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Meh, I disagree nsplayer. I enjoyed the show while it lasted. More importantly, I will tell anyone who listens with what is wrong with the Air Force. Some I have solutions for and for others I am at a loss on how to fix. Actually Chang, the persona that you portrayed here, although completely overdone, are the sum total of the sentiments that are causing people to head for the door. What causes disappointment? Unrealized expectations. I think you have to start there. The last 10 or so years have been really tough on the CGOs. We came into the AF after 9-11 being told that the #1 priority of the AF is lethality, yet we are held to a completely different standard of measurement. I was an '08 commissionee from ROTC and worked my butt off to get to UPT, 38s and hopefully to a fighter, just to be told that there was no where for us to go except RPAs and AMC. Big disappointment, but whatever, I press on. Get to my AMC unit and less than a year later I am writing a RRF for my 1st of 2 RIF boards. Meanwhile my fighter brethren (the 30 or so they created in my whole year group) were now considered undermanned. On my 4th deployment, my CC calls me to tell me that he has to get me on the next VML otherwise an RPA may be non-vold must-fill from AFPC. I end up going to T-6 UPT, my dream job at the time. While I am in PIT I face the #2 RIF/VSP of my career, while my 11F brothers (whoever is left) are now critically manned. I get sat down by my T-6 SQ/CC and told that although my record is outstanding, my career field (11M) is 175% manned and I haven't even completed PIT yet, so prepare for the worst/hope for the best. Also, we are cutting for the next 5 years. I go out and get my dream job, and apply for Palace Chase only to be denied because now even though my career field is still overmanned, the AF as a whole is short on pilots. Me, I still keep kicking @ss, pulling down #1 Sq/OG strats and moving my way up in the Sq. Get tasked with a 6 month non-flying deployment to some $hithole to be underemployed and a job that would have actually been better to have been CONUS doing (timezone differences). Somewhere in there my family (wife+kids) made up their mind that we were done getting jerked around, so I have been making my way to the door ever since. After 10 years of stellar service, 5 deployments, missing years of my kids lives, I get called a quitter and told that I have no future in my Sq. I could write a lot more, but I just don't care to relive it anymore. I hate the fact that the AF made me fall out of love with something that I fought so hard to be apart of. I have seen this organization change in just the 10 years I've been in and it is unrecognizable. I sincerely want the AF to get better and be better, so let me know if you have any questions. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Vampires can't see their own reflection in a mirror.

Don't waste your time on Chang...now, for something more entertaining. FLBP Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

When you guys lose your shit over a troll, it makes me think you are retards. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DC is doing Round 1 of interviews via Skype yesterday and today. 10 minute video interview. ~10 of the ~20 people interviewed will go on to the in person interviews May 6.

Did you sign in your wrong account?

I think it was hilarious! Only because I've met so many people that were like that.

This, so many times over.

Liquid is a credible SOF GO who has asked that his privacy be respected to enable candor. I wish he posted more.

Tell us your other username.

Flachettes. It's whats for dinner.

Are you kidding me Brick? The only chance we have in this forsaken state of affairs is to put Operators in key positions of influence throughout the "1" community. All levels, Lt Col through Lt Gen. I know many rated Cols, 1* & 2* who would enact real change through radical personnel policy changes, given the chance. Once rated officers take back these key positions of influence on staffs, particularly in the "1," we may have a fighting chance. The thought that pilots in key staff positions is a waste of training and money is extremely short-sighted. We promote way too many non-rated officers to O-6 and above as it is.

My letter from the 114 FW will be arriving today (good or bad). This is a little overzealous, but you can sign up for notifications by USPS for mail that will be arriving each day and it will send you a copy of the letters in your email. Very simple to sign up for. I posted the link and a copy of the image below. https://realmail.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action

No no. It was a large group of idiots working in short bursts of ignorance to fuck things up.

I was a snacko once as a Lt Col, and I was the best goddamn snacko that squadron ever saw.

The absolute root cause of so many of the current problems. "Picking" an officer as a captain long before their leadership is truly proven and pushing them uphill regardless of their flaws creates caustic entitled assholes. When we end up with folks who destroy the morale of units, commit sins that are white washed away (right after they hammer a subordinate for the same sin), and show questionable leadership while flying only to have the superiors say "we can't afford for him/her to fail, we have invested too much and we need another GO." This is why the institution is failing and this is why the concerns of the masses do not resonate with most of the current leadership.

Quote for posterity. My younger self would have never believed that to be possible.

Here I thought it was an AFPAK Hands RIP.

Rumor has it that Fairchild is PCSing the first major in five years who wasn't going to school or on an adsc. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

AGR-20 utility for the AF has nothing to do with Hellfire. If it can slow the KMU-572 expenditure rate, it's a win.

ain't that the truth. I literally lol'd at the "asshole riding a horse," seen that one specifically more than once. Also have seen probably ~$500K spent "triple-checking" that some low level facilitator was definitely dead out in the middle of the desert. Come on guys...even if it's a spectacular mobility kill or he's just grievously wounded, this guy is dozens of miles from even an Afghan-level of civilization and we're watching him...I'm pretty sure that's good enough to meet the intent of dead without clearing the whole stack hot on his corpse.

No, they'll do a study and determine that Thule is the best place to put all of them. I think back somewhere in this thread I came up with a list but going for take 2 on this idea: Assume the AF pulls its head out of the rear orifice and buys 125. Assign 15 per regular squadron and the FTU gets 20 so 7 squadrons with even distribution. My humble suggestion would be FTU at Seymour-Johnson for training with the Army at Ft. Bragg and USMC out of Camp Lejune, others in the area but those readily come to mind. Also, probably viable for a Reserve Associate unit and a good location IMO. Regular unit locations and strategy/rationale: AD & Reserve - Moody (FMS customers), Duke (SF community), Whiteman (train with USA/USMC out of Ft. Leavenworth) and DM (train with Ft. Huachuca). ANG - AR ANG at Ft. Smith (allow dual quals with Reaper also recruit CSOs with a Comm Instrument ticket for RPA pilot quals), NM ANG at Kirkland AFB (AFSOC affiliated) and NV ANG at Creech (dual quals again with Reaper also recruit CSOs with a Comm Instrument ticket for RPA pilot quals and supporting JTAC training out of Nellis). If a LAAR ever sees the light of day, having a plan on who is going to fly it and where the planes go along with a good why will help. Again AF, just buy one...

It has greatly caught on all the way to the service levels, and is significantly cheaper than every PGM we're using in the current fights (sans a nose plug GBU-38...but that weapon cannot do what the AGR-20 can). Again, not saying we should be paying $25K for a rocket, but it beats the $100K+ Hellfires we're also shooting at an asshole riding a horse, and provides a capability to bring a lot more low-CDE firepower to the fight vs. fighters showing up with only bombs and being useless in many situations. It may not be perfect, but for once we actually did something that surpassed spec, works well, is relatively cheap, and all in a fairly short timeframe for our typical acquisitions process.

This concept is happening already with other PGMs using existing datalink infrastructure. Not meant to be a cost-reducer, but meant to increase accuracy for fast-moving targets that may escape outside of the view of the weapon's laser seeker during typical flight profiles. Look for more to come in the very near future. Like I alluded to before, DoD and industry aren't spending R&D as much money on lower-cost solutions so much as they are spending those dollars on increasing first-pass, "clean-kill" capabilities. It's what the JTACs, GFCs and higher HQ demand, and if that means adding a datalink to an already expensive laser-guided, GPS-aided PGM, so be it. The ideal weapon delivers in one shot from outside of visual & audio detection range, with no sonic boom, rocket motor bloom or other warning to the target, with fast time of flight, and delivers low CDE scores but high Pk in the target area. Right now you get to pick a couple of those options at the expense of the others - gonna have to science the shit out of today's weapons to work toward ideal. My long-term prediction: lasers fulfil all of those requirements above...

Personal foul, offense, 15-yard penalty, automatic first down.

Running functions in Excel is nice for making numbers match a desired reality. By his description, that's what A-1 has been doing. Actually solving the problem would take talking to and listening to folks who are bonus-eligible and finding out what it would take to get them to stay. (Hint: it's gonna take more than money)

Hell yea, bring them to Duke Field or Hurby!! Knowing the AF though, they'll f**k the whole thing up by putting them at Cannon...

So you can get the few remaining real leaders in the Air Force killed off and finally have the shoe clerks be fully in charge? And you paper-pushing desk monkeys are still SO confused why nobody is taking your blood money and running full speed for the door and the airlines instead. Serious, almost service-crippling flyer shortage, but let's send the best flyer in the wing on a non-vol, non-flying four year assignment to chase goat-humpers and get shot at in a third world shithole. Seems legit! Oh wait...don't feed the troll.

We tried that already with Fianance and Comm and it's been a shitshow. Local Comm and Finance squadrons got gutted to centralize "support" now they don't have the manpower or authority to deal with issues.

So 19 people at a time and 1095 day flying deployments to other CONUS bases. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Yepp, and and any reasons we need NCOs handing out towels in the gym? And let's be honest, most base gyms don't even hand out towels! Why not hire civilians to run the gym while these NCOs can make sure my PCS orders aren't consistently months late.

Well, In cyber we got a Viper driver as the 24 AF/CC and it has been fantastic for getting us towards operational and really getting the rest of the "3" community to pay attention. Doubly so for the awful network that's been flogged for years that's just been blamed on "Comm." for not doing well enough. When the bag-wearer tells the 4-stars, "You've deferred MX on the network, doing spot fixes only, for a decade." People listen. Watching him tell SES's that he didn't care if their pet application had 4-star support, he's in charge of cyber ops and running Server 2003 wasn't allowable anymore, was fantastic. Doubly so w/ Gen Bender backing him up. Far cry from the awful space-O's who're somehow also considered "ops." Having worked with EWO community and how it works/attacks in the "the cybers" has really helped me develop something approaching an operational mindset. Unfortunately, they're stuck with Intel in 25AF now, but we're all headed to ACC and can hopefully break them into cyber. Cyber NEEDS operational (re: rated) leaders to come over and teach us, advocate for us, and point out and ostracize the support-minded fucks who're holding everything back. We need those leaders as Maj's, so we can educate our junior O's, and not try to convert these Col's who grew up in traditional Comm and scoff whenever I point out how flyers operate and say, "This is cyber, we're different." For example - "We need an office or something to coordinate these teams movements when they head out to do missions/sorties." I say that sounds like a scheduling office, and should be done in the wing/units responsible and not as a staff function. Just like a flying wing does. Reply was, "Well, this is different. We've got to coordinate clearances, and sometimes they go overseas. A lot more than a flying scheduling office does." Not. Fucking. Kidding. Having to deal with CC's saying they're unsure if their "Mission Ready" presented crew is experienced enough to do a tasked operation. Watching them disregard our WIC's inputs out-of-hand because they don't align with Group leadership's plans. Sq CC's not knowing what their people do, or their own processes for execution. Saying people on cyber crew need crew rest...CREW REST. They use flying ops AFI's for it. K, getting to work pissed for a Saturday. Later all. PS: I hate this job.

And if we needed any more evidence to know Chang is a troll, there it is.

Having served staffs from MAJCOM, HAF, to OSD I have not seen the bloating of rated officers that is continually mentioned, actually quite the opposite. We absolutely MUST have a rated influence in the training, equipping and strategy development apparatus, again we MUST have that influence. The bloating I have seen is with civilian and contractors who continuously shuffle and delay paperwork between multiple redundant offices.

Absolutely...staff should do its function, just like the operators and supporters. Staffs became a milestone to have in your record, so staffs bloated up to "give more people the experience." I've been on a few staff assignments, and I worked banker's hours on all of them (and had time for workouts in the middle of the day). Staff should be a full-time job same as anything else...and not just the self-licking ice cream cone type of job...they should be value added or they shouldn't exist.

You bring up an excellent point. We all gripe about lack of mission focus and non-rated not supporting us but how many of us would be willing to go be the FSS commander or work on staff? I sure as hell would bitch about it haha! But at the end of the day, those pilots that do stay in do need to do their part to ensure there is mission focus and part of that is leading from the front up on the staff and orienting the ABU wearers to the real mission. I don't think the issue is that guys who stay in have to work staff. The issue is these staffs becoming so bloated that you send an experienced pilot to the Died for a year to work powepoints. I think that kind of misuse of manpower is what people get mad about, and rightfully so.

Valid point - if the AD takes a hair cut then as a Total Force, the ARC will get a little off the top also. Keeping up with the same idea of what this hypothetical round of BRAC should be (limited, politically realistic and focused on capability consolidation to shed excess infrastructure) - pick 5 ANG/AFRC bases or Wings to consolidate to another ARC facility or AD base. Some headaches likely but when we are estimated to have 20% excess infrastructure, somethings gotta give.

Shhhhh, don't wake him.

I think it's rainman.

We don't know when they'll start dropping them out of the Boeing factory, let alone UPT.

Ok guys, serious post for once (yeah, shut-up haters; you loved it the past couple of years). Tony recently published an article on his site about dealing with toxic leaders to fix the Air Force. I look around my aviation community (remaining unnamed to protect the guilty), and I just don't see it. Guess I'm either lucky, clueless, or one of the culprits (again, shut up haters. Actually trying to be serious here). Who's in a community out there that actually breeds multiple toxic leaders? Is there a root cause or is it a conglomeration of problems? Is your community on the upswing or trending downward? Conversely, who is in a community with leadership that really "gets it" from Sq CCs on up? What are they doing right to sustain the greatness of your aviation community? Really think about these answers. They could make a difference.

ANGFlyer, thanks for the tip about BogiDope. I created an account. Looks like a ton of hiring info, good articles and the interactive map is great. Highly recommend it. This would have made my life easier when I was rushing units.

The 2.5 more accurately reflects the needs of the C-17 community. Thousands of hours of research by personnelists went into these numbers. Even more research was done on the 2.0 crew ratio for the C-130. While maintaining the 1.75 was argued, the increase to 2.0 won the day. A minority in the community successfully argued the lack of navigators should create a higher crew ratio, so AMC A-1 caved and agreed to raise it to 2.0 (100%+ manned at the squadron level, I might add). MAF is extremely healthy, again thanks to the efforts of number crunchers to keep the communities healthy.

This program embodies everything wrong with the Air Force.

Greg, You are right. I am sorry.

Thanks to Toro for approving this message. There is a new website called BogiDope that launched last week. BogiDope has several unique features specifically designed to help you land your dream UPT slot. To list a few, BogiDope has a library of detailed hiring related articles, a complete list of upcoming UPT hiring boards (25 UPT board announcements between now and 1 July), and offers one-on-one consulting (application review, advice, interview prep, etc) to give you a leg up on your competition. BogiDope’s custom designed interactive map feature allows you to easily search through every (175+) Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve flying squadron by aircraft type (F-22, C-17, MQ-9, etc). In addition to every squadron’s location, it will give you the squadron’s contact information, a hiring point of contact, and dates on any past or future hiring boards. BogiDope is just getting started, so you can expect several exciting new features to be released in the weeks and months ahead. If there’s a feature you think would be helpful to the UPT community, please let us know. BogiDope is also growing fast on Facebook. Like or follow BogiDope at https://www.facebook.com/BogiDope1/. Become apart of a growing community on Facebook to collaborate with others try to earn a UPT slot. Request to join the Facebook group “Future Military Pilots”. Thanks again to Toro and the Baseops team for allowing us to spread the word on something we feel will help a lot of future military pilots.

Absurd and incorrect re: O-6 numbers. Re: community health, yes, younger fighter pilots are short, but all other communities are currently relatively healthy, although we can see some concerns in the distant future (hence stop-loss discussion). Wait to see the bonus take rate numbers in October. Much more money offered this year.

Precisely why we need airpower leaders in these key positions. I intend to nonvol my absolute best flyers in the Wing here in Asia to these positions. I am confident my fellow CCs will follow suit. We need our best in these critical positions to win this war. And I intend to reward them career-wise on the backside.