Air Force “burnt out”
Fox News reports that the Air Force is suffering so badly from budget and manpower cuts that Congress and the White House have accomplished that which our nation’s enemies have only dreamed about – the US Air Force has been nearly neutralized by politics and sequestration;
Many of the Airmen reported feeing “burnt out” and “exhausted” due to the current pace of operations, and limited resources to support them. During the visit to Ellsworth earlier this week, Fox News was told only about half of the 28th Bomb Wing’s fleet of bombers can fly.
“We have only 20 aircraft assigned on station currently. Out of those 20 only nine are flyable,” Pfrommer said.
“The [B-1] I worked on 20 years ago had 1,000 flight hours on it. Now we’re looking at some of the airplanes out here that are pushing over 10,000 flight hours,” he said.
“In 10 years, we cut our flying program in half,” said Capt. Elizabeth Jarding, a B-1 pilot at Ellsworth who returned home in January following a six-month deployment to the Middle East for the anti-ISIS campaign.
[…]
The B-1 issues are a symptom of a broader resource decline. Since the end of the Gulf War, the U.S. Air Force has 30 percent fewer airmen, 40 percent fewer aircraft and 60 percent fewer fighter squadrons. In 1991, the force had 134 fighter squadrons; today, only 55. The average U.S. Air Force plane is 27 years old.
After 25 years of non-stop deployments to the Middle East, airmen are tired.
“Our retention rates are pretty low. Airman are tired and burnt out,” said Staff Sgt. Tyler Miller, with the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron based at Ellsworth.
At least at the end of the Clinton years, the year-to-year budget was balanced on defense cuts, but this administration uses the “savings” from slashing our national security for more social spending driving us further in debt. This is what the end of a Jimmy Carter second term would have looked like. I don’t see a light at the end of a tunnel. The same people who gave this administration a second term will choose poorly in November.
Thanks to Tom L. and UpNorth for the link.
Category: Air Force
Well, then let’s NOT have any more Clinton years. Okay?????
They also visited Shaw AFB, SC. It was found that out of three squadrons of F-16s, about half were broke. Their main mission, although they do many others too, is SEAD. In layman’s terms, Wild Weasels. When I retired out of there nearly 16 years ago, it was rare to see anything under 90-95 percent Fully Mission Capable. I mentioned on another site that this reminds me of when I enlisted in 1980. It was nothing to see at least three cann jets per squadron near the end of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. It took a full two years into Reagan’s for things to get better.
I believe our priorities are hosed. As long as we have obummerphones, free crap for life for the illegals and muzzies, welfare-for-life as a career choice, $15 for making fries and, oh, my fave, using the bathroom with which one ‘identifies’ whatever that means, I think we’re on the right path. The heck with national defense. Air defense? Pleeeeease! Who really thinks that is important? Personally, I identify with being freaking pissed off about what is happening in my country. IMO, this year’s election determines our survival as a country in which I would want to live.
HMC,You nailed it right on the head. The alleged “Community Organizer/Uniter in Chief” has done neither that I can attest to as edifying to our nation these past 8 years. Quite the opposite. And his agenda has contravened all that American stands for on so many levels. I am certain he has far surpassed Carter’s legacy as worst president by a large margin.
I believe much of the harm to America and the Armed Forces is deliberately intended to weaken us, divide us, and make us a prey for our enemies. Orlando and other locations of Radical Islamic Violence are just small examples of a greater evil that is insidiously undermining all that the USA stands for.
Survival is indeed on the menu, which accounts for the high-stakes, vehement vitriol in this election campaign that is distracting us from the cancer eating the heart and soul of America.
It is time to get it right, or there will be no more America to defend…
And you know that the progressives would delete the entire defence budget except that would kill the other half of the Military-Industrial complex where so much of their campaign funds come from. Under another Clintoon administration 100 percent of the defence budget would be paid directly to the most favored contractors for direct deposit to the Clintoon Global Initiative.
That is, until either the Chinese or the Russians conquer us.
Burnt out? Exhausted? Sorry, but I’m saving my sympathy for the soldiers and Marines who were on that deployment carousel. I really still can’t get over how many times some men were in harm’s way.
Navy is on that to weather you guy’s like it or not and I’m not talking Ships. We go to same damn places all those guy’s go and a lot of time before the main forces get in place. Where ever there is SOF and any other type forces we are there or have been there to do Engineering shit and we have paid the price. We have 6,000 active and 14,000 Reserve and Active units are on a consistent deployment cycle of 7-8 out and 11-12 and then back out with 6 months of that on Field training and special task training for next deployment. The time in home away from family in the field or special training sites not hotels is about 3 months. We have constant deployment cycles to Africa and South/Central America and middle East and Asia basically all over so don’t tell me about those other we have felt the pain just like them and no gives two shits about us but we help them do there jobs and try to make their life’s better. One other thing anytime the Disaster Recovery bubble goes up we are the major response force on the ground getting shit done.
I get what you are saying and have no sympathy for the Air wings that are deployed on already built facilities that have all they need and usually built by us before they get there and we turn over to the Horse or BEEF. We are small but pulling the baring load every where.
Been on deployment carousel myself since 2003, 4 to centcom AOR(including now where I am typing from), 2 to conus to augment AD; I am guard. While we may not kick down doors(Comm here,) having sympathy for select few(pride/bias or not) is quite ridiculous. If you don’t think its hard for the AF or don’t have that perspective, you can talk to the ex-wife, she’ll gladly give hers…
Cheers and good luck out there.
-MrFace
So, Air Force doesn’t deploy?
And doesn’t have similar issues to the Army & Marines with the same people going over and over again?
Nice to know. I guess I just hallucinated my entire 24 years.
I wonder if I can get disability for that?
Nah, that ain’t it: it’s people talking shit out their ass that’s the problem.
“So, Air Force doesn’t deploy?”
Please point out where I wrote that. Sorry about your hallucinations. Lay off the psychedelics.
“…I’m saving my sympathy for the soldiers and Marines who were on that deployment carousel.”
The insinuation was quite clear.
Huh. If the AF hasn’t been on the deployment carousel, where the hell was I all the those times I imagined I was deployed? Hell, where am I now? I must be imagining it again. God bless those soldiers and marines who have been fighting the air and sea war while the Navy, AF and Coasties have been back stateside cracking beers.
I look at numbers. The numbers tell me who has been in harm’s way again and again. You might want to look at those numbers yourself.
Oh, c’mon, Air Cav! You don’t think that AF goes hard, too? How bout Security Forces, TACP, CC, PJs, etc.? The 820th SFS does nothing BUT deployments and training for deployments
The USAF does vital and essential work of all kinds. I am not knocking the USAF. I am knocking the whining.
Awwwww….
Things have gotten so bad that some poor airmen have had to slum it with the Marines….
http://youtu.be/Yuj6DUIL6nc
Hope there was enough left in the budget to give them a blankie and warm milk after the event in the link.
Don’t worry, everyone has completed their annual EO, sexual harrasment, anti-terrorism, and network vulnerability training, plus additional training on female integration. The rest of it, like making sure that airplanes can fly and missoles can launch is just eye wash.
Don’t forget about volunteering for different orgs both off and on base. Oh and doing school too. Oh, and don’t even think about having a drink with your coworkers after work at the club. Might get thought of as an alcoholic. I also forgot, if you make a mistake, you can kiss your career goodbye because there is “zero tolerance” for mistake makers. All these things seem to come before doing the job, and are the biggest reasons why I retired.
But. . .but. . .but. . . Air Force Chief of Staff Welsh insists that morale in the Air Force is “pretty darn good”!
Forgot to post link: http://www.jqpublicblog.com/csaf-tells-lawmakers-air-force-morale-is-pretty-darn-good/
Aye. And aren’t ye a wee bit auld t’be a believin’ in Leprechauns, lass? (smile)
Eden – yep, when compared to the morale of the Somali Air Force..
Choose poorly in November? Either way, it’s a poor choice. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Yep!
BOHICA
The best way to “fundamentally change this country” is to make it so weak that any other country can just walk in.
Almost there!
Yesterday afternoon here in Central NC I watched a flight of C-130s headed roughly North/NorthWest 8 or 10 birds lumbering along. I have not seen that many in a line since the endless line flying into pope for the Operation Uphold Democracy/Haiti pick up of the 82nd.
This time I believe it is the final answer from the Air Force about the stationing of aircraft at Pope Army Airfield. While those of you following the news, and the press releases of the congressmen in the area you might think that negotiations are ongoing and that the decision has not been made. It was made by the Air Force over a year ago.
The Air Force personnel were told that if they wanted to stay in that a list of new duty stations were available first come first served for positions. The reservists were told much the same. Take new jobs at new locations now or be RIFed when the official ax falls. In a self fulfilling prophecy the Air Force removed all the air crews and support personnel more than a year ago. Yesterday I believe I saw the last Aircraft leave. What are paratroopers with out aircraft? Infantry.
Between this, the A-10 debacle and the rabid fight for the F-35 For whatever reason, policy, administration, money, or pride I see many of the Air Forces wounds as self inflicted. I believe at this point some are thinking the Army Air Corps went away to soon.
I was never in I am just an Observer.
And if the Air Force is burnt out, one can only imagine the shitshow the other services are enduring.
Exactly.
Some of us in the Army never stopped thinking that. 😉