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DFAS is quick to take and slow to pay. I've been fortunate in only being shorted by DFAS twice, once to the tune of $250/mo which took about 3 months to fix, and once by about $100/mo which they actually fixed automatically the next month. One of our Soldier's pay got all kinds of hosed up when our CSM put him on a ship transiting from one of the Carolinas to Bahrain, during which time the Soldier's contract ran out. Travel vouchers are a whole different ball game. It took them roughly 6 months to pay me $5,000 worth of travel which I had to cover out of pocket in the meantime. Fortunately, I could do that without missing bills, but technically any time you travel, you sign something saying that if the government fucks up and doesn't pay in time, you have to cover it out of pocket. If I'd had less money available, I wouldn't be able to cover the bills, but my command would be allowed to hound me about it and give me negative reviews, and the credit card company could harm my credit. A coworker of mine just got $1500 he was owed from 14 months ago, due to travel. When new personnel join my cell, which travels quite a bit, we warn them to set aside a few thousand dollars in case of travel fuckups. edit: the people who suddenly get paid triple salary, spend it all, then cry about it when the government gives them a "no pay due" paycheck when they figure out they have been overpaying the employee are idiots. mlmp08 fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Jul 10, 2013 |
# ? Jul 10, 2013 00:51 |
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# ? May 27, 2024 02:15 |
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mlmp08 posted:DFAS is quick to take and slow to pay. I've been fortunate in only being shorted by DFAS twice, once to the tune of $250/mo which took about 3 months to fix, and once by about $100/mo which they actually fixed automatically the next month. One of our Soldier's pay got all kinds of hosed up when our CSM put him on a ship transiting from one of the Carolinas to Bahrain, during which time the Soldier's contract ran out. Canada uses PeopleSoft to manage its pay system, and aside from the implementation surrounding this system several years ago from what I have seen there have been relatively few fuckups, but we're also only paying around 90-100k Regular Force and Reserve personnel.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 11:04 |
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mlmp08 posted:DFAS is quick to take and slow to pay. I've been fortunate in only being shorted by DFAS twice, once to the tune of $250/mo which took about 3 months to fix, and once by about $100/mo which they actually fixed automatically the next month. One of our Soldier's pay got all kinds of hosed up when our CSM put him on a ship transiting from one of the Carolinas to Bahrain, during which time the Soldier's contract ran out. I got a $7000 les once as an E-3, they wouldn't let me pay it back at once, i just had no pay due for a while
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 12:30 |
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Cyrano4747 posted:I figured TFR would be interested in this at least a bit, but didn't really know if this would fit in the news thread. That's pretty standard, that's also why
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 13:00 |
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mlmp08 posted:
Yes. The idiot finalizing my travel voucher should have just clicked "submit" on all three of my back-to-back-to-back claims. Instead, he put the full amount I owed on my GTCC on all claims. So CitiBank gets triple payment, and I get two travel vouchers for $0. How's two months at $116/day per diem turn into $0 for me? I get a statement from Citi, and they've got a MASSIVE credit on my account. One call to them later, and I have a cashier's check for a couple months of per diem. That was nice of Citi. It's better than last years' travel, though. Instead of putting my GTCC balance on one claim, he put 0 for everything. Now I have to pay two months' lodging and rental out of my pocket, MONTHS after my claim was liquidated, because those bills moved at the speed of mail, instead of electronically, like everything else.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 16:13 |
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Why can't we replace that legion of idiots with more computers / new software? (outside of putting thousands of people out of work I guess) e: nevermind, trying to issue a contract to overhaul that pay system would take at least two-three go-arounds before something even worse is deployed movax fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jul 10, 2013 |
# ? Jul 10, 2013 16:23 |
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movax posted:Why can't we replace that legion of idiots with computers? (outside of putting thousands of people out of work I guess) Totally non-military answer here but: Look at the average age of the people making decisions for the military. Now imagine trying to teach your 65 year old father about online banking, much less how to use his smartphone as a tool to manage his finances.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 16:32 |
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Cyrano4747 posted:Totally non-military answer here but: Well except when you Dad knows more about computers and tech than you do also was a former Marine. They aren't all intransigent about new tech. I'd say it's more the inertia of the system that already exists and the desire by those who run it or have the biggest vested interest in not changing preventing innovation.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 16:43 |
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It's called Mypay and it's central to the problem Between DFAS, VA, the active duty medical system, supply, infosec and basically everything the military does not explicitly dedicated to putting warheads on foreheads, it baffles me when civilians want the feds in charge of anything more critical than watering a pet rock.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 17:06 |
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Yes. The idiot finalizing my travel voucher should have just clicked "submit" on all three of my back-to-back-to-back claims. Instead, he put the full amount I owed on my GTCC on all claims. So CitiBank gets triple payment, and I get two travel vouchers for $0. How's two months at $116/day per diem turn into $0 for me? At least we're back on the GTC CC instead of that stupid CSA, what a loving waste of time that was. I don't think I ever actually got that poo poo through DTS fast enough for any TDY to get the funds loaded a single time, so instead I have to go track down the FM and get them to put a temporary spending limit for every loving trip. It still bogggles my mind that somebody thought that poo poo was a good idea and would somehow prevent idiots from loving up and misusing their GTCs.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 17:11 |
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movax posted:Why can't we replace that legion of idiots with more computers / new software? (outside of putting thousands of people out of work I guess) To be honest, now's the right time to commission stuff like this, what with so many people unemployed and all. You don't need to pay so much to get good people, and once the system is built, you can use it for decades. But like the VA unfuckingbelievable clusterfuck, fixing this doesn't mint more political currency for people in Washington, so who cares? Leveraging the USA's position as a global communications hub to spy on everybody all the time, however...
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 18:08 |
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movax posted:Why can't we replace that legion of idiots with more computers / new software? (outside of putting thousands of people out of work I guess) Look at what they did with DTS. Now imagine that but 100 times worse. That would be the new pay system software.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 18:23 |
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Cool, the X-47B completed its first successful landing on a carrier (USS George HW Bush) today.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 18:55 |
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priznat posted:Cool, the X-47B completed its first successful landing on a carrier (USS George HW Bush) today. Somewhere, the Horten brothers are smiling.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 18:56 |
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After that they are packing the 2 prototypes off to a stud farm (naval aviation museum).
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 19:00 |
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Cyrano4747 posted:Totally non-military answer here but: We gently caress up simple poo poo like pay but still somehow operate the most advanced loving satellite communications/surveillance/etc network known to mankind.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 19:10 |
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movax posted:We gently caress up simple poo poo like pay but still somehow operate the most advanced loving satellite communications/surveillance/etc network known to mankind. There are dudes right now sitting all over the US remotely flying aircraft in combat on the other side of the world. Like that is literal science fiction poo poo right there. Those dudes will also spend a year trying to get their pay unfucked, and will probably just give up.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 19:17 |
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iyaayas01 posted:There are dudes right now sitting all over the US remotely flying aircraft in combat on the other side of the world. Like that is literal science fiction poo poo right there. The US Military: Can deliver a missile through a window anywhere in the world in 12 hours but can't do the same with a paycheck.
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# ? Jul 10, 2013 19:35 |
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Oh, I guess I forgot that they hosed me out of $400 five years ago and I just gave up after a year of bullshit. My more persistent friend got paid two years ago after dedicating a few dozen hours to getting his money.
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# ? Jul 11, 2013 00:03 |
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mlmp08 posted:Oh, I guess I forgot that they hosed me out of $400 five years ago and I just gave up after a year of bullshit. My more persistent friend got paid two years ago after dedicating a few dozen hours to getting his money. How else did you think they were going to pay for the USS George HW Bush?
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# ? Jul 11, 2013 03:53 |
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Hey look what I'm going to see tomorrow: http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/Air-Stations/RNAS-Yeovilton/Air-Day-2013/Display-Aircraft Not sure why I'm posting about it. Well, see ya.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 11:10 |
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fuf posted:Hey look what I'm going to see tomorrow: If you don't at least get good pictures of the Vulcan you're a bad poster. Delete all the apps off your smartphone and just shoot video all day.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 11:21 |
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So I turned on the military channel this morning to some show about the Navy training sea lions and dolphins, and at one point, they referred to the trained sea lion as a "Mk 5 Sea Lion." Is this a real designation?
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:09 |
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Napoleon I posted:So I turned on the military channel this morning to some show about the Navy training sea lions and dolphins, and at one point, they referred to the trained sea lion as a "Mk 5 Sea Lion." Is this a real designation? You should go ask Goons In Platoons. They're familiar with all sorts of fake SEALS.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:16 |
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Napoleon I posted:So I turned on the military channel this morning to some show about the Navy training sea lions and dolphins, and at one point, they referred to the trained sea lion as a "Mk 5 Sea Lion." Is this a real designation? Yes, although the designation refers to the entire system, not just the animal. http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Pacific/71500/Pages/FleetSystems.aspx quote:The MK 5 "QuickFind" system first demonstrated its capabilities when it recovered an ASROC (Anti Submarine Rocket) MK 17 from 180 feet of water in November of 1970. The MK 5 MMS became operational in 1975 and uses California sea lions to locate and attach recovery hardware to underwater objects such as practice mines. Some of these mines are equipped with a device called a pinger that sends out a tone to help the sea lion locate them. For this, the sea lion may have to dive to depths of 500 feet or more. The QuickFind system consists of a small rubber boat, a sea lion, and two or three handlers. When the boat arrives at the recovery site, the sea lion is sent over the side and given a bite plate to which an attachment device is mounted. The sea lion locates the object by using its exceptional low light vision and directional hearing to locate the undersea object. A strong line tied to the bite plate is payed out from the boat as the sea lion swims down and attaches the device. To be sure the connection is complete, the sea lion tests it by pulling back on the bite plate a few times. The sea lion then releases the bite plate and returns to the boat for a well-deserved reward of fish while the recovery vessel pulls the object to the surface.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:21 |
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PCjr sidecar posted:You should go ask Goons In Platoons. They're familiar with all sorts of fake SEALS. -A SOF Marine
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:21 |
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Napoleon I posted:So I turned on the military channel this morning to some show about the Navy training sea lions and dolphins, and at one point, they referred to the trained sea lion as a "Mk 5 Sea Lion." Is this a real designation? efb. But I have a picture so I win!
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:21 |
Grover, what about adding lasers to this program?
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:28 |
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Smiling Jack posted:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/05/wicked-lasers-shark/
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 14:38 |
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iyaayas01 posted:
That was genuinely cool! Now I know where some of my favorite clips of the safeguard program came from.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 18:26 |
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Beat cops get furloughed for sequester but the 'Sea lions find our lost toys' program marches full speed ahead. I mean I guess it beats that Army study on goldfish communication or whatever, but c'mon.
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# ? Jul 12, 2013 18:34 |
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Snowdens Secret posted:Beat cops get furloughed for sequester but the 'Sea lions find our lost toys' program marches full speed ahead. The sequester being really dumb in how cuts are handled is a feature, not a bug.
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# ? Jul 13, 2013 20:52 |
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mlmp08 posted:The sequester being really dumb in how cuts are handled is a feature, not a bug. YOU WILL REGRET THIS
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# ? Jul 14, 2013 16:58 |
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http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/268289/ An article talking about the Japanese attack on North Dakota during WW2.
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 20:05 |
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Naramyth posted:http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/268289/ Link no worky, although I'm going to hazard a guess that it's about those weather balloons strapped to incendiary devices?
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 21:54 |
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Cyrano4747 posted:Link no worky, although I'm going to hazard a guess that it's about those weather balloons strapped to incendiary devices? Yup. quote:It’s not big in the history books and it doesn’t get talked about at gatherings of World War II veterans. But on a wintry day in the final year of the war, Imperial Japan attacked North Dakota.
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 22:18 |
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mlmp08 posted:Oh, I guess I forgot that they hosed me out of $400 five years ago and I just gave up after a year of bullshit. My more persistent friend got paid two years ago after dedicating a few dozen hours to getting his money. Took me about 6 months to get the ~$20k they almost screwed me out of.
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 22:45 |
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USAF is apparently having some QF-4 drone troubles. http://blog.al.com/gulf-coast/2013/07/second_drone_in_a_week_crashes.html They've had 2 lose control and crash in the past week. This time it has shut down one of the major arteries through the area.
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# ? Jul 17, 2013 18:06 |
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In news.. All Sea Kings are currently grounded while coming up on their 50th year in service. Damage to the HMCS Corner Brook (ex-brit upholder class submarine) is a lot worse than initially let on. Only 2 of the 4 submarines obtained from the brits back in 1998 are in active service, with one fresh from a refit that took 3 years longer than anticipated. And then there is the whole F-35 procurement thing coming up again with bids being tendered but is probably all a farce anyway because the RCAF has pretty much decided they must have F-35s. Fuuuuuuuck
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# ? Jul 17, 2013 18:17 |
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# ? May 27, 2024 02:15 |
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n0tqu1tesane posted:USAF is apparently having some QF-4 drone troubles. USAF/USAAF has a long and storied history of losing control of target drones. Page back in the thread far enough and I'm pretty sure there's a really loving hilarious article about the multiple, multiple attempts to shoot down a Bearcat-turned-target drone in the 50s or 60s. They were afraid it was going to crash into an inhabited part of the general area around LA and ended up accidentally starting a bunch of brush fires and I think even strafing a neighborhood or something equally hosed up, only to have it finally run out of gas and just crumple into the side of a hill with no ill effects.
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# ? Jul 17, 2013 18:23 |