Thread: Dangerous Job? How About Matching Contributions...

Originally Posted by Rod

No love lost, Dave. I stand by what I said. And no, I’m not shrugging it off. If I were, I would not had bothered to reply at all. What concerns me is his attitude- **** poor at that. My leadership philosophy as a SNCO toward **** poor attitudes is quite simple- I do not hold hands, but rather feet… to the fire. And I will be right there alongside my troop walking across the hot coals once they allow me "in". Now don’t get me wrong, I will empathize with a troop because that’s what a leader should do. But I will not idly stand by and allow a troop (even when he isn’t mine) contribute to breaking down the team. Crap like that just causes friction across the board and needs to be stomped out ASAP. At ant rate, in order to take care of someone, they have to first take care of themselves and realize they are part of a team effort. You cannot begin to help someone who believes other members of the team are not part of the team and important to their success.

He said, and I quote:

This is the **** poor attitude that needed corrected. And you do not correct this type of attitude “holding hands”. He understood where I was coming from, because he did not reply nor refer to my post.

Bottomline (and he will read this)- he would not be able to perform his job without the support of so-called “nonners”, especially when he is deployed.
When he needs medical treatment (possibly life-saving), a "nonner" treats him. When he needs dental treatment, a "nonner" treats him. When he has a pay problem, he asks for the assistance of a “nonner”. When he has a legal issue, he asks for the assistance of a “nonner”. When he’s hungry, a “nonner” feeds him. When he needs to bathe, a “nonner” provides fresh water. When he needs to relieve himself, a “nonner” provides the facilities. When he lays his head down to sleep, a “nonner” provides his bed. When he has personnel issues (personal or professional), he seeks the help of a “nonner”. When he seeks out entertainment, or something as simple as a beer, a "nonner" provides. So yeah, a “nonner’s” job is JUST AS important as his job. And if he still believes he does not need “nonners” in his life, or is more important than them, then I, nor anyone else, can “get to the bottom” and reach out to him. Until he accepts others as part of the team, our efforts will only be in vain. And as you can imagine, this sort of **** poor attitude goes far beyond demanding matching contributions for a “dangerous job” for which he does not even receive hazardous pay.

Peace

Actually, my last post was in reference to your post; but just so you know I am referring to you, I will quote your post this time. I hate re-reading posts, so that is why I don't usually quote other posts, but this time I will. Nonners have a job, yes, but how many of them have gotten A15s and lost stripes for not doing a single step/aspect of their job correctly? With your wing-level position, you should be able to fanangle a way to jump in a tank (if at a heavy base) and see first hand what we experience. If not, just imagine removing all the cushioning from the seats and floor of your car, placing a bicycle in the back seat, filling the car with toxic/explosive fumes, and crawling from the trunk to the front seat to change a fuse while looking in a mirror and using a needle nose pliers; for some perspective. I think you and I (Rod) have a lot of similarities. I don't like ****** attitudes, laziness, or complacency. I make sure to correct those attitudes. If not correctable, give'em the boot. I only help those who help themselves and are "worth it." I encourage free thinking (w/in the confines of the TOs and AFIs) on the job. People w/ experience shouldn't have to be told what to do, (SrA and above) but empowered to make a difference. Always challenge/question the norm; strive for change/improvement. Maybe I was a bit brash in my first thread; all jobs are important, but in certain degrees. If I don't get paid (finance doesn't do their job), I still do my job and planes still fly. If I don't do my job, planes don't fly- last I checked, the Air Force was all about fly, fight, and win. Yes, it takes a team effort, but face it, some jobs are just more important and have more responsibility than others to get that mission done. No, I wouldn't be in the AF w/out nonners, but if those nonners ceased to exist, planes would still fly (for a limited time) without them. This thread has strayed waaaayyy from it's intention, but is still interesting to say the least. As for roskopfm's post- I would love to cross-train, but I am trying to get to a certain location in a certain time, so that would just delay my plans; I have known others whom have x-trained from my AFSC, and yes, they say the nonner world is cake. I encourage others to x-train out of the 2A6X4 career field, just because it does suck that bad. I can stick it out for a few more years to get that retirement money, but I would like others in my AFSC to get what they deserve. As for Chief Lostdawg's post; the separate secretaries have the power to enact matching contributions. I was only referring to dangerous/hi-pro jobs in the AF. My bad for not specifying. "My bad," it seems, is a saying that makes it all better when MPF jacks up your paperwork; so why not here? It would be interesting to get a demographic of the tsptalk.com MBs' participants. Maybe that would show why it seems to be so one-sided.

Originally Posted by Tankrat37

Maybe I was a bit brash in my first thread; all jobs are important, but in certain degrees.

Yes... and yes. I now believe we see eye-to-eye.

Now, back to the intent of your thread. Unfortunately, we will never see matching contributions, at least not during our tenures. As already pointed out, that would have to come out of each service branch budget since service secretaries have already been authorized the match.

I do remember reading somewhere that one option in the future for new recruits could be choosing between matching contributions/full retirement.

I don't believe that will be offered anytime soon, though.

Some final food for thought... you may want to contact your local AFSA chapter president and ask them if this is on their lobbying agenda.

Peace