Potential to fly for the Army National Guard after AD retirement

There are few things more dangerous than a Terminal Chief Warrant Officer, but this would definitely be one…


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For those of us interested but ignorant, can you elaborate on this?
 
For those of us interested but ignorant, can you elaborate on this?

Two of my favorite “holy hell that just happened” moments involve CW5s with retirement eligibility and literally no more brass rings to aim for and nothing left to lose.

One involved the Brigade Master Gunner literally saying, “yeah we aren’t going to do that” in the middle of a Colonel briefing the execution of the mission. Didn’t elaborate or anything just said “it’s not gonna happen” and it went over the same if he’d literally just crapped in the middle of the room.

Another involved again a terminal CW5 just shout across the tent at a pair of chatty captains who were in their own little bubble, “hey could you two either shut the hell up or go outside.” Same thing just what are you going to say or do, there are like 3 people in this Brigade that can yell at Gary…

As I said, there are few things more dangerous, but letting them retire and then convince them to come back and pay them more to tell you the business would only be more so.


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Two of my favorite “holy hell that just happened” moments involve CW5s with retirement eligibility and literally no more brass rings to aim for and nothing left to lose.

One involved the Brigade Master Gunner literally saying, “yeah we aren’t going to do that” in the middle of a Colonel briefing the execution of the mission. Didn’t elaborate or anything just said “it’s not gonna happen” and it went over the same if he’d literally just crapped in the middle of the room.

Another involved again a terminal CW5 just shout across the tent at a pair of chatty captains who were in their own little bubble, “hey could you two either shut the hell up or go outside.” Same thing just what are you going to say or do, there are like 3 people in this Brigade that can yell at Gary…

As I said, there are few things more dangerous, but letting them retire and then convince them to come back and pay them more to tell you the business would only be more so.


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In both of these cases, we’re they wrong?
 
You make Great point!

I never made it to that point though…….I retired with transfer papers to a Brigade CW5 position in my hands. I had reached my limit………don’t regret the decision.
 
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You make Great point!

I never made it to that point though…….I retired with transfer papers to a Brigade CW5 position in my hands. I had reached my limit………don’t regret the decision.

I pick up a terminal tank next year I can ride the rest of the way to the end.

I’m not sure what insane sum of money and position the Army would have to offer me to get me to stay a day longer than needed but they definitely aren’t currently handing that out…


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I pick up a terminal tank next year I can ride the rest of the way to the end.

I’m not sure what insane sum of money and position the Army would have to offer me to get me to stay a day longer than needed but they definitely aren’t currently handing that out…


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If able try to PCS to a CONUS CAB one to three years before you plan on retiring. And don’t clue in branch until 12 months out. The horror stories you heard of a retirement packet being denied followed by PCS orders are true.
 
The best thing to do is to just be honest with the assignments section and your chain of command about what your aspirations are for getting out and going to another job or to the airlines. They won’t in any way ever use that against you, because they value you as a human being, value your wants and desires, and respect the service you are providing to the country now, as well as what you desire to do with your life when your service commitment is up.

They care about you personally. You aren’t just a number to big green. You are somebody.
 
The best thing to do is to just be honest with the assignments section and your chain of command about what your aspirations are for getting out and going to another job or to the airlines. They won’t in any way ever use that against you, because they value you as a human being, value your wants and desires, and respect the service you are providing to the country now, as well as what you desire to do with your life when your service commitment is up.

They care about you personally. You aren’t just a number to big green. You are somebody.

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If able try to PCS to a CONUS CAB one to three years before you plan on retiring. And don’t clue in branch until 12 months out. The horror stories you heard of a retirement packet being denied followed by PCS orders are true.

I’m actually hopeful given my current location I can skate the whole way to retirement without PCS’ing again. It seems there is a secret code somewhere that allows someone to stay at such a “Great Place” forever…

Though my luck, I’m about to do this deployment and be offered the “opportunity” to be the Branch manager because if anybody will have no sympathy sitting at that desk it’ll be me…

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Though my luck, I’m about to do this deployment and be offered the “opportunity” to be the Branch manager because if anybody will have no sympathy sitting at that desk it’ll be me…

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.


@MikeD, I’m going to need you to pee in a cup.

Haha! I couldn’t keep a straight face while writing that propaganda garbage that I wrote there. :)
 
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.

That…sucks.
Haha! I couldn’t keep a straight face while writing that propaganda garbage that I wrote there. :)

Less than halfway through the first sentence I knew where you were going with that post. Known you too long(?).
 
That…sucks.

It did. Because at the time I did want to stay active duty. But I guess that wasn’t in the cards, unless I’d agreed to take that T-38 IP assignment to Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma. But I’d just done three years at Alamogordo, NM at Holloman AFB in the F-117, and I didn’t feel like going from one small town to another for 3 more years. Tried to meet them halfway, but there was no interest in doing so on their part. They called my bluff “You won’t leave, you’re past 10 years already…”; and I left to the part-time reserves and to civilian life.

Less than halfway through the first sentence I knew where you were going with that post. Known you too long(?).

You’ve indeed known me too long, good sir! :)
 
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It did. Because at the time I did want to stay active duty. But I guess that wasn’t in the cards, unless I’d agreed to take that T-38 IP assignment to Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma. But I’d just done three years at Alamogordo, NM at Holloway AFB in the F-117, and I didn’t feel like going from one small town to another for 3 more years. Tried to meet them halfway, but there was no interest in doing so on their part. They called my bluff “You won’t leave, you’re past 10 years already…”; and I left to the part-time reserves and to civilian life.

You’ve always done you. Kudos for that, bud.
You’ve indeed known me too long, good sir! :)
Pretty sure we haven’t reached “too long” just yet. Lot’s of stories still need swapping…
 
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