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They booed the U.S. National Anthem, and we took the gold. #Suck it!

I was in New Zealand recently and on a whim, I managed to go out and fly a Pacific Aerospace CT/4 trainer. Fairly unknown in the US... I don't believe any are airworthy here. This one was the first of two prototypes, before it went into production in NZ. It was built in 1972. The pilot I flew with was one of the handful of former NZAF A-4K pilots (only 168 total), and is a pretty accomplished warbird pilot. We did some sightseeing, AHC, and light aerobatics. It was "different". Really enjoyed getting to fly a piece of NZ aviation history.

The kid is going to lose his shit if the 35's, Hornets and Vipers get the kills and he left holding a balloon (marking).

Glad to hear we have a strong OPSEC program.

Picked up my dream pistol, 1943 Remington Rand M1911A1, all parts are correct. This pistol was never overhauled or passed through the CMP. The holster is from 1918, has an unlegable name and service number written in pencil on it. I purchased that separately years back.

Something came out it

I've never been shot but I've flown a few helicopters and I think it's a tremendous accomplishment to fly a bus into a hot LZ with a few bullet holes in your body. Good job Slover.

Too Funny!

EPIC SAVE!!!! by Connor Hellebuyck😁

Got my RIP for Vance, IPT in November (requested later date). No info on IPT location.

Looks awful in my opinion. The light blue scheme was timeless on every airframe it was put on. This looks like some generic airline scheme from 1998.

The “both sides do it” argument in the context of what we’re talking about is lazy, dishonest, and willfully ignorant. Conservatives at scale are absolutely not rioting, looting, vandalizing, threatening people’s lives and livelihood, losing complete emotional control over everything, etc. The left on the other hand has and is continuing to do all of those things at scale. Do I need to list all of the very obvious examples and give you a list of personal experiences, or can you put the ego aside and recognize you’re blatantly wrong on the “both sides do it” bullshit? Of course I’m not saying you can’t point out some ultra right nut job who did something bad, or even point out a few. We also probably agree that politicians by and large are asshats, whether they have a D or R next to their name. But when it comes to at-scale violence, destruction and willful disregard for the law and societal norms, GTFO with this “both sides” bullshit. That doesn’t mean you have to like Trump or identify as an R, but you should acknowledge reality.

TL/DR: It depends entirely on the situation, but regardless I'm ready to be disarmed by a LEO. I'll fight it in court, not in the moment. It's about managing my own expectations and it all boils down to the officer and his/her assessment of the situation. If I talk to the sheriff in church as I walk by, I'm fine. She knows I'm armed. If I am the first responder who engages an active shooter in that same church, I fully expect that same sheriff to disarm me afterwards. A: the situation is over and shootings result in frayed nerves and shaking hands. B: evidence. The reason doesn't matter, I've decided before it all happens that I'm submitting to the proper authority. If the officer deems according policy/judgment that disarming me is advisable, I'm not resisting in the slightest. It might be a complete BS reason. There also might be a factor I don't know about. If I feel like my rights are getting trampled, that specific moment is NOT the time to take a stand. I must give the officer the benefit of the doubt. The officer is not required to reciprocate. In fact, the officer literally stays alive by NOT automatically giving people the benefit of the doubt. If it was wrong and/or illegal, we can figure that out in court...later...when loaded weapons aren't in play. I'm also of the opinion and experience that simply acting as described above will relieve any tension and most likely the officer will not escalate to disarming me. It's about expectations. If I act like I am superior with better legal knowledge than this officer, they can smell it, it's a red flag for them, and it does nothing to help the situation, regardless of how right I am. To use an analogy: I treat every police officer the same way I treat the range safety officer I've never met: With absolute deference to the authority they hold in that moment. Yes, some that suck. Most don't. But every single one should be treated with respect. If they prove undeserving, I bring it up with management later, not on the range.

Mostly this activist action against ICE is to distract the conversation from the electoral kryptonite of the MN welfare fraud scandal (and other states) They know the attention span of the public is short and they need a narrative they can spin against the Republicans in the mid terms This is a calculated planned funded political operation, a theater level action.

90% of these issues would be prevented if these state/local govts would just cooperate with DHS and hand over the convicted criminals with deatiners already. It's all planned.

Interestingly, Alex Pretti, Renee Goode and Laken Riley would ALL be alive if not for Joe Biden's open border policy.

To go more macro, there are cities with more deportations than Minne, but none of the Minne BS going on. Why is that? Well, it’s because these aren’t grassroots protests. This isn’t normal Americans who just really love illegal aliens. This is a calculated insurgency-style operation that is well organized, equipped, and funded. There are big actors behind this with the ultimate goal of delegitimizing the gov and hoping to instill increased support for communist/marxist values. The agitators are useful idiots. They’re petulant children who didn’t get their way in the election, and despite a vast majority of Americans demanding deportations and voting for it in Nov 24, these people don’t care. The left either gets their president/policies, or they’ll hold cities hostage via riot and unrest until they get what they want…or hopefully for all of us reasonable people, they get what they deserve this time around (held accountable for breaking the law). On the ICE actions front, I’ll say this: I’m always skeptical of the fed gov and our rights - I am far from a “worship the gov” guy. But I also know what it’s like to be in situations where you have milliseconds to make life/death decisions. So while there are issues and bad apples in any organization, including ICE, I also have to say a big GO FUCK YOURSELF to every douche bag out there who hasn’t been in a situation like mentioned above and has the luxury of freeze framing videos from multiple angles over and over.

In all seriousness, the threshold for getting an MoH as a living serviceman is incredibly high. And there's not one shred of doubt in my mind that this administration would happily violate the customary burdens for qualification so they could say that their operation had one more piece of flair on it. If the guy lives up to the standard set by previous recipients, then by all means. But getting shot and continuing the mission is not enough. And unfortunately for that pilot, everybody knows Trump is going to be pushing this as hard as he can, regardless of whether or not he deserves the medal.

The Struggle is real.

Sounds like typical big tech. We want those sweet DoD dollars, but we want to pretend like we stand for world peace and non-aggression. Fuck them. They should feel privileged to serve the military that created the world they profit so richly in.

ID to vote??? Racist, sexist, and a crime against democracy !!! ID to shovel snow? Absolutely required in the workers paradise by Comrade Mamdani. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/josephchalfant/2026/02/21/mamdani-snow-shoveling-n2671695

Looks like it was shot down

A recent T-38 class patch from Vance.

The mid-terms are shaping up to be a battle of the ick. Trump continues to run his mouth and say $hitty things, the Dems continue to actually do $hitty things. Look no further than New York City with new mayor Mamdani and his road to ruin in NYC. Promised to end sweeps of homeless camps, broke that promise less than 60 days in and restarted sweeps today. Published his $127 billion budget for its 8.4 million residents. In contrast, the entire state of Florida, with a population roughly three times larger (approx. 23 million), is considering a budget of around $113.6 to $115 billion. His budget has some interesting items and actions. a. $5.6M and $4.6M for racial equity programs. b. $835K for gender equity initiatives. c. Up to a 9.5% property tax hike. d. Cancelling the hiring of 5,000 police officers. e. $1 billion plan to establish a new Department of Community Safety. f. Withdrawing $229 million from this fund in fiscal year 2027. (64% of NYC teachers voted for him 🤣). g. Withdrawing $980 million from the city's rainy day fund. Ordering lots of popcorn to watch NYC turn into an even bigger crap hole.

'Til Valhalla, Big Duke Six!!

Mark Tape: Mamdani will be found in the future to be putting a lot of this tax money in his own pockets.

Thank you for proving my point in the very next post. Again, I look forward to your candidacy. But we both know that you're not going to do a damn thing but complain. Disgruntled indeed.

Found this in the store for you Huggy

My brother was the -135 boom who AR’d the B-1s. He made sure to rep Broncos Country.

Did you seriously just respond to him asking what you stand for/what your opinion is, with questions? Copy, you really are a 🤡

More big tanker stuff Concept MD-11 tanker and article with KC-10 pilot commentary (reposted from a forum) in the article. Seemed like a very realistic appraisal of the concept and practical implications Avgeekery.comToo Big For Its Own Good: Why A MD-11 Based Tanker Was Ne...Why didn't McDonnell Douglas make a serious attempt to sell a tanker version of the MD-11 tanker to the Air Force?Needs boom and pods but a good render nonetheless This is what we need back in the fleet (among others), a strategic tanker / cargo platform.

Inshallah

I feel sorry for the illegals who are taken advantage when they come here, but they shouldn't be here. We can't let in millions of unskilled people and expect our society to remain stable and prosperous. My wife had a friend who overstayed a tourist visa to secure work in restaurant. Her friend worked for that restaurant for a year without pay (was provided food from the restaurant and lived onsite) and when she demanded her back pay, the employer threatened to turn her into ICE (and to another employee they did the same thing to). She ended up going back to her home country without having gotten paid for a year's labor. We put her in touch with some NGOs that help illegals get their pay (illegal or not, nobody deserves to be taken advantage of like that) but none were able to help and so she went back home (she wanted to work in the US to earn money for her daughter's cancer treatment but wasn't able to find a job in her home country due to being past retirement age). At any rate, illegal immigration and fraudulent asylum migration will continue until the incentives are removed.

Aggressive ICE ops wouldn't be necessary if the Republicans in Congress would get off their asses and pass some laws that a) dramatically increased the penalties for employing illegals (i.e. seizure of business, heavy jail time, etc.), b) 50% tax on remittances, ban on illegals receiving any taxpayer funded assistance, c) bill their home countries for their education and medical care costs incurred in the US (and trade embargoes on those who don't pay up), and d) remove counting illegals in the Census for Congressional apportionment (which is why the Dems are fighting so hard to keep them here, plus the kickbacks and grift). Most would self-deport were these policies enacted and aggressive ICE ops wouldn't be necessary. But the Republicans in Congress are only pretending to oppose the Dems.

ICE has a legitimate function. They are not operating like this in red states because red states cooperate with the feds. If MN went back to cooperating, this type of activity wouldn't be necessary. Just because some radical Soros funded organizations are purposefully causing riots (or insurrections?) that are getting people killed, that doesn't mean law enforcement should cease. My kids throw temper tantrums occasionally. If my kids organize and throw a temper tantrum together, that doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly stop enforcing the rules as a parent. Give into that behavior as a parent or as a country and the only thing you can expect is that same tactic anytime they want something.

@Lord Ratner and @brabus already nailed it earlier. What we are seeing is useful idiots being useful. Yes, people have a right to protest and to have their voices heard, but in active law enforcement operations, law enforcement has the authority - which is something that people on the left just do not accept or comprehend. I'm not sure which. People have chat-grouped, reddited, or otherwise brained themselves into thinking that they can do whatever the hell they want and label it protesting and hence somehow legally insert themselves into some sort of "referee?" position that gets to be there calling balls and strikes, but then who also get to lightly skirmish at will when the play isn't going according to their own rule set? People have mistaken rights with license, which is a distinction that you're supposed to learn while writing civics essays in junior high school. Both Renee Good and Pretti appear to be people who never matured past their teenage rebellion years. Should either be dead? No. Do they deserve to have been killed? No. Did they engage in actions that led directly to their tragic, but justified deaths? Unfortunately, yes. I understand and accept that law enforcement is made up of people. People are imperfect. I see frat all the time in the sim. Thus, if I were to engage in such a protest, if things started to go sideways, I would immediately be completely compliant and non-threatening. You wouldn't see me struggling on the ground with 4 other officers while I was armed with a handgun. But this is also instructive as to the actual tactic and strategy being employed by the Left. Push things just far enough into the grey zone, that you provoke a violent or emotional response. Thus, Good and Pretti have done well, and served their purpose for the Left. Unfortunately, just like in 2020, this is part of a larger, coordinated operation meant to destabilize and delegitimize the government. The Federal government is helping somewhat, but then again, so is the Minnesota government. @Negat0ry is not worth responding to directly. The false equivalence between what Kyle Rittenhouse did along with whatever happened in Charlottesville is null and void right out the gate. No such struggles with law-enforcement took place. Even the terrorist MFer who ran over people at that protest in VA (useful idiot) surrendered peacefully. The difference is stark and could not be more clear. On the right, you have a true, grassroots, non-violent, response to the state abdicating its law-enforcement responsibility; the other is communist agitation which is apparently being sanctioned and coordinated by members within our government.

Interesting take........ Former Special Forces Warrant Officer gives his take on Minnesota protests: "What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t 'protest.' It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook." [As a former Special Forces Warrant Officer with multiple rotations running counterinsurgency ops—both hunting insurgents and trying to separate them from sympathetic populations—I’ve seen organized resistance up close. From Anbar to Helmand, the pattern is familiar: spotters, cutouts, dead drops (or modern equivalents), disciplined comms, role specialization, and a willingness to absorb casualties while bleeding the stronger force slowly. What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t “protest.” It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook. Signal groups at 1,000-member cap per zone. Dedicated roles: mobile chasers, plate checkers logging vehicle data into shared databases, 24/7 dispatch nodes vectoring assets, SALUTE-style reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) on suspected federal vehicles. Daily chat rotations and timed deletions to frustrate forensic recovery. Vetting processes for new joiners. Mutual aid from sympathetic locals (teachers providing cover, possible PD tip-offs on license plate lookups). Home-base coordination points. Rapid escalation from observation to physical obstruction—or worse. This isn’t spontaneous outrage. This is C2 (command and control) with redundancy, OPSEC hygiene, and task organization that would make a SF team sergeant nod in recognition. Replace “ICE agents” with “occupying coalition forces” and the structure maps almost 1:1 to early-stage urban cells we hunted in the mid-2000s. The most sobering part? It’s domestic. Funded, trained (somewhere), and directed by people who live in the same country they’re trying to paralyze law enforcement in. When your own citizens build and operate this level of parallel intelligence and rapid-response network against federal officers—complete with doxxing, vehicle pursuits, and harassment that’s already turned lethal—you’re no longer dealing with civil disobedience. You’re facing a distributed resistance that’s learned the lessons of successful insurgencies: stay below the kinetic threshold most of the time, force over-reaction when possible, maintain popular support through narrative, and never present a single center of gravity. I spent years training partner forces to dismantle exactly this kind of apparatus. Now pieces of it are standing up in American cities, enabled by elements of local government and civil society. That should keep every thinking American awake at night. Not because I want escalation. But because history shows these things don’t de-escalate on their own once the infrastructure exists and the cadre believe they’re winning the information war. We either recognize what we’re actually looking at—or we pretend it’s still just “activism” until the structures harden and spread. Your call, America. But from where I sit, this isn’t January 2026 politics anymore. It’s phase one of something we’ve spent decades trying to keep off our own soil.] - Eric Shwalm

The left has been against deporting illegal aliens for some time now. Using the media, “protests”, and one off tragic events to try to turn the public to their side is just the standard left trying to gain political points. You can be against LEO being too aggressive (and definitely be against them harming the innocent), be pro-2A, and also be for deporting illegal aliens…but let’s not pretend this is what the left is doing.

There's always at least two sides to every story. What I see is the product of someone who wasn't raise right nor trained in concealed carry correctly meeting what appear to be either poorly trained or poorly disciplined law enforcement agents. One of the things that was hammered into me in the multiple carry trainings I've done is that the first interaction you have with a law enforcement officer in the wild is stating "I'm concealed carrying" with a full description of where the weapon is while making no threatening movements. In short order I'd fully expecting to be disarmed and possibly restrained depending on the situation. I'm perfectly ok with being disarmed as it's for everyone's safety. We're on the same team: defending public safety. This guy was carrying, while recording, and then actively stepped between the police and someone they were interacting with. Wrong on so many levels. On the opposite side, 7 v 1 with one guy disarming the individual while not effectively communicating that he's done so all in the span of seconds with heated words and actions is a hell of a chaotic situation. It did not look like a well led and organized response to what had been a non-lethal event. But non-lethal goes lethal real fast. That's the end of my speculation with one caveat. I had the opportunity to do shoot/don't shoot live role playing training with sims. I failed all 5 scenarios, which is, according to the instructor, absolutely normal for a normal dude off the street. I came away knowing I needed more training. Use of force events are messy, complicated, confusing events with split-second decision making bearing life-long consequences for all involved. It convinced me that I have no place critiquing cops in shooting events. I am, however, fully convinced this is exactly the kind of event the extreme left agitators have been wanting out of all this so they can beat the drum of tyranny, get a political win by twisting the media narrative, then press their advantage once political leadership caves. It's all straight out of "Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals" by Saul Alinsky, which is the baseline organizers/agitator playbook. It's a disgusting abuse of ignorant, but largely innocent, protestors in the streets. The article from the marine highlighting that this is well organized and more of an insurgency than activism seems to fit the more I learn.

A LOT more assets have moved into place.

First time I've seen him walk back and correct himself on NATO deaths in afghanistan. I personally picked up far too many broken/dead Brits in the Helmand.