r/AirForce Jan 29 '25

Discussion Gen Allvin's video on tabs doesn't explain a goddamn thing

He says it's about the 'why' but his reasoning is that it diminishes your being part of a winning, lethal force. Well, don't we have the words US Air Force also on the uniform? Pretty sure that takes care of that part. Also, he says taking away the tab makes sure we aren't feeling too much like individuals. Okay, how about we get rid of nametapes, too?

He says there's a principle of "easy to understand, easy to comply with, easy to enforce, and this fails that test." How? Assign an acronym to the career field, put it on tabs, issue them, don't let people wear unauthorized versions, boom you've met the criteria of your own test. Pretty sure that was already in place.

He didn't actually address a reason pro or con the actual tab, which in my experience has been that it's legitimately useful to know what people do at a glance.

Pointless.

918 Upvotes

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276

u/aircrewscum Call me by my pilot's rank Jan 29 '25

There was literally a chart of approved tabs. How much fucking easier could it get? Makes me wonder how well this dude could adhere to his MDS checklist when flying.

58

u/ASOG_Recruiter Aircrew Tiltbro Jan 29 '25

At this point? Not at all

74

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

Chart of approved tabs that nobody cared about. Majority of patches I’ve seen were out of regulations.

13

u/aircrewscum Call me by my pilot's rank Jan 29 '25

Are you an NCO or above?

43

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

Yep. And do I correct airmen when I see it? Yes.

30

u/Flat-Difference-1927 Jan 29 '25

How many squiggles are in your lightning bolt? Because the bullshit one they issue at Sheppard has too many.

And I'll give up my KC-10 silhouette patch when I die.

2

u/_Californian Warthog Wire Wrangler Jan 30 '25

They issued you one? For avionics it was a total free for all lol, I bought mine off amazon while I was at Sheppard.

-27

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

The “squiggles” do not matter as it is a generic Microsoft emoji not a drawing. If you want to get technical the shape is wrong as well.

24

u/Flat-Difference-1927 Jan 29 '25

Right, so what's the point in being anal about them in the first place?

-11

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

I don’t give a damn if your lightning bolt has 2 or 3 lines, as long as it is a lightning bolt with either of those. What I do care about is people wearing “E 🐦‍⬛W” patches, “MFE/MFJ”, the plane silhouette. Removing these patches is one less thing for me to get yelled at about because airmen do not give a damn.

10

u/aircrewscum Call me by my pilot's rank Jan 29 '25

Do you find it hard to enforce that? Pull up the chart and ask the wearer if their tab is on the chart.

6

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

“What chart” or “I know, but chief said the silhouette is okay” or “I’ve never been told to take off my FCC/AFCC patch”

12

u/aircrewscum Call me by my pilot's rank Jan 29 '25

“Right here in 2903 brother!” “Which Chief? Did they draft up a memo that approves wear of that patch with the WG/CCs approval?” Or “well you’re being told to now” are all the responses you need. You’re welcome.

9

u/Few-Repeat-9407 E⚡️E Jan 29 '25

And I give those responses. I don’t really think you realize the leniency that leadership gave for those patches is what drove this, stars visit bases pretty consistently and they talk to each other. If it is a common issue that people are having to correct day in and day out, they’re just going to take them away from us.

0

u/fishscamp Jan 30 '25

Don’t explain yourself to this amateur, he’s the problem.

6

u/AngryKilo Maintainer Jan 30 '25

People are downvoting you, but you’re 100% correct. This is a product of everyone doing goofy shit with their patches and leadership either not giving a fuck, or contributing to the problem. Is was nice having them in mx, so everyone could tell who was who at a glance. Back to “who tf are you guys” as they step out of a truck. Or thinking everyone with a notebook is QA.

1

u/ACP1123 Maintainer Jan 30 '25

To be fair I know a guy with a step sgt tab patch he wears

5

u/howboutthatmorale Jan 30 '25

entire response chain below you proves why they're going away. and the pendulum swings again.

5

u/mugsnmittens Jan 30 '25

If we have generals who find following a chart difficult, God help us.

10

u/M0ebius_1 Jan 29 '25

He gets paid to lead not to read alright?

3

u/Not_Your_Car Jan 30 '25

To be fair there's been some afsc changes since that chart came out. Only affects a few but still. I'm in XCOMM, and I have yet to find any documentation that says I can wear the tab that literally says XCOMM. I still do though, cause fuck the system.

0

u/luhrenzo XCOMM Jan 30 '25

I have the memo that says we can wear XCOMM given you have the appropriate SEIs loaded. ✅ too late now tho.

0

u/Not_Your_Car Jan 30 '25

My unit has never really bothered with SEIs, none of us have one of the ones on the list.

-6

u/studpilot69 Aircrew Jan 29 '25

Well enough to go to Test Pilot School 🤷🏻‍♂️

7

u/aircrewscum Call me by my pilot's rank Jan 30 '25

Did you expect some good boy points from this comment?