Bad news for AF guys

[Padre]

I heard about the stop loss waivers for those going to Guard/Reserve slots. Are there any Guard/Reserve flying slots open? I've been looking and seems they are all filled up for the time being.

Any reserve units out there hiring?

 

[RueterF16]

Manning Tool

I think you'll know for sure that stop loss is a maning tool when the following happens...
they start granting more waivers on a case by case basis.
This way they don't have to drop stop loss totally, can let some guys go and continue to train. When their numbers come up, they'll eventually let the guard boys and girls go home, and then they won't have such a mass exodus at one time.

I hope it doesn't happen, just one scenario.

Best of luck ..

 

[Spur]

Padre, check out www.baseops.net for guard/reserve jobs. Lots of herk units out there hiring...
As far as the end of stop loss, I think I read that AFPC is planning on ending it in stages, dont ask me how, so as to test the retention numbers before it is fully ended. Proof positive stop loss is a retention tool.
You know it's bad when T-37 part-time reservists are being non-vol'd for 1+ yrs to "fly" Global Hawk.

 

[Visceral]

I love that double-speak that ebbs from the Taj Mahal:

"Some military members have the misperception that Stop-Loss is being used as a manning tool, Middleton said.

“Though it’s easy to make that assumption,” Middleton said, “it is absolutely not true. Manning is certainly one of the factors taken into consideration, but it is looked at in terms of what is needed to meet current mission requirements.”

If manning is taken into consideration for meeting mission requirements(of course it is), then Stop Loss IS a tool. This is all preaching to the choir I know. I wish they would call a few guys from the squadrons up to Capital Hill to speak about some of these issues. I doubt any 11s or 12s will be on the list this year with the talk about the Guard and Reserves staying activated. This is going to get ugly.

 

[ETXflyer]

Check this out

I posted this on another thread, but thought some of y'all might get a kick out of seeing exactly what the AFSC's were that they realeased. Here are just a few, but most of them are med AFSCs.

These are just the officers:
42F-podiatrist
42T-occupational therapist
47P-prosthodontist (i don't even know what this is)
45N-otorhinolaryngobgist (or this)
45G-gynecologist
44P-psychologist
35P-public affairs
42S-clinical social worker
61S-Scientist
47G-Dentist
44J-Clinical Geneticist
45U-Urologist
51J-Judge Advocate

And the list continues, but it's more of the same. Now I understand why they made us wait an extra 10 days for the message. There must've been a lot of deliberation about letting all the gynecologists and clinical geneticists out!

ETX

 

[ivauir]

NO WAY!!

They let the otorhinolaryngobgists out!!!! How can that be!! They are totally HDLD!!! How can we fight evil doers without an otorhinolaryngobgist? What if I get a soar throat? Just the other day as I was skimming the earth at mach snot looking for OBL and I thought to my self: "self, does your nose itch?" And then I thought: "how am I going mach snot in a C130? This must be a dream" And then I thought "What was that? I think I hear ringing. This must be a dream because I don't fly C130s. Gee, is there an otorhinolaryngobgist on the plane?"

Truly, if they are letting the ENTs (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctors out, AFPC has finally fixed retention. Finally, proof that stop loss MUST not be a retention tool.

To all of those affected (especially the would be retirees) thank you for your continued service. Kill the bad guys, win the war, and make the world stop being so D*&m crazy.

 

[backflip]

Wouldn't it be easier for AFPC to only post the AFSCs that were stop lossed? That way they would only have to list a half dozen or so.

 

[airgator]

Forgive the ignorance

This may seem like a stupid question but is the general concensus that I will have an exceptionally difficult time trying to obtain a slot with the ANG in the next couple of years with no mil background whatsoever?

 

[CCDiscoB]

Airgator,

Not so. The slots those guys are talking about are for experienced pilots. Every unit still needs Lieutenants to keep the rank structure in place, and to fly in the right seat / on the wing. A unit would be hurting with 30 Lt Col hanging around bossing each other around.

Side Note,

I can't believe what I read, T-37 reservists being sent to drones. That's bad.

For those hoping for a Guard unit to rescue you, don't expect them to hire you and let you go off to training. Many units are insisting their new pilots work full time for 3 years before you become a part-timer.

Look on the bright side, those on the promotion list will get to pin on Major incur a commitment, and get sent to a garden spot. It falls into the AF's master plan!

 

[NEO]

The rumor on the street is that AMC had a little talk with AETC about letting guys go on a waiver. Apparently after the talk, all waivers from our base have been rejected. Anyone else hear that rumor. If so, it looks like for the time being we will just have to wait until we win the war on terrorism, erradicate Al Queda (SP), crush the Evil Axis and establish a secure homeland. By my calculations that should only take 100 years.

 

[BeerNear]

Ya'll,

Talked to a bud at ACC. If anybody in ACC knows anything about stop loss, it's him. No s@#t, he said this thing is expected by the commanders to be going on for at least two more years from now. This is not a joke. Meanwhile, I am trying to make myself invisible to AFPC for a new assignment. I wonder if they would PCS me even if I 7-day opted? That would be a sign of things to come.

To quote from the movie M*A*S*H

About Hawkeye

Hotlips: "I wonder how a degenerative person like that could reach a high level of responsibility in the Army Medical Corps?"

Father Mulcahey: "He was drafted."

OUT BN

 

[#1 Windmilling]

Hey Fellas,
This is what I was saying earlier about the rule of the stop loss. Someone wrote that the AF won't release folks until the Guard/Reserve units have been deactivated. I don't know if it is true, however I am almost certain that my unit will be activated through at least October of 2003. Also, our source at TACC said that it won't take much to go beyond the two year point. Certainly, one would think that world events will dictate what happens, but who knows with the bozos at AFPC. Again, we will have to hang in there and continue the good fight. Good Luck to all,

#1 W


p.s. Mickelson for the Masters title this year, you heard it hear first

 

[Rickinphx]

OPIE01

Interesting background.... ever do a tour at Fort Ord? Just wondering if I know ya

Cheers

 

[ivauir]

Getting the waiver not all that great...

Don't sweat not getting the waiver - if you did you would still be on active duty anyway.

See Welcome to the reserves!

I think we are all in this for quite some time.

 

[xhercdriver]

I've always said the service needs to be very careful about playing the stop-loss card, i.e. they need to be very sure that they actually "need" stop-loss to continue combat ops, not just to hide the glaring holes in their personnel policies.

A couple of big questions come to mind: 1) Would the "war on terrorism" be possible while allowing a more or less "normal" flow of attrition out of the service and newguy training into it, perhaps targeting only highly "critical" specialties for stop-loss, and 2) Could the government/military present a convincing case for the "constitutionality" of stop-loss, if some of the affected groups ever managed to band together and present some sort of "class action suit?"

After all, there is no draft. One can make a case that you cannot be "forced to fight" simply because you happen to be in the service when hostilities begin, while others sit comfortably back at home out of harm's way. There is an assumption, in the "all volunteer force," that you are volunteering for combat duty as well, but there is also the assumption that you can, at some point, decide that you're NOT a volunteer any more, right?

Also, last time I checked, flying was a "voluntary" specialty. All you have to do to be removed from flying status is to request it. Certainly don't want folks flying multi-gazillion-dollar planes who don't really want to do it, right? So, how "critical" is your specialty to the Air Force if you decide you've "lost the edge" and toss those wings on the table? How does the Air Force justify keeping an EX-pilot on stop-loss, when they are letting the medical specialists (who are also pretty critically undermanned across the board) leave?

Now, probably, it would never come to this kind of "labor/legal action" scenario, since military pilots are generally patriotic enough and concerned enough about how they are "viewed" that they'll probably just salute smartly and fly on, rather than risk undertaking some sort of "distasteful" court battle that might make them "look bad" even if they won (which I suspect they would, "freedom" being what it is).

But if I was the Air Force, I'd be very careful about how I used a "manning tool" that is only marginally constitutional at best, difficult to defend in the face of the almost total lack of the use of other tools such as selective service and formal declarations of war. Just how do you tell an American citizen that he must remain in what amounts to "conscripted service" beyond his agreed-upon commitment, when you allow his fellow servicemen to leave? Might take a few years to get there, but I'll bet the Supreme Court would have a field day with it

Wiser to save such a tool for a "real" war, instead of using it every time you get caught with your pants down for not having a clue how to manage the rated force.