What's wrong with the Air Force?

[BashiChuni]

3 hours ago, 17D_guy said:

In addition to what @Biff_T said, they also got rid of those non-promotable majors...like 200 of them with like 90 days notice? I can't remember the timelines.

 

one of those was in my sq...got RIF'd, airline job, then a few years later came back under a bonus. or at least that's how my brain remembers it happening. anyway we were all pumped it worked out really well for him!

[ViperMan]

4 hours ago, McJay Pilot said:

Sorry! If Big Blue offers a Voluntary Separation Program, be very very cautious. They flagged the “volunteers” last time, cancelled their VSP and targeted them for the RIF. The powers that be have altered the deal waaaay too many times for anyone to trust them.

 

4 hours ago, Biff_T said:

They RIFed a guy in my squadron who wanted to stay in (he was a good dude, not a dirtbag).  They also kept a guy in my squadron who wrote a letter asking to be RIFed.  

Made no sense.  

 

 

3 hours ago, 17D_guy said:

In addition to what @Biff_T said, they also got rid of those non-promotable majors...like 200 of them with like 90 days notice? I can't remember the timelines.

My boss got the shove, but he was a supreme dirtbag so no love lost there. I asked him what he was going to do, and he said, "Drive big rigs, I don't want to be responsible for anybody." Which explained soooooooooooooo much.

You'll get the ole' phrase "do more with less" a lot, a "focus on efficiency" as we "transition to a whole warfighter/airmen concept." Which just means Personnel, Finance, and MSG will help you even less, additional duties will come back with a vengeance. Probably lose Sq. orderly rooms again.

That time really fucking sucked. I retired in 2020 and it seemed like the AF was finally getting back to being itself after 18 years. I enlisted in 1999.

Oh, I would also say it's probably 2 years away. That was the lag from 2008 recession to the Tea Party bullshit, to the RIF's.

 

1 hour ago, Clark Griswold said:

It was 2011, 157 majors got the ax because they hadn’t hit 15 years of service when their records met the RIF board

https://nation.time.com/2012/01/03/air-force-firing-for-effect/

As Gates said wisely the DoD has the fine motor skills of a dinosaur, in the case of AF/A1 it’s a dinosaur that’s drunk
Sorry if this happens and good people get RIF’d


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I also want to pile on with a reminder that the very year groups they force-shaped during that phase in 2011 or whenever it exactly was, they then began to offer TERA to the people who would have been otherwise eligible for retirement (albeit a reduced one).

That's like being at 18 or 19 years of service and getting let go because they don't want to pay you your retirement / pension.

Thanks for your service. See ya later.

https://www.stripes.com/news/2013-07-26/air-force-offers-early-retirement-option-in-certain-career-fields-1836037.html1

https://www.afpc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/856683/officers-enlisted-members-offered-early-retirement/

[17D_guy]

8 hours ago, ViperMan said:

 

 

 

I also want to pile on with a reminder that the very year groups they force-shaped during that phase in 2011 or whenever it exactly was, they then began to offer TERA to the people who would have been otherwise eligible for retirement (albeit a reduced one).

That's like being at 18 or 19 years of service and getting let go because they don't want to pay you your retirement / pension.

Thanks for your service. See ya later.

https://www.stripes.com/news/2013-07-26/air-force-offers-early-retirement-option-in-certain-career-fields-1836037.html1

https://www.afpc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/856683/officers-enlisted-members-offered-early-retirement/

Thanks forgot about that as well. Had a buddy that took it, but he was done and is making a ton doing cyber stuff outside. I guess that's why I have such a visceral reaction to the other stuff going on, this time period sucked so much. Don't forget PRF's for Capt. Was a ton of fun working joint and the Squids getting pissy because I didn't know how the promotion system worked.

As always, fuck the Navy.

[abmwaldo]

On 2/27/2025 at 10:57 PM, SurelySerious said:

Air Force Wargaming Chief Says New Fighter Makes Air Battle Easier To Win

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-wargaming-chief-ngad/

We needed a Major General to state the obvious?

It took 3 "program resets" and 19 years to get the first tail on the ramp.

I have little faith that the procurement process won't pork away the capabilities required and even if they manage to get every capability that was modeled... we'll buy 1/3 to 1/4 of the number represented in the wargame. 

[disgruntledemployee]

WRT RIFs, the AF keeps forgetting there is a place for iron Capts and Majs.  They don't need the shiny jobs and tend to be your best experienced flyers.  And they cost less.  Efficiency!!  Once they become non promotable, the filters drop off their mouths.

[SurelySerious]

It took 3 "program resets" and 19 years to get the first tail on the ramp.
I have little faith that the procurement process won't pork away the capabilities required and even if they manage to get every capability that was modeled... we'll buy 1/3 to 1/4 of the number represented in the wargame. 

Checks…unfortunately.