What's wrong with the Air Force?

[BeefBears]

1 hour ago, tac airlifter said:

My opinion only—

AFSOC has an unusual internal power dynamic due to unique COMREL creating distinct officer cultures with different career incentives. 

AFSOC has two masters: Big Blue and SOCOM.  The more senior you get, the more difficult to serve both and you eventually pick your tribe.  SOCOM is harder to compete for senior leadership and requires combat credibility in an officers pedigree.  Big AF is easier and doesn’t require multiple forward tours.  Currently the Big AF inclined officers are leading AFSOC & the current MAJCOM/CC has to overcompensate for his lack of combat credibility; thus he finds Big-AF type endeavors to champion and shuns anything (and anyone) who is of the warrior tribe within AFSOC.  

 

The group commander he fired had 11 medals to his 1.5 air medals. Talk about rack envy...

But seriously, you hit the nail on the head. The last two commanders have been balls deep in the blue kool-aid. I dont see the emphasis on acting like AETC while deploying like SOCOM ending anytime soon. Especially since the gene pool in AFSOC is so shallow and leadership installing their personal sycophants into squadron cc positions.

The culture emphasizes a "cover your ass" attitude instead of accepting risk or speaking up. Why push the mission envelope when good officers get paperwork for things that should have been a simple chewing out. This spooks everyone else and leads to ridiculous policies at lower levels.

After a dozen AFSOC deployments I am really getting sick of this shit. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by BeefBears

[nsplayr]

18 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

In the latest installment of how one acidic general officer can ruin a command...I present Unit PT and....Open Ranks Inspections...coming soon to an AFSOC near you!

As Master Yoda once said…I believe there are *two* giant bag-of-dicks Generals who have been ravaging AFSOC lately. RIP to all my bros who have to keep putting up with that level of BS on top of all the deployments and other tastings that keep them away from home 69% of the time.

[Trogdor]

2 hours ago, nsplayr said:

As Master Yoda once said…I believe there are *two* giant bag-of-dicks Generals who have been ravaging AFSOC lately. RIP to all my bros who have to keep putting up with that level of BS on top of all the deployments and other tastings that keep them away from home 69% of the time.

Think those two convinced a wide swath of aircrew to separate when they were wing king and grp/cc. Helped me make up my mind as a young captain. If you weren't part of the 'mentor' or 'groom' top 10% of CGOs, you were expendable. And that was from an 'officership' perspective, they couldn't care less about your tactical proficiency... Unless it made them look bad. Then Q3. If they did care, definitely not message received.

[MCO]

New PSDM out on strats. The only way to get a good strat now is to be an exec. Everyone else is a denominator for the exec, but small enough they can’t get a strat.

[Pitt4401]

1 hour ago, MCO said:

New PSDM out on strats. The only way to get a good strat now is to be an exec. Everyone else is a denominator for the exec, but small enough they can’t get a strat.

What in the fresh hell is this? Dug out my card reader to look at the PSDM.

That's it, I am longing for the old system now.  

[HuggyU2]

Seen in Beale Finance this week.  
Congrats to the Blue Angels for their sponsorship of Finance. 

[dream big]

5 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Seen in Beale Finance this week.  
Congrats to the Blue Angels for their sponsorship of Finance. 

Now you get to do finance’s job for them virtually instead of in person! Gives back more time for some 19 year old with a single digit ASVAB score to catch up on the latest rendition of TikTok videos. 

[pawnman]

3 hours ago, dream big said:

Now you get to do finance’s job for them virtually instead of in person! Gives back more time for some 19 year old with a single digit ASVAB score to catch up on the latest rendition of TikTok videos. 

I thought the same thing, but the virtual system has provided much better results for me than trying to go in person only to find that finance is closed for training/official function/comp day/office hangout. 

[Dapper Dan Man]

I thought the same thing, but the virtual system has provided much better results for me than trying to go in person only to find that finance is closed for training/official function/comp day/office hangout. 

Honestly, same. You can use CPTS portal to hold finance accountable and it’s very effective. No more stories about losing paperwork, digging through email traffic, or recounting phone calls with nameless airmen. You can see who worked on your issue and when, down the minute. It’s all right there with all the data you need to back it up.

Nowhere for finance to hide anymore, so maybe this one should be in the “right with the AF” thread.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MexicanHouseRULZ]

AFSOC has been a soup sandwich for quite a while.

Biggs AAF late 1994.  A Talon squadron is spinning up for a real-world PR mission to recover remains by landing hooligans and their transport on the south side of the border on a dirt strip.  The plan is after we land, they build up, load up and go over the border to the crash site to SSE and come back with what they find.  Since the Talons have been landing mainly on paved runways, the crews are going to land on the dirt LZs around Biggs to get used to them for the big night.  The squadron DO is a former Talon I nav and is standing in the hall of the condemned office block the force is using as a planning space.  There are no doors and the narrow hallway has small offices on either side.  While standing in a cluster of us in the hallway, the DO points to the open office that the hooligans are using for their planning space and in a loud voice says,

“You don’t want to fly those guys, they’ll send you on missions that will get you killed.”

This DO also thought it would be a good idea for the pilots to walk on the LZs they’d be practicing on, and coordinated with the STS bubbas to drive out to the zones.  The pilots, DO, and STS bubbas piled into a van to drive out to the zones the premiere STS unit had just finished surveying for us.  At the LZ, everybody piled out of the van and started kicking rocks while the DO stepped around to the back of the van, pulled out A MEASURING WHEEL and proceeded to walk off and check the survey's dimensions of the LZ in front of the premiere STS bubbas.

For the duration of his time as DO, the highest profile customer his squadron of $155 million, all-weather TF insertion, extraction and resupply Chariots of Armageddon flew was the 82d Airborne Division Band from Bragg to MacDill for the SOCOM change of command.

AFSOC gave him command of the training squadron at HRT, promoted him to O-6 and gave him command of the Special Ops School, before sending him to Maxwell to be the Air University SME for AF Special Operations.  This stellar performer was teaching AF and joint students what AFSOC and SF were all about. This may be the root cause of why nobody really knows what AFSOC is/does – including AFSOC personnel.

Based on his attitude, it would be safe to say that if he could’ve kept the aircraft parked in the chocks, he would have done it to make sure there weren’t any safety incidents on his watch.  Someone misheard someone else calling him the penguin - tubby little flightless bird - and an order for pen flap patches was made for PINK ONE with a red slash through it.  His own squadron painted his parking spot pink.

While working at the Plans Office, I got a call from an S3 Air at one of our customers that his troops needed some static line drops to avoid losing their jump pay.  He offered some short field work for our pilots, and some rapid onload/offload drills for our loadmasters in return, so I told him to wait while I went over to the squadron to see what they had that night.  There was a night tac line that was going to fly around the hills with conditioned air in the back and sandbags with no tanker or EWO work – perfect to get some better training for our crews and support for our main customer.  I walked into this DO’s office and laid out the training proposal, emphasizing the actual training we’d accomplish and that we’d be working with our main customer on TTPs. To my surprise, he said no, we need to fly that NTAC sortie.  I said, “Yes Sir” and exited to the schedule desk right outside his door.  I made a detailed study of the board for about five minutes to cool down before I turned and walked back into his office.  I laid out the training proposal, emphasizing the actual training we’d accomplish and that we’d be working with our main customer on TTPs.  To my surprise, he said, “That sounds like a good idea. Go do it.”  Before he could change his mind again, I walked back out to the schedule desk, made the changes on the board, and called the S3 Air to coordinate times for the evening sortie.

As NSplayr said, it isn’t just the muppet you see; it’s also all the minions he’s grooming and encouraging to be just like him in the future.

[MexicanHouseRULZ]

11 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Seen in Beale Finance this week.  
Congrats to the Blue Angels for their sponsorship of Finance. 

To be fair, it was the runner-up to the Fighting Falcon.

[Biff_T]

13 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Seen in Beale Finance this week.  
Congrats to the Blue Angels for their sponsorship of Finance. 
 

[SocialD]

Pentagon loses $85 million in F-35 parts...

 

But by gawd, you had better not accidentally use your GTC (while activated) to purchase something that your per diem more than covers! 🙄

Edited May 26, 2023 by SocialD

[ClearedHot]

Pentagon leaders cancel drag show at a Nevada Air Force base

[Biff_T]

5 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Pentagon leaders cancel drag show at a Nevada Air Force base

Aww man, I just got my tickets lol. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Biff_T

[Standby]

6 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Pentagon leaders cancel drag show at a Nevada Air Force base

I thought this was a Duffel Blog article…there is still hope that we’re not completely losing our credibility as a force. 

[Sua Sponte]

6 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Pentagon leaders cancel drag show at a Nevada Air Force base

Eagle dudes are pretty upset.

[Danger41]

I may be super disconnected from the younger generation, but is all this drag show etc really popular amongst young Airmen? Like are 20 year olds actively seeking out this form of entertainment or is it just loud voices on the internet?

[herkbum]

I may be super disconnected from the younger generation, but is all this drag show etc really popular amongst young Airmen? Like are 20 year olds actively seeking out this form of entertainment or is it just loud voices on the internet?

This is a very good question. I am also wondering what the answer may be, but I’m guessing it’s the loud voices.


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[Swizzle]

Everyone has a loud voice about DTS on the otherhand...which will live on now - sigh

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-news/2023/06/dod-suddenly-abandons-plan-to-replace-defense-travel-system-offers-no-explanation/?readmore=1

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Swizzle
DTS resubmission

[dream big]

4 hours ago, Danger41 said:

I may be super disconnected from the younger generation, but is all this drag show etc really popular amongst young Airmen? Like are 20 year olds actively seeking out this form of entertainment or is it just loud voices on the internet?

Yes…

[arg]

5 hours ago, Danger41 said:

I may be super disconnected from the younger generation, but is all this drag show etc really popular amongst young Airmen? Like are 20 year olds actively seeking out this form of entertainment or is it just loud voices on the internet?

No more TIB so....

[Pooter]

11 hours ago, Danger41 said:

I may be super disconnected from the younger generation, but is all this drag show etc really popular amongst young Airmen? Like are 20 year olds actively seeking out this form of entertainment or is it just loud voices on the internet?

I am sure it is the few loud fringe voices as per the usual arrangement. 

[brabus]

Yep, even my gay friends don’t like drag, and are very against it being in front of children. The pride movement is fucked up…maybe it had altruistic beginnings simply trying to gain same legal rights for same-sex married couples, but it has morphed into an evil, devoid-of-values sideshow. We don’t allow strippers on Main Street, nor should we allow this bullshit on Main Street. Do what you want in a windowless building with controlled/age-limited access, e.g. every strip club. 
 

I also don’t understand the “need” to cover yourself in pride paraphernalia…I don’t care who you love or bang, why do you need to shove it in everyone’s face? Maybe we should start a blue/pink themed movement that celebrates dudes banging chicks. I’m sure DAL will love to let me wear a blue/pink striped lanyard that represents my love for women and fucking them, especially during heterosexual pride month.
 

 

[Stoker]

18 minutes ago, brabus said:

I also don’t understand the “need” to cover yourself in pride paraphernalia…I don’t care who you love or bang, why do you need to shove it in everyone’s face?

 

Eh, I get it. People were getting legally persecuted for being gay less than fifteen years ago. I've been to retirement ceremonies where someone brought their partner - who they had to hide for the first ten years of their career or their career would have been over. That's sad, and the scars from that don't go away overnight.