Ones Ready
A team of active duty Combat Control (CCT), Pararescue (PJ), and Special Reconnaissance (SR) leveraging our 69 years of special operations experience to make the next generation of operators smarter, faster and stronger than we ever were. We are the PREMIERE resource for all things Air Force Special Warfare. The Ones Ready Podcast is honest talk about what it is like to go from a know-nothing high school graduate to an elite Special Operator. We will cover important practices for success including physical training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset traits essential to any team. Join us in The Team Room to get all your questions answered!! With battle-tested operators from across USAF SPECWAR and far-reaching web of recruiters, subject matter experts, and friends, there are no questions we can’t answer- and if we can’t, we know exactly where to look. See you in The Team Room!Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the OnesReady team are those of the team and do not reflect the official policy or position of the DoD. Any content provided by our Podcast guests, bloggers, sponsors, or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign the DoD, any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone.
Ones Ready
Ep 564: $99 Million for “Coaching”? Air Force Contracting and Leadership Drift
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This one gets spicy.
Peaches, Aaron, and Trent dig into a $99 million Air Force coaching contract and ask the uncomfortable question: why are we outsourcing leadership?
When NCOs and officers are supposed to mentor, coach, correct, and develop their people, what happens when that responsibility gets handed to a third-party company? What are we losing in the process? Reps. Hard conversations. Ownership. Growth.
The guys break down contracting culture, institutional drift, how outsourcing became the easy button, and why paying civilians to “coach” Airmen might actually be robbing future leaders of the experience they need.
They also hit on PME, leadership development, range training, the difference between logistics support and skill outsourcing, and how money gets justified inside big systems.
It’s not anti-contractor. It’s anti-lazy leadership.
And yes… it ends with a gold medal hockey celebration because America.
⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro, sponsorship, and setting the tone
03:20 The problem with outsourcing leadership
07:10 Easy buttons and institutional drift
12:45 Range training, reps, and skill decay
18:30 $99 million coaching contract breakdown
23:50 Are we stealing growth from NCOs?
30:15 PME, mentorship, and hard conversations
36:40 When contractors make sense—and when they don’t
43:10 Leadership reps vs resume padding
49:30 Bridging contracts vs permanent crutches
53:40 Overtime hockey and national pride
🎯 Call-to-Actions:
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