panchbarnes

FIFY... So there was this one class preparing for their job drop. They picked and advertised the drop date without consulting/inviting the SQ CC. The Commander found out and was livid. Their drop was cancelled & postponed for a very long time until the person was properly invited. There was a female E-3 nine months into her pregnancy and one block away from graduation. Her enlisted leadership pressured her into going to the week long capstone exercise which was very high-stressed and 18-hr days were not uncommon. The poor girl could barely waddle to class, and sure enough she went into labor 2 days into the exercise (thankfully it didn't happen during duty hours). The girl had a great attitude about the whole thing but I'd be pissed if that happened to my wife.

Man, this thread is bringing back memories! There was an Lt smoking outside near the parking area after a Wing King call. An enlisted instructor told him he can't smoke there so he said okay and flicked the cigarette away. The enlisted instructor saw that as a sign of disrespect and proceeded to notify the people in charge. I think the Lt ended up getting paperwork and washed back to a different class for his "lack of respect."

It's not just intel or AETC, there are plenty of bad "leaders" out here in the operational AF regardless of AFSC. It's usually a shit hot individual, who has cracked the promotion code, checked the boxes, in-res PME, was some GO's exec at the Pentagon, won an AF-level award (or two) and realized they are now invincible. They say the right things to their boss (who probably doesn't care about the details to cover their own ass) to avoid scrutiny and turns around with some BS justification to make their subordinates life miserable. If someone dares to speak up or offer a different viewpoint then he/she is quickly punished as a warning to others. The shit hot individual is soon to join the exclusive club of "O-6+" so whatever path they took to get there must be okay. I think I'm now going to change my name to CynicalBarnes A couple of more stories to remain on topic... They used to do random reflective belt check in the morning in front of the classroom. I was told there was an Lt who had to wear a reflective vest (much better visibility) because he rode a bicycle to class. The Lt got a nice chewing by a "patch" cadre at the checkpoint for not adhering to the base reflective belt policy. The enlisted troops had to march in formation to class. On one afternoon, they were reciting the Airman's Creed while marching by the school house (and the students). All the sudden both the E and O cadre started going crazy and proceeded to scream & yell at all the officers for not standing in the position of attention while the troops were marching and reciting the Airman's Creed. Everyone was like WTFO, finally one of the reserve O-5 class leaders decided he's tired of being treated like a caged animal and proceeded to dress down the cadre in front of everyone. Quite entertaining. That place is a prime example of what's wrong with the AF. I'm sure many others have better stories than the ones I've shared. Added: Washing people back was used mostly as a disciplinary tool rather than a training tool. But that may have changed now.

Speaking of young, impressionable Lts... There were a couple of times the instructors told the students essentially that "if a pilot asks too many stupid questions during a brief just tell them to shut up and sit down."

I think it was because she failed to notify the SQ/CC and DO of the incident even though her instructor told her not to worry about it. The SQ/CC once threatened to have students show up to class in mess dress for a surprise uniform inspection because some people didn't have the ABU gortex jacket.

Don't forget the 29B with a turn-by-turn instruction attached or it will get rejected. The LOR reminds me of a story of a Lt who safely landed a Cessna in a field (bad fuel gauge). Informed the class leader and class instructor of the incident and was told not to worry about it. SQ leadership later found out about the incident in the town newspaper and got pissed. The Lt was then given paperwork and washed back.

On one of the Blues Mondays there was a 2Lt who would correct people (albeit politely) if they were wearing a wife-beater (STS?) instead of a V-neck. I asked him where in the reg does it say that and he told me that's what he learned in ROTC.

It was so bad the Group CC had to make an all call and apologize to the students for all the cadre shenanigan. Does your SQ/CC has at least 3-5 butter bars as his/her exec? That cleans up after the kids b-day party?

Be thankful you weren't around during the dark period.

Apparently at a certain AOC, officers were just notified yesterday that they are on the matrix... crazy. Here are a couple of tips to getting answers from AFPC: 1. Tell the pepole answering the phone that you demand to speak to the military OIC in charge of the process. My experience is that they are just the middleman and the real work is done by the military folks in the back. I was able to an issue resolved this way after calling everyday for 2-3 weeks. 2. Try calling Randolph MPF, since they are on the same base as AFPC they *should* have the latest gouge. 3. Don't bother walking into AFPC and talk to someone in person. Those days are over. They just renovated the place last year to include bullet proof windows and etc due to all death threats they were getting. Even if you show up in person you'd still have to use the phone in the lobby and call someone.

That's funny, I'd toally jump on that ESERB.

Excellent post BONE WSO. For all potential VSPers looking at a typical private sector office job (my experience): 1. $100K in the military does not equal $100K in the private sector. A big part of your military compensation is tax free, not to mention free health care. Where as on the outside, expect ~30% federal income tax rate for someone making $100K. On top that, expect to pay at least a few of hundred dollars a month out of pocket for health insurance premium (unless you have TRICARE Reserve Select). I was making $85K for a large corporation and my monthly take home pay was about the same as a 2Lt. 2. As a new employee expect 10-15 Paid Time Off (PTO) days. No annual 30 day leave or unlimited sick days. 3. Civilian HR is far far worse than our very own A1. In my experience, there is much less transparency and accountability in the private sector. Civilian HR is absolutely the most useless dept in a large corporation but they hold a lot of power. 4. Job satisfaction. BONE WSO nailed it (STS). 5. Link to the DFAS Military Compensation calculator. Mil Pay data is outdated but close enough. https://militarypay.defense.gov/pay/calc/index.html

Amended PSDMs out now https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil/app/answers/detail/a_id/25484 PSDM 13-130 (Amended 24 Jan 2014) - FY14 Officer Reduction in Force (RIF) Board PSDM 13-131 (Amended 24 Jan 2014) - FY14 Officer Force Shaping Board (FSB) "Officers eligible for RIF board consideration will have an opportunity to apply for the VSP program from 6 Feb to 1 May 14 at a rate of 1.25 times standard full separation pay or, if eligible, apply for TERA. The application window for TERA will be from 14 Jan to 26 Mar 14."

Probably not. I'm pretty sure it doesn't account for people close to retirement (prior-E time), in school, and 365-tour folks.

Liquid, This is from TC's article that you promoted on this board and praised on his blog... "Finally, hire the best commanders you can find to work the problem. Since you’re going to hire the best, you can (and you must) trust them and listen to them. Forget the modern tendency to treat majors and lieutenant colonels like overgrown children; these are solid, capable, experienced, educated leaders in their own right, and their performance will define the Air Force, for better or worse. " https://www.jqpublic-blog.com/?p=641#more-641

Who would the regular American believe more on Fox/CNN? Maj John Doe or Lt Col John Doe?

This thread went from good to bad. Makes my head want to explode.

I think I get your concern in that given today's 24-hr media and the hyper-sensitivity with the POTUS/SECDEF-directed sexual assault prevention effort, all it takes is one incident to ruin this for everyone. Regardless of the standard set by the MAJCOM/NAF/Wing Commanders, I guarantee you someone will ignore it eventually. Zero-tolerance anything is just unrealistic. Last I checked, we haven't gotten rid of sexual assaults, drug use, and DUIs, even though we have standards and enforcers (abundant of them) of those standards. Delegate it down, trust your subordinates, give them an objective and let them lead and set the standard (apply common sense here). Correct and vector as needed, repeat (OODA?) If they are just ing it up, that should be a sign that they are not leadership material and take action(s) as needed. MAJCOM/NAF/Wing leadership making tactical decisions such as this only slow everyone down and deter them away from their primary mission of organize, equip, and train (as someone has already mentioned). Not only that, now the subordinates will be hesitant to make other tactical decisions. I want to believe this situation is what Gen Welsh is trying to reverse. There is always going to be someone in the media or public that is looking for reasons to make the AF look bad. You can't make everyone happy, let's not let the naysayers paralyze the AF. Just my 2 cents.

Be careful, his recent track record is pretty good. Given his comment and the "success" in WA and CO, I wouldn't be surprised if the feds legalize pot in a year or two.

. It doesn't help when the president, secaf, and under secaf have not served in the military. Edited to add both parties have let down the military

"President Obama: I don't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol" https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-marijuana-dangerous-alcohol-article-1.1584762 I see squadron smoke lounges popping up in the near future. Perhaps a green smoke light that comes on at 1500 1620 hrs? The cultural evolution (or revolution?) in the past 2 years make me feel real old...

"But it's a force shaping tool!" *sarcasm*

Thank god for common sense slowly coming back to the AF. Gen Welsh for President.

What's up with the supposed merger of a couple of the MAJCOMs & FOAs? Is that fight over yet? A reduction of the staff *should* alleviate the manning crunch at the lower units. The manpower hoarding (or empire building) by the staff hurts the mission, but it's a very political fight and no one wants to touch it. Not sure if an "operational" staff is the way to go either. Good on the CCs for being pro-active and mentoring their folks, that is a very rare occurrence in my experience. I just hope there is substance in the mentoring and not just telling their folks to check the usual boxes. Then again, that's probably all they know and how they made it to O-5/O-6.

Since you brought up RUMINT, don't be surprised if it drops tomorrow before the long weekend. HAF/A1's target was the 17th but we all know how everything has been slipping to the right. I'm guessing 13-130/131 will be replaced by a totally different numbered document since it never officially got released and we are now in CY14.