panchbarnes

Thank you for the well-written insights! I've mentioned before that I'm more of a real estate guy, so I plead ignorance on stocks (and this is OTC...) and the associated analytical TTPs. The reddit WSB forum is quite entertaining to read as autistic children brag about losing money, but I also learn interesting tidbits from time to time. TacAirlifter's FNMA posts piqued my interest and I've been trying to figure out if this is a smart play or not (I'm inclined to think it is). Trump has consistently demonstrated that he is a man of his words, so if he wants to privatize FNMA/FMCC I think it's likely to happen (w/ the support of Wall Street), even if FNMA/FMCC are both cash cows to the gov't. Trump's motivation may defy logic in this case, but it's good enough for me to make a little gamble on it (does this make me a WSB autist?)

Not Every Officer Wants to Be a General Allowing service members to pursue different career paths would ease the strain on military families. Kate Bachelder Odell May 20, 2019 6:21 p.m. ET A chronic problem has attracted bipartisan attention recently: Military spouses have trouble finding work or developing careers. Karen Pence, the vice president’s wife, has devoted much of her public profile to helping military spouses. Sens. Tom Cotton and Jeanne Shaheen have introduced a bill that aims to make it easier for military spouses to transfer occupational licenses across state lines, which would mitigate one hassle of moving. But the real problem is a military assignment system that is managed like a game of musical chairs. A White House Council of Economic Advisers report diagnoses the headache for those married to service members: America’s 690,000 military spouses, mostly women, are roughly twice as likely to be unemployed as the rest of the civilian workforce. The rate of underemployment is worse. These trends persist even though military spouses tend to be more educated than the general workforce—some 40% have a college degree. So why do military spouses disproportionately end up in licensed trades such as cosmetology? Why are nursing and teaching common choices? Because they’re among the few careers the military lifestyle can accommodate. In my years as a Navy wife, my employer has made accommodations for my spouse’s inflexible location. Most don’t have this luxury. Corporations are periodically called on to “do more” for military spouses, but companies that hire military spouses know that there is a high risk they won’t stick around as long as typical employees. Tax credits wouldn’t change that. The real problem is how the military shuffles service members through various jobs and locations, which can be more of a box-checking exercise than a process that cultivates talent and skills. Spouses are along for the ride, and that means frequently having to build new career networks, which over time erodes earning potential. Some 90% of more than 1,200 spouses surveyed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation reported moving farther than 50 miles at least once for their partner’s career. More than a third reported four or more moves. About half who had moved said they had less than three months to prepare. This is expensive for the government, and there’s reason to wonder whether it’s necessary. Military assignments are managed through a centralized process where large personnel outfits are “just trying to match names against available billets, and almost always not knowing the people individually,” says Tim Kane, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution who served as an Air Force intelligence officer. This top-down process can only minimally incorporate a service member’s personal preferences, never mind a spouse’s career. Mr. Kane summed up the problem to Congress last year. The military is composed of volunteers who are dealt with more like conscripts, he said. Every young officer is treated as an aspiring general or admiral, and thus is pushed into an “ideal” set of jobs with rigid timing for promotion, without respect to competing priorities, like a wife’s job or kids who don’t want to go to a new high school every year. Mr. Kane tells me he’s known of people who “will terminate their careers early because the Air Force or the Marines won’t tell them, ‘You know what? if you don’t want to become a general, and you just want to stay at whatever base it is for the next four years, we’ll let you.’ ” The services know these dynamics are contributing to retention problems, and the branches have been slowly starting to experiment with different career tracks for, say, pilots, where talent shortages are pronounced. Congress last year offered the branches flexibility to reform an “up or out” system that requires officers to promote through the ranks or leave the service, among other good reforms pioneered by Mr. Kane. Mr. Kane’s other recommendations include allowing local commanding officers to conduct interviews. Another important change would be tailored promotion and compensation, which would align the assignment process with a service member’s personal—and familial—preferences. Yet the problem is also cultural. One Navy pilot unloaded about the service’s retention problems in Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institute’s magazine, last year, and he hit on something: Those in charge of making changes have often been those whose careers have proceeded smoothly. As he put it: “Every admiral to whom I’ve spoken has had an impressive career. But the common thread in all of their careers is that they never have lost or been exposed to the other side of the processes. For an overwhelming majority of them, the system has worked, so the processes must be good.” The Pentagon hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed undersecretary for personnel and readiness since Robert Wilkie left the post in 2018 to become secretary of veterans affairs. The position has no nominee, and a good one would be someone who hasn’t spent a career marinating in the military’s culture. Anyone who takes on the massive task of reform will face bureaucratic resistance. He’ll need air support from the civil-society groups seeking better prospects for military spouses. Fixing these dysfunctions will be essential if the military is to compete for talent in society in which fewer appear interested in signing up. An untold number of Americans never consider the military because of the crazy transience it requires. That’s regrettable. Mrs. Odell is an editorial writer for the Journal. Appeared in the May 21, 2019, print edition.

Some really solid points in this article, should be required reading for all FOGOs Not Every Officer Wants to Be a General https://www.wsj.com/articles/not-every-officer-wants-to-be-a-general-11558390890

where is my cut?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fannie-freddie-shareholder-payout-is-part-of-the-reform-discussion-regulator-says-in-surprise-move-2019-05-21?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

@tac airlifter Gambling time! @BashiChuni need your 777 luck https://old.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/br57mt/caution_the_fanniegate_fire_has_begun/

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/05/14/ned-stark-unveiled-colonel-who-wrote-viral-leadership-columns-has-a-challenge-for-the-air-force/?utm_source=clavis

I'm assuming by depth you mean SME. IMHO, the only "depth" that gets recognized by the promotion board are your WIC/TPS/SAAS/CNODP/Monterey/blah blah blah graduates.

777

First of all, Pawnman was just simply answering someone else's question about his record, and he got unfairly lumped in with the other poster, who always sounds like he is trolling or humble bragging. Pawnman has been around for a while and has contributed greatly here. I tend to concur with you; however, in other career fields, you can be seen as a scumbag for repeatedly not submitting your own package when there are calls for nominations. Your boss is typically too busy with his own job to actually know what everyone does or submit his folks. I haven't met an O6 that will actively mentor his people or submit them for anything. It's not right, but it is what it is. So by not submitting yourself, you are killing your own chance to be competitive. In the past, I've been at units, where leadership decides who to submit depending based on popularity contest or if they had a shot at the HPO on-ramp, regardless of job performance. And just to be clear, when we say FGO OTQ/OTY, we are talking about at the O4 level.

What makes you think he won't get picked up? He was told explicitly by his SQ/CC, who happens to a really good friend of HAF/A1, to not worry it. And who runs the promotion boards? AFPC and HAF/A1! Hello??? Additionally, he has a Wg strat #1/1 *AND* he is the Wg DO of the qtr. His records should place him at the bottom of the top 10% eligibles. I am willing to bet he got the Super P as well..

There are quite a few Ops assignment FB pages out there, and for the sake of OPSEC I don't understand why folks continue to use FB to conduct official business. If Big Blue is going to rely on a proven unsecured social media site then we should just stop with the whole SSN encrypted e-mail charade because both give the bad guys targeting information. Might as well move the entire AF portal onto FB to save the taxpayers some money. Btw, the whole SSN encryption requirement is dumb and 20 years too late. Our SSNs have been available for a while now via other means and agencies. Sorry to go off on a tangent.

Something to consider. https://www.glo.texas.gov/vlb/loans/land-loans/index.html https://www.glo.texas.gov/vlb/loans/home-loans/index.html

Someone high up in the food chain finally acknowledged this and hence we now have the DA PME in-res option. For the late bloomers to get a chance to the "on-ramp" and be competitive for O-6 and beyond. Let's see how well this program gets implemented.

When I was a mid-level Captain I had two majors (solid dudes) on the CAG staff try to give me career mentoring, the secret to success...PCS your way to any HAF job and find an exec position as fast as you can to ensure future success. I thought at the time, WTFO this is crazy talk and maybe borderline desperate. But you know what? It's the correct strategy (if promotion is your priority) and I really appreciate the dudes for willing to share the secret recipe with me (no I didn't follow their advice). This is for a non-rated ops AFSC, but probably works for everyone.

PME in-res exists across the services and not unique to the Air Force. In peace time, this is simply a rat race (as an example, no derogatory insinuation intended). At the maze's exit there is an O-10 billet waiting for the lucky rat. To get there, the rat has to successfully complete various tasks, DO, Sq/CC, PME in-res, various levels of O-6 command, exec tours, joint staff tours, inter-agency tours, SLS, Pentagon, MAJCOM command, COCOM command and etc. For most in the Air Force, PME in-res and Sq/CC are the "pinnacle", but really they are just entry level objectives in the grand scheme of things. So while you don't need PME in-res to be a Sq/CC, but you are likely to need at least one of the two PME in-res to be a GO. Knows the rules of the game before you play. Or to quote WarGames: "The only winning move is not to play."

Not sure how this impacts the O5 board, but my FAO buddy said there was a recent memo stating that any FAO schooling (usually NPS) will count as IDE in-res now. This is done to boost the FAO promotion rate to O5. Long over due in my opinion. As for the 2-line PRF, I have to believe at the Wing level you still need to submit a full PRF write-up, the ROP and all the associated crap so the SR can make an informed decision on who to push. The 2-line PRF is just going to reduce the workload for the board members but not the candidates. I'm spending way too much time discussing this topic...

Yeah I never really researched Neil Armstrong but I chalk it up to dramatization/exaggeration of his personality for movie effects. I will say his personality in the movie is spot on for the old school folks in the flight test community...because of the strong focus on engineering and safety.

The movie has been out for a while now, but First Man is so underrated in my opinion. Not a typical sexy Hollywood movie, but it features a lot of quality actors, great acting, and many many memorable scenes. The thing that resonated with me the most is the dangers and the pains associated with the flight test community. I still remember the roads at Edwards named after the test pilots. Brought back memories of sitting through the TRBs and SRBs, and the pre-briefs before stepping... Can't stop watching this sequence over and over again.

I wasn't knocking the exec position (see my post about promotion from several months ago). Agree on the execs usually get the top strat but not guaranteed school. Wing execs are also usually Captains so probably won't benefit from DA. I think the new DA option is a step in the right direction to help uncover the "hidden gems." Just can't help but be a little cynical because CSAF guidance doesn't always get implemented correctly at the Senior Rater's level. Oh and the 2-line PRF is definitely coming this fall.

* Intermediate Developmental Education - FY19 program: The CSAF approved the new "Definitely Attend" process allowing Commanders to identify one high performing airman to definitely attend IDE in-residence. By pushing this authority down to the Commanders, who know their Airmen best, we're giving them the flexibility to provide additional "on-ramp" opportunities for an airman who is an outstanding performer. The MyVECTOR window for candidates to input their desires and Commanders to input their recommendations opened on 28 Feb 19 and runs through 29 Mar 19 (Note eligible officers who are in Student Status (SRID ST101) need to have their input done by 15 Mar 19). Commanders must take time to discuss this process with officers and provide candid feedback on the opportunity to attend in-residence PME

Coming soon: STEP promotion to Lt Col. Commanders will be able to select one "Must Send" to IDE as another on-ramp opportunity for outstanding performers. Let's hope this doesn't turn into the "Exec w/ an IDE follow-on" program. By the way, this should put to rest any talk about skipping ACSC and making O5.

Ha! No, I'm not a stocks guy, but I browse the site for the comedic value. There's some funny shit in there.

Interesting discussion on the recent 737 max mishaps... is this guy full of shit? https://old.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/azo3vp/im_a_pilot_shortput_ba/

Well that was fun while it lasted...