If you frequent this blog you'll notice there are two kinds of posts: stories of toxicity, and stories of great leaders. I've been saving this story for a bit but this weekend seems to be the right time to share it. In the summer of 2012 I was a swing shift flightline expediter in the 308th AMU. Things were not going well. We were trying to balance the training syllabus, a major avionics modification while our manpower dwindled and our experience was quickly evaporating. This was at the height of the sequestration climate and was coming off the heels of two major manning moves for aircraft maintenance: Open shred for fighter crew chiefs and the redistribution of fighter crew chiefs to heavy aircraft. Both of these actions had a devastating effect on fighter maintenance likely even being felt today. Chief Master Sergeant Brad Roberts I was working about 15 hours a night, some nights longer. Our AMU had gone through several leadership changes due to PCS, retirements
One man's experience serving in the United States Air Force.