Karl Hungus

How much taxpayer money did we pay RAND to do this, when any staffer- where the real hard work of Air Power happens!- could spend a day or two skimming a decade's worth of posts on this board and AirlinePilotCentral and come to the same conclusion? Laughable. The COAs are a stretch at best. Even RAND admits that. Proficiency advancing prior-121 pilots through UPT? Insert story of former regional guy who failed out of T-6s here. Not to mention, you're going to give them preferential treatment on OTS boards and force ARC units to do the same? Good luck! Forcing ARC units to do LFEs/deployments during winter months when airlines are less busy, and stop having UTAs on the first weekend of the month? LOL. Fix QoL/work rules and you won't have the mass exodus of talent. You wouldn't even have to pay pilots (much) more- just provide QoL/work rules close to on par with a combination of the civil sector and the ARC. Doing so would require some real leadership and some painful acknowledgements on the AF's part that they've ed up. Instead, our management comes up with 13 year ADSCs. That'll fix it!

Palace Chase to a USN reserve unit. Possible? AFI 36-3205 specifically mentions ANG and AFRC, but not the Navy, so I'm guessing no. Providing another venue to keep a trained asset in the so-called "Total Force" would make too much sense.

Anyone but McDew, right?

Get a new username Scoobs?

I was asking a hypothetical regarding Duck's desires. I'm not trying to separate... yet.

Can you be selected for promotion but then decline before pinning on? Or is being a non-select at the board via sabotage, writing a DNP me letter, etc the only way to avoid being promoted (and thus allow an earlier exit to greener pastures)? Honestly don't know.

This. Does anyone really think that the inflation-correcting $35k/year bonus will boost retention from the 45% or so this year to their target 65%? I have my doubts. We'll just be throwing more money at those who were going to stay in anyway. Extra money for the future ThreeHolers of the world- a fantastic deal for those folks. We all know that the QoL/"work rules" aren't going to improve, which is what's really necessary to fix this retention problem. $35k/year just isn't enough to sway a large number of people. Perhaps they should be looking to correct flight pay for inflation as well. $650/month in 1999 corrects to about $925. $840 corrects to about $1200. Or, more likely, we'll just see senior management institute Stop Loss.

How dare I point out the ridiculousness of our promotion system! Interesting that you feel it's an either/or- get in line and play these silly games, or "move on to the land of ice cream and blow jobs". FWIW, I really like my job on AD. I work hard and have put myself in a position to have lots of options going forward. Unfortunately, the things I like to point out as problems with AD- how we promote, work/life balance (or lack thereof), inane political correctness, toxic management, etc- are making my remaining on AD past my current assignment extremely unlikely. I'm here because this is one of the few avenues where our senior management interacts with the masses. Sometimes they need to be reminded that the emperor doesn't always appear to be wearing clothes. And I'll continue to be here in the future, regardless of if I'm on AD, ice cream and blow jobs or not.

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

You left off all the additional duty bullshit, makework queep, the Social Justice Warriors running rampant, nauseating careerism, and the abuse/mismanagement of the pilot career field. Active Duty is so fucked, yet it was all so preventable.

The people getting out are easily replaceable. Don't even think about stop loss, that's how replaceable they are. The HPOs opting out of IDE in residence to separate, well, we didn't want them anyway. The ones who we send to ACSC in their absence (surprise!) are now the HPOs. And they're the ones who are going to go to staffs, where the "real hard work of air power" takes place. Or something.

And if you don't have kids/a spouse to transfer it to, or you don't want to incur the ridiculous ADSC for doing so, well, F you. Doesnt really matter- it won't exist in its current form in 15-20 years.

Interesting. Seven of eight 2005 year group IDE selects have 7 day opted/palace chased recently at a certain large MAF base, if a certain Wg/CV is to believed. Seven of eight. I suppose he could be lying, of course. But those are your supposed "best" CGOs that you want to use on staffs "where the hard work of airpower exists", and yet they're bailing. Not to mention your average non-IDE select CGO peon, who is also bailing. Given how "easily replaced" these CGOs are... I think it's safe to say the fears of a pilot stop-loss are unfounded, right? It is indeed a cycle, and growing a diverse (intriguing use of that word in the current environment) officer corps capable of thoughtful airpower employment is indeed good for the AF. I'm skeptical that the AF is really doing that as well as it thinks it is, though, for various reasons. It'll be very interesting to see if the senior management narrative changes over the next couple of years.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

I know several folks with families, jobs (ARC, airlines, and/or non-flying civilian organizations), and/or real graduate schools who would laugh at you for making that statement. I guess that's not the audience you were thinking of. Not surprised that someone on a promotion board would think like you, though. Speaks volumes.

the idea is that getting passed over for promotion will allow one to separate from AD earlier than their current ADSC, and that getting hired by ARC units is easier as an O-3 than an O-4, O-4 than O-5, etc... where you'll just get promoted anyway without as much of the silly AD games. That, and getting a seniority number sooner rather than later can be huge for those so inclined. Either way, it's indicative of how toxic AD AF is that pilots would consider writing a do-not-promote letter. I wonder how much that happens at healthy organizations.

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion man.

Oh? Did an "Age 70" rule get passed?

Profound.

If it's a new MDS you can 7 day (3 day?) option out of taking the assignment. AFPC can't force you to accept an ADSC for a new MDS qual that will take you beyond your current UPT ADSC. Of course, they can just adjust the ADSC to match whatever UPT ADSC you have remaining. Which reeks of desperation, but this is AD Air Force we're talking about.

Buddy of mine is a UPT IP (not a FAIP). Says there is a rumor going around that FAIPs will soon be RPA assignable. F that.

Post this on the APC forums, as well as The Pilot Network on facebook. Also, as I'm sure you know, you're competing with the major airlines as well as the regionals (which at least provide 121 experience and turbine time). Might be difficult to get some of the talent you're after unless you have very attractive salary/benefits/work rules/location/etc. Good luck.

General consensus amongst my peers is $50k a year, after taxes. About $4k a month, versus the $1.5k a month now. Won't happen, of course. We'll see stop loss before it moves beyond the inflation-correcting $35k/year.

I get approached by about 3-5 people a year asking for advice on becoming an Air Force pilot. I tell all of them that I can't in good faith recommend they go the active duty route. If they can't go guard/reserve, it's not worth going at all. I've been personally thanked by a few of them once they get to UPT and realize the bullet they dodged.

That, and/or the unfortunate perception that getting civilian flying jobs is difficult without significant fixed wing time.