hindsight2020

what do you mean T-1? You're too young to have seen it. (UPT 2.5 joke, too soon?) 😄

At AA? I may be misunderstanding what they mean, but speaking with my AA "associates" at the sqdrn, coverage rules at American are supposedly horrible (the whole red/redder thing), which would make that airline a terrible one to be a low-credit/trip-dropper guy. I remember asking that specifically as someone who'd be in the trip dropper category as a junior guy without the MLOA crutch non-retirees still have at their disposal. Your anecdote runs completely counter to everything I've been told about the schedule-germane work rules at AA. I'm completely open to stand corrected since you work there of course, but is this a 'Rona specific nuance? At any rate, agreed driving to work is the cat's meow, but like everything in life, everyone has different flex/priorities/circumstances. No right/wrong answer on that one.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. I thought you were implying one couldn't gainfully retire as an FGO without the need for a full-time occupation; premise which of course I vehemently disagree with. To bring it back on topic of the airline talk, as someone who will be circa 46-49 with a check in hand, a kid out the house, and a working spouse, I'm going to be wanting to prioritize time-off over pay, full stop. I've debated a lot what potential avenues I'd be willing to take at that time (GS stamp licking job, FW EMS, part 135/91, sim jobs, even expat .mil contracting), and so far have come up fairly empty-handed for one reason or another. The only construct I've been able to research that remotely touches on the kind of work-life allowance I seek in a post-mil pursuit, is some airline outfits. But a place where I can't readily drop trips/schedules as a **perma-junior guy and still eek out 70-80K, is just not worth the trouble for me. (**not working past 60, so less than 11 years longevity from .mil to when I quit all work life full stop) -break break Congrats on AD retirement btw! I have two things I rather be doing right now as a young man that my work impositions are getting in the way of: (1) The hobby and (2) more time back home. Suffice to say, the wife is tripping over herself to partake in both, which is probably why she's my second wife and not my first one. 😮 And I digress. Cheers! 🍺

I'm sorry, I missed the punchline. What do you mean by that?

You're missing the point. Airline training baby. Turns out .mil flying is so simple you can just tabletop it. What's a 'little' handflying atrophy here and there. And yeah some folks may die, but well within Big Blue's ALR on this one. Innovation! *wet fart* /s Oh, we're still not hitting the production targets, 4 years since they began this pseudo-intellectual word salad affair. At the rate we're going, they're just gonna contract out undergraduate training to part 141 and the unvetted cholate mess they get out of that one can go direct to FTU MAF cockpits (aka CPW reductio ad absurdum).

lol yeah I saw that too.

Would love to hear more about these avenues, as someone who has made a career in the T11Kxx world with little interest or incentive (less than 10 years to self-imposed full retirement after .mil retirement) to dabble in the airline thing post .mil. Are we talking GS jobs? contractor? OEM employer? flying, non-flying? PM if you don't want to divulge specifics. How did Stan/Eval affiliation helped you? Cheers.

Correct. TERA program of fy 14 and 15. Lot of eligible folks took the 15 year retirement and hit the airlines at a great time. It was high cotton for a couple years. And you're also correct on the reprisal accusation wrt the signature strike extrajudicial killing of a us citizen, he prevailed on that one. The one that got him more notoriety was the uvalde exchanges with the CBP during his days at DLF, complete with the accompanying youtube fame. Argument could be made he was the first baseops influencer before it became fashionable to have "I love me" channels lol.

Heh, amateurs. We had an illustrious guy at a former unit I shall not name, no sh-t sit out lap #5 on the back bleachers where the turn provided cover, and got back in the peloton at the white flag. Can't make this stuff up. Proctor didn't see it, but enlisted AD clipboard holder caught it. Splash one FGO bandit. Copy kill. Paperwork city. We got our diapers ration thereafter and lost control of our internal proctoring at the host base. #FUBIJAR apparently wasn't a good enough alibi. At least fitness-by-phone retains more plausible deniability. Taking your 3-3 cues from a Bugs Bunny cartoon wasn't that solid of a plan in hindsight. 😄

well, airline pencil tabs got MAGNUM'd out here today. Not an airline guy, but considering the bent of the SECAF letter was the presumed liability of whatever ethno/race-identifying historical patches were still in presumed circulation, homing-on-jam on the airline/"outside agencies" thing was the weirdest flex to say the least. 🤷‍♂️

in a perfect world it would. In the real world?.... I've seen plenty of Marielito boatlift antics on the AETC side to know it's an actual thing coming from losing commands. I don't blame functionals from playing those metrics close to the vest as a result. Nobody likes being the last guy picked in kickball, but that's just life. I'm not advocating for it, just playing devil's advocate.

white jet most likely, based on what I see come through PIT. The ratios still leave that community (bone) overmanned, judging by what inbounds into my sq have intimated of their time in that community, especially downrange.

And that's the signature marker that tells me RCA TFI is a pipedream, and not at all the direction of interest by the 10th/307th critters on the AFRC side. They're not going to dismantle the entire TFI footprint in order to make a move towards the B-21 FTU (assuming it ends up in SD in the first place) in a duty station that'd make the DYS operation look like UNICEF charity work on the the commuting/travelpay front. 😄

Fwiw, no active association (likely would have been the FTU, if the 307th/10th AF M.O. in KBAD was any indication) was ever pitched for the Bone side of the 307th. Which is to say that the active association angle is moot. What's your take/sense of the reasons for that unwillingness?

My apologies, I meant to type active associate FTUs, to address the specific point about the B-21 FTU being pitched in SD. I wasn't aware there was an F-35 FTU active association, if true then I stand corrected. I'm of course keenly aware of legacy fleet FTU active associates (bit of a personal ancient history that's no longer here nor there), which is why I stipulated next-gen in my comments. BL, I don't see regAF ceding ground on new toy FTU PAAs.

Based on the insider baseball history of the 307th BW (read: 10th AF metroplex-local mafia pet project from inception) and why a DYS classic associate was stood up in the first place, there's very little chance they stand up a significant classic association in SD. And forget an active associate, regAF will never allow it on a next-gen MWS. If retaining the footprint at DYS, zero chance of either. I personally don't see them bedding down the association at DYS any time soon (I have my theory on that), but who knows. Now, a token skeleton detachment, a la 47FS det in D-M during the days they were still hostage at BAD under the composite 917th WG? Sure, I could see that. But def not a full up TFI contingent of either flavor. My bet, nothing comes of it. "Make em tell you no!" tough. I keed I keed. 😄

As to my specific comment, neither. My comment was directed at the bad faith act of asking for an economic exemption, then running a shoddy mx operation as illustrated by the chicanery on display in the NTSB narrative et al. That's why I posted the old article that went into detail on what the for-revenue exemption allows a "it's a big ----g club, and you ain't in it" anointed sampling of certificate airplane holders to do, that other exp certificate holders are not afforded. Most pedestrians don't understand the limitations that come with an experimental AWC by statute. I think it's a critical aspect of the narrative. At the very least, it's the part that interests me as an unsubsidized aircraft owner who pays for the sins of the collective. It may be peanuts to these warbird operators, but it's my skin on the game nonetheless. In fairness, I make the same commentary on Boeing or the surgeon who morts himself single pilot in the Meridian. Now, in regards to your second inference, I'm of course not privy to the specific maintenance practices/philosophy of other organizations, to make a statement that effectively singles out Collings. What I do know is that the latter lost the benefit of the doubt writ large as a consequence of the mx and operational details behind the accident narrative. If people feel that is an unfair or "singled out" representation of the Collings operation, well tough cookie. Don't crash a revenue-allowance experimental with public passengers on board next time, with all that dumpster fire of a ground ops and [uncovered] maintenance profiles. Lastly, regarding your first inference, that was not the impetus behind my comment, but you dang skippy I have a TON to say about that as well. But that wasn't germane to the thread. I do recognize I'm in mixed company here with folks who rub shoulders and partake in the flying activities of the warbird little fiefdom within OUR hobby. I'm not interested in the flame war that would likely start on the public forum by expanding on that topic, but I'm more than happy to discuss that angle offline or via PM. I just don't consider it germane to the thread. Hope that clarifies my intent. Cheers!

Word. Eastern TN has recently popped up in our radar for potential post .mil and empty nester relocation. Wife is sick and tired of the sprawl here in metro TX but I'm still probably gonna have to do about 10 years of a-word work after mil retirement to get me to the finish line, so we want to retain no income tax residency like we currently enjoy. Chattanooga is a primary POI for me right now.

The experience of these old timers is moot. This is about these "it's a big effing club...and you ain't in it", "foundations" sub-culture getting that limited/experimental passenger for hire exemption to their airplane type certificate pulled. Which, just like it did for IFT in the USAF when they went to IFS, dries up the gig for these cabals overnight. That's what this is really about. Everybody fly safe out there. Happy new year!

FY 18 SUPT numbers were closer to 150. So even SUPT has not been getting 2-hondo for a while now.

Interesting discussion. For all the legitimate gripes [and gratuitous sport-bitches alike] I have about AFRC, I can say they've haven't yet treated the nuances of my career motivations with the level of backhanded derision intimated on this thread of much of AD. In further fairness to AFRC, at least under my current NAF, they've made inroads towards keeping the conga line moving on the promotion front for those so interested in management, by converting line O-5 AGR positions into term billets. Separating them from those of us in non-term (AFRC speak for voluntary-permanent) positions (an O-4 control grade). This is being done in order to not get stuck with MSD "squatters" in O-5 AGRs who tended to time out younger guys with aspirations/grooming for command. That had been a legitimate problem for a decade plus. Shocker as it may be to the AD audience, not everybody has a penchant for making O-5 as the litmus test for feeling dignified/properly compensated in life. The ARC doesn't penalize you for it by forcing an up-or-out on the lower (O-4) control grade. I think that was a good balance and compromise all things considered. One man's opinion and all that. Of course, one is encouraged to keep all avenues open, which is why I completed ACSC DL. But my point is that in general, nobody around here is shaming me (so far) for taking pride in being a high time IP/EP, expending my time and energy in mentorship roles in ADCON/OPCON alike, while looking forward to a very much earned 20-24yr O-4 (or even O-5 in the right circumstances) AD retirement and Tricare in my late 40s. Based on this thread, it's clear to me that is viewed with derision if not outright contempt in AD. Maybe they should work on that cultural blind spot. I suppose if one wanted to be believed when uttering that tactical experts are indeed a quantity to be valued/retained, perhaps don't start off the salvo by insinuating that role should be compensated at the level of a slick wing O-3 with no bonus, just because the O-5 aspirants regard flight ops to be menial CGO scutwork on their way to middle management. Dynamic which I find ironic, given half of them weren't worth a shit at flying/employing in the first place. I could further retort that AD grants IP/EP credentials to these managers-in-training waaay too soon/liberally for their britches, leading AD flying organizations looking like a bunch of unsupervised children who end up bending metal, while petulantly smearing the bystanders' (ANG/AFRC Silverbacks and Iron-Majors et al) warnings as ramblings of irrelevant malcontents. I could further point at the dozen or so class-As as exhibit A thru L to further illustrate the fruits of that blind spot, but I think I've made my point, so I digress. I like some of the ideas floated previously, especially a non-punitive look at later-in-life opportunities to cross-flow/special flying programs. "Choose your own adventure" indeed. Cheers!

They're not wrong though. AD is punitive and vindictive. Interactions, let alone social media ones, of any kind w/ leadership are a North Korean parade. And don't get too comfortable with the ARC; AFRC is not too far behind, especially for the full time cadre. The issue at hand with the specific senior leader in question here, is that he is known to hold grudges, and has made recent manning and funding distribution edicts that make it clear he has an axe to grind. Some people argue the stint at DLF broke Chuckles. At any rate, initially everybody assumed that the ideological "commitment to one's own legend" would be a limited compared to the aforementioned AETC/CC. But that mirage quickly faded into today, clearly plastered all over social media. As such, engaging such figures on an open vest forum like FB is just asking to get homed-on-jam. Caveat Emptor.

Ah, but he's not interested in introspective answers. Only outward deflection. Standard careerist tool. He demands integrity and self-deprecation, but is intolerant of any (of consequence) coming his way. Fact is the guy took the mantle where that pseudo-intellectual word-salad sophistry spewing B-15 illuminati Kwast left it , and has been running on the same snake oil ever since. Problem is they have full buy-in from the CSAF, and if you raise any criticism you're a Luddite and "part of the problem" to them. Frankly, I'm surprised heads are not already rolling on a retaliatory/deflection basis at the OG and lower level at Shaw over the oversights on the ORM and supervisor-of-flying front highlighted in the AIB. Hell, they fired more people farther away from the epicenter during the 2007 Bent Spear, and nobody died nor did any glowsticks lose USAF custody at any point on that one. Ironically, it's the MX practices of our AF that ultimately killed him, but since those critters have their 781 signatures and TCTO extension get outta jail free cards, once again the lessons won't be learned by the correct people. Talk about the mother of moral hazards.

Must be. The airman currently stationed at DLF is a PTN graduate and a current T-6 MSI instructor pending his completion of a degree in order to qualify to attend OTS, then become assignable to an 11(X) billet.

optimist wouldn't be my choice of words. To me, optimism implies a degree of naiveté or plausible deniability. That dude knows exactly what he's doing when he spouts that prosperity gospel....