Not Your Father's Air Force XII

I found out today that the Air Force Personnel Center has a spiffy web site devoted to what used to be known as AFR 35-10... the bane of my military existence and a perpetual thorn in my non-conformist side... but is now AFI 36-2903.  (Minor digression: Today's Modern Air Force doesn't have regulations; it has "instructions."  This irritates me slightly, an unusual position for a non-conformist to take.  Whatevah.)  I found out about the web site through the (other) usual source, of course.

Eye on Style: The Air Force's dress and appearance standards website is now fully operational and ready to help airmen with their uniform questions. The site is accessible via Air Force Personnel Center's public website (left column under "featured programs"). It's designed for ease of use. "It has both pictures and word descriptions of everything," said Capt. Meghan Liemburg-Archer, Air Combat Command force management officer at Langley AFB, Va. She continued, "So you can click if you have a question specifically on [physical training] wear, or you can type in 'PT uniform,' and it will show you a picture for both genders." The website also has a frequently asked questions page. Personnel officials will keep the site up to date. "The website is going to be your most accurate resource," said Liemburg-Archer. The website debuted last July. (Langley report by SrA. Jason Shamberger)

"Well, cool!" sez I while promptly trotting off to check out all the different unis.  I was suitably (heh) impressed with the site's ease of use, the clarity and brevity of the writing, and the sheer diversity of all things 35-10 36-2903.  A couple o' screen shots:

There sure are a LOT of unis these days!  One wonders how many of these uniforms are part of an airman's original issue, how many are "optional" (by that I mean authorized for wear but bought at one's own expense), and how many are organizational issue.  As an example, the parka used to be "organizational issue" back in my day: you drew one from supply at your cold weather base upon arrival and turned it in when you left.  Those things were expensive, Gentle Reader... and warm, too.  The Air Force gave me the absolute best cold weather gear I've ever worn... period, end of report.

Long time readers know my "Not Your Father's Air Force" series tends to run heavily on snark and/or "Get Off My Lawn!" sorts of comments.  I was thinkin' "Good on the AF" as I scrolled down and clicked on the various uniform combos, read the verbiage, and all that happy stuff.  No snark potential here!  Well, check THAT, coz there's THIS:

O my aching ass... It's the Mr. Rogers uniform!

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

Way t'go, Air Force.

Not Your Father's Air Force XI: A Short Quiz

Notice anything unusual or different about this blurb from today's AFA Daily Report?

B-2s, F-15s, F-16s in First Wave of Libya Airstrikes: Air Force strike aircraft participated in the initial wave of attacks against Libyan military targets. Following the US and British cruise missile attack on Libyan air defense sites that launched Operation Odyssey Dawn on Saturday, three B-2 stealth bombers, flying from their home station at Whiteman AFB, Mo., struck Libyan airfields on Sunday. They flattened hardened shelters used to protect Libyan combat aircraft, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, Joint Staff director, told reporters Sunday. Four F-15Es and eight F-16CJs also flew in the opening strikes, said Air Force officials. "Our bombers and fighters performed magnificently," said Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, 17th Air Force commander and joint force air component commander for Odyssey Dawn. KC-135s from RAF Mildenhall, England, supported the strike aircraft. (AFPS report by Jim Garamone) (Mildenhall photo caption by SrA. Tabitha M. Lee) (Ramstein release) (Whiteman photo caption by SrA. Kenny Holston)

Not unusual or different... this cool pic of a B-2 from Whiteman AFB:

3/20/2011 - One of three B-2 Spirit bombers returns to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., from a mission in support of enforcing Operation Odyssey Dawn no-fly zone over Libya March 20, 2011. The no-fly zone was imposed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 authorizing military action. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kenny Holston)

Photo captioned as found.

Episode Ten of Not Your Father's Air Force

This is sorta long but it captures what's wrong with our Air Force almost perfectly; stay with it if you have an interest in things military.  The ending is pretty well spot on.

I use the above video with permission from SN1, who forwarded it to me with the following comments:

Too funny...and sad at the same time. This thing has gone viral among MX officers in the USAF. I received it from at least 6 different MX guys...

[...]

The funniest part is it's so true! I've had these same conversations with LtCols when I was a Capt...and a Major. All the points made are spot on...

I hope nothing evil comes of this, given the current brouhaha surrounding the relief of CAPT Honors, former CO of the USS Enterprise.  One could make a case that the above video doesn't come close to "XO Movies," but the thought process behind it sure as hell does.  One simply does NOT deviate from The Party Line these days unless one has something of a death-wish.  Shorter: Not Your Father's Air Force.

Not Your Father's Air Force IX

News item from af.mil:

Air Force leaders issue holiday message

Posted 12/24/2010   Updated 12/24/2010

12/24/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS)  -- Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy send the following holiday message to the Airmen of the U.S. Air Force:

As we celebrate the holidays, please take the opportunity to reflect on our many blessings as Americans, and to remember the people who most enrich our lives. We also should contemplate our broader aspirations that, given the many demands of very busy lives, we often neglect to consider throughout the year.

Also, especially while many remain engaged in combat operations across the globe, we are thankful for the men and women who have answered our nation's call, and selflessly serve to defend our country and preserve our precious liberty. Those who are spending this special time of the year away from friends, family and loved ones are particularly worthy of the deep and abiding respect of fellow Airmen and of a grateful nation. We look forward to their safe return home.

We also honor the quiet sacrifice of family members who sustain and bring great personal meaning to the service of their loved ones. Those of us with the good fortune to be able to celebrate the holidays at home amongst family and friends remember our deployed Airmen and their family members who miss them. We ask that you reach out to these families as well as our single Airmen, and in the spirit of giving and support that makes our Air Force so special, we ask that you welcome them into your holiday celebrations.

In all of the joyous ways that we celebrate this holiday season, we wish you and yours the very best during this special time, and throughout the new year.

Ahem. 

Dear Mr. Donley, General Schwartz, and CMSAF Roy,

I would like to draw your attention to the following:

Please keep the above in mind when you issue your "holiday message" next year.

With respect and warm regards,

Buck Pennington, MSgt, USAF (Ret)

Not Your Father's Air Force VIII

No snark or "get off my lawn" stuff with today's NYFAF... just me feelin' like I should break out with a couple o' choruses of Dylan's "The Times they Are A Changin'."  From today's AFA Daily Report:

Hello, Air Forces Cyber: Twenty-fourth Air Force, USAF's cyber operations arm at Lackland AFB, Tex., on Wednesday added "Air Forces Cyber" to its title. The organization is now: 24th Air Force (Air Forces Cyber). The addition is meant to reflect better the numbered air force's USAF mission and its role as the Air Force element supporting US Cyber Command at Fort, Meade, Md. (CYBERCOM is the lead organization for protecting the Defense Department's networks.) The change also conforms to the Air Force's naming practice that aligns its NAFs with the combatant commands that they support. Col. Mark Ware, 24th AF's director of cyberspace plans and operations, said the name change "will not impact the 24th Air Force's mission." According to Ware, Wednesday's move came five years to the day that the Air Force added "cyberspace," for the first time, to its mission statement. (Lackland report by TSgt. Scott McNabb)

And this...

Officers Graduate Cyberspace Course: The undergraduate cyberspace training course at Keesler AFB, Miss., on Wednesday graduated its first class of 15 officers. The students completed six months of rigorous training with the 333rd Training Squadron, learning the fundamentals of operations in the cyber domain. The course is part of the Air Force's vision for a "fully developed Air Force cyberspace operations workforce," according to Keesler's release. "You might not fully appreciate the magnitude of your military service in this mission area right now, but I promise you that if you maintain your commitment and stay in the armed forces, when you look back on your life one day, you [will] realize how unbelievable it was to have had this historic opportunity to be part of such a special, pioneering group," said Maj. Gen. Michael Basla, Air Force Space Command vice commander, at the dinner honoring the graduates. (See also Back to Cyberspace)

I'm sure you won't be surprised, Gentle Reader, when I mention I served back in the 75 baud teletype era, when our computers were massive mainframes housed in blockhouses and driven by big-ass tape drives or stacks of punch cards.  Cyberspace was unknown and the word "cyber" was something you found in a Heinlein novel, not in your vernacular or on your desk. All that said, I have the Air Force to thank for my brief 16-year IT career.  

Like nearly everything else in my life, my first encounter with computers happened strictly by accident.  I was selected to be my office's point man for the roll-out of Air Force Communications Command/Engineering-Installation Division's very first desk top computers.  This happened sometime in  1984, when the AF put spiffy new 5.25" dual-floppy Zenith Z-100 machines on everyone's desk at the EID.  Looking back, those were clunky lil machines with a laughable office automation software package that featured the Peachtext word processor and other nearly worthless applications (by today's standards).  But, Hey!  That was a start and that start got my foot in the IT world's door.  A year or so after that project was over I found myself up in Dee-troit, working for Electronic Data Systems in the beginning of what was to be an exciting and very rewarding career in IT.  Thanks, USAF!

So, to bring it back full circle, I agree with what General Basla told those young officers at their graduation dinner.  There most certainly WILL come a time when these newly minted cyber-warriors will look back on their careers with something like wonder.  I know I sure do.