FLY6584

T-6 FAIP here coming up on my next assignment and looking to talk to anyone on the site currently flying 135's at Macdill. Active duty or reserves. Thanks!

Paok

Where at? I know a lot of MacDill people, from the reserve side. They are all some of the coolest people I know, and I am almost jealous. There are a few studs at CBM going to MacDill. Seems like an awesome gig with great people. Good luck

FLY6584

Paok,

I'm at CBM. It does sound like an awesome gig. I'd love to get over to the reserve side of things, but unfortunately thats not in the cards for a while.

Are you a 10 guy? That'll be right after Macdill on my dreamsheet...

KC10Guy

Where are you planning to put 10s down to? Oh wait, never mind, doesn't matter, there's only one -10 base, it's called Al Dhafra...

Seriously though, you'll spend close to, if not more than half the year at Al Dhafra if you go AD KC10s. May not sound too bad, but when you get over here, see the flying we do, see the fraud, waste and abuse that goes on because AFCENT has a blank check, you may start to think otherwise (just one of the many guys who have been in the -10 for 3-4 years, deployed 5+ times and have spent over a year cumulative in the desert)...

In any case, I've heard it's even worse on the -135 side in terms of deployment tempo. And, at least we're Fatboys, and still get a few decent trips every now and then back home to different locations around the world.

All I'll say is that it's a sad day when people getting assignments really aren't all that disappointed or are even looking forward at getting a UAV...

The sad part is that everyone I know in mobility aircraft are burnt out. My peers in the -10 are becoming so cynical and are getting burnt out and even excited to be getting out of the -10. My friends who fly C17s and 135s are getting burnt out... Unless you're in the reserves or guard, gone are the good old days of actually being a pilot in the AF - now you're either a "deployed warrior" doing a job a monkey could do after a few flights, or you're expected to stay home and fly the desk.

thrust

You and everyone else...

hjs1971

Things aren't all rosy in the Guard/Reserves either...remember, TACC cuts our checks, not AFCENT and money is tight. We also have the privledge of doing the 178 hours of homosexual awareness and sexual assault training CBT's. We aren't burnt out on the flying, we are lucky, we still get to do a little of that. We are burnt out on everything else (the sky is falling, we have no $$$, screw the war we need you to focus on the ORI, here's 10 more CBT's to do, one crew crapped their pants in Manas so now you have to wear diapers for a month, etc.)

Deuce130

Part of me wants to say I feel your pain. But mostly I want to say suck it up and quit whining. There are thousands of people that would trade spots with you. As this is an AVF, feel free to leave. We've been doing this for almost a decade now, you can't possibly say you didn't know what you were getting into. If you were already flying when 9/11 happened, then you've had your chances to leave. Looking forward to UAVs so you don't have to actually go do what you signed up for? Please.

crewdawg

I have a few bros that it's a last ditch effort to save a marriage or see their kids grow up. When they signed up it was 120 every 15 months (in Fighters), then their friend TAMI came along and sent them to another airframe. Their current deployments cycle keep them away from home for 200+ days a year...that's not exactly what they signed up for. They are counting the days to their 10 year commitment.

KC10Guy

I know a ton of people, in my community and other mobility assets, that would leave given the option - unfortunately with UPT commitments it's not possible, so it's not as easy as saying "feel free to leave".

Personally, I don't know if I'd leave, at least I'm flying something and I'm getting paid to do it. I'll do my time, do whatever the AF see "fit" to do with me while they still own me, and then decide whether or not it's on to "greener" pastures.

A decade ago, hell even a few years ago, the majority of line mobility aircrew weren't spending 250+ days a year away from home. KC10 guys were volunteering for deployments, maybe once a year, just to get hours. Now, we spend 140+ days a year just deployed (for the really unlucky few 210+ days), and then another 50-120 days TDY. From what I hear, same goes for the -135s, -17s and C5s. Doesn't leave much room for a life back home, let alone time for a family.

You can only ask someone and/or their family to do that for so long before something has to give. There's a problem with senior leadership, even at the squadron level, being able to relate to what the young, line fliers are going through today. The majority of our young captains have 6, 7, 8 Oak Leaf Clusters on their Air Medals; yet you look at a lot of squadron leadership and maybe they have a basic AM, maybe one OLC; it's not the same AF for young guys that it was for them, and while some leaders recognize this, there's a lot that don't or just seem to brush it off, like it doesn't matter.

Don't want to bring politics into the mix, but it's also tough to stay positive, or expect people to keep a positive attitude or buy into a war that's been going on for almost 10 years with no end in sight, when on a daily basis you see the poor planning that goes on, the waste of resources and just waste of money that takes place, and the overall fact that we're in a country with corrupt leaders happy to take our money, and where the majority of people don't want us there. Don't get it twisted though, when we do go fly (all airframes), we do a damn good job or give it our best. Because, ultimately it's all about our final customer, some guy(s) on the ground. They deserve it and have to believe and know we've got their backs, regardless of how anyone feels about the war.

Combine all of the above with the ridiculous policies at the bases in the AOR, where focus on actually carrying out the mission has been lost, and then coming home to stuff that's not much better, and can you really blame people for being unhappy, or wanting to bail?

Yes, it's the service, we all signed on the dotted line of our own free will, and we are willing to defend the U.S.A. even if it means paying the ultimate sacrifice one day.
But, that shouldn't preclude us from having a family, seeing our families, watching our kids grow up, or being able to have somewhat of a personal life and be happy. While it's easy to say suck it up, stop complaining and deal with it, we're not robots, there's a human element to deal with and someone can only "suck it up" for so long.

You may not agree with any or some of the above, but I'm honestly telling it how it is, so don't shoot the messenger. This is what we (young/mid-level CGOs) talk about and vent about. Maybe it's what people have always vented about or felt, I don't know, I don't think so. Maybe it's just in the mobility world.
It'll be interesting to see if a lot of people put their money where their mouths are come decision time to stay in or get out. If they bail, the AF is going to be in a world of hurt on the ops side; or maybe it'll get what it wanted, reduced numbers.

USMCFLYR

I don't ever recall being given anything in writing when I signed up stating what my deployment schedule would be or even a guarantee what I would be doing for my entire career.

I certainly understand what is/was expected in certain times when signing up are/have been changing. What the *usual* time in the military meant and what *most* careers consisted of changed drastically; but we all signed up for our commitments. AFTER our commitments are up then we are good to move on with the rest of our lives if we so chose or remain in service. In either case, servicemembers have given a lot to be grateful for.

USMCFLYR