ViperStud

Not really dude. That ship has sailed for a lot of squadrons.

Doesn't the AD version of the bonus have verbiage that limits the big bonus to initial eligibles only, meaning that those eligible in FY16 (and declined) won't qualify for the big money in the FY17 program? My point is this - someone mentioned that there are likely holdouts waiting for it to go up but it doesn't work that way. I thought that an eligible pilot passing on 25/yr in FY16 would make them ineligible for the big money in FY17. Of course, they could always change the wording. So far though, I thought they put a gun to your head the first time you were eligible. Sucks to have graduated from UPT in Sept of '06 when your bros graduated only a few weeks later in Oct.

I think a lot of what happens is we grow up. Bright-eyed LTs become husbands and dads and start thinking about life after the AF and making more little league games. Priorities change as we get older and the AF can't control that.

The difference between girlfriend and wife is as significant as the difference between having her accompany you or expect you to fly/drive a few hours to see her. On one end of the spectrum is the wife accompanying you to UPT and at the other end of the spectrum there's the girlfriend (not even fiancé) expecting you to do the bulk of the travel in a long-distance relationship. Let's just label those two ends of the spectrum as good and bad, respectively. I saw lots of good examples flourish in UPT. If you know she's THE keeper, she probably needs a ring. If you're not willing to do that, you've already answered your own question but just haven't yet come to grips with that answer. I'm with Hoss. I know a lot of divorced dudes, but none that (after seeing the world for far more than a 2-month abroad program) pine for the one that got away - especially one they weren't willing to commit to at the time when it mattered most. The amount of emotional and personal growth/change that takes place from college graduation to becoming a flight lead or AC is an order of magnitude greater than any growing up you did in college. There are many stories of college sweethearts that last forever, but if you want to maximize your chances for marriage success - wait until that maturation process runs its course.

Dude that was only 1/3 of the problem. The second part was the queep creep and resulting decrease in QOL. The last part, beyond the AF's control, is massive competition from the airlines - better pay and QOL for less work. This is why the problem is only going to get worse. Even if AD could wave a magic wand and fix some problems, the competition for resources is still there.

Brevity is the soul of wit. Instead of my first comment I could have said: Kind sir, thy women will come and go in life; unfortunately even some of those with which we exchange vows. Your career (10-20 years at least) will be directly affected by your priorities in UPT. You will (probably) only have one MWS but, statistically speaking, you will have far more women. (See, my first comment said the same thing but was far more succinct). My second comment regarding my then-current squeeze - shock factor desired to highlight one of the great weaknesses of our species: getting wrapped up in the moment with your significant other and failing to see how much of a bad fit that person actually is for you in the long-term. Others see it. Maybe you are lucky enough to have that rare friend who will open his mouth. In the end, only when you realize she was nothing more than a misprioritization will you be able to concentrate on what's really important, in this case UPT. Shit I think I just described my ex-wife. That being said I would have saved a lot of words just calling her something that would offend your sensibilities. Lighten up, Francis. Edit: where the hell are the pics? We could be getting trolled here. Pics or she doesn't exist!

And on purpose. Sorry (not really) dude, but I am strongly in the corner of those that say going to UPT and balancing a high-maintenance girl at the same time is a very dumb idea. It's not just because of the year at UPT, but also because it's a harbinger of things to come when TDYs, deployments and/or long days start to pile up. If a relationship (and woman) is not strong enough to deal with rare visits and short calls for the duration of UPT, save yourself the trouble. If more of us understood this, far fewer of us would have had starter wives.

My number of banged chicks is also an order of magnitude higher than different aircraft flown. The Viper is more important to me than my at-the-time gf who was awesome, but would have been a time drain. Going to UPT is in some (minuscule) way like training to be a pro athlete or male nurse - a few years of intense training that go a long way toward defining your professional career. UPT -> wingman was almost 3 years for me. What's more important, chasing the dream of flying or your current girlfriend? Only you can answer that. Maybe she is the one and won't be there if you prioritize flying - but I think the latter rules out the former. For me, my current slam piece wasn't worth it. I went to UPT single and prioritized two things - flying fighters and being with the bros. I made some lifelong friends; two of them were groomsmen. Zero regrets and a metric shit-ton of buffoonerous stories. YMMV.

Exactly. At my unit, we have a bunch of open tech jobs for both pilots and MX. The jets are on their ass. They're old and we don't have the MX personnel to fix them. We are lucky to get through two flying periods without an MND, so how exactly are we going to shit out a 3rd go? It's incredibly naive to think you can just order some AGRs to work 12-hr days and the problem will be solved. Years and years of "do more with less" have left us with a skeleton crew incapable of surging. I was TDY to Luke this summer and one of the viper SQs there had 5 assigned AD IPs - CC, patch, scheduler, ADO and flight commander. DO was on the way but being filled with a reserve dude in the interim. Even if you give them credit for 6 dudes, how do you surge with that? This idea that your can just order military members to make it happen ignores SO MANY problems.

Precisely my point. Every AGR counts against AD end-strength numbers, so since Welsh cut 5 yrs in 1 yr we have been hurting on AGRs. The bulk of the RC are techs; if they were all AGRs then we would be admitting we need more AD and the game wold be over. I won't speak to the work ethic of AGRs since I've seen both ends. The reality is, they are the minority. Pay a tech less with shitty benefits and you shouldn't be surprised when the RC says "GFY." If you want full-time benefits and to be treated like a military member, don't be a tech. Then, when management tries to pull a guilt trip, tell them to GFY.

Valid question. The guard and reserves are built around a technician schedule, 40 hrs a week + AFTPs. The bulk of our force (look beyond pilots) are techs. The govt did this on purpose, to get more bodies into the mil business while disguised as civilians. They get a better work schedule, but pay for it in reduced benefits and a crap retirement. you got what you wanted, so do we fly a 3rd and pay them all that overtime? Well, wait - that's not what we structured the guard to do!?! Bottom line, it's a lot more complicated than your little AD mind can comprehend. Telling the RC to suck it up has consequences, and for good reason. We are not here to compensate for incompetent AD management.

We can drop fighters to all of UPT, there is gonna be a serious backlog at the FTUs. Guard/Res (i.e., AD can't just make us fly 3 gos) make up about half of viper and hog FTU and all of eagle FTU. Some Guard units have already said "fvck off" to the AD "order" to cut the syllabus by 20%. We can't just wave a magic wand and make FAIPs into fighter pilots.

So much wrong with this. We TAMI'd guys because we needed bodies for platforms that had no pipelines. Do you really think anyone is looking at the right mix? Management is looking at for warm bodies. The right mix of experience is a pipe dream. On your last point I can only laugh - because it'sad and true. This may end poorly. So glad I'm out.

Part-time counts. I separated and joined the ANG. The transfer paperwork took a few months but I signed a contract that I am obligated to be a DSG only for 4 years. I specifically asked about it and was told that anything beyond part-time is up to me, but the obligation is only part-time. This is one of the better kept secrets of the RC. I know several dudes that were stuck on AD because of that ADSC.

The funny thing is this - "leadership" is trumpeting the total (rumored) 30% tech bonus as a carrot - no one is biting. The old guys (technicians) have a hard time understanding why everyone doesn't want to be just like them. Sound like AD?

I figured that was an intended pun when I first read it.

This. I know some dudes might foam at the mouth at this opportunity, but step back and look at it from big AF's perspective. Do you really think ACC is going to bring dudes over to be wingmen (when their peers are IPs) and do anything other than fill shitty squares with them? A few will make it happen, but the odds are seriously stacked against them. GTFO ASAP. It really IS that much better outside AD.

ARC dudes, does the bonus on our side typically mirror the AD bonus? With the rumors of the AD bonus going up to compensate for thr continual shitshow 10-car pileup that is active duty, is it the norm for the ARC AGR bonus to follow suit?

WTF didn't Welsh solve this problem by having everyone go in-Res and only do correspondence if the window was about to close? Now we are talking about a year-long correspondence course for fvcking shoe flag? Someone tell me this is a joke, please. If not, did that clown accomplish anything in four years?

That was a joke. In my world, friendly ribbing against the other fighter bros still exists.

Chang is a fvcking Major working 730-1630 for some nameless manager destined to become another POS GO in the image of those that stratified him the past 6-9 years. When Chang's staff gig is up he'll head back to a nameless base to serve as SARC or IG before he gets ushered out, only to take up a job as a Walmart greeter where he will give side-eye and mumble insults every time he sees someone wearing a flight suit enter through the exit doors. Quit giving him so much credit.

The only waiver I've ever seen is to waive the board itself. When one washes out of our FTU because they just can't hack single-seat fighters, leadership often offers them a waiver to the FEB. The terms of the waiver are generally acceptance of an ACC crew aircraft, basically anything but single seat fighters. Not sure how the B-15 fits into the mix. The WG/CC is the waiver authority. Sometimes the waiver is not offered. A dude washed out of my FTU class and was not offered a waiver because he washed out for reasons that the leadership deemed "safety of flight" problems. They went after his wings. His own words - it was the shittiest experience of his life. He won and got a B-1. That's my only data point for a waiver not being offered. If problems are due to SA and safety of flight, the waiver may not be offered.

A preoccupation with systems? Am I the only one that thinks the A-10 fiasco was about a strategic decision, after decades and hundreds of billions spent, to divest the CAS mission and force the army to bite the bullet on spinning up their own CAS? I don't believe Welsh or any of his cronies ever thought shelving the A-10 would free up funding for the Failure-35 singlehandedly; they knew that getting out of CAS almost completely would free up the time and money to recapitalize and re-focus on Air Superiority and AI.

I'm not one to defend big blue, but the number could get slightly better in FY17. If I were an early eligible right now and likely to take the bonus, I'd consider waiting to the new FY where the bonus is rumored to increase. Why sign for 9@25 when 9@35 is a few months away? The extra 10k wouldn't be enough to change my mind, but might as well hold out for it if I was going to stay anyway.

When Libya kicked off, wasn't the AFRICOM/CC a tanker chick? I heard through the bro network about a few Viper patches getting there as planning kicked off and the word is that she was assholes and elbows and got a pat on the head for her "nice try" at coming up with a gameplan. I'm sure the story was full of hyperbole by the time it got to the masses, but even if 10% true it speaks to a significant problem.