You youngsters are pissed that the old farts are "taking" these spots from active duty pilots? Take a deep drink and think. Those spots are given to contracters by the active duty. Seems in the deep, dark crevices of the AF leadership/budget office/civilian leadership someone determined that it's cheaper to contract that job out. In the big scheme of things, that measly, pissant job is too far below the active duty to be deemed worthy of the young CSAF-to-be pilot that you're supposed to be. Thus, it's farmed out to some old fart who may or may not know how to fly a simple line, follow a nav-directed heading, etc. Instead of being pissed...just be satisfied that your bosses and their support groups consider you too good for the job.
The money spent to allow an active duty warrior to have a good deal is not in the budget. But, if you look at a different pot of money (how many times have you heard that term?), there is money to contract a trivial position that maintains itself through folks that actually have "the big picture", have "cleared from the trivia merchants", and have navigated the crap to be available for that pissant position. In the not-to-far future, you will fiind yourself looking for the exact same sweet deal...
Good luck out there...
