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Excellent Deadwood usage.

All valid points and I won't even pretend to defend his comments. I would not have threatened no-notice check rides, not the place on a DOV guy. On the other hand if I was the SQ/CC and my IPs were sitting in a circle talking about the airlines at work I would justifiably not be happy. We all bitch about the bullshit queep that keeps us from flying and focusing on the mission, shouldn't that apply both ways? "Good Dude" in this context...really means good leader. I know many people on here know who he is, but I will still attempt to preserve his anonymity. Let me give some examples of what I am talking about. He is MOST certainly NOT part of the management club, on multiple occasions I saw him say no to STUPID shit from above. The Command wanted to deploy someone to a useless position...NO, he stopped it and took the heat. Being told his wing needed to perform some dopey make-busy tasks on a weekend..."Fuck NO" was his answer. Performing and tracking bullshit queep tasks that had nothing to do with mission..."Don't fucking do it." He hates the career model and is straight up PROUD he was never an exec and never did a pentagon tour. One final example, THREE days after met him he pushed a set of G Series orders for the Wing across the desk and told me he was leaving for almost a month. The Wing ORI was going to kick off four days later so I asked "what is your guidance"...his response was "don't fuck it up...they know what to do." He didn't call during the ORI, no second guessing, no micro-managing...zip. When it was over I called him and he said how did it go? I answered "we got an Excellent" and he replied "those fuckers should have given us an Outstanding...anyway here is what is happening down range." For those who think we need the second coming of Robin Olds (and we do), please remember Olds was fucking his wing secretary and was not exactly easy on those around him when he was drinking which was often...even the great ones have warts. I am sure none of this is translating, I am too close and truly respect the guy. I have other stories I can't share. Also, if he came back to read this he would be pissed to see me defend him.

No, we're supposed to be in the business of killing people and breaking their shit. If the AF (and the nation) hadn't lost that focus years ago, they wouldn't have to worry about WTF D, U, A, S, F, and U are doing. Too bad Blue is more worried about breastfeeding in uniform, fun runs, Asian Islander month, training the untrainable, and zebra stripe dot.

i don't know liquid either... that being said "good dude" != good leader. if a guy is giving N/N checkrides out to pilots talking about airlines he's a <edit> <edit> and should have his Q code pulled.

I’m not saying you’re wrong about Liquid because I don’t know him, but the attitude he showed with those posts was the same kind of toxic BS that is driving people out in droves. Maybe he is a “good dude”, but I sure wouldn’t want him as my boss. There are a lot of “good dudes” that the AF absolutely ruins by convincing them to do what it takes to be part of the management club. That’s when they stop living in reality and say and do shit that drives us crazy (N/N checkrides for talking about airlines). I hear the crap that leaders say, and I just say to myself that I will never be able to do that with a straight face. But these “good dudes” sold their souls to the devil and actually believe the shit that comes out of their mouths. It’s like they have no idea how we see right through the bullshit. And just what in the hell is with the AF’s irrational fear of the airlines? So many managers don’t want to acknowledge the airlines, or come up with some bullshit to tell us about why it would be such a bad idea to be an airline pilot. They imply we aren’t patriotic if we we discuss being an airline pilot. I think they’d rather me talk about joining ISIS. Instead of ripping on or ignoring the airlines, freaking show me some positive change. Show me just why in the hell should I stay in the AF.

Order a leather nametag with just a set of wings. Remove the Command patch and put your favorite squadron patch on. Wear. Leaving it hanging in the closet seemed like such a waste.

I still peruse the forum but rarely post. Mostly because I'm a dinosaur and understand no one really wants to read my opinion on the topic of the day. Also cuz i read the forum on a phone and posting on a phone is a bitch for me. I've posted advice and sarcastic snarky quips and occasionally PMd with some of you young'uns. Occassionally, Ive posted something someone found controversial, which can be fun, and sometimes reading the threads challenges my own perceptions and beliefs. But in reality, I retired in 2015 and the USAF of 2017 is one I barely recognize -- my opinion is probably less valid as anyone currently serving. Reading through a thread if i see a post i agree with, then theres no sense in my "piggybacking" or "piling on".. I have no idea if I've ever met CH or Liquid or Chang or any of the other senior members. But I served with only 1 toxic leader in my career. I mustve been lucky...or I spread my own share of toxicity. Either way, im not qualified to address it..or many of the other issues on the board. I was a ROTC-recat: non-rated officer, then went to SUPT. IP/EP in Lears, KC-10s, and Hercs thru crossflow. Took the big 20YAS bonus the first day I was eligible. Ended up on staff and retired when it was clear I wasn't returning to fly or being considered for command. I think Fingers is actually trying to address the combat readiness of the force. To that end, I did what I could in my little sphere of influence. I encourage you do the same. Unfortunately, I think xaarman might be right...feet on the ramp is very effective at getting folks to show their cards early--therefore making the management of the red and blue lines easier to predict. And Im sure theyre looking at it as an option. Hope they dont choose it.

I’d imagine he’s pretty busy giving out no-notice ground evals to every pilot he comes across. That’s gotta take up a ton of his time these days. Can you believe he actually said that nonsense? Liquid doesn’t think you should talk about airlines at work, or else he will no-notice ground eval you “We should not tolerate talk and actions related to post-service employment at work. Do the f*ing job you are paid to do and plan for your post-service job on your own time. Stop the airline conversations in the pilot shop and make sure people are earning their damn paychecks. When I was a Captain and encountered pilots chatting about their airline prep in the pilot office, I would give them a no-notice ground eval to check their systems knowledge and combat readiness. It was amazing how fast that reduced the around time and set the standard that we actually focused on at work. Remember, while you are planning your next career, there are plenty of other people in the squadron that will be there for a long time and could actually benefit from your experience more than hearing the details of how and why you are separating.” Not at all surprising he got promoted. Management at its finest.

Management buddies? Liquid is a good dude, he has been promoted again and I think his job and circumstances keep him away from this forum...I am assuming. We are friends but I don't discuss this place with him. As for other senior folks, I wish I had a better answer. I am admittedly disillusioned having run in those circles and I am truly sad to say many are sycophants that could care less what you post on here because they believe alternate realities and nothing you can say (even the facts), will convince them otherwise. When you try to tell the MAJCOM/CC there is a retention train wreck coming and his response is "they will stay because they are patriots"...you reply, but sir they have done their duty over and OVER again...then he replies "fuck them, we will just make more." Some of these assholes made it worse out of pure malice...one in particular REALLY fucked some good people over and they got out. One dude had a life-long dream to fly the B-2, the now 2-star select refused on principle (our manning would have allowed it), so a Great pilot bailed. The same guy then stopped another guy from going to TPS (another life-long dream), because he was a CV-22 flight lead and we were short...so they guy got out and now flies for Delta. Much of our senior leadership is septic...the only reason they are pretending to care is because we are indeed 1920 pilots short and it is only going to get worse...MUCH worse.

Sorry, should have clarified. Enlisted RPA pilots would be a short term bridge that would work. However, I think they will end up having similar problems keeping drone operators as the drone industry becomes more in demand. My point is that putting a guy making 30K a year into a cockpit and expecting him to stay a day past his commitment is crazy.

That 10,000 gallon douche! Just to make sure he sees this when he google gargles his own name, john venable. Hell, was probably pointing at his patches as he made up numbers for how much it cost to make himself in that article. This line is so good, it's an instant classic: " and enticing some of these “graybeards” to return will be relatively easy. " I'll make it easy, just follow my list. 1. I pick where to serve. Easy. 2. I fly. And I pick when. Easy. 3. I will have an office and beer will be in the fridge at all times. So Easy. 4. No PT test, ever! Insanely Easy! 5. No deployment, ever! Easy. 6. I keep 100% of my retirement pay. I'm sure there's a way. 7. My salary will be 100% tax free and will be based on my monthly base pay at my airline at my seniority number. Act of Congress, if well motivated, is possible. 8. I can leave whenever I want. Easy. 9. No OPRs, 1206s, CBTs, etc (code for anything else/qweepy I don't want to do). Easy. 10. 36-2903 is waived. I get to wear whatever uniform items I have in my closet in whatever combination I come up with. I'm thinking the old white "blues" service coat with all, some, or no medals, V-neck t-shirt in brown, 1st generation PT shorts in my regular size (alright, XXXL will keep the creeper sweepers away), and black boots with white socks. Hat will be an "operator" cap! If I decide to wear one. Easy, just close your eyes when I walk by the front office. 11. On wingman day, I will hold council in my office where we will talk about beer, gambling, flying, airlines, airline apps, what's hot, guns, beer and guns, tell stories and other fun shit. Easiest thing in the world. 12. Once a month, I will lead a formation low level to some place cool. Jan - St Croix. Feb - Wherever they grow cheap roses. Mar - any NCAA tournament city, but just for 1 night; don't want to get it too much trouble. Apr - A Florida Spring Break hot spot. May - Cali. Jun - Vancouver. Jul - Anchorage. Aug - St Johns. Sep - Dealers choice. Oct - the best Octoberfest in America. Nov - Vegas. Dec - Hawaii (I'm sure there's a JAATT that needs filling out there). Easy. So in summary, compensation scale tipped towards AF, all bullshit removed, and AF QOL improved. Easy. Out

I think the whole "you will get punished for talking about something other than the Air Force" has one merit, in the fact that it insulates the young punks from becoming too salty too quickly. HOWEVER - I 100% disagree with it. That is a prime example of the AF treating the symptoms, not the problem. You can place a gag order (sts) or use ground evals to "punish" dudes talking about getting out, or you can fix the problem at the source and make it so there isn't such a monstrous disparity between AF and life outside (airlines or otherwise).

Don't forget that one year to The Died is technically a PCS. We won't give you a 365 deployment, but here is your remote. You can make it a two year if you want your wife and kids to join you. Contract not violated. Trust no one.

I completely disagree.

Current pay for a RPA qualified pilot at my deployed location is $1500+ a day. I’m licking my chops at that as a prior manned Capt, what do you think some airman that qualifies for food stamps is going to do when their 4/6 commitment is up. Retnention will be right back in the shitter. When the word gets out that being enlisted pilot means all the responsibility and none of the pay the pool applicants is going to drop. I’ve been driving drones for 2.5 years now, have yet to meet a sensor that would be a pilot without the Officer raise.

I wish more of your management buddies would participate on these forums. Would be interesting to see how delusional and out of touch they really are. Or, more likely, how much they really don’t give a shit, as it’ll be someone else’s problem after they leave. Sort of like how the Liquids and Learjetters don’t really participate anymore.

If one more idiot says enlisted pilots are the solution...

Sorry to hear about your loss of a toothbrush.

So, there I was. No shit. Middle of an ORE at Shaw, first of three sorties for the day turning ACT x ACT x RED. I was a brand new CMR #2, all thrust, no vector; I'm a pitbull on a fvcking leash. Brief and ground ops were uneventful, up to the point where PFL (wussy flight lead) calls Ops and tries to cancel due to isolated VCTS. Fvcking FAIPs. Ops recommended he grow a pair so we took off and headed west. After precisely 69% of the vul covered, with a clean picture and most of my missiles expended, the SOF calls on AUX - mushroom cloud overhead; we need to divert to WRB. PFL quibbles, something about it being his turn to cook dinner that night. Those of you who know MatMac are aware: this is no joke. Anyway, Georgia is a state where (up to that point) I had yet to slay so I tactically declared BINGO and reached back with my right hand to make sure my helmet bag contained my trusty mark-1 divert kit: deodorant, toothbrush and a box of rubbers. On vectors to WRB I've got snowplow called up and I wisely aimed for every rainshower I could... On the ground, we talk to TA about turning our jets. Well, I talked to TA. PFL was on the horn with his wife and then PF Chang's ordering food so he didn't get in trouble. Turns out TA will take 3 hrs to turn the 8 jets so we go to the bowling alley to get lunch. This is where the fun starts. It's summertime, so school is out. I spy a group of four lovely ladies (who were looking for heroes) on lanes 6-9. I give PFL a 5-spot and directions to order a burger, then I go anchor by the ladies. Turns out the outgoing blonde is the wing king's daughter and the others are her friends from the nursing program who happen to be visiting during the summer. Shitty food is consumed. Numbers are exchanged. I depart for Base Ops with digits and the hope of a road trip some upcoming weekend. I proceeded to do the most thorough pre-flight inspection of my life. Low and behold, I find an EMS bit ball had popped after landing! Sure, if I had noticed it on my post-flight then maybe they would have had time to send dudes from Shaw to fix it that day. Not likely though. Now, everyone knows that flight through precip is likely to trip one without any real problems, so PFL comes over to survey the situation. He closes the panel and asks what I'm gonna do. I give my best pep talk about how happiness comes in small doses and opportunities to be true heroes are rare. His response: "I know dude, that's why I need to get home. I'm only allowed two TDYs a year, I don't want to burn one in WRB." SQ policy was to divert as two-ships but I sit idly by with a shit-eating grin on my face as 7 jets blast for home and I walk off to the Qs, helmet bag thrown over my shoulder. Aftermath: he told me the lettuce wraps were particularly good at home that night. Me, on the other hand - I got back the following afternoon and was completely spent. 4 nursing students not worth burning one of your allocated TDYs on? For me it was, and all it cost me was a phone call to my neighbors to take care of my dog. Well, that and I did have to replenish one divert kit.

My pilot training commitment was up in 1998. I aligned my tuition assistance and PCS commitments with my pilot training one so I had options. Airline opportunities were good from 1996-2001. Plenty of good dudes got out and plenty stayed in. There was a lot discussion about quality of life, pay, AF bullshit, bad leadership, retirement benefits, etc. The biggest factor impacting pilot retention is airline hiring demand, period. The airline job and lifestyle are very appealing to many people. I stayed in because I was good at it, I enjoyed it, and I didn't want to drag a black suitcase behind me on the way to a hotel for 10-14 days a month. I liked flying in the Air Force and the additional money and free time weren't that important to me. I decided to stay in before the bonus was offered. I took it, but I didn't stay in because of it. 9/11 changed everything for me. We saw many people quit their airline jobs to return and serve. After 9/11 I decided to continue serving until I was told my talents and service were no longer needed. We are a nation at war with an enemy determined to kill our families and destroy our way of life. I serve because someone needs to defend this great nation from the evil assholes that will attack us whenever they can. I'm still good at my job, I still enjoy it and not many people have the opportunity to do what I do. I enjoy taking the fight to the enemy and kicking the shit out of him on a regular basis. We are on the cusp of a big airline hiring surge and we will see retention drop. Good people will do what is best for them. All of those who leave service for other options should be genuinely thanked for their service and assisted with the transition to civilian life. Most will be combat hardened veterans who have earned the respect of a grateful nation and Air Force. They are not "quitters" or disloyal, they are incredible men and women who volunteered to serve honorably and have more than paid back what they owe for the training, resources and experience the AF invested in them. They are also not all disgruntled, or are quitting because senior leadership has lost their minds, or they are in mourning because their traditions have been ripped from them. We shouldn't attempt to broadly characterize why some don't stay and we shouldn't broadly categorize why people stay in. The reasons are complex and usually based on the individual's preferences more than institutional advantages or shortcomings. We should not tolerate talk and actions related to post-service employment at work. Do the f*ing job you are paid to do and plan for your post-service job on your own time. Stop the airline conversations in the pilot shop and make sure people are earning their damn paychecks. Flying hours and modernization will continue to be cut. Afghanistan and deployments will wind down. Staffs will be reduced. School opportunities will continue to be cut. Congress and POTUS will continue to cut defense spending and expect reduced costs. The all-time high retention rates we have seen will drop and we will have pilot production and retention challenges. Our all volunteer force will step up and meet the demands our nation asks us to meet. It will all work out.

Nobody cares what you talk about on your airline job. You should not be paid to work on your next job while at work on active duty. Do that on your own time. Yeah, yeah, we have transition programs. Do it then too. It is incredible how many people bitch about how hard it is to find the time to knock out AAD/PME/DTS/CBTs/fill in the blank additional duties and how much is distracts from their -1 studies, warfighting focus and professional development, but think it is perfectly fine to surf the net, network and bullshit about their ATP and interview. Make up your ing minds. But make sure you do the job the taxpayer expects you to do first. When I was a Captain and encountered pilots chatting about their airline prep in the pilot office, I would give them a no-notice ground eval to check their systems knowledge and combat readiness. It was amazing how fast that reduced the around time and set the standard that we actually focused on at work. Remember, while you are planning your next career, there are plenty of other people in the squadron that will be there for a long time and could actually benefit from your experience more than hearing the details of how and why you are separating.

Damn, I hit a nerve here. I wasn't really thinking about casual talk, I was talking about doing the ATP and interview prep in the pilot shop. In my squadron, the pilot office was not that big. Several computers, a couch, a fridge, some desks a big white board. The pilot shop where you checked the schedule, your currency, your v-file and your pubs. We did not allow the pilot shop to become the airline prep office. If anyone started hanging around the pilot shop and talking about their airline hiring process, it distracted from our mission and was considered unprofessional. The "no-notice ground eval" was the evaluator pilots, me included, changing the discussion from airlines to systems and procedures and reminding those that were considering separating that we had a mission to do. There is a difference between talking about it with your friends, and doing the whole process in the open while influencing and distracting those who are not participating in the airline transition. Many people here have posted how many people in their squadrons are talking about the airlines and prepping for their airline future in the squadron. They use that observation to point out how f*cked up the AF is and how out of touch I am. After a long explanation about how we should not threaten or discredit anyone who chooses to separate after fulfilling their commitment, I added that the planning shouldn't happen at work. I am not in the squadron anymore and I have no influence on what happens in the pilot shops. But I think there should be someone who keeps the pilots focused on the mission, professional development and the technical expertise required to fight wars more than future civilian employment.