BitteEinBit

If you watched it on the housing side movie theater, that movie theater just closed for good earlier this year. That place had to be one of the best kept secrets in the AF. Still one of my best assignments.

Instead of making people guess if there is going to be continuation from year to year, the AF just needs to start being straight forward with bubbas and stop playing "I have a secret" with people's careers. All they are really doing is making dudes on the fence go the other way (STS). We already know promotion opportunities are going to be limited as the AF tries to trim overmanned year groups over the next few years, so just be up front with people. I'm no personnelist, but I can't imagine it being difficult to manage personnel when we have ADSCs...so it should be pretty predictable when people can separate. If you know you have too many pilots (or insert AFSC) in a given year group, give bubbas the opportunity to separate voluntarily if they've been passed over once to avoid a second one. Imagine the amount of separation pay the AF could save. (I may have to submit that to the IDEA program)

FIFY

Delta is not hiring

Eric Stoltz (also Spicoli's friend) and Nicholas Cage were also in that movie. Where was the high school where it was filmed? Is that mall and the high school in the same city? Edit: Found it....the interwebs are "awesome...totally awesome"....thanks Al

I call BS on the results....the Air Force just surveyed 500 drone pilots and 412 of them want to stay in the career field!! You obviously sampled the wrong people!! You need to do another survey until the numbers reflect what I want to hear!

Yeah, they just had a reunion for the 30th anniversary for Last American Virgin...another classic 80s flick.

Sounds pretty much like some of the up and coming Air Force leadership....no wonder he did so well in the AF. Do a climate survey...if it doesn't tell you what you want to hear...refute it and blame the people who made the survey....sounds about right. Leadership is a lot more than just being an effective manager of resources, and process builder (METL reference made me cringe)...interpersonal relationships are important. I think a lot of that is lost today.

It isn't about sticking out as an American...it is about finding a parking spot or using the parking garages or driving through small towns when everyone is parked on the sides of the roads, or using the smaller, winding state roads. It is not impossible to get around with a full size truck, but it is inconvenient. Those are the things you don't think about until you're already there. Good luck with that. P.S. you'll stick out as an American no matter what you drive....nothing to be ashamed of. Go 'Merica!

I wonder if the question was worded: "would you volunteer to stay in this community if it had better career and promotion opportunity?" I really doubt it was as clear cut as: "which would you rather do? Fly manned aircraft for fly 'drones'? Circle one!" I am not doubting there is some great satisfaction in that job...it absolutely makes huge contributions in this war. But, but I have a hard time believing those statistics, given the opportunity to fly manned aircraft or 'drones,' that 80% would select the latter...

To bring back a previous point...Remember, we've been told by the micro managers all this time that the little things matter, as they determine if we can accomplish the big things. We'll start with uniforms, boots, patches, and t-shirts...the ORIs, flying proficiency, the mission should take care of themselves. Enough with the talk...let's test the "focus on the little things" approach....I've heard too many Chiefs push it to not want to try it. Editorial note: While my post is dripping with sarcasm, I believe there is a little truth that fixing the small things can help with the big things. It is called boosting morale and it only works when the changes you make actually do just that. The way 'the shoes' were focusing on the small things is they were taking away the 'small' morale boosters and enforcing them in a punitive manner. I know there are bigger, more important things on which to focus, but morale is just as important. All those high-tech toys are great, but if your people aren't motivated to use them, they are less effective. I think that is a concept that previous leadership had underestimated...he managed people like 'expendable resources' as opposed to 'people.' At least act like you care about your people and they will perform. It means speaking with sincerity and not just reading a scripted, public-affairs-produced talking paper. The good thing about Gen Welsh is there is no doubt he cares about people, you see it in the way he interacts daily with his people...and I got that same impression when I met him 14 years ago too. He'll probably have to make cuts as well, but I believe he'll be clear, up front, and honest about it. There will be no secrets. While i don't agree with everything Gen Schwartz did, I'm not going to take away from his service to this country. He really is a brilliant man...i just look at him more as a resource manager charged with fixing our resource (mis)prioritization over the past few years. I know not everyone is a great speaker, but listening to his monotoned, scripted speeches did little to motivate me. Gen Welsh on the other hand is a dynamic speaker. You can tell he speaks from the heart both in public and on a one on one basis. If you've interacted with him, you know what I'm talking about. I see him as charged with re-energizing our morale at a time when budget cuts are going to continue to force us to make tough decisions...personnel and benefits decisions that could potentially hurt morale. We really haven't yet seen the worst of the proposed cuts...hopefully we won't have to go there. Boosting morale will be more important now than ever before. He is the right person at the right time for our Air Force. Congrats Gen Welsh...I see good things in our future.

Come on guys. it has been a few years since the last uniform change....it is time. With these wars winding down, people need new OPR bullets. Go AF Band!

(0:15) Officer: "what's your name?" Convict: " Robert Jones" (5 minutes later @5:33) Officer: "what's your name again" Convict: "Jimmy Jones" ...probably would have been my clue.... If you're going to ask questions, pay attention to the answers....

Stop it! There are no whiners! We are winners...you're all winners. You're the best of the best, and dont you forget it! There is no greater pleasure than living in middle of nowhere New Mexico, 'flying' a tip of the spear drones (pardon my common parlance), and getting up close and personal in warfare, then going to the O'Club afterwards and tell war stories while talking with my hands...I mean fingers. No need to point at watches here while telling stories...we just simulate typing on the bar! Yes...we are winners. We kicked the F-22s out because WE are the future of warfare!! WE run this Air Force....along with finance! Be us...or envy us! (Hmmm....that should be our motto...I wonder how to say that in Latin! I'll just ask my Latin American neighbor...I am in New Mexico after all)

FIFY Not trying to be funny here...but no matter how good you are at your primary job or office job, if you don't effectively translate it to paper (OPR, PRF) you will not be just fine. While I believe the promotion process gets it right most of the time, there are more than enough mediocre officers getting promoted ONLY because they look good on paper. As much as we don't like it, you either play the game or go home.

Certainly there has to be a reasonable expectation that she wouldn't be assaulted if she passed out, but she has to take her share of the blame for allowing herself to get that way. I'm tired of hearing about 'victims' of sexual assaults who's story always starts with "we were drinking and then went to my/his room and..." Not to seem like the insensitive asshole that I am, but you have to know a guy isn't coming up to your room for cookies and milk. If you believe that, there are no amount CBTs or training that will save your ass. When you allow yourself to be out in a situation like that, you SHARE the blame. There are lots of girls who get drunk but manage to not put themselves in a situation like that. Sure, there are legit rape cases out there, but if your story starts out with "I'm 17 and was drinking..." then you are already in trouble. Hell, I should claim to be a victim next time I get pulled over for drunk driving saying I drank so much that I ran out of money...couldn't afford a cab...so I decided to drive myself. I blame the club for charging me so much for those damn drinks...

I vote for an epic picture of boobs for both the 6900th and 5000th posts....but that just how I think..... Ok fine, throw in some good career advice and mentorship too....

I'm going to go on the record and say "it is only a matter of time." Yes, the additional shit our young pilots have to deal with will continue to be causal in future mishaps. Now, to clarify, it is not literally "working on Masters degrees" that causes things like this, but rather the misguided focus we put on the importance of such things particularly for our younger pilots (CGOs). There is absolutely no reason for a Lt or young Capt (aircrew) to believe that getting a Masters degree to make Major is more more important than being the best at their primary job...which is flying. But that is the perception out there...why? Because not having an AAD has been proven to be factors in Capts not getting promoted to Major in recent boards. People react to that...and with the accellerated promotion schedule, you don't have a lot of time to be good AND have a Masters (there are many exceptions)...so, what do you think the focus is on these days of non-selection and non-continuation??? I've seen evaluators get the boot because of non-selection to Major, and the feedback they get from AFPC and CCs up the chain is that they didn't have a Masters degree. We (the Air Force) have created a climate where career progression corresponds directly to AADs and PME completion, and we continue to reward people who make that the number one priority...thus perpetuating the culture. Until we break the chain, I am predicting more incidents of this nature even if not as severe or newsworthy. Flying is one of those skills that declines over time the less you do it. Ever seen an FGO from staff fly his one sortie a month? Very painful to watch sometimes...but at least (some) of the current pool of FGOs who did not have to focus on AADs as young CGOs can fall back on experience since flying was the focus back then from my experience...there are exceptions. But when we have a new generation of pilots coming up flying just enough to stay current and look good on paper focusing more on checking boxes to get promoted, they don't have the same level of experience to fall back on when they do stop flying for a while. I'm not saying this is a widespread problem, but the culture we are creating with misguided priorities certainly increases the potential IMO. From the competency level of pilots I've been flying with lately, I'm concerned when I see these same pilots take themselves off the schedule or take leave because they have a Masters paper to write. You hit the nail square on the noggin here. Unfortunately, the same culture that makes AADs a priority doesn't allow for pushback. All 'not being a pussy and pushing back' means is you become less strat-able and less promotable because you lack resilience and mission focus. It makes the 'leadership' look bad if their squadron keeps pushing back and not gettin'r done. We can't have any of that...thus the pencil whipping to look good on paper. No, it is going to take more bent metal to get anyone's attention. Forget preventative measures and risk mitigation...we need to see mishaps to take action. Again, nail on the noggin. "I don't want to lose my strat and a chance for school...I'll just not fly, work on my Masters and decrease my chances of making any mistakes." Yes, you know who they are in the squadron...again, this is not a widespread problem yet, but the culture is spreading.

Add to the tapes: "...the good new is it looks like MacDill still has their Aero Club!" Lesson learned here, don't ever assume it CAN'T happen to you... Im not judging these guys because they very well may have done this, but I always teach my students to brief what you expect to see when you acquire the runway...for example, approaching the field from the SW to a 10,000 ft runway with VASIs, overrun, displaced threshold, cables, etc. should at least raise some hairs on the back of your neck if you dont see what you briefed. I know it saved my ass at least twice (Chennault vs Lake Charles Regional and Easterwood College Station vs Riverside Campus Field) flying VFR..in both cases the fields are close proximity and both sets of fields look very similar to the airfield diagram. I also had it backed up with instruments and white line, but if I didn't, I could have easily bit off on the wrong runway. VFR flying or visual approaches can be convenient, but if you have the means to back it up with instruments/GPS/white line to final, do it. Edit: For detail

Glad to see he has the balls to admit the proposed cuts are too much too soon. Better to admit it now rather than when we actually have to execute... https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/07/airforce-welsh-testimony-new-chief-of-staff-071912/

Nancy Grace isn't to blame...the lady who committed suicide lacked resiliency.... Unless you're hot and have nice boobs...

I wonder why they always froze the jump for a commercial break keeping us in suspense as if they weren't going to make the landing....did they ever not nail the landing?

...to which congress will answer with "Let me see if I have this straight General. Over the past few years you have cut fighter pilot production, RIFd pilots with pay, non-continued pilots with pay, and offered voluntary separation pay for pilots to get out, and now you want more money to pay to keep pilots in? What am I missing here?" THAT is the meeting with congress I keep talking about wanting to see. I want to see Gen Schwartz have to answer that question and not Gen Welsh as he is cleaning up the mess he clearly saw coming. The AF is set up to crossflow some pilots with T-38 experince from the 11M AFSCs like they did in the 90s to kind of help with the problem, but then that overmanned 11M AFSC doesn't seem so overmanned anymore. Why is it that a bunch of people on an Internet forum have been talking about this very thing happening for the past 3-4 years, but the people whose job it is to manage things like this couldn't see it coming? Especially when the exact same thing happened just 15 short years ago? How frustrating to watch... Stop loss? I don't think it will go that far. Pilot shortage that has to be explained to congress? Absolutely.

AF Times should be picking up this story for next week's issue. This also paves the way for her promotion next year. Yes, this is the world we live in...

They also look at how many Masters degrees you have...because we all know that is a quality indicator.....