flyusaf83

I was just passed over for the 2nd time, and was offered continuation to 20 YOS. I don’t have NJP in my history, but I did have a rough last assignment with a referral OPR that I’m still in the process of challenging. Long story short - I went through a nasty divorce when my ex left me for a coworker and decided to make false accusations to justify it. I was eventually fully exonerated, but the damage to my records was tough. My leadership did me no favors. That referral OPR contained the allegations she made against me, before I had a chance to have due process. Even though I was exonerated by due process, the damn OPR is still there and the board saw it. As one last “fuck you” as I was leaving that assignment and chain of command, they gave me a DNP based on the same allegation, even though they knew it was disproven in court by that time. When I reminded them I was cleared by due process, they fell back on the allegation still being on an OPR they wrote before I could defend myself. Integrity first, right? So I was passed over on that look. I got a “P” on this last look at my new unit. My new leadership helped me write a letter to the board explaining the circumstances. They also included verbiage on the PRF asking the board to look past the bullshit. I don’t know if the continuation board saw the letter or the verbiage on the PRF. My understanding is they make offers of continuation if you are “fully qualified” to do your job. I know another guy who was passed over and not offered continuation. His issue is that his NJP messed up his security clearance and thus his ability to be “fully qualified”. Hope this helps. BM me your email or phone number if you want to chat. Good luck.

The standard for an article 32 hearing is very low, so the fact that the article 32 hearing recommended no court martial and was ignored by leadership - stupid. The AF wants its pound of flesh, and continues to prosecute cases that have no business in a courtroom.

I was being sarcastic and hyperbolic with what I said the police chief should say. I don’t like to see a fellow crew dog murdered in his own home. I disagree that the Sheriff should automatically go to bat for his deputy here. He is the leading LE official in his jurisdiction, and all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law - whether you’re a cop or not. I understand the importance of someone being treated as innocent before proven guilty more than most, yet in the real world that isn’t what usually happens. The frustrating thing in this case is that you have LE grasping at straws to defend the suspect despite overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, and then in other situations grasping at straws to portray a non-LE citizen as guilty. Think about how LE portrays other cases publicly before trial that don’t involve cops as suspects. In those cases, they aren’t shy to oversell their case to the public. They shouldn’t be this hypocritical, but it’s a system run by tribal humans.

I did not appreciate the tone of the Sheriff’s press conference, when he basically justified the murder before showing the video. Pointing out with emphasis the lame excuses that will be given for the ridiculous choice to unload your gun into someone who is no threat, in their own home. Just say you are sorry, that you feel horrible for the family of the victim, that you fully support murder charges, and that you are resigning because your department is full of trigger-happy douche-canoes.

I’m expecting to be passed over for Lt Col. What can I expect with continuation? Is it automatic for passed over Majors, or is it something they offer on an individual basis?

Hey guys, I was totally ready to sign up for 9 more years of OPRs, PT tests, PCSs to shitty places, deployments to shitty places, a useless 365 resulting in missing seeing my kids grow up, crappy leadership, crappy support agencies, flying falling apart aircraft that are twice my age, creating trackers to track the other trackers, hustling strats to make O-5, 1206s, POCing some change of commands, getting chiefed for morale patches, commanders calls, SAPR briefs, resiliency training, my wife putting her career on hold for just another decade, my kids needing to go to 9 schools to graduate HS, sitting Sup/SOF, being forced to volunteer for BS to fill up OPR blank space, and some other crap I don’t want to think about. I was totally gonna keep doing all this shit. But then I heard another pilot say STS 6-9 times. So I’m getting the fuck out now.

That was underwhelming. The AF is just going through the motions of pretending they want things to improve, while giving lame ass excuses as to why they aren’t actually fixing anything. I’m sick of things like this (AMA, surveys, etc.). They fucking know what’s wrong. They just don’t give a shit. The generals got where they are playing the current game and without the improvements we are advocating for. So they aren’t the one that can fix this. They don’t want to fix it. McCain is gone. We need go VFR direct to Congress and force the GOs hands. Congress as a whole is a vile incompetent dumpster fire, but there are some good Reps our there. We need some top cover.

I really could not care less what crap the AF peddles through its propaganda arm. I just see what’s around me. Everyone I know that is staying in is planning on a 365. Some guys volunteer for one so they can control the timing/location/job and negotiate an assignment with AFPC. I don’t really give a crap what the AF says, I’ll believe they are making a fix when I see it. I still am seeing guys getting “hot” for that 365 around the 15 year mark and trying to figure out how to avoid it, and ending up “volunteering” for one for the above said reasons.

As it stands, you have a point. I think the bonus at $28-35k has a limited effect. Fence-sitters will still get out. I guess I am somewhat of a fence-sitter, in that I see myself having a 1/20 chance of staying in. I have two more years until decision time. A couple major things will have to change for me to stay in. One, is no chance of a 365. The other is a significant bonus hike. In the neighborhood of at least $60k. I love wearing the bag, and it’s going to be hard leaving that. Lots of intrinsic things that draw me to the military pilot thing. But is that worth 8 years of airline seniority, especially when I can still wear the bag in a reserve unit? Not worth the $35k, IMO. Some guys say that it’s not about the money. That’s bull. There’s a reason this thread is 169 pages long. Money helps deal with the sacrifices of military service easier on my family. It helps with my spouse not being able to stick with a job longer than 3 years because of moves. It helps my family fly home for holidays instead of driving. Money does talk, even when the choice would involve other factors. It’s not just the money, but money is a key factor. Mccain is gone. Time for a real bonus.

O-4 and O-5 w/dependents up around $200 in San Antonio.

And then careers are ruined by these investigations? Sounds like a great system.

The problem is the AF is firing commanders for the wrong reasons. Something written on a flight room white board gets 4 guys fired. That is a huge overreaction, unless there’s more to the story. Meanwhile, the AF is riddled with “leaders” who screw their people over time and time again in an effort to push their own careers forward. Commanders aren’t fired for making their people miserable and for contributing to the AF’s retention problem. They are fired for not stopping some random dumbass from writing something stupid in some flight room. Why would I bet my career on the AF when it can be ruined for something like that?

CSOs, late-rated pilots, and a handful of career pilots.

So I spoke with an AFPC functional today. Apparently AFPC is pretty stunned with how abysmal take rates were this last FY. He said take rates of 11X initial eligibiles for most communities was in the teens. Some bases had less than ten percent takers. The actual number will be higher (just under 30%). But that number is inflated due to 12x takers and guys who renegotiated their bonus. Reality is much worse than that. McCain is gone. Time for Congress to pass a real bonus.

Nope, but I’m sure it’s similar cluster there. The UPT bases and PIT are all rushing to set up VR right now, and not exactly working together to do it. In fact, they are competing with each other for resources. Each commander is invested in the innovation dick-measuring contest, and whoever gets VR done first wins. This is what happens under a dickless vacuum of leadership with vague guidance and a bunch of zealot CCs and DOs desperate for that next carrot in the AF pyramid scheme. I think SOS called it laissez faire leadership or something like that.