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After retiring from airline flying @59, I consider flying my RV-8 3 times a week the pinnacle of my flying career.

We’ll never be able to afford to mass enough pilots on AD for a just-in-case peer fight. Or jets, for that matter. Entire AF force structure should be inverted, with a smaller amount of highly-bonused AD guys and a larger amount of guard/reserve ready to spin up when needed. Modern jets and pilots can’t be cranked out at WW2 speeds, so I can’t see how having a larger reserve force isn’t the best way. It keeps experience around, gets us out of the constant upgrade cycle, saves jet hours, and lets pilots go out and make money for the economy rather than being a personnel drain. Not to mention the great deterrent of having a huge combat force on standby, chomping at the bit for some action. It’ll take an act of Congress, but so what.

The fact they require 6 months is ridiculous. Any other job is happy with 2 weeks but the AF.... Fuck no, we want to make sure your decision to quit gives us time to make it painful.

They probably just swapped them out for you knowing your neck and back are wrecked with that level of experience and you can’t see them anyway.

Thanks bro, now I don't need to respond. I appreciate that some people read what is written and take it as such without trying to morph it into something completely different.

But he’s not talking about withholding medical care, he’s talking about taking from him personally against his free will, to help the person who made a poor choice. In this analogy, dumbass wrecks his bike wearing zero PPE while going 69 mph, so Prozac is pulled out of work to donate an asscheek of skin to graft onto dumbass’ fucked up body. Yeah hyperbole, but so is this entire analogy.

If your ADSC is up, unless there is an official stop-loss, they really can’t say no.

They're both related, but I'll stay on the latter point. The question is where to draw the line on the public good. Should I have to bear the cost of hospitalization of someone who catches COVID and needs ICU care, but had believed COVID was fake news, ignored CDC recommendations, and believes the vaccines contain microchips? Even with private insurance, if the insurer is paying out more for medical services, you can count on premiums going to go up the next year so your still going to take it out of hide to pay for someone else's stupidity. After all, the insurer is in the business of making money, and generally has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to deny care whenever allowed by contract/coverage terms. And most people do not have the money to pay medical costs directly themselves, so that means pooling resources with others to mitigate financial risks. That can be with government, or with private organizations, both of which can screw you as the individual in many different ways. We benefit from decent healthcare in the military, and for retirees I'd say great healthcare for the price that you couldn't get in the private sector. Oddly enough, you never hear that come up as a factor when taking about compensation packages (pilot pro pay vs bonuses, etc), it's just taken for granted because that's just the way it's been. So it makes it easy to justify why we get government healthcare and others don't-because that's how it always has been.

How do you feel about DoD reducing it's healthcare services, with the plan of kicking dependents off base to the private providers/Tricare? In theory that's fine, in practice there are many locations where it's difficult to get added as a new patient off base, which would effectively deny routine healthcare access to dependents. Should retiree Tricare be eliminated? Any service related issues could be handled by the VA. Need coverage transitioning to your second career? There's always COBRA. Shouldn't the pension be enough of a thank you for a full career of service, similar to what the private sector offers in retirement plans? Can't afford your care of for that of your family? Well, there's plenty of charities... Even if you don't go to those extremes, should the premiums for Tricare coverage for dependents be raised to be on par with private sector HMO rates?

Second calling the TFSC. The myPers “ask a question” feature is also pretty responsive.

Sure do! Let me know when we can all stop working and receive free health care! You know…because that will equate to making life better for all people!

Helped me for 29 yrs Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

So if someone refused to wear a helmet and was injured in a motorcycle accident would you be ok with withholding medical care from that person due to the choice that they made? What if that person was a family member or close friend? The truth is, we deal with situations like this every day in our society. People make stupid or ill advised decisions all the time. The rest of us pay for those decisions by way of public emergency rooms, insurance premiums, restrictive public safety measures, etc. it’s part of the compromise that comes from living in a society. We don’t submit citizens to a death penalty because they make poor choices. With regard to writing off overweight people, two points: 1. Not giving an unattractive person a second look is not the same as standing by as they suffer what may be a preventable death. 2. Don’t knock fat chicks if you haven’t tried one. Everybody needs love bro. 🍻

Good questions, I’ll have to chew on them. But crushing my freedom to maybe help an obese person have a slight edge isn’t moral or fair. Forcing me to comply with restrictions for the benefit of another who placed themselves at risk is antithetical to freedom and opposite my values.

So we’re ok with the argument that an obese person’s life is worth less than a healthy person’s now? How much less? Is an obese person worth 1/2 a healthy person in our society? 3/4? What is the value you would place on an obese person’s life? Honest question. Not saying encouraging healthy living shouldn’t be a goal in our society. I’m 100% on board with ending the obesity epidemic in our country. But writing someone off ‘cause they’re fat? Seems pretty jaded, cold and inhumane.

Everything everyone said above. Also, know that some of the best flying to be had in the Air Force these days is flying the line in a UPT squadron. You will never fly more with less prep work than you do there, and you will hone your airmanship and competence in the airframe to an extreme degree. And yes it's very nice to basically check all of the boxes for your airline application in your very first assignment. One downside: if you are a guy who has their heart set on weapons school, know that you have a huge game of catch-up ahead of you. When you eventually get to your MWS you will be well behind your peers in tactical knowledge and the time window to apply will be rapidly closing as you will be a mid level captain at that point. Definitely seen it done, just know that the window of opportunity is small, and closes quickly.

Of those 600,000, weren't 80-90% obese? Let's not act like the virus targeted everyone equally - And yes I am completely skeptical of that number of 600,000. Did that many people die? Yeah probably, but did that many people actually die from covid? I have doubts. Maybe it is "risky" living an unhealthy life every single day of one's life? Maybe to save fat people we just simply don't let them order certain foods and drinks at restaurants and grocery stores, I mean its for the betterment of everyone - Right? Many people seems willing to force me not to have a choice... How many people does obesity kill every year? Probably more than 600,000 - Why isn't there a war on obesity? Or what if the increasingly likely probability that it was released from China, and covered up, caused a majority of those deaths? What then?

You make a great point about the limitations of our knowledge. Humility is key. Foundational to one's world view is the question how the government should proceed in a low-information scenario. I default towards individual freedom, a lot of people don't, or they overstate the certainty of their position to seize moral authority they really shouldn't. FWIW, Im vaccinated, but I don't support making it mandatory right now.

Delta just changed their addendum in airline apps. So if you’ve got an app soaking…be sure to reaccomplish that section.

Multiple thoughts on this topic. I'll go objective to subjective. Financially: the 'bonus' is still 25,000 to 35,000 dollars. It was introduced in the 1990s, yet has not substantially changed since then. in 2015 when I took mine (25,000 for 5 years), it should have been at least 37,000 to account for inflation alone. I didn't do my homework. I recommend others do theirs before deciding. By comparison, if you separate at 12 years of service and join an airline, a part 135 operator (think flying twin otters or -8's in hot places), a cargo carrier, or even a cargo carrier feeder to a major cargo carrier, you will make more money in the following 8 years than you would have in the Air Force. Moreover, the Air Force continues to insult their pilots with the need for a bonus and the option to take it...and sometimes no bonus at all...while GIVING doctors, surgeons, and dentists professional pay that exceeds the aviation bonus while not requiring a "take"...in the AIR FORCE. Not the dental force, or the medical force, the Air Force. This year, as a reservist pilot, I will not get an aviation bonus because it was not offered to pilots in my air frame at my base, because clearly the air force is good on pilots...while medical professionals get an automatic bump to account for the money they aren't making on the outside. Objectively the USAF demonstrates that it does not value it's pilots and is unwilling to truly push for retention improvements. The fellas at RAND have routinely updated their data that shows retaining a USAF pilot at 12-15 years for another 3 years using a $100,000 per year bonus is more cost effective than producing new pilots. Just like big blue, we'll completely ignore the safety improvements of retaining experienced pilots in one of the most complicated and dangerous corners of the aviation world. No, the USAF simply continues to accept the shackles that congress places on it regarding the restricted pilot bonus instead of pushing HARD for a professional pay similar to the medical career fields. That lack of effort shows me all I need to see. However that financial analysis ignores the quality of life items, right? Unfortunately a QoL analysis only puts more nails in the coffin. For example, pilots are likely to marry spouses in a like-status, like-education-level, and like-earning potential bracket. In short, we choose to partner within our peer group. Yet the Air Force completely ignores this fact and continues to move us every three years, thereby negating our life partners the opportunity to professionally put down roots and create a career, thereby stifling their earning potential. Yes, the air force has claimed new programs to improve this problem by letting pilot homestead, but they are largely lip service programs that have shown to kill career progression. Take a look at how well the career pilot program went...for the four individuals that got accepted. Or perhaps AFPAK HANDS, which I watched get used as a "force shaping tool" to force 8 senior MAF MWS IPs decide to separate instead of taking that as their next assignment (circa 2016). That trend has not changed. The senior leaders of the USAF refuse to force the middle leadership to abide by the simple rules of organizational excellence: Train and equip and prepare your people so well that they could leave and be hired by any other organization immediately, and treat them in such a manner that they don't want to. My own story included an advisory that my last three years before hitting 20 would include a PCS (I'd been in my API-6 'flying' non-flying desk job for 2 years) and a 1 year deployment...because 2.5 years in the desert and 4.5 years total gone from home in 17 years wasn't enough. When I asked for special consideration as the job I was filling is difficult to fill, I was flatly told no. So I voted with my feet. Then the USAF promoted me 3 months before my separation date...and I still separated (promotion carries no ADSC). But let's shift gears and assume I decided to apply to be commander a staffer or whatever career progression track big blue would advise me to take. The peek behind that curtain reveals nothing but another curtain. I've been close personal friends with enough commanders to have learned that becoming a commander, an aide de camp, or attaining some other advancement position does not actually allow you access to change, fix, or improve the system as we all secretly hope to do if given that opportunity. Instead, you are rewarded with a PCS, school, or lateral move every 1-2 years. Moreover, you get the exposure to discover that the senior GS and SES community as well as the bad O-7s (there are good ones, but the bad ones abuse their influence and tend to poison the well far beyond the abilities of the good ones to fix) and their staff sycophants continue to perpetuate the self-promoting trend of the USAF. That leaves the hard working 'good guy' O-6s and O-7s swimming very much upstream if they want to institute sincere and good changes. I know several of these excellent men and women, and I pray their influence changes the USAF. I realized that fighting that battle was not in my blood, so I couldn't continue on that road. What's that have to do with the bonus? In short, those who were going to stay would have done so anyways. Those taking it for the money factor only may not have done their homework to realize they could make much more elsewhere. So it's not really a retention bonus, it's a 'thanks for staying, we want to lock you in and take away your power to say "no" pay'. Hence I say, unless you know you and your family want to stay at the whim of the you-are-nothing-but-a-number AFPC assignment process until the end of whatever commitment you are 'offered', don't take the bonus.

Yep. I live in the DFW metroplex. I see it all the time. Libs have ruined literally everything they’ve touched. Please don’t California my Texas.

Had 3 interviews and I asked the same question in all before each one. For all three I just had to knock an come in. Maybe the heavy guys I was interviewing w were somewhat relaxed. No one told me to come in, salute and say reporting as order sir/ma’am... is it just an army thing? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app