US Navy Pers 43 Drama 

'Flush these turds out of the military.' Wombat is that kind of friend that just does not and does not care to hold back. Love it! 🤣

In this episode officers learn that the military doesn’t care about you. Welcome to the enlisted world.

Duuuuuude wombat you hit the nail on the head! The DOD needs to wake up and get back to leading... if America doesn't get it together we will end up getting our asses kicked

Former USAF aviator, been out 15+ years. This isn't new or confined to the Navy. I was nearing my ADSC and up for assignment or separation. I filled out my 'dream sheet'. I was up for my 'good deal' after initial assignment and filled out my sheet with a bunch of places I thought I'd like live with my family. The detailer told me 'you aren't giving me any options'. I told him point blank with my SQ/CC sitting next to me that it was my dream sheet and it wasn't my job to make his job easy. If he couldn't make it work, I'll separate. Wombat nailed it. Everyone has customers, you might try to act like it.

From a Retired Sub sailor, I'm not surprised the poor leadership has sailed to the top of the food chain. In my time, I saw the good leaders get out for high paying civilian jobs leaving us career enlisted with garbage leadership.

Gotta love it when WOMBAT says "Maybe I'm way out in left field, but..."

Had a prior aviator tell me once that when the flagpole or HQ starts to view itself as the center of gravity and not those in the field doing the work, it’s only a matter of time before it collapses. That’s what poor leadership looks like.

I was an Amy Officer for 28 years. The only reason I stayed so long was I loved flying Apaches and I loved my Apache community. As a Warrant Officer, I was able to spend my entire career flying except for about 18 months doing another job that I volunteered for. Back in the late 90’s we were especially short of Apache pilots. For many years, the Army refused to give us any bonuses for anything. Even though it was authorized, someone, probably the Army COS, would not allow it. People were leaving in fairly large numbers because of the leadership or lack of leadership at DA level. I remember at FT Rucker, all of the Warrant Officers stationed there, regardless of what airframe you were in, were called to a mandatory meeting at the on base theater. We were scolded and told we basically had a lack of character for anyone getting out. His goal was to humiliate and really dare anyone to get out. This was an O-6 doing this. Guess what? It made the guys who wanted to get out, made the decision to get out that much easier. The Army does not really care about the soldiers but filling holes. Our assignment officers were from the same community as they were assigning and they tried their best. They tried an experiment in the mid 90’s to put different airframe officers in charge of assignments. Example we had a Huey pilot assigning Apache guys. It was a disaster. Almost no one got assignments they wanted. The retention problem continued. We now are going through the same retention problems. DA is giving bonuses now trying to stop the bleeding. Airlines are hiring rotary wing guys and basically paying for their transition to fixed wing in the airlines. They are giving guys bonuses to come. Why would these mid level guys choose to stay in when the leadership sucks for the most part. The woke Army is falling apart. Even the regular officers are getting out. They have to go do functional assignments that usually have nothing to do with flying, if they want to get promoted. Looks like all of the services are going to hell in a hand basket. It makes me sad.

Wombat hit the nail on the head by pointing out who works for who and pointing out the issue of integrity. I'm thinking that Ward Carroll(given his connections) could possibly help get to the bottom of who is responsible for the Pers 43 posts, and more importantly, the culture in that office that makes people who work there think this is O.K. Gonky was absolutely correct in stating that pilots are special because of the tremendous investment that our country makes in their training and because of the amount of time it takes to build their skill sets. As a 20 year law enforcement officer, I can relate to what it feels like to work for decades to build up skills and serve selflessly only to have people in a government bureaucracy berate your entire profession. To that point, a councilwoman, who was just re-elected last year, openly and proudly called the men and women in my department Nazi's. And the rest of the city council wonders why we're 400+ officers short.

This isn't the Wombat we deserve, but the Wombat we need.

I got out of the Navy 40 years ago. I see absolutely nothing has changed and in fact its gotten much much worse.

Wombat dropping bombs like he’s back on deployment.

This entire psychosis coming out of PERS still leaves me gobsmacked!

What I saw post Vietnam War in the US Army, is a whole lot of the 'Leaders' were RIF'd, and we were left with 'Managers'.

Its just the military way. I did a 3 year enlistment in the Army after high school in the late 1980s. My first platoon sergeant at Ft. Riley killed any notion I might have had of a career. For the next 2 1/2 years I couldn't wait to get the hell out. I was squared away, my platoon leader wanted to get me into the West Point prep school, but I wanted nothing to do with the Army. Took my GI bill and got out. I did some contract work in Afghanistan, working with the various services' leadership, confirmed to me that I had made the right choice. The implications for our nation are frightening.

In general for any organization that needs to maintain respectability & credibility with the public/customers/stakeholders in order to carry out their mission the upside for seeking engagement on social media approaches zero.

Finally! Somebody had to fkn say something! Thanks fellas!

Always wondered why there was a Navy base in Tennessee I guess the lakes and rivers are just that awesome.

I got out in or rather left active duty in 1985 because I could or thought I could see a downward trend in things. I am talking about just be able to do my job. Little things here and there e.g. more paperwork, Training just to do training, etc etc. . The shortly thereafter I joined the reserves, thought I would give that a chance. I ended up loving it. I had a ton of control over what i wanted to do. I did things in the Reserves I could never have hoped to do on active duty. Some of the best leaders I ever meet were in the reserves. I could go on and on but only at the risk of rambling. Do you want to know more?

I’ve been off AD for 20 years now. The only difference between then and now is we now have social media. Nothing has changed with PERS43. Smh.

Let Pilots fly and focus on that!!! I knew an A-10 pilot who got out cause he had 33 additional duties besides flying. I knew an F-16 pilot who got out cause his additional duties work followed him out the gate at night.

Drink acquired!

Wombat is just so awesomely wholesome. You can really tell who here is still serving :D

Good show! Thanks for turning the light on. Hoping for a Part II.

Your definition of leadership is spot on and applies in civvie Street too - as witnessed by me during my entire career (now retired)

Wombat for President Well done for speaking his mind common sense and young enough to know what he’s talking about and I would trust him 150% more than the two complete wasters that you’ve currently got running for Office And here comes the curveball I’m not even American. I live in the UK, but that was well said and to be honest we have a similar problem over here in the UK with our armed forces and the way it’s run from the top down

AMEN Guys! Good discussion. There is a JO v Leadership forum at the Hook convention every year. Some of us old guys and the JOs asked pointed questions. Might be a good topic to stick it to them, eh? Wombat, you might want to consider attending this year?

people like this genius at PERS are why everyone has to have JKO trainings and safety briefs on social media use

Sounds like leadership is not only out of touch but top heavy. I've heard that there are as many heads with 4 star rank now as when we were mired in WWII.

Army aviation is the same way... top brass doesn't care about us in the line units. Just numbers to them... if we crash and die... just throw another stand down day at the force.

I work for a DoD ODO (Other Defense Organization) that works directly with the Navy. I agree with everything you are saying 100% Gonky hit the nail on the head @ 16:22, and it is only getting worse.

Lessons learned in Millington: Never wear your whites to the Brass Rail. 😂😂😂😂

In 2020 I saw the captain of an aircraft carrier _chanted_ off his command by the whole crew because he cared for his guys and got sacked over it. Are the leadership that eager to get rid of leaders like Captain Crozier? Yeah I know the civilian side played their part but to get rid of his experience and leadership seemed plain nuts to me. He seemed to be a well like leader who cared about his people, his people, his people, his ship and the mission.

Like it or not. Wombat spitting facts!

Not new or confined to the Naval Aviation community. When I was looking at re-enlisting in the 2010's....the detailer was talking about me doing an augment tour to Iraq or Afghanistan..... "okay, that's like 13/16 moths total...what happens for the follow-on tour?"...response... "We'll email you while deployed about your sea tour options"....when ship deployments were going 8 to 11 months...... not great..... "okay, we're currently overseas, where does my family live while I'm doing this proposed 13-ish months deployed, then off to sea duty?"............ Literally, silence....no response....but they had no problems assuming I would re-enlist and started the paperwork..... shocked when I declined to re-enlist.....

Never seen Mover quiet for this long lol

Why ask for feedback if you aren’t willing to take it.

Good episode

More things change, more things stay the same. Early 90s was similar, minus social media, while I was in USN. Low retention on all departments.

The XO called all of the JO's (at work) to a meeting today (Friday afternoon) to discuss an issue with PERS. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that one.

The PERS 43 issue is not new. I am a single tour Marine (6534) who absolutely LOVED being an aviation Marine (Early 80's). I left skid marks on my way out.

I want to know the name, rank and serial number of the person colloquially known as "PERS-43", so that I can arrange the meeting between that person and my Senator in a hearing for that individual to expound upon their thoughts to a wider audience. Surely this individual would want their thoughts and beliefs to be woven into the fabric of our National Defense and therefore, entered into the Congressional Record.

I think Luna Likes WOMBAT's Voice!!!

How long can you stay an 03 or an 04 and not take a staff job or get sent to the rag...can you just turn down those types of jobs and just continue to fly with the fleet? I always say we need warrant officer pilots that just fly and don't worry about staff jobs or department head jobs.

Are there actual screenshots of the PERS-43 facebook page that call “one term” Naval aviators “terrorists”? Or did I miss that? After the 11 minute mark, I just started hitting the +15 sec button.

What they fail to take into account is the money spent to train Aviators and those who are trained to do certain jobs and sometimes having to train someone who is trained on one thing and then retraining them to do something else. How dumb are these people, this practice will get someone fired in the private sector.

Please read and discuss the Colonel Ned Stark articles. Maybe fold in some Dale Carnegie, John Boyd, and Simon Sinek. “The best maybe 25% go to…” how do you even determine who is the best and would they even be best at the next and different thing.

What are PERS incentives and how is performance measured there? (Forget about effectiveness, there’s no way they’ll understand distinctions between performance and effectiveness). Want to fix something, change the incentives.

I got 2 EPs out of my JO tour and still didn’t get my first choice.

I won't say that Wombat should have been in command, instead may I suggest that he could be a good one! Question- is politics in the military a form of corruption?

Pete Hesgeth has a new book "The War on Warriors". It is about current leadership( if one can call it that), and how to change leadership supporting a lean mean fighting machine. Great column in "Townhall" today. Check it out.

Just a lowly former enlisted E4, but detailers don’t work for the sailors they work with. They work for the navy. The reat here id say sounds about right though

So Pers 43 is kinda like HR?

If it makes you feel any better, the same shit happens in the civilian world. Every once in a while, the personnel people show their true colors to the people who actually do things.

Imagine giving your mind, body and soul to the state and then getting angry when you're treated like the property that you are.

My nephew is considering his options between at least four branches (Does Space Force fly?). After watching this, would he choose Navy?

Oh... just a few more dots to connect in the current state of affairs

12:48 That's the sad thing here is that most of these people will be promoted, either going onto senior leadership positions (O-6+) either in the Pentagon or retire onto a lucrative 6- or 7-figure salaries in the military industrial complex.

Damn Mover. Well said. All well said, actually, but this was just stupidity. I can see SOME validity in all sides, yes, you are an officer first. Great on paper. But then those in NAVAIR who put in 100%, 18 hour days, 24/7, to make it to just to get to a qualified operational status, all the VT BS, then getting to a final unit and the quals and pressure there? You GET street cred among the officer community. I remember the misery of just going through the NAMI Whammy (After a full class 1), API, and Primary. Then looking over at fellow O’s sipping beers already at their first units in Germany, working 9-5. Yes, I felt some disdain. But also some personal satisfaction of what my day was compared to theirs. But for ANYONE to basically “Crap” on someone for it, pulling the “You’re an officer first” card after what you have just been through? Yeah, two or three of these, combined with watching peers get butchered over a mistake ANYONE human can make? Byyyeeeee! You can call me whatever. If I gotta put up with this crap with maximum effort, no one who understands this world would think any less of someone taking that multi-engine time to fly commercial. You met the standards, did your time. Conversation over. To stab someone in the back as they just gave 12 - 20 years of their full lives is beyond stupid. I agree someone should be held with the same accountability YOUR job was.

The PowerPoint navy. Burke’s Dictum no longer applies.

Pretty hard to run when the PERS planner keeps smacking you with a coat hanger over the back of the thighs

Current SNA in Pensacola- been here a year and had 5 weeks of total flight training because of backup after backup where you sit in a pool and get treated like a number on a spreadsheet. This doesn’t inspire confidence. Hard to stay excited sitting around for that long. Wasn’t what I signed up for, really looking out for something to get me excited again. Fly Navy

Is there still a pilot shortage now that Spirit just laid off 260 pilots? 🤔

Wombat is a Honey Badger.

After having a career in the military, and seeing the absolute levels of psychopathy that "leadership" is entrenched with across multiple combat arms branches, (Infantry, Field Artillery) I can never in good conscience recommend military service to any person. Ever. I work with Gen Z now, and I do my very best to steer them clear of it, no matter how bad they think they want it. Service to country can be served in other ways...

Those people at pers should take a strong look in the mirror before they start calling our aviators terrorist getting out after their first tour because they are disgruntled. The sad part is they probably won’t think that they have done any kind of wrong until they have a Kinzhal KH-47M2 launched from a TU-160 Black Jack land in their front office because we didn’t have the fighter pilots available to combat the threat before it reached our shores. That is absolutely ridiculous to call our Warriors terrorist when these people are making the quality of life unbearable to the point that they don’t want to fight for our country anymore.

Are you surprised, since this admin has taken office they are paranoid about everything and you are surprised that they are questing integrity? Did this happened before this admin, or during? I know ppl that work in DOD as contractors, that have told me about some of the paranoia that is going on, in turning ppl in if they speak out against this admin.

Welcome to the crap the enlisted force has seen for years. I hap a young troop decide not to reenlist sometime in 2006. He had to go see our commander. I just happened to be in earshot when the commander put him at attention and loudly dressed him down for being unpatriotic and told him he would never make it as a civilian. We lost a great airman that day and several more over the next year.

My worry is how is this going to change? We do have a election coming up. Debates are coming should be there?

Former Navy nuke submariner here. Detailers' jobs are hard - balancing needs of Navy and what the dream sheet says. Not all aviators can go to flying billets or billets that they like. That said, Mover's comment about social media 101 is right on. If PERS 43 actual allowed this to happen and commented as mentioned, they need to be replaced. This is a big black eye for DoN and CNO/VCNO need to get engaged to demonstrate leadership.

Is mover paying attention?

Get out 20 years ago as a Navy nuke and I can see that nothing has changed. Detailing for the nuke community was a dumpster fire and still continues to be. Seems like the pilot community is just as bad if not worse.

Pilot joke of the day. What is the difference between a fighter jet and a porcupine? The porcupine has the prick on the outside.

😂 okay

The pilots at PERS had nothing to do with the comments on Facebook. PERS 43 is filled with people who have families too, and they were forced to take orders to that difficult location because of their strong records. Do you understand how people get picked for their assignments? They work from sunup to sundown trying to meet the demands of the Navy and individual requests. There is only one detailer for each aircraft, so imagine receiving over 300 phone calls and emails per day just from fellow pilots. Now add the commands, the Pentagon, and more. This situation is a joke. You are stirring the pot and getting angry at a group of people who are just regular pilots and individuals, just like the rest of you, but in an extremely tough and stressful job trying to make everyone happy. They aren't at fault for any comments made on Facebook, so stop lumping them all together. Get off your high horse; it must be nice sitting in air conditioning with your fun headphones on while people give up their entire lives to serve honorably.

their job is easy.

Why are Personnel managers the only people who can't whine about the service? I've never heard one person, officer or enlisted say one good thing about PERSCOM. This episode just reinforces the perception that pilots are the spoiled brats of the services. (Maybe it's just Air Force pilots. Naval aviators have that Hollywood extra credit.)

Wombat, don’t hold back on your feelings🤪 you almost sound like a submariner, BZ

Of course they don’t care about the pilots. You are just grist for their mill. I got out of the AF (second time) in 1987, and it appears not a GD thing has changed.

FYI this happens in private company's as well, it's like a disease that spread out from begin 2000s or even earlier. Can someone tell these *holes that everything you post stay on the internet forever?

This is just a bunch of pencil pushers getting their undies twisted because of the reactions from the guys, and gals in the field.

This is such a crybaby fest. People whining in the comments that they didn’t get their first choice. Dude at the bottom all red and veins popping out over a facebook post lol.

Lol, welcome to shit show that was enlisted detailing decades ago and has gotten worse. This is why they moved from DC so we couldn't take a quick drive to see them in person.

It's called DEI. The week envy and run the show.

Yeah so it sounds like ZERO percent of you ever worked at PERS43 and a majority of the comments are from people who aren’t affiliated with the military. PERS43 is an honorable and extremely hardworking group of aviators who don’t deserve the negative comments nor this level of animosity. Again, a few facebook comments filled with passion are NOT the reasons people are getting out of the military. I’m not saying it was 100% appropriate but it’s not a reason to create a fing podcast and make false accusations and threats towards the careers of all of the hardworking people from PERS43. Wombat, you seem extremely distressed about this and I can’t imagine how you actually respond under REAL STRESS, you okay bud? Try yoga or a walk on the beach. Everyone else…. If you haven’t walked in a detailers shoes specifically with PERS43…. you cannot possibly imagine the horrendous weight on their shoulders right now.

Unfortunately not just an american problem, but people complain of lack of planes, amarg is full of F-15/16 that still have hours to go pilots they are out there, here 3 examples that just do not wont to go to airlines, what's wrong with us armed forces, get the old carriers on the Russians are there blowing everything, is there a need for another Pearl Arbour, USA as to wake up like some what Europe is doing, Putin will not stop.

Seen a video of an F 35 crash in New Mexico

Lloyd Austin is the poster child for a dude that has no leadership skills!

@WardCarroll