pawnman

I know when SF responds to an active shooter incident, I don't want to be the guy holding a gun.

ZING!

Which may be the reason the fighter community can't keep anyone in the cockpits. 300 pilots short this year?

Sadly, exec is a common path.

Hilarious, because my wing was preaching to us a couple years ago to stop using so many acronyms in OPRs to make them more readable because "that's what the MAF does and they have higher promotion rates".

I'm curious how slide 18 flows from slide 17. 2 guys with only basic quals in the aircraft, both got DPs...yet a lack of instructor/examiner qual is called out on the next slide as a "detractor". I also find it hilarious that they say "duty performance is job #1", when the slides seem to say the best way to succeed is to get a job that involves not doing your primary duty.

The last point is the big one, isn't it? Unfortunately, I found out I was getting a P when I got my PRF back from the WG/CC...all while my commander and the OG/CC were telling me what a great officer I was, how I was kicking ass at my job, how I had really hit the ground running after my PCS... If this is the system we're going to use, it relies on telling people where they stack up BEFORE the PRFs are written, along with some guidance on how to improve that standing.

There's no commitment associated with promotion. Are you looking to not be passed over, denied continuation, and get a severance package on the way out?

I can see that to a point, but I would have hoped #1/24 flight commanders in the OG would have helped. The OG (not that anyone here isn't already aware) includes the OSS...stuff like Tower, Airfield Management, AFE, Wing Weapons and Tactics, Wing Intel, ARMS, SERE...

I get the idea, but I worry about the year groups they are targeting and the stated desire to put guys through a TXC-3 (for previously qualified instructors) and make them an instructor a year later. We have several BUFF guys we've been putting through the IQC course, on a shortened timeline due to their previous experience, and they all feel oversped (they all made it through, though). I worry what happens when we cut the time for academics and the number of sorties in half for a guy who has never flown that aircraft. I don't know what AFSOC or AMC is like in regards to upgrade timelines, but a year to instructor is unheard of in my community. A year is where we start looking at guys for mission lead or aircraft commander.

It's Global Strike's plan to "broaden" leadership among the bombers. Take B-1 guys and make them BUFF guys. Take BUFF guys and make them B-1 guys. Take B-2 guys and...well, who knows, because most of the B-2 guys were already B-1 or BUFF guys before going to the B-2. The problem is, they are targeting "high performing officers" in year groups that will get PRFs written next year. Folks who have already made a name for themselves in their home communities, and now they are going to have a PRF written by a different wing, that flies different aircraft, with different priorities.

I got promoted to major in a similar situation. FLT/CC OTY for the OG, numerous awards, strats, and job progression. I even did my MBA, back before AADs were masked. I, too, had the "if I had one more DP to give". I didn't feel bad about the P until later, when the SQ exec told us the allocation rate was 75%. I still struggle to understand how I can be #1/24 flight commanders, #3/64 instructors in my squadron (the FTU), and be in the bottom 25% of my year group.

Maybe there's still hope for me to go to school.

We're trying to do that with Striker Vista. Take an IP in one jet, train them in a completely different jet, make them an IP inside of a year, then off to school and staff.

If I'm going to deploy for six months away from my family, I'd prefer to deploy somewhere I can do useful work and collect tax free.

Constant exercises, control exerted from on-high at a level far exceeding anything in ACC, and this strange commitment to forcing people to change platforms. Pretty much none of my B-1 bros wanted to go fly a BUFF, resulting in an email to all B-1 aviators from the wing commander questioning our patriotism and loyalty.

Two words: Global Strike.

I really enjoyed this movie. I liked that they made those call-backs to "A New Hope". I loved the FUN of it, something sorely lacking in the prequels. I didn't think they had one-dimensional characters...you have a stormtrooper who suddenly grows a conscience, a girl with severe abandonment issues, and the main bad guy has a severely out-of-control temper. My theory is that Rey is Luke's daughter...and, being the giant nerd that I am, I will remind everyone that both Anakin and Luke were highly skilled pilots despite a lack of training and experience. Every time Rey uses the force, it happens almost immediately following Kylo Ren using the force. She's learning from him, however indirectly. There is also a fan theory that she was trained, then had a memory block put in place to hide her from the First Order...why else would she see an island when she uses the force, having only lived on a desert planet? Why else would she get those impressions from the lightsaber if she never learned how to use those powers? Also, I really hated the new Star Trek movies, and the latest looks to be the worst. They turned Star Trek into nothing more than a backdrop for a poorly-scripted action movie. Star Trek was never about the action - it was about competent, smart people solving problems through the use of their intelligence and technology.

45? Bones are already out there...let's release 82 of those bad Johnnies.

We're not running out of bombs. We're running out of tailkits.

I feel you. I went to the promotion board with multiple #1/xx strats and a FLT/CC of the year award at the OG level. I also got a P.

I didn't join strictly for the pay, but I also didn't sign up to do this stuff for free.

Not all, clearly. The B-1 doesn't have it.

We're using Garmin GDL-39s in conjunction with iPads in flight. Works great.

I wouldn't say that's the way I "see" C-17s. I know those guys have other, much more important jobs than bringing in Rip-Its. I'm just saying, they always seem to have more Rip-Its than they know what to do with, and if you are friendly with them, you can get some of the overflow. It was pretty easy for us to make friends with them, since the B-1s and C-17s share a building.