So, before I get to the explanation of the title of this post, an update on THE important facet of my life lately.
Mrs J is doing pretty well. (Bottom Line Up Front first rule in effective writing). Her last infusion, the icky/sticky portion of Chemo, is this Friday. Then the usual 21 day follow up cycle of daily pills. Once that is over, she'll start a 5 days per week for 5 weeks of Radiation treatments. She'll follow that up with surgery to remove the dead little bastiges (I hope and pray they're dead because the only good bastige is a dead one).
She's been handling this pretty well both mentally and physically. Me? As the Brit's might say I'm "keepin a stiff upper lip"...somewhat.
We'll see what's what sometime in April. Anyhoo, on with the show!
So...There I was...* kinda bored, so found myself mindlessly searching through the Tube of You ( that's sounds borderline disgusting, so...) youtube and came across this video. One of the hosts on the video, C.W. Lemoine's name rang a bell for me. (I figured out later at that link that I had read a few of his books. Pretty good AF and USN fighter pilot stories. He'd been both.)
In any case, the title of the video caught my attention. It described a program to reduce the current and very large USAF Pilot Shortage by returning retired pilots to Active Duty. One of my first thoughts therefore was, "I wonder if I..."
So I watched it.
Then I got to this Slide.
That started the YGBSM thought pathway. It received another jolt when the panel also discussed that all Retired Pay to include VA Pay would be discontinued.
Oh...And...There would be absolutely No flying.
That thought changed to "YGBFKM"!
(As that's a new Acronym, I will spell it out... You Gotta be F'in Kidding Me! I know Beans, it's not completely spelled out. It's still a family friendly blog doncha know.)
There's some additional talking points that blindingly point out the utter stupidity of the program and while I'm sure they're planning on the "Best and Brightest" to volunteer, I'm almost positive they're going to get the bottom of the barrel folks that were likely thrown out for cause.
Just the type we need more of in the Air Force. Thought you might find that idea kinda interesting in a deeply depressing, yet very illustrative, view of the state of things today kinda' way.
So.... If something sounds too good to be true, It is.
To end on a gentler/kinder/happier note.
 |
| Moon rise from our front door Saturday Evening with a Jet on takeoff from the County Airport. |
Oh! And winter seems to be waning.
The Mesquite trees are budding, spring is rapidly arriving. Unless you live up North!
Peace out y'all!
* Standard juvat start but it's been awhile, It's also the beginning of a "War Story" where the truth contained therein may or may not be entirely truthful.
I'm thinking they want older, wiser pilots to help young drone operators to understand regardless of their video game experiences, physics always wins, and excessive g-forces will tear the wings off of an aircraft.
ReplyDeleteJess,
DeleteCould be, although the panel was talking about using them in staff positions as advisors primarily rather than as pilots even as drone pilots. I could be mistaken and IMHO being even a drone pilot or "Co-Drone Pilot" would be better than a Staff Wienie at Ft Fumble on the Potomac. BTDT, hated every minute I was inside the building and quite a few job related ones outside it.
juvat
I had to run Brenda in to the Urgent Care, tonight. She was in the barn, helping an elderly horse that got heerself caught between a feed bin and the barn wall. The horse, when free, lost her balance, and fell over, on top of Brenda. She might have a cracked ankle.
ReplyDeleteStB, Sorry to hear that and hope she's doing all right. A cracked ankle would be bad, but could have been much worse. Prayers for a speedy, but complete recovery headed your way.
Deletejuvat
Sprained ankle but a broken rib.
DeleteOh man, Sorry to hear that. Hope she gets better fast.
Deletejuvat
Brenda is a toughie, she will be back on line quickly!
DeleteStB, Good to hear, but, a few prayers won't hurt.
Deletejuvat
"This is voluntary. But if you don't volunteer, you lose all your benefits. Oh, and none of this will countas time served."
ReplyDeleteYeah....voluntary....
Anon,
DeleteI may be misunderstanding your second sentence. But, as I understand the program, if you DO volunteer you lose all your retired Pay benefits. But, you're right, when your "4 year tour" is over, you go back to the retired pay rate you were getting when you volunteered.
juvat
That was me, Juvat. Don't know why my name didn't post. Getting used to the new phone.
DeleteThe way I interpreted that screenshot, granted, I was reading it without my glasses and before coffee, was that if you are offered this Wonderful Opportunity!©® and decline to participate your benefits go away.
Joe,
DeleteNo worries. Without glasses and before coffee? That's just asking for a disaster. I don't do anything in that period (except make the coffee)
juvat
Major suckage on that fine print juvat and I agree with you on what types will be attracted to it. Good to see the chemo ending and another medical treatment about to put the gloves on for battle. Weather guessers predicting 64 above today while Wednesday's high is to be 23 above.
ReplyDeleteNylon, it IS always the fine print with the Gummint, isn't it?
DeleteRe: Chemo, She hung in there like a trooper. I'm very impressed and proud of her.
The weather guessers are predicting a high of 89 tomorrow and mid 30's the day after. As I said, "Don't like the weather in Texas? Wait 5 minutes, it'll change."
juvat
Good news on Mrs. J, prayers are continuing.
ReplyDeleteAs to going back in under this program, even if I was age-eligible I would not do it. Dump everything and go back in to free up some young'un to go guard Syria or Iraq? Fat bloody chance.
Sarge,
DeleteThanks, much appreciated.
Yeah, if the AF was the same AF when you and I were in it, (and I wasn't nearly 70), I might go back.
It isn't, and this program and its raison d'etre wasn't the screwed up decisions the brass have been making for quite a while which has brought around this problem means NFW would I sign up now
juvat
I hope that is the last dose of "The Red Devil" that Mrs. J will ever have to endure! Now, on to spoiling her!
ReplyDeleteirontomflint- (where I am located, all of the cancer centers refer to the serious, "heavy hitter" injection of chemo, as "The Red Devil")
Anon,
DeleteI haven't heard it called that by the Staff, and in Mrs J's case it's a clear liquid, but it does knock her on her butt for a day or two afterwards. On the up side, I'm getting much better at the Household required cleaning chores, so I've got that going for me. ;-)
juvat
A couple of weeks back I saw a small sign for AF recruiting on the bike bath, it was gone the next time I went by ... I figured a recruiter was really trying...
ReplyDeleteBringing retired people back for the paperwork jobs, I guess things are tough!
Rob,
DeleteYeah, I would think that meeting a recruiting goal might be a bit tough nowadays, for all four (five?) services.
juvat
I read a thing that talked about the USCG cutting back stations/patrols because they didn't have the needed manpower.
DeleteLooks like the changes being forced on our society are not for the good...
Given the close relationship that our Government Leaders seem to have with the leader's of Nations we have had little relationships with, the word collusion comes to mind.
DeleteNope, not for the good.
juvat
There are days I miss being active duty -- not many -- but my reaction to this is "bad AI generated joke."
ReplyDeleteHealing prayers up, for the major and minor woes of being alive.
Htom,
DeleteIf it does turn out to be a "bad AI generated joke", I will humbly apologize. However, this one appears to be plausible, most of the AI jokes I've heard about are so unrealistic they take about a second to determine falsehood.
Thanks, Prayers are much appreciated. We're getting there.
Not an AI generated thing, this is for real.
DeleteSarge,
DeleteYeah, disgusting ain't it. But, unfortunately, not surprising.
juvat
That is great news about Mrs. J, Juvat. Continual prayers up.
ReplyDeleteAny update on Little J's next post of duty?
This discussion puts me in mind of a different discussion I was in a couple of weeks ago about a similar subject - in this case, how to get retired folks with critical knowledge back into things like the trades or the labor force in general. The general gist of the responses were 1) "I have far more to do when I retired than when I actually 'worked'"; and 2) Currently tax laws and even work practices make it not worth people's time to come back. This program seems to offer very little to the returnees other than a way to stay busy.
This is a very interesting note of where we are a nation-state.
THBB,
DeleteIt's looking good for England. Still working on Miss B's medical clearance. That will be the biggest hoop to jump through. Interestingly, MBD and The Rev are looking at a Doctorate program for him at Oxford or Cambridge. That might make a trip to Jolly Old...a requirement for Mrs J and I.
Agreed on your points of Elders returning to work, especially #2. In our case, I think it would be the change in income would be negative.
Re: the last. Agreed. Thanks Joe!
juvat
Oh, that sounds splendid Juvat!
DeleteDoctoral program at Oxford or Cambridge = Rev 2.0!
I should say that my high school (and still ) best friend is doing a Doctorate at the University of Birmingham in the UK (remotely for the most part) and is really enjoying it.
DeleteTHBB,
DeleteHe's pretty much in the getting things set up. Trying to get an article published. Boning up on the subject matter. That kind of stuff.
While we'll miss being able to see them as frequently as we do now, the advantages seriously outweigh the disadvantages (e.g. my Grandson coming home with a British accent). So, we wish them well.
juvat
THBB,
DeleteReferencing my response above. Has your friend picked up a British accent?
Asking for a friend. :-)
juvat
The comment about "Trying to get an article published" caught my eye as my daughter actually proofs and corrects grammar and such. She's employed and also has a state ward living with her. So, I'm not sure she even does this any longer. I know she was using it as a source of income for when she went for her master's later in life.
DeleteThanks Anon. Glad things are working out for her.
Deletejuvat
Loss of retirement pay and VA, and no flying? Definitely "FKM." Why not just hire contractors and let them do the staff work? Seems like that's all they're needed for. Not much of a plan IYAM, but WDIK?
ReplyDeleteHappy to spell those out if needed, but I was just capturing the theme of the post!
Tuna
DeleteI got them all. Thanks,
As to contractors, if they don't like it they can just walk away. I'm betting that's not a possibility (or a very difficult one to pull off) for any takers on this program. Just a gut feeling.
juvat
You have to pay contractors more and have to follow actual labor laws and such. Or you have to toss a bunch of barely passable people through security and background checks and these are people who are contractors to labor groups for a reason...
DeleteRetirees already know the culture and have, for the most part, not screwed up their security clearances and such. Plus they know how to dress.
But take all the fun perks away? Screw that sideways with a gas-powered blender. Especially the way the services cut so many people out because of 'no promotion so go' and 'no clot-shot so go' and 'follow illegal or fishy orders or go.'
Good point. They sure aren't sweetening the deal though, which I would think would be key to making it worth their while.
DeleteBeans, yeah, that's probably the reason(s). So, they're too darn cheap to pay what a person is worth, but they want people to sign up. Sounds kind of screwed up to me. I foresee this ending badly.
Deletejuvat
Tuna, Agreed. Hadn't read your response when I responded to Beans. Sorry.
Deletejuvat
If they said "Keep your retirement and we'll just pay on top of it" or "Yeah, we'll pay normally and we'll suspend your retirement payments but we'll add to the time of your service the time you serve" or a combo of both, well, proper compensation would bring in enough. Especially if they suspend some of the physical requirements.
DeleteBeans, yep those were my "not interested" categories!
DeleteAF retiree courtship is doomed to failure, for the same reasons they have to resort to trying it. And, those problems are not unique to USAF.
ReplyDeleteMrs J is doing great, as is her caregiver. Hang in there, you are getting closer to a victory lap!
JB
JB,
DeleteAgreed and there are several ways it can go way wrong.
Thanks.
juvat
Watching the posted youtube thingee almost made me cry. Sarge doesn't allow me to express my true feelings. Even to put something out like that as an official request/offer from our government only affirms that all of our high-level folks are as stupid, despicable and culpable as those who voted for them during that last several election cycles.
ReplyDeleteI saw a lot of this beginning to happen in the sixties with MacNamara and others. There were a few O-6's with a decent understanding of espirit d'corps (spelling?), but too many of them were looking for that next promotion in our "war environment". We couldn't "pink slip" an O-5 or above. We lost one, that I know of, on the first mission. I didn't feel much for him, but I was extremely pissed for the GIB.
Sorry Juvat and Sarge, I got carried away.
LtFuzz,
DeleteFortunately, when I came on Active Duty essentially during the Reagan years a lot of that stuff got taken care of. There were still a few (maybe quite a few) shoeclerks flying fighters, but there were quite a few Fighter Pilots in positions of authority. (I know you understand the difference in the titles.) I was very thankful to have run into them. Which makes me sick to see we're headed down the wrong path. But I suppose the difference between Reagan and Joe is, well, night and day isn't a big enough difference. We need another Reagan and soon.
IMHO.
juvat
Glad to hear Mrs. J is doing well as can be. Expect the 5th day of the week to be serious suckage with the radiation. She'll need those two days off. Might consider a home ministry visit on Sunday in lieu of church, as the radiation may/will destroy her immunity to even little bugs.
ReplyDeleteAs to the MF,YGTBFKM,YBs wanting to haul in retirees to do paperwork, yeah, maybe under a previous administration. Not under the current anti-American/anti-Constitution one. Though they might get some if they'd string up Milly and the SecDef from the front of the Pentagon, along with all those weirdos who put their major kinks on facebook and other social media sites, and the officers who didn't immediately start court martial proceedings against said weirdos, and the officers and enlisted who actively support.... well, yeah....
Beans,
DeleteThanks for the heads up on the second phase. Church has been pretty much the only place other than Dr's offices that she's been to since this began. We'll bring that up with the Radiology DR and see what he says.
As to the other, yeah, there's a lot of rotten in the military these days. More's the pity, but why should the military be any different than the rest of the Federal Gummint?
juvat
You know- if they really wanted to hire pilots treat each as separate case as I'm sure all fitness reports are still available and it should be "Great to have you back" or "Sorry, we can't utilize you" and no freaking conditions on pay, rank, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
DeleteYeah, agreed. Pretty sure I wouldn't go back with this bunch of yahoos in charge, but given a bit of actual leadership I might have done it (if I'd flown a jet less than 35 years ago).
juvat
Sorry, Juvat, my friend, Miss Jeanie and I do pray for Mrs. J. Now that Miss. Jeanie is four years into her clear of stuff time we look back on some of it with relief and we try to see the humor in some of it. We laugh, especially at the hair growing back. It came back in black, a color she never had, and curly. She wished it would have stayed that way. It didn’t. But she has beautiful hair now. No worries!
ReplyDeleteD4,
DeleteThank you for sharing that good news. I'm glad Miss Jeanie is doing well. Mrs J hasn't lost much hair, some but not a lot, but it ain't over til it's over. Very helpful to have examples that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train.
Thanks
juvat
I wonder why I’m sometimes “fuzz” and sometimes “D4”?
DeleteD4/Fuzz
DeleteAre you using different devices to comment on any given comment? An IPad when you're in the kitchen having coffee and a PC during the day for example. That could cause the effect.
juvat
Continuing to keep Mrs J in prayer...sounds like she is doing awesome!!
ReplyDeleteRe the AF trying to lure back folks they kicked out not so long ago -- Well, duh!!!! And further "seriously?!?!" if ya think anyone will come after giving up current pay/bennies??? What are those folks in DC smoking???
I mean, ok, if ya go back, then I would think you would get paid while in, so I can see having the pension suspended while in, but I would think that the extra time would provide a bit of a bump in pay and in the pension when resumed....and I suppose if you are active, then you can use the base MDs just like ya did before you retired --except isn't that "the VA??"....what do I know about the .mil...
However, speaking as a civilian in a profession which is extremely short-handed, and having been subjected to all sorts of "recruiting" efforts....gotta say there is a general shortage of bodies for ANY profession/job slot these days -- McDonald's workers, cops, nurses, doctors, servers at the local restaurants, firefighters, and on and on, so not surprised the .mil is having a hard time finding folks that fit their standards. Probably cause the general age of the population is getting older...the Baby Boomers have been the largest bulge in the population wave right along. But in order to get the bodies into the seats, every other company is finding they have to sweeten the deal. I'm sure the AF will discover that on their own. Maybe...guess we shall see...
My advice is to file away under the "gee, that's interesting, but, no thanks! not interested" column of things to do...
Suz
Suz,
DeleteYeah, I get that. Except the private sector appears to understand the employment market and is adding incentives to attract people. There, as you said, aren't many incentives in the USAF offerings.
I suspect that your advice is going to be taken by an awful lot of folks and USAF will still be in deep trouble.
juvat
I'll just throw this out there. Is this the carrot or the stick plan? Inactive reserves. I retired 30 years ago, so I don't know how it works now. Volunteer or be voluntold.
ReplyDeleteTomoldguy
Tom,
DeleteI suspect it's a carrot approach for right now. Unfortunately (IMHO) the carrot isn't very tasty so isn't attracting many takers. Whether they'll start some more coercive policy in the future? No idea, but a certain Beatle's song might start being played if they do.
juvat
Re: songs for flawed recruiting campaigns- Johnny Paycheck had one.... Something about "Take this job...."
DeleteJB
JB,
DeleteYep that would be a pretty well on target reply
juvat
Yep, seen a 'few' comments about that recruiting pitch from some of the retired USAF pilots at Shepard... NOT complimentary!!!!
ReplyDeleteOld NFO,
DeleteYep, even if I were in the age range, that would have turned me off!
juvat