Originally Posted by
Riddler
I know you're not trying to pick a fight. I have a very close friend (since 2nd grade) who is now flying F-18s at Oceana. There are some obvious differences between the AF and Navy and this is one of them.
These are my opinions and observations, but I think many will agree. It's not really a factor of not being able to trust your boss. It's the promotion system that is so f'd up. Flying records don't matter. Job performance doesn't matter. Promotion potential is what matters.
So, there's a LOT of people who play the system, and there's a LOT of people who can't fly worth a crap, but they volunteer for every additonal duty known to mankind. They work the Wing Commander's change of command ceremony. They organize some 4-star's visit to the base. And they let their boss know how much they want to be a squadron commander. So when it's time for the boss to rack & stack everyone, he can't go to the promotion board and demand that they promote Capt X because he had the shortest upgrade time to IP, or because he's the most respected pilot/leader, or he has the most combat experience. The AF promotion board stresses "officership" over duty performance, so that we theoretically don't get into fights in trying to say that a guy flying a C-17 medevac mission is more important than an F-16 CAS mission versus a Civil Engineer rebuilding some runway in Iraq. Instead, it's the additional duties (since they're the common ground between all jobs) that get you promoted, since the promotion system essentially assumes that everyone does a great job at their primary duty (otherwise, their Wing Commander wouldn't recommend them for promotion).
So back to the original topic. If you're a guy with 2 years left on active duty, and you tell your boss that you want to get out, he's most likely NOT going to try and outwardly screw you. HOWEVER, he will now focus his efforts into "grooming" those left remaining so that he can help them get promoted. And you get screwed... he can only give so many "Definately Promote" ratings, and if he thinks you're leaving in a year or so, why waste one on you? Give it to the guy who wants to stay in.
Yes, it is dysfunctional. Why do you think so many guys are getting out? I'd love to stay another 10 years, but I can't imagine more of this "do more with less" attitude in which some Airman's primary duty becomes yet another of my additional duties. I can't imagine UPS making money if it required its pilots to do clerical work.
Riddler
Riddler,
I wouldn't say there is a huge philosophical difference with respect to promotion/assignment selection between the AF and the Navy. I think, regardless of the service branch, the cream rises to the top and in the end hard work and good airmanship is rewarded accordingly.
Both services look at the Officer before the pilot and that is how it should be IMHO. If Flag/General officers were all aviators then I would say the flying part of it should weigh in to a greater extent, however that is not the case. Could it be tweaked? Sure.
The Navy, I think has an easier time of this when writing FITREPS since our ground jobs are generally different than our AF counterparts. I don't say that to slight any AF brethren out there as we all work our a$$es off. Unlike the AF we have OPS/Maint/Admin/Safety all under one command. That lends itself to more "Officer" duties or leadership opportunities in addition to flying/tactics, nearly to a fault. I would never in my wildest dreams volunteer to organize a Change of Command, or a Flag visit nor would it ever appear on my Fitrep if I was tasked with doing it. It's just expected. That said, I think the Navy does itself a disservice by overtasking JO's, especially in the single seat world. With today's advanced tactics, I don't think we have nearly enough time to devote to those tactics because of the ground jobs/collateral duties. When all I needed to know, was 1 timeline, and how to drop an LGB or JDAM, life was good. It's not that way anymore and it negatively impacts QOL when not deployed.
The similarity for us is that if you show your cards too early, you will be shunned in some cases, in other/most cases, CO's will still appreciate the hard work and take care of you regardless of your intentions. In my case I waited til the very last minute to show my cards, but was completely honest with my chain of command as to my reasons. It is complete dependant on the person/command in all cases. I have not seen any negativity towards me becuase of my decision. My CO completely respects my decision to leave.
I feel for the AF guys caught in this mess right now, it can't be easy. It's the same in the Navy. Dudes are literally staying in or getting out these days based on whether they think they will do an IA in IRAQ or Afghanistan. For me, 6-12 months in Iraq would have been totally worth the increased QOL post Navy and my decision to exit would have been the same.
Bdger