raimius

It seems like this is one of those never-ending debates. There are pros and cons to each side, so CSAR keeps getting flipped between MAJCOMs. One the one hand, it seems like AFSOC wants the mission, but on the other hand, there is a suspicion that it really just wants more aircraft to use for whatever it wants. ACC seems to want the capability, but doesn't always seem to know how to make it work/care enough to make it work.

Standard

Yeah, if you've got the budget, Massif is about as close to magic as I've seen in clothing. Shell jacket that keeps you comfy from 55-15F...or -20 if you wear their base layers as well.

...and mandatory brown t-shirts and Coyote boots. More stuff to buy for people. Those text job patches all got canned except for first responders, battlefield airmen...and one exception. (I wonder who wrote that...). Not that I care a ton, but wouldn't having people's jobs on their sleeves make things easier? Why are we restricting that?

So, those looking at leaving get a 0.5% pay raise? Yeah, that'll make the difference. I won't say "no" to $50 more a month, but the AF is kidding themselves if they think that would sway people's decision.

Mil flying has met my needs, so far. That said, if I don't get to fly on duty for a while, I definitely start to miss it. Sadly, helicopters are stupid expensive... I'm definitely thinking about saving up for an RV-7/8 in the future, though. The .gov won't pay me to fly forever.

Multiple stories of that happening in Vietnam.

Was that to add to the point, or did you miss the pegged-out sarcasm meter?

Well, there wasn't a lot of "wow" to it, IMO. They didn't even correct for inflation from the last time the bonus changed.

We won't be operating in uncontested skies. The war in Iraq is over. Afghanistan is winding down. There are very few failed states anymore. Also glad we won that darn war on drugs a couple decades ago!

Dunkirk is good. Character development and dialogue are pretty lacking, but the tension is amazingly well done. Definitely worth watching on a big screen.

The Mossberg 930 Miculek edition has been working pretty well for me, at half the price of some others. That said, I don't mess with it. The only thing I've done is add a side saddle. If you tinker, results may vary. I think I've only had one failure to fire. Not sure if it was a light strike or bad round, to be honest.

It doesn't say much good about CNN that after seeing the President tweet a rude meme, they decide the best course of action is to do some open source intel gathering in order to go after the guy who photoshopped their logo into a years old wrestling video, have him apologize, delete his account, and imply they will publicly ID him if he ever posts things they don't like in the future. Legally, it's probably a stretch to go for a criminal blackmail charge...but seriously, this is what an international news organization thinks is a good idea?!

Non-vol to T-38s. How screwed is the AF if a bunch of UPT studs don't even want to be fighter pilots?

Fix the QoL issues and people will not demand massive pay increases (so long as people have a "comfortable" upper-middle class base pay). You'll still lose people looking for better pay, but probably not at an unsustainable level. OR Compete with the airlines for pay. You'll still lose people looking for QoL, but maybe you'll get sustainable numbers. OR Fix both and actually have a surplus of pilots (...and unicorns might shower you with pots of gold...)

Looking for feedback is wise...the AF "training" consisting of some speechifying and a blind intro, not so much. It sounds like the new cc feels extremely unprepared.

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? Crowd sourcing leadership training is surely a sign of a problem, but at least "New SQ/CC X" is trying to mitigate...

Flying helicopters helps

AFGSC UH-1N crews wear them.

Chang, Serious question, have you read Bleeding Talent, and, if so, what is your take?

Work on your sales pitch. If you think the chance to work "long-term continuity" in the mountain villages of Afghanistan, followed by a desk in the basement of the Pentagon is the best way to sell this...you might be in the wrong forum. I also find it interesting that you try to sell it not on tactical or professional merit but on career advancement and language skills (which we can easily get elsewhere). This may be a necessary program for our national defense and national strategy. It may be an amazing opportunity for some people. But seriously, know your audience, man!

Plenty of sport bitching, sure. BUT the AF DOES have problems. If you don't see that, you cannot claim to be a competent leader. Out of one side, you say everything is great. Out of the other, you say we are in such a crisis that invoking Stop-Loss is a viable option. Stop-Loss is for national emergencies...see an issue between those two claims? Which claim are you going with? Personally, I've got a good deal from Big Blue, so far. I am quite aware that this is NOT a universal experience. I also know that, as a professional aviator, my skills have value. What do you think people are going to do when they realize they are not valued by their employer, are putting their family through hell, and can go find another job with 30% less time gone and a 40% pay raise? I know several people who saw that writing on the wall and decided that saving their family, working less, and getting paid more was a good option. I also know people who the AF kicked out because they cared about being expert pilots and flipped the bird to bureaucratic career advancement tasks that took them away from the cockpit. Bottom line, the AF needs expert pilots (among many other things), but those pilots won't stick around if you make their lives miserable, demonstrate you don't value their aviation skills, and load them down with non-aviation duties. I realize those in leadership usually don't see anything wrong until a slide goes red...well, guess what, your slide is red. What are you going to do?

By insisting that everyone should compete in promotions, we too often revert to metrics that apply across AFSCs...Which ends up meaning you are not actually rated on your primary duty. That needs to end. See the AFBlues cartoon about Luke Skywalker's OPR...

Did you really come to Baseops just to tell everyone that only guys on the ground do work?