Military Job Security

[fastnumber15]

So with jobless claims at a 26 year high...how do we fair as being part of the military community...specifically...should I be worried about not being able to attend pilot training in May 09' because of some unforseen force like cutting numbers or crazy SERB? I cant stop thinking about the idea of for some reason after all the effort to get to this point...getting cut somehow because of ECONOMIC reasons...hell I would much rather get cut because I fail out by my own stupidity than not even getting there. I have been on Air Force standby since October and already the wait is killing me! Maybe the wait is making me nutty because I am not getting paid...and have nothing to do but dream up crazy possibilities. :icon_craz

 

[HeyJoe]

So with jobless claims at a 26 year high...how do we fair as being part of the military community...specifically...should I be worried about not being able to attend pilot training in May 09' because of some unforseen force like cutting numbers or crazy SERB? I cant stop thinking about the idea of for some reason after all the effort to get to this point...getting cut somehow because of ECONOMIC reasons...hell I would much rather get cut because I fail out by my own stupidity than not even getting there. I have been on Air Force standby since October and already the wait is killing me! Maybe the wait is making me nutty because I am not getting paid...and have nothing to do but dream up crazy possibilities. :icon_craz

Since you are wearing Air Force Blue, you need to ask our comrades at Baseops about their crystal ball for Air Force force shaping. You may not get as many F-22s as you'd like, services aren't going away and they can't have gaps in the year groups or the whole promotion/assignment engine doesn't work well so you're likely going to through Flight Training. I'd be more worrird that a UAV might be at the end of your pipeline.

 

[A4sForever]

So with jobless claims at a 26 year high...how do we fair as being part of the military community...specifically...should I be worried about not being able to attend pilot training ....

You shouldn't "worry" -- as it will either "happen" or it "won't" ...

But since you say you're in Hattiesburg and therefore just down the road from Meridian -- we lost @ 1/3 of the STUDs there, in Texas, and in Pensacola in one fell swoop due to a systemic RIF brought about by poor planning, chance, and plain ol' bad luck -- and that w/ a "hot" NAVAIR war goin' on in SEAsia at the time ... so anything "can" happen.

Just don't waste time "dream(ing) up crazy possibilities", 'cause it won't help.

Whatever happened to sending guys "to the FLEET" (or these days, I guess IA ??? ) prior to flight school -- instead of a stash non-job -- when times are financially "tough" ???

 

[navy09]

I know this kid who was commissioned out of AFROTC in May '08. He spent 6+ months on his ass at home (not getting paid) and he just recently started working some stash job. He says he's not supposed to start flight school for another 6 months or so.

This is apparently the norm...1 year from graduation just to get to flight school...6 months without a paycheck.

 

[fastnumber15]

yep...exactly what I'm doing. Commissioned Oct 08...report to whiting May 8 09'. Then UPT starts in September. so...1 year. I wonder what I will be doing in Whiting for the time the months and months before UPT start.

 

[incubus852]

e just down the road from Meridian -- we lost @ 1/3 of the STUDs there, in Texas, and in Pensacola

when did that happen?

 

[Tom]

I believe the last conflict in SEAsia was in the 70's.

 

[Flash]

I believe the last conflict in SEAsia was in the 70's.

At least the last one we were involved in.

 

[fc2spyguy]

yep...exactly what I'm doing. Commissioned Oct 08...report to whiting May 8 09'. Then UPT starts in September. so...1 year. I wonder what I will be doing in Whiting for the time the months and months before UPT start.

You guys stand randm watches while waiting to class up.

 

[Catmando]

....

.....we lost @ 1/3 of the STUDs there, in Texas, and in Pensacola in one fell swoop due to a systemic RIF brought about by poor planning, chance, and plain ol' bad luck -- and that w/ a "hot" NAVAIR war goin' on in SEAsia at the time ... so anything "can" happen.

The cuts also came in the fleet too, although not quite as severe but certainly painful.

I will never forget walking with a friend past the RAG CO’s office. We were both nearly finished with the F-4 RAG, and were both suited up for an FCLP bounce period. But the CO called my friend into his office while I continued on to my aircraft. Within a short number of days, my friend was a civilian. In fact I believe each fleet squadron CO was given the order to cut their officer manning by specific numbers. (And yes, the war was still in progress.)

 

[Pugs]

When peace broke out in 92 we went through the great RIF of my generation . If you had an "5" ending your designator see ya. Saw #1 of 70 officers RIF'ed with 30 days notice over a year period. Saw 19 of 25 officers in a squadron gone on disestablishment. Performance did not matter.

Opened my eyes as how the Navy views people and shaped the rest of my career.

 

[navy09]

If you had an "5" ending your designator see ya...Performance did not matter.

Purely speculation, but since we all have the same designator now, how do you think they'd go about making cuts?

OCS first, then ROTC, then Academy? Lineal numbers? Command recommendations or some sort of meritocratic method?

Also, what pay grades are most susceptible to cuts?

 

[Bolter]

Purely speculation, but since we all have the same designator now, how do you think they'd go about making cuts?

By not sucking. Don't suck and you won't get "cut." Also, don't be a douchebag. The Navy/ Marine Corps has a wonderful system for getting rid of dudes that no one wants to hang out with in the ready room.

 

[Pugs]

By not sucking. Don't suck and you won't get "cut." Also, don't be a douchebag. The Navy/ Marine Corps has a wonderful system for getting rid of dudes that no one wants to hang out with in the ready room.

Exactly. At the time law said every USNR on Active Duty had to go before a single USN could be cut. Performance was not a criteria. Now suspect performance will be the discriminator.

 

[Old R.O.]

I was in AOCS for my first AVROC summer in 1970.
We got the news of the RIFs third-hand, but from what I remember, they were brutal.
Story goes that at Whiting all the studs were told to assemble in the theater. The officer who was in charge of the assembly said... "Everyone to the right of this aisle stays... everyone on the left goes."
Rumor had it that one marginal performer in Jet Advanced was cut three weeks short of winging.
It was bloody, and sent shock waves throughout the Training Command.