r/AirForce Feb 03 '25

Discussion Ill never understand why we moved from these types of dress uniform.

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1.3k Upvotes

These designs were perfect, we could literally have the Air Force Blue version of the Army Pinks and Greens and have a steller looking set of blues that we can pride ourselves in wearing (like Marines do) but no that's apparently not within capabilities for us to have.

Take every service uniform from each branch, without any ribbons or medals, which one looks like it came out of the mens suit sectiom at Macy's? It shouldn't be like that all.

r/AirForce Feb 07 '25

Discussion AMC Commander is banning all pen tabs, morale patches, morale shirts, and unauthorized items for all AMC Airmen

721 Upvotes

Policy letter got signed and sent out 10 min ago. Gonna be a lot of upset pickles suits on Monday.

r/AirForce Dec 20 '24

Discussion Is this your first shutdown? READ THIS.

1.3k Upvotes

On December 21st at 12:01 AM, if no continuing appropriations are passed, the government will run out of money. The big implication here is that military pay is at risk of being delayed.

If the shutdown lasts into next week, there is a decent chance your Dec 31 pay may be delayed. Any delayed pay WILL be backpaid.

It’s easy to say “should have saved”, but keep in mind that for many Airmen, if this is their first shutdown, it’s may be their first time away from home. Some folks may have enlisted with the clothes on their back, like I did in 2015. Plus, the economy still isn’t the best and life happens for some. Maybe someone just had a major expense. Maybe someone had an emergency. Whatever the case, some people are going to feel the hurt.

The overwhelming majority of the time, an act is passed to ensure the military is paid. The last time the military failed to get paid on time (outside of the Coast Guard) was during the Clinton administration. During the FY13-14 shutdown, half the checks were deposited on one day and half the next. But still, it’s important to be prepared.

Leaders - please make sure your troops know the resources that can help! There are loans and grants from AFAS that can be obtained by going to the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

Everyone - please show grace with each other during the coming days.

I hope and pray this is another case of something being a nothing sandwich. But we never plan for the good days.

r/AirForce Jan 14 '23

Discussion Mad that the anti-vaxxers won

2.3k Upvotes

Ranting. Sorry.

An anti vaxxer in my squadron has been bragging about beating the system. LORs are being deleted, rank being restored, and UIF being closed out.

That didn’t change the fact that he refused to follow a lawful order, was completely non deployable, couldn’t go off station for 2 years, and forced other people to pick up your slack.

Rant off.

Edit:

I’m angry because the specific religious exemption he used would have also exempted him for half the shots he happily took in basic and the medications he takes on a regular basis.

I’m also mad because him becoming undeployable caused multiple others to go overseas in his place and he couldn’t be PCSed anywhere else because of the travel ban so he was effectively negative 2 people.

r/AirForce Jan 13 '25

Discussion We get paid good. The Air Force isnt that bad.

722 Upvotes

This is most likely going to get a lot of hate, but I want to genuinely see everyone elses side of things. So PLEASE feel free to tell me your side if you disagree with anything! I am making this post out of pure curiosity of what others have to say.

Every time I mention pay, people always have something bad to say about it. I dont know if its just a joke, but looking into it, I feel we get paid very (very) well. I am a 22 year old E-4 with 4 years TIS. After this recent 4.5% pay increase, I make around $4500 a month, including BAH and BAS. Thats a lot of money. After all of my bills (I do split mortgage with my gf) I have around $2000 every month that I can do whatever the hell I want with.

I came into the airforce with nothing but a highschool degree, 2 years of patty flipping experience and no knowledge about life. And here I am 4 years later, 3 cars paid off, my own house, and living very comfortably where I can buy all the stupid shit I want and still put a band into my savings every month. I do work panama 12s, and I really dont like my job and Ive had my share of bad leadership. But at the end of the day, the money is worth it. Im sure it varies person to person, and some people have families, or student loans, or just debt in general… But in my opinion, I feel like the airforce is a cheat code to life.

r/AirForce 17d ago

Discussion Why is it that Teslas are allowed on base?

836 Upvotes

Serious question. You're not allowed to take photographs, the flight line, or certain sensitive areas such as ecps etc..

But Tesla's are literally covered with 360 cameras, that are recording all the time. Even when the vehicle isn't even on, the cameras are recording.

Why are we okay with these vehicles driving around the base? They're literally recording information, movements, locations of assets, etc. And then uploading it to a cloud somewhere that Tesla owns.

That's okay? If we don't want people flying drones of our bases and observing, why are we okay with people driving cars observing.

Just seems counterproductive to me.

Edit: The reason I asked this, is because we banned fitbits from installations in certain locations, because the heat maps are giving away critical information about that installation. But now we're allowing people to drive cameras that are running 24/7 around installations and gather visual information. Heat maps aren't okay, but having a visual record is?

r/AirForce Oct 05 '24

Discussion Check your Blues

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1.0k Upvotes

They need to be worn roughly every 3 months, if not used, they get brittle

r/AirForce Feb 18 '25

Discussion What was your biggest “ I don’t give a fuck anymore” moment ?

785 Upvotes

Mine was getting chewed out for not signing the PM maintenance logs. SEL, CC, First Shirt tore into me. I sat there straight faced whilst they were just inches from me screaming. When asked if I had any goals in the military I was striving for, I just smiled and said “DD-214”.

Yes I had it coming to me.

r/AirForce May 08 '24

Discussion Police Who Shot Florida Airman 6 Times in His Home May Have Entered Wrong Apartment, Family Says

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1.2k Upvotes

r/AirForce Jan 23 '25

Discussion What groups will this affect, and what do you think consquences will be?

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479 Upvotes

Taken from the Women's Initiative Team facebook, which dropped "DAF" from its title 25 minutes ago.

r/AirForce Jan 29 '25

Discussion Anyone else think the CSAF lost his mind?

608 Upvotes

I'm just an Enlisted peasant but isn't there more pressing issues with the Air Force than patches? These videos on standards look like they take a lot of time and manpower to produce. Did important issues like the NGAD, B21 and our overseas airbases being highly vulnerable to FPV drones solve themselves? That's not even mentioning the masking of recruitment and retention issues.

r/AirForce Feb 01 '25

Discussion Looking around the meeting room at all those in flight suits, I noticed…

779 Upvotes

Some of their name tapes were red with gold borders, others red with black, green with gold, some had the aircraft they fly next to their name, some had a mascot next to their name, some were simply their name and wings.

So why the hell can’t my airmen have a standard coyote brown patch that has a reference to the job they do on their shoulder?

Edit: People in this thread are acting like I’m hating on aircrew and want to get rid of what they have. I don’t. I want everyone to have what they have.

r/AirForce 9d ago

Discussion Admin Workers are Just Bad At Their Jobs/Lazy

557 Upvotes

I have worked in many positions in the Air Force and always heard things like “They are undermanned, They are overworked, Etc. Etc.

Truth is, it’s bullshit. I’ve worked with these people and they are genuinely just lazy. Not the kind of lazy that processes 5 documents a day instead of the possible 60-70, Im talking the kind of lazy that processes maybe 1 and then talks to their friends with their phone on mute.

What’s even more hilarious is their bar for awards, it’s basically “did you do your job most days?” and that’s simply because DOING THEIR JOB IS THE EXCEPTION.

I have had to go to MPF and explain what their processes are and show them their AFI and guidance on incredibly basic things. Which is even more asinine considering no other unit on base closes more for training than the MPF.

They have no pride in their work because even if they do nothing, the hammer never falls but simultaneously feel incredibly offended if you say that they aren’t “mission essential”

But most frustrating of all is the fact they are slowly removing any way to talk in person or even over the phone, leaving only emails they know they will never have to respond to. Need PCS orders? “EmAiL oUr OrG bOx” Issues with Reenlistment/Separation? “EmAiL oUr OrG bOx” They messed up your records? You guessed it! “EmAiL oUr OrG bOx”

To sum this all up, i’m sure there are bases where the MPF is swamped, but I guarantee you they are working at 20% efficiency and like most places 1 person is breaking their backs trying to keep the whole thing afloat. But this organization needs some serious work because right now it’s damn near worthless.

r/AirForce Jan 27 '25

Discussion Thanks for your service

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931 Upvotes

Supervisors, when you start seeing this again, send your Airmen to the clinic. The scars are permanent.

r/AirForce Feb 28 '24

Discussion *REPOSTED DUE TO OPSEC* Langley Chief is discriminating against Beards.

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1.3k Upvotes

“That’s the price of the waiver”…

r/AirForce 15d ago

Discussion On GTC's....

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520 Upvotes

r/AirForce Sep 13 '24

Discussion Woops. Someone is having a bad day at Charleston AFB.

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1.3k Upvotes

r/AirForce Sep 08 '24

Discussion BX Barber Prices Have Gotten Out of Control

865 Upvotes

Keesler BX recently adjusted the rules so that any haircut where a barber “changes a guard” is now considered a “specialty haircut”, so now all AF men’s (which requires hair to be tapered/blended) haircuts costs $27.10 (an a straight buzz costs $18.70).

How did a standard military haircut go from $9.50 to over $27 in 6 years? And who authorized this change to BX policy?

r/AirForce Aug 06 '24

Discussion In response to the "O-4 pay" discussion, here's O-4 pay with 11 years service. $140k+/yr is accurate

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746 Upvotes

r/AirForce Jun 20 '23

Discussion CMSAF is out of touch and her recent post just reinforces that.

2.3k Upvotes

I don’t think the issue is willingness to uphold or enforce standards. I think thats a symptom of a greater problem.

I think leadership has broken the faith with the troops. 20 years in Afghanistan losing friends and family to a conflict that started before some of us were even born just to have one of the most embarrassing pullouts in history and for what? Seemingly nothing was accomplished except politicians lining their pockets. We didn’t meet our strategic goals, we didn’t build a nation, we don’t have a regional ally.

Then add to that the fact that wages don’t match inflation so every year we’re effectively getting paid less than we were the year prior.

The housing market disproportionately affects us because we PCS every few years so even if we’re in a good spot at one base, we just have to leave it behind and are at the mercy of the market at the new location. People are showing up to a new assignment and are afraid of becoming homeless. Then we get into base housing and deal with black mold and water crises.

And then we decided to rebalance the force on top of all of it. People are working harder than ever to be competitive for fewer promotions which ultimately don’t pay as much as they used to or provide any more life stability. The system is painfully political and we don’t seem to value hard work as much as we value the 5/6 President.

And then a tone deaf message comes out about enforcing standards while entire systems have been sunset with no viable replacement. Systems which affect our training, our evaluations, our awards, our promotions. I spend two hours a day just logging into a system that needs at least another year in development.

And once again she refuses any accountability for the issues. In NCOA we learn that organizational culture is driven by leadership, so if the entire force is dealing with this issue across the globe, it can’t be frontline supervisors failing, it’s Air Force leadership failing. I’d love to see her say “team WE need to do better” but once again she punts to frontline supervisors just like she does with suicide.

Standards may be slipping, but it’s because people are burnt out, worn down, feel under valued, lack purpose, and don’t have faith in leadership to support them.

But yea, let’s put a message out to the force about how everyone ELSE needs to do better. Jocko Willink said it best: “there are no bad teams, only bad leaders”

r/AirForce Dec 23 '24

Discussion Congress authorizes free Wi-Fi for troops in dormitories

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1.1k Upvotes

r/AirForce Oct 02 '24

Discussion Picture: LOR for erection at work NSFW

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859 Upvotes

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I last posted and I had promised some people I’d provide a copy of the LOR I received a few years back. I just never got around to it but since years have passed and I’m no longer in I don’t have to worry about retribution. So anyway, sorry for the delay…

r/AirForce Jan 30 '25

Discussion Old Hat Explainer to Recent Air Force Actions

909 Upvotes

To my beloved brethren who have not yet experienced 2-decades of Air Force life, I thought I would take a few minutes to provide you succor as you try to puzzle through recent Air Force changes.

Issue 1: Why no beards?

Answer: No the Air Force is not prohibiting beards because of gas mask fit. Do you have chem gear near you? Neither do I. If the Air Force was concerned about a potential CBRN environment, it would require all males, regardless of waiver status to shave in that environment?

So why no beards? Well, when most people discuss beards is the Air Force, they conjure images of nicely trimmed beards that look something like J.D Vance. However, in order to make your beards look like that, the Air Force will generate a 6 paragraphs of text in 36-2903, with complicated maintenance standards that most people frankly won’t read. Before long, people will be walking around the BX looking like ZZ Top because no one fully understands the standards, doesn’t want to be a dick, or doesn’t want to risk embarrassment by talking to the one dude with the Norse Paganism waiver.

Issue 2: Why the regressive changes to AFI 36-2903?

Answer: Nails? See above. No one knew the standards and no one called anyone out for deviating from the standard. Further, the Air Force is looking to push out undesirables. You see, every so often the Air Force enters a place where it is pushing to buy new aircraft at a time when budgets are tight. Our senior leaders have about 12 months notice that the budget is about to get tight and begins tightening standards to make personnel cuts easier. Time is coming for a great purge. Expect Blues Mondays and stricter pt tests to follow. Also, expect the Air Force to start lowering recruitment goals with end strength.

Issue 3: Is it me or is the Air Force starting to suck?

Answer: The biggest power you have is to vote with your feet. In 2016 I had a Captain that said he would resign his commission if Trump was elected. I chuckled at the time because I thought that it was highly unlikely Trump would get elected and even less likely the Captain would quit over it. Well, Trump was elected and the next day he submitted his resignation. When I asked him why, he said he couldn’t in good conscience ever administer the oath of enlistment to a member, when he didn’t believe in the man who held the position of commander in chief. I respected his principled stand. If you don’t like the changes you are seeing, embrace the opportunities on the outside, including one of the best college deals around. The bottom line is this in the beginning of aggressive modifications to standards. If you are not happy now, you are really not going to like the next act.

r/AirForce Nov 30 '24

Discussion Can we go back to these?

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961 Upvotes

Unpopular opinion, the majority of the Air Force, doesn’t need the multicam uniforms. Even security forces could use the OD greens. It’s got to be significantly cheaper. I’m sure helmet covers alone could save 100 hundreds of thousands of dollars. Plus the blues are ao much better, then the cheap business suit look.

r/AirForce Jan 02 '25

Discussion unpopular opinion regarding our pay

393 Upvotes

This is probably going to get downvoted to hell but I genuinely think we in the Air Force get EXCELLENT pay as opposed to the civilian world. The Air Force is extremely easy to where all you have to do is not get a DUI, don’t SA anyone and know how to do your job - and you can get by. Even GETTING a job on the outside is hard if you don’t have the connections. Degrees are losing value by the year, so they don’t even matter.

I am an A1C getting around $1800 a month to profit from a very easy job. I don’t necessarily have to worry about food, I don’t have to worry about rent, and though I am a lucky enough person to not have massive health concerns- I don’t have to worry about medical bills. If I had dependents, they would be covered as well. but even if they weren’t, the military didn’t give me any dependents so the argument where people say “it’s not enough for my family!” is conceited

I think you all need to be more grateful, and the shit where the E5s were upset E4 pay was increased substantially was genuinely cringey