What are your honest opinions on the new Force Distribution (Air Force)? Have you seen a positive or negative effect?

I think it is stupid. They keep pushing tis "one team, one fight" B.S., and then make the EPR system cutthroat. Now it's whoever gets the most face time gets the 5.

I wondered if it was just my perception. It seemed that it was still the people who spent the time out of the shop that got the rate.
At the end of the day it isn't the person who knows you and sees your work day to day, it is the Commander who rates. I'm sure they do their best but they don't see what every person is doing, so if someone happens to work in the same office, or has an eloquent flight chief that can spin it the right way, they get the rate.

It is a hot chocolate steaming mess...what pisses me off abut it is that in my unit I have 4 guys who have one multiple wing level awards, outstanding in the community, tops in their career field. the next unit over has 4 guys who show up when they can, never volunteer, uniforms look like they just rolled out of the bar...etc. I only get one allocation and they get one allocation so three of my stellar performers get the shaft because one of the others get the other allocation...how is that right?

I'm not a fan. I stood out in my shop for my hard work, got hand picked for a "special duty" outside of my work section, and received a promote....because I'm average.

It all depends. I have to say I see more of the good old boy club nowadays since this went live. I know there are a bunch of those blued up guys that will try to defend it, but the reality is that they are losing the respect of a lot of our great NCOs because true leadership isn't valued now. Managers are what it seems they want instead.

In my experience of the military rating system the people who work hard rarely promote very far because the command needs them to work and do the mission because we need to do more with less. The people who promote are the few who are given the opportunity to develop their career to meet the goals to meet the rank two levels above where they currently are at present.
I have seen excellent leaders who the enlisted would follow to hell and back get over looked because they work and don’t delegate most of all of their tasks others and claim it as their own work. Of course this happens in the civilian world too. I have witnessed th
is rot throughout the military and business world and it has only been getting worse.
General LeMay required his Officers and Senior Enlisted to work hard alongside their men and hold their morals high at all times. This article address some of the issues we are currently dealing with: http://www.jqpublicblog.com/annual-gathering-of-air-force-generals-showcases-manpower-abuse-of-runaway-vip-culture/
Rating should not even be the number one issue with manning at such low levels according to General Welsh: http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/12/01/welsh-sounds-alarm-on-undermanned-air-force/76617202/
Because of the two issues above you can see the results of this stress on the Force from this article:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/17/air-force-cant-get-its-suicide-rate-under-control/#ixzz46TRwbehg
There is a lot of lip service about supporting the military but our country only seems to care when they need them or someone important is affected by the issue. Many ordinary family are affected by these strains and they are some of the best our country has to offer. These men and women volunteered to serve during war time with the possibility of being separated from their families and even dying in combat.
In my two tours as a critical care nurse and a critical care air transport (CCAT) nurse in Afghanistan I saw what our military was doing. Some were working between, 10 to 20 hours a day, 5 to 7 days a week (50 to 140 hours/week) for up to 50 out of 52 weeks! For about $2000/month for an E-3 with 2 years, and an E-5 is around $3,000/month with 8 years in plus benefits. Now this is a 2016 pay scale. http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp
So when you talk about rating people who are willing to voluntarily work under these conditions? I think that even if they are doing a fair poor job they at least stepped up. They are part of the .75% of the population who are willing to do what no one else will do! Especially the lower ranks! I have been other an Enlisted and an Officer. Served for over 17 years before being medically retired. https://www.linkedin.com/in/strawjason
I have the highest respect for everyone in the service. I pray our leadership steps up and meets the challenge of being the leaders our military needs and that Congress provides the funds and personnel to the military so they can do the missions in a way that doesn’t break our these fine service members and disgrace them. God bless The military and our Government. May God bless us for years to come.

In reality, it is a good ol' boy way of rating people. The booster club panels are seen by the commander; organizing events, collecting money for the Christmas party, etc. When it comes time for the sit down to determine who gets the elusive 'Promote Now' and 'Must Promote', the panel members come to everyone's minds.

And I'm fine with that.

We all joined for different reasons; schooling, travel, volunteer, steady paycheck, whatever. I personally joined so I wouldn't have to go to school. I've always struggled in school. I work with my hands, I enjoy manual labor. I don't want that piece of paper saying I took 300 classes that have nothing to do with the degree I earned, just to sit behind a desk.

I've come to terms that I'm an average person and in the eyes of my leadership; an average NCO. But you ask any of my airmen about me, and I'm one of the best we have. Why? Because I don't beat around the bush with their feelings, I get out and get dirty and sweaty right beside them. I treat them like adults, but when I need to be an ass and put them in their place, they know I mean business. I've been called their best friend and worst enemy. Just yesterday, one of my airman told me he was more afraid of disappointing me than getting yelled at or paperwork from leadership.

I'll take a 'Promote' rating for that. That right there is worth not screaming through the ranks to play games behind a computer. That right there is why I joined.

I'm an average NCO, but damn, I'll be the best damn average NCO with little to no education or volunteer time for the airmen.

We had complained to the CMSAF through multiple iterations that the EPR system was inflated, that it was a pile of crap and that a firewall five meant nothing. Three CMSAFs in a row told us that it is our fault for inflating it and that we need to lead the charge to fix it. That wouldn't work though, because not enough people would actually do that and it would just end up hurting a few while everyone else carried on. Chief Cody said, "Fine, you don't want to or can't fix it? I can." Thus we have the FD model now. What i've seen at my unit is that the CC has a panel of the senior enlisted and officers, and we went through each package, last 3 EPRs and fitness reports and racked people. There were people that were "Not Ready Now" (even TSgts) and there were some that the competition was stiff to figure out who get the Promote Now and who the Must Promote. The people that I see complaining about it are the same entitled people that would say under the old system "I didn't kill anyone, where's my firewall five?" This is a culture shift, and we haven't even seen ONE iteration of promotions based on it yet. So honestly, those people yelling that it is a pile of unfair bullshit, your opinion is invalid to this point. You don't get to have a qualified opinion if you've seen none of the results of the process change. If you didn't get one of the top marks, talk to your Chief, your Operations Superintendent or whoever the equivalent is. They OWE you feedback on how you can do better. Or you can sit on your ass and complain about it. Honestly, if you are the type of NCO to not get in there and find out how you can play the new game better, I hope you don't get promoted because we don't need you. People see cutthroat moves and nobody appreciates it. We win as a team. Stop being selfish and expecting your Master stripe at 10; if you are bitching about not being promoted, you don't deserve the stripe anyway.

I spent 27 years in the military and a thing called diversity is plain as day discrimination. That's right. Minorities being promoted over whites. That is the fact most higher ups will not accept. I saw it all the time.

The complaints I see about the forced distribution process are because of 2 things: 1) the senior enlisted aren't ensuring that it is being implemented correctly and transparently, and 2) those that are complaining most are those that have no real insight to the process, which in case of # 2, see # 1.