Hacker

Well, nobody I know laughs on the way *to* an airline interview. I was scared shitless up to then. On the way home afterward after receiving a job offer? Yeah, that's a different thing entirely.

Clearly we are not talking about the same thing here.

Well, not in that thing I don't. I have the paperwork to prove it. 🙂

Dude...I'm right here...you don't have to talk that way behind my back like that. 🙂

FIFY. FWIW, I wouldn't say that Jennifer Smith "caused" any of the shenanigans. She has whatever right to complain about whatever she wants to complain about. It is the spineless senior AF leadership that capitulated to the demands of the PC warriors that caused The Purge. They could have just as easily responded to TSgt Smith's Congressional complaint differently (although it would have required a warrior fortitude to over-ride the political pressures), and it wouldn't have happened at all. That same group fails to understand that they, even today, hold all the power to fix the trajectory of the AF toward the ditch. But, hey, if Mark Welsh says that his dad never sang dirty songs, and that means there's no historical tradition of it, then I guess we can just disregard these 50 years worth of songbooks I have copies of and flush heritage down the toilet at the altar of social justice.

Hope for what? Some new-build can't-survive-in-a-double-digit-SAM-threat jets? Some new barely-equals-to-the-Flanker?

Yup, my UPT class in the late 90s had a post-solo "naming" too. Meh.

This has been taking place for decades.

She is most certainly not who the PC leadership is pandering to. They are more likely pandering to some non-existent politically correct standard monster that leadership is afraid is going to come gobble them up and get them fired. Asking a bunch of enlisted folks who are entirely unrelated to the events being discussed, about how they feel about actions that don't pertain to them in any way and which they didn't experience, is a nice touch and a great way to evaluate behavior, though.

Reading that news coverage of the CDI makes me incredibly glad I am off that sinking ship. Warrior monks everywhere, pandering to the feelings of the lowest common emotional denominator.

Easy solution: no ceremony.

Or maybe they just don't consider Big Blue Inc to be part of the "American military" anymore?

If guys flying with PBS like it, then good on ya. I liked PBS when I was flying with it at the regionals, but having had a few years to compare it to line bidding the purple way, I am a solid "no" vote for PBS at FedEx.

You must be quite an old graybeard, then. When was that?

Realize that "taking someone's wings" and not continuing with aviation service are two totally separate outcomes. One has to do with what you wear on your uniform and what your AFSC reads in the system (and that's the one you're quoting). The other has to do with your ability to continue to fly as a crew member. Plenty of folks have been grounded by FEBs, but not had their wings taken.

A very good question, because an innocent "oops" won't do it. Remember that the FEB process and the Board of Inquiry process (the "discharge board" that is responsible to decide to kick someone out) are two completely separate processes, with separate board members, and most importantly with very different criteria on which to evaluate the evidence in any particular case. But the big deal is that the two are not automatically linked, e.g. getting sent to an FEB does not automatically trigger a BOI, nor do the Convening Authorities in most FEBs I've seen also initiate a BOI without other additional circumstances in an officer's history that, combined with whatever the FEB was about, lead to questions about the officer's fitness for continued service. There are plenty of potential circumstances (in fact, probably the vast majority of them) where someone would be found unfit to continue aviation service by an FEB, but that whatever conduct led to that finding was not sufficient (or directly relevant) to not continuing service as an officer. Just as a couple examples I know of: - The case of an AETC IP who, on a cross country, did the ol' "flyby of your relatives house" act. That person was FEB'd and lost their wings, but was not sent to a discharge board, and went on to a Reserve job as a non-flyer. - The case of an ACC pilot who intentionally violated some flight rules by showboating in one of Uncle Sam's aircraft at low altitude while in a deployed location, was FEB'd and lost his wings, and went on to become an active duty intel officer without going to a BOI, either.

My mileage does, hence my recommendation. I don't claim that I'm some oracle of the FEB process, or an attorney, but I do have a bit more insight into the process than your average pilot. In addition to some other factors, I was also the FEB manager at an AETC Group and managed the cases of more than a dozen different FEBs and a few BOIs (discharge boards). The differences in outcomes of those cases for respondents with civilian counsel vs those with ADCs was statistically significant. Its great that it worked out for you, but your result more than likely had more to do with the circumstances of your case than the skill of your ADC.

Your #1 action right now should be to find and hire a reputable civilian attorney to represent you at the FEB. As said above, don't rely on your ADC. Yes, it sucks to spend a big chunk of money on a civilian attorney, but if you intend to continue forward in a military flying career the cost is pretty small compared to what you could lose. I have personally seen ADCs be positively eaten alive in the courtroom due to their inexperience dealing with the intricacies of aviation service. On the other hand, I have also personally seen civilian attorneys run circles around SJAs in the courtroom and get wins for their clients. Remember, the FEB process is designed to protect and serve the AF, not you. Very rarely will "justice" be served from the perspective of the respondent (e.g. you).

You will be eligible for a Restricted ATP at 750 hours assuming you went to SUPT. From there the Regionals will take you where you need and want to go. They’ll even take you non-current and non-recent.

I have it on good authority from AF leadership that a BUFF squadron cannot drop bombs on time on target because of dick pics.

On the contrary, my experience is that most career mil guys (not reservists/guardsmen) are surprised by a number of things in the outside professional world after they leave the insular military world.

The really interesting part of that is how different the "real world" take is compared to what we see and find important in the USAF fishbowl. I know of guys currently at the major airlines with some pretty massive career-ending black marks on their military records, and whom I know for certain didn't omit those things from their airline applications.

Regarding the "news" reports on the leak of the T-Bird CC's CDI, I will say (from *very* personal experience) that testimony, conclusions, and recommendations from CDIs can very much not reflect what actually occurred in a given situation. In the situation I'm referring to, the accused chose to not speak to the Investigator without representation from an attorney, and the Investigator finished the CDI without ever actually going back and speaking to the accused with the attorney present. Thus, only one side of the story was presented to the CC...and later formal proceedings showed that what was in the CDI was, indeed, only one side of the story. I don't have any personal knowledge of this particular CDI, or what Ex-T-Bird#1's actions actually were, but I'd say to be cautious in what you believe to be true with just the CDI info that has been leaked. To me, the fact that T-Bird#1 wasn't relieved of command until well after these events took place, and after the season completed successfully, speaks a lot louder than anything reported in the CDI and makes me question the validity of several of the things that are being reported. As was mentioned in the quote above, if an obvious physical battery took place, why was nothing done right away, and why didn't T-Bird #1 receive any type of punishment out of the whole situation? Maybe...just maybe...things didn't occur exactly the way someone told the Investigator it did? So, I recommend taking all this info in with as much skepticism as is warranted by the circumstances.

I've had a hard time coming up with what to say about Hook. Nothing I seem to write is fitting enough, so I'll just say blue skies and tailwinds on your flight west, brother Hook. It was an honor and a pleasure to be your friend, squadronmate, and fellow aviator.

Part and parcel with one of the cancers that has been growing in AF leadership over the last 10-15 years: nobody wants to make a decision, lest their superior disagree with that decision and it reflect poorly on them. So, we have raised an entire generation of "leaders" (really "managers") who have to "run it up the chain" for absolutely every decision. And this attitude is reflected, now, by the superiors themselves, who expect this kind of "mother, may I" out of their subordinates. The grand result is that nobody is really empowered to make any decision, and few commanders have the balls to just make a decision <gasp> and risk their bosses not liking it.