So in the USAF, doing a tour over at assignments section of personnel center there at Randolph, is an opportunity. Each “porch”, ie fighter porch, airlift/tanker porch, helo porch, bomber porch, has a person assigned responsible for each MDS assignments. And if a crew position, normally for each MDS and their crew positions.
One thing I’ve noticed, is that even the dudes who were the coolest bros you even knew, unit bros or combat bros; once they get an assignment to become the assignments person, they very quickly turn into the most cynical jerkoffs ever on the planet.
In a way I can understand, since they get to that position and they have both good and crap assignments they need to fill, and they have everyone calling them both on duty and off duty, trying to fanagle a good assignment and avoid a bad one. But still, man do they become the biggest jackwads after getting that job.
For my last assignment, I was inside 12 months of my service commitment, so I could accept or decline the assignment, and if I declined, I’d just leave the service at my end date, but wouldn’t have to PCS. Since I’d done everting the AF wanted up until then, I tried to negotiate a a deal…..yeah, I’d go training command but I didn’t want to go to one of the crappy AF locations, I wanted to go to Pensacola to a joint USN T-34C squadron to teach basic USN/USMC NFOs. To me, it was a win-win for everyone. I had requested joint EA-6B Prowlers up at Whidbey, but was told they weren’t taking AF pilots, only EWOs. But my detailer said no on the P-Cola thing, saying that he could “assign any random tanker or transport jackass to fill that job, however he couldn’t use one of them to fill a T-38 IP job because they didn’t score high enough in UPT to go that track. Not gonna waste a fighter guy on an anybody-can-fill slot.” I tried to let him know that I’m inside 12 months, and could 7-day option the assignment, and then he’d lose a fighter asset number as well as still not fill the slot. He told me that “at the fighter porch, they don’t negotiate with terrorists”, and hung the phone up on me. So, went over to the personnel office on base that day, and put in my papers for separation from active duty, effective the last day of the ADSC, and did my paperwork to transfer to the AFRES.