Air Force giving 100K retention bonus

I find it so odd how competitive the process is and how desperate they are to keep pilots. Then again, life at a legacy sounds amazing for anyone.
 
Hah, I was gonna say, that seems a bit low these days. The Navy "bonus" would have been $175k for me when I turned it down and submitted my resignation. Ours is a little more specific though, and the dollar amount is based on what community you are in, specifically (if i recall correctly) VFA/VAQ>E2>P3/P8>Helos....not sure if TACAMO/E6 gets one. They also further adjust dollar amount based on Pilot vs NFO, and at one point, they even tried to reward TOPGUN and TPS grads with an extra $10k. It is a very healthy signal of whether or not BUPERS values your service/needs more warm bodies like you, but otherwise, it is free money for people who were likely going to stay anyway....at least in my opinion. I could see it changing minds with folks who are truly on the fence, but to actually get the numbers we need right now, $100k or $300k isn't going to come close to covering it. For me personally, no amount of money (okay, maybe 10 million or something outlandish) would have convinced me. I think $500k+ would start to change some minds, but that is well above what the law currently allows unless paid out over a very long time......I believe i heard the figure of $35k/year being the effective cap, unless I misunderstood that ready room BS.
 
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You can’t throw money at the problem, when money isn’t the problem.

The USAF is, and always has been, too stupid and tone deaf to figure that one out.

This isn’t why pilots are leaving.

AF: ATC is critically manned! Take away the $90k reenlistment bonus!

AF 2 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Make it a $20k reenlistment bonus for 6 year commitment!

AF 3 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Put pressure on the school house to stop washing people out to bump up the numbers!

AF 4 years later: success! Washout rates at the school house have dropped 30%! Idk why washout rates have increased 30% in the field, we should yell at the OJTI’s.

True story.
 
AF: ATC is critically manned! Take away the $90k reenlistment bonus!

AF 2 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Make it a $20k reenlistment bonus for 6 year commitment!

AF 3 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Put pressure on the school house to stop washing people out to bump up the numbers!

AF 4 years later: success! Washout rates at the school house have dropped 30%! Idk why washout rates have increased 30% in the field, we should yell at the OJTI’s.

True story.

I don’t doubt that to be 100% accurate at all. I truly don’t know why any of the E’s re-enlist, especially Security Police and Maintenance people, along with ATC. There’s no incentive to stay, what with the complete disaster clown act that Personnel Center is regarding retention, as well as how people are treated in some of these career fields day to day by so-called leaders, topped off by the absolute moronic set of priorities that the AF finds to be critical such as PT scores and the ridiculous amount of CBTs covering compete idiocy.
 
AF: ATC is critically manned! Take away the $90k reenlistment bonus!

AF 2 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Make it a $20k reenlistment bonus for 6 year commitment!

AF 3 years later: ATC is still critically manned! Put pressure on the school house to stop washing people out to bump up the numbers!

AF 4 years later: success! Washout rates at the school house have dropped 30%! Idk why washout rates have increased 30% in the field, we should yell at the OJTI’s.

True story.

Don't doubt it's that level of stoopid.

That said, from what I've been hearing, it's not so much the washout rate itself that represents the heart of the problem at the school house. It's the inconsistencies between instructors, the inconsistencies in testing protocols, and the internecine battles being waged. The tests are so varied between candidates that it makes one wonder if standard testing protocols even exist. One candidate gets 3 ops in 30 minutes. Another candidate gets 15 ops in 30 minutes. ??? A class is doing really well with a certain instructor. Then, 3/4 of that class fails on the test because their instructor is hated by the instructor giving the test. ??? ... Those sorts of things.

I'm not there, so I'm not certain. But the stories I'm hearing from reliable folks make the ATC school house sound like a pretty fubar place these days.
 
Don't doubt it's that level of stoopid.

That said, from what I've been hearing, it's not so much the washout rate itself that represents the heart of the problem at the school house. It's the inconsistencies between instructors, the inconsistencies in testing protocols, and the internecine battles being waged. The tests are so varied between candidates that it makes one wonder if standard testing protocols even exist. One candidate gets 3 ops in 30 minutes. Another candidate gets 15 ops in 30 minutes. ??? A class is doing really well with a certain instructor. Then, 3/4 of that class fails on the test because their instructor is hated by the instructor giving the test. ??? ... Those sorts of things.

I'm not there, so I'm not certain. But the stories I'm hearing from reliable folks make the ATC school house sound like a pretty fubar place these days.

I know when I went we all get the same scenarios and tests so don’t know how it would be different traffic for different folks but I’m sure the AF could find a way
 
Ill give you another example. A bunch of C-17 pilots took tours as RPA (Drone) pilots. The Air Force decided it had too many mobility pilots and at the same time it had a huge shortage of RPA pilots. So what do they do. They kick out a bunch of C-17 pilots, to include the ones flying RPAs who wanted to stay flying RPAs. Talk about the left hand not even looking at the right hand.
 
@///AMG,

Are you on the LCDR promotion list? Is there a retention program for CDR to CAPT, as discussed at one time?

I already promoted a little while back (my O-4 board was a couple years ago). The only retention program I'm aware of for aviation CDR to CAPT is the CO bonus, which basically obligates folks for another tour, and pales in comparison to the DH bonus. During the years that they took the skipper bonus away, guys were initially making less as new O-5's than they had been as O-4's on the bonus. But with that being said, career timing typically keeps people around for another tour anyway. Most USN aviation XO/CO tours take you to ~18 years of service, so the 20 year active retirement is a pretty big carrot to dangle already for them.
 
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