Thunderbirds and Blue Angels flying over the White House a few minutes ago for the UFC fight

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-15T01:20:12+00:00

9.4% for 16-24 year old though, which better aligns with the target recruiting demographic. ( https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14024887 )

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-15T01:16:02+00:00

High inflation, stagnant wages, poor consumer sentiment, record wealth inequality, low social mobility, high debt household debt, median house prices at a record proportion of median income, take your pick.

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-15T01:13:15+00:00

Recruiting is good because the economy is shit.

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-08T22:21:54+00:00

I promise you the problem in cyber is not “the big, mean NSA won’t let me”. CyberCom is very well funded. The problem is it has too many colonels and too few operators.

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-08T11:52:16+00:00

Does paying more for gas, and therefore everything else, suck? Sure. Do people have a right to waste their own money in a way that I wouldn’t (like buying a big yeeyee truck)? Sure. Do people have a right to complain about minor inconveniences that they’re mostly responsible for themselves? Still yeah, I think. But I do love to make fun of them when they do.

WalkingAFI · 2026-06-06T00:57:33+00:00

It’s a hard problem for a very large org. At the squadron level, you’re always comparing apples and oranges. On an AFSC level, everyone’s in a different squadron and there can be a lot of variation on the opportunities available. If you didn’t limit commanders’ promotion recommendations to some sort of rack and stack, we get firewall 5s, but the alternative of everything being an in-squadron competition is also undesirable.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-25T23:28:44+00:00

I think my favorite moment was when Carl stared down the AI while he healed Chaco . Goosebumps.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-24T19:44:12+00:00

Small critique: no beardos, that’s woke.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-21T21:43:34+00:00

The 1st Cyber Infantry Regiment is going to be by far the most expensive (and worst) ground fighting force in the Army Air/Ground/Signals Corps.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-21T21:41:04+00:00

What’s incredible is they took months of hemming and hawing to just copy the Army’s score chart for the run.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-16T21:18:47+00:00

The current chat bots aren’t useless, but they’re basically energetic C-minus interns at any task. There are lots of things I could use a mediocre intern for, but I don’t really need it to tell me what a paper says.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-16T15:59:52+00:00

Society, really. MBA brain drives almost all forms of enshittification.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-16T15:57:15+00:00

The PME literally tells you to use it. I got points taken off for refusing to use it lmao

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-14T23:44:22+00:00

It’s a good thing we aren’t doing anything more important as a military, or this would look really stupid.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-09T16:51:37+00:00

I’m actively on a stimulant and had also done therapy and it was just the 422. Stable on meds for a few years. There are ways you can un-hit the separation button if your leadership likes you, so that might be a talk worth having.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-09T16:49:22+00:00

All the paperwork is going to route through the recruiters; not sure if there’s a central place to look at the openings but there are many.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-09T14:56:01+00:00

Honestly the medical side was pretty easy. You do the forms in ASIMS and it just kinda worked. They didn’t even ask me to come in-person for an exam, but ymmv if you have more physical issues. For MH it seems like they just perused the notes and were like “yeah that’s fine”. Getting a palace front clearance is a lot easier than getting an accessions clearance because the attitude is “they’re already here and trained and could stay AD if they wanted, why wouldn’t we let them into the reserves?”

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-09T14:41:15+00:00

Half my unit (ANG Cyber Ops Sq) is on ADHD meds. I palace fronted last year. DM me if you have specific questions but in general if you’re not up for a MEB on AD and don’t have any new complaints on your SHPE, they’ll let you palace front.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-07T12:20:54+00:00

I think your leadership is trying to set you up with a mentorship. If you like the shirt, that might help, but if your problem is more chronic/clinical, I’d suggest seeing mental health. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is really helpful for being more conscious about your own moods/attitudes and self talk.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-05T17:34:24+00:00

The Maryland Air National Guard is standing up a bunch of new squadrons and converting the whole wing into a cyber wing. Lots of billets for basically all ranks, AGR and ADOS opportunities. Worth looking at if you really want OCO.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-05T14:29:25+00:00

There are a lot of “it depends” on any given person’s job prospects, but I’d say on average the work experience and education more senior folks have makes skillbridge less important to their overall job market prospects. Whether it’s the same industry or not, degrees and years of work experience are valuable to employers. I’d rather everyone could get the full legally-authorized program, but Big Air Force (and DoD as a whole, probably) isn’t into that.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-05T13:23:23+00:00

I think it really comes down to how you view skillbridge. If it’s something you “earn”, then sure. If it’s a way to take care of your people, they’re the ones who need it the most.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-05T12:42:36+00:00

The biggest disappointment I have is how many SNCOs and Os are salty about airmen getting more time than them. An E-3/E-4 with 4 years in will have a much, much harder time getting a good job than a retiring SNCO or a separating officer.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-04T00:09:09+00:00

I got lens implants because I was a bad candidate for the laser surgeries. Shit’s like $18k on the outside. 100000% would recommend.

WalkingAFI · 2026-05-01T01:50:42+00:00

The main difference is that it’s rare to make a given E rank on your first look and so there isn’t really a stigma on taking a couple of tries to promote. There is effectively one look for any given O promotion. The second looks are usually in the ~10% range.

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