Champ Kind

Don’t forget the HC rescue mission creep too.

Overall select rate going up?

True in so many ways, regardless of “special” program, school, or even experience.

I know what you meant, but for clarity, I think the exact program at which you’re (rightfully) spewing hate is Phoenix Reach (ie, MDS crossflow). Phoenix Eagle is the MAF squadron CC selection board for O-5s and O-5 selects.

Can't be active duty.....

Oh hey, good....another survey!

Are you looking to fly post-AF? If so, would your medical status that keeps you from deploying also DNIF you and affect your ability to stay current or, worse yet, obtain a FAA medical?

Yes, it is an oversimplification—particularly when we get called to stick it to someone else other than jihadi goaters. The KC-46 is an absolute shitshow, but I think it’s getting tanker bubbas to realize there’s a big world out there other than just “passing gas and moving stuff.” I’ve ever flown a tanker and I never will, but I think that community is in need of a major culture change. The dudes I’ve seen try are regarded as heathens.

As in authorizing it for day-to-day wear or details on how to wear it (patch placement, etc.)?

I remember the recorded preemptive ass chewing that was mandatory watching when you arrived in the AOR.

You missed my point. Or maybe I missed his. Merry Christmas.

Was it not an enlisted SARM troop that effectively caused the cleansing of every flying squadron several years ago?

This is a good discussion and worth highlighting for any youngins reading. First off: it is douchey for a boss to expect crew members TDY to work their queep while on the road. To expect that is an admission that you either can't manage suspenses or you've placed too much responsibility on one individual. If you find yourself in a situation where you're expected to work office stuff while TDY, you have a choice. Like Standby and Joe have said, if you agree to do so, you do so willingly. You have a choice. You're not going to receive paperwork or something for being TDY and not working an awards package/OPR/etc. But choosing to do so could mean "punishment" in the form of your douche boss (that we can all agree shouldn't be asking in the first place) not "pushing" you for jobs/strats/awards, etc. Nothing you can do to stop that, and it will have effects down the road if you're interesting in making a career out of the AD AF. On the other hand, if you're trying to advance in rank/position for whatever reason, and you have a douche boss that asks you to work office stuff while on the road, you'll probably keep yourself in the running by doing so. Again, as Standby and Joe said, you do forfeit any reasonable right to complain when you knowingly participate. The good news is that crew dogs are in a buyers' market right now. You are all but guaranteed to make O-4 these days as long as you have no derogatory info in your records, and that should take you to your UPT ADSC. You can fly the shit out of your aircraft and push this stuff off and not have much to worry about, especially if you plan to get out anyway.

Won’t be from anything in the curriculum.

^ Found the school select!

Was there a certain code or verbiage that you used to get them to give you the discount? Also, I'm currently on an 8GB/month plan. It's usually just barely enough. Considering switching to unlimited, but I heard the speeds decrease. Any truth to that?

Thanks. Typed on mobile.

A symptom of the deep-seated trust issues in the AF.

The dolphin training industry in Corpus Christi took a huge hit when the AF stopped sending UPT studs there.

So why even bother with “gate months” anymore then? Makes zero sense.

Yup. Quick internet research says 2019 is the last overall annual 1% drop to get to the goal of BAH providing 95% of members' expected housing costs.

2019 BAH rates are out https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm

This sounds a lot like commander shit. Have you gotten him/her involved? After Hoss' advice of trying to work it out with an O in CPTS, that would be my next stop. If nothing else, telling your CC that you're going to be "red" for GTC payments for a while until this gets sorted out should help gain some traction but hopefully the motivation to help is beyond that.

YMMV but I know easily a dozen people that never had a wing job but either went to IDE in res or received IPZ O-5 DPs, but I’m sure they were receiving strats in the manner I described above.

One thing in the PRF discussion that I haven’t seen mentioned yet: push notes. For those of you that are wondering/care where you stand in the overall rack/stack, a good way to find out before the PRFs are even signed would be to schedule time with the person directly subordinate to your senior rater. In most flying organizations, I assume your senior rater is the wing commander and the person immediately below him is your OG/CC. This needs to be, at a minimum, 6 months before PRFs are due in your wing. Honestly, to make any sort of actionable difference, it probably needs to be about a year out so that there is time to fix any perceived deficiencies in your record (i.e., get you that upgrade you are missing, that job you haven’t done, or award you haven’t got)...again, assuming you care to do so. Before that meeting, for promotion to O-5,, if you care about getting promoted and you haven’t received any documented strats in rank/grade categories (as opposed to contrived categories related to jobs/AFSCs), you are probably in bad shape and most definitely not in the running for a DP. At that point, you are trying to find figure out where you’re at in the pool of other “P’s”. I’ve been involved in more PRF processes than I care to count, and I can tell you that a critical factor in deciding how strong a middle-of-the-road guy guy gets pushed (or not) comes down to what the OG says to the Wing/CC about that person as the PRFs get sent up for review. This usually comes in the form of a push note (typically hand-written to accompany the PRF folders) that effectively says anywhere from, “This guy rocks and needs a DP to keep him going” to “This guy shows up and flies the plane well but that’s it. Solid P” to “While I know you’ll be short on DPs, this guy should be next in line because of such and such.” Almost without fail, senior raters will go with what their group commanders recommend for a person up for promotion that they don’t personally know. So, all this to say, if you know ahead of time what your OG/CC plans to say about you as PRFs are coming due, you’re going to know where you sit overall. Yes, after signed PRFs come out, you have the opportunity to meet with your Wing/CC and find out the rationale of his promotion recommendation and what you can do in the future, but honestly at that point, it is too late. Much better to find out where you stand early so that you can start planning an exit strategy or work some last ditch efforts to boost your record. I wouldn’t say that this aspect of the process is intentionally secretive, but it certainly is not well-advertised. TL/DR: find a way to talk with your group commander well before PRFs are written to find out where you stand in his/her rack/stack.