My how things have changed

[AngelWings]

Gone are the days of doing PT once a year, overweight and out of shape personnel, "pretending" to be hard core, never even seeing a weapon except in pictures, lackadaisical bearing and discipline, and the overall malaise that we all used to see.

Sorry to break this to you, but those days are still going strong.

Wrapping up a deployment and helping the flight sergeants with awards recommendations.  Out of 19 Airmen (E4 & below), 9 are not qualified for awards due to failing the PT test prior to deploying.  These are 19,20, 21,... year old Airmen.  Some are obviously overweight, others are stick figures who can't push up their own weight.  Very disappointing.  I know this may sound mean, saying this in 2011, but I think the worse thing to affect Airmen (soldiers too, I'm sure) is the fact that we have internet over here.  Granted, some people like me can balance our time better, but Airmen are showing up for duty (12+ hour shifts) virtually half asleep after spending 5 hours on the internet after their shifts.  A few of the Airmen, maybe about 1/3, spend their time relieving stress and maintaining their fitness levels at the gym.  Of all the Tech Sergeants on flight (5) all of us spend about an hour in the gym every day and average about a 92 (out of 100) on the PT test.  I think it's a generation thing.

And this isn't a specific base or unit thing, we're comprised of Active, Guard, Reserve members from about 20 different bases/units.  To be quite honest, it's mostly AD folks lacking in the fitness area.  And as far as professional Airmanship goes, some have it, a lot don't.  And I'm mostly disappointed in the E-5s.  I've had to identify the fact that there is a difference between E-5s and Staff Sergeants.  In my opinion, here, some E-5s are simply average or below average Airmen that get paid more, but accept zero responsibility for themselves, subordinates or the mission.  Then there are the Staff Sergeants.  Motivated professionals in the profession of arms, who take the job seriously and stand up to lead whether they're in a 2 man mobile patrol vehicle or running an ECP with 3 or 4 other Airmen.

This deployment (my first AF deployment) opened my eyes and I haven't been impressed.

One of my buddies was telling it can varies from AFSC to AFSC on who's fit and who is not and the ratio of fit to fat. If it is something like desk jockies, they'll typically have more fat or out of shape people than physically fit, compared to a very active and physically demanding job, like being a F-22 pilot. The USAF has a more intelligence first type of mentality than a fit first mentality is what he was telling me, which is why the USAF is behind other services.

Not when thay pass a silly rule like the waist SHALL NOT EXCEED 38 inches with no leeway or waivers. Good people who can pass their PT tests are losing their careers over this. If you have not hit the majic 18 year mark you are SOL.

So in addition to the uniform fiasco they need to fix that as well before I have nothing left to criticize.

Now that is just plain stupid. What if the person is a 40 inch waist and is extremely muscular?

[NCRblues]

Gone are the days of doing PT once a year, overweight and out of shape personnel, "pretending" to be hard core, never even seeing a weapon except in pictures, lackadaisical bearing and discipline, and the overall malaise that we all used to see.

Sorry to break this to you, but those days are still going strong.

Wrapping up a deployment and helping the flight sergeants with awards recommendations.  Out of 19 Airmen (E4 & below), 9 are not qualified for awards due to failing the PT test prior to deploying.  These are 19,20, 21,... year old Airmen.  Some are obviously overweight, others are stick figures who can't push up their own weight.  Very disappointing.  I know this may sound mean, saying this in 2011, but I think the worse thing to affect Airmen (soldiers too, I'm sure) is the fact that we have internet over here.  Granted, some people like me can balance our time better, but Airmen are showing up for duty (12+ hour shifts) virtually half asleep after spending 5 hours on the internet after their shifts.  A few of the Airmen, maybe about 1/3, spend their time relieving stress and maintaining their fitness levels at the gym.  Of all the Tech Sergeants on flight (5) all of us spend about an hour in the gym every day and average about a 92 (out of 100) on the PT test.  I think it's a generation thing.

And this isn't a specific base or unit thing, we're comprised of Active, Guard, Reserve members from about 20 different bases/units.  To be quite honest, it's mostly AD folks lacking in the fitness area.  And as far as professional Airmanship goes, some have it, a lot don't.  And I'm mostly disappointed in the E-5s.  I've had to identify the fact that there is a difference between E-5s and Staff Sergeants.  In my opinion, here, some E-5s are simply average or below average Airmen that get paid more, but accept zero responsibility for themselves, subordinates or the mission.  Then there are the Staff Sergeants.  Motivated professionals in the profession of arms, who take the job seriously and stand up to lead whether they're in a 2 man mobile patrol vehicle or running an ECP with 3 or 4 other Airmen.

This deployment (my first AF deployment) opened my eyes and I haven't been impressed.

One of my buddies was telling it can varies from AFSC to AFSC on who's fit and who is not and the ratio of fit to fat. If it is something like desk jockies, they'll typically have more fat or out of shape people than physically fit, compared to a very active and physically demanding job, like being a F-22 pilot. The USAF has a more intelligence first type of mentality than a fit first mentality is what he was telling me, which is why the USAF is behind other services.

Not when thay pass a silly rule like the waist SHALL NOT EXCEED 38 inches with no leeway or waivers. Good people who can pass their PT tests are losing their careers over this. If you have not hit the majic 18 year mark you are SOL.

So in addition to the uniform fiasco they need to fix that as well before I have nothing left to criticize.

Now that is just plain stupid. What if the person is a 40 inch waist and is extremely muscular?

40 inch waist and superman, running a 10 min mile and a half? To bad, get your waist below 38 and you will only get an LOR. Keep your waist size above that, and they will show you the door. Sad isnt it?

This, and a few others is why i picked to leave the AF. The AF is nice, dont get me wrong, but IMHO the AF is still trying to figure itself out. I enjoyed my time in...just think things could be run a little better on the AF side of the house.

[jimmydeanno]

They're using the PT standards to get people out.  It's part of their downsizing plan.  People are waiting months to join, they're shedding CGOs like a parka in the desert, slowing down promotion rates, only accepting 40%ish of ROTC cadets to field training, canceling OTS boards, etc.  The Air Force isn't really hurting for people, so letting the unfit ones go really isn't going to cause them heartburn.

I also don't see too many "really muscular" guys in the AF.  And those who are, usually have about a 34 inch waist, because "really muscular" doesn't usually result in a layer of fat at the waist.

Sure, you'll lose some experienced guys, but we talk about standards here all the time.  Someone might be super-technically proficient, but the example that they're setting for the guys below them isn't the right one if they can't put the twinkie down.  Also, for a force that needs to be ready to deploy, having people around who are on profiles because they're obese, broken, etc isn't helping keep them deployment ready.

There is always going to be someone behind them that is just as technically proficient and meets the standards.  Nobody is irreplaceable. 

[davidsinn]

They're using the PT standards to get people out.  It's part of their downsizing plan.  People are waiting months to join, they're shedding CGOs like a parka in the desert, slowing down promotion rates, only accepting 40%ish of ROTC cadets to field training, canceling OTS boards, etc.  The Air Force isn't really hurting for people, so letting the unfit ones go really isn't going to cause them heartburn.

I also don't see too many "really muscular" guys in the AF.  And those who are, usually have about a 34 inch waist, because "really muscular" doesn't usually result in a layer of fat at the waist.

Sure, you'll lose some experienced guys, but we talk about standards here all the time.  Someone might be super-technically proficient, but the example that they're setting for the guys below them isn't the right one if they can't put the twinkie down.  Also, for a force that needs to be ready to deploy, having people around who are on profiles because they're obese, broken, etc isn't helping keep them deployment ready.

There is always going to be someone behind them that is just as technically proficient and meets the standards.  Nobody is irreplaceable.

It all comes down to the AF preferring form over function. It's more important to look good than to be good at your job. Same problem with our uniforms.

[jimmydeanno]

In both the Air Force and CAP, form can have an effect on your function.  You may be the best pilot ever, but if you exceed the weight and balance limits, it doesn't matter.  If you can track down hard ELTs does it matter if you can't hump out to it?

In the military, the need for competency is there, so they obviously need function.  However, when given the choice between someone who only meets one of the two criteria, and someone who meets both, I think the choice is obvious.

I think the job description is pretty clear.  If a member doesn't want to fill that job, they can do it as a contractor if the need is there.  No need for mediocrity when there's a line at the door.