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Until you realize how powerless your SQ/CC really is... It's sad really.

I joined to serve my Country and protect my family, but my priority has been and always will be Faith, Family, Country and the the Air Force, in that order. The problem is that the Air Force is constantly pitting Air Force members in a position where they are forced to choose between their family and Active Duty, and too many times it is due to deployed kingdom building or pointless tasking that some O-6 or higher refuses to get rid of. In those cases I see people become disillusioned with AD and choose to take their talents elsewhere, mostly to the Guard or Reserves where they feel they can better shield their family from AD careerism and the bloody trail it leaves behind.

Foxtrot Alpha has a wrap up of the numbers and a short CBS interview with Sec. Powell https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/operation-desert-storm-by-the-numbers-on-its-25th-anniv-1753347671 25 years, probably 3+ trillion dollars spent, 6000+ KIAs & 250k+ WIAs, let's get to some point we can call it good (whatever that is) and only engage there when either Israel is about to be overrun or the oil supply is about to be cut off. Somehow Europe, Japan, China, etc... buy oil and don't have a huge military footprint there, we can do the same...

Twenty-five years ago today, I found myself in the Saudi Arabian desert near the Iraqi border with NVG's on watching a steady stream of traffic headed northbound and downtown. It was a very impressive sight. I mentioned this in the office today and guys were amazed that it was 25 years ago. Of course some said they were in grade school then so I gave them a quick history lesson.

i just keep wearing my rockies

1.5 years to have grips made? I would have forgot I ordered them.

I assume you're referring to my MC-12 time (were you there when I was? ). I loved what we did there. The direct support to the ground pounders, be it convoy overwatch or more direct support during hostilities, was amazingly rewarding. Way more of a "I'm part of the fight" feel than my time as a FAIP or tanker pilot. But while the individual experience of the MC-12 was very rewarding, I can't say it did much for my (and others') opinion of the overall military effort. I think (purely speculative) that's what we're seeing today. People still believe in the mission of their unit or the MWS, but not in what it is being used for. Maslow's higher needs can't be fulfilled this way, making it harder to have a high-functioning organization. The U.S. chose to have an all volunteer force. That means it has to run it (in many ways) like other voluntary operations. Telling people their opinions and feelings are misguided (or selfish!) is a failure of empathy, and thus a failure of leadership. Say what you will about the conflict between empathy and the "killing people and breaking their stuff" military badass mindset, it matters. Especially when fewer people think their integrity, service, excellence, and lives are being spent on worthwhile endeavors, the bond between leader and follower is even more critical.

My opinion, in my own little corner of the AF, that I've spent a decade in is that there is a lot more selfishness in the AF than altruism at all levels. I joined to serve my country and to do something that I thought I would love and had always dreamed of doing. To my surprise I have rarely heard or seen anyone talking about doing this to serve their country or that this is something we do for our families. Instead, I see and hear rampant careerism, poor morale, people throwing away their integrity to get ahead and a whole lot of back stabbing to get ahead of the next guy. I have been stabbed in the back more times than I can count and can't believe some of the b.s. I have seen be our senior leadership. Remind me again why I should keep doing this for my family? Remind me why I should deploy to "serve my country" when I am only making power point slides or fighting in a "war" that we aren't fighting to win?

I agree, I think it beat out Lone Survivor Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely the wrong answer. Exactly, my wife and children will still be here long after I'm out of the Air Force. Which do you think I spend more time on? The one that won't miss me a bit the day after I leave or retire, or the ones who will be here until the day I die? Easy choice for me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely the wrong answer.

Since I'm a nice guy, I'm going to help you out with the emotional hurt you're obviously experiencing. Here you go: Just another example of progressives holding up a hashtag sign...how did that work out? Perhaps the hashtag signs is now strong part of using diplomacy as an instrument of power? But hey, it felt awesome to hold up that sign as Crimea was being taken by Putin... We are a superpower, so it makes me laugh when our leaders say things and hold up signs but in fact don't actually do much of anything. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy the President decided to not engage militarily...but holding up a sign essentially saying we want to help Ukraine is laughable, especially when you look at the results. Just like having a base function where men walk in women shoes.

This is an example of progressive idealogy? Oh yeah, I forgot the opposing conservative stance on the issue, #RapeThemKillThemAndDumpTheBodies. As pointlessly symbolic as this was it makes my head hurt to think of the paranoia you must live with if you can find partisan politics in this. WTF indeed.

You are so right. Progressives have a corner on that market. Never have I ever seen an alternate philosophy politician (if you can even call the first lady a politician) champion a cause in a wholly symbolic way for personal gain without actually doing anything meaningful to change it. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Insert faceplam .jpeg of epic proportions here. ------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd dig up a couple examples for you, but I don't have enough years left on this Earth to compile a representative sample. That was pretty much my point. It's called satire.

I made no comment on whatever bigger picture might have been discussed earlier in the thread. I couldn't have because I literally didn't see anything in this thread but the post containing the picture of the first lady. It's this simple: She's holding up a piece of paper that implies that she feels bad about the Boko Haram kidnappings, and hopes that that the girls make it out safely. Since I didn't see any non-progressive politicians featured in pictures of them holding up hashtags conveying opposing views....you know, perhaps like "#RapeThemKillThemAndDumpTheBodies", for example...I assume that they all generally agree with the sentiment she's conveying. If that's not the case, by all means show me the non-progressive politician who felt, "I hope they all die miserable deaths" about the situation and went out of their way to advertise that to the world. Assuming you won't find an example of that, the point is that there is no distinguishing factor between her (progressive) sentiment and that of any other ideological viewpoint. Therefore, to respond with partisanship (it's appropriate HeloDude, look it up) is a sign of neurosis. There are plenty of legitimate differences in ideology to attack. Go after those. You just cheapen your own argument when you so rabidly clamor for something to criticize that you end up finding fault where there is none.

Oh good. More one-off, cherry-picked, anecdotal examples purported to be representative of one, and only one, ideological belief system (nevermind the fact that these people are again, barely classifiable as politicians, and certainly not leaders of the country). You do understand that politicians of all ideological convictions make a living off of saying things that they don't have to follow through on, no? Every presidential campaign depends on it. On principle I refuse to post any of the readily accessible pictures of conservatives holding up retarded hashtags for causes they brain-dumped two seconds after their press secretary snapped the photo. You're apparently blind to them, so why waste my time. As I said earlier, I don't have enough days left on Earth to gather a representative sample. The fact that you only actually internalize politicians promising the world and then not delivering for one very specific belief system while absolving those who do the same thing but are more like-minded with you is sad. It's as sad as meaningless gestures taking the place of necessary actions.

I'll bet you guys were stoked when you regained the ability to wear high heels on check rides in the aircraft.