Leaderboard

A few things I've learned/observed in my 30+ years of adulthood and 25+ years since being commisioned: 1. Military aviation requires near absolute precision and professionlism in planning, briefing, execution, and debriefing. I have never met a single officer (I know and have worked for many who are now or became GO's) who could maintain that high level in all facets of their careers and at all times. People need balance. Flyers need a forum where they can let loose. It used to be the Auger Inn at Randolph AFB (not sure if it still is). Mather AFB had their famous JOC night. Reese AFB had the Smokin' Hole. Eielson had the "Club". Many squadrons had their own bars, like Moody's at Red Flag. These were/are places where aviators could go, be irreverent, be bawdy, be undisciplined, and be on a somewhat level field with leadership. How many here have seen their Wing CC with sleeves rolled up having a beer or playing crud or smoking a stogie? When you do, at that moment he is one of you. How often does that happen now? Probably not much. Base Ops offers a welcome alternative to places that are mostly long gone. The squadron bar has replaced the squadron bars and O'Clubs and the NSFW forums have replaced the doofer books. 2. When a dude walks into a bar looking for a fight, he will most likely find it while lookling like a jackass. He will look it even more when he gets indignant when he gets his ass kicked. 3. When someone thinks they are in the midst of assholes, they probably should take a step back and think about who the common denominator is. 4. Differing opinons are usually heard when offered in a credible well thought out manner. It is possible to be right in one's opinion, but completely wrong headed in expressing it (being an ass about it). That usually tunes people out. Joseph McCarthy was right about Communists in government and Hollywood, but was such an ass that he was marginalized and eventually not heard. The louder one yells while trying to force their views on others, the deeper the fingers go into the ears of those who are subjected to the rant. At some point it morphs from peers hearing a guy expressing an opinion to peers seeing that guy being a jackass. Then the focus is no longer on the opinion, but on the jackass It is good to know when that point is reached. 5. A small dose of humility goes a long way. One does not compromise their integrity by allowing that they may be wrong about something or that they made a mistake. I've seen commanders fess up in a debrief and they won lots of respect points by doing so. I've seen a Red Flag deployed forces commander sit himself down for not maintaining his altitude block. Good on him. I've also seen or heard of commanders who tried to ignore obvious mistakes to save face. They came across as jackasses. If a person communicates to others in a condesending fashion, they can expect likewise, regardless if their point if valid. Example of humility - my spelling sucks, so I'm sure there is a mistake somewhere in this post. I believe we grow intellectually stale if we only expose ourselves to things with which we agree and believe differing views are welcome here when offered in a credible fashion. . One needs to have thick skin and be willing and able to defend one's differeing view. One garners respect when one does that when challenged instead of reacting with a tantrum. Again, the issue then morphs from a differing viewpoint to a jackass having a tantrum. Enjoy the forums guys (and Mustache Sally). Keep posting and I'll keep reading. Regards, RF

Like a clown on fire...

Vanguard for investments. Personal Capital if you like to see all your investments in one place. I use Barclays for my emergency fund. I'm getting 0.9% (terrible, but 9x better than USAA savings was). Other banks have topped Barclays since I joined, but only by a little bit...not enough to switch yet. Search here. For checking, you can get some pretty great rates if you're willing to look and jump through some hoops. Look here. I still have USAA checking, but once I'm off AD, I'll look around for better deals.

Bingo...I made my previous comment somewhat tongue in cheek and with this exact thought in mind Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You don't, but you should. That way performance comparisons are easier and don't require some super secret code. The expectations and responsibilities of maintenance, intel, and even mobility vs fighter (one could argue) career fields are so different that we wind up with absurd discriminators like Christmas parties, volunteer hours, and AAD that mean nothing.

Go with the mission and aircraft you think you're gonna love. Don't sweat anything else. Anywhere in AFSOC is gonna give you an awesome career puttin the hurt on bad guys, you'll be surrounded by some of the best people you'll end up meeting in your life.

As I have said several times on this forum, I love that airplane and forever owe it much gratitude. However, if you like being a pilot and flying the airplane, go Talons. First mobility a/c into EVERY combat zone and HADR area for the last 13 years. Standing by lame Gatorade/gym equipment joke from those who don't really get it...

Shouldn't the peers you're being compared to be the peers in your career field? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fixed it for you.

I do truly look forward to PYBs annual unmasking & eventual frothing-at-the-mouth shit hemmorhages. There isn't enough popcorn in the world. My wife just asked me what I was so intently reading & I didn't even know where to start. "Well honey, there's this guy who is in the Air Force by day, but at night he gets in his armored Mitsubishi Eclipse and combats imaginary Constitutional slights & talks to himself online a lot. He's basically a schizophrenic batman."

I apologize for calling you a raging tool. I underestimated you and I am sorry. I hereby promote you to "Turbo-douche-rocket".

I didn't know Strike Pig drivers could tell time. I thought they just took a WSO with them everywhere to have the time read to them on command. That said, that's a slick lookin' timepiece.

Nope, it's just starting to get good.

Do you ever get tired of carrying that soap box around?

If you don't learn to spell Hurlburt you will be sent to Cannon.

I usually don't listen to people who talk about a particular MDS's lifestyle, then state they don't fly it.

There is no decline here. As long as there are good dudes willing to mentor the willing and the willing accept debriefing accordingly there is no drama. I have lurked here since 2003 as a young ROTC puke, with dreams dashed of flying the a10Read my thread about IFF... to flying the b1 to now flying in afsoc I don't understand the drama here. I have received advice from CGOs as a Cadet and have been schooled by senior leaders all as a result of being affiliated with this site. I hope I'm still here in 10 years contributing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The reason why promotion boards love the SOS DG discriminator is because it's the first time since you commissioned that you are stratified against all your peers regardless of your career field..