What's wrong with the Air Force?

[ATIS]

14 hours ago, Homestar said:

What, no more friendly shoulder punches?

 

Not just the USAF getting "weak-zebra" syndrome.  In the Navy, if you didn't show blood under your wings on winging day (we were in Summer whites at the time), it was just an excuse for the instructors to keep punching.  I took that route vice "drinking" my wings (yep, there is one guy out there that did take a trip to the hospital to have them removed from his stomach. so drunk he forgot to "catch" the wings in his teeth near the end [unlike turning the boot to avoid the bubble]). 

ATIS

[Blue]

16 hours ago, SuperWSO said:

Don’t know how many have seen this, but just got the word that we will no longer be allowed to “tack on” an airman’s stripes when they get promoted.  This behavior is considered hazing and will not be tolerated.

By current standards, my high school was populated with war criminals. 

Anyway, sorry for the distraction, what were we talking about here?

Ehh....., always thought the shoulder punch was kinda dumb.  And every now and again someone would actually get hurt.

 

[BFM this]

2 hours ago, Azimuth said:

No, I don't, since we're the only branch that does it.  And I spent 16-years Enlisted in the USAF.

Used to bug the shit out of me when I'd walk into base ops (sergeant) and they'd auto-sir me.  Brief explanation that, no, despite the bag, I'm an E-5, you can call me Sgt, shithead, whatever, just knock off the sir.  Still sir this and that sir.  FFS.

Then I finished OTS, now immersed in my newfound Blue world, was when I finally noticed, they're all sir/ma'am-ing each other.  MSgt calling A1C sir, SSgts calling each other ma'am.  And also calling me sir.  But since they also call the coffee pot sir, seems like much less of a courtesy extended.  Its a culture of diluting the enlisted rank structure, delineation and responsibilities within enl/NCO ranks, and the enl/off relationship.    A continuation of the mindset leading to a SrA stopping a Capt for ________ infraction, and if the Capt does not accept the correction on the spot, the SrA tells their Shirt, etc, etc.

My opinion, from the perspective of having been proud to be addressed as Sgt, because it meant something, and I knew early on that if I ever poked a finger in a Marine Captain's chest, I would pull back a bloody stump, regardless of what clownery he was wearing.  But that's where I grew up, I guess.

Edited February 28, 2018 by BFM this

[Azimuth]

[dream big]

On 2/27/2018 at 11:49 PM, mcbush said:

Also, no more rank. Aren’t we all equals as Airpersons?

Airperson is offensive to non ops types as it insinuates that you aren’t as special if you aren’t near the flight line.  Soon to come: blueperson. 

[Prosuper]

On 2/28/2018 at 1:06 PM, BFM this said:

My opinion, from the perspective of having been proud to be addressed as Sgt, because it meant something, and I knew early on that if I ever poked a finger in a Marine Captain's chest, I would pull back a bloody stump, regardless of what clownery he was wearing.  But that's where I grew up, I guess.

Did not use sir too much unless they were very senior to everybody. MX world we addressed officers by their rank, Capt, Major etc and of course the 2nd Lt whose life was being made miserable by a MX O-5 was addressed ell tee. If I was calling out a MX troop if in casual conversation I used their last name and if I started saying Amn Snuffy you know I was about to chew your ass. If my MX officer had a uniform infraction  I would just make eye contact, point to my own uniform and he would look at his and fix the infraction, then I would just smile and walk away. Always keep it professional.

[17D_guy]

5 hours ago, dream big said:

Airperson is offensive to non ops types as it insinuates that you aren’t as special if you aren’t near the flight line.  Soon to come: blueperson. 

<a href="//imgur.com/BXuUR"></a>

Edited March 4, 2018 by 17D_guy

[matmacwc]

40 minutes ago, 17D_guy said:

<a href="//imgur.com/BXuUR"></a>

This fail brought you by US Cyber Command

Edited March 4, 2018 by matmacwc
to be mean

[ThreeHoler]

This fail brought you by US Cyber Command

It was removed by the *new* DSET addin that will crash Outlook even more often and let less possible PII through. Any string of 10 numbers is assumed to be a SSN and will require encryption to send.

it. Hit encrypt on all emails!

[disgruntledemployee]

But the chineses already have the keys, ruskies too.  Oh well, probably makes it easier for them to catalog and index.  They must go ape shit trying to figure out Operation Donut Friday.

Out

[17D_guy]

22 hours ago, matmacwc said:

This fail brought you by US Cyber Command

Hey hey hey... that's 24 AF!

I tried to fix it 3 times...then just quit and restarted.

[FUSEPLUG]

23 hours ago, 17D_guy said:

<a href="//imgur.com/BXuUR"></a>

 

[SurelySerious]

39 minutes ago, 17D_guy said:

Hey hey hey... that's 24 AF!

I tried to fix it 3 times...then just quit and restarted.

Did you close the ticket out before bothering to address it?

[FourFans]

5 hours ago, SurelySerious said:

Did you close the ticket out before bothering to address it?

Of course not.  It hasn't sat untouched for a week yet.

[Azimuth]

What’s wrong with the Air Force?  When O-6’s put focus on shit like enough to put it in a OI.

From McConnell’s OG:

"Use appropiate Wing or OG letterhead for official correspondence.  Use black letterhead for internal correspondence, blue headers for external correspondence."

Who the fuck cares?  Of course the OG at McConnell is the type of guy who wears shirt garters in civilian clothes.

[Boomer6]

Wtf are shirt garters? 

[SurelySerious]

19 minutes ago, Boomer6 said:

Wtf are shirt garters? 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by SurelySerious

[pawnman]

21 hours ago, Azimuth said:

What’s wrong with the Air Force?  When O-6’s put focus on shit like enough to put it in a OI.

From McConnell’s OG:

"Use appropiate Wing or OG letterhead for official correspondence.  Use black letterhead for internal correspondence, blue headers for external correspondence."

Who the fuck cares?  Of course the OG at McConnell is the type of guy who wears shirt garters in civilian clothes.

Sadly, I can assure you multiple OGs and wing agencies care. Reference the 70th anniversary shenanigans last year.

[17D_guy]

On 3/4/2018 at 8:20 PM, SurelySerious said:

Did you close the ticket out before bothering to address it?

Naturally.  Didn't fill out the right checkbox, please resubmit.

[abmwaldo]

Or the COMSEC form you have to initial 100 times... can't be typed, initials must be filled out in pen. 

[Majestik Møøse]

8 hours ago, abmwaldo said:

Or the COMSEC form you have to initial 100 times... can't be typed, initials must be filled out in pen. 

I think they do that because of the seriousness of losing COMSEC, but all it does is squarely place blame on the airman when it’s misplaced. It does nothing to actually prevent loss of control. The time filling out that form would be better spent looking each person in the eye and saying, “if you lose one of these books, you’ll get an Art 15 and everyone in the Air Force will have to get new books. Don’t fuck this up.”

[Azimuth]

7 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

I think they do that because of the seriousness of losing COMSEC, but all it does is squarely place blame on the airman when it’s misplaced. It does nothing to actually prevent loss of control. The time filling out that form would be better spent looking each person in the eye and saying, “if you lose one of these books, you’ll get an Art 15 and everyone in the Air Force will have to get new books. Don’t fuck this up.”

It’s only serious if you’re junior ranking or you’re not a hot chick.  I had a Sq/CC leave his SIPR hard drive in the computer over night, in his unsecured office, after he went home.  Thankfully,his punishment consisted of working at AMC/A3N.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Azimuth

[17D_guy]

6 hours ago, Azimuth said:

It’s only serious if you’re junior ranking or you’re not a hot chick.  I had a Sq/CC leave his SIPR hard drive in the computer over night, in his unsecured office, after he went home.  Thankfully,his punishment consisted of working at AMC/A3N.

Can confirm.  Had a LtCol who was exec for a 4-star.  He lost the keyed secure cell-phone in the O Club parking lot...in a foreign country (ok.. it was Ramstein).  I tried to dissuade him, but he "wanted to get used to carrying it for the boss."  Nada happened.

22 hours ago, abmwaldo said:

Or the COMSEC form you have to initial 100 times... can't be typed, initials must be filled out in pen. 

BLACK pen, thank you.

[matmacwc]

23 hours ago, abmwaldo said:

Or the COMSEC form you have to initial 100 times... can't be typed, initials must be filled out in pen. 

I got written up for initialing outside the container once, inspector wasn't happy I didn't take him seriously.

[Clark Griswold]

Article from WOR on how the AF got slow and below glide slope:

https://warontherocks.com/2018/03/air-force-in-crisis-part-ii-how-did-we-get-here/

Worth a read but a cliff notes of his (Benitez) points:

1. The Air Force Got Too Small (People)

Concur.  

Shoot to eliminate redundancy at the top first to save resources to build the base.  More Indians, less Chiefs.  Cut GO billets in half, Cut O-6 billets in half, etc... look for possible deferments in promotion with targeted retention bonus in critical career fields.  Career Fields not just critically manned but critical to the military mission(s) of the AF.

2. The Air Force Got Too Small (Airplanes)

Concur.

While not addressed in this section of his article, it touches on morale which appears in several sections as it affects everything, an RPA companion aircraft, discussed ad nauseam and requirement is self-evident for airmanship and morale.  He addresses 4th gen recapitilization, makes the argument for new 4th gen versus refurbished aircraft, better aircraft, better industrial base strategic utilization, better aircraft at about the same cost, agreed.  Investigate a resurgence of a few good deal / golden apple programs to strategically retain key personnel, provide a solution to a requirement and ideally retain selected individuals for the full career.  LAAR acquisition in respectable fleet size, ADAIR in desirable locales, flying graduate enrichment programs open to crew/single seat aviators as instructors, etc...

I would also not forget about the support folks also, instead of emphasizing in-residence PME, I would look at expanded civilian career education opportunities for them with self-selection of schools/programs to be considered.

3. The Air Force Got Too Small (Lethality)

Semi-concur.

Argues for shorter rotations to AORs, 4 months preferred to 6 months, for a several valid reasons (experience distribution, QoL, etc..) and I concur but not concurring with looking to Navy / USMC for assistance in the Aerospace Control Alert Mission.  They're tapped out anyway and don't like the idea of ceding mission.  Internal redistribution of resources to expand capability in core missions seems better, resources from where in the AF is the sticky part (sts)...

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Clark Griswold