Quote:
Originally Posted by Lurchi
Stay till 20 with AF or go airlines now? Always an interesting question because the answer reveals what you value. Airline pilots talk in terms of money (seniority and pay) and time off with the goal to work as little as possible for as much pay as possible. In other words the satisfaction of this job is not the job itself but what it allows you to do. Money isn't everything, how many airline pilots are making plenty and still unhappy? I know many AF pilots now flying for the airlines that talk with fondness about their active duty days and what might have been if they stayed in. So I think the decision comes down to what really matters to you...if you value achievement and job satisfaction then maybe you should stay military for now if you enjoy it until you can retire. If you just want to make money and have time to spend it but don't really care about achieving anything then maybe you should jump to airlines. It really comes down to what you value and what you want to do with the finite number of heart beats you will have before you keel over. Btw I'm a 25 yr vet that is extremely content to have completed a career in the AF and now have the opportunity to retire to the airlines with nothing left to prove or accomplish...my answer reveals what I value.
I don't know anyone who wants to stay in, guard/reserve or active duty. Nor do I know anyone in the airlines who wishes that they would have stayed in -- only a rare Captain here or there. (they have no idea what it has become).
I value working in an organization that respects me and pays me for my professional skills and judgement.
I don't value working in an organization where we spend thousands of man hours on EPRs/OPRs only to see them given maybe a 30 second quick glance during the promotion hustle. Or you didn't get promoted because the writer sucked or you didn't get that new buzzword. Or where someone who isn't even rated or done anything operational held in a higher regard than someone who is out there operationally getting the job done while in extreme hazardous situations. And you wonder why I got out?
I also don't value working for an organization which treats me, a 20+ year officer and 40-year old, the same as an 18-year old E-1.
I value working for an organization where I can pick up the phone or satcom, call the dispatcher, voice concerns over an issue and work with him/her to alleviate the offending condition. Most of the time the dispatchers are welcome to hear what we found.
I don't value flying for an organization where there's regulations upon regulations, government books after government books, supplements after supplements. Many of them conflict with one another. Yet, the aircraft commander is responsible for everything and if goes wrong, the unit commander throws you under the bus.
More so, I don't value an organization that creates silly ORM worksheets, where if we were honest on the score, would mean at least moderate or high for nearly everything we do. Then when you do the right thing and up channel the information, you're overruled by someone in the chain and have the ORM artificially reduced and/or told to go shut up and color.
I value working for an organization which reduces the paperwork as much as possible and has an easy to use expense/trip reporting system. This way we can focus on rest or the mission.
I don't value working for an organization where the entire orders process, pre-travel DTS voucher, post-travel DTS voucher, and then actually getting paid is so cumbersome and out date that I end up wasting most of my time on it. Also, it is insulting when the USAF asks me to check my accounts to ensure I was paid, which I was, because their systems still show my vouchers to be outstanding. Incompetence.
I value my time off with family and friends. This is why I bailed.
I value what I do outside of the USAF, knowing my efforts mean the difference between someone getting home to see their kids wedding, or perhaps a last moment goodbye before a loved one passes, or flying to locations where critical cancer drugs with incredibly short half-lives are shipped to their needy patients.
I don't value an organization that has been dropping bombs on hajis for more than 20 damn years. What the heck are we doing over there? It isn't working. Plus our country can't afford it.
I value an organization which consistently tries to do things better and for less.
I don't value an organization where if you don't use it, you lose it. And being called in back to work late on September 30th because we just received $65,000 into our account and we need to blow it. I don't see how that helps the mission or the tax payers. I also don't value an organization where when that rare commander speaks up and says whats on everyones' mind, ends up getting replaced and fired.
You're right, the decision to stay or go comes down to what you value.
The USAF enterprise is broken on so many levels. I am amazed we can get anything done today.
I suggest firing and replacing many USAF Generals with a few Army, Navy, and USMC Generals -- similar to the tv show Wife Swap.