Question on the newish SOS In-Correspondence

[Mustache Sally]

Nah, my dreams were crushed on assignment night and reinforced with 4+ years of excruciatingly boring flying and low-level office work. I just like to stir the pot, that's all!

[Homestar]

Nah, my dreams were crushed on assignment night and reinforced with 4+ years of excruciatingly boring flying and low-level office work. I just like to stir the pot, that's all!

So sad.

[snoopyeast]

Nah, my dreams were crushed on assignment night and reinforced with 4+ years of excruciatingly boring flying and low-level office work.

Wow.

What is this "boring flying" you speak of?

[Liquid]

Never underestimate the effectiveness of filing an IG complaint, anonymous or in person. The complaint will be investigated. And never underestimate the effectiveness of walking in to the IG office and just talking to them about your situation. Your right to talk to the IG is protected by law. A reprisal complaint is a much bigger deal than a complaint about bad policy. Most leaders take great care to protect the IG process and protect themselves from reprisal, which is relatively easy to prove. Most IG "complaints" are resolved as assists, misunderstandings, or frivolous, meaning they usually fix the problem without elevating to the finding of substantiated complaint. This particular case would fall under Abuse of Authority. A commander requiring professional development in correspondence to be completed before considering them for in residence PME, when CSAF and A1 have specifically said it does not need to be done, is abusing their authority.

CSAF knows there is a disconnect between what he says and what happens in the wings. He and A1 said there will be a policy about this released shortly. I recommend not continuing the correspondence lessons unless you want to. If your leadership requires you to continue accomplishing correspondence, talk to them directly (like Sally did) or let the IG know.

[Champ Kind]

CSAF knows there is a disconnect between what he says and what happens in the wings.

Thanks for saying this.

What's he going to do about it? I'm sure there are a lot of capable, credible people with the (or promotable to) appropriate rank to take the place of those that can't get behind his policies.

[Learjetter]

Nope. We're being SERB'd and ESERB'd out of existence.

[Spaceballs]

Agree with Bendy. As long as we keep submitting to the AF task masters' long list of demands, nothing will change. I had a meeting with my sqdn CC this morning about assignments and he asked me about the status of my SOS correspondence. I respectfully told him I wasn't going to do it and gave him my very logical reasons. Since I have a good reputation throughout the wing as an honest, hard worker, I think he took me seriously. He also admitted to me that he in fact did not do correspondence either.

I'm sure you have lots of real work to do, so take care of the mission, your family, and yourself. Those things are REQUIRED. SOS online is not. There's no time left over for nonsense.

That's the way I see it as well and had a talk with my flt/cc yesterday about it. Apparently nothing is official on paper yet, so my sq/cc still expects us all to have it done and will not send us to SOS in-residence unless we have it done. Two '07 guys won't be going in-residence at all since they don't have it done by now. I'm an '09 guy and my flt/cc told me I'm way behind the curve for not having it done. I'm 1 class away from being done with my masters, but I'm behind the curve because I'm not done with SOS. I figured it was smart with all the force-shaping going on to prioritize my masters over a few useless SOS classes, but it apparently that puts me below guys who haven't even started their masters, but finished SOS.

[panchbarnes]

So has the SOS in-res slot allocation process been updated yet? I keep hearing from CCs that they only have 1-2 per year. Until more slots are available the CCs are forced to use some sort of discriminator.

I once had my sq/cc tell me in private that he does not consider you for strats until by correspondence has been completed. Had I not met with him for something else I would have never found out about this stupid policy.

Edited April 5, 2014 by PanchBarnes

[BB Stacker]

I'm an '09 guy and my flt/cc told me I'm way behind the curve for not having it done.

There is so much wrong with this I don't even know where to start.

e: I don't see how the allocation process can be updated/increased until the course length goes down/throughput goes up, which I don't think is slated until sometime around the beginning of FY15.

Edited April 5, 2014 by BB Stacker

[panchbarnes]

Liquid and other folks who've been around the af longer than I have,

Everything you've said here are true. I just think there is a disconnect between the senior dudes and the junior folks.

IG is a great resource but it should not be the first option.I Have seen too many times when the lazy worker threatened IG to see the leadership back down and cater to the individual. And everyone else gets pissed off. I personally think IG should be invoked only after you have done all you can to influence the outcome. If it is frivolous then there should be repercussions. For SOS in-res I just don't think it is warranted unless the in-res school is officially tied to the promotion process. And if it is tied to it then that's a very expensive discriminator and everyone who didn't go and didn't get promoted need to file a complaint.

Lastly, whats the official position on masters degree before I start documentation for an IG complaint?

Edited April 5, 2014 by PanchBarnes

[Mustache Sally]

Panch and cgjohnst,

I'm really sorry to hear about your experiences. I'm willing to bet that you guys are among the more hard-working set and have done good things for the AF, yet you've been demonized as dirtbags by the True Believers. I hope that this new policy, once it's in writing, changes things for the better. Robin Olds would have grown a Duck Dynasty beard over this garbage.

Liquid--thanks for articulating the IG process better than I ever could. In only rare circumstances should it be used as the initial means of solving problems. I've been wanting to say this to you for a long time, so here goes--a lot of talented people want OUT of the current AF, mainly because of situations like this SOS nonsense. The list of other reasons is quite long, and they have been articulated on hundreds of pages on BODN. I know you have engaged with us and are trying to advocate for us at higher levels, which I certainly appreciate. But make no mistake about it--retention for the AD AF is about to become critical, as high achievers with options will walk when pushed to the brink, especially over things that just don't matter.

[WheelsOff]

My SQ/CC told us to take "a strategic pause" from the correspondence buffoonery and that everyone in our squadron will go in res regardless. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about that. Sorry to the other dudes that have to put up with the BS still...

[Herk Driver]

Liquid and other folks who've been around the af longer than I have,

Everything you've said here are true. I just think there is a disconnect between the senior dudes and the junior folks.

IG is a great resource but it should not be the first option.I Have seen too many times when the lazy worker threatened IG to see the leadership back down and cater to the individual. And everyone else gets pissed off. I personally think IG should be invoked only after you have done all you can to influence the outcome. If it is frivolous then there should be repercussions. For SOS in-res I just don't think it is warranted unless the in-res school is officially tied to the promotion process. And if it is tied to it then that's a very expensive discriminator and everyone who didn't go and didn't get promoted need to file a complaint.

Lastly, whats the official position on masters degree before I start documentation for an IG complaint?

I don't think anyone is saying take everything to the IG as a first option. However, sometimes it may be necessary to go to the IG as a first resort. The IG is there to investigate Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Also, as Liquid said, your right to talk to the IG is protected by law. No one can tell you that you cannot talk to the IG and no one can take action against you for going to the IG. The IG serves a purpose and as pointed out, many things can and do change without formal investigations. Use the IG when required and especially when people are abusing their authority. My only "caution" is to make sure that your CC is actually abusing his/her authority and that you are not just butt hurt over getting an answer you didn't want to hear.

I had several people threaten to take me to the IG. I offered them the IG's number. IMHO, there is nothing to fear from the IG system if you are doing what is in the best interest of the AF and you have the data to back up your decisions. Arbitrary decisions lead to the perception that you are abusing your authority. Sometimes the right decision for the Air Force or the unit just does not sit well with people.

That said, I still do not understand why everyone keeps talking about needing written policy. We operate everyday on verbal orders and guidance. Everything does not need to be written to make it legal. Regardless, here's hoping that the CSAF guidance and policy comes out soon and everyone can breath a sigh of relief and dis-enroll from correspondence SOS.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Herk Driver

[MountainHerc]

So if I have started SOS-IC and haven't finished Module One should I just let it expire?

[Fud]

Never underestimate the effectiveness of filing an IG complaint, anonymous or in person. The complaint will be investigated. And never underestimate the effectiveness of walking in to the IG office and just talking to them about your situation. Your right to talk to the IG is protected by law. A reprisal complaint is a much bigger deal than a complaint about bad policy. Most leaders take great care to protect the IG process and protect themselves from reprisal, which is relatively easy to prove. Most IG "complaints" are resolved as assists, misunderstandings, or frivolous, meaning they usually fix the problem without elevating to the finding of substantiated complaint. This particular case would fall under Abuse of Authority. A commander requiring professional development in correspondence to be completed before considering them for in residence PME, when CSAF and A1 have specifically said it does not need to be done, is abusing their authority.

CSAF knows there is a disconnect between what he says and what happens in the wings. He and A1 said there will be a policy about this released shortly. I recommend not continuing the correspondence lessons unless you want to. If your leadership requires you to continue accomplishing correspondence, talk to them directly (like Sally did) or let the IG know.

This could fall under abuse of authority. I think the better option would be to say it is waste because it is a mis-use of your time and against official guidance. Reprisal and restriction are against the law and other than fraud, waste, and abuse, the IG will assist or turn over matters to the appropriate agency.

[Bobby]

I'm an '09 guy and my flt/cc told me I'm way behind the curve for not having it done. I'm 1 class away from being done with my masters, but I'm behind the curve because I'm not done with SOS.

So you've been a Captain for less than one year. I'd tell that Flt/CC to EAD.

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

[Spaceballs]

I don't think anyone is saying take everything to the IG as a first option. However, sometimes it may be necessary to go to the IG as a first resort. The IG is there to investigate Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Also, as Liquid said, your right to talk to the IG is protected by law. No one can tell you that you cannot talk to the IG and no one can take action against you for going to the IG. The IG serves a purpose and as pointed out, many things can and do change without formal investigations. Use the IG when required and especially when people are abusing their authority. My only "caution" is to make sure that your CC is actually abusing his/her authority and that you are not just butt hurt over getting an answer you didn't want to hear.

I had several people threaten to take me to the IG. I offered them the IG's number. IMHO, there is nothing to fear from the IG system if you are doing what is in the best interest of the AF and you have the data to back up your decisions. Arbitrary decisions lead to the perception that you are abusing your authority. Sometimes the right decision for the Air Force or the unit just does not sit well with people.

That said, I still do not understand why everyone keeps talking about needing written policy. We operate everyday on verbal orders and guidance. Everything does not need to be written to make it legal. Regardless, here's hoping that the CSAF guidance and policy comes out soon and everyone can breath a sigh of relief and dis-enroll from correspondence SOS.

It's just because leadership will hang you on what is written even if they give verbal guidance in a different direction.

[ComingLeft]

So if I have started SOS-IC and haven't finished Module One should I just let it expire?

Yes. It is free to re-enroll if it gets turned back on. There is no record of how many tries you took. Without action you become that guy. SOS by correspondence and AADs are like women wearing makeup. As soon as one person does it, everyone has to to "look pretty."