The Spring fighter VML has a lot of bills for AETC slots in UPT, IFF, and FTU. That may be a sign that they are ramping up production numbers in the training pipeline.
Or maybe is it a way of addressing pilot complaints about too many deployments? All of those assignments basically means 3-4 yrs of being at home with the fam and only good deal TDYs.
Or otoh it may be that nobody wants to go to places like Del Rio as a grey beard and now they have to force them. Let's be honest what does that V stand for? Vulnerable. In Bullet's career he never wanted to be on the VML. He always worked his next assignment before he was close to being on the VML. Funny story...he was about to have orders dropped on him. He knew he was in that window, he had 7 months left on his assignment, and yes, we were worried he would be hit. What the AF didn't know was he intended to retire. 10/1 he went in at 8 a.m. and hit the button to retire. A day or 2 later he gets a call from a buddy at MPC fighters. The conversation went something like this:
Bullet is it true you are separating?
Yep, why?
Well, because you were the no. 1 on the fighter list for a 1 yr remote and I was about to drop orders on you today!
Talk about Bullet missing the bullet. 21 yrs ADAF and never did a remote in the fighter world is insanely rare. Out of our friends, only one other person did not do a remote. Which in turn goes back to why they maybe offering these bills because between multiple deployments and looking down the barrel of a remote they may feel that this will solve the exodus to the airlines.
~ We had multiple friends that did 7 day opt back in the late 90s because they were tired of doing OSW and ONW. The 1st time is cool, but after checking the box they are happy not to go. These were guys that were volunteering to go UPT and School houses over the airlines, but bc so many were volunteering that route they got stuck with another ops tour. Fingers aka Gen. Goldfein was probably an O5 or O6 at that time. (I know his brother Goldie was an O6 VWC at Elmendorf with us) he probably remembers that exodus as well as I do. Thus, he might be saying...stop the FAIPs and bring in experienced Operational pilots.
~~ FAIPS were around when Bullet was an O1, but than they became a rarity in the mid 90s after the RIF because the pipelines were flowing at the right speed. Let's be honest nobody wants to be a FAIP. They are okay with it because later on they are rewarded with the follow on. IE if you look on baseops.net, many of the T38 FAIPS are now getting orders dropped at the 30 mos marker for 16s. Yes, they will be behind DS, but still insanely young. Had they not done FAIP who knows if they would have ever got into a 16, instead they may have got a Buff. Harder to convert from a Buff to a 35 than a 16 to a 35.
Again, by also reducing FAIP impo and filling it with O3s with 1 op tour, it can help. Yes, I am naive.
1. Columbus is not a horrible place to be stationed at for 3 yrs as a UPT instructor. Nor is SJAFB as an FTU instructor
2. Instructors are not deployed. At O3 rank many are either married with little ones or getting married. They don't want to be deployed 4 mos out of every 12-16 mos.
~ I bet my DIL would be thrilled if DS got sent to Little Rock as an IP at the schoolhouse. It would mean that they are returning back to a city they lived in already and even if he has night flights or early goes, he would not be going TDY every other week like he does now. He returned from a 5 month deployment mid July (?) 2 weeks downtime and they sent him to an upgrade school for 3 weeks. Came back home and was told we need you to fly out next week for a week. She is 28 weeks pregnant and he has yet to go to one doc apptmt. Imagine if he keeps that pace for the next 4 yrs if they send him to Ramstein. That means 7 or 8 years at that type of pace. Schoolhouses, be it UPT, IFF or Airframe gives them down time to recharge their batteries.
3. TDYs are the fun ones. Cross country for UPT to Vegas is not a bad deal. Flyovers for the Carolina Panthers game as a schoolhouse instructor is not shabby either.
4. FAIPs want to go operational. Being a FAIP means delaying the start of your op career.
~ Have you ever heard of any UPT student saying my number 1 choice is FAIP? I haven't. I have heard many happy that they got FAIP because it meant later on they may have more options regarding their airframes, but none that ever said I want to be a T6 pilot out of UPT.
Just mpo.