Leaderboard

Disclaimer: Each promotion board gets new guidance, and that specific guidance, nor the actual decision making process in the board is never transparently communicated afterwards. In short, you’ll never know why you did or did not make it. The “if I had one more DP to give” is the best ‘super P’ For the P’s, in recent boards, if the verbal DP is tied with a strong command push like “should command now” or “ready for command immediately” that can put you in the high portion of the P’s. Conversely, if tied with a medium command push like “on track to command”, that verbal DP becomes less powerful. It’s a tough code to crack...especially when you involve strats. My IPZ PRF had a straight #10/20 senior rater strat, but an “on track for command” and no verbal DP, with a “P” checked. Sounds cut and dry: exactly middle of the total pack, should be high P area with an overall 75% promotion rate. Passed over. Even colonels who’ve sat on boards looked at it and said WTF. Even the civilian passed over counselor (I think she’s the only one, or one of a very few, so she has a good feel for the system) was a bit baffled. Our awesome opaque process at work. Honestly, after talking to a marine and some army guys I work with, I think the USAF promotion system is terrible and horridly riddled with unknowns. By comparison, the marines get a list of exactly who’s on the board beforehand. Ours sucks. Don’t put any value on it. Bottom line, once it’s sign, let it go and decide what kind of officer and man YOU want to be. The ink representing some “leader’s” opaque opinion of your career DOES NOT define the impact you make. Only you do that. Don’t let the output of a broken system limit your contribution. If you’ve got a lot of combat hours, chances are good that you have a lot to teach young kids, and a lot to pass on to your community. I know that doesn’t make the process any easier to endure, and you will likely still want to throat punch a “leader” or two if you get passed over. But know that regardless of rank and what the broken system decides, your inputs and experience are truly valuable to the LTs whose lives your experience and instruction can save.

Interesting. I go to Lowe's quite a bit and always see contractors vehicles in lot, and contractors inside buying mass amounts of stuff. Where do you shop?

Some day. And maybe soon. As of right now I would still rather not be outed because my story would do that and I don’t want to have to deal with that fall out while still doing what I am doing. Sorry. Cryptic. You will just have to take my word for it that Fingers Goldfien could have been the one who wrote that article, even though it is a parody. Edit: he does not care for us as individuals or members, just numbers.

QFT. I had a ton of O-6s dumbfounded why my record wasn’t promotable to O-5. But there is something to be said about not giving a flying about what my OPR says these days as a 2x passed over dude. The funny thing about the whole deal? I’ve impacted more pilots than pretty much most O-5 Sq/CCs and O-6 OG/CCs or Wg/CCs...and I’ll still wind up flying for some airline just like they will.

About? Yeah. Fell for the story. But serious about fingers.

I have nothing to add other than this is a great post. I really enjoy your writing style on here.

Hired Guard July 2017 Enlisted Aug 2017 FC1 Oct 2017, Approved Jan 2018 Package to NGB Jan 2018 (forms out of date, recruiter failure) resubmit March 2018 (improperly completed form, partly me/partly recruiter) resubmit April 2018 TFOT and IFT dates May 2018 UPT TBD (Guard FY19 UPT quotas have not been assigned yet?) Bottom line, if paper work is correct the process can go relatively quickly and smoothly. Double and triple check everything you send to your recruiter. Many things are confusing and no matter how many times you recheck you wont know if you've done it right (your recruiter probably wont either). Be patient. Be polite. Keep in touch with your POCs and don't quit your civilian job.

Just got back from the AOR and It's already a uniform bonanza out there. Between ABUs, OCPs, Army OCPs, OCP Flight Suits, Normal Tan Flight Suits....and the best part is no one seemed to give a shit what you were wearing, which was refreshing.

Great, now it's not only Chiefing from the USAF, but from the Army as well. Ha

Army Sergeant Majors already do this at Hurbie

RUMINT//NON ATTRIBUTABLE In my discussions with the HPO-boss whose coat tails I was riding, this was spot on. As a Capt he worked for a "sponsored" Comm Colonel who was going places. That Col retired as a 3-star, but still has deep ties to our (now) Cyber community. That 3-star briefed a group of 17D's at a Friday Beer call that once he pinnned on his first star the MAJCOM/CV sat him down to ask if he was "in the game." My former HPO-boss retired because of a long-term family emergency. A very good dude, mentor and was doing good things about getting our culture changed. He had guys that he made sure got high profile assignments before he bounced to cashing fat checks. I did not work for him at the time, though we were in the same org and he looked out for me. My actual boss during that time was not a HPO, was "asked" to retire and didn't secure a strat on my OPR despite DoD level awards. Which...fine. However, they wouldn't even tell him why I didn't get one or what to improve on/feedback. Another Col I know said a lot of the same thing as the article, and also mentioned that I now needed to find another sponsor. When I was working Wing front office stuff this is what the execs would talk about and how when someone ducked out that was planned for higher position it put a 48 month ripple through the system. Apparently there's notional plans for all these HPO's and GO's that far out. JQP had a good article on it a few years ago. I'd like to note that the execs hated this whole thing and would have rather been flying. Having sat "fake exec" a couple times and talking with the real execs, the time GO's put in to grooming a not small, but not large, number of candidates for quick moves wasn't a surprise. Having spoken with a lot of Col's at my last job, and seen how much more of their life they give up to wear birds, and the same w/ GO's...I'm not sure it's a deal I'd make even if given the opportunity. I'm certain it's not a deal my wife would make. I will grant that I've been blessed with good Col's and GO's since May of last year, so perhaps they're doing more than some douchebags would instead of pushing things down to us. Also, for the tribal piece. I've heard this from every Col+ that I've talked with about promotion/assignment boards. They called it the knife fights, and Col's came in with the short list of people they wanted to protect/push. Sometimes they got all/some/none of their folks to where they wanted them. That part was very political, and there were serious/loud gripes when other communities would push around for prized positions (see - 11M pilot now taking cmd of 690 NOS). For Cyber there's also Cyber (Offense/defense), Mission Support and Combat Comm tribes, which are also distinct from Sq/Staff tribes.

Just saw on MyPers that the CY17D LAF Majors results are now late-May to early-June. If Duck's exec-y timeline is accurate they should be released the week after Memorial day.

I was hoping they'd go left sleeve and full color for garrison wear. I remember the hurt feelings 6-9 years ago when they took away the subdued flight suit name tags stating that the US Flag code prohibited subdued wear. Guess that only applied to the zipper suited sun gods and can be overlooked for the unwashed masses. /s

That’s another way to counteract torque and p-factor. Rudder input is just too much work.

They look the same but you don’t blouse the pants (the Army helo pilots do tho). They have zippers on the chest and pants instead of Velcro closures.

Sidebar .... getting the va rating stuff (if any) figured out as soon as you separate is paramount. It’s not about the money (and you can decline it if it suits your moral high ground). It’s about getting service connection and a “chain of evidence” established while its fresh....so that 40 years from now when you need a kidney transplant because the chem trails cocktail of the month turned out to be carcinogenic you aren’t thoroughly screwed. Dont scoff the va stuff. It’s worth the effort early. And glad to hear you’ve got everything all figured out ....

Glad I'll be retired by the time the mandatory wear date takes place.

If true, I guess the Air Force found a way to circumvent allowing pilots to roll up their flight suit sleeves.

“The most successful high-potential officers are those who make their seniors look good in shallow pursuit of the latest fad, thereby avoiding potential mistakes that could result from taking actual risks to advance the mission.” It’s like 17 years of my experience with the careerists were summed up in a sentence. Well done.

This is how I differentiate between what I accept and what I don’t choose to participate in. I’ve never preboarded, and when I go out to eat I make sure I tip the majority of the discount back to the wait staff on top of the 20% pre-discounted amount.

After doing a tour at the Navy's T6 FITU (their version of PIT) I always said "What's easier, a student fam 1 ride or an instructor fam 1 ride? ...the student fam 1, because he'll study."

Skitzo you’ll make O-5. If for no other reason simply because you used the term “catagory 1b level strat” which I’m not sure what it is, but sounds like something O-5s should know. Seriously though, you’ll be fine. What you’re describing sounds like what an average board member puts in the “yes” pile.... assuming no derogatory info.

When I was a young Airman, making $1k/mo, those discounts mattered a lot. I happily took them, along with food stamps and WIC, so my family could eat. Today, with a much healthier budget, I still like to say thank you by supporting the businesses that offer them. At restaurants, specifically, I tip back the entirety of the discount to the waitstaff on top of normal tip. Personal choice. In terms of plates, most Texans don't park in the Randolph parking lot. They do, however, see a random MSM plate in their town and feel a swell of pride and patriotism. I know, because I was once that young kid in a non-military heavy Texas town. Yes, the free registration is nice, but it also plays a small part in preserving Texas culture.

TLDR: Who cares? So long as they aren't harassing a company to give them a discount. I'm sure no one here got the Amex platinum or other premium credit card, then got the fee waived for their active duty service. Or used the admirals lounge while flying on American on orders. Or used an USO lounge at the airport. Or put your frequent flyer or hotel points number while traveling in official business. How about taking advantage of reduced or free hunting/fishing/parks permits? How about booking a hotel at the gov rate when not on orders? What this attitude boils down to is: "Service itself should be its own reward." Where have I heard that before? Hmm... I remember my dad telling me about the days when he'd go out in the field (army), and BAS was reduced since meals/MREs were provided. Imagine if every day in the Deid that you'd pay a portion of your BAS for chow hall food. Outraged? Get over your sense of entitlement, BAS is so you can eat, and you had government meals provided. Dumb 2LT wearing a flightsuit while traveling commercially? Teaching moment. Airman wearing ripped jeans and looking like a slob? Maybe there's a reason some units have their jr enlisted travel in uniform. My point is, if a business is offering a perk, who are we to judge other people that take advantage of that perk? (Obviously there's a limit...you can't sign the AF up to lease tankers in return for a job with the contractor) I'm pleasantly surprised if a business has a military discount, but I'm by no means upset if they don't. Tip the waitstaff based on full price before the discount, and maybe a bit extra, especially if they give me a discount unsolicited. I'm just a guy doing my job, and sometimes that job involves going some pretty cool things that most can only dream of doing. It's their way of saying thank you. I'd rather they said thank you by supporting and voting for politicians that use military force judiciously, and holds the services and president accountable for use of the military.

Getting into the check-of-the-month club makes a lot of follow on decisions much much easier. Recommend.

And avoid parking fees at the airports and road tolls. Depending on where you live in TX (Houston for example), your MSM license plate could save you $500-$1000+ annually.

Annoyed by being thanked for your service? First class customers upset by young military volunteers boarding first? Having anything military affiliated on your car is unseemly bragging? In a country where a significant portion of the population worships celebrities, you guys are concerned about people and companies doing some surface-level things to appreciate the troops?

My favorite thing is the "innovation idea" taskers that come down urging us to :cut the cruft and think outside the box." Then require us to route it through the entire chain, brief Sq/Grp/Wg CC's for it to get out of the Wing.

I had returned from my 365 a year before and was in a pretty good assignment when I decided to sign the 5 year bonus. The next year the 20 YAS bonus was offered to MAF pilots and they allowed my year group to sign the longer bonus. Since I had decided to stay to 20 anyway I decided to go ahead and add the four more years of bonus payments. The AF didn’t have to allow my group to take the added bonus. I was pleasantly surprised when they offered it. I’ve had a good career except for the year of my life wasted in Afghanistan. I’ve flown in every assignment. Not a school select. Made O-5. Of course, all my friends are flying for airlines now and I’d also like to be done with military service but I’m getting close and am most likely in my final assignment. Flying is good. I’ll have to suck up a Group or Wing staff job soon, but such is life. I took the path of least resistance staying in and signing the bonus. I didn’t want to start a job search and grow up quite yet. It worked for me. The AF is dumb sometimes, but usually it’s not as bad as the board makes it seem. I’ve paid my dues TDY and deployed like all of you, but my life has also gotten better as time has gone on. I understand everyone is different and has different experiences though. And that’s fine.

Gosh. This reminds me of the AF blaming the F-22 pilot for not being able to breathe. Idiots.

Wow. Is that real? I thought people were the mission. With attitudes like that....well I feel even less motivated to care about the military. Especially with fingers goldfien in charge.