Chuck17

Thought this was worth sharing... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11377559/Squadron-Leader-Harvey-Sweetman-obituary.html Chuck

Try this article, which links to mypers and even more stats... (CAC login) https://www.afpc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123416000 I know far more dudes who got DPs BTZ and got skunked than I do that got promoted. Chuck

That's too bad. Chuck

Feet are dragging due to the other goings-on at AFPC, that's it... This was released officially on 5 Dec last year, with personal notifications received as early as the week of Thanksgiving. Chuck

There's a shock. You know the best thing about people with ideas? They have a lot of them. And they routinely fail to get them implemented. So they keep thinking. And they keep working. And they keep writing. And they keep trying to change the way things work, pushing down the wall one brick at a time instead of charging into it at full sprint. What they don't do is take offense, jump the chain of command, whine about how everyone is telling them to stop trying to expand the DOC, then write articles about it ten years after the fact saying how "the man" just doesn't get it. Im positive there is more to the story on both sides, but the "everyone is wrong but me" approach tends to turn people off. Persistence, willpower, determination... And ideas. Don't give up. And don't whine. But maybe I'm wrong. I don't know the guy, never read his paper, Im not a gunship guy, and this is not my white whale. The issue is his approach, not the guy or his ideas. Sounds familiar... Chuck Edit: spelling

The 57th lost a lot of dudes. Bloodbath is a good word. But not 2/3... Maybe pushing 1/2, maybe. Regardless, it hurts. The fact is that the C17 WO community will be 65% manned in the short term, 85% best case in the long.... meaning less dudes in Tier I jobs at the squadron... There are plenty of older guys making their ways up the ladder, but the younger dudes have a lot on their plates with little relief in sight. The institutional memory of the crew force is longer than that; for the bean counters not so much. This debacle rings echoes of the 2006 VSP nightmare that we never got over. So no, the USAF and the C17 community didnt learn a thing. You're right - It is a self licking ice cream cone of malaise. It creates more problems than it solves. But every community feels some drawdown pinch. It was inevitable. It's the new reality, but not just yet. The 10th and 17th aren't boarding up tomorrow. This will take til 2017 to complete. Personally I'd be more concerned about the transfer of iron to AFRC. It's not like the crew force does a lot of local flying as it is. The currency vs proficiency slight of hand has only just begun. Chuck

^^ That's closer to the mark than the absolute one-or-the-other stance previously mentioned. We all have choices. Own yours. Chuck

Yeah sorry, I dropped my post because I reread yours and we were both saying the same thing. No need to dog pile. FWIW, the board(s) I have worked included one the old way (before the PRDA was used by the masses), and one the new. In both cases the MLR ensured the info in the PRFs jivved with the info in the reports - including TRs - and the dudes on the boards saw the corrected PRFs and the entire personnel record, including TRs. That's all I was saying. As was sent to me in a PM (thanks by the way - I agree with what was said), true, practice bleeding was stopped by the CSAF. But it doesn't change the have/have not with school in-res. TRs will still tell the board who went an who didn't... Chuck

The above is the reason I look like the RCA dog every time I hear, "We aren't getting much input from the field... So we must be on the right track/the ones who know best/are keeping the crews from killing themselves... " MAJCOM CCs are fond of these sayings - confirmation bias at its best! Chuck

I edited my post because, honestly, it's not worth my time to engage. Keep the hammer down fellas... Thanks for the laughs. Chuck

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_personality_disorder Chuck

Oh SNAPs... Do you agree with everything posted here? No? Awesome! Do you read everything posted here? No? Awesome! Does everything posted here represent you? No? Awesome! Free speech is not always tasteful or informed. But we sure dont need anymore thought policing than we've already got. I think some of you behave like teenage dickheads. I also think there are plenty of good dudes out there who genuinely try to help folks or at the least interact and learn from someone outside their own community. Sometimes it gets ugly, and has to be cleaned up. Some would argue that the site is negatively focused because of the recent buffoonery the USAF experienced re: force management. And there aren't as many kids trolling in to ask questions - largely thanks to folks policing the site. But the worry about "spouses and airmen" reading what is written here means there is something to hide. Which I'm not sure there is - if there is, maybe it shouldn't be posted. I know I've grown up, and regret some of the dumb shit I've said here, but that doesn't mean I think there should be more controls over who sees what on an open forum. USAFPilot I get what you're saying and see where you're going with this but the juice ain't worth your visions squeeze. The goal here should be MORE anonymous participation, including senior leadership, not more regulation and firewalls so you can control who reads it and you can "put yourself out there." Because people won't. Plain and simple. Chuck

This thread took entirely too long to devolve into dickmeasuring. You guys need to up your game. Chuck

Him, Him. Chuck

Think about the next step... IDE/SDE. In-res will now be an even larger discriminator for the next highest grade, IMHO. But for the bump to major, yeah, it's exactly as you describe it - a non-factor really. Chuck

PME source (res/corr) and AAD info on the DQHB will be masked. Your training reports will not be pulled from your file though. So in-res PME will likely be an even larger discriminator now. Welcome to the new era... Same as the old. Chuck

Valid point, HD. Caveat: Ask anyone who's spent time at Branch at HRC (Army version of AFPC for those not in the know), and they will tell you that correspondence PME is still looked down upon when compared to in-res. I expect the same paradigm will manifest itself in the AF, sooner rather than later given this new guidance. The bureaucracy is not as simple as the CSAF is attempting to make it ('yes' or 'no' check on PME), and our sister service experience is proof enough of that as fact. Since there's fewer ways for dudes to distinguish themselves from the pack, we will see that, as well as a decided upturn in other queep like additional duties, community service, etc., mattering even more. Job performance will still matter, but we are going to deal with the problem of separating wheat from chaff in a myriad of other ways that will in the end (IMHO) be just as painful as using/getting an AAD or doing timely PME was. It's the nature of the beast. It is unstoppable. But please don't get me wrong - I am not a fan, nor am I defending this reality - I'm merely describing the lay of the land as seen from my FGO elevation. Fight the fight, not the rules. Chuck

Champ - I agree with you and I feel your pain. Fellas... The truth of this matter is this - it is still a requirement, though just kicked a little further down the road. In all of my time on active duty thus far, which isn't really all that much in the grand scheme, I have learned several things... Among those: - Policies reverse, and the outcry from the "but, but, but" crowd is always loud. Be prepared. - You NEVER have as much time as you do RIGHT NOW, or, "the higher you go, the more demands will be made of you." Ain't no O-5s out there knocking out their degrees after spending their days as the DO or Chief of Safety... Start it, finish it, get it behind you (though at a much more leisurely pace than I had to deal with). - And finally, in the history of reduced budgets and drawdowns, I cannot think of an instance where "requirements" for commissioned officer promotion became LESS stringent. That's just not how it works. As I have said, our sister services ARE looking at degree completion and PME as discriminatory, and oh by the way, they promote earlier and send their guys to school earlier... (As well as sending more guys to school) So who is going to end up with an advantage in the DoD? Don't forget this is not all about you. The service cares about the aggregate. This is about the USAF, and it's about the service getting educated and successful people into Joint jobs to further the services goal of getting more of an ever shrinking pot of money. Cynical, but true. Keep kicking ass, spend time with your family, fly the jets, do your chores (PME and AAD), and keep things in perspective. Chuck

Sounds like bitchassness to me. Both envy and flight suits are green though... Notch. Press. Chuck

Excerpt from a relayed conversation between two captains: "This is bullshit that they're not counting AAD anymore, I spent X hours doing that, now it's all wasted. All the guys that drug their feet on it, now it's paying off for them and not for me - and I worked harder. Our records are the same? No they're not! How is that fair?" THAT is how I know this pendulum with swing - Because of the butthurt and lack of focus that we grow in our junior officer corps. Job performance DOES mean something. It always has. The rest is indicative but ancillary, so focus on what you want to, just be aware of the pendulums swing. The only way this careerist weed will get stamped out is if the SQUADRONS enforce the CSAFs directive. The squadrons are the key to all of this - and yet we continue to erode the trust in our squadron commanders... Chuck Edit: because iPad typing without morning coffee is hard

I'm sitting in a joint environment right now and other services are using it as MORE of a discriminator now than they ever have, particularly in the army, with more emphasis on advancement to LtCol. Frankly that's where I see this going next: no requirement or masked for major, unmasked for LtCol. Waiting til Col is waiting too long. Guidance is going to change - again - so do what you will at your own risk. Either way, it won't GET you promoted but it will certainly KEEP you from getting promoted. My .02 from behind the prison walls.... Chuck

HA! Thanks for the laugh brother, spot on. If I was more savvy in my younger years I would have made said board(s) - we had a few in my class methinks - part of a dipshit scavenger hunt or something... Many rewards for "proof of life"...! Chuck

Which is exactly why I'm skeptical this this will stick. Downsizing creates a greater emphasis on the small stuff in lieu of the big stuff. Talk to the old farts who saw what happened after Vietnam - Zero Defects, TQM, etc - or after the Gulf War, or read Gen Brady's / Jumper's guidance on this from just a few years ago. Then ask yourselves, what did my supervisors have to do... What was their requirement? And the answer is plain enough. Until this rests in an AFI, guidance to the boards will only effect things so much. The boards don't strat PRFs at home station. Period. The war on stupidity is just beginning fellas, this is merely a battle (seemingly) won... When implementation gets down to the squadron levels, rejoice. Until then, color me skeptical, no matter what the CSAF says, and despite his best intentions (which I agree with wholeheartedly). Don't get burned in your rush to set fire to your BAC+. Be the best operators and flight commanders, etc, you can be - lead your people, take care of them, guide them, and take care of yourself as well - leaders eat last - just don't go hungry. Chuck Edit - iPad typing

You just defined the American military instrument of power since the Vietnam War. Tough talk, air strikes, carrier strike groups and no boots on the ground - the Persian Gulf War and Iraq/Afghanistan excepted. In short, a form of air policing (https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/169/36386.html) - except we don't take it to the extreme required for it to be effective. This presidents rhetoric about America receding and the rest of the world stepping up to fill the gap and create lasting peace is terribly flawed and historically uninformed - talk about rose colored glasses. The world will NOT be more peaceful, but we cannot (peace costs $) continue to be the worlds police... Remember the red lines in Syria - these guys currently slaughtering thousands in the march to Baghdad were fighting Asad in Syria a year ago... Maybe the president was right to wait instead of aid and abet Islamist thugs just because Asad is a bad guy. The president is not all at fault. The morons on the right who are screaming for action and blaming the president (a political move to appear strong) are not doing anything to help Americas standing. Everyone needs to eat some fiber and read a fucking history book. Iraq as we know it is going to fall, likely to be separated into three areas between Shiites, Sunis and Kurds. Like much of the rest of the shitholes we've fought in, theses people are not willing to work together, have no national identity and rely on tribal and religious enclaves for safety and leadership. The fact that Americans can't identify the major players or the implications of actions/inaction doesn't make it our situation any easier. I'd start reading up on the rise of regionalism.... the unification of Germany, the Franco-Prussian War, and the lead up to WW1... Regional powers coalescing and coming into conflict on their peripheries... All signs are pointing in a similar direction re: the Middle East / Russia / China. And there is very little we can do about it. Chuck

That there's a discussion about mess dress going on in the "Whats wrong with the AF" thread should be eye opening. What the hell dudes! Are you really saying that THIS is something pushing you over the edge? Of all the garbage going on in the AF today...? Sport bitching at its finest. God bless BO.net. Chuck