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You call it a novelty, I call it the coolest goddamn fucking thing I have ever had the incredible luck to do.

Weapons, ammo, water, MREs and medical supplies. If the US defaults, that's where the value is going to be. Everything else will be in Chaos. Your beachfront home will only have value if you can defend it.

A long but good article on the Millennial view of "Social Justice" and how terms, phrases or conversations are being changed in Orwellian fashion. The Patriarchy video is a good example. https://medium.com/@aristoNYC/social-justice-bullies-the-authoritarianism-of-millennial-social-justice-6bdb5ad3c9d3

Novelty has not worn off for me yet. In fact, the prospect of potentially being sent back to droids is keeping me from signing a quarter of a million dollar bonus.

You laugh... We have about 400 former 58 pilots in the Army non selected for aircraft transitions. They are clinging to the dream they will get to go over to UAS and try and finish their 20 instead of getting the big green GFY for all their years of pulling the cart. Both my Squadrons new UAS warrants are former 58 pilots. Those guys are the lucky ones.

News to me Latest I heard (today)- Candidates have to agree to attend either 18x (URT) or UPT upon acceptance of position. Candidate will find out which they are attending when the training dates drop. Makes it a craps shoot, so why not roll the dice.

She gives better ones while you're deployed! ZING.. I keed I keed. you left that one wide open (so to speak, or not I guess)

I see one gunship fan in a faraway land...check out the blue t-shirt, front and center. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/world/middleeast/isis-transforming-into-functioning-state-that-uses-terror-as-tool.html?_r=0

So what? I'm talking about liberty, not safety.

That would require leadership's allocuting to the assertions that: 1) morale is an actual primary duty competency-affecting driving factor and 2) morale is low amongst targeted groups. There is no indication senior leadership has any genuine interest to allocuting to either of those statements. Examples abound. SecAF talking in platitudes about the realities of ICBM work, the painful teeth pulling that was hearing about "pilot's being bored" as part of their excuse for the retention problem in front of Congress et al. Same goes for duty stations and the impact of PCS basing variances as a subset of this issue, both for stressed fields (which they can't even identify accurately without insulting the aggregate membership's intelligence) and for the general population at large. If I was an RPA victim, I'd SIE without batting an eye. A recat to a 4 year ADSC, GI bill and restarting my professional civilian life (flying or otherwise) upon exit, would still put me ahead in a decade's time than fulfilling an unwanted job for 10 years just to have to restart a process I'd be committed to starting the very day they gave me an RPA in the first place. Personally, that's why I went Guard/Reserve; as hard as I worked in high school and college/graduate school in order to position myself to merely gamble at the foot of the literal lottery that was getting a pilot slot, I just couldn't justify losing an entire decade's bet and getting pinched for an additional decade in a position where I wouldn't even be allowed to recover vocationally due to an extended military commitment. I would see no other place to go than SIE if they didn't offer me instant discharge or banked program like they offered folks in the early 90s. Game is chess, it ain't checkers. Take care of número uno...and I don't mean flight lead. Good luck to all.

While you can't refute the facts of that memo, it is full Kool-Aid. Never go full Kool-Aid. Maybe this is why I'll never be a wing commander, as I can't see myself writing something like that without wanting to immediately walk to the parking lot to suck-start a shotgun in my car due to the cognitive dissonance. The RPA community needs bodies, and it's what our nation's leadership has deemed our new reality. That is fine. However, do we need to sell it as a good deal? Our young LTs can read between the lines of that memo a mile away. If our young pups aren't smart enough to read between the lines and spot the "company message" being spouted, do we really want them as officers in our Air Force? The fact that these questions don't have official answers is a major fucking foul on the part of A1, IMHBAO. We've only been thinking about how to fix this manning problem for...uh...almost 10 years.

There are several things to keep in mind when using MARS Radio: Call on the primary frequency first. All MARS stations monitor the primary frequency both day and night. The secondary frequency is night US Time or when you are close to the MARS station and he can not hear you on the primary frequency. Some MARS station monitor the primary and secondary frequency at the same time. Give your approximate location if not classified. The MARS station can often improve reception if the operator knows which way to aim the antenna. Having the antenna pointed correctly can make the difference between "Loud and Clear" and "Weak, Barely Readable". The location does not have to be specific. The state or country if not the US or Canada is sufficient. The MARS station might give his location and ask which direction you are from him. Call multiple times. To avoid confusion, the only station that will answer you on the first call is the "Net Control" station. If "Net Control" does not hear you, other stations will respond after your second radio call. Also, if you are answered by an operator other than the net control, he will usually first contact the NCS to see who will handle your patch. Talk distinctly. Another station may be assigned to you based on your location and rotation of the operators. EXAMPLE RADIO CALL: "MARS RADIO. MARS RADIO, REACH 123, NORTH ATLANTIC, OVER" If after calling several times you do not get any response, you may wish to try again in 30 minutes when propagation may be different or try the secondary frequency. You may be moved to another frequency for better communication or if there is active traffic on the primary. Please pass this information on to other crews.

Members have from simple to large stations. I have a fairly large station with six HF transceivers, four HF power amplifiers and an array of antennas to cover all HF frequencies as well as VHF/UHF coverage. Photos can be seen at https://afa6bu.org. I usually monitor the phone patch net frequencies most of the time when home averaging 40 hours or more a week. Can do other things while monitoring. When not on the net or at the same time, I also do support with the US Coast Guard through their Auxiliary and chase working as many countries as I can. Have just over 300 worked up to now.

Thanks to b1bhandler and others for your comments and they are most appreciated. As a member of the MARS phone patch net and seeing the recent comments, I thought I would provide some accurate information on the current net. We are members of the Air Force MARS program. Sprint used to provide phone cards but has pretty much quit them and as the current ones run out many are not renewed. However, the majority of the stations have unlimited nationwide calling and one or two have international calling capabilities. DSN is always available. We are not supposed to mention frequencies, but since they are already posted on here 13927.0 is the primary frequency and 7633.5 is secondary. Many of the stations monitor both these frequencies at the same time. First call should be on the primary and then try secondary if no one responds. If it is felt that better communication can be accomplished on one of the other frequencies then the operator will request you move but normally the 4, 11, 20 and 27 are not regularly monitored. Calling and operation information is on the websites mentioned. The members of the net appreciates your service and it is an honor to be able to help you. Regards, Richard/AFA6BU