Holy Crap I Still Have A Reader...
Yeah, read the title folks...somebody still reads this thing (and even commented)!
In any case, the commenter (my buddy Chris), makes some good comments about my deployment posting. He makes some good points that come directly from his perspective as someone with, one, a wife and family, and, two, actually doing some work in the AOR. I encourage anyone else to read the comment...
First - I don't have a wife, kids, or very much in the way of an immediate family so it should be noted that for most people left at home any "tiers" of deployments don't matter very much - that special someone is still away from home and that's a big deal.
Second - Chris suggests a way of organizing high ops tempo career fields that would protect those home base missions and organizations that have been hit pretty hard from the constant deployments. It would come in the from of a "deployment wing" which would pretty much be deploying to bases in the states that provide support to the AOR. You would also deploy to these assignments expecting a high deployment tempo. A couple of points I would add to these positives is that we're already somewhat postured to support this type of assignment - bases like Shaw AFB (9th AF), Beale AFB (Global Hawk/U-2 support), and Holloman AFB/Creech AFB (drones) would be ideal locations for deployment wings. Actually, The Guam is kind of like this - a bare wing organization with squadrons that deploy into the base. Second, I think you would be able to better organize the requirements needed in the AOR and the people to fill those requirements. Instead of the E-6 ELINTer Chris listed in his example you might be able to properly organize some folks within these wings to deploy into those DOMEX jobs. Also (Chris hits on this too), instead of having people go from deployment to deployment one would be rolling the deployments into the assignment process. People that really wanted to get into the AOR would be able to put their preferences into their Airman Development Plan.
But let's not miss the most important point - I have at least one reader!
Until next time...
AirForceKush...aka...The Arctic Fox
In any case, the commenter (my buddy Chris), makes some good comments about my deployment posting. He makes some good points that come directly from his perspective as someone with, one, a wife and family, and, two, actually doing some work in the AOR. I encourage anyone else to read the comment...
First - I don't have a wife, kids, or very much in the way of an immediate family so it should be noted that for most people left at home any "tiers" of deployments don't matter very much - that special someone is still away from home and that's a big deal.
Second - Chris suggests a way of organizing high ops tempo career fields that would protect those home base missions and organizations that have been hit pretty hard from the constant deployments. It would come in the from of a "deployment wing" which would pretty much be deploying to bases in the states that provide support to the AOR. You would also deploy to these assignments expecting a high deployment tempo. A couple of points I would add to these positives is that we're already somewhat postured to support this type of assignment - bases like Shaw AFB (9th AF), Beale AFB (Global Hawk/U-2 support), and Holloman AFB/Creech AFB (drones) would be ideal locations for deployment wings. Actually, The Guam is kind of like this - a bare wing organization with squadrons that deploy into the base. Second, I think you would be able to better organize the requirements needed in the AOR and the people to fill those requirements. Instead of the E-6 ELINTer Chris listed in his example you might be able to properly organize some folks within these wings to deploy into those DOMEX jobs. Also (Chris hits on this too), instead of having people go from deployment to deployment one would be rolling the deployments into the assignment process. People that really wanted to get into the AOR would be able to put their preferences into their Airman Development Plan.
But let's not miss the most important point - I have at least one reader!
Until next time...
AirForceKush...aka...The Arctic Fox
Haha, there's some spare time over here too. Surfing the 'net is my guilty pleasure when I'm dodging on my homework.
The other big advantage is that leadership might actually care. Just a few examples from my current experiences:
- My unit initially refused to issue me a holster, even though it is on the list of mandatory stuff. I was told by an E-9 that I could just put my M9 in my pocket. Wrong answer.
- I was issued an old M16A2 with iron sights pieced together from different uppers/lowers (possibly from Vietnam). It doesn't hold a zero well. Now, the M16 has some advantages (ok, one advantage -- more energy/range) but I would prefer an M4 for getting in and out of vehicles, firing from an SUV window gangbanger style, and general handiness. The only people running around out here with old M16A2s are Air Force dudes and dudettes. Everyone else has M4s with red dot scopes or new M16A4s (USMC mostly). I was told that I could not get an M4 because they were all needed for the exercise (ORE). Apparently Exercise > Real World. Which is true, as if the ORE had gone badly, the wing/CC would be fired, but if my deployment is shitty or unsafe, there's no impact to anyone but me.
- Getting my first travel voucher filed required O-5 intervention, took over half a dozen requests, and took over a month. My GTC actually was suspended for nonpayment. My second accrual voucher is now on request #5/day #29. Finance doesn't care.
- D.W. reports that the sq spouse's organization/CC are not even aware of deployment rates. "People are deployed? Other than to Guam?" Wow. That's really, really demoralizing for a spouse to have to deal with, and it doesn't create that "let's pull together and get through this and help each other out" team mentality.
- There is no support for families of deployed personnel. I'm glad we don't have kids to jack up the stress, and I'm glad that D.W. has her shit together. When an Army unit deploys, or when Navy guys deploy, there's a unit ombudsman and an LNO/NCO that takes care of the home front issues and communicates what the unit is doing and why its important. The AF doesn't care.
- My ADCON in theater is non-existent. I'll send you an interesting anecdote on that experience via email or something.
- My NCO could not get fire retardant uniforms. His home station refused to send them, the AF ADCON wouldn't sent them, our DIA TACON doesn't have them, and the local Army unit didn't have his size. Having one wing that owns the process would make that better. Because burning to death is bad (TM).
I think for all these valid but queepy S1/S4 type issues and home front issues, the Wing of Suck (oh wait, JET Wing) would be a good remedy. The lesson I have learned from this deployment that nobody cares about you except for you, unless they are made to care. Having a JET Wing would force people to care, because if the supply folks or finance shop want to shaft deployers, then they will feel the pain on their evals (or when they get fired). Put an O-6 in charge and tell him that his #1 task is to efficiently, safely, and properly deploy bodies at high ops tempo.
Now, I think this will never happen, because by standing up a JET Wing you are basically acknowledging that USAF ILO taskings are a permanent way of doing business rather than a temporary gap filler. And then the next step is for the Army to just suggest that maybe the wing should be subordinate to it, since its just supporting Army/"Joint" taskings anyways. Sort of an Army Air Force. Oh, wait...
Also, it might be a career killer for some folks -- it'd probably be the Career Kiss of Death for some pilot to command a Wing whose only job is to be a Body Farm for individual augmentees. However, it could be a really good opportunity for intel, SF, CE, and EOD guys to command at the wing level.
Cheers,
Chris
Just to clarify --
By "JET Wing," I mean a wing whose #1 mission is to deploy bodies to the AOR for individual augmentee or small unit non traditional taskings. Clearly there are enough taskings out there to absorb a wing's worth of bodies. This wing probably operates no aircraft, unless there's a platform that's commonly deployed on "augmentee" taskings in less than squadron or flight sized elements (maybe some C-130s?).
Your homestation job in the JET wing would be reachback support for the wing. So, if my office is:
1st JET WING --> OPS GROUP --> INTEL SQ --> DIA FLIGHT
Then I deploy to DOCEX and other DIA JET taskings. When I'm homestation, I'm in comms with the AOR (preferably over the REL ISAF/MISSION SECRET, but plain old SIPRnet will do) and provide reachback to them. I know the guy that's downrange because he's from the same base and his house is down the street from mine, so when he asks me for support in the VTC I actually care and I know what he needs because I just got back from the same deployment myself.
There might be an Army Embedded Training Team Intel Support flight, in which case you go deploy with ETTs and do reachback for them.
Of course, nothing saying you can't switch between shops at home station, just like we do now, especially on the O-side.
This would also consolidate all of the S1/S4/S3 (training) functions for these JET taskings at one base, and they'd get really good at mobbing and demobbing people, rather than the stressful "do it yourself" three ring circus we have now.
Chris,
Haha - totally agree with what you're saying - instead of another post I'll just respond here...
M9 Stuff - I would have taken 6 - 9 seconds to actively be tempted to shoot myself in the foot due to an M9 being in my pocket and not in a holster. That'll show 'em!
M4 Stuff - Dude - joking aside - absolutely no excuse for this. I wouldn't go right to the IG with that one, but I would definitely have gone to the IN if I had the time before deployment. If the IN or commander couldn't do anything than that's one of the things I would bring to an IG. An ORE taking up more consideration than a dude actually going into an AOR to accomplish a real mission (opinions on DOMEX notwithstanding) is unacceptable. This also might go into a future rant on how the ORE/ORI process is FUBAR. The most we ever deploy as anymore is as a squadron...and squadrons deploy all the time on a multitude of TDYs and actual deployments. I haven't done the research, but I get the feeling that the ORE/ORI shit is a legacy of the composite wing days, but I don't really know.
Travel Voucher - Ha, we both have this in common. I think my "Flowchart of Finance Pain" is still posted on a whiteboard in the squadron vault. The big Vegas/Red Flag TDY took approximately 10 weeks to pay out and I had to go through major hurdles to make it to S-V80-A (including paying for the lodging myself) as my card had also been turned off.
The process went something like this - I turned in my travel voucher and didn't realize anything would go wrong. Then, about two weeks out from SERE, I tried to purchase my airline ticket and found out my card got turned off. I called Finance...and here's where I'll actually admit that the Elmendorf finance folks tried to help...and they said it was up to Ellsworth AFB (since they now do all vouchers Air Force wide), but that Ellsworth had been out for a week due to snow. I explained that I submitted my travel voucher over a month ago and they still couldn't help me. So then I called Citi and they said I would have to pay the card - I tried, again, to explain that the travel voucher had been submitted (Finance had a record of it in the system), but they said I would still have to pay the ridiculous amount I had racked up in Vegas/Holloman for six weeks. I told them I had orders (not optionals) to attend SERE so the person said a "Level 4" customer assistant could turn my card back on. When I asked who that was she said she couldn't tell me. So I called the Lt I knew that ran Finance and volia...she was the Level 4 person, but she could only raise my limit - not turn the card back on. I called Citi back and the new person told me I didn't hear the old person correctly - because I know the minutiae of the Citi credit card deal to find a Level 4 customer assistant. I ended up having the senior enlisted person in the squadron forge me a letter saying I didn't have a GTC so I could have the ticket be billed from the central account. The travel voucher finally paid out and everything was okay...
...until this trip. I submitted an accrual travel voucher about a month ago now since it hasn't paid out the card is turned off again. Luckily lodging hasn't kicked me out. Other members of my squadron have taken a similar attitude - one guy isn't worrying about it, another is in the same boat I am, but is not really trying to solve it, and another guy didn't even check in until after two weeks of living in one of the TLFs occupied by another pilot.
Now - for the "People are deployed? Other than to Guam?" The funny thing about that is that the spouses of the deployed pilots have really gotten together and are being taken care of my the 2nd half folks, and we've gotten care packages from the OSS. I mean, really? We have a Planet Hollywood here (it's not good, but I can't imagine many places where you, one, need...really need...a care package, and, two, also has a Planet Hollywood.
As for the fire resistant uniforms - see back to my M9 comment, but put "setting myself on fire" in it's place. Come to think - if you're still a 2nd Lt you could probably get away with both shooting yourself and setting yourself on fire without raising too many eyebrows.
For the JET Wings of Justice (I felt the need to spice it up) - I think you're right. AF leadership will not see it as an addition (both in organization, jointness, and career pathways for non-rated officers), but rather as a subtraction in the DoD turf wars. As a way to help I might try to sell it for all less than squadron sized deployments (read, Air Force deployments too!), but I think you'll be right in that it will be looked on as an "Army Air Force."
In any case, it kind of reminds me of the way the Air Force used to do things with having a flying wing commander in charge of all operational and tactical matters and an air base commander (non-rated) O-6 type in charge of all the support functions. This would be a separate wing, but it would provide more opportunities for command for non-rated AF dudes - which would then help us when those dudes turned into general officers and started competing for joint posts. Maybe the Air Force could actually rock some J-2 posts if we had folks running a wing that directly supported the GWOT.
Thanks!
AirForceKush
Yeah, dude - definitely get what you're saying here...but see my other comment about selling it to the AF. Also, with my previous comment (in the post) saying there were bases ideally suited for this because they were supporting AF mission in the AOR I would envision a concept where those wings stay, but the base takes up another wing. It would just make sense because those bases have experience supporting missions in the AOR.
Cheers!
AirForceKush
Hey Kush!!
I still read...even though you couldn't come to my wedding....
Hope all is well. I liked your tier system...interesting take. One of my troops is kind of a whiner and he keeps talking about his deployment to Guam and finally my MSgt shut him down (as he is heading to Iraq in a month). It had to be said. Also..the big one here is "McDill-istan" I had someone call me on his cell phone from his "deployment" it just seemed weird.
Much ASBC love,
Jill
PS from some sort of cosmic AF justice I just left being the OIC of customer service (ID cards) and had to give all new ASBC kids ID cards...oh they had such fresh faces and a gleam in their eye...just wait
Kish,
Hope all is well.
Agree with most of your thoughts above...
Getting myself home will be a pain in the ass too. My 179 was up on 5 Sep. Quickest rotator they could get me out on was 18 Sep. Then the plane filled up and my ADCON had not manifested me on it, so they were going to bump me to October.
Now, I can see the manifests too, and I saw there were half empty planes leaving Al Udeid every day. I ended telling the useless ADCON people to either (A) put me on a plane out of Al Udeid instead of Manas or (B) let me do my own scheduling or (C) tell me what resources they needed so that when I got my SES or 1-star involved they could get what they needed to do their jobs.
Then the plan to get me to the APOE was, "Well, try space-a to get to Bagram or Kandahar, then you can try space-a to get to Al Udeid." Wrong answer, again. I ended up working a drug deal with some CRG bubbas to get myself on a C-17 going direct from Herat to Al Udeid (inshallah).
Just goes to show that the ad hoc system now does not hold anyone accountable for the process. So, if people suck at their jobs, then there is no way to track that and tell them that they suck. It is wrong that I am more competent at logistics than a logistician, but, just another case of "nobody cares about you like you do." Luckily, the USN is pretty jerked up too so its not just us that sucks at this whole IA thing.