jazzdude

We wouldn't be sacrificing effectiveness by not doing early sims at the Academy. A handful of sims a 6-9 months before they class up will do nothing for their performance in UPT. The studs have a hard enough time anyways remembering pattern ops after a few weeks in the instrument phase in T-6s. If VR is effective and cheap, issue the studs the equipment once they start UPT, where it can take the place of a lot of chair flying. This has nothing to do with fairness either. An Academy grad SHOULD be better prepared for UPT (and that's coming from a ROTC guy). But why waste the resources trying to train for the T-6 specifically when they'll get that training anyways at a later time, because their non-academy classmates need to get that training anyways? Instead, put the cadets up in a glider or a Cessna and actually build air sense. Teach them how to read a chart and navigate, or to read and intepret weather products. You know, the stuff that will be useful in ANY airplane, and not something that might have an effect for only the first 2-3 sorties in UPT? OTS guy might also be a guard guy with 20 hours that ends up on the struggle bus. Or a 3000 hr airline captain. Syllabus standardization ensures that both of those people, after completing UPT, will be a known quantity, regardless of their previous experience or background.

And thus a CBT (or 10) was born. Best part is, they will probably be as worthless as the flying CBTs at PIT.

Think syllabus standardization. If academy pilot-select cadets had pre-UPT training at the academy, that training would still need to be taught to the ROTC/OTS studs. No real savings in time. Best case is the ROTC/OTS studs get the same training at their UPT base prior to starting UPT. About the only thing someone needs to do before UPT is maybe learn ops limits/boldface, and show up willing to work hard and learn. If a reasonable percentage of students can't learn the info in the time allotted in the syllabus, then either the time allotted or method of instruction needs to be corrected. Otherwise, it's like saying you need to do sos correspondence before you go to sos in-residence.

Maybe a school for pilots. Learning at the undergraduate level? Undergraduate pilot school?...

Because they'll learn bad habits that need to be broken in UPT. Even in UPT, IPs fight bad gouge and the occasional group of weak swimmers that chair fly together and make each other worse.

I'm just disappointed the "Any 2Lt" spot went away at most bases

And this is why the cycle never breaks. I have received "writing mentorship" exactly once in 12 years as to why what I put on a draft OPR was changed. Outside of that, changes were made with no explanation as to why. How can a supervisor know if they're missing anything? How about one of the mandatory counseling/performance feedback sessions everyone marks as doing that never really gets done? Or reviewing a draft with the ratee before sending it up the chain to make sure nothing got missed? I will grudgingly write my own reports, but when you step back and think about it, it's absolutely ridiculous, and we just do it because that's how it's always been.

Couple schools of thought: 1) Get a degree not related to aviation, so you have a back up if you can't fly. You're always one doctor visit away from hanging up your wings. You can still get your ratings on the side while doing this, especially if money is not a concern. 2) If you're going to go into aviation no matter what and are getting the ratings anyways, might as well get the college credits. Might not be the cheapest way though. Also probably worth getting a class 1 medical done now to make sure there aren't any medical surprises that would preclude an airline job after you've sunk 6 figures into your aviation degree.

Still use naviator, primarily on a Samsung note 5 and Samsung galaxy tab s 8.4. Works well for general moving map, haven't used ads-b on it though. Another Android app to look into is WingX. Pretty sure the developer for that app gives a free account to CFIs and military. Haven't contacted them yet, but probably will soon. Their app has gotten a lot better, so I'd say it's at least on par with naviator. Foreflight still remains the gold standard though, but is iOS only

Find the fun wherever you end up. In the C-17, flying (literally) around the world over the course of about 2 weeks as a brand new aircraft commander. Flying a 400k lb jet low level at 300 knots at 300' in formation to an airdrop. Airdropping supplies to FOBs in Afghanistan. 37-ship formation across a DZ during an exercise. Teaching a LT how to fly the T-6 and sending them out on their first T-6 solo. Taking a T-6 solo and raging in the MOA against your buddy, or just cloud surfing. Watching your students pin on their pilot wings. Seeing how many aileron rolls you can do in a row. As crappy as the AF can be at times, there have been moments that I treasure, knowing that I've gotten to do things that many people only dream of getting to do.

That's correct

What about having the heavy background guys teach instruments and transition, freeing up the limited fighter guys to teach form?

"Somehow, despite a 100% promotion opportunity to major, we only promoted 80%"

The AF already did a survey 2-3 years ago looking at increasing the UPT commitment to 15 years of mixed active/reserve time. 1) that's a crazy long time. The AF's problem doesn't get solved if people are unhappy and forced to stay in. Might solve the numbers, but efficiency/effectiveness would tank as people start min running everything. 2) I read mixed commitment as the ability to RIF people while keeping them on the hook. Budget is tight? Involuntarily kick people to the reserves, pay them less but expect nearly the same amount of work.

Two separate issues. If they are below average/don't meet (non medical) standards, they should be separated based on job performance. Any service related injuries would be dealt with through the VA. If they can't meet job performance standards due to medical reasons, well, the MEB should decide if they are good to keep serving and in what capacity, or to medical retire or separate them. If the air force wants to separate people who are medically non deployable but otherwise meets standards, those people should be separated via an MEB, not by ignoring their performance and putting them on the bottom of the rack and stack based solely on a limiting medical condition.

That's messed up. There's a process to separate people for medical reasons, the MEB. The promotion board is not the place to separate people for medical reasons.

Where do we draw the line on who pays for the repairs? Say Boeing found a fix: who pays to retrofit the fleet? If the contractor pays, well, every future contract just got more expensive since them have to build in a pad for unplanned engineering fixes. If they think the problem is mx and not a design flaw, then yeah, it makes no sense for them to spend money on something that will have no return on investment, unless the gov asks for (and funds) help.

PADS Operator?

Regular Joe can buy priority boarding if they want it. Or get priority boarding through credit card or frequent flyer programs. The airline chooses to give you, as AD military, an item that is accessible to any one willing to pay for it. So it's the same as taking a any other discount.

Nah, the public brought this on itself, fueled by sites like expedia and kayak. Most will buy the cheapest ticket, and one way to get the cheapest ticket is to charge for the extras (checked bag, overhead space, food, drinks, etc). You pay for it, one way or the other.

Eh, I used to be upset about this, but really what they did was buy advertising. Just like buying a tv commercial, maybe better (never once heard "launch avoidance maneuver" at a pro sports event). All part of recruiting. Airshows and flyovers aren't cheap either, and kind of in the same vein. No one seemed to get outraged at military flyovers at events either, because, hey, they're free, just minus the cost to operate that multi-million dollar jet(s) turning dinosaurs into noise as a patriotic act, while coming out of the training fence. I'm sure the pilots/crew were consummate professionals, and never accepted sideline seats at the event they did the flyover for after landing. How about the blue angels or the thunderbirds? Pure recruiting and advertisement for the services.

TLDR: Who cares? So long as they aren't harassing a company to give them a discount. I'm sure no one here got the Amex platinum or other premium credit card, then got the fee waived for their active duty service. Or used the admirals lounge while flying on American on orders. Or used an USO lounge at the airport. Or put your frequent flyer or hotel points number while traveling in official business. How about taking advantage of reduced or free hunting/fishing/parks permits? How about booking a hotel at the gov rate when not on orders? What this attitude boils down to is: "Service itself should be its own reward." Where have I heard that before? Hmm... I remember my dad telling me about the days when he'd go out in the field (army), and BAS was reduced since meals/MREs were provided. Imagine if every day in the Deid that you'd pay a portion of your BAS for chow hall food. Outraged? Get over your sense of entitlement, BAS is so you can eat, and you had government meals provided. Dumb 2LT wearing a flightsuit while traveling commercially? Teaching moment. Airman wearing ripped jeans and looking like a slob? Maybe there's a reason some units have their jr enlisted travel in uniform. My point is, if a business is offering a perk, who are we to judge other people that take advantage of that perk? (Obviously there's a limit...you can't sign the AF up to lease tankers in return for a job with the contractor) I'm pleasantly surprised if a business has a military discount, but I'm by no means upset if they don't. Tip the waitstaff based on full price before the discount, and maybe a bit extra, especially if they give me a discount unsolicited. I'm just a guy doing my job, and sometimes that job involves going some pretty cool things that most can only dream of doing. It's their way of saying thank you. I'd rather they said thank you by supporting and voting for politicians that use military force judiciously, and holds the services and president accountable for use of the military.

Yeah, I'm sure it happens unofficially. I'm trying to make it happen. But in the end I'll still have 2 operational tours. But I can't recat into 11K and be owned by AETC, I'll still have 11M as my core AFSC.

Well, this puts another point in the "get out" column for me. Bust my butt as a young single dude to get a short tour so when I'm ready to start a family I won't have the threat of a 365, only to have that taken away. Follow that with an AETC assignment and an attached flyer assignment, and now I'm hot for a 365. Only so I can probably go to staff next assignment. Time to start updating my airline apps again...

If nothing else, start a civilian logbook and have your instructor do the sign off on each entry. Then, if you can't finish (or choose not to) your ppl right after IFS, you can take your logbook to another CFI elsewhere to finish up.