Forum: Air Force Life

How in the world are you folks handling the operation tempo these days? I just came back from a Commanders Call.

Of course I heard about loosing more USAF types collectively but loosing 55,000 more between Officer and Enlisted and flying globally, closing more bases, merging ANG (or outright closures) with USAF Units, reduced Funding for operations and unit programs.

Losing Benefits (medical, going downtown more often - may not be so bad, losing dental for family), housing sucks....does it ever end? Longer TDY's, more often going TDY too....damn!

Is there no relief in sight, no rumors or something positive (other then kicking a$$ in the war on terror)...my heck folks, what the hell is the USA doing to itself?

I knew much was changing but guess I had not really listened lately since I am retired but damn, our leaders and financial managers are screwing the guys and gals of the military even harder then before..I Salute all your efforts..DAMN, this has got to change for the better and soon.

F-16.net Sponsor

yeah but we have the 22 so all is well in air force land (in my most sarcastic tone possible). Never mind we dont have money for simple sh*t like boots and what not. oh well.

I know, we place so much value on a single or multi-weapons system, we think (and believe) it is the answer to everything, damn shame that thought is planted in so many folks minds these days.

I think it is a short coming on part the higher ups that run everything....As far as the ops tempo, just try to have fun at work and the people you work with and it's not so bad at the end of the day. Personally I don't mind all of the TDYs since I am single but it's gotta be hard on the married folks. The military is totally different than it used to be and I wish some of the "good ol' days" that I hear so much about would come back (not gonna happen though). It's rough working 10, 11, sometimes 12 or more hours but I enjoy what I do and I'm glad that I can be a part of something so powerful and protect this nations values and interests. That helps me get through the most. I just wish all of the political correctness would vanish......

Active Member Joined: Nov 29, 2004 - 01:40 PM Posts: 146

From what I have seen, the Air Force is getting back to its roots of "If we wanted you to have a family, we would issue you one."

I'm still single (for better or worse, I don't know yet), and am amazed at two things when it comes to families in the Air Force. Those families that work well, and those that don't. In my short few years in the AF, I have been amazed by how many divorces I have seen, and it makes me rather sad. Even more so when there were children being split apart.

I'm also shocked at the immaturity of some of the young kids...I mean airmen... who are getting married. Oh well.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do know that if I were king for a day as the saying goes, a lot of things would change.

The F-22 is an amazing product, there is no denying that. But it is only one part of the creature that is the USAF. Its not THE answer, merely part of it.

I agree its a dratted shame what is happening, and going to happen to our troops and their families. I agree that the fleet needs to be modernized. I agree the Air Force needs to be the right size for the job. And I especially agree that we need to have the right people doing those jobs.

However, I also think that we need to be a bit more careful as to how we get to those goals.

I could not agree more, I just found out my son who has only been back from Iraq less then a year is now tasked to return in Oct 06. There is a added twist to his deployment this time, he is going to be part of a crew that is building a "bare base" for six months, then to add insult (in my book) to this early return to country, he is being trained for convoy escort, putting him at added risk because the Army and Marines are short handed.

I cant tell you how pissed off I am about it but have to keep it to myself so he does not know how worried I am for his safety. Being out on your own setting up a bare base is bad enough, then being tasked as a gunner on convoy duty...a whole new set of dangers as we all well know.

To his credit, he too is a bit worried but said he will do what is asked of him, he is only 21 years old. As a father I have to admire his spirit and those like him there now but as a citizen, I have to ask why we (collectively) have let our military be run down so much, over task them, cut funding, take away the little benefits left and continue to cause family problems and broken promises to our youth. Makes me so mad, I wish there was a single person I could square off with and knock sense into them but I know it is a series of mistakes and many folks not in the know making decisions that effect us all negatively.

So now I will have my youngest son back in harms way along with my son-in-law who is in Iraq now (Baghdad location). Will this crap ever end? I love my country but enough, is enough, if we are going to stay in that hell whole, then lets go through that country like sh*t through a goose and make the changes happen now!

I just wish I could go in his place or at least go with him to help protect him and his young troops while they attend to their tasking building a base and later protecting convoys....I'd go in a heart beat to help protect my son, it is not my Air Force anymore, we too had our moments but lately, who is a sleep at the wheel...scary stuff for you all, my heart goes out to each and everyone of you serving now but I do Salute your efforts, god knows you need all the support you can get.

I'd have no controbution to this thread (not even from US, let alone USAF etc.), but I'd like to wish to Meathook that you'll see both of your family members back safe and sound, and a good luck wish fro me to them Smile

(I don't know if there is any phrase more suitable)

Thank you for your thoughts and comments, my family thanks you as do the families of all who now serve their countries globally...it is a nice thing to do...thank you

Meathook wrote:

I could not agree more, I just found out my son who has only been back from Iraq less then a year is now tasked to return in Oct 06. There is a added twist to his deployment this time, he is going to be part of a crew that is building a "bare base" for six months, then to add insult (in my book) to this early return to country, he is being trained for convoy escort, putting him at added risk because the Army and Marines are short handed.

I cant tell you how pissed off I am about it but have to keep it to myself so he does not know how worried I am for his safety. Being out on your own setting up a bare base is bad enough, then being tasked as a gunner on convoy duty...a whole new set of dangers as we all well know.

To his credit, he too is a bit worried but said he will do what is asked of him, he is only 21 years old. As a father I have to admire his spirit and those like him there now but as a citizen, I have to ask why we (collectively) have let our military be run down so much, over task them, cut funding, take away the little benefits left and continue to cause family problems and broken promises to our youth. Makes me so mad, I wish there was a single person I could square off with and knock sense into them but I know it is a series of mistakes and many folks not in the know making decisions that effect us all negatively.

So now I will have my youngest son back in harms way along with my son-in-law who is in Iraq now (Baghdad location). Will this crap ever end? I love my country but enough, is enough, if we are going to stay in that hell whole, then lets go through that country like sh*t through a goose and make the changes happen now!

I just wish I could go in his place or at least go with him to help protect him and his young troops while they attend to their tasking building a base and later protecting convoys....I'd go in a heart beat to help protect my son, it is not my Air Force anymore, we too had our moments but lately, who is a sleep at the wheel...scary stuff for you all, my heart goes out to each and everyone of you serving now but I do Salute your efforts, god knows you need all the support you can get.

I think at least part of it is too many politicians saying "what will get me a vote" instead of "what's best for the troops". And not what the politicians think is best for the troops but what the troops feel is best for them. The USAF wants to shut down the C-17 line after they get 180. The politicians are forcing them to keep it open. How many boots, armored HUMVEEs etc. could be bought just with that piece of pork?

Meathook for president! He'll fix this $hit Twisted Evil

I'd sure like to try Smile

I would not pussy foot around, I can tell you that, even if it pissed off Allies..such is life huh!

Active Member Joined: Nov 29, 2004 - 01:40 PM Posts: 146

Yeah, we can all agree that there are alot of things that need to be fixed.

I find it quite ironic that we have people who are being sent back over to the sand box multiple times, kicking and screaming all the way, when you also have people (like me) who are always jumping up and down, waving their arms, making a helluva noise trying to go, but are always turned down.

While I was at Aviano, I sent my troops on 4 AEF rotations and 10 (I lost count at 10) Weapons Training Deployments to go drop bombs somewhere since you can't drop bombs from Italy.

Each time I was told I could not go for various reasons. Talk about a morale killer (for me at least).

But to answer the real question as to how do we deal with the ops tempo.... well, I am sad to say that from my perspective, it ain't pretty at all.

I see vast amounts of alcohol being consumed. The military is a very fertile breeding ground for alcoholics these days. Granted, the leadership has done well in its efforts to remove the glamorous image of drinking. However, many people I know like to drink "To get blasted." Not because they enjoy the flavor, but because they want to drink until they reboot so to speak.

I see lots of abuse (and I council about this as well, so its not just a passive observation). Most of it is verbal, and thank God I have not personally seen any physical or sexual abuse (I'd be getting an Article-15 for fighting on that one). I have seen it from all sides of a family. The father to the family, the mother to the children in the commissary, the children to the parents. Its disgusting.

I see far too many romantically intended relationships that end badly because the couple didn't know themselves well enough before they got into what they are in. Babies having babies as the Shirt and I bemoan from time to time.

Make no mistake, the ops tempo and "do more with less" is taking its toll on the human soul of the Air Force.

At the same time, I do see a whole lot of positive ways to deal with the ops tempo as well. Volunteering is quite high (though I suspect most of the volunteers are trying to earn an EPR bullet), as is participation in intramural sports. Where I am currently stationed at is also a great place for outdoors activities when the weather cooperates.

I think alot of this started with the Grahman Rudman Act about 1987. Thats when the first drawdowns started , at first it was gradual then turned into a full blown hemmorage in the 90s. You get what you pay for and Congress has gone cheap for the last 20 years. Now they don't even want the ANG to fly, just supply troops to the field. Just glad that I got to see the way the USAF used to be before it got ruined!

I have mixed feelings on the ops tempo thing. I see what they are doing, and I saw how it was supposed to work before the draw down. What I see is the USAF being stripped of its primary role, and that is to fly jets, drop bombs. Dominate the air space over the battle field. What I see happening is the Air Force being grunted (for lack of a better term) into performing ground operation roles that are traditionally held by the Army. Why is this happening? Well the answer is quite simple, retention. They can't keep the ground forces staffed enough to fill all the roles that were traditionally held by ground troops. Merge that with the fact that all specialties in the air force are being scaled down, due impart to digitization, and automation (vMPF for example). So what you end up with is an Air Force that is now asked to backfill Army/Marine traditional positions.

To the question about how do we deal with it? You have two choices, accept and deal with it, or separate. Myself, I am close enough to retirement that I am going to deal with it. How I deal with it is by doing things so by the book, that it makes the tempo created by operations impossible for the leadership to meet, resulting in them telling (finally) ops, that they can't meet the demand requested. Resulting in a lower ops tempo.

I agree with IDCrewDawg. Being a Crew Dawg myself and QA for that matter I'm always telling the guys to do it exactly by the book to clue them in that if they do that it will slow ops tempo down a bit and help to get the time they need to fix jets the right way instead of taking shortcuts to "get the job done" per say. As for handling the Deployments and frequent TDY's and assignments to Korea......I'm still amazed that I'm still married after 12.5 years and just recently had our 3rd little one. Early on we learned how to cope with my frequent TDY's and Deployments with lots of (back then) mail and the occasional phone call when you could get a line out from the sand box. Now it's easier to stay in contact with family members with e-mail and IM programs that are available, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that in 12 years the many many anniversaries, birthdays, kids firsts that I've missed over the years. I just consider my self lucky to have been home for all of my kids births even if I had to leave a couple of weeks later to go play in the sandbox on a no notice deployment.

I too have seen the effects of the increased ops tempo in our young troops. Increased underage drinking, showing up to work still drunk from the night prior. Hell, Alcohol is promoted widely in Korea as a way to get thru the year here. I can't count the number of troops that have tried to get me to get drunk with them even though they know I don't drink and I tell them the reason I don't drink is I learned my lesson after my 2nd tour at Kunsan. That year it took me a case(24)of beer to get a slight buzz and It took me close to 2 months after I got back to the states to sober out. Since then I haven't even touched any alcohol. I tell them there is more to do in life than drink it away, get out and explore the country you are in. Once you get away from the areas immediately next to the base its a really nice and you get to see a side of the culture that you'd miss by staying on base and "getting trashed"
I'm proud to serve and will do what my country and leadership asks of me. I love my job and strive to expand my knowledge and increased responsibilities. I just can't believe they are downsizing the Crew Chief field. We need more wrench benders and less paper pushers.

Forum: Air Force Life

USAF Active Duty folks...how do you handle the tempo?