Liquid

Well said. Proper sentence structure and grammar simply aren't a priority when I'm typing with one finger on this lame ass iPad keyboard with a whiskey in one hand. I type like I talk to friends. I'll buy the hit to my credibility. Sorry for confusing the issue, I do not mean to give guidance to anyone. Just an opinion and different perspective. Obviously I'm not going to post my bio or describe my background and credentials. It would take some of you no time to figure out who I am. Hard to believe I am defending the value of anonymity in a blog like this. Again, I'll take the hit to my credibility by not convincing you I'm not some college kid pretending to be a pilot. You know and I know that my opinions and frank language do not belong with a signature line and AF stamp on them. There are other forums appropriate for my official, attributable guidance. This isn't one of them. Look, I agree with you on the IP/EP value. Primary job performance is the most important consideration in starts, job selection, awards, PRF strength,etc. Obviously not all CCs, sr raters and boards agree, but a shit ton do. Sometimes this strong belief screws over good dudes who change aircraft before upgrading. Just like the AAD Nazis, they screw a good guy simply for not being an instructor without looking at the timing and requirements for experienced people in new weapon systems. On the last maj board, about a third of the top dudes in our rack didn't have their masters done, including several school selects. We didn't care and neither did the board. Not saying stupid decisions don't happen, just that they don't happen everywhere. CSAF asked for feedback from Wg CCs last fall and from MAJCOM CCs in Jan. There was overwhelming support for recommendations to mask AAD at the major board but not Lt Col and to direct sr raters to not consider it. I have always thought that and have fought to change the policy. There were also good recommendations to ditch blues Monday, get rid of the tape measurement and stop requiring correspondence PME before residence PME. We all make recommendations, make arguments and try to make change. Then when the decision is made by those who should make the decision, we move out. I have these conversations over beers all the time. I'd be happy to have one with you.

Trogdor, oh I'm part of the "problem." I've written/signed hundreds of PRFs and read and graded thousands. I agree with much of what you say. I would fire a commander who upgraded guys not ready due to SOS. It is not a common practice everywhere but it is obviously a problem in many places. Standards should be the same regardless of your ranking. It blows that what you describe happens. I slap (really just mentor with direct talk and profanity) the stupid ass star QB for being stubborn and blowing his leadership abilities and proven performance by refusing to do PME or AAD, effectively self eliminating. It amazes me how many people say they are willing to die for their country or be separated from their family for most of their career for their job but are absolutely unwilling to take classes and write papers. Whiney ass bitches who will be replaced when they quit or allowed to continue at their current rank with pay increases every two years. It seriously doesn't take that much time. Blog less, sleep less or watch tv less. You are naive to think you can't be a run a good crew, be a good leader and get your shit done. Stop exaggerating how painful, distaste-less and immoral taking Coaching 101 is. It is a requisite for coaching whether you like it or not. I don't give a shit what you care about. Take your infection advice and shove it up your ass.

IMHO raters, senior raters and boards do value job performance and leadership the most. Back to my previous point, many of the disgruntled and passed over have a false sense of how good they really are. Perhaps it is because their bosses don't give them accurate feedback, perhaps because they are stupid or perhaps because they don't really know what being good at the primary job is. Stick and rudder skills are important, but self assessments of your ability to correctly perform flying duties and really get the mission done are sometimes inflated. The really good ones get latitude on AAD and DG at SOS and exec and all those other "boxes". The average and below average crew dogs may need something do distinguish their average to below average record and performance or they risk being passed over. The sports comparison is good. Why would I promote a player I hired to be QB to management or coaching if he had no desire to be a manager or coach, didn't think like a manager or coach and wasn't qualified to be a manager or coach, as defined by the owner not a locker room vote? The athlete was hired to do a specific job. It is amusing when they delve into areas they are not good at, aren't trained for and haven't been selected to do. The sports team owner will usually tell the mouthy QB to shut the ###### up and stick to what they are good at and were hired for. If you want to be in sports team management rather than just play, dive right in. Final sports thought, the all star team is not made up of people from one position. The team can't be all pitchers or QBs. Need some linemen and defensive men. That means there will be some pissed off QBs and pitchers who think they are better athletes on the all star team. The manager knows the rules and the overall objective and places the best right fielder in right field, even if his 5th best pitcher gets his feelings hurt and complains about the criteria for selection.

I agree AAD should be masked for Maj board and it should be for the next board. Hopefully there will also be specific guidance to senior raters and MLRs to not consider it. Feedback from this last Maj board was that AAD was not nearly as important as job performance, deployments, upgrades and Flt CC. You can't argue the fact that having AAD was probably a positive discriminator in the gray zone. When you are near the bottom 20% based on job performance, experience, PRF push, strats, awards, etc, every little thing helps. Getting the basics done (AAD//PME/upgrades) isn't that hard.

I got my AAD from Embry Riddle. Every class I took was related to flying. It made me a better pilot and prepared me for what I thought was going to be my next career in the airlines. It was easy and I knocked it out going to night school for 18 months. I was a better officer because of what I learned from my classmates and the course. Most of our flying, fighting and winning is done by our steely eyed CGOs and Airmen/NCOs. They probably don't need AAD to be more effective. FGO, command and joint leader requirements are different. If you want to do more than your primary technical job, you need to broaden your education and experience. We do that with AAD, PME, staff and assignments. Hoop jumpers understand the requirements for promotion defined by Big Blue and taught at many levels. If you don't want to broaden or get AAD/PME done, or accept the value of the hoops, you are in luck. You will most likely be passed over but "continued" and offered the opportunity to keep doing your kick ass job at the same grade without the expectation of more responsibilities. I know many passed over Capts and Majs who continue past 20 doing the technical job they love. Most, but not all, later regret not jumping through hoops and taking the well defined expectations for promotion and advancement seriously. They gambled, lost and regret it. PME, AAD and broadening aren't that hard to get done. Call it useless box checking or not, if you know the expectations and deliberately self eliminate or at least lessen your chance of being in the top 80% of your year group, don't bitch about it later. The top 20% of our force in every grade and AFSC are ######ing squared away, dedicated and deserve what they get. It is very competitive at that level and Christmas parties don't mean shit. The bottom 20% are not squared away and for the most part do not deserve to continue service at a higher grade, with different responsibilities and more pay. Good officers get passed over. Most have a reason. A few just get caught up by mediocre records, bad timing or stronger peers. The system isn't perfect, but it also isn't too complicated. You can be a leader as a passed over Capt, but you can't be a commander or joint leader without being in the top 20% crowd. Sure, we have plenty of leaders who meet the criteria, are selected by their functional DTs and wing CCs to lead/command but fall short. Some get fired, some squeak through, some kick ass.

Good advice frog.

Top half is easy to identify. Good to great officers with their shit done (SOS, Flt CC, skill, depth, breadth, strats, combat, AAD). Good at their jobs, paper to prove it. Bottom half gets tougher. Records look the same. Distinguishers are any of the above. Any. Most that get passed over don't give a shit and show it with what they do, what jobs they take and how hard they work. Not trolling. I'm sure there are plenty of good officers that got passed over for no easily identifiable reason. For every "good" officer you know that got passed over, there are 50 that deserved it. They all are clearly not in the top half of their year group and did not have the distinguishing accomplishments to get them above the red line. It happens, but it is rare that top 50% performers get tripped up by the little stuff that makes the difference around the red line and gets widely bitched about. AF wide, rater and additional raters document sub 50% performers on OPRs. It is not hard to identify the bottom 25% but it gets trickey drawing the red line. AF gets it right most of the time.

Those that get passed over tend to have an inflated sense of how good they are at their job. They have a tendency to blame Christmas parties and execs for their bottom 25% performance. Further most part, the senior raters and the board get it right.

If you are interested in serving and you have the health and a moderate level of coordination to fly, try to get to UPT. If you are looking for a job, this one has low relative pay, long hours, danger of burning to death, lots of time away from home, and is rough on the family. If you want to serve your country by flying kick ass aircraft all over the world, are willing to kill people, you know how to pick a wife strong enough to deal with all the shit, and you don't mind missing birthdays, anniversaries and Little League games, try UPT. If you are already worried about what your family life will be like at 35 as an AF pilot, get a regular civilian job. CE isn't much easier on the family. Being a pilot is the second best job in the AF. Commanding them in combat is the best. Bottom line, if you aren't willing to sacrifice everything, don't try it.