RTB

WTF? Why? Morale was suspected to be improving?

Good info. Exactly why I asked the question, thanks.

I appreciate the info. And that's not sarcasm, I really do. You're right, too much at stake not to get this right. I'd like to think I'm not clueless. But obviously I don't have the full picture because yes, I'm asking anonymous dudes on the internet about this. Mainly because I haven't had any luck asking here at my base and BODN seems to have a lot of dudes who've seen or been through just about every scenario out there. Your points are obviously valid and I have definitely thought through most of them. I appreciate the assist for the ones I haven't. BODN standard. I certainly won't pull the trigger on this unless the situation works as advertised. Also, as it turns out, I found out today I'll need a waiver from God (actually SAF) to get a commission in the Reserves with over 18 years of AD service so it may be a moot point. But since I want to keep the GI Bill benefit for my kids, want to keep flying AF jets, but don't want to keep dealing with the shit sandwich AD is offering, getting a TR job (with MPA days available here) sounds pretty good. Also lets me get started on the next phase a year and a half sooner in an opportunity that may not be there if I wait. Huge decision and I may decide to just ride out the AD thing until Jan 2015 but want to have all the details so I can make the right decision. Oh, and delaying my retirement even a little will just piss off my ex-wife because she gets a F-ing chunk of it and is just waiting for that first paycheck to roll in from DFAS...

Noted. Always great advice.

No, not kidding. I know it sounds crazy but I am already less than a year until 20. By the time I can work the PC paperwork, I'll be months away. Without PC, I'll be stuck on AD until 21.5 because of when I did my GI Bill benefit transfer. Suck. If I PC, the transfer commitment transfers to the reserves and I have the flexibility to be a TR, take the civilian job I am looking at, and get the AD points in fairly short order.

Anyone have any experience doing Palace Chase on a waiver due to having more than 18 years of AD service? According to 36-2005 it's possible but I haven't found anyone who has done it. Probably not many guys that want to jump to the Reserves with less than 2 years until retirement but there have to be a few...

Has anyone on here successfully done Palace Chase despite still having a GI Bill Transfer ADSC? If so, would appreciate any data on how the process unfolded.

It's more a 'grass is greener' thing combined with a horrible (non-existent) personnel management plan for the Raptor. Lots of guys bailing from the AD pain train for the goodness of the Guard and Reserve, in both the F-22 (large TFI footprint at every base) and Vipers/Eagles.

Definitely. It was a bit of a hassle but it was well worth it.

Guess I'll add my experience to this thread since it was slightly different than some others. Long story short, great loan rate (3.75% fixed 30 year VA), huge closing cost credit (covered over $6k in closing costs), I had to bring $0 to closing and closed on time so all in all, it ended up great. However, for me there was significant ass pain getting to closing. May have been partly due to FSBO purchase with no realtor help but there were a lot of mistakes and oversights at the bank that led to significant thrash during the 2 weeks leading up to closing. Lots of re-sends of docs and repeating of data already given. The day of closing was a total nightmare of surprise new document requirements, faxes, emails, etc, but in the end, we closed only an hour late and got a heck of a deal.

Completely bogus. Yet it happens. I know 2 guys who received very similar strats. Classic WIC super stars and both great dudes but they fully admit there's no way they could be accurately ranked above every other O-4. Of course they didn't complain! If you want to move up quickly, it pays to work for the man I guess. Personally, I was never offered such an 'opportunity'. Which is just fine.

Pretty sure cross flow guys from non-fighters have always gone through a B-course, not a TX.

Not a lot of the guys I know Yep.

Long overdue. Never made any damn sense.

They aren't sitting on their asses. Their sims are running morning to night every day. Yeah they don't have air under their ass but they're training to the max extent possible. If you move any more of them to other taskers (they've been hit bigtime already with MC-12s and other fun 179s) they'll have a hell of a tough time getting back on the step when the jets start flying again.

Huggyu2, I'm going to assume this is sarcasm?

That's awesome, wish it was like that everywhere. I'd bet money that none of them are 2-BPZers chasing that BPZ to O-6... We seriously have to 'maintain' a wheel cap? Really? When did that happen?

Actually, me either. Always been a Friday Shirt. Thought that was the term the AFI used but I guess not. Timing is perfect too. I no shit just paid for a fresh batch of 30 Friday shirts last week. Good news is we're going to wear them anyway. Screw the change.

UFB. Killing morale shirts. That makes f'ing sense. Seriously, why is this offensive to anyone? How does this possibly make any sense?? Banning morale shirts which are meant to improve morale. It's shit like this that makes me crazy.

So, did they replace it yet with something else? Please tell me they're just updating the lettering and it will go back the way it was.

Agreed, and that's a sad story. As stated many times on here, the result is a lot of great pilots and leaders departing the fix for greener pastures. It shouldn't be a choice between the two. Disagree. I don't know anyone claiming that they 'deserve' anything. They just want the words to match the actions. Definitely.

Unfortunately, from my vantage point there is a serious disconnect between our Service Chief's 'concern for people' and the interpretation/implementation of how to address those concerns by lower level commanders, as expressed continuously throughout this site. Before he retired, I sat in a room and listened to a 4-star AF General tell a group of fighter pilots that if they couldn't juggle deployments, additional duties (now that our CSS and CSA support have been eliminated), career-essential BDE/IDE in correspondence, career-essential upgrades, a career-essential Master's Degree, volunteering downtown to stay competive with the shoes, and maybe a couple hours a week of family time, we simply didn't know how to manage our time well enough. You could have heard a pin drop - it didn't go over very well. Anyone who has been there knows that of all those competing demands, something MUST give. Guys are basically having to choose to either be the best fighter pilot they can be and risk not getting a school slot and BPZ to major, or going for all the squares at the expense of their primary job of flying and employing aircraft. I am just sick and tired of stupid policies killing morale, hurting retention, and making life worse, not better for the people. Maybe I've become too cynical after 18 years but the 25+ CBTs I have to stay current on, the reflective belt I must wear indoors and out, the blues on monday if I'm not on the schedule, and the total misprioritization of a pilot's focus have just left be burned out on the AF.

Can't speak to how the program looks at the operational level but I've heard good things from the bros that have been there. However, the way the AF has handled finding manning for this program seems pretty poor. Just like when we first started with the preds, we're treating it like a temporary inconvenience away from your 'primary' MWS. It's a constant cycle of new taskings dropping to undermanned and overtasked Wings. End result is that by the time a pilot goes through all the training, delays, deployment and now the 3 month extension, they're gone for a year of their 3 year (or less) MWS assignment. Result is permanent damage to a young pilot's progression as he now PCS' with lower quals than his peers which essentially equates to a less than desireable assignment. As an aside, with TX slots so hard to come by these days, it'll be interesting to see what happens to guys when they get back from being out of the jet 9-12 months and now require a formal requal course. Will they be cut free, will they be given a TX slot, or will we just give 'em a waiver and get 'em flying again? While it should be a TX, it'll probably the latter - we have lowered the training bar so much already, it would only make sense...

Could not agree more. This is the fundamental issue.

True that Holloman is doing the refurbishment on the jets but unfortunately, they'll still be A models when they're done. The refurb will tear them down for a detailed inspection, TCTO compliance and a dual radio mod but that's it. Same old school cockpit. The only other addition will be Garmin GPSMAP 696s that will be carried to the jet each sortie and snap into the map light bracket on the canopy rail. It's actually a pretty good setup, all things considered. BL for this program - min cost.