Originally Posted by
Marvin
If you really feel this way, then you ought to get out at your earliest opportunity. In fact, you probably should not have joined in the first place, because you are only going to suffer disappointment in the end.
We can discuss all day how other nation's militaries do it, etc .... all irrelevant. The bottom line is, the US Air Force does not need a Lieutenant Colonel who only flies jets. Nor does it need a Major who does only those things. So if that's what you want to do, great! Get promoted to Captain (ie, show up every day and don't get caught with a live boy or a dead girl) and then get out and go Reserves/Guard or just go to the airlines.
The US military needs a certain number of people to be 4 star generals. Those people need to have had a wide variance of experience prior to getting into those positions, and ideally the AF would have 2-3times (or more) viable candidates for each position when the time comes. In order to have that, they need a pool of 3-stars with a good breadth of experience, both operational and otherwise. To get that pool, they need a pool of 2-stars ... and 1-stars ... and Colonels. You get the point.
The military will continue to shrink, so the opportunity for someone to "just fly" is going to be reduced even more.
I am not saying it is right or wrong ... I'm saying it is what it is. You will not change it. The sooner you accept that fact and start making plans for your post-active-duty career, the happier you will be. :-) And, don't worry ... someone else who understands and accepts the "up-or-out" philosophy of the US military will be there to fly your old jet for you -- and when he lands, he will clear out his in box and take the paperwork home, because that is the job he signed up to do.
What he said.
I NEVER wanted to do anything other than operate, but on the back side of twenty I don't have a choice (other than retire) so I've gotten some exposure to staff. It's been enlightening, in some ways good, some bad.
It's not that we don't need O-5's (or really old O-4's) flying airplanes, rather it's that we need their slots to attract young talent.
This doesn't just apply to aviation, but other "cool" jobs as well.
If you think officers should allowed to do nothing but fly, then you may as well just let the enlisted do it. And the idiots who think we should do THAT to save a few bucks REALLY don't get it. We need top people at O-6 and above, and that means we have to recruit them at age 18-25. Most kids in that demographic are not interested in or attracted to staff work, so the opportunity to fly airplanes (or jump out of them, or dive, or whatever) is a key recruiting and retention tool. By the time they hit 20 in service some have mellowed and have the patience for grownup work (not me). Letting enlisted fly should only be a last resort if you simply can't recruit enough college grads for whatever reason. It works for the army because they don't need or want pilots as senior officers...their fast-trackers are all in infantry, armor, arty, SF anyway.
Now I'm OK with the idea of letting a VERY few guys fly forever, based on pure skill so they can teach others. These would be the true living legends and would rotate between squadrons, weapons school, aggressors (capped at O-5). This would probably be more competetive than making O-7 of course...
All that said, I don't necessarily think that the services are doing the right things with their career tracks (sounds like AF is really FUBAR). PC BS and fake degrees should not replace real leadership experience and education.