Dukeorions

I found that the hardest part of IFS was staying awake during academics. On another note, the DFAC makes a killer omelette in the morning.

I was sitting in the front row and almost puked all over their sage green boots when they fumbled with the amswer to this question. Although the question could have been asked a little more eloquently, their sorry ass excuse for the reasoning behind it really had me gagging. I wanted to say that I've never seen an A1C trying to sew a fun-meter on their ABU sleeve...shit I wanted to say a lot of things but I figured I'd keep my mouth shut.

Keep in mind all aviation programs offered to academy guys are also offered to ROTC cadets as a portion of their summer training, including SPACE.

IRT to the PC-ness and the rest of the minutia we are bombarded with that has nothing to do with learning how to kill people well, here is an excellent quote, albeit describing service academy folks but widely applicable to the warrior ethos in all of the armed forces that seems to be getting sucked out of our souls at a rapid rate. Midshipmen and cadets remain stronger and more aggressive than their male counterparts at civilian schools. They eagerly play sports such as rugby, boxing, karate, lacrosse, and football. They drive fast cars, usually sports cars. They play hard. They drink hard. They are physical, often abusive among each other. They are not trying to prove their manhood: they are celebrating their masculinity. They are competitive, often vulgar, and tough, and every citizen who may someday send a friend or relative into war should rejoice, because combat is competitive, vulgar, and tough, and they will be leading men in combat. --Admiral James Webb

Hmm, I think that anyone going through UPT right now would say otherwise, but in the cosmic realm that this is coming down from I don't expect to understand the facts that apparently exist. I guess I'll work on that though.

Anyone else see a potential fighter pilot deficit in a few years?

To USAFE Fighter Pilots- Thought I'd pass this along and see what ya'll thought. I need your help. During a recent 4-star meeting, we talked about what appears to be a pending fighter pilot shortage. The AF's rated personnel management folks are projecting a 300 fighter pilot shortfall in FY13 that could grow to over 1000 by FY21. They also told us that the fighter community's bonus "take rate" is 10% lower than the rest of the rated community. Obviously, many of you are leaving, or thinking about leaving, the Air Force for other opportunities. If you've already made the decision to do so, then please accept my sincere thanks for your service and best wishes for every success in the future...it's an honor to have served beside you. My concern is not that you've made the choice to pursue a new path, but that we don't really understand why you made the choice. You may have heard the story about a Captain fighter pilot who wrote a letter to the Commander of Tactical Air Command a couple of years after the end of the Vietnam War. The letter started "Dear Boss, Well, I quit" and went on to list the frustrations that he and his peers were experiencing. I just read a more recent version, written in 2009. It's attached to this note. If you believe the author, some things may not have changed much in 30 years. Our Air Force is in a dynamic state of change and its leaders need to know why some of their most talented, highly trained people are leaving. As we transition to a 5th Generation fighter force, we simply can't afford to lose front line fighter pilots at our current rate. I understand that it's a busy time to be in the Air Force. The fighter community is faced with an increasing ops tempo, fewer fighters, less flying, more non-flying jobs and an unclear career sight picture. My gut feeling is that this combination contributes to good people leaving, but I doubt these are the only factors. I suspect some of the issues raised in the Dear Boss letter are also in play. But, most importantly, I don't know for sure. And I don't believe AF leaders can make smart fighter pilot force management decisions until we do. Interestingly, we also have a fighter WSO shortage which will persist for the next few years. But the longer term trends for that career field are positive. That's clearly not the case with fighter pilots and I want to know as much as possible about what's causing retention to move in the wrong direction. So, I have a favor to ask. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what is driving fighter pilot retention down. You can send them directly to my CAG at usafe.ccx@ramstein.af.mil. They'll strip names off the inputs, then pass them to me, unedited. I'm looking for the ground truth as you see it, not the filtered, watered-down "this is what the boss wants to hear" truth. Once I've seen it all, I'll give you some feedback...including what I plan to do with the info. Let me close by saying "Thank You" to you and your families for all of your hard work and sacrifice. You, and so many other great Airmen in so many career fields, are the reason we're the world's greatest Air Force. But no matter how good we are, we need to get better. When your job is to fight and win your Nation's wars, you can never be good enough. I will do everything in my power to make USAFE more combat capable; that includes trying to keep our best fighter pilots on Active Duty. If you think "best fighter pilot" refers to you, please let me know what you think. If you don't, this note isn't for you. R/Boomer Attached was this:

I'm currently 98 days out from graduation from the zoo (who's counting) and I want to go to the guard. I've got a pilot slot already, and we're all finding out bases tomorrow. I read the AFI that says Academy dudes have to serve their ADSC before being eligible for the guard, but I was thinking Uncle Sam is a little fat around the waist with officers and maybe there's a chance here. Looking for a Viper slot out of Buckley in Denver. I do know very important people in the Colorado guard right now, not sure if that counts for a damn thing...Anyway, thoughts?