Daughter in law just found out she was on the Air Force's cut list

[Joecooool]

BBC News - Pentagon's Chuck Hagel plans to downsize US military

I understand the need to downsize the military, but the way they are going about it is ****ing stupid.

They are notifying people that were promoted in certain months that they are on the list to be given mandatory early separation of service. That's right, it is going to be a completely arbitrary process.

My daughter in law was notified that since she was promoted in the first two weeks in December of 2013, that she is one of the 25,000 people on the Air Force's short list.

She has never failed a PT test or had ANY work related performance issues. She has been the perfect Air Man.

She is a nuclear weapon technician. The Air Force spent more than $150K for her top secret security clearance and training.

Meanwhile the Air Force is STILL RECRUITING AND TRAINING PEOPLE FOR THIS JOB.

Instead of randomly kicking out high performing people, the military should

1) Stop all new enlistments.

2) Allow people two years out from reenlistment the opportunity to reenlist NOW. If you don't, then that would be a qualifier to be on the separation list. This would allow people who were going to get out anyway an opportunity to do so early while letting people who wanted to make the military a career stay in.

If you still have to go to an involuntary separation process, get rid of the people who can't pass a PT test or are not proficient in their jobs go first. Anytime a private company has to lay off people, they always lay off the dead weight first. No company would just say everyone who got a promotion last month is now going to be fired, that is just stupid. And its exactly what the military is doing.

She will know by June if they are kicking her out or not. If nothing changes, her separation date will be December 31st.

[Knooger]

Fukkin, Obama!

[VITE1]

I feel for her and do believe she and 10's of thousands just like her will get screwed over by the government.

Yet I find it ironic it Bothers you since the very programs you champion for the deadbeats in America are the ones hurting her.

Whats even better is that this is government at it's finest idiocy yet you fail to see that the same or worse will happen to HC due to Obamacare.

[Mirroredshades]

They should just do it like the private sector. Fire all the experienced workers and then hire back college kids making 1/3 as much on contract with no benefits. It's the American way.

[boracayjohnny]

I like the current military way of drawing down. I also like walking into low hanging branches, hitting my thumb with a hammer, and people that ding the hell outta my car door.

[jda67gta]

Good Luck to your daughter.

This is our current democracy at its finest. Instead of doing the work to determine the best methods to trim the ranks, they choose to take the easy way. In addition, picking a totally random method relieves them of the legal liability associated with the decision, and the responsibly to actually have to explain to low performers why they are being exited.

[Broken Wind]

Phil, the sooner you disabuse yourself of the notion that the government is interested in fairness, the happier you will be.

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

I like the current military way of drawing down. I also like walking into low hanging branches, hitting my thumb with a hammer, and people that ding the hell outta my car door.

I see that the Army will revert to Pre WWII levels soon. Look how well that worked out for us in 1941.

The most expensive thing in the world is a Second best military.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by VITE1

I feel for her and do believe she and 10's of thousands just like her will get screwed over by the government.

Yet I find it ironic it Bothers you since the very programs you champion for the deadbeats in America are the ones hurting her.

Whats even better is that this is government at it's finest idiocy yet you fail to see that the same or worse will happen to HC due to Obamacare.

One has nothing to do with the other. I understand that we are no longer fighting two wars and the military needs to shrink its budget. This happens after every war / conflict.

The mandate to reduce the number of troops is a DIRECT result of the sequester.

The issue isn't so much that the military is going to shrink, its the absolutely stupid way they are going about it.

Let the people who want to leave, leave first.

Stop recruiting people for these jobs, spending the money to train them and then randomly kicking out others already doing that job with much more knowledge and experience.

Kick out the ones that can't pass a PT test or do their jobs before going after the competent people.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Knooger

Fukkin, Obama!

LMAO

[Blademaker]

Don't you worry.........Your president will start another war soon.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

Kick out the ones that can't pass a PT test or do their jobs before going after the competent people.

Ever thought that the government keeps the incompetent people because they know the competent ones can land a job whereas the incompetent ones will merely end up on govt assistance anyway?

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by VITE1

I see that the Army will revert to Pre WWII levels soon. Look how well that worked out for us in 1941.

The most expensive thing in the world is a Second best military.

Can you just imagine the brain trust it took to come up with that way of drawing down? It's actually scary since this was signed off by folks also in charge of many commands including the nukes. There's irony in there somewhere since Joe's daughter is in the nuke chain.

[Barn Babe]

Originally Posted by Dixievet

Ever thought that the government keeps the incompetent people because they know the competent ones can land a job whereas the incompetent ones will merely end up on govt assistance anyway?

I don't think they put this much thought into it.

[Broken Wind]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

One has nothing to do with the other. I understand that we are no longer fighting two wars and the military needs to shrink its budget. This happens after every war / conflict.

Do you have an exit plan? You're going to need one.

[Nox]

Originally Posted by VITE1

I see that the Army will revert to Pre WWII levels soon. Look how well that worked out for us in 1941.

The most expensive thing in the world is a Second best military.

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Can you just imagine the brain trust it took to come up with that way of drawing down? It's actually scary since this was signed off by folks also in charge of many commands including the nukes. There's irony in there somewhere since Joe's daughter is in the nuke chain.

Not that I necessarily agree how the military is accomplishing its Reduction in Force (RIF), but there has been a fundamental paradigm shift in how wars are being fought these days. The days of "grand armies" are over. Small, highly kinetic action has replaced big land wars. So many of those being RIF'ed aren't part of the Special Forces pipeline, which continues to increase. These days, if you want job security in the military look at Special Forces, HUMINT, and UAVs.

[Mirroredshades]

Originally Posted by Blademaker

Don't you worry.........Your president will start another war soon.

Why, is there another Bush available?

[bsmith]

Originally Posted by Mirroredshades

Why, is there another Bush available?

Jeb.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by Broken Wind

Do you have an exit plan? You're going to need one.

I sell to all branches of government. States, municipalities, and counties too.

[Nox]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Can you just imagine the brain trust it took to come up with that way of drawing down? It's actually scary since this was signed off by folks also in charge of many commands including the nukes. There's irony in there somewhere since Joe's daughter is in the nuke chain.

Nukes are so 1960. The United States could jettison half it's nukes and still have enough to blow up the world how many times over? You read about all those Nuke Techs getting in trouble? It's because they're bored. The "Bear" couldn't fight its way out of a paper bag, and last I checked, China was more interested in selling us fake handbags than blowing up the hand that feeds them. We could still have in place a token nuclear arsenal and still take out the Norks with one hand tied behind our backs. Still, I think it's unfair how they are RIFing senior personnel. They should offer retraining opportunities...