Originally Posted by
asupilot
Spartan07, it is my own humble opinion that the Air Force started down the precipitous slope when the dual track career options disappeared. We only have one career path these days...the command track. Gone are the days were a guy could fly for 20 years and retire happy as a Major. Now it's nothing more than an ass-kissing, back-stabbing political game. Oh, and if you just want to fly you’re an ********* to your commander (“you mean you don’t want to be just like me?”). No I don’t want to be like you…I want to be an expert aviator. Look at the bios of some of these guys…gone are the days where a commander had thousands of hours. They’re too busy climbing the “ladder.” I’ve grown very tired of “leaders” telling me what’s “good for my career.” How about you let me decide what’s good for me…there’s a novel idea. Everyone knows that if you fly for 20 straight years the likelihood of making O-5 is greatly decreased. And you know what…some dudes are actually OKAY with that. With few exceptions, you know what the bros and I call O-5s and above...POLITICIANS. People would rather send a ****ing e-mail than get up, walk five feet, and have a face-to-face. I guess it's easier to be a prick in an e-mail. The whole experience is shaping up to be BS...and I'm not just a complaining b!tch because I didn't "get my way." Dudes are BAILING at record numbers, especially now as some airlines begin to move. And yes, even patches. There is no 100% solution in life, but SWA sure seems better than this. In 6 years in I have never seen morale this low. Of course when we fly its all business and EVERYONE gets the job done. But when you land, dudes are despondent at best. No one seems to be able to make any sense of it. People in positions of influence acknowledge a problem, but never do anything to really fix it...they're too worried about that next promotion or assignment. I have yet to see an O-5 or above make any move that wasn't the "safe" play, regardless of whether it was good for the unit or dudes. Military flying is a dream if you get to, however, Guard or Reserves...Guard or Reserves...that's all I'm going to say about that.
Right on the money here... and it's why I bailed via Palace Chase last year to the ANG and loving it ever since. I actually feel like a pilot now. I fly twice as many sorties per month than I did before and I fly with IP's with 5,000+ hours who've been flying the aircraft for 20 years instead of IP's with 1,500 hours who fly once a month because they're doing "additional duties" and can't even land the freaking airplane.
When I decided to Palace Chase, I wound up having a long sit down with my CC to talk about it. Lots of people just dropped their papers, but I really didn't want to leave on bad terms and honestly, I didn't really have a reason to. I had my reasons for Palace Chasing and I think they were all legitimate. I was fortunate enough to have a commander who wasn't the type that drank Big Blue's coolaid. I knew that I could go in and talk to him without him trying to talk me into climbing the proverbial ladder to O-6. Overall, I left on good terms and he specifically told me that he would not hold it against me if for some reason I was denied.
I have not looked back. I do miss the friends I made and the good times we had, whether they were at home station or the desert. I do miss "Doing the Deid" in some sick kind of way and being a part of the war effort, but when it came down to my decision to get out so soon, the Air Force was just not what I thought it would be when I was handing my package (sts) to my recruiter for a pilot slot. I can say that in most aspects, it was a big disappointment. There are just too many tool bags in high places here ruining all things good about the good old Air Force that used to be and it is going to get worse before it gets better.