Leaderboard

Nope, you go to MEPS first. Then you usually enlist in the unit so they can send you to FC1 at Wright-Patt (no longer Brooks) and forward your package to NGB to get training dates.

There is always a list. And there probably always will be, but when you publish the list for the world to see it triggers problematic behaviors. Which in turn crush morale right as dudes are getting to the end of their UPT commitments. At least now commanders have more control, and it will be easier to scratch a name off or add another name from a late bloomer. That said I will be very curious to see how this plays out at bases like Nellis, Edwards, Eglin, and among the cyber operators where you have a higher percentage of top performers than most wings. It will either be a boom or bust for them.

The reserves already do school with their RSSB. +1 for my baseopileaks source.

At this point I am willing to pay the AF. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

The AF really has a chance to do right by itself in this midst of this (abrupt) change by clearly articulating to young officers right out the gate, and updates as the progress, the benchmarks that will be required to "on-ramp" and the time milestones associated with them rather than having guys "figure it out" along the way. If I was an '08 guy on the fence, the timing of this change would probably be a tick mark in the A-word column, but I respect CSAF's motives to get this change enacted quickly rather than continuing to admire the problem. All that to say, it's laughable that it's taking at least another week to effectively delete a column of data for a spreadsheet, come up with some talking points on a subject that's been discussed since at least Jan, and release. Great intent from CSAF, typical lackluster bureaucratic execution from the staff.

History Channel said they are researching the bloggers claim. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

This. In a year of watching drops during that time frame at END I'd say perhaps 3-4 fighters dropped the entire FY. A complete 180 out from the stud who wanted C-17s but got "stuck" with a Viper. But then again, the CSAF and SECAF had just gotten sacked for nukes and ISR so there were easily 2-4 robots per class. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

This is not necessarily true. In my case (guard rotary) I took essentially back to back orders from OTS to UPT. However I have had bad experiences during UPT having to come off orders briefly (which causes all kinds of crap to happen like my daughter taken out of daycare, spouse CAC card expires preventing her from getting on base, triggers on base housing to kick you out, etc.) Another issue I've run into is since our IQT schoolhouse is so backed up, I'll be sitting without any flying for minimum 6months. My unit is trying to work in SERE and downtime orders to mitigate the BIT and at least keep me paid but it's been a last minute scramble. Hopefully this doesn't come across as contrarian or whiney, I'm just trying to illustrate to OP that what is expected to happen doesn't always happen...e.g. there is always the risk of coming off orders unexpectedly, extended breaks in training with no pay, stuff like that.

We've seen how this played out before..."You are all top performers to me, what separates you from your peers will be how much volunteer work you do. Also, everyone is getting 90s on PT tests, you need to get a perfect score to be #1 in my secret Excel spreadsheet."

Honestly I think it's genuine. He acts slowly, but the CSAF so far seems to legitimately want to push power down the chain. His squadron letter spelled it out, and this change is aligned with that spirit. Will some wg/ccs use the HPO mindset with this new authority? Sure. But the old way did that to everyone, so at least now the good guys can now make a difference in their wings. I think of it like States' rights. Some will abuse (CA, NY), but the system will benefit Sent from my Vitamix 450x Professional using Tapatalk

Youll have separate orders... in between, you'll be off orders. No need to take leave. Go back to your civ job. Once you start UPT, however, expect to stay on orders. If theres any gaps between UPT,IFF, B-Course, you'll just stay there and get Break in Training (BIT) rides. And sandbag.

The goal is to make it look like we are doing something... without actually doing something. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

The shiny pennies are still getting chosen at the majors board. They just aren't releasing the results to you anymore. There's still a list. Believe it.

What they fail to mention is that all Majors from now on will do 100% ACSC by correspondence! (Except those that wait and hold out for in res).

I'm 09 and am starting to write my PRF today: over under on my CCs reaction when he sees that push line?

https://www.jqpublicblog.com/air-force-eliminates-school-selection-o-4-promotion-boards/ While I am absolutely confident this is the right decision, I am equally confident a good portion of our officer corps will be skeptical. Given all the turmoil and instability of the past several years, trust in senior leadership on these issues is not high. Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network Forums

WSO, but I was the #1 "P" and I made it. Dammit, responding eleven years later. That's what I get for using my phone instead of a computer.

While laying blame for the entire crisis, please keep in mind that not all pilots that fly fighters are fighter pilots. And most of those clowns get promoted on up.

TL;DR: We like to think that pilots have to run the Air Force, but they got us into this mess. What other conclusion is left to be drawn? With very few exceptions, the Air Force is helmed up and down the chain by pilots. Groups, wings, NAFs, MAJCOMs, staff positions, functionals, CAOC spots, deployed units, IGs... Lots and lots of pilots. Who is responsible for the failings of an organization if not for the leaders? How many excuses are we supposed to make for them? And let's not play the "good dude" game either. Being a successful organizational leader is not about how fun you were to drink with 10 years ago, or how sh*t-hot you were in the jet, or how much you "get it" when you're having a closed door town hall with a random unit in their bar heritage room. There is only one measure-- how is the organization doing. The examples are legion. I'll give a few that have, over the years, stood out as very distilled, specific instances of poor leadership. 1. DV visits. If I had a dollar for every DV that said they didn't want the base to stop doing it's mission to prepare for their arrival after they arrived, you'd think I was paying my way through medical school the old fashioned way. If you can't fathom the way your rank and position affect your subordinates in an organization you've been a part of for 30+ years, on what planet should you be leading it? Can we all just finally admit that yes, they do want it? They like it a lot. Even if not for themselves, then for what they believe the military should look like. But most likely because that type of treatment is addictive. Name one theory of leadership taught in any level of PME that promotes the type of behavior we see when senior leaders visit a base. Did they skip those classes? Because I have a f*cking masters degree in it from ACSC. 2. We have been at the Deid since what? 2002? I have no clue. A long time. And of those years, every. single. summer. has been excruciatingly hot. Yet somehow, despite there being an airport right down the road in the exact same climate with hundreds of flights per day, leadership at AUAB has not figured out how to get every plane suitable air conditioning for the preflight. Seriously? Some flight doc measured the internal surfaces of the aircraft at over 160F, and the air temp inside a boom pod at over 140. This isn't a war against the Axis in an austere location, it's normal ops. If you can't look at that as a leader (and one who has flown planes!) and deduce that there should be adequate cooling for the aircraft... RyanAir is the human equivalent of a Pakistani poultry trailer without the rights activists, yet they manage to keep the planes cool on the ground. Oh, and let's not forget about the black mold that no leader saw fit to address until Congress heard about it. 3. Of course, the pilot crisis. And not that it happened, not the years of neglect that led up to it, not the countless forums and round-tables, and hangar-flies that went ignored, while the CGO/Maj force screamed for attention. I actually understand how we got to where we are today. What I don't get is how now that the problem exists, announced, published, and even presented to congress, how can we still be bungling the response? This thread is proof. Changes to the promotion process? Secret. Timeline? Mystery. People who apply for the bonus early? Gotcha! I'm not saying pilots can't make great organizational leaders. I'm sure some are great. But we have two things to compare: A. That a war-fighting organization can be effectively led by selecting from a small percentage of the overall population (pilots) those who demonstrate over the first half of their career a talent for paperwork, physical fitness, administrative tasks, and personal presentation, but who generally have little to no experience leading people until squadron command. This, as of today, is an unproven theory. B. That a war-fighting organization led by a small percentage of the overall population (pilots) who demonstrated over the first half of their career a talent for paperwork, physical fitness, administrative tasks, and personal presentation, but who generally have little to no experience leading people until squadron command, will crumble under external pressures, e.g., Congressional inquiries, workforce competition, etc. This, as of today, is supported by the evidence. If pilots make such great organizational leaders, I'd love to see it. Check rides aren't graded on who had the best attitude. I'd rather choke that go through it, but I'm guessing WIC grads, the best of our pilots, didn't get their patch because they filled out the 781s better than anyone else. No one cares how your flight suit looks if you show up the the ARCP late. The flying world, last I checked, prides itself of results-based assessment, yet when it comes to leading the organization, we abandon the principal for proclamations of past dudeliness... At some point we have to assign responsibility. If you want to say that it's just because we are picking the wrong pilots for the job, fine, but guess what? Pilots are the ones doing the picking. Pilots are the ones who have signed off on our ludicrous promotions system. Pilots are the ones standing by silently while the legal system is twisted to suit the preferences of a vindictive wing commander. Pilots are the ones telling congress it's pretty darn good. Pilots are the ones telling young captains to quit if they don't like it, someone will gladly replace them. Please, tell me why I'm wrong.

Yes. I knew it as the Alpha 525 which is how I found that first one. Glad you found what you were looking for, though. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Well, UPT is 1 year, its the people that learn the fastest that do the best. However, I've seen "brick" hands stay "brick" hands for a long time past UPT. You cannot teach coordination or a fast cross check, just as you cannot teach everyone to be in the NBA. Not everyone is cut out to be a fighter pilot, just a fact.

Then there were those poor guys in the 09-11 days who chose to fight like Clark in Danger41's post and track 38s only to get to drop night and get a damn drone. Must have felt like this:

Probably unpopular opinion here, but here goes. In a typical UPT class there are the top sticks who are easily identifiable, the anchors or the class who again are easily identifiable by everyone (and they know who they are), and then there is the center of Mass (around 75-80%). These middle of the bell curve guys could end up flying fighters or end up in an AWACS or Tanker or whatever else. Having been a flight commander at UPT, it's tough watching those middle guys go up on assignment night knowing their dreams are about to be crushed and they have no idea. I wish we would be more transparent about the MASS and make it public. Post the list maybe once a week and definitely let the studs know before assignment night. If they know they are 15/20 (ENJJPT) then they know it may go either way. But #18 knows it's gonna take a miracle. Less heartbreak in public in front of 300+ people and strangers. Always thought it was ironic back in 09-11 when we dropped guys Preds and told them to act professionally while crushing them in public with no foreknowledge. Some may disagree, but coming from a class with a ton of Preds, it hurt to watch guys get blindsided like that. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

If I had to guess, it's because they shut off the pipeline when I went through (09-10.) Of the 3 guys who went T-38s in my class, one got KC-135s, one got T-6 FAIP (now BUFFs) and the other got UAVs. They combined our 3 guys with the prior (or next class, don't remember) and of those 6, only one person got a fighter (F-15s). It was like that for the entire CY, and then some. Plus all the other aforementioned stuff in the thread.

You know why this joke never gets old? Because they keep trying to do it!

We only had one fighter guy in my T-6 squadron and most of the rest were AMC or FAIPs. The stories of per diem, luxury hotels, and "T-Funs" swayed a lot of studs and helped make their decision. There were the horror stories of the -38 squadron making you do a thousand BF/OLs and the IPs making flying jets more of a hassle than it's worth. They were tossing around the idea of non-vols so they stole some T-38 IPs to talk to the studs, but if anything, it made it worse as it was too late (a week from track) and everyone had made up their minds.

I remember being at my first drop at ENJJPT 10 years ago as a bright eyed casual awaiting pilot training and watching a grown man cry in stage because he really wanted to fly C models and got a Viper. Fast forward 6 months later and half the class was getting predators. It's all about perspective.

122FS (F-15C) is having a board during October drill (13-15 Oct) by invitation. Please see the LA ANG is hiring thread for details and drill dates for visits. We have openings for experienced as well as UPT hopefuls!

Going active duty instead of direct to the guard/reserve.

I'm neither (10 minutes of searching would have helped you there...), but please allow me to clarify: I mean millennial in only the most derogatory, degrading, and hurtful possible sense. Much as I would use the term "gay" while having absolutely no reference to sexual orientation or lifestyle. Here I mean "millennial" to reference the 5-year-old minded 28-year-old who points out injustices that are, in fact, wholly just, but that leave said millennial getting an outcome they don't like. The "millennial" response being to whine and complain instead of seeking a rational, effective, and practical solution. These "millennials" want the world perfectly presented on a silver platter, in a safe space free of insult or discomfort, at a time that perfectly suits their whimsically felt 'need' at that specific moment. To be honest, I know a lot of people that fall in that associated generation who are in no way shape or form "millennial." I've worked 6 month deployments with them. I've flow combat missions with them. They are what I profess to be: professionals focused on the employment of combat airpower. Look at any generation and you will find that the true military professionals have a hard time wholly identifying themselves with the Gen-Xers, millennials, hippies, grudge rockers, oregon trailers (my year group), or whatever other subculture/sociological term might be blanket applied to that year group. That's because we have a culture rooted in who we presently are, not an identity externally stamped by sociological academia. You sound like a whiny child instead of an airpower professional. Improve yourself. Find and present a plausible solution through reasoned and constructed argument so we can discuss it instead of just bitching how some non-specific people group wronged the world and it hurts.