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A very good friend of mine knew many of these guys. This is what he posted on his web site recently as a final fairwell to his friends. Rob Reeves was my point man, he was an absolute stud. I remember on a training mission in Florida we were swimming for about 12-hours and Robs flotation in his ruck sack busted and his ruck sank. We were in about 100ft of water and about 8-hours into it I finally noticed he was struggling. The situation was not fun and we were getting very cold. I asked Rob if he wanted me to take his Ruck since I was a strong swimmer and he simply looked at me and smiled and said “No I need the practice”. That was Rob he was compassionate and at the flip of a light switch he was an animal. He kept me safe on the streets of Mosul more times than I can count and kept me calm when I had to deal with some less than motivated people. Rob was true southern gentleman. Rob had over 3000 people come to his funeral. Jonas Kelsall and Rob were high school best freinds, Jonas was an Officer and Rob was enlisted so the humor and jokes were in full force at all times. On the same training mission as the one above we finally got to our extract point 5-hours overdue. The weather was less than desireable. Jonas was waiting for us on the boats, the boat team wanted to leave and come back later to get us but Jonas wouldnt have it. He stayed in place for hours in the rain and wind and waves. The whole crew was seasick but Jonas refused to leave us out there for the night. When we got onboard Jonas could see were were smoked, most of us couldnt get on the boats by ourselves because our legs wouldnt work anymore so he hauled us and our gear aboard. As I was sitting there very unhappy Jonas handed me a beer. He just said “I thought you could use this”. It was one of the best beers of my life. Chris Campbell and I met each other in 1997, Chris was an awesome dude and never lost his temper at anything. One time we were in Baghdad preparing to go out for raid and Chris got white out in his goggles and crashed his vehicle into a chain link fence. He looked at all of us smiled and said “my bad”. That was Chris, calm, unflappable. That same night since Chris’s vehicle was out of commission he was moved to the gunner of another vehicle. We got into some heat and during the middle of the chaos Chris looked down at me kicked me in the shoulder and said in the calmest voice “excuse me Taco would you mind handing me another box of ammo”. I screamed back handed him the ammo and he said in the calmest voice “thank you”. My heartrate was 210 his was about 50. Heath Robinson was the most private person I ever met. Heath never spoke about anything personal. Heath was the epitamy of professional, he was a physical beast, a world class shooter and a complete warrior. Heath was a born leader and the only person I ever tried to emulate. Heath was small but he was very scary. He had the most intense look in his eyes when he was working and his work ethic was legendary. Heath was a man of few words and his actions spoke volumes. Heath refused to lose at anything, he never boasted but when it was time to compete he would push himself so hard and drive himself to complete exhaustion. I do not remember Heath ever losing any run or swim in the whole time I knew him. Even when he was hurt he still refused to lose. As soon as he finished he would turn around and run back to the end of the pack and run with whoever was last. He didnt say anything he just ran side by side with them. Heath was a great teammate and a great person. Jon Tumlimson was one of the best guys I ever met. I was an instructor when JT started his carrer and I remember how stoic he was during Hell Week. He was the rock of his boat crew. After he graduated I had the pleasure of teaching JT about Breaching and advanced diving operations. He was a great student and a great person. JT was always happy and always down to earth. Matt Mason his wife Jessica and Leilani were close freinds. Leilani helped them find there first home. The budget of an E-5 Seal in the 90′s was less than desireable. Leilani showed them so many houses and they were always so appreciative. Matt loved his wife and would not settle for a house that was not the best he could afford. Matt’s family was all that mattered, he hated to leave Jessica but he had the disease of a warrior. He hated to leave but he hated to be away from work. Matt made Chief in 7-years which shows how much his teammates respected him. Matt’s three sons will never know the trusted and professional warrior I knew but they will never doubt how much there father loved them.

As a long time enlisted man, I don't sympathize. Both parents don't NEED to work. You just need to cut your f'in expenses. You don't get paid like that. Your wife should stay home and watch your kids. You are a sucky parent, if your wife doesn't raise your kids and your kids will suffer for it. My wife and I would rather be dipped in shit, than to have someone else raise our kids - especially the government. As far as the pay goes, that is the deal you signed. If you want to get paid like an O, go be an O. Grow up. Where else can you walk out of high school into a good paying job with the best bennies anywhere and a retirement at the end? Oh and they pay for your school? My Master's is almost done and I owe nothing to anyone. Man the fvck up.

False. *Standing by for negative replies*

That's fine and all, even though I'm not sure why that would matter. The real question is, what's the third verse of the AF song?

Three thoughts on this. 1) Chaplains aren't frequently discussed on this forum, but hats off to the Chaplain for providing feedback to the Chief -> 2) Someone needs to discuss what a "Bottom Line" is. This guy has three of them. 3) Question for the Weapons Officers - when you cast dispersions, what is the anticipated CEP? I've heard of casting aspersions, but maybe he was going for something different.

TAC Airlifter wrote this a while back in another thread. Hope you don't mind the repost, but it's spot on.

So now a sortie is defined as a group of Airmen with more inportant shit to do getting Chiefed? This absurd abuse of aviator terminology has got to stop.

I'm no expert on 35-10, but isn't there a line in there that says, roughly, "Don't ride a fucking camel in uniform"??

Apparently the good Chief doesn't know his own uniform wear regs...as seen on the Military Times forum. "Chief, those aren't sunglasses I see hanging around your neck, right?"

Hey Chief, While you were busy chasing that mouse around the room, did you happen to notice the hungry lion eyeballing you from the corner? His name is "Mission." Great job missing that 1M target, shitbag. If any of you aircrew Os are out walking around ASAB and this douchenozzle quizzes any of your Es on this creed, interrupt them, tell them to recite their Boldface, and press. Then explain to the Chief that your airmen have more important things in their "1 and 5M zones."

The DOD is a government organization and the government doesn't believe in financial planning.

Bashing TIB NEVER gets old!

We already give higher BAH, COLA, etc. for "with dependents." People can choose to use that extra money wisely or they can get a bigger house they don't need. Either way, there's enough of that already and we don't need any more extras. People just need to be responsible. It's not always a choice dude. Not saying there's not some merit to what you said based on SOME people, but your statement does not apply to everyone with kids.

Really? That's your first "broken window?" Not any of the "small" failures I see daily when people are fooking up their primary duties? And I'm glad we're being treated like criminals (literally) in that there is no room for discretion or judgement, good thing we got all those fancy master's degrees and years of flight training. The line that borrows from Patton saying "if you can't roll your sleeves down how do I know you're gonna complete all items on the checklist" is literally the #1 problem I've seen in shoe clerk mentality...seen it from desert diamonds while deployed and wing leadership while at home. It assumes the human mind is not capable of judgement or weighing the importance of one task vs another. We might as well all be robots with that outlook...robots with hitler-esque mustaches and tucked in shirts.

What's wrong with the Air Force? The Air Force used to be this: And now the Air Force is this: Well Chief REMF you can take that "history/heritage" and do the following: 1) Roll it in a cone 2) Sit on it and spin 3) Recite Airman's Creed I fear the day when I am in combat, and right before I engage a target I get asked "Did you fill out the form properly? You are not allowed to engage the target because you didn't check the box properly."

If I was forced to go, I'd probably first get drunk and then proceed to over-sarcasticly cheer for all of their songs. Perhaps shout my request for Free Bird every 6-9 minutes.

His messages look like my TUIU papers. About 2 paragraphs worth of actual content he wants to expressed crammed into 4 pages.

Do we have to keep making statements in the form of a question? You bet!

Does Scott Bakula count?

I think most officers don't understand the reality of the average elisted family. Most young familes in the Air Force have either both parents in the Air Force or one in the Air Force and another employed elsewhere. Since we have decided to pay our enlisted kids somewhere at or below the poverty level (hence the second working parent), providing some form of child care for working parents is mission required. The fact is that your bridge doesn't keep airplanes turning. Having an organization that supports young families does. Nobody is prying money out of your hands. Instead, we're taking the profits from the company store and applying it to the areas that would best improve the overall base quality of life. Could the store be better? Yes. Are the laws that govern military construction asinine? Absolutely. Is it wise that AAFES and DECA are legally seperated? Probably not. Is accessesable and affordable child care a mission requirement for a base? Definately.

No, to some people the US military has become a full-time extension of ROTC field training or basic training. To them, that's all it's about...haircuts, tucked shirts and reciting creeds. To the rest of us, the haircut/tucked shirts/creed thing was merely an exercise designed to instill certain thought patterns in people's minds and weed out those that can't hack it or adapt. It's a means to an end, not the end in itself. Apparently a lot of people haven't figured that out.

Except you aren't in combat sir, you are simply a REMF at OKAS. Those of us in combat will respectfully decline your offer to augment our warrior spirit with shameful frolicking.

Gravitational effect of those huge balls of steel.

And to think that there are still some UPT FLT/CC's and SQ/CC's who bring in studs and question them on their decision to put Helo's #1 on their dream sheet...

Quick question, why does everyone suddenly care that morale patches are not authorized? Last time I checked they have been verboten for quite some time.

Amazing how the Jr enlisted, despite supposedly being paid poverty level wages, manage to have 2 cars, 2 cell phones, satellite TV, Internet, and all the other necessities. Maybe that's why both parents work. The BX isn't supplementing their low pay, it's subsidizing their stupid spending habits.

My point is if you CHOOSE to have kids, don't expect me (or anyone else) to subsidize your financial choice. That's like saying we should add a basic allowance for a new car to the paycheck. The return on investment may be different, but having a kid is no less of a financial choice than buying a car, and the same considerations should apply, chief among them being "CAN I AFFORD TO MAKE THIS CHOICE?" Unfortunately people have this blinding desire to have a few kids, and then walk around hat in hand expecting everyone else to cover them.