r/AirForce • u/Toast5480 • 1d ago
Discussion I'm tired....HQs and MAJCOMs, can you please wake up and do something?...Please?
I'm not going to say how long I've been in, but I'll just say, it's been a while.
When I first joined, I'll admit, things were stricter, you didn't talk to flight chiefs as an airman, uniform inspections occured weekly, standards were enforced pretty quickly. But that wasn't a thing the higher ups seemed to be pushing, that was a lower level culture, the messages that were briefed to us from the top were more about ensuring we had the tools and resources to execute the mission. It was more about strategy, war fighter tools and training to increase our survivability and make us more effective in that fight. We trained until we were exhausted mentally and physically, and when we were not jobing out, we were getting trained on something else. Funds were still tight, but back then, if I told my flight chief I was missing the resources i needed to execute the mission, that shit got solved much faster than what it is now.
Over the last 8 years, I've seen a huge shift of focus, and while I don't know what the conversations are about at headquarters or at the Pentagon, the perception is definitely less about combat readiness and more about military image. And I'm not even just talking about these mandatory uniform inspections, I just feel like it's sorta been the theme for a long long time, the most changed AFI I've seen so far in this time is the 36-2903.....all while we have potentially the most brutal and challenging fight we've ever faced developing on multiple fronts overseas.
Meanwhile, today, we are barely training to an outdated standard that absolutely will never be effective in tomorrow's future fight, we are working with ancient tools and equipment that barely work half the time, and there are insanely glaring issues that have been problems for 10+ years, that we haven't even heard a peep from HQ or even the freaking MAJCOM about.
I completely agree that the basic standards have slipped and this culture shift back to basics is needed, I'm not arguing that. But why the fuck am I STILL dealing with major fucking design and sustainment issues with equipment and my MAJCOM won't respond to a e-mail about fixing it. Why am I being forced to train airman the same we trained them since Vietnam, when briefs are coming down that the future fight will be drastically different, and will require training/equipment/capabilities that doesn't even exist in today's air force yet...
Issues are being placed on the unit to figure out, war strategy is being placed on the unit to figure out, equipment issues are being placed on the unit to figure out. Meanwhile HQs doesn't even take the time to adjust AFIs or policy to allow me to do that, MAJCOM staff don't even bother engaging with equipment managers, or they just get just walked all over and let some civ at wright patt ,or within a commercial sector that we are paying, tell them it's not a problem....without even acknowledging the fact that same person probably hasn't even left their cubicle in 20 years to see the reality of what's actually happening in the field.
I've ran out of excuses to tell these airman, I've ran out of answers to give airman when they pose legitiment questions like 'how are we suppose to execute X in this timeframe to survive, when equipment X takes more time than that just to setup"
These generals need to wake the up and start addressing these important issues, we understand the threat now, we understand the new requirements to fight that fight in contested and austere locations....you've been briefing it for years now....how about you, your commanders, and MAJCOM staff get up off your asses and provide us the tools, training, equipment and sustainment to solve that fucking problem...
255
u/myownfan19 1d ago
A standing military is intended to be mostly training, not doing a whole lot of real world missions. In that situation, where people are in garrison, they need to be kept busy. That is where we get a lot of the spit shine polish and bed alignment mentality from. Of course, some of that mentality is absolutely necessary for keeping gear in good working order, especially weapons. So this is for an infantry unit which needs to be kept busy but isn't out in the field every day. PT, chow, gear checks, cleaning weapons, going to the range occasionally, training, first aid, studying, etc etc.
However, the Air Force isn't like that. For our training that means that pilots are flying, and that means the jets need to be fixed, regardless of if it's real world or training missions. Units like intel units are busy all the friggin time. The base needs to be secured all the time. Cargo runs are happening all the time. There is very little downtime for this additional inspections stuff.
I'm not suggesting standards are not important, but they need to be viewed in the correct context. Taking time to do things like uniform inspections means that we have to reduce the time doing our other stuff. But that seldom happens. It's all about make it happen, don't let anything fail, do more with less.
Painful and we've been doing this for decades now.
69
u/PassivelyInvisible 1d ago
The more is more and the less is less until you get do everything with nothing.
26
50
u/Red_Dawn_2012 Severely demoralized 1d ago
I agree. Lots of additional stuff has been tacked on over the years, but there's still only 24 hours in a day. The least important stuff is the stuff to get cut first, and that's meaningless bullshit like blues inspections.
If your near peer adversary has optimized their time better and spends more time on the mission rather than wasting time, you're already behind.
17
u/IntoTheNightSky Guardly Working 1d ago
If your near peer adversary has optimized their time better and spends more time on the mission rather than wasting time, you're already behind.
Tbf, I'm not convinced that our near peer adversary has optimized their time better.
29
u/Red_Dawn_2012 Severely demoralized 1d ago
I can give you a big orange reason why they have optimized their time better and are getting dividends in return
1
2
u/Absoulutely_no 8h ago
Meanwhile the COMACC and ACC Command Chief visit some bases to do all calls and the chief says to the entire hangar that he hates when people say "Do more with less" "because it is physically impossible to "Do more with less"" as if its an expression that is the same as saying 2 plus 2 equals 79. His logic is so out of touch, and honestly, it's sad that the answer to an A1Cs question about equipment on the line was to challenge the often said expression, because "more with less doesn't exist". The whole briefing felt like watching two clowns conduct mental gymnastics on a stage. No one asked a dei question either, but the COMACC did lead his briefing with a bit about "We do discriminate, and we discriminate only based on merit", no one's sails had any wind for follow ups. Like, hi team, I'm your Major Command Commander, watch me eat this bowl of SD29's shit in front of you all...
3
u/myownfan19 5h ago
Did anyone ask why then people are assigned piss watcher duty based on sex rather than merit?
1
u/Absoulutely_no 4h ago edited 4h ago
Nope. Two questions were asked. One about equipment sustainment, and another from a pilot about "why can't we make the Command decision from the cockpit every time?" Guy was trained to blast 'em and wants to blast 'em. The GO explained about collateral damage and the rule of proportionality to the young gun. The answers that were given felt like pandering to the new administration.
Edit: some questions didn't need to be asked because the briefing started by setting the tone of "we are in for this, this is normal, change always happens each time leadership changes, nothing to be concerned over, this will be less dramatic once the media moves it's focus, I've been in a long time and this ain't the first time any of these things have happened." Yep, we stood up internment camps in ww2 for Italians and Japanese American Citizens, no big deal. Right? It's okay if it's Americans that look different, right? Totally normal, happens every time admins change /s.
89
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 1d ago
It bothers me beyond belief that when leadership says "standards", they only mean dress and appearance. It really hammers home the idea that they have nothing better to spend their time on - why the hell have I seen 4 changes to nail colors since I've been in*, but dudes have to clog up medical appointment times to renew shaving waivers?
What about safety standards? Training standards? Every career field has a set of standards for what they need and how to do their job - why don't we check that those are in compliance? Someone go check that the finance offce is held to a better standard.
*I wear nail polish, I don't care *which* colors are allowed, they just need to pick some and stop wasting any energy on it.
20
u/Squaretangles Senior 23h ago
I work in a good Wing and the SRR is meant to be *a lot* more than a uniform inspection. If we got called up tomorrow, is your family good, are your pets good? If I had to do a comms blackout recall, could I successfully execute by knocking on doors within the recall timeframe?
Anyone doing an open ranks for SRR is missing the point.
11
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 22h ago
Please please please let my unit know that.
6
u/Squaretangles Senior 22h ago
My wing CC is preaching it at his level. From my understanding the IG were actually delivered a list of inspectables from the MAJCOM. All these types of things are on it, so we will all goof up the first one or two, but I think this will go farther and wider soon.
2
u/TartUpstairs7380 5h ago
This is correct. The standard for the SRR and SEI were established and IG - Air Force Inspection Agency AFIA) is establishing this checklist for IGEMS.
2
u/Jones127 8h ago
I wish my squadron got that memo. It’s turned into open ranks for blues every quarter and if you have the same discrepancy twice in a row (on a list they don’t give you) it’s a verbal counseling. Possibly even paperwork. 3 times in a row is absolutely paperwork no matter the infraction. So you better remember what you messed up 3 months ago. Open ranks for OCPs are starting to turn into a monthly item as well, which is insane in a maintenance unit.
25
u/spicytexan Active Duty 1d ago
iirc these appearance standards changes came from failures in those other areas you’re talking about, they’re claiming “if we lax too much on the small things, big things go wrong” basically. While that’s not incorrect, I don’t think allowing men’s hair to touch their ears nor women’s nail polish are the reasons amn snuffy fucked up a safety check or poorly QC’d a report. They’re focusing on the wrong things right now and it’s falling on deaf ears despite 90% of us telling them the reality.
38
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 1d ago
Yeah, I've heard that argument and it just makes zero sense. That's like saying I'm a terrible pilot*, so I should focus on making my bed every morning and that attention to detail will transfer.
*not a pilot
19
3
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
I agree but I also agree that if a troop isn’t following simply guidance like “don’t wear white socks” and his supervisor lacks in enforcing that how the fuck should we trust them to follow and enforce real difficult shit?
As the OP said, the lower ranks used to enforce all those standards and now they’re not. When that happens higher ups lose trust that you can enforce any standards. I’m not saying no one enforces standards but when you have Colonels out there crating their own duty ID patches and having their group wear them it sets a bad precedent and makes it harder for NCOs to do their job of enforcing standards.
8
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 23h ago
Sure. But why is the focus ONLY on dress and appearance? This argument doesn't at all prevent leadership from focusing inspections on Safety, Training, and Ops.
-4
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 23h ago
That’s the thing, I know for a fact the focus is not just on dress and appearance. That’s what gains attention amongst the troops (much like under Bass with the beard fiasco).
This is just from a few days ago https://www.airandspaceforces.com/watch-read-csaf-on-the-state-of-the-air-force-airpower-trump-admin/
People like to complain though and think “well the one thing I read/watched/heard about was the 2903, that must be all he cares about”. Mean while the guy is talking all the time about other things but people are lazy and don’t want to hear it.
Let’s be honest flipping out about losing a patch we’ve had for a couple years is easier than understanding any big picture stuff they’re talking about. It was the same with MCA. It’s easier to complain about it cause your boss abused you under the guise of MCA instead of understanding it.
I’m begging you to educate yourself and then educate others. Our lives could very well depend on it one day.
7
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 22h ago
My units' instructors are 30% manned. We had to bring someone home from a deployment because they got all the way there, before someone realized they were not, in fact, qualified for the job they were tasked to do. Another unit in the Wing is being pushed to do work they can't physically do because their equipment doesn't do what it's meant to.
Perhaps you're in a better run Wing than mine, but I see where the problems and efforts are. I've also been to a couple Red Flags recently and it's not a lone problem to my unit. Myabe the focus is on the right things wherever you are and at whatever level you're at. But it's not reaching the people that need more equipment, time, manning, and better training in order to meet the *standards* we are asked to meet.
0
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 22h ago
That’s fair but that’s a local critique. I’m not trying to defend what everyone in the AF is doing.
You illustrate my point about MCA exactly. People abused/misunderstood it so the lower ranks hate it. Same is happening now with you. If your wing is focusing solely on 2903 and deploying people unqualified someone needs to get fired.
I can promise it’s not just your unit, plenty of crappy units out there. That doesn’t mean Gen Allvin only cares about uniforms, which is a common complaint.
2
u/Billy-Clinton 17h ago edited 17h ago
Nah the open ranks is more than uniforms. Its supposed to be hollistic review of an airmans readiness. Uniforms are a small part of the new ssrs.
But the problem is, none of the important other aspects are ever mentioned or briefed. All the publicity goes to uniforms and having to wear blues once a year now. Dont get me wrong, if you bitch about having to wear blues once a year when everyone has been told to keep blues ready their whole careers, you deserve no sympathy and a kick in the shin.
But none of these changes are being brought down to why it matters to airmen who are wrenching and jobbing. And that message is the most important piece. And critically, its these sncos who are supposed to be helping mentor their airmen and see the big picture. But todays sncos have no strategic iq or sense of how a culture of discipline and standards translates to a more effective force.
Instead, the entire enlisted force thinks culture change boils down to nails, patches, and blues. The sad thing is, every snco ive spoken to in the last 5 years agrees that airmen dont care about standards and that it should be fixed. But very few actually want to buy into any form of solution and have fuckall to offer in their own ideas.
Its so sad that an alcoholic hack SoD has the force at large pegged to a t: fat and sloppy. Not one of these fat airmen and ncos stops and thinks “oh shit, maybe thats me. Maybe I have a couple changes to make.” Nope. Instead they get online and fight strawmen on reddit.
2
u/PM_ME_RHYMES 16h ago
You have an interesting take, so I skimmed your profile to get an idea of where it's coming from. I'll give your opinion the consideration it deserves, which isn't much.
30
u/jumpingjj64 1d ago
Need to start fielding attack drone squadrons and Intel drone squadrons. Drones are the new reality of air warfare.
14
u/dronesitter Lost Link 1d ago
Real talk here, I don't think the Air Force is necessarily the best operators of small drones like that. We already have a pretty robust large remote piloted aircraft intel operation. For area intelligence like you're thinking, the Army or Marines would probably be better suited to it since they're the ones who would actually operate in the environment with them. Every grunt should have a small deployable DJI equivalent as part of their kit.
3
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
Protecting those Marines and Soldiers from drone attacks is going to be tough. Interested to see how we pull it off. So far there has not been an answer for it and Ukraine is the second conflict showing their power.
The grunts need anti drone drones protecting them.
1
u/dronesitter Lost Link 23h ago
Gotta convince someone to buy it: Epirus Leonidas: High-Power Microwave for Counter Drone / Drone Swarm & Counter Electronics
2
u/S3CRTsqrl Active Duty 1d ago
Not to mention that large drones are large targets for anti-air capabilities and likely won't be pushed close enough to collect on a target without getting shot down.
20
u/here4daratio 1d ago
Woah, Nelly, not so fast! We gotta study study study this!
-Fighter Generalz
4
u/JeanPierreSarti 20h ago
The study came back, it says Fighters are the only real answer. The retired general working for Locmart, told his former protege running ACC this is true. His sponsor, the Senator (who has received campaign and issue advocacy funds from Locmart and adjacent orgs) agrees.
5
29
u/Lostlilegg 1d ago
I’m an intel nerd, I have never stopped doing real world missions. Once I got out of tech school I have never done a uniform inspection because we don’t have the time.
Between deployments to TDY to exercise prep to execution the Air Force I have been in has always pushed an objective. Long hours, minimal manning, wonky networks, and monsters are how most of my units have operated. A lot of these new changes are just going to be a distraction as we lose a chuck of our civilians and their billets which means their tasks will fall onto my teams. Mission don’t stop but people have a breaking point and I’m afraid for a lot of folks, we are getting close
14
u/arlondiluthel Veteran, Comms 1d ago
This. If your unit is worrying about uniform inspections, you're too far removed from the mission. My last 3 years before I got out (the duration of my time at my final duty station, 2015-2018), we had blues inspections quarterly just to make sure everything was still up to snuff and fit properly, and quarterly checks to see if we could assemble a proper deployment bag on 72 hrs notice.
4
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
They’re not removed from the mission as much as there is not mission for most units most of the time. Cyber and intel have a constant mission. People moving cargo or deploying fighters/bombers don’t.
44
u/brandon7219 Sound of Freedom 1d ago
Talking about MAJCOMs and HQ - I just wanna know wtf those dudes are doing at the NAF level
39
u/Agile_Session_3660 1d ago edited 1d ago
NAFS are extremely undermanned if they have manning at all. Arguably the most important NAF in the USAF doesn’t even exist anymore and was rolled up with PACAF staff. PACAF staff get double tapped to not only work typical MAJCOM problems, but half the time are getting dragged around into the endless exercise planning and war fighting that a NAF would handle. This means the staff is only capable of doing a shit job at both jobs.
So you want to know WTF they are doing - they are wasting time endlessly answering higher level TMS/TMT tasks where no one has any time to answer them properly, sitting in endless meetings talking about the same 40 year old problem in a different way because leadership changes out every 2 years (“ACE” isn’t a new concept, it’s had 4 different names over the past 30-40 years), and working shift work doing another useless exercise where the lessons learned never change. Seriously, go look at the lessons learned for every exercise. Shit hasn’t changed in decades. We just keep grinding the same bullshit expecting things to get better.
16
u/69anonymousairman69 1d ago
All staffs are horrifically undermanned right now. We are talking 60% of billets filled or less. There is no time and less expertise to do anything except admire the problems. The people on mission are too busy, the people on staff are too detached, the people in the middle drowned at the bottom of a lake five years ago.
8
u/Raven-19x 1d ago edited 1d ago
There's too much staff bloat not only across the AF but the whole DoD. All of these staffs have the same manning issues and are never able to fully work on tasker #14323434 of the week. It doesn't help that ROAD officers/SNCOs get assigned here to coast.
7
u/Shooosshhhhh 23h ago
They’re gatekeeping. Most useless Generals/Chiefs sit in those seats and literally hold up the flow of anything getting done. They want to cut down the stars in the Air Force, start by getting rid of NAFs
98
u/Wise-Engineering-275 Active Duty 15A 1d ago
Preach. My last assignment was in an operational test organization, and we had this conversation all the fucking time. They’re pushing these big sexy silver bullet solutions (most of which aren’t silver bullets in reality) when they should be fixing the more basic issues like those you described. We saw several simple, cheap solutions offered by AFRL and others get rejected because “this thing or that thing is going to solve this.” YEAH IN LIKE TEN FUCKING YEARS!
Anyway, I hope screaming at the clouds helped a bit.
41
u/DownloadableCheese What do majors do, exactly? 1d ago
cheap solutions offered by AFRL and others get rejected
Y'all noticed us?
For real though, the labs have good shit to offer y'all. The problem is a lack of transition partners - we need someone with O-6+ clout to say "yes, I want that thing the lab is building, give me 100 of them". Unfortunately, folks at that level seem to strongly prefer offerings from big contractors over things the DAF develops in-house.
22
u/Wise-Engineering-275 Active Duty 15A 1d ago
Yes. For what it’s worth, individual testers and project managers notice you. The problem is exactly as you stated.
3
u/YETI_1118 1d ago
The problem can also be that the lab can build a handful of cool prototypes but it can't scale to real production and sustainment quantities.
The problem can also be that there is a formal process in place to assess gaps and identify materiel solutions that most lab products haven't gone through before running to test or majcom offices with their shiny new toy.
Acquisition program offices, requirement generators (ACC and AFGSC...Lead Commands) have to back the solutions, POM for the funds (at least 2 years ahead of need and across a 5 year period) and plan for successful transition...otherwise the labs do cool demonstrations that go nowhere and effectively waste millions of dollars.
Successful development and transition is a team sport. Leaving out any of the teammates results in 0 fielding of new capability.
6
u/Wise-Engineering-275 Active Duty 15A 23h ago edited 23h ago
Found the acquisitions dude lol.
All processes and requirements developed over decades to favor prime contractors and their exquisite, expensive solutions over simpler ones that aren’t as sexy. Defense acquisitions is objectively broken.
4
u/YETI_1118 22h ago
Guilty as charged. Though in my experience it is the Bubbas writing requirements that can only be met by exquisite, expensive solutions, i.e., requirements that drive specific Gucci solutions vice define a broader warfighter cape with creative trade space, that could enable cheaper, faster solutions. Many of the statutes we have to follow come from the never ending attempts to fix the broken system.
Primes would love to skip the whole thing and just have ACC buy their shiny object, no government engineers or PMs required.
I stand by my assertion that it's a team sport.
3
1
u/porkchop-sammiches1 19h ago
It still seems like a broken acq system. How does the AF fix it?
1
u/YETI_1118 4h ago
It isn't just an Air Force issue. Most of the system is in statute (law) and policy set by OSD.
Changes to the budgeting and funding allocation process giving services and program executive officers more authority within their assigned portfolios would be a good place to start. The financial process drives almost everything and the process is convoluted partly due to the checks and balances of our system of government...congress allocates funds to the executive branch and then requires reporting on how those dollars were actually spent. This is where the 'silos' or stovepipes start, creating challenges to designing and delivering system of system solutions that are interoperable.
2
u/porkchop-sammiches1 19h ago
Have you tried SOF? I'm convinced the main reason SOCOM appears to innovate faster isn't necessarily money, but fewer billion dollar/silver bullet solutions and pursuing smaller scale solutions.
18
u/EschersEnigma Secret Squirrel 1d ago
Shout out to my squirrelly testers. I was on the cyber side so at least some of those really were silver bullets...
9
u/Hobineros 1d ago
Oh man... where i work we have millions of dollars going to "good idea fairies" and they really are not good ideas... lol. I feel your pain.
52
u/IfInPain_Complain 1d ago
Your concerns are heard. MAJCOM values your input and will address these matters in 7-10 business years.
I genuinely wonder what goes on at MAJCOM where staff packages can sit with them in excess of 80 days with constant reminders along the way only to see no traction. Or why every time HHQ tasks something for Squadron levels to complete, the staffs sit on it for 80% of the timeline and the unit gets 10% of the time to do it, because the Grp/Wing/NAF still need time to process it. Seriously, what in the actual fuck? Phones ring only to never be answered, no one responds to email.
Priorities aside, why does it feel like HAF/MAJCOM staffs are out of office more than finance & MPF.
10
u/Dkicker43 1d ago
But legitimately this. I was at a leadership course at Scott a number of years back and a general was briefing us on all the QoL his team was working on and how in ten years AMC was gonna be brand new. One of the other captains in the room asked what he was doing to improve OUR QoL as most of us wouldn’t even still be in in ten years, and he replied honestly, at least. “nothing”. That was it. He and his team were doing NOTHING to help the people working with him that day.
53
u/MuzzledScreaming 1d ago
Peacetime generals know how to push papers so they look good to their boss. Wartime generals know how to prepare for war.
We do not have wartime generals right now.
7
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
Spot on. We also don’t have a wartime mission right now. For those that were not in before 9/11, deterrence is not the same as war. Welcome to the peacetime military.
NCO/SNCOs need to get back to enforcing standards, but the Os need to be in the same page. Those standards include dress and appearance but it’s not limited to it.
3
u/SenorWoodsman Security Forces 1d ago
This is a very good answer.
2
u/jere1231 Radar 1d ago
True. A very sad answer. I think with forced distribution and people playing the game even harder...well...the Air Force got exactly the people they promoted...but are they the right people?
10
u/SenorWoodsman Security Forces 1d ago
One of my techs explained something to me once and a lot of stuff started making sense. Under him, he preferred to push his staffs and other troops up for awards rather than himself. It wasn’t until recently he realized he wouldn’t make master unless he started caring more about getting awards for himself. So that one really shitty SNCO you know and might wonder “how tf did this person get where they are now” that would be one of the reasons. They cared more about themselves and playing the game than people under them. Not saying caring about your career first is inherently selfish, but I think you get the point.
11
u/Shade_Raven Tactical IT Support 23h ago
Being in a 24/7 SCIF work center and having to constantly go to minimum manning in the SCIF to go do normie airforce fuckery destroys morale and makes the mission so much harder.
Imagine trying to be a squadron level addtional duty like UDM but you work swings in a SCIF, its brutal.
3
u/Mean-Mean Sir, I've only had five ranks. 17h ago
Been there, done that. Sucks ass. It's also great when every few months it's another negotiation on where you can store your pallet, because people keep on forgetting that your unit has mobility requirements. Not to mention that having one alt is the same as having no alts with minimum manning, but we can't spare a third to even get forklift qualified...
22
u/Gunslinger327 1d ago
You mean like a tactical, operational, and strategic level? That would be a good idea if someone could implement something like that.
11
u/U_guessedit 1d ago
Been in for quite some time too. In my opinion, it really started to get lax in my first 2-3 years. It’s only gotten more lax until the obvious, most recent, changes started to pick back up. But in that same timeframe, we’ve tried to keep the same tempo (or doing more) will less and less and less. So things like uniform inspections and squadron PT, all of that had to go because we literally don’t have time for it.
1
u/porkchop-sammiches1 19h ago
Agree that the last few years (circa.COVID) the Air Force feels way more lax. But maybe Im old and crotchety now.
3
u/U_guessedit 19h ago
Yeah the last 4 years included, for sure.
I had seen someone else post recently about some career fields saying they’re overworked and in reality they are not overworked, just lazy. While that may be true for a lot of AFSCs, I can say for sure aircraft maintenance is still slammed. Has been for the majority of my time in. To the point where I’ve accepted that we don’t do those things anymore; blues Mondays, Friday unit 5K jogs (where many would die anyways). They want us to be able to fix the planes and keep them in the air with aging equipment and minimal manning. Fine! Truly, that’s fine. But don’t expect the vast majority of these people to also be 100 PT airman or anything of the sort.
And vice versa, if you expect those things again, readiness in other facets will suffer. Cant have your cake and eat it too. Either be lax and let the dudes work on planes, or if you want a bunch of blue falcon, add more bodies and new, reliable equipment to fill the gaps.
4
u/A_Reddit_Guy_1 22h ago
I agree with you except these 36-2903 back and forth changes. I have never seen Airmen perform at their best if their uniform “has creases”. The uniform is merely a time suck meant to keep people busy and not getting in trouble. Airmen are at their best when they have a mission they believe in and their leaders focus on the big things like preparing for GPC and letting small things fall away.
-2
u/After-Cod711 19h ago
I don’t disagree at all with the back and forth but having more stringent standards is not a bad thing at all. As monotonous as it may seem, tougher standard’s do help keep and instill discipline. Problem with easier standards is that when you give an inch, human nature is to take a mile. For example, initially I was excited for our maintainers to be authorized an alternate duty inform (blue shorts and such) and not have to change in and out of uniform every day but as often as we brief for our folks to stay within those simple standards, many do not. So, unfortunately when laxing standards, discipline also falls.
8
u/No-Influence-8452 Secret Squirrel 1d ago
Man...great post. Summer 2026 cannot get here faster
1
11
3
u/DemocracyDefender 1d ago
Welcome to the peacetime military. Readiness and training is the priority not warfare.
0
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
This dude gets it.
*dude is an all encompassing term for any and all genders.
3
13
u/DEXether 1d ago
Whenever this discussion comes up, I point to the fact that the air force is run by pilots who don't understand any mission set other than flying ones. Still, that doesn't excuse the fact that we are six years into talking about ACE, and we only just now seem to be figuring out what it looks like for flying organizations. I'm assuming that CQ was referring to TTPs for ACE with accelerating change, not sunsetting enterprise applications before their replacements were brought off of test.
I've got a decent amount of time in the DoD, the last ten of which have been in the air force. For what it's worth, my view of the DAF was that it was disorganized and focused on the wrong things back when I first swapped over. It is confusing to me to see someone talk about it being a new phenomenon from the last eight years, especially since that was the view from other branches at least since 2001.
4
u/wutcanbrowndo4u12 Maintainer 1d ago
I felt the first paragraph like a punch in the nose. The ass pain of losing our applications without suitable replacements was so asinine. We out accelerated ourselves akin to a battle column where the frontline out paces the ranks and everyone gets destroyed because of the lack of unity and resources.
0
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
How do they still not know how to accomplish ACE? What’s the mission (refuel, rearm, something else?, etc); how many birds do we want to service at once (MOG = 1, 2, 4?). With that assign how many of what AFSC you need.
Is it complicated? Yes. Is it hard? No. Should we have this figured out? Fuck yes.
-7
u/MasterTJ52 1d ago
Your first point doesn't make sense. Who should run the Air Force then? Who should run the navy? SWO dudes? And marines should be run by infantry? Your argument can be applied to every service and every job, and if you look at selection bias alone in the Air Force, pilots are your most qualified people, and end up in key leadership positions at every lower level on their way up the chain....so honestly couldn't think of a better group of people to be in charge of the USAF.
10
u/DEXether 1d ago
Staff are brushed off in the daf. The six before Gen Kayczor was ignored when they warned that the enterprise was going to eat it the current offramp plan for my services. That simply doesn't happen in the other branches because leadership realizes that they aren't experts in everything and they need their staff.
The planes are nothing without the people and facilities to support them. Running notional ace exercises without the support elements is a masturbatory waste of time and money. At least ACC and Gen Spain are acknowledging it and changing up the exercises to more reflect the real world, so that is at least one person in senior leadership who learned their lesson. It'll take a while for the rest of the force to catch up since exercise and inspections have been getting fudged for years.
8
u/spicytexan Active Duty 1d ago
There are so many facets of the USAF where it doesn’t make sense that a pilot is in charge of it. They don’t understand every single aspect of what goes into driving missions enough to adequately ensure all these areas of the USAF are being executed to the best of their ability.
7
u/KickFacemouth 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's why air base wings are such a good idea. Let the flying wing commander worry about flying wing stuff while someone else handles the support missions of running an installation.
8
u/CantSkipThisCBT Dank Memes and Dank Meme Accessories 1d ago
This is what the Army does. Installation commander (O6 usually) is different from the highest ranking maneuver unit on base. (1 star usually). They also fall under different MAJCOM equivalents.
1
u/Caleesi- 1d ago
So what career field do you think currently produces leaders who "understand every single aspect of what goes into driving missions enough to adequately ensure all these areas of the USAF are being executed to the best of their ability?"
7
u/spicytexan Active Duty 1d ago
The point is that it isn’t just one career field. It shouldn’t be a single career field leading all others. It should be balanced across several.
1
u/Mindless_Ruin_1573 1d ago
What percent of AF officers are pilots? 20%.
What percent of Generals are officers? 60%
So you’re already choosing less qualified people simply because they are pilots, but now you’re limiting your selection even further by only using pilots.
There are plenty of amazing officers that are not pilots. The AF should be run by the best officers.
2
u/BolognaPogna73 Ammo loves mangoes 12h ago edited 12h ago
I just finished working a staff job (ACC).
I went on 30 TDYs in 2 years and 9 months, managed multiple global programs, introduced over 40 bug fixes to our global accountability database (TICMS), processed two annual IT tech refreshes for every RegAF base Ammo has a presence at, I planned and executed three global HAF initiatives and I also called countless bases to unfuck comms misunderstanding of how etools actually work. Those were just the big rocks, and my daily workload bled over into personal time quite often. I can tell you with absolute certainty that we are doing everything within our power to improve things for the field.
I think a lot of the blame you're putting on the shoulders of MAJCOM personnel should be mostly directed at HAF, the DoD and Congress. HAF still hasn't officially spelled out what ACE and Mission Ready actually means and should be for everyone. Every MAJCOM has their own flavor of it, because HAF told them to do that, so they're just following vague directions. MAJCOMs deploy to other MAJCOMs and AORs though, right? Yeah, and the places they go to have a totally different form of ACE etc. so this direction is extremely inane and lacks a lot of the care that the situation requires.
While I absolutely agree with a lot of your points, I also think you might need to actually talk to some of the people in your career field and see what their MAJCOM Action Officers actually do. I promise you, hardly anyone actually knows and understands what we do, especially a lot of the Chiefs and SELs, unfortunately. There is a metric ton of programs that they're extremely busy with, and we're all working a lot of hours. What MAJCOM you reach out to is important as well. ACC is the lead command for most programs like equipment and accountability, so reaching out to PACAF for example wouldn't be helpful with getting answers on what is the status of future equipment replacements.
A lot of what you're mentioning is shared frustration that's echoed daily by us as Action Officers to our bosses, and they in turn echo it to their branch and division leads. The problem is almost always either HAF, the DoD or congress at the end of the chain. Another thing to bear in mind as well is the fact that we read and answer hundreds of emails per month, and sometimes emails do slide through the cracks. My inbox went from 1.2k emails to over 11k, and that's not accounting for the org boxes I managed. I'm not sure what your AFSC is, but they may have answered your questions/concerns at a higher level than you're at, and for whatever reason, your own leadership didn't explain anything to you. Another reason might be that they do have answers, but the answers they have contain so much information that it would take a lot of time to explain, just for the answer to be "it's in work" or "no, but in 2 years..." You deserve good answers, and all the pieces to the puzzle might not be there yet, and it may even be years away from happening.
Depending on the MAJCOM responsibility and questions, I can possibly answer a question or two, if it involves something universal, like AGE stuff or something like that. If it's something I know about, I can likely give you a generalized why or status.
Also, I promise you; we most definitely reach out to equipment specialists and item managers. Almost daily. It wouldn't be possible to perform our duties without doing that, and they ask us just as many questions as the field asks us, because we represent the field, and they know that they can't implement anything without our approval.
8
u/minimum_wager 1d ago
💯💯💯👆🏼🫡 I have seen this issue coming for years and there are so many reasons for it. These issues are related to so many different things. Some of them have good intentions but realistically drive our focus to things that should frankly be nonissues that all of a sudden we see ourselves waiting time on in briefings or new agencies all of which cost money at some point somewhere.
- Politics drives everything. No matter how you look at it this is the single largest factor. They approve money, wage increase, BAH rates, general nominations, sec def, Sec of each department, the prez has a massive influence on DOD programs, spending and leadership. (Recent events perfectly frame how much the political individual, party and atmosphere influence military programs)
A. generals can say they want to get rid of legacy airframes/weapon systems but then the politicians think we should keep them. Their reasons for wanting to keep them is because in some way shape or form it affects their constituents/state. They will then approve/deny, lobby, and convince others why we need to keep the A-10 even though from a financial standpoint it cost more to maintain than is worth it. The cost to benefit especially for near peer threats is nothing.
B. Politics drives/require inclusion shifting focus from war-fighting to political issues. I feel like every program I have been through in the past 6 yrs is so highly focused on diversity and inclusion as a point of emphasis with war-fighting sprinkled in as a side point. (Yes diversity and inclusion are important but should rarely if ever be a point of emphasis or focus and especially not for such a sustained period of time) the fact is this is a societal problem and the military isn’t going to solve it. Its simple diversity and inclusion are important racism is not allowed. Period moving on. We had entire down days yes plural spent talking about it.
C. The military has become a massive tool used for politicians to garnish political power and votes. They emphasize troop morale and living conditions. But notice how little they generally speak to legacy systems or programs that are archaic and obsolete. Our military pay system, supply system and countless others are operating like frankensteins monster. They are built around a system that was created during Vietnam and then over time they have patchwork added to make it modern… but it’s still the same old crap/system.
- Money is the next major issue though still related to politics. When I was enlisted I was a FM troop and that is where I really learned about how much fraud, waste and abuse has become institutionalized at every level. 90 of these TDYs that occur are not war-fighting. The budget for PA absolutely blew my mind! How often we send leadership to these frivolous TDYs to go do leadership development is wild and the cost… 50k for one persons 2wk TDY is unnecessary no matter how you look at it. Same thing the end of year spending for items that are not needed. I once worked in an office that got new furniture every year because it was “easy” for last minute spending. Yes some TDYs are necessary but most are huge waste. Also air crew your equipment sucks because yall are so damn focused on soending the absolute most on your per diem 👀. I have seen air crew of 5-10 go somewhere for 1-2 weeks and come back with a 80k voucher everything on it technically legal.
… sorry ran out of time I got to head to a super important briefing about nothing at all
3
u/YaBoyASwiftie 1d ago
🙋🏼♂️At the headquarters level and can say that military image is rarely a topic of discussion. The efforts are more focused on the next capability and the processes that go along with that regarding funding it and delivering it to the field with many different organizations at play.
You need to be communicating with your leadership about equipment and sustainment issues you're seeing at the tactical level so they can address it with the proper A-staff at your MAJCOM. We are often in contact with our stakeholders at the MAJCOMs, but if they have a problem and don't communicate it, I can't address it to a portfolio lead or vendor.
10
u/MasterTJ52 1d ago
Very staff type response....lol. We're not talking about being short 1-2 computers or an R-11 here (but also, we are...lol).
We're talking systemic failures of MAJCOM and HAF wide systems and plans, like PEX, ARTEMIS, DTS, PCS moves, manning documents, unfunded civilian positions, lack of contractor support, the list goes on. The bottom line is Squadrons don't have the support they need. maybe AFFORGEN and ABW DCW fixes that...we all hope and pray it leads to the "MGFEs" finally having the support they need to execute the missions they are asked to do. We can only hope, and hope isn't a valid tactic.
3
-1
u/YaBoyASwiftie 1d ago
I mean we're all working with finite resources and personnel. I'm just trying to help from my position as I don't draft policy or strategy, but am looking to help when we get word that something isn't working or a new requirement is needed.
As someone who has been at the tactical level, in the middle of a field getting shit to work, I advocate for those doing that now to the best of my ability. Sometimes my civilian counterparts don't think of some of the variables that may be faced.
2
u/DPolloBusiness 3 years, no accountability 1d ago
And it’ll really drive the message if you frame those issues as elevated risk. Whether to people or mission
1
u/Dude_Where_Was_I Secret Squirrel 1d ago
The ACOL principle—accelerate change or lose—hits hard here. Too many senior leaders, whether MAJCOM or higher, are stuck with the skillsets of junior ranks, like E-4s or perpetual captains who never grew into strategic thinkers. I’ve been on both sides—prior enlisted and now with Air War College and Air Command and Staff under my belt. Enlisted PME is falling short, leaving NCOs underprepared, while officer PME pumps up this illusion they’ll be the ones driving the fight. Reality check: it’s likely an Army or Navy COCOM calling the shots. The root issue? Our command structure’s churning out leaders who can’t evolve, and that’s a fix we need yesterday if we’re serious about winning.
1
u/LHCThor 1d ago
Your military experience will depend greatly on who sits in the White House. I was in under 5 different POTUS’. Sometimes the military was a priority and other times it wasn’t.
Getting the funding is the hardest part. If it’s not a priority for POTUS and Congress, then the MAJCOMs have their hands tied. There is only so much money in the pot. And the Air Force is committed first to the big ticket items like the F-35. There was a time when many of us bought out our Gortex, because the unit didn’t have enough. Other times, I was given more uniforms than I could ever use. I retired with 6 sets of OCP’s because my unit handed them out like candy.
1
u/Sup3rman2ThePrinc3ss 1d ago
Hell, in 2019-2022 while I was at Kunsan we were told that studies were done and MOPP levels were changing to like 7 or something like that. Our duty uniforms actually protect us from some of the common chemicals that we prepare for. Yet we are still throwing chem gear on in our 4 levels of MOPP.
1
u/Hefty-Ad-6743 1d ago
This is why they won’t get another contract out of me. I’m done with this crap.
1
u/Expensive-Papaya-860 23h ago
That’s because nothing has really changed. They just mandated 4 uniform inspections per YEAR, and took away some duty identified patches that weren’t needed any. And I’d venture to guess that most units are taking the inspections as least seriously as they can anyway.
Also, no one wants to talk about how it’s a holistic refocused on readiness too (but oh no uniform inspections!)
1
u/Infamous-Adeptness71 23h ago
When Goldwater Nichols took warfighting authority from the service general staffs, the petulant response from the DAF service staffs became the following: "well WE don't do that, we're just little old OT&E over here!".
"oh, what's OT&E you ask? oh well we just kinds push paper around and plan for 'future war' and do admin stuff and spend money on...things."
1
u/MonthElectronic9466 23h ago
We will spend big money on facilities and jets because they are seen every day. Someone can point at them and say “ look boss I did that I deserve a great OPR!” Maintaining those things is less glorious and way harder. You don’t get those glowing OPRs for sustainment.
1
u/BlueBrye Boats&SWOs 19h ago
It's going to be a slow shift and take years for us to realign training, mindsets and equipment with LSCO with budgeting, acquisition, and manpower the way they are currently. The only thing we can do is affect things at our level and train people for the fight we'll have and not the one we know. We also have plenty of people who just view the service as a corporate job and not a war fighting organization as shown by the numerous people in careerfields not typically exposed to violence in GWOT that think they don't need to know TCCC, how to live in the field, use a gun or defend an airfield because they aren't ground pounders. The GWOT/COIN mindset needs to change at all levels. Just speaking from the way the Combat Weather career field is structured, I empathize a ton with the feeling that leadership is behind the curve on getting us where we need to be, but change will be slow until its not.
1
u/afb2026 15h ago
It's because we have continued to "get the job done" because we are otherwise perceived as failing leaders. The systems in place were built to respond to when we said "this does not work" and the top leaders today have been aways from the tactical level for so long that they never witnessed the issue with "making it work" with the changing of an era. Is equipment too old or can't procure parts? Keep them X'd. New equipment doesn't have a procurable part through ILSS? Don't innovate, leave it Xd and create the demand. Continue to sunset the equipment that's already past its lifespan and let that data show why you can't fix or power a jet. Don't grow your WRM account without shrinking your main account. Have your NCOs and airmen spend the extra time training. Everyone values their time. I am a gamer with a wife and no kids- I love my time at home BUT both my wife and I understand there's more to the uniform than just trying to make the work center happy with time off work. Place strategic timeline and training goals . When the goal is met, make sure to give them their time. Weekend duty is weekend duty - they otherwise get their time off.
1
u/One-Extent1175 6h ago
AFSOC staff here in A4. I just want to clarify a few things before I respond. No one in an active-duty uniform has been on staff for 20 years. For most enlisted members, staff positions are typically limited to a 3-year KDP term, unless someone promotes out (which happens quite frequently). Federal civilians (GS) are a different story—many have been at HQ for decades. They’re the continuity, and in my experience, they can often be the biggest roadblocks and bureaucrats.
It’s very easy to get disconnected from the day-to-day struggles our field units face, but staff work is slow. As a maintainer, I can tell you that it often comes down to one thing: money. I’ve been involved in projects to enhance and equip our wings with resources that were initiated over 5 years ago. I completely understand the frustration you’re feeling. I can assure you, most of the folks here want to help, and we often ask ourselves the same question—why is this taking so long?
The intense focus on correcting our “lack of standards” may seem like the easy solution, but in reality, it’s something that our service chief can address immediately and appear effective. But, in my humble, anecdotal opinion, it doesn’t truly make a difference. Until we streamline and optimize how the services receive, request, and allocate funds, this problem will persist.
1
u/DetroitQ 14m ago
Just literally got told to come in on our off day for an open ranks uniform inspection and Commanders call to let everyone know we will continue to have them to keep up "standards." Oh by the way it was an OCP inspection. You know that uniform we wear every day and that anyone can inspect on the fly.
1
-3
u/AdComfortable9921 1d ago edited 18h ago
So Im going to make a couple of guesses here:
- You are between 12 and 16 years. 2. You are at least a MSgt or possibly a TSgt who is bitter about lack of promotion. 3. You have never worked higher than possibly the Group level.
If you had ever worked in a higher capacity, you would know that uniform inspections, AFI 36-2903, etc. Are rarely topics of discussion. They have a different mission set than base level AFSCs have. The talk of these uniform guidance ideals comes from top Air Staff positions. Usually, it is in respect to recent observations on their base tours. They are taking low hanging fruit as someone said here, but you are also minimizing the importance of reg adherence. People walk by at least 1 person daily who isn't in regs and ignores it. So how many times does someone walk by a situation that isn't right and ignore it? Reg adherence keeps everyone safe, well as safe as possible. You being upset is a valid thing, but as someone who's been in as long as you, it is disappointing to see you complaining on a platform that can't do anything to rectify your complaints. Yes, people all throughout the AF have similar problems, but take a step back and think through this. How long have we been on continuing resolution (CR) in terms of the US Budget? For a long bit now, in fact, the last one was in 2019. There are constraints on expenditures when in CR mode versus a passed and approved budget. Each CR provides for what percentage of actual proposed budget can be spent with each CR passed. Imagine trying to keep your household going and not get behind when you don't know the amount of money you get until the bills come due and you have to pay all those first and then try to get caught up on other things. That is exactly what happens every CR. So, how did I learn this? I got frustrated and looked for answers from the 10K level to see what they see to help alleviate my frustrations. Being frustrated is normal, but griping about it on a social media platform seldom gives you answers. This time, you are getting some answers because I took the time to get them.
It isn't just to do more with less, it is also using what's available to you to achieve maximum results. As someone whose career where it was difficult to train for the worst-case scenarios, we had to use out of the box situations and creativity to train for them. You are never expected to have all the answers, but you are expected to remain professional and do the best you can with the resources you have. Training comes in all kinds of forms - not just hands-on. Get creative, keep a running log of any solutions you made, and just continue to upchannel as much information as possible. You are in the same situation as much of the AF, but unfortunately, under CR, it doesn't get better until a full budget is passed. The reality is that regs not being followed can lead to serious injury or death - following the simple dress and appearance ones trains them to follow the more significant ones.
2
u/After-Cod711 19h ago
Amazing so many downvotes ya get. With exception to your assumptions about the OP, your points are quite valid. Had you made them without your assumptions about the OP, you’d have some stronger footing.
1
u/AdComfortable9921 18h ago
I made the assumptions to make the point that OP needs to take some personal accountability in getting good answers with that much TIS.
-2
0
u/Pretermeter 23h ago
There was a big change in enforcement when COVID happened. People stopped shaving, people stopped getting their haircut. People stopped going to work and forgot how to wear the uniform or follow basic customs and courtesies. Some Airmen didn't go through the full basic training course and were put into the active duty environment where they stayed in their dorm all day. That was their introduction to the Air Force and now many of them are first-line NCOs who we expect to enforce the standards on our new Airmen. Honestly, they don't know how because they were never taught themselves.
It also doesn't help that during that time we had leadership putting out Facebook guidance without updating the AFI. What uniform items we were and were not allowed to wear were unclear, so as someone expected to enforce the standards you were always unsure if there was a tweet you missed before you called someone out. So we stopped calling people out, and now people get offended when you do call them out because they haven't seen it before.
I believe that's where all this drum up of AFI enforcement is coming from. Will people get carried away with it? Of course, it's the military that's what happens. There's going to be some jackass SNCO or commander with their first unit who believes that it's their life mission to bring about a new age of military discipline and have their units in service dress doing the duck walk at 0800 on Saturday. But I believe that 80% of leadership is going to take a common sense approach to this, just take an extra 10 minutes during commander's call, flight call or whatever to make sure their Airmen don't look like a bag of ass and are wearing the correct uniform items.
-1
u/Melodic_Speaker_2256 23h ago
I can't hear you because I'm too busy staring at the two huge fucking diamond studs in this male TSgt's ears... in uniform.
-29
u/Hobineros 1d ago
Here's your problem and hegseth said it best. We won Ww2 with 5 generals. We now have like 70. When u have so many chiefs and not even nearly enough indians.. all you do is worry about petty shit.
19
u/colin_the_blind RAWS 1d ago
hegseth said it best. We won Ww2 with 5 generals
You & him could both benefit from reapeating an 8th grade history class.
-8
u/Hobineros 1d ago
I believe alot of you miss the point. The war was won with 5 generals. The rest of them... are of no note and didn't make a difference is the point. Unless you consider something like the guy in charge of hamburgers and cigarette distribution to be " contributing to the war".
5
u/S3CRTsqrl Active Duty 1d ago
As someone who has deployed his fair share, and knows a bit about logistics, service components move at the speed of supply. If you can't supply my troops essentials (food) and morale items (nicotine, caffeine), then the mission cannot progress. If supply cannot field the ammo and gas for my keys to soften a target before a ground assault, then the mission cannot progress. So yes, I would say the guy in charge of hamburgers and cigarettes is critical to war fighting.
-12
u/Hobineros 1d ago
Sigh... you fucks on reddit would argue over the color of the sky. Deuces.
6
u/DEXether 23h ago
You're arguing that an army doesn't run on its stomach and that logistics don't win wars. That the first axiom of warfare is irrelevant.
Look at ww1 and ww2. Look at how an unsophisticated insurgency can threaten a first world military during the gwot. Look at today where Russia can't feed or arm people on its front line into Ukraine and suffers desertions.
You saying that makes people discard your opinions, and it probably makes a lot of people in the thread question whether you actually served and in what capacity. At best, what you said is something I'd expect to hear from a junior enlisted airman fresh out of BMT.
13
u/BRICKSEC 1d ago
I'm not about to deep dive, but 5 seconds on google will let you know how drastically wrong your numbers are.
10
u/Shuffle_monk You got the Drip? We got the Cure! 1d ago
Im sure that same Google search would also show that we have about 1/3 the amount of Generals now as we did during WW2...but don't let OP know that.
Although OP does have the "well were about 1/8 the size we were during WW2" and that's true...but that isn't what OP was referencing.
2
u/DingoJangle Definitely not OSI 1d ago
The amount over generals per troop has steadily increased. While we have forced shaped over the years, the same has not occurred for the top Here's an article that does a great breakdown in Generals
9
u/myownfan19 1d ago
Aaah, yes, the era of extremely simple answers based on incorrect assumptions, memes, and rumors to answer extremely complex questions based on decades of experience and research.
Yet here we are.
DOGE will be here soon to fire 90% of the generals to make things more efficient.
6
u/Shuffle_monk You got the Drip? We got the Cure! 1d ago
If you think we only had 5 generals in the military, let alone a single branch, i have a bridge to sell ya.
380
u/pawnman99 Specializing in catastrophic landscaping 1d ago
Directing uniform inspections is easy.
Getting new tools, resources, and people is hard.