General Chang

Ok guys, serious post for once (yeah, shut-up haters; you loved it the past couple of years). Tony recently published an article on his site about dealing with toxic leaders to fix the Air Force. I look around my aviation community (remaining unnamed to protect the guilty), and I just don't see it. Guess I'm either lucky, clueless, or one of the culprits (again, shut up haters. Actually trying to be serious here). Who's in a community out there that actually breeds multiple toxic leaders? Is there a root cause or is it a conglomeration of problems? Is your community on the upswing or trending downward? Conversely, who is in a community with leadership that really "gets it" from Sq CCs on up? What are they doing right to sustain the greatness of your aviation community? Really think about these answers. They could make a difference.

Greg, You are right. I am sorry.

This program embodies everything wrong with the Air Force.

Are you kidding me Brick? The only chance we have in this forsaken state of affairs is to put Operators in key positions of influence throughout the "1" community. All levels, Lt Col through Lt Gen. I know many rated Cols, 1* & 2* who would enact real change through radical personnel policy changes, given the chance. Once rated officers take back these key positions of influence on staffs, particularly in the "1," we may have a fighting chance. The thought that pilots in key staff positions is a waste of training and money is extremely short-sighted. We promote way too many non-rated officers to O-6 and above as it is.

The 2.5 more accurately reflects the needs of the C-17 community. Thousands of hours of research by personnelists went into these numbers. Even more research was done on the 2.0 crew ratio for the C-130. While maintaining the 1.75 was argued, the increase to 2.0 won the day. A minority in the community successfully argued the lack of navigators should create a higher crew ratio, so AMC A-1 caved and agreed to raise it to 2.0 (100%+ manned at the squadron level, I might add). MAF is extremely healthy, again thanks to the efforts of number crunchers to keep the communities healthy.

Absurd and incorrect re: O-6 numbers. Re: community health, yes, younger fighter pilots are short, but all other communities are currently relatively healthy, although we can see some concerns in the distant future (hence stop-loss discussion). Wait to see the bonus take rate numbers in October. Much more money offered this year.

$20T in debt. Should be $200 for four years. Still incredibly cheap for the benefits received.

Precisely why we need airpower leaders in these key positions. I intend to nonvol my absolute best flyers in the Wing here in Asia to these positions. I am confident my fellow CCs will follow suit. We need our best in these critical positions to win this war. And I intend to reward them career-wise on the backside.

Completely incorrect. The first career field listed in the message is "rated," and that is where we will look to draw the majority of officers, for obvious reasons.

I am going to address the younger people reading this forum who are scared to death. Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing wrong with your Air Force. We are leaner, meaner, & more powerful than at any time in history. If you are thinking of joining, please join; this is a great time to join, and you will feel the rush of patriotism every day you put on the uniform. If you are already in and worried because of these threads, ignore the negativity. There are pessimists in every day and age. Unfortunately, because of social media, it is far easier to see what's on their minds as they hide behind avatars. The people here are not your friends and truly don't care about you & your family. I am proud & honored to lead the men & women under my command each & every day, and I have full faith and confidence in the highest levels of leadership. You should as well. You will know I am right when the vultures on this thread immediately attack this position. Stay true to yourselves, look for opportunities within your career fields to better yourselves (see the AFPAK Hands thread), and go out there and lead! Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

For those on AD, I take it you saw the AFPAK Hands solicitation we sent out today. I hope you give strong consideration to volunteering. We are ramping that program back to full capacity, and A1 will facilitate. ISIS is altering the battlefield and we must have many, many more air power experts on the ground with long-term continuity, earning the trust and respect of the tribal leaders, especially in the remote mountainous regions of both countries. Many amazing carrots to participating: attend NIU for IDE, work at the Pentagon with some of our greatest minds of our time, free language training, and likely early promotions to both Lt Col & Col. Finally, a real shot at General Officer down the line. Truly, we will see many of our future Sq/CCs come out of this program, because they will be the most relevant/qualified in the current state of affairs. This is a big, big deal; don't miss your opportunity. If you really don't want to participate in this program, please encourage your friends who are on the fence. We have a very small volunteer window and many slots to fill; it will not be long before Wing Commanders will be racking their senior Capts, Maj(s), and Majors (esp post bonus) for these opportunities. Even the non-volunteers will see some of the carrots (because of the importance of this program, we will target the highest performers in the Squadrons; this program will accelerate even their careers and give them new perspectives on leadership). No doubt this thread will get bashed and trashed, but it will reach its intended audience anyway. Honestly, there is no truer way to "take your career by the horns" than volunteering for AFPAK Hands. The last 3 CSAFs put their money where their mouths were regarding incentives. If you joined the AF to make a difference for your country, then volunteer for this program. I truly thank you.

Sockpuppet. Nice. I guess when someone posts a positive thought on these boards, they become trolls & sockpuppets. I do not advocate for stop loss. I merely remind it is always on the table, and despite what Gina said, we are closer now than we have been in many years. If it comes, just jump in with two feet, stay positive, and we will end it as soon as able. For those on AD, I take it you saw the AFPAK Hands solicitation we sent out today. I hope you give strong consideration to volunteering. We are ramping that program back to full capacity. ISIS is altering the battlefield and we must have many, many more air power experts on the ground with long-term continuity. Many carrots to participating: attend NIU for IDE, work at the Pentagon with some of our greatest minds, free language training, and likely early promotions to Lt Col & Col. We will see many of our future Sq/CCs come out of this program, because they will be the most relevant/qualified in the current state of affairs. This is a big deal; don't miss your opportunity. If you really don't want to participate in this program, please encourage your friends who are on the fence. We have a very small vol window and many slots to fill; it will not be long before Wing Commanders will be racking their senior Capts, Maj(s), and Majors (esp post bonus) for these opportunities.

Stop Loss always has been (and still is) on the table. It has to be. U.S. citizens are depending on military pilots, some reading this forum, to defend this country and their right to L/L/PoH. We must sustain an appropriate posture to our enemies in this interconnected world. Stop loss, if invoked, becomes a patriotic duty. I sincerely hope we have a few patriots left in the pilot ranks. Your personnelists are working day and night at the highest levels to solve this problem by any other means. Those personnelists are heroes in my book, and I believe they will be successful. However, if they are not successful & Stop Loss is invoked, it will be easier, and shorter, if service members remember their core values & jump on the bandwagon. Young people- do not be disheartened by the negativity on this blog. The future of our Air Force and our country is bright, and you are the beacons. Thank you for serving.

Stop Loss always has been (and still is) on the table. It has to be. U.S. citizens are depending on military pilots, some reading this forum, to defend this country and their right to L/L/PoH. We must sustain an appropriate posture to our enemies in this interconnected world. Stop loss, if invoked, becomes a patriotic duty. I sincerely hope we have a few patriots left in the pilot ranks. Your personnelists are working day and night at the highest levels to solve this problem by any other means. Those personnelists are heroes in my book, and I believe they will be successful. However, if they are not successful & Stop Loss is invoked, it will be easier, and shorter, if service members remember their core values & jump on the bandwagon. Young people- do not be disheartened by the negativity on this blog. The future of our Air Force and our country is bright, and you are the beacons. Thank you for serving.

We have a plan to backfill the bomber community with additional UPT grads to make up for any shortfall you may see over the next few years due to staff demands. It will be better for your communities as well, since new pilots have more longevity. All-around win-win. Hopefully the fighter and RPA guys get excited about the first bonus raise in a generation. Definitely a sweet pot of money on that rainbow: $35K/yr for 9 years! I am pleased that the issue of "raising the bonus" finally worked out. We had a lot of personnelists spend many hours to make sure our pilots are paid the correct amount via the bonus. Very exciting that it finally happened. Pilots, wherever you are at, please thank a personnelist. That small gesture will make a world of difference. Merry Christmas, all.

In this context, manning matters not. We don't need to send more people joint in order to compete for high-level joint positions. We need to send the top 10% to more joint assignments (and definitely not curtail the first assignment at the 22-month point). The CSAF also supports this line of thinking. The difficulty: the O-7 pole year is at 24 years ("in the zone" for O-7, if you will). This is the earliest of any service. In fact, a couple of years ago, we selected more O-7s in one class year at their 23-year point than 24-year selectees, although we are back to predominantly 24-years at the most recent board. Couple this with an already tight career developmental timeline that (typically) includes two O-6 commands and several years of the aforementioned schooling, and it suddenly gets very difficult to push our best through significant, important joint positions. I'm sure this facts-based post will harness double-digit thumbs-down responses. Doesn't make it any less true.

The money for your increased pilot bonuses will have to come from somewhere. Keep this and the House's increased bonus number to $60K (plus the monthly $1K- wow!), and you have a sustainable program. Not sure why the pilots are complaining. I know, I know, it's what you do best.

We get killed in the GO Joint billet competition because our fast burners only have 22-24 months of Joint time. We lack credible Joint FGO time (compared to other services), plain and simple. It has zero to do with education, PME or otherwise.

Absolutely spot-on. I have heard from many RPA pilots that the job is intrinsically rewarding work. It is also appealing because of fewer deployments (and the spreadsheets back this up). I believe some people on this forum are simply out to hurt our future Air Force with their negativity, and it makes me sick to my stomach. And ashamed. And a touch angry.

Absolutely join...don't let these sour grapes force you into any kind of hasty decision. You will regret that forever. Once in, work your tail off and be the best in your unit. Your leadership will fall over themselves to give you the choice assignments you want, all the way to Colonel. If you don't "have excellence," yes, you could find yourself like some on this forum, fulfilling needs of the Air Force that don't align with your plans. However, uphold the core values, and you won't need to worry about that. Be the best and you will rise to the top.

This is only the first step. If we can get more enlisted RPA pilots to take over all non-combat RPA roles, then permanently reclassify all current RPA pilots into the RPA career field, we will no longer need to pull pilots out of cockpits for RPAs. This would solve rated manning problems faster than any bonus increase (although A1 will continue to pursue that with Congress). Lots of reasons to be positive, people.

More people should read this string...there are many ways to make your dreams come true, but still stay in the AF and potentially become future senior leaders. I applaud those of you who have pursued this path. Thank you for your service.

Congrats to all of the recent grads, and welcome to the best ride of your lives.

Two thumbs up for this selection. He will continue the great works started by Gen Welsh. Get excited; our future is in good hands, Airmen.

Ok, a couple of you appear upset, but for the young guys on this forum, I'll state a similar message to my post on the SOS/ACSC board, then pull up my tent stakes on this issue. Our Air Force is honorable, lethal, and excellent. It is an organization that many in society would kill to be a part of. Some members of this forum have thrown that opportunity down the tubes during an emotional event. If you decide to leave, make sure you do it for the right personal reasons. The future opportunities in our AF will be incredible. You will be personally, monetarily, and professionally satisfied and rewarded. Get excited and be a part of it. It's your future.