raimius

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?

1. Read and implement some of Bleeding Talent's recommendations. 2. Tech/leadership tracks for appropriate AFSCs. 3. Tracks will likely necessitate ending "up or out." 4. Properly man, train, equip, and fund support functions. 5. Move support activities to support organizations. 6. Try to breed professional pride and competency in both ops and support. (AKA finance doesn't win the war, but we still expect professional work and pride in a job well done.) 7. Empower JOs/NCOs to make decisions--both in the regs and in practice. 8. Fire/reassign people who do not contribute or work to make things work.

The willingness of people to buy into the idea that he represents AF "leadership" is indicative of something, though...

Haha, way to stay on message! -If our personnel folk are doing such an amazing job, why is pilot retention now in crisis mode and getting worse? -Are bandwagoning and group think now core values? Was there an MFR I missed? -Accusing service members of being unpatriotic for trying to avoid the AF's absolute breaking of faith and coercive actions...well, here is EXHIBIT A of the type of "leadership" that drives people away from what should be one of the coolest, most enviable jobs in the world.

You think they thought about all the details already? Planes first, then pilots...and er, maintenance, yeah that's probably good to have too! If done right, it's a good idea. ...IF...

Yes, they also have a recoil spring, built into the system and enclosed in the receiver. The AR design places that spring in the receiver extension/buffer tube. Leave the buffer tube off and the BCG is going to fly out the back. I'm guessing you know that, and we are just seeing the poor results of internet conversations.

Explain to me how the piston returns the BCG to battery...?

A toast...

Him, him.

Andrews does DV support and contingency operations, should the need arise. Not sure what you mean with the Fairchild/Yokota question. If you get Hueys, you can get any of the bases. AFPC dartboard and all that... It's split, as far as living arrangements. Quite a few married flyers live on base, but it depends on the base and town. I'd say most single people live off base, as paying for on-base is not a good deal compared to getting a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in town. (Japan may be the exception, I haven't been there.) I've lived off-base since UPT, and have few complaints--the drive is longer and you have to plan more to hang out with bros from the squadron (but it also helped me put more into my retirement savings). Haha, thanks for the offer! Yeah, we have some necessary training over the city, at night, and a 2-bladed rotor is a lot louder than the B412's 4 bladed system. INOVA Fairfax--"lets build more hospital around 3 sides of the helipad!" /facepalm

UH-1 1. Ops Tempo/Deployment Ops Tempo is pretty good, but varies by command. Deployments are staff/air adviser gigs, so you won't be flying a Huey, if you get to fly. The good news there is they are usually voluntary. 2. Lifestyle/ Family Stability Depends on the unit. Andrews has various shifts, so schedules are always moving targets. You'll average a 5 day week, but which days will vary considerably. Plan to miss a lot of dinners at home. Schoolhouse is fairly predictable, since it is AETC, but manning swings may make things interesting. Global Strike is undergoing a lot of changes, so some people have a lot of TDYs (but not to any desirable places, unless you like rural areas). Not sure on Yakota or Fairchild. Overall, most people will work Mon-Fri, flying a few times a week. Deployments are fairly rare, and mostly by choice. It's probably one of the more stable flying jobs out there, AF-wise. 3. Community morale The flying is generally awesome. There is no autopilot, so everything is hands on. It's hard to beat flying even with the Lincoln Memorial or going through winding canyons at 50ft. The hours are usually pretty good. That said, Hueys are the red-headed stepchildren of the Air Force. A lot of AF people don't even know we're here. That can get frustrating at times. Being mostly stateside, the missions usually succeed when nothing interesting happens, so if you want to rain hate on bad guys, this ain't it. So, morale is mixed. Some people want more action while others want a flying club. It goes in waves. 4. Advancements & Future of the airframe If you want to make O-6 or above as a Huey pilot...well, good luck, haha! Ancient aircraft that fly support to mostly CONUS activities in generally small squadrons isn't a recipe for promotion. Future of the airframe: anybody's guess. Big AF is supposed to find a replacement by 2019...which may go better than the 2017 replacement, the 2006 replacement, the 2003 replacement, or one of the 1990s replacements. In short, when iron sits on the ramp, we'll know if/when the Huey is getting replaced. Until then, we'll continue rocking the Vietnam-veteran aircraft (some of our tails were there). 5. Preferred PCS locations Andrews, Yakota, or Fairchild, depending on your preferences.

The Super-T/Light CAS combo is one of the few things that would get me to just about instantly volunteer for something. If the O-8s think the troops don't want that kind of thing...there must be more than one USAF, because that's not the one I'm in.

Ah, yes, the classic leadership mantra of "If you ALL get screwed, and then I reward some of you later...well, why aren't you thanking me yet?"

Condolences to those affected... We don't know enough details to determine if concealed carry would have positively affected the situation. I do know that I am fairly well trained in marksmanship, basic tactics, and decently well-read on use-of-force theory and law. I can occasionally carry an issued weapon to help protect our strategic assets, but I cannot carry to protect myself and those around me. Tell me how that makes sense? I lost a friend to an active shooter. The police got there within 90 seconds of getting called--well below the national standard for violent crime response. They were able to treat the injured and secure the crime scene, as the crime was over before they got inside the building. Cops are well and good, but they are not superman. My personal safety is MY responsibility, even if the DoD doesn't fully trust me.

I think the AFI reference to "gore tex jackets" is the ABU APECS jacket. We can't wear the MCPS outside flight duties. Personally, I like having shell pants, but usually wear the winter flight jacket vs. MCPS fleece and shell. That said, I'm a Huey guy, not a pointy-nose type.

Bridge of Spies --Very well done movie. Not action oriented, but it has a lot of intellectual tension.

Not saying A/L conversions are the best solution, but they would probably increase capability quite a bit. ...looks like the AF still wants to do the expensive, "100% solution," even if it takes two decades and isn't a 100% solution.

...THE HORROR... ...the horror...

Concur. As a student, I'd highly recommend living on base. The 2-3 minute commute is worth a lot within a student schedule. Also, since it is a relatively short term thing, the financials don't make as much sense to buy. On-base housing wasn't anything to write home about, but it served its purpose.

No lawyer here... Generally speaking, it is illegal to convert a non-NFA rifle to a pistol. You wind up with a NFA-item at some point, by doing so. Pistol conversion to a registered SBR is legal, as long as you get the stamp prior to the conversion (beware of "constructive possession" if you have more SBR length uppers than pistol lowers though--if you have rifle lowers and pistol uppers laying around, the ATF can charge you with possession of an unregistered SBR.)