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I'm an old retired fart, but I had a great Air Force Experience a couple of weeks ago. A client of my wife found out that this couple had a kid who was all ate up about flying, flew flight sims for hours, but had never been in the cockpit of a real airplane. So I volunteered to give the kid an incentive ride in my might Piper Warrior. It turned out he was a junior in college, majoring in mechanical engineering. He wanted to know all about the Air Force and wanted to hear my war stories. Of course I cleverly managed to never get shot at, but I shared some 'peace stories' with him while we stopped for a hundred dollar hamburger. Anyway, my Warrior is based at Austin Bergstrom (KAUS), and we get a lot of military transient airplanes. As we were putting the Warrior back in the hanger a black T-38 showed up in the pattern and flew a couple of overheads and then landed. As we started to walk back to the Signature terminal the Black 'BB' coded T-38 was parking right in front of us. My pax asked me if he could take a picture of this T-38. Of course I knew that nobody would care if someone took a picture of a T-38, but I said 'Why don't we ask the pilots'? So I walked over as they were climbing out of the cockpit, introduced us as 'once and future Air Force guys' and asked if we could take a picture of their jet. It was a looker I'll say that. To make a long story short, the crew were two U-2 pilots. Of course they let us take all the pictures we wanted, but more important they asked my young friend what he wanted to do in the Air Force, and he told them he wanted to be a pilot. They spent about 15 minutes telling him about pilot training, suggesting the best paths to a commission for him, and in general talking up the fun of being in the Air Force. I'm sure the guys were probably a bit tired, and in a hurry to get to Sixth Street, but to this young person they were heroes bordering on Living Gods. I really appreciated the time they took and their enthusiasm for my young friends dreams. It reminded me how cool it is that the Air Force sometimes would give you the keys to a jet plane and a gas card, and tell you bring back in one piece next Monday!

There is nothing wrong about a heritage video for support guys as long as it recognizes that they are in support of a larger mission. In many cases, bad support is a result of a lack of connection to the mission. I don’t think a heritage video will fix that, but it wouldn’t hurt either. - Support Guy

Instructional Fix: CSAF should read “The 5 Love Languages”.

When I call guys to offer the job I give them a window to make a commitment. (usually 30 days or so) I expect people are interviewing at other places. Once someone commits you can bet your bottom dollar that if they have a change of heart I'll be calling their new commander to inform him of that persons lack of moral fiber (and I've had calls about people the other way as well). Just be honest, if you are good enough to get the job it won't matter. Knowing that we weren't someone's first choice wouldn't stop me from offering them a job if they were the best candidate.

Yeah, I couldn’t imagine flying around in a tiny 737 for 10 hours. Must be real uncomfortable lol

Sounds like your words are important because they represent action. Doubt that would play well if every charge was always declined. The USAF is talk no action regarding QOL improvements. Don’t believe them.

I'll caveat the follow with the fact that this is my personal opinion and not necessarily how others will view it, so take it for what it's worth... I've sat on numerous ANG UPT interview boards and been in the military long enough to know that you are the only one looking out for you. Interview at both and see what happens. If you get both, then you'll have a decision to make and I would go with the one that fits you best. We completely understand that we may not always be the first choice of everyone, but I will still pick the best possible candidate. Personally, I respect the honesty if a candidate is upfront about their desires, but I also understand if they hold their cards close. Either way, that's why we pick an alternate. Best of luck!

I get what you're saying, but the video represents a shift away from "everyone is equal, everyone is a warrior" towards "aviators actually are special, and they represent the core mission of the service"

LOL, ya inspirational videos will fix AF issues. How about a video showcasing the new comm system that will allow our computers to work close to 50% of the time at speed faster than more 5 year old, porn/virus laden Dell.

I would say my wife's inability to hold a career is probably the single biggest motivating factor to me getting out. Even financially, when you run the numbers, adding a meaningful income to anything you make in the military is going to out weigh any bonus offers, etc.... and then there is the whole effect on spouses mental health. The feeling that they lack contribution to society or identity. The fact that they are only known as "Capt So-and-so's Wife" instead of by their name. And the fact that the Military keeps trying to push this creepy 1950s family model that relegated them to the home when they are better educated than their peers.

Nope, but my unmarried ass has a sugar momma who is an engineer holding it down in a great place to live and work. She has a great career and neither one of us sacrificed our goals or careers. When I walk into a room with her I am very proud of her accomplishments because she builds highways and bridges across the state that everyone utilizes. 🤣 Can you say the same thing when you walk into the room with your old lady or does she jet toward the punch bowl just to get away from you?

Being a pilot-centric forum, airline hiring is an outsized factor for our retention, but this is a broader issue than just pilot retention.

I think this idiot might qualify for a Darwin award if he can no longer add to the gene pool.

Good to see the hornets getting out of the hive. Keep it up! Go to your Commanders, be a Commander, push your State HQ, press your TAG! If your young in the game and you don’t know what a TAG is or who, TAG is not doing their job... *Work with neighboring units (initially select parallel mission units), states, connect the dots with data/ impact statements, monthly reports, do your due diligence if not for yourselves but for the others coming up thru the ranks. Everything else leads to separations or units unable to fulfill their doc statements and that will lead to an undesirable event however defined. Its always an uphill battle with bean counters, budget and self-proclaimed we know best Bureaucrats (Bureau). Do something and something might happen. If you do nothing, expect nothing. Fight for honor and good sense. (I chose honor as American English, don’t get hung up on it below 😉 ) Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. ... - Never Give In. - Winston Churchill

While I totally get a dude's reason for getting out to allow his spouse to have a more stable career, I don't know what this "1950s family model" you're saying is being pushed on us? 1) CDC--don't really need much of one when you have this "1950s family model"... 2) Gay marriage...definitely not 1950s 3) The fact that the vast majority of female AD AF officers are married to another officer...again, not what I would call a 1950s family model. Active duty definitely makes it a challenge for both spouses to have a career, but that is the nature of the beast with PCSing and families desiring to stay together...if only people knew about PCSing before going on AD and then could also get out after just a few years after joining (vast majority of military aren't on commitments more than a few years). In the end, do what's best for yourself and your family, but don't blame the AF for something you voluntarily accepted.

I have dudes walking into my office with family problems. I tell them I cannot execute the mission without their family affairs being in order. Your family does play a role in executing the mission. I need dudes who can delegate and punch at COB, not one minute late. If you have to leave early for your kids activities, that's okay with me too. If you are having family problems, let me know and I'll give you a day to recage with the wife especially. I should be the last person to leave the office. I have to tell dudes to get out of the office on a Friday afternoon and go home to their families. When I see people staying late, it's for promotion purposes in my opinion. I tell those individuals I need leaders who are about efficiency, getting tasks accomplished earlier so you don't stay late, and who believe in family first. If you're a workaholic, then you are going to lead the same way. The CC and Super determine who gets submitted for strats for enlisted. The 3 dudes who stay late I noticed, none of them were submitted. A MSgt was asking my NCOIC if there is more he can do. I heard my NCOIC telling him what I need you to do is go home to your family.

Reading old posts, the consensus seemed to be the AD route was the most competitive... I'm not sure that's still true, the number of folks accepted has increased from 14 a few years ago to around 90ish i think this year. But having gone from enlisted, to non-rated O, to UPT select as a new Capt, I'll say it's a long road and you'll be behind your peers and making rank past O-5 will be a challenge. I don't mind and have 0 desire to make O-6 or higher, I just want to fly and do cool shit... but for some people that might cause some butt hurt. My advise would be to get a UPT slot out of the gate if able, but there are roads to wings if you can at least get commissioned.

That came out years ago.

I haven't been on any hiring boards yet, but I was in this position when I was rushing units! I'll piggy back off @SocialD since his advice is what I followed. I interviewed with a unit and the following month or so I already had another interview lined up with probably my more preferred unit. I was honest in the interview and told them I also had another interview lined up, and when asked if I was hired would I still interview at the other unit I respectfully said yes. They offered me the job the next day! I definitely think part of why I was selected was because they respected that I was honest with them! Fast forward to the other interview, I ultimately wasn't hired. When I called back to my hiring unit asking if the offer was still on the table they said absolutely, and never asked about the other interview. Bottom line man go with what you are morally comfortable with! For me I just couldn't keep that from them and potentially burn a bridge! Had I never told them, interviewed at the other unit, and they found out then that phone call asking if offer was still on the table could have been a lot different. Hope this helps!

You got thru upt and got wings. If the af doesn’t want to release you from your Adsc (out of the kindness of their hearts) then you’re fucked. Be the best finance/LRS officer you can be and try to unfuck some things in those worlds.

Words and platitudes don't represent shit. I've heard all kinds of inspiring shit from CSAFs that never came to fruition. I wouldn't stick around based on hope of what one of them says.

Until you see the heritage video for the support guys. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I got to see Shaft's S-2 last year. Frickin' gorgeous. As clean as the day it left the factory. Here's a screen shot of Shaft doing shit that saves lives.

This is a trailer for a movie being done in Taiwan about the 28 Taiwanese Blackcats from the U-2 Program back in the 1960's. Gen Hua is about 93 now, and you'll see a guy names Louis Setter. Lou was the 10th pilot to fly the U-2. We had 5 of the Taiwanese pilots come to our reunion about 15 years ago. Pretty cool. One guy was shot down and taken prisoner by mainland China. He was kept prisoner for something like 20-30 years. When China finally released him, Taiwan wouldn't take him back. Fortunately, we allowed him to emigrate to the US.

Haha, busted! I did spend about an hour this morning refusing to get out of bed, granted most of that time was checking out CFB scores. Serious question - is 1000 AM by the pool too early for a third Mai Tai?

Depends on what you have and where you are going, like everyone else said. Having done Germany and Japan I would probably take what I had to Germany, and probably not bring anything to Japan.

I grew up near John Young Parkway but had no idea who that was or that he was from my city until just a few years ago. Great American.

All of the above is true, however the actual wait from notification to pin on is not bad anymore, compared to the 2 years it was a few years ago.

Good luck with that 12 hour notice you are leaving at 10 PM that night on a 16 hour duty day for 2 weeks to a place they cant tell you where over the phone but they said pack for warm weather after only working days for the last 2 weeks. Oh yeah, and troll.

We gave out 1 fighter every other class in 2007, and not many more in 2008 because AFPC said we had too many fighter pilots. Fast forward 10 years and we have a shortage. No idea how this could have happened.

This for AD. Airlift units are super tight over seas as well just based on the separation. Stateside is a different story. The more an airframe is on the road the less tight knit the squadron, but also the more remote a base is, the tighter the squadron. Fighter units tend to be way closer but they are squadrons of mostly officers and most of them are home for the weekend, so it makes sense.

Fired 7 commanders. Showed up as a herk wing commander having never flown the herk and said on day 1 he wanted to change our culture to get rid of low level below 1000 feet and limit us to 30 degrees of bank during all phases of flight because any more was unnecessary. Had the squadron that had a c130 crash at Shank show up 30 minutes after everyone else on base for the formal safety brief to talk about their issues, and then made them walk in between the rest of the wing to sit down. None of the people he did this too were on the deployment. After watching the safety brief with cockpit audio, he then released everyone out to welcome the crew on the safety brief back from Afghanistan 30 minutes later. Wanted to Q3 crews for not flying their 100% flap approach speed of 145 knots when they were heavy weight since the book said too, but would also Q3 them for going 146 knots which was a flap over speed. At one point he was a deployed commander at the Died, flew on a B-1 sortie, and would tell everyone afterword about his days in the bone and the bombing missions he had logged. I could easily keep going.

We got the guidance today at my wing. Senior Rater gets one strat of the member against the other either I/APZ or BPZ members. IF they use that strat then they can additionally strat against a peer group, either same rank or duty. No FGO or CGO strat. Also no mention of anything except promotion in the push lines, IE no school push in the PRF. Im sure it will get fleshed out more in the coming days.

I think you make some decent points, but I can't agree with you here. In my last 2 squadrons the commander and the flight commanders sat in a room once a quarter for an hour or less, hashed out who had done what, decided on the best and then tagged that persons flight commander to write a 1206. Never had to explain why the squadron didn't submit a 1206, and no one ever put themselves in for an award. It also gave the commander some insight on what the younger guys were up too.

Flight commanders didn’t win too often because they usually didn’t push themselves, so the commander, DO or other flight commanders would push them. If they won then they would help the ADO write it. Helping write your own because you were selected is a lot different than expecting half the squadron the write 1206s on themselves to help the exec. And everyone has an opinion but I liked the system because of what Raimius said. Winning based on the paper and not what you actually did is a problem in my opinion. Writing the 1206 for the person that kicked ass and deserves it in order to let them compete at the next level is doing it right.