Spartacus

There's no way that I know of right now. The airline that I am getting my information from said that they sent their head of pilot hiring to the meeting. So, definitely not the CEO.

I was told that the pension only gets a 1% per year increase that DOES NOT cover inflation. Where can we all go look to see what the answer is? Additionally, I have no faith in the Air Force or Congress protecting military benefits. I bet if you go talk to some of the retirees on base who are in tan coveralls and Vietnam Veteran hats they'll tell you that they were promised free health insurance for life after they retired. How'd that one turn out? Based off of recent actions and discussions by Congress I would bet a lot that they are going to continue to target military compensation and veterans benefits. This was a huge factor in my decisioning making to pull the handles. I just don't trust the government and have to assume that things are only going to get worse.

I'll just say that I got a real interesting look at this from the airline side. Apparently the CSAF in the meeting asked the airlines to pay their pilots less so it's not as enticing for AF pilots to leave. I don't know if he just implied that or came right out and asked, but his request was NOT received well at all. There is no doubt in my mind that senior AF leadership will screw over the pilots. They are only looking to solve the problem in a way that will be good for big blue. If that means screwing all of over then they will do it. PULL THE HANDLES NOW IF YOU CAN.

I've seen several analyses from multiple sources. Almost every single one is not accounting for items that are huge factors. Airline profit sharing, 401K contributions and per diem etc. Additionally, when you earn a military retirement you get your money in small monthly increments. Correct me if I'm wrong here but there isn't much of a correction for inflation either. So, your retirement dollars from a military pension are worth less and less each passing year. Compare that to airline pay where you end up getting large chunks of money each year (~$200-$400K) that you can really leverage into investments. I personally think that I can make those dollars go further than a military pension that dwindles in value yearly. I'm going into the reserves too and plan on earning a pension that way so I'll be getting something from the government still. Just later on. (Age 59) Factor in the b.s. and political games and AD loses big time. Hence, why everyone is leaving. Are we really having this argument? The fact that so many people are bailing is enough proof in my opinion as to what the smart choice is.

Couldn't agree more. At the beginning of my career I heard people say that they would do this job for free. I maintain to this day that that comment is one of the stupidest I've ever heard. There is something about flying fast jets that causes some of the smartest people I've ever met to make some of the dumbest comments in the world about their compensation. I now have the comfort of cuddling with my DD214 nightly, but I get pissed when I hear borderline geniuses say that it's not about the money. Someone needs to start a workshop on business negotiation. We spend over a decade getting shat on with absolutely no negotiating power and once you finally have a say in your life and a little freedom you give a HUGE concession to big blue by saying it's not about the money! Of course it's about the money. That's just not the biggest part of what it's about.

I heard that the airlines are upset about USERRA and dudes getting hired and then taking years of mil leave. Apparently, the airlines were planning on bringing this up and might play ball if the AF can get changes to USERRA made. Nothing about this meeting will be in OUR best interest. I would bet that everything discussed was about how to help the AF and the airlines. Thus how to screw over pilots.

Shack. I couldn't agree more. I think we're in a "drain the swamp" scenario with the Air Force. I look at the people in my community who are on the cusp of being leadership and I just shake my head. More of the same and almost all of them are toxic with few exceptions. I think it says something when you can look at people who aren't in DO or CC roles yet and everyone already knows how toxic their leadership is.

I was told by a very high ranking officer about two weeks before the NDAA came out that the bonus would be $48K. That might have kept me around. If they would have made $60K happen I most likely would not be leaving. It's not about the money for me, but how much I think the Air Force values me. When I hear $60K, then $48K and then finally $35K ends up being the number right after a senior officer tells me different that sends a message. Either they don't value us enough to open their wallets, or they can't get the dollar amount higher even with a major retention problem. In either case I got the message loud and clear and I feel that I've made the right decision to leave.

Dude, take the waiver. You washed out. It happens. Now isn't the time to be asking if you can put in a dream sheet. You failed to meet training standards and therefore have limited yourself. Here's how I see it: Option 1: You don't take the waiver and risk losing your wings or going to RPAs. Option 2: You take the waiver and probably go to AWACs. Is it really that hard of a decision?

Congressman, Thanks for checking back in. Here is what I've got: I sat in a fairly small room with a 4-Star who told us that the bonus was going to be $48K per year and that flight pay would go up to $1,500 per month. This was roughly 2-3 weeks before the NDAA was finalized. I'm curious about what went down with all of this? Do you know if the DOD was lobbying for $48K and Congress just decided to go with $35K? This 4-Star was extremely confident about what he was saying concerning the bonus. I'm just curious if he was full of it, or if he got blind sided. Or, did Congress change its mind last minute? What happened? The message being sent to me as an eligible bonus taker this year is this: 1. Congress either doesn't understand or doesn't care about the pilot shortage. 2. The AF is trying to fix the shortage by increasing pilot production and isn't trying that hard to retain pilots. 3. Neither Congress or the AF are giving me anything close to good enough to hang my hat on when it comes to keeping me in the military. In fact I'm getting strong negative signals from both.

I emailed my congressman about this and a couple of other things. Of course one of his staff members replied and not him, but the answers were interesting. I'd have to go dig up the email but in response to BAH they said something along the lines of, "Congress is committed to make sure that BAH is accurate and not being abused." I actually called the office about this and asked what they meant by that. They did some serious back peddling when I started hitting them on BAH. I kind of assume that someone briefed or testified to Congress about this and that is their general thought about BAH now. I doubt Congress actually understands the issue at all.

At my base I got an email the Thursday before Thanksgiving saying that the MDG would be closed the next day (Friday) and then min manned the following 3 work days before Thanksgiving so that MDG personnel could be with their families. Never mind flight ops were happening on all of those days. Unbelievable. I was at DSU the first fly day after Thanksgiving and it was satisfying watching the MDG/CC awkwardly tell everyone that the same thing wouldn't be happening over Christmas and that he would make sure that the med clinic would be open on all fly days for now on. Pretty sure our WG/CC chewed him a good one. I think we all have stories like this to share, and I think we're all fed up with it. Stuff like this needs to be fixed to improve QOL, but it never will be. Hence, one of the reasons for the mass exodus.

I used Tax Slayer last year for free. I also thought it was very user friendly. Anyone have issues with them or recommendations for a better way to go?

I agree with everything said here. Also, Sharpton owes millions in back taxes...why is he not in jail for this? Think about it. Also, I do think that blacks are bitter because of the past. I sympathize and agree that there were a lot of bad things that happened for a long time. However, that doesn't justify the current situation and racist behavior from them. I don't know if there will ever be a solution.

Well, I didn't say anything about Republicans...I only said that if you vote like you suggest you might, then we'll have another Democrat POTUS. You have your opinion and I have mine. What I am saying is that in a general election you will realistically only have two people to choose from. A Democrat and a Republican. You can vote libertarian all day, but the way I see it is that you are helping whomever the Democratic nominee is by voting libertarian. It's the spoiler effect. Nader probably cost Gore the election in 2000 and Perot cost Bush the election in 1992 by splitting the vote.