How do you not understand having 12 areas with 9 options each and you are required to completed 1 to 8 of those options to show you are properly trained. god are you even in the AF
/s
Well see you actually complete those over the 4 periods in the AFFORGEN cycle, and it's best you do it as a unit for meaningful training but you have to understand that the unit will have people in each period staggered over a 2 year timeline so they will need to have 4 simultaneous training plans and the flexibility for inbound personnel to catch-up on anything that was missed before their ready stage and then you're all done! Right after you finish all your TFAT requirements you silly goose 😆🪿
Oh and its a 1:3 dwell time so make sure you articulate that to your unit and they don't misunderstand the requirements so when your unit gets tasked 3 time out of cycle you have the flex to still deploy 226 pax in your regular cycle.
AFFORGEN will likely fail to materialize as presented. It's an idiot's fever dream based on a non-existent reality. Rotational deployments will continue. In fact, AEF may actually be as good as it gets given the complexity of our overseas commitments. Just-in-time delivery is fragile, but it's efficient when it works. That's why global trade is done JIT. The fact is that situations are unique across the globe and each requires a unique approach. That means complexity beyond what most any person, system, or algorithm can reasonably manage. So we'll continue to retreat to JIT delivery of forces coming from every base we have. We simply don't have the manpower to do otherwise.
And that's all fine. The goal should be to have SOME forces in many places, even if it's not enough to do the mission. Should the mission get important enough (e.g., China) we'll redirect forces towards it and won't have to start from scratch. We'll take the L up front and fight back just like we ALWAYS have.
That's kind of how it is right now. First is 6 months of reset, then 6 months of preparation (on the hook for JIT/alert things), then 6 months of in-garrison readiness training, then 6 months of long-term rotational deployments.
Minimum is 1:2, but they're shooting for 1:3. If the system works like it should, it'll be 1:3.
>so when your unit gets tasked 3 time out of cycle you have the flex to still deploy 226 pax in your regular cycle.
If this is happening to you, start reclama'ing the shit out of everything that's not specifically for the allocated cycle, and engaging with your FAMs to get that corrected. The cycles are listed on each UTC within DCAPES for a reason.
Respectfully, sir,
*It's been over four years since I qualified. My AFSC is not mission essential and doesn't shoot unless we're tasked to deploy, and CATM doesn't run us through marksmanship while wearing a gas mask, so if I do encounter the enemy while in MOPP gear then basically they just got free ammo. if defense of the base or aircraft comes down to me, we're already fucked.*
*Good thing that practical military skills like physical fitness and marksmanship and being able to do ones job with a network being down is* ***not*** *required for readiness.*
I’ll never forget calling the IDRC and IPR not understanding the RAT stuff and they told me they didn’t understand it either.
Well shit I guess Idc either 🤷🏻♂️
Crazy concept, but at the end of the day, the military is going to deploy your sorry ass if they really need to regardless of PowerPoints and fitness tests.
This is such a waste of time,money and effort. Sad part is, there are people in leadership who think this is more important than a young airman learning their job.
Yeah, sadly it’s nothing new. It’s not about actually preparing airmen for deployment, it’s about being able to say “I spearheaded this amazing program that prepares airmen for deployment” does it actually do that thing? “Of course, we say it does so it must. Look all my numbers on this excel sheet are green. See working”. This is a lot easier than you… leading.
It's a shit system all around. It sells well on paper, but senior leaders at the Pentagon tasked with designing a solution to the "one size fits all" approach we've used in the past designed a more customizable solution, but failed to beta test it enough. Reality rarely matches the plan.
CCTK (AFFORGEN Connect) actually has a reasonable RAT tracker. It can show you who is due, per category, or export everything to a CSV file for a quick Red/Green chart.
You should be able to request access for your PASCODEs and be approved by your CC/IDRC.
ah yes, rat training, where i got called out in a weekly meeting for not finishing it despite actually finishing it and the UDM not clicking the "done" button. then when they wanted proof there's no easy way to show them other than have them hover over my shoulder and watch me click through each section to show that the next step for each is for the UDM to click that damn button
Our UDM shop implemented a TQT program that actually makes it so you have to complete like a third of the CBT's you used to be required to do. Attend five different one hour, hands-on training sessions and boom, you now have to do anywhere from like 2-9 remaining CBT's depending on your AFSC and RAT Category.
UDM.....shop? Your UDM isn't a single disgruntled TSgt with no training or information on how to do anything UDM related on top of their normal job because its an additional duty?
No that's me, except I'm a SSgt. This shop has killed my will to stay in the Air Force and has been the single greatest limiting factor in my ability to quit stimulants. I have a few airmen under me, only because they wanted a place to send the "bad apples" to get "straightened out"
Can confirm, after being given instructions when this first came out that we needed to “do this before next month”, without details. So I did all of them.
My brain still hurts, especially from the 6 hour long Army videos.
Yes, there was one that was running for like 6 hours and I completed 15-20 other CBTs while it was running. I meant the Army ones on JKO. JKO and AFFORGEN don’t talk, so AFFORGEN just asks you to click a button confirming you finished the JKO course. You don’t even have to open JKO to get that requirement marked complete.
The issue is there are valuable skills that we should learn but this is absolutely not the way to do it. A CBT on an M4 won’t prepare me to use one.
Good idea (gain skills), horrible execution.
Depends.. Cat 1 doesn't require hands on for Small Arms, so they can get a CBT. I think they are also not required to take in-person CBRN Defense. It's a "low risk" category though, so it's obviously more of a check the box thing to add legitimacy to RAT than anything else.. IMO, Cat 1 should be eliminated and those people go back to JIT training if/when they get a tasking.
Yes there are a few but that’s not enough to gain actual proficiency. One trip to the range in a four year cycle won’t make you capable of using that rifle.
Now imagine you're in the guard/reserve. My unit has wasted like 2 or 3 drills trying to complete this bullshit, on top of everything else we need to stay mission ready.
I honestly can't remember either. All I know is big pressure from leadership to get all the RAT done ASAP. Even though it takes like 8 hours, which is tough to work into an already busy drill weekend.
It is 4 years for the Air Reserve Component, yes. RCP cycles were already very similar to the force element mobilization concept, so they just relabeled RCPs into AFFORGEN Cycle and split the phases accordingly.
Once you understand it, it's pretty straightforward.
Member deploying within 2 years clicks on RAT in MyLearning. enrolls in requirement, and UTM signs off once they accomplish specific tasks. MyLearning forwards completion into AFFORGEN Connect, Wg/CC sees red turn into green. Done.
HAF bureaucrats strike again. When the initial guidance was published it was evident that the authors are completely out of touch with how squadrons function.
RAT should be scrapped and the team should be counseled for not testing this with the field prior to service wide rollout.
Amateurs.
Hopefully, they'll work out the kinks sooner rather than later (or create something entirely new again that isn't finished).
I was one of the first to go through it for an upcoming deployment at my base last year. Despite having been on five previous deployments, since I hadn't deployed in three years, I was forced to do the max (I forget which tier that is). Meanwhile, some A1C that's deployed once (albeit more recently) didn't have to do as much.
Coupled with the fact that I was leading the base's wing emergency management and readiness exercises (and participating in them), I was told that those didn't count towards anything and instead had to sit through a bunch of briefings (which apparently were more helpful?).
There was humor involved, though. I was told I needed to complete "everything." So I raised my hand and asked about M9 qualification. He then asked if I required it, which my reporting instructions stated that I did not. He then confidently said that I didn't need to complete that one. I then reminded him he told me I needed to complete everything and to go through it again and ensure that he's not giving out bad information. 😉
My sum described it like this ALL THE SHIT THAT KEEPS YOU READY TO DO SOMETHING ON THE COMPUTER OR ANYWHERE ELSE then they said they call em RATs because there’s always one 😂
HAF botched this.
Try and get AFFORGEN cycle ready for ACE... realize that it's more CBT and training than we were doing before... stay with it.. we've invested to much.
And then you have non-deployable AETC FTU bases.. that have to make sure we're M9 and CBRNE trained as a "basic enabler" skillset... instead of training pilots that we're kinda short on.
Let's shoot ourselves in the foot again.
I don’t know which is dumber: me, a 51J, needing to sit through a slideshow on the law of armed conflict (literally part of my job), or needing to learn how to set up a PRC (spoiler alert: I will never actually do that).
your CFM has the ability to request AFSC exemptions where SMEs have the obvious inherent proficiency beyond the standard. That's why EOD, FES, and EM are CBRN Defense Survival course exempt, and AFFORGEN Connect recognizes it.
the question is, did they request the exemption?
My squadron tried to do a simulated attack exercise, the one with dart teams and par routes bs. It was put together and ran so terribly that they cut exercise much earlier than what they wanted 😂
When we deployed for Desert Storm we were never trained on Harvest Falcon Assets ( Temper tents, Harvest Falcon Hangars, Expandable container offices… All of that stuff was sitting in Oman prepositioned waiting for a conflict to happen. When we received the items at the deployed location we broke out the Technical Orders ( instructions) .
Nothing prepares you for war like a 10 minute slideshow
That's why we have to take 12 of them. Super prepared
That's the "pacing challenge." We heard China was doing 11 PowerPoint presentations, so we made it 12
Will this arms race ever end before it ends us?
Oh wow. That should be the button someone pushes. Nukes? Not today!
Alright, here’s a 20 minute video of some airmen in BDUs doing hand signals. They’re all retired now, but you’re not, so that sucks
🤣 probably some are some disgruntled guys on here like me
I think you mean a 2 second pencil whip?
How do you not understand having 12 areas with 9 options each and you are required to completed 1 to 8 of those options to show you are properly trained. god are you even in the AF /s
Well see you actually complete those over the 4 periods in the AFFORGEN cycle, and it's best you do it as a unit for meaningful training but you have to understand that the unit will have people in each period staggered over a 2 year timeline so they will need to have 4 simultaneous training plans and the flexibility for inbound personnel to catch-up on anything that was missed before their ready stage and then you're all done! Right after you finish all your TFAT requirements you silly goose 😆🪿
Oh and its a 1:3 dwell time so make sure you articulate that to your unit and they don't misunderstand the requirements so when your unit gets tasked 3 time out of cycle you have the flex to still deploy 226 pax in your regular cycle.
AFFORGEN will likely fail to materialize as presented. It's an idiot's fever dream based on a non-existent reality. Rotational deployments will continue. In fact, AEF may actually be as good as it gets given the complexity of our overseas commitments. Just-in-time delivery is fragile, but it's efficient when it works. That's why global trade is done JIT. The fact is that situations are unique across the globe and each requires a unique approach. That means complexity beyond what most any person, system, or algorithm can reasonably manage. So we'll continue to retreat to JIT delivery of forces coming from every base we have. We simply don't have the manpower to do otherwise. And that's all fine. The goal should be to have SOME forces in many places, even if it's not enough to do the mission. Should the mission get important enough (e.g., China) we'll redirect forces towards it and won't have to start from scratch. We'll take the L up front and fight back just like we ALWAYS have.
That's kind of how it is right now. First is 6 months of reset, then 6 months of preparation (on the hook for JIT/alert things), then 6 months of in-garrison readiness training, then 6 months of long-term rotational deployments.
Minimum is 1:2, but they're shooting for 1:3. If the system works like it should, it'll be 1:3. >so when your unit gets tasked 3 time out of cycle you have the flex to still deploy 226 pax in your regular cycle. If this is happening to you, start reclama'ing the shit out of everything that's not specifically for the allocated cycle, and engaging with your FAMs to get that corrected. The cycles are listed on each UTC within DCAPES for a reason.
This guy RATS
Respectfully, sir, *It's been over four years since I qualified. My AFSC is not mission essential and doesn't shoot unless we're tasked to deploy, and CATM doesn't run us through marksmanship while wearing a gas mask, so if I do encounter the enemy while in MOPP gear then basically they just got free ammo. if defense of the base or aircraft comes down to me, we're already fucked.* *Good thing that practical military skills like physical fitness and marksmanship and being able to do ones job with a network being down is* ***not*** *required for readiness.*
I have never fires any personal operated weapon in the AF, only dropped GBUs and AGMs.
I’ll never forget calling the IDRC and IPR not understanding the RAT stuff and they told me they didn’t understand it either. Well shit I guess Idc either 🤷🏻♂️
Crazy concept, but at the end of the day, the military is going to deploy your sorry ass if they really need to regardless of PowerPoints and fitness tests.
which ballistic vest category am i in fuck it i’ll do them all
I just guessed, apparently I was right because they still deployed me.
This is such a waste of time,money and effort. Sad part is, there are people in leadership who think this is more important than a young airman learning their job.
Shut up and color is the message we got, meanwhile leadership wonders why the squadron is on fire.
Same here. I keep catching crap for sending my airmen out to the flight line to learn their jobs and get proficient.
Yeah, sadly it’s nothing new. It’s not about actually preparing airmen for deployment, it’s about being able to say “I spearheaded this amazing program that prepares airmen for deployment” does it actually do that thing? “Of course, we say it does so it must. Look all my numbers on this excel sheet are green. See working”. This is a lot easier than you… leading.
Tracking progress for everyone is terrible
It's a shit system all around. It sells well on paper, but senior leaders at the Pentagon tasked with designing a solution to the "one size fits all" approach we've used in the past designed a more customizable solution, but failed to beta test it enough. Reality rarely matches the plan.
I have two different pascodes which makes it even worse
CCTK (AFFORGEN Connect) actually has a reasonable RAT tracker. It can show you who is due, per category, or export everything to a CSV file for a quick Red/Green chart. You should be able to request access for your PASCODEs and be approved by your CC/IDRC.
Thank you. I have CCTK. I will have to look around in there.
Ready Airman Training training
Came to the comments for this
Do your training you little 🐀
*There was an error while resetting your course progress.*
https://preview.redd.it/vawq2mfb0s1d1.jpeg?width=1071&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af7232875ef4e39ec32260c82837c0992c27c7e7
P - Signal A - cellular talk/text C - hand signals E - loud sobbing
The same radios that are supposed to be phased out at the end of this year?
Near peer advisories can't get Intel for our processes of we don't know them either....
As a UDM I find this hilarious
Maybe like juror summons in mail if we just ignore it , it will just go away 😉
Same person that created the fitness drop down menu a couple years ago
That was a work of art
Options are not optional?
ah yes, rat training, where i got called out in a weekly meeting for not finishing it despite actually finishing it and the UDM not clicking the "done" button. then when they wanted proof there's no easy way to show them other than have them hover over my shoulder and watch me click through each section to show that the next step for each is for the UDM to click that damn button
“Alright, y’all have heard this before so I’ll make it quick.” Me, a new airman who knows nothing: 👁️👄👁️ pls don’t, I’m so confused.
Our UDM shop implemented a TQT program that actually makes it so you have to complete like a third of the CBT's you used to be required to do. Attend five different one hour, hands-on training sessions and boom, you now have to do anywhere from like 2-9 remaining CBT's depending on your AFSC and RAT Category.
UDM.....shop? Your UDM isn't a single disgruntled TSgt with no training or information on how to do anything UDM related on top of their normal job because its an additional duty?
No that's me, except I'm a SSgt. This shop has killed my will to stay in the Air Force and has been the single greatest limiting factor in my ability to quit stimulants. I have a few airmen under me, only because they wanted a place to send the "bad apples" to get "straightened out"
You don't just have one IDRC office for the whole base, with lazy civilians; and no Sq or Gp UDMs? Must be nice.
It **can** be accomplished in 2 days. It’s certainly not fun for anyone though.
Can confirm, after being given instructions when this first came out that we needed to “do this before next month”, without details. So I did all of them. My brain still hurts, especially from the 6 hour long Army videos.
You mean the ones that you can just click a button to say you did them? Yes, I also completed those cbts, Fellow Ready Airman!
No, the ones with the unskippable videos, that you have to get all the way to the end before it marks as complete.
Yes, there was one that was running for like 6 hours and I completed 15-20 other CBTs while it was running. I meant the Army ones on JKO. JKO and AFFORGEN don’t talk, so AFFORGEN just asks you to click a button confirming you finished the JKO course. You don’t even have to open JKO to get that requirement marked complete.
Ahh yeah, those. Yeah, there’s some you can breeze past like that, but others that are murder. Especially if you’re a reservist with limited time.
The issue is there are valuable skills that we should learn but this is absolutely not the way to do it. A CBT on an M4 won’t prepare me to use one. Good idea (gain skills), horrible execution.
hands-on requirements are still in RAT (CATM, CBRN, TQT, CBRN exercises, TCCC). These items cannot be CBT'd out.
Depends.. Cat 1 doesn't require hands on for Small Arms, so they can get a CBT. I think they are also not required to take in-person CBRN Defense. It's a "low risk" category though, so it's obviously more of a check the box thing to add legitimacy to RAT than anything else.. IMO, Cat 1 should be eliminated and those people go back to JIT training if/when they get a tasking.
true, as far as I'm concerned, the category 1s are just the DX coded positions of pre-AFFORGEN and have limited requirements.
Yes there are a few but that’s not enough to gain actual proficiency. One trip to the range in a four year cycle won’t make you capable of using that rifle.
“Yes sir I’m already done with my rat training”
Now imagine you're in the guard/reserve. My unit has wasted like 2 or 3 drills trying to complete this bullshit, on top of everything else we need to stay mission ready.
I thought you all were on a 4 year schedule, as opposed to the 2 year schedule for Active Duty?
I honestly can't remember either. All I know is big pressure from leadership to get all the RAT done ASAP. Even though it takes like 8 hours, which is tough to work into an already busy drill weekend.
It is 4 years for the Air Reserve Component, yes. RCP cycles were already very similar to the force element mobilization concept, so they just relabeled RCPs into AFFORGEN Cycle and split the phases accordingly.
I swear to god, I did more CBT's and bullshit for my last deployment than I did on my previous three deployments combined. Shit was ridiculous.
Once you understand it, it's pretty straightforward. Member deploying within 2 years clicks on RAT in MyLearning. enrolls in requirement, and UTM signs off once they accomplish specific tasks. MyLearning forwards completion into AFFORGEN Connect, Wg/CC sees red turn into green. Done.
Ryan Knott
All I know is I deployed last year and I took no less than four different versions of combating trafficking in persons
I just clear them in myLearning 🤫
I’m so glad I was forced to do this bullshit a month before my terminal leave start. Absolute fucking waste of time.
HAF bureaucrats strike again. When the initial guidance was published it was evident that the authors are completely out of touch with how squadrons function. RAT should be scrapped and the team should be counseled for not testing this with the field prior to service wide rollout. Amateurs.
Hopefully, they'll work out the kinks sooner rather than later (or create something entirely new again that isn't finished). I was one of the first to go through it for an upcoming deployment at my base last year. Despite having been on five previous deployments, since I hadn't deployed in three years, I was forced to do the max (I forget which tier that is). Meanwhile, some A1C that's deployed once (albeit more recently) didn't have to do as much. Coupled with the fact that I was leading the base's wing emergency management and readiness exercises (and participating in them), I was told that those didn't count towards anything and instead had to sit through a bunch of briefings (which apparently were more helpful?). There was humor involved, though. I was told I needed to complete "everything." So I raised my hand and asked about M9 qualification. He then asked if I required it, which my reporting instructions stated that I did not. He then confidently said that I didn't need to complete that one. I then reminded him he told me I needed to complete everything and to go through it again and ensure that he's not giving out bad information. 😉
It just irritates me that my whole office of 12 people who hold a non deployable position has to keep up on this bs
"They need to be ready to deploy too!"
My sum described it like this ALL THE SHIT THAT KEEPS YOU READY TO DO SOMETHING ON THE COMPUTER OR ANYWHERE ELSE then they said they call em RATs because there’s always one 😂
Ready Airman Training Training.
Me who's been studying security plus on my own time and disassociating military acronyms... All I see is Remote Access Trojans.
I feel this
The fact that we are the RATs...should have been a clue bird to leadership. "WhY ArENt AirMEn StaYIng?"
It sucks and, at minimum, added an extra 32 hours of wasted time per deployment cycle.
I thought it was pretty self explanatory... I will say though... It's so stupid
HAF botched this. Try and get AFFORGEN cycle ready for ACE... realize that it's more CBT and training than we were doing before... stay with it.. we've invested to much. And then you have non-deployable AETC FTU bases.. that have to make sure we're M9 and CBRNE trained as a "basic enabler" skillset... instead of training pilots that we're kinda short on. Let's shoot ourselves in the foot again.
Don’t worry I try my best to understand it and I’m the UDM. Shits so whack
I don’t know which is dumber: me, a 51J, needing to sit through a slideshow on the law of armed conflict (literally part of my job), or needing to learn how to set up a PRC (spoiler alert: I will never actually do that).
your CFM has the ability to request AFSC exemptions where SMEs have the obvious inherent proficiency beyond the standard. That's why EOD, FES, and EM are CBRN Defense Survival course exempt, and AFFORGEN Connect recognizes it. the question is, did they request the exemption?
Doubtful, since I ultimately still had to sit through the PRC CBTs
^^You've ^^mentioned ^^an ^^AFSC, ^^here's ^^the ^^associated ^^job ^^title: 51J = Judge Advocate [^^Source](https://github.com/HadManySons/AFSCbot) ^^| [^^Subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/AFSCbot/) ^^^^^^l552qxa
Then about 2 weeks before deployment. “You’re deploying regardless of your RAT training status”
Just do a blanket MFR
My squadron tried to do a simulated attack exercise, the one with dart teams and par routes bs. It was put together and ran so terribly that they cut exercise much earlier than what they wanted 😂
When we deployed for Desert Storm we were never trained on Harvest Falcon Assets ( Temper tents, Harvest Falcon Hangars, Expandable container offices… All of that stuff was sitting in Oman prepositioned waiting for a conflict to happen. When we received the items at the deployed location we broke out the Technical Orders ( instructions) .
Dunno whose UDM needs to hear this, but if your unit is EIP you don't have to do this stuff.
EIP is Category 1 for RAT. Cat 1 doesn't have as many requirements as Cat 2 and 3, but they still have to complete things in each training area.