Originally Posted by capoetc

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.

Originally Posted by Herkdrv

Give me a break dude Quit trying to justify your actions as the uniform nazi. It baffles me as to why people would waste their time enforcing stupid uniform regs that change every other week when we are fighting a war over there. We already have standards for uniforms why don't we just follow what we do at home station. Oh and when it gets hotter than hell then use common sense standards! Come to think about it why is it that in 11 years of active duty and one with the reserves I've only had my balls busted for "uniform wear" only in the AOR and NEVER anywhere else?

Originally Posted by MoosePileit

Thanks for the entertainment if not enlightenment! I like my Kool-aid mixed w/ Pure grain alcohol.... But it's time to step. Please don't confuse actual leadership lessons from the precious few that got it with support of the uniform nazis in the same post. The comment to the OG/CCs conference was about 3 years behind the power curve, that was peeing into a gale. Once the first 2 wings let it happen years ago, the inertia was set.

Originally Posted by capoetc

My point regarding uniform wear in the AOR is simply to say that there is a reason for it -- force protection. You may, of course, disagree with the rationale, but that is the reason -- not just to make your life difficult. It would be a heck of a lot easier to not stop somebody a couple times a week to correct their uniform wear.

Originally Posted by MJB68

Been doing this AF flying thing for more than 18 years now...both AD and ANG. Left AD because I burned out on seeing shlep rocks who checked all the right boxes and gave more of a SH!% about their careers than their people, get moved up the chain. Thank God someone has finally realized that the AF has an indemic problem with leadership...or more accurately...a complete absense thereof, and canned the "polyester prince" chief of staff and the "do nothing" secretary. But hey, the guard ain't no better. At least not my unit....No-sir-ee-bob!!! You want to talk fraud waste and abuse? Try for the last 6 months, we've turned back every mission, TDY, or deployment we could have helped out with to train for our ORI. Yes, the nation is at war, and all our brain trust can do is prepare for the fake war. We've spent tens of thousands of dollars on new patches for everyone, new headlamps for PAR teams that will NEVER BE USED, painting, posters, plasma screens.....and that doesn't even come close to all of the illegal airlift we've generated to go pick up inspectors at HQ and take them to different bases so we can shmooz them and see how other units do their inspections. Or the umpteen trips we've sent dozens of unit members on solely to over-the-shoulder the inspectors so we know how to prepare for our ORI. No, the active duty hasn't cornered the market on fraud waste and abuse....the guard has refined it to a level the mafia or Louisiana politicians would be proud of. I've reached the point where I'm just in it for mercenary reasons. If I weren't looking down the barrel of another furlough, I'd be a dot on the horizon. I'd love to list all of the corruption here, but fear I'd end up like vince foster.