Leaderboard

I grew up with fear, sarcasm, and ridicule as a tactic used by my IPs, the leadership, and the rest of the institution. It worked well, and I didn't complain. The ops tempo was reasonable, I was flying 20 sorties a month, and push-it-up, fun TDYs were plentiful. I had never heard of a CBT, SAPR, Green Dot, and there was no airline opportunity. Let me suggest that that era is gone. What this "special snowflake" is trying to say is that the Air Force doesn't have the cards to play the dickhead commander routine any longer. It's a bluff. The snowflake is gonna bail to the airlines at his first opportunity while the commander keeps wondering why he's losing pilots. Adapt, or die. The ball is in the Air Force's court.

Don’t know the guy at all so I’m not going to argue his rating on the brocrometer, but if your buddy and 3 other dudes get butthurt because the dude responsible for all the flying on the base tells 4 IP’s that they need to be professional aviators and do things correctly, then I don’t know if they are ready to be IP’s.

Amen...Unity march, Everyone is a Warrior, punishing the entire base when one jackwagon gets a DUI, and sycophantic senior leaders with closets full of skeletons who serve only themselves...those are the reasons I got out. Also, for the the record I don;t think anyone needs a reason to get out. As an O-6 I spoke with multiple folks who were on the fence and the first thing I always said was "Thanks for your service, you are part of the 1% that raised your hand to serve and if you think getting out is the best thing for you and you family, godspeed, grateful you gave us the time you did."

Did I hurt your feelings? Poor thumb-sucking SNAP, should we call mommy?

What you identify as poor leadership is actually someone asking you as an IP to be a fucking adult, sorry that is so difficult for you. Enjoy the airlines, I am sure you "me only" attitude will serve you quite well in the interview process. For the record I retired to get away from caustic leadership and a broken system, I think most of the people that served with me (some on here), know I was not into the you should be ridiculed because I was ridiculed routine, but getting offended because someone asks you to make sure you training paperwork is squared away...dear god, get the sand out of your vagina.

Well, none of us were there so we're left to infer the context and tone with which the threat was made. The simple fact that a threat was made doesn't seem to be in doubt. Where did you read this guy merely told them to "be vigilant"? That's not what was written nor what I read. I will agree with you: not everyone should be an IP. However, having been an IP since 2004, I certainly understand the frustration that comes from being blamed for increasingly complex and broken process that an IP has no control over. If another IP's gradesheet is overdue because he's been flying an ad-hoc schedule for several 12 hour days because they can't find anyone else to get a dozen crewmembers current before they leave for deployment next week while the network is down, don't expect me to wring my hands in worry that you'll take my cert away. I'm also not going to bag on the guy because he went home for dinner instead of writing me an essay in GTIMS. An OG threatening me for his performance makes me think he's completely out of touch and expects all his IP have a predisposition for fcuking up. People tend to live up to or down to the expectations set for them. You are correct in saying a CC should set clear positive expectations and priorities. You are incorrect in saying a CC should set clear expectations, priorities, and make threats, especially over "paperwork". As an OG, If someone didn't do a gradesheet, you ask your SQ/CC to talk directly to that person. You don't personally threaten all the other IPs with being decertified. That type of leadership style has been rode hard the last few years. If you think it's an acceptable one, let's have a look at the situation we presently find ourselves in.

Meh, I'm glad some people feel that way. However, in our neck of the woods in AMC, not so much the case. Case in point: our "wingman day" is this coming Monday and our WING/CC has a full fun day of events planned for the wing, to include a #unity march (that's what he is actually calling it) to start the day, followed by an array of briefs from different "experts" on how not to kill yourself. This day will also include a "fair" with different base support agencies, the same ones who take 6 months to process PCS orders or forget to turn off your HDP even after you remind them 15 times and then ask you to come in to their office at odd ball times to fill out paperwork for indebtedness. All of this is going on while we have an unprecedented ops tempo with 3 different exercises, a deployment getting ready to go out the door, and several dudes coming in on weekends to catch up on work and hooking their checkrides because flying is obviously not a priority for "leadership." This is when we aren't doing the six iterations of CBRNE or SABC refresher for our upcoming surges. And they wonder why they have a retention problem? Then they have the nerve to send out all these surveys asking why pilots are leaving yet waste everyone's time having them show up to a freaking "#unity march" like we are a bunch of college kids from Berkley. A Major in our squadron said it best today: "I bet American Airlines doesn't have mandatory unity marches and briefings on how not to kill yourself"...

If I'm reading correctly, the commander didn't ask them to do their jobs correctly. He threatened to revoke their IP status if they didn't do the job correctly, before any of them had actually screwed up. Does your chief pilot at the airlines proactively threaten you with punitive action? The supply and demand curves have shifted and the Air Force is losing the competition for talent. Commanders in need to think counterintuitively. If a commander actually cares about retaining people, the only way to do that is to ask, nicely. Even then, it is likely that macro forces outside of his control will dictate that a large number of pilots still leave. But maybe, just maybe, he can appeal to the best in his pilots and keep an additional one or two of them around that would have otherwise left.

I agree with you that asking someone to do their job as an IP is not unreasonable; that was not a good example of said 06’s shitty leadership - there are numerous other examples that everyone can identify with that constitute the very caustic leadership that drove you out: for example, said 06 lecturing the DOs that this #unity march takes precedence over all and any mission planning for the day. Can we all agree that this is a valid criticism of today’s 06+ leadership force and one of the reasons that drive good dudes out?

They'd reject every app for attachments containing unencrypted PII.

This is why not every AC should be an IP and the expectation that all pilots should naturally progress to IP must be broken. A commander telling IP candidates, during cert, to be be vigilant with all aspects of this upgrade (including paperwork) or the upgrade will be revoked is good. It sets expectations and priorities. As the IP on tomorrows mission I appreciate a timely and well written grade sheet; it helps me help the student. That anyone takes this statement as a threat says more about themselves than the speaker. My advice, and I mean this kindly and professionally, is not to add emotion or insinuate intent onto words. Just take words for what they are.

Yeah, when significant numbers of UPT IPs coming to 38 squadrons keep going to 88s/89s at PIT and take a month to get through TI with multiple TI cert attempts I'd want more FAIPs too. We're not teaching perch anymore so that's one less thing to hook for. I'm actually curious how DLF found themselves in such a FAIP shortage?

Sounds like those 4 IPs are some serious SNAPs

How do you think I feel...I thought I was really good at flying and I made O-6 BPZ...I guess I am lucky I haven't crashed into a tree yet.

I think I’m pretty fucking good at flying. I guess I actually suck. And I’m a total loser and REMF dipshit because I’m a Major. This has been enlightening.

Bird your not walking into any thing of a shit show, your first 10 years of flying will be great in general with only the saltyness starting to creep in near the last year or two as you realize your future looks nothing like your past 10 years. That is what primarily we are complaining about not how it was for Lts through Captain (aside from lame additional duties), but what we have to look forward to now that we are O-4's + looking down the barrel of non flying deployments/jobs/more time away from family just when time with your family actually starts to mean something (kids), etc. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, I just can't stay in given current conditions at where I am at and am looking to go.

Holy hell, maybe it’s the 4.5 hours I just spent in an ejection seat and only spent 15 seconds upside down but F-ck me!!!! Us old salty sport b-tching bastards have complained so much we have UPT bound cadets worried. Alright Bird12, listen up, because you are wrong. If anything the ship is righting itself from what I see, but Us old dudes were on board when it was sinking so different view People on here have generally been/there, done that, diverse backgrounds/experiences. I get tired of my buddies b-tching about the same things I’m bitching about in the sq bar over the same brand of scotch so I read this forum. I want to hear how lousy the poor bastard flying the other jet has it so I can feel better -or- how good he has it so I can complain that community x gets all the good deals and wtf was I thinking taking the bonus because xx is at delta making $xx and here the f-ck I am getting $3.50 per day not allowed to drink beer on St Paddy’s day. Sport bitching is in fact a sport among pilots. (Hence the name) Very few of us really hate our jobs or the USAF. Perspective. I had a brand new straight out of MQT Lt on my wing in the AO, we flew a 4.5 hr mission full of in my opinion, sh-tty taskings, sh-tty scenery, sh-tty tankers, ATC, well you name it, to me it was all sh-t minus the 2 x barrel rolls in the descent. When we got out of the jet I wanted to apologize for his first sortie in the AO being so sh-tty. He was smiling ear to ear. My sh-tty 200th AAR was his first on that type of tanker. My sh-tty 200th time over the desert was his first. He loved it See my point. So you f-cking should be excited bird12, you got a chance at the coolest job in the world. Keep some perspective and know who you are listening to on this forum. If I were in your shoes I’d pay good money for the flight I did today however at my age/experience I’d just assume send someone else so I could sit in ops, drink coffee and complain about how f-cking stupid the USAF leadership is, how I’m not getting paid enough, how cool the Cold War days were, how great the airlines are according to my friends etc. Out

Back on topic: https://warontherocks.com/2018/03/air-force-in-crisis-part-iii-dear-boss-its-all-about-the-culture/

Having been a PIT IP, you are totally right. Typically, the guys who volunteered to go to white jets were phenomenal instructors. The guys who were “screwed one way or another” typically were bottom dwellers in their community who no one wanted around.

From what I saw at the wing, half the people sent to white jets where fine pilots. The other half were the people that get passed around from base to base so that they're someone else's problem. Just the type we want teaching new guys!

Yeah but I tell stories better. Crawl back into your hole before I share the one about you getting hit by a taxicab in front of the Venetian and limping around the Red Flag building for the next week.

I would take any advice this chap gives you with a grain of salt. He has been known to be abusive around these forums.

That picture is inaccurate... My mom's hair is darker

What?

Love ya brother but oh the places I could go with this....