybrid warfare in Ukraine, getting aggressive in the skies over the Baltic Sea, refugees poring in from a war torn area not that far away and numerous terrorist attacks in their own nations. Don't forget too that in about 5-10 years, Iran will be at least a nuclear weapons capable state with a ballistic missile capability and your principle defense strategy is a to rely on a country 1800 miles across an ocean that just elected a rather eccentric leader shall we say... I would buy my own gun(s) if I lived in their neighborhood rather than relying on my friend across town.

I've seen that comment a lot this week, but all of us here should understand the significance and issues of an engine departing an airframe. Glad the guys were able to get the jet down safely.

In Iraq the biggest violators of GO1 were the GOs....usually during Thursday poker night. (here's my shocked face) The next day they're taking rank from an E-4 and E-5 for the same infraction

Major Burns probably wrote that order...

Heard it from the Bomber rep at AFPC. If a T-38 stud is fighter qualified, he's getting fighters. No ifs, ands, or buts. We've had one or two 12B B-1 guys go to pilot training hoping to come back to the B-1. Both were sent to fighters. One was told "sorry, you're an average T-38 student, we're sending you to F-16s".

END 17-04 F-16 F-15E F-15C A-10 T-38 FAIP B-2 B-52

Some do, many do not. I would venture to guess that most of those who do "hide out," are commuters. No way I would go back on orders, life is "pretty darn good," as a part timer. On the contrary, the only way I would consider such an assignment is with the following; -Spang or Aviano, line IP only, no additional duties (maybe asst. scheduler), no non-vol single man "TDY/Deployments" (I'll deploy with the squadron), Mon-Thurs work week, 0700-1730 work day (debrief stops to be out the door at 17:30:01), I can take my leave whenever I want (ALL of it...in 15 or 30 day chunks), ...and I'm gonna need ~125k/yr bonus for the 3 years (I don't care that I'm still under my UPT ADSC). FWIW, my SQ/CC recently received an e-mail asking if he had guys willing to come back on active duty for an assignment (flying or staff). Oddly enough, no bites... This...all of this right here! It was one thing when we were deploying every 2-2.5 years, for 45-60 days, to go drop bombs. But now we're "deploying" every 20-22 months, for 90-110 days, to do NOTHING... Dudes are asking themselves, why they're taking HUGE pay cuts to go twiddle their thumbs on some non-relevant TSP.

Scorpion in the Mach Loop

Any update from the drops tonight?

Yes Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I'm an outsider to Cyber, but I've played in lots of communities. I think you hit the nail on the head here with a solid parallel to the ideal fit for Cyber. I could easily see it following the SOCOM/JSOC model with a Joint Cyber Operations Command (JCOC?) that cuts a wide swath across the services as an independent enabler/multiplier.

Data point: At least 8 of the UPT selects had age waivers.

Need pics of this girl to give you a proper response

It was in the porch brief from our functional. Official AFPC brief. He also mentioned Moody standing back up for full UPT ops. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

FY 2000 or thereabouts, Toners could drop a bomber. Then it went away. It's not earth shattering change by any means. The ethnocentrism of the Air Force track system is retarded anyways. We're now prepping for T-38 instructors to come from T-1 tracked MWS guys who've never flown the thing. Of course, PIT is such a high-ROI water-into-wine making outfit, they'll have zero problem cranking out quality.... As to expectations, manning is falling apart but it sure is a great time to be a T-38 student. It's like an episode of the Oprah Show. YOU get a fighter, YOU get a fighter! LOL There's some real shitbags being pushed who would have never made the cut back in mid 00s, and we've tried documenting away and trying to bring solid candidates for the B-courses, but in this environment it's about impossible to wash someone out of UPT/IFF. In time, this too will change again. It matters none, timing and luck has always been the driver, et al. I sleep with a clear conscience, let the B-course IPs sort through the guano. Not on me brotato chips. --BREAK BREAK-- On the AFRC front, the last email I got was the ART-to-AGR retro-conversion plan that's being thrown around, as they grapple and panic on an 5-year on going 55% ART manning rate, after the whole six years of pushing the ART conversion on everyone during FY11 when the airlines were merely hinting at opening the floodgates. Ah vindication sure is sweet. Fuck em. Let them eat cake for 15 years of non-choices and garbage treatment of their operators. It is an absolutely great time to align fuselages into whichever status you want to be in long term. Make no mistake, just like the airline hiring, once it stops, and it WILL stop, the hiring will also freeze in the military side and whatever chair you have at that time is the chair you'll have to like for quite a while. The only way they can change the ART dynamics for the better is to allow that job to be considered USERRA-eligible based on the part B. That way airline aspirants can mil leave into an ART. But since it's being driven by the part A (civilian), no dice. Same thing for the AD recall volunteer call. You give the guy a flying club gig for 3 years and all these junior guys will jump at it. Pilot shortage fixed overnight. But big blue ain't interested in giving out good deals. So they'll sit on it and keep sucking. Oh well, suit yourself. P.S. One gratuitous pot shot observation of the airline gig. You know, for the greatest job in the world, people sure spend a lot of time hiding from it in the military. Any job is great when you're the senior guy. I judge a job's worth by how the middle guy does. From my vantage point, the middle guy at the airlines does ok, and I'm certainly not making a plug for an AD-on-the-cheap ART job, just keeping it balanced. I was a trougher in the mid 00s, I know what the airline job looks like on the back end of the waves. No free lunch fellas. Everybody walk with the Mk 1s uncaged and tracking now. No excuse in the age of the internet.

Dramatically reducing the size of the Army in order to take this option off the table might be a good start. The Army goes around saying that only boots on the ground can win wars yet they are 2-3 (Vietnam, Panama, DS, OEF, OIF) in the last 40 years. Airpower may not win wars by itself but it has never lost a war either. If you are going to tell the NCA that boots on the ground is the best COA, then you better actually be prepared to succeed.

AMC is currently short 315 pilots after they cooked the books by already reducing the crew ratios and sent hundreds of pilots out of the communities to get us to "100% manned". At least General Everheart was honest about the prospects of retaining those eligible to separate.

If you're going to be a C-17 guy, the last thing you want is a lawyer wife that's drained your cash on a new car. You'll need income to pay for the flock of bastard children you have in Rota/Constanta/Germany, etc.

The 345th Bomb Squadron at Dyess AFB, TX is having a rated/non-rated hiring board to select new applicants to join the “Desperados.” Applications will be accepted through 1 Feb 2017 and interviews for those invited will be held on 4/5 March 2017, during our UTA weekend. This board will be to hire both off the street and rated Pilots and Weapon Systems Officers. Attached you will find the requirements to help you assemble your application package. Questions can be sent to 345BS.Hiring@gmail.com. Good luck to all that apply! 345th Bomb Squadron Request for Applications.docx

Direct democracy is exactly what the framers were trying to avoid with how they structured the Constitution. I would argue we should go back to electing Senators by state legislatures. With 32 states under Republican control, you can see how that would change the national Senate's composition today. And this isn't just because I'd like to see more Republican senators (I think both parties are hopelessly lost) but I think it would give the states a greater voice in Washington as was originally intended. Senators would then be accountable to the state legislature, and states could even choose to recall Senators if they become too entrenched and loyal to Washington instead of who put them there. This would also help to decrease the effect of densely populated urban areas in Senate representation, which was another reason for indirect election in the first place. The founders believed the Senate was the higher house, and wanted to trust choosing those who serve there to state legislators who could/should have greater discernment in who they chose. The framers were much smarter than I, and I believe if our state reps were electing our Senators, people might care a little more about those elections closer to home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Get a Jeep...

Ah.. ye of little faith.

True, but with the ratification of the 26th amendment in 1971 and US troops formally withdrawing in1973 one could plausibly argue that the draft was a contributing factor in ending the war. Once 18 year olds could vote, they weren't going to vote for folks sending them into Vietnam. Game changer. i don't think we would still be in Afghanistan if we had a draft. Do you?

I bought a convertible as a Lt waiting to start UPT. After UPT, I sold the convertible to buy a wedding ring for my fiance. 5 years down the road we got divorced and now I have neither a wife nor a convertible. I miss that car.

This is the correct answer.

Thoughts? You're way ahead of yourself on several fronts. Don't buy her a car until you're married.

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Flanker 69 request low closed...

A few points to ponder: 1. It is NOT a foregone conclusion that the Russians hacked anything. Shockingly the mainstream media is starting to push back on the administration narrative that it was the Russians...technically things don't add up and a lot of insiders have been not so quietly questioning the recently released report. I don;t give a lot of value to wikileaks statements but they do deny getting information from the Russians. There are also reports, suggesting it was a disgruntled DNC insider, I absolutely agree we need a bipartisan investigation to help shed some light on what happened. 2. I don't think anyone wants a foreign power hacking our "stuff" but it is EXTREMELY ironic that you are more upset about external criminal action that the fact that the DNC rigged the election. Truly that should be the story of the year, the DNC under Wasserman Schultz fixed the primaries in order to secure the election of a chosen candidate rather than the will of the people. 3. Where do you draw your foreign influence line in the sand? When expressing outrage that another nation might have tried to shape our election how do you response to Obama less covertly tried to hack the Israeli election, not just with words, but with a LOT of money and behind the scenes action. 4. I also find it extremely ironic that liberals are convinced the Russians hacked the DNC emails and are equally convinced there is no possibility they could have hacked HRC's bathroom server. Truly UNREAL! 5. We have been in a cyber war for years and expressing outrage over what might have happened seems to ignore the likely fact that we have done the SAME thing to many other adversaries...

Oh boy, the dreaded 7-engine landing.