HuggyU2

Judging by your "check your reading comprehension" statement, you are the one spun up.

If you want to go ask the Commander, go for it! Have a nut!

You said there were no downsides or repercussions to this... to which I stated there could be. I still believe there are. It could be a great commander... it could be a not-so-great commander. There is possible blowback. Accept it, ask your question (or don't), and move on.

I currently work for an excellent squadron commander. The "other" squadron I work with also has an excellent CC. The Ops Group Commander is reasonable, and I'd categorize him as "excellent". This P-TDY question is one of those that I won't bother them with. Everyone complains that nothing gets done, because leadership is slammed, and they are out of bandwidth. I don't need to ask my CC if he will approve something that is probably not allowed by the AFI. I can make that decision myself.

If you think it is allowed by the AFI... have a nut! And when your CC asks you if this meets the direction/intent of the AFI, you are going to tell him "100%, absolutely"... right? Of course, if you say "well... maybe... sorta..." he now envisions the 30 minutes he has to spend working on your PFA, instead of using that time to deal with the other pressing people and readiness issues that he has to deal with... things that he needs to do as an SQ/CC.

Over my career, I've made some requests to my commanders that were definitely pushing the envelope. However, I did my homework, and presented my case. In most instances, they agreed. A few times they didn't, because the potential blowback was too great. I understood that. It doesn't make them bad commanders.

For every time I came to them with an idea, there were probably 3 ideas I shelved, knowing I wanted to keep the focus on my priority, or that, while my idea was legit, I risked alienating the boss. I simply felt I couldn't monopolize their time/energy with every "great" idea I had. And I didn't want to put them in a position where 1). they got tired of dealing with me 2). I get them in hot water because they approved something that didn't go over well with Senior Leadership.

Additionally, I tried to ensure that whatever I did covered two areas:
1) it was beneficial to the squadron/Wing/AF
2) I was able to include others, so that they could benefit from whatever it was I was setting up. The proverbial "win-win".

BL: if you've got the rapport with your boss, and believe it honestly meets the criteria of the AFI, then go ask for the P-TDY. I don't think it does. When I got my FAA rating in the T-33, had I asked, would my boss have given me P-TDY? I'm going to get my L-39 rating very soon too. Since I fly the T-38, and they are both tandem trainer jets, is that beneficial to the AF to give me 10 days to go do this, including pay, medical coverage, leave accrual, and credit toward retirement?