Anyone else facing the Reduction-In-Force (RIFs)?

[ohyouknow]

I'm USAF and my year group is getting cut by 30% this fall. With cuts that deep, good Airman get cut, not just losers. I'm alternating between being terrified of being cut and a perverse hope that I do get cut so I can follow some other dreams. They told us about this in January, the board isn't until Oct, and we find out in Dec.  Just painful to wait so long.

[meltoine]

My husband was supposed to meet the RIF board, but he got notified a few weeks ago that enough people took VSP and they don't have to hold the board anymore. It was a big relief. I totally understand how nerve-wracking it is.

[maebyfunke]

H's year group is safe, but my brother is facing one in the fall. We're hoping that his recent AFIT graduation will work in his favor, but you never know these days.

I hope yours goes well for you; hang in there.

[ohyouknow]

Thanks all. Luckily my husband was notified that he is not facing the RIF anymore. I'm hoping our VSP numbers come out soon - I'm hoping they don't cut the full 30% when it's all said and done.

[amaristella]

That sucks. I'm sorry you're in limbo for so long.

[maebyfunke]

I'm sorry Stan That truly sucks; I really hope for the best outcome for you.

[kpol]

MH (Army) found out in December that the board was meeting in March and would come down with a decision in July. They cut 20% from his year group which ended up being about 21 CPTs from his branch. He was safe, but we knew a few people that got cut. We weren't surprised as they had a GOMAR or horrible OERs.

[NomadicMama]

My DH's year group went before a board this past Spring. Fortunately for DH, he is clues enough to retirement, and will be retiring at 20 years, he was off the hook.

Service members who were not quite as close to retirement (but still well over 10 years in) likely got screwed.

[kpol]

Jul 30, 2014 17:06:22 GMT -5 Stan said:

Jul 30, 2014 16:34:07 GMT -5 kpol said:

MH (Army) found out in December that the board was meeting in March and would come down with a decision in July. They cut 20% from his year group which ended up being about 21 CPTs from his branch. He was safe, but we knew a few people that got cut. We weren't surprised as they had a GOMAR or horrible OERs.

My last CO from AD got cut. Chem. I don't think he had a shitty OER but he only had one Chem job his whole career. It was a good lesson, staff positions don't give you branch experience. I don't know what branch YH is. Probably a smarty pants one.

He'd like to think he's a smarty pants! He was branch detail so his first few years were infantry but he's much happier since he made the switch to his current branch. When we leave here he will be KD complete and all I keep hearing from him is "broadening assignment, it has to be a broadening assignment next." I'm super proud of his accomplishments here and he seems to know the path to (hopefully) keep himself in it for a while longer .

[audette]

DH's year group was being looked at this year. The results of his board have already been released, and DH was not cut. He was pretty stressed out about being cut, though... Now he stressed about the next promotion board.

We know some folks that were cut. None of them with bad OER's (as far as we know), but likely without above middle evals. It's a shame, because some of the folks we know being cut are solid professional soldiers and wanted to go career.


It still puzzles me that the military is cutting folks, considering world events happening now. (yeah, I know, the RIF's were some time in the making due to funding/congress/etc, but still...) I just can't help but think that 3-4 years down the road it'll be desperate measures to retain folks and get folks in. The people leaving now due to RIF's are a resource that would be useful then, and, barring IRR recalls, they'll be a lost resource... The US military seems to cycle - buildup numbers crazily in response to a conflict, then realize there are too many folks, so downsize. And then a short handful of years later realize the cuts were too deep to handle what the US wants to have it's military do, and go back to a crazy buildup of numbers...

Ah well. Trying to use logic to understand military stuff usually just gives me a headache.

[ohyouknow]

These cuts are totally based on Congress' end strength that they allow the military. It's rough. I was recently an exec (EO) so I had access to people's records. A lot of these people getting cut are good, and don't have bad performance reports. It's often one of two things: They weren't assigned to widening assignments (not really their fault), or they worked for a boss who didn't take care of their people by submitting them for awards, spending time on drafting their performance reports, etc. And then there are a few people that were in the wrong place at the wrong time, such as becoming commander of a unit that has a big inspection in 2 weeks and they fail, or being at Minot AFB when they accidently flew a nuke to Barksdale AFB in 2008. You literally could have had nothing to do with that missile, but heads rolled.
Anyway, I'm sorry for everyone facing the stress of this. It sucks.

[beans]

MH's year group AFSC is getting cut by 60+%. So yeah. They're basically trying to cut his career field and not allow for transfers to other AFSCs. It's been stressful and the higher up people are all "why is moral low??" Derp derp.

[calmcosmo]

It hasn't been framed as a "RIF", but in the Navy on the aviation side the LCDR (O-4) screen board has turned into it. This year only 48% of Naval Aviators screened for LCDR. They get one more look, but it is rare to screen on the second look. So essentially ~50% of Navy pilots and NFOs are being let go at 10ish years.

Overall the Navy's goal is 70% O-4 screen, so that means they are trying to eliminate 30% of the force. However, for whatever reason, aviators are being taken out at much higher rates than SWOs (surface warfare), SEALs, and Submariners. It is puzzling.

This blog post has been circulating our community lately: www.askskipper.com/2014/07/09/throwing-blind-darts/

It doesn't affect me personally as my husband went through the LCDR screen several years ago, but it is hard seeing good aviators get passed over when they've done the right thing all along.

[calmcosmo]

Aug 6, 2014 19:19:07 GMT -5 killercupcake said:

Aug 6, 2014 12:11:21 GMT -5 calmcosmo said:

but it is hard seeing good aviators get passed over when they've done the right thing all along.

I think that's the thing that bugs me the most. I get we're no longer involved in two wars and are about to be done with Afghanistan, and RIF happens during peacetime. 

But the promotions and reductions are seemingly based on some ambiguous evaluation system and people who should be able to stay in are being forced out. 

Exactly. Leadership can't counsel new officers on how to do the right thing when there are guys going above and beyond not promoting beyond O-3. After this latest snafu, over half of the guys in my husband's current squadron took the civilian exam for commercial aviation. Granted, they just changed some of the requirements that go into effect in the fall, but a huge portion said that the latest LCDR board was another motivator. They call our "golden path" the "harassment track" and if you take it, in the past you were somewhat guaranteed (minus a DUI or some other shenanigan) to keep moving forward. Now? You can do everything right, be a rock star, and still not get promoted because of some blind crap shoot promotion process. And they still aren't calling it a RIF. Right.

To me it's scary because it's a safety issue. We need good, senior pilots around to make sure things are safe (like night traps on an aircraft carrier). And if people truly feel that things are a crap shoot and that you can't diligently make a career out of aviation, they will bail and our leadership choices will falter big time. It should be competitive, but it should be transparent and nobody who has followed instructions and done hardship tours and gotten the best write ups should be passed over for LCDR. That's just ridiculous. Smart people will start jumping ship to begin more lucrative careers in commercial or contracting; military members aren't martyrs.