What "allowed (me) to still have this outlook through a career leading to retirement"? I'll tell you:
I believe that the Air Force is a strong, noble organization that does great things for our nation, even with its warts. I believe that when I saw problems/waste, it was my responsibility to try my best to fix those problems rather than simply noting that they exist and then listing them on a forum to show how terrible the organization is.
Does the Air Force have problems? Of course ... all large organizations do. As I see the examples of waste here in this thread, I agree that some of them are wasteful. I see some of them as parts of a bigger picture that are driven by forces often beyond the Air Force's control.
Incidentally, I saw a post saying that I was probably deployed overseas and spending all my time telling people to tuck their shirt in or put on socks ... that is partly true. I did not spend all my time doing it, but when I saw a violation I corrected it on the spot. Do you know why? Because the reason for the very strict uniform policy was for force protection. It is very, very easy for the terrorists to get American uniforms. They might even be able to gain access to facilities by getting a job as a 3rd country national. What they likely would NOT do is realize how EXACTLY to wear our uniforms. So, if you see a guy running around in US pt gear with no socks or with his shirt not tucked in, then you challenge him -- if all the good guys are in the proper uniform worn correctly, then the guy who is out of uniform is probably the terrorist. That's exactly what happened at a site in Fallujah -- an Army Sgt noticed a guy in American uniform, worn improperly, and when he challenged him the guy started running. The Sgt ran inside the internet cafe and got everyone out just before it exploded.
SOS: Clearly, whatever I say is going to have no bearing on opinions here, and that is fine.
However, I still have not seen anyone suggest a valid method for selecting who goes to SOS given that not everyone can attend. The fact is that, at that point in an officer's career, there are a few clearly superior performers and a few clearly inferior performers and a whole bunch of officers in the middle. SOS in correspondence gives AF leaders a simple way of allowing officers to de-select themselves. And, BTW, SOS is definitely NOT a "re-blueing" school. Since officers at that point in their careers have (for the most part) not been assigned outside the AF, that is simply not an issue.
Finally, I appreciate your concern for my family, but I did not use overhead transparencies when I went to school. In fact, as an airlift pilot, I thought it would be best for me to spend some time with the Army, so I went to the Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth KS. It turned out to be a fantastic experience, and it helped me immensely in understanding how Army officers think -- which proved extremely helpful when I was assigned to Balad Air Base in Iraq working Army aircraft bed down issues, among other things.
And guess what? It didn't even cost me my first marriage, as you so crassly suggest -- my wife and I are doing very well, thank you very much.
