What's wrong with the Air Force?

[Motofalcon]

8 minutes ago, Smokin said:

Sounds like on opportunity to instruct young airmen on their mission in the AF, and if they didn't respond appropriately, then have a talk with the life support officer.  If we can't fix broken shit in the ops building ourselves, how can we expect big blue to fix broken shit outside the ops building?

We did. But when every airman/NCO/SNCO in the afe chain responds with “well sir, the AFI says...” then I give all that feedback to the oss/CC (who seemed receptive) and went on about my business. I don’t have time to 847 every damn afe reg, and since I can’t order people to use common sense, not sure what other recourse there is that is worth my time.  I tried to used the CSAFs “if it doesn’t make sense, stop doing it” mantra, but good luck finding a SMSgt who will let their shop actually violate an AFI, whether it makes sense or not. 

[SurelySerious]

5 minutes ago, FUSEPLUG said:

The SERE empire becomes more and more of a PITA every few years too.  With each AFI re-write it seems we're required to do some form of useless new training. I did Fairchild and Pensacola.  Can we just call it good?

Like the new mortal combat training?

[Sua Sponte]

1 hour ago, waltopfor said:

OSS/ADO in C-130 wing. We are exploring other options due to the AFE AFI change. Part of that was checking up on other MAF AFE processes. Looks like Herks on the minority that still use AFE to arm. Follow on options include SF or self arm. Honestly the last thing I want to do on an early alert is have to go drive somewhere else on base for “support” we are qualified on the weapons and they trust us to fly a multi million $ aircraft. We should all be able to handle a $500 pistol. 

Sounds like you have a bitch ass OSS/CC who doesn’t want to make a flight in Sq do their job.

[jice]

54 minutes ago, Motofalcon said:

We did. But when every airman/NCO/SNCO in the afe chain responds with “well sir, the AFI says...” then I give all that feedback to the oss/CC (who seemed receptive) and went on about my business. I don’t have time to 847 every damn afe reg, and since I can’t order people to use common sense, not sure what other recourse there is that is worth my time.  I tried to used the CSAFs “if it doesn’t make sense, stop doing it” mantra, but good luck finding a SMSgt who will let their shop actually violate an AFI, whether it makes sense or not. 

AFE shops without a strong flyer in charge usually suck.

This addiction to rules is a real illness and should be treated as such. Unfortunately, if the addict isn’t responding, the only way to fix it is to remove/diminish their influence. Should happen naturally as the rest of the shop comes around. Loyalty to a real leader should trump loyalty to one dependent on blind faith in rulebooks. Might take extreme investment on the leader’s part. YMMV. Will probably cost you the relationship with the addict and others. Sounds like it’s worth it in your situation. 

[Sprkt69]

1 hour ago, Motofalcon said:

We did. But when every airman/NCO/SNCO in the afe chain responds with “well sir, the AFI says...” then I give all that feedback to the oss/CC (who seemed receptive) and went on about my business. I don’t have time to 847 every damn afe reg, and since I can’t order people to use common sense, not sure what other recourse there is that is worth my time.  I tried to used the CSAFs “if it doesn’t make sense, stop doing it” mantra, but good luck finding a SMSgt who will let their shop actually violate an AFI, whether it makes sense or not. 

If you want that change done quickly, allow the mission to fail (in training) or like mentioned above, make the pain be felt at a much higher level. This fight from the bottom up will only burn you out, make you bitter, and then go Guard. I once had a Vice Wing/CC tell me “I don’t want to hear about your problems, take care of them at your level.” 

 

It it would be nice if I got paid the salaries of all the other people whose jobs I’ve had to do over the years

[Scooter14]

If you want that change done quickly, allow the mission to fail (in training) or like mentioned above, make the pain be felt at a much higher level. This fight from the bottom up will only burn you out, make you bitter, and then go Guard.

I am in the guard.

The fight continues there.

Maybe I should have said that the career field is broken in the MAF across the total force enterprise.

[Scooter14]

We did. But when every airman/NCO/SNCO in the afe chain responds with “well sir, the AFI says...” then I give all that feedback to the oss/CC (who seemed receptive) and went on about my business. I don’t have time to 847 every damn afe reg, and since I can’t order people to use common sense, not sure what other recourse there is that is worth my time.  I tried to used the CSAFs “if it doesn’t make sense, stop doing it” mantra, but good luck finding a SMSgt who will let their shop actually violate an AFI, whether it makes sense or not. 

We kind of need the airmen to follow the AFI. It’s not their fault. Leaders like the Supers, CCs, MAJCOMS (I’m not holding my breath) need to step up.

[Prozac]

This is a leadership problem. OSS/CC: We can no longer do our job. OG/CC: Are you too lazy or are you lacking resources?  If too lazy, you’re fired. If lacking resources, tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you. These are the fights Colonels should be fighting but many seemingly would rather not. Instead they tend to focus on stupid shit like whether the spaces in the parking lot should be perpendicular or diagonal. No shit. I’ve seen that one. 

[HuggyU2]

Hmmm... I wonder how the Swiss military handles arming their soldiers, aircrew, etc...

Edited December 16, 2018 by HuggyU2

[Prozac]

12 minutes ago, Scooter14 said:

 

We kind of need the airmen to follow the AFI. It’s not their fault. Leaders like the Supers, CCs, MAJCOMS (I’m not holding my breath) need to step up.

 

This. Again, leaders need to step up and make decisions. If the AFI is getting in the way, commanders need to have the balls to say “Ok, ignore a, b, and c for now and let’s get the mission done”. Their next phone call should be to their boss: “Sir regulation X is preventing my people from doing their jobs efficiently. I’ve directed them to ignore certain provisions. Here is my supporting documentation. Don’t like it? Feel free to replace me with a yes man. Delta is still hiring.”

[afaf]

7 hours ago, Breckey said:

Have everybody qualified in the weapon be able to arm. It’s not hard. Plus if it means I get to wear my own holster without them bitching I’m all for it. 

Yeah arming is easy for sure , I’ve done it deployed when AFEs no where to be found. I’m sure that’s against their AFI too.  But for one, it’s a waste of my time opening and closing safes when I’ve got more important things to do. And Two, if anyone loses something or fails to secure something properly on their way out the door it’s going to be me or my 30 other ACs taking blame. I think we’ll have top cover for sure, but it’s another thing getting piled on the backs of the crews. Stuff like this is how finance, comm, and CSS pulled out of squadrons in the first place. 

[pawnman]

Counter-argument to all this...suppose there were an AFI change that made the life of a flying crew easier.  Maybe a reg that said MX would start the jets and aircrew would only take jets that MX had already pre-flighted.

What are the odds that, if such a regulation were written into existence (purely hypothetical example here, I get it), that an OG or a flying squadron commander would dictate that their people continue to do something that caused them more work, in contradiction with the AFI?

[FUSEPLUG]

34 minutes ago, pawnman said:

...suppose there were an AFI change that made the life of a flying crew easier.

🤣

[Cooter]

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 7:10 PM, M2 said:

While I tend to agree, I can also see the flip side of the coin whereas the constant rotation of personnel causes equal issues...

The better solution is actually having an end game to this ridiculous and endless "conflicts" we've been engaged in for the past 17+ years.  At this point we are just throwing fuel on the flames and not actually working to a solution to put the fire out. 

I know that's grossly simplified, but until that happens, there will be no "fixing" the USAF or any other services...

There is a flip side.  There are absoloutely jobs below the O-6 level that require -365s.  Whether they are being employed properly is a separate discussion.  Most can get by with -179 but some of them take 30-60 days to get into a groove.

End game...pshhhhh!  This thing is a cash cow that no one wants to turn off. 

Cooter

[di1630]

These stories are great to affirm USAF f-ckery and our support.

 

Once as the only US person on an entire U.S. support base flying combat missions at the time I was denied the ability to do my overdue PT test because as they put it, “Sir, since you are not here under a US PERSCO, giving you a PT test could get flagged in the system CONUS when we report our PT stats.”

 

I understood it was a unique situation when Amn x was afraid to get in trouble but I engaged SNCO’s and FGO’s on the matter who didn’t have the leadership or decision making ability to have support personnel provide support to someone doing an actual mission. This was after I showed them the regs allowed it.

 

Showed me that there is a huge leadership void at officer and enlisted levels and a focus on processes vs tasks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

 

[DirtyFlightSuit]

F#$% it continue to go overdue, no skin off your back.

[snoopyeast]

Was at a legacy airline flight training center earlier this year.  EVERY current and retired pilot there was excited to have us and all exclaimed that they need good pilots; hurry up, get out of the AF and apply.   We need you.

On the flip side, exactly ZERO squadron, group, wing commander in the last year or two has asked what they could do get experienced pilots to stay.  None has stated that they need good pilots.  You'd think that someone at a local level would make at least a half assed effort to see what they can do to get guys to stay.

It's been very clear that the AF organization does not value people who know what they're doing.  At squadron and wing levels, sure.  At the end of the day, as long as the billets are filled, the machine continues to function.  Good enough, as long as the quarterly awards are turned in on time.

[snoopyeast]

The part that boggles my mind isn't about that they don't care about me or pilots, it's that they don't recognize the benefits of experienced people across AFSCs.   Experience saves time, money, broken stuff, lives, increases efficiency, productivity, less people to train, etc.  All of that stuff makes peoples jobs easier, and the metrics better (since that's what they care about anyways).  A pilot with 10 years experience is invaluable.  A NCO who does more than sit behind a desk and is an expert in their field is invaluable.   We are missing a lot of technical experts across the board. 

How many times do we go around base only to encounter the airman who has no clue what they're doing?  It's not the fault of that 20 year old.  It's the fault of the NCO hiding behind the computer monitor behind them on facebook.  It's a failure of the officers who care more about the promotion factory and how they can one day be the foreman.   I truly believe that the current culture of the af is primarily about getting people to get that sweet 20 year pension and free healthcare than being an efficient military force.

For all the value that the af places on education, and sending people to get advanced degrees, PME and the like, we have of a lot of people who are quite naive.

[Bobsan]

Free hugs to "stay fit to fight"

[BashiChuni]

That belongs in the WTF thread. 

Seriously WTF

not sure how “#Readiness” is related to that disaster of a PA clip. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by BashiChuni

[herkbum]

Unbelievable. I can’t believe this is an official USAF video.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

[Vimix22]

What is the purpose of highlighting a dude going to cosplay events? Is this supposed to motivate people to join?

[BADFNZ]

4 hours ago, snoopyeast said:

Was at a legacy airline flight training center earlier this year.  EVERY current and retired pilot there was excited to have us and all exclaimed that they need good pilots; hurry up, get out of the AF and apply.   We need you.

On the flip side, exactly ZERO squadron, group, wing commander in the last year or two has asked what they could do get experienced pilots to stay.  None has stated that they need good pilots.  You'd think that someone at a local level would make at least a half assed effort to see what they can do to get guys to stay.

It's been very clear that the AF organization does not value people who know what they're doing.  At squadron and wing levels, sure.  At the end of the day, as long as the billets are filled, the machine continues to function.  Good enough, as long as the quarterly awards are turned in on time.

Let me play Devil's Advocate for a second, and this is coming from someone who is counting down the days to click submit on airline apps...

Most pilots are smart.  We know leaders at the Sq/Gp/Wg level have pretty much zero power to affect any kind of change with the mammoth pilot retention problem ahead of them, even on an individual basis.  Let's say, hypothetically, your Wg/CC held a pilot retention forum where everyone was allowed to air their grievances and voice their opinion with no retribution.  This is how it would probably go...

Wg/CC:  What can I do to keep you guys in?

Maj #1:  More money!

Wg/CC:  Well, now, you know I'd give you more money if I could, but I don't have that kind of power at my level.  Talk to your Congressman! :laughs nervously:

Maj #2:  Less queep, more flying!

Wg/CC:  I hear you there!  But we've already cut X amount of programs.  Things like OPRs, decs, etc will never go away.  There are things that are mandated by AFIs that we just can't stop doing.  On top of that, leaders at the HAF/MAJCOM level keep dropping extra Vol 1 and training requirements that they feel are instrumental to our readiness against a near peer threat.

Maj #3:  More time with family!

Wg/CC:  I feel you bro!  I haven't banged my wife in months and forgot most of my kids' names.  But we're still fighting a war against terror and that won't be going away.  And don't forget that just last month we hauled a small percentage of our Army to the border to fight those Mexicans coming from South America.  Point being, there will always be a commitment both home and abroad. 

It would be a constant deflection exercise.  They know they're fucked.  We know they're fucked.  But we all just continue to whistle and stroll past the burning wreckage.  Plus, I'm not sure how it is in your community, but in mine, people are holding their cards close to their chest until the last minute then BAM.  It's hard for leadership to reach out if they don't know your mind is already made up.

 

TLDR:  We're fucked

[Champ Kind]

  Plus, I'm not sure how it is in your community, but in mine, people are holding their cards close to their chest until the last minute then BAM.  It's hard for leadership to reach out if they don't know your mind is already made up.

A symptom of the deep-seated trust issues in the AF.  

 

[ThreeHoler]

A symptom of how deeply-seeded the trust issues are in the AF.  

Deep-seated?