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Election day in the States went late into the wee hours of the morning, which put the most exciting parts at about mid-day in Korea. The atmosphere was that of a funeral. I speak often with the ROK Chief of Joint Strategic Planning at school over lunch, and he literally said to me "what the hell did you people DO?" I chuckled a little bit. The ROK is new to the whole democracy game, so don't expect them to always have a grasp on how it works. (Hell, their president is going bonkers over here if you've been keeping up with the news.) This picture also came to mind:

I'm actually unsure of the message we are sending the world. Lemmie drop some info about the Korean perspective, courtesy DLI and a year doing ROKAF ACSC: Obviously, the Koreans aren't thrilled about a Trump presidency. They're certainly nervous, as most of their news about the US is translated almost directly from what CNN and the AP pump out (watching the news cycle hit here about 6.9-36 hours after it breaks in the US is interesting). It's no surprise they think Trump a crass madman...that's what CNN told them. Thanks, CNN. So, after the Mattis announcement, I perused Korean media online. The majority of the copy does indeed focus on Mattis' experience leading troops in the middle east. However, this isn't necessarily seen as a positive here on the ROK, as local media generally view the Iraq war (and to a small degree, Afghanistan too) as a costly failure and huge strategic mistake. (I'm not here to argue this point...I'm just telling you about the Korean perspective.) The rest of the copy I've read describes Mattis as a general that's really respected by the US Military and by US Conservatives. Again...this fact also carries positive and negative baggage. I'd like to say that he's quoted well in Korean media, but that's not the case yet. The only time I've seen him quoted was a direct translation of his "it's fun to shoot people" soundbite about killing terrorists that deserve to die. But only the "fun to shoot people" part of the quote was printed...what was NOT included was his discussion about how the people he likes to shoot are all dickwads that rape women, kill kids, rape little boys, and are generally assholes. Also (and partially thanks to Mr. Trump), he's now "Mad Dog Mattis" to Korean media. Not "Chaos Mattis," which the general has been rumored to prefer. So, to readers of Korean papers and online media, you have a USMC former general who commanded in long, bloody Asian land wars, who has said "shooting people is fun," and everyone is calling him "mad dog Mattis." Koreans are, understandably (albeit incorrectly) scratching their heads and thinking "what the fvck-mida?" I'm certain that Gen Mattis will impress as soon as he starts giving speeches as our SECDEF, but he's got an uphill battle over here in Asia. What we view as a smart, seasoned, and cautious general (who really brings the pain when it's appropriate), Asia views very differently. It doesn't change MY mind about Mattis (I think he's Mr. Trump's best pick yet), but just FYSA. I just typed too fvcking much....and I just remembered that no one cares what the ROK thinks. Thanks for reading anyway. Maybe someone finds it interesting.

My favorite Mattis quote speaks heavily to his philosophy:

Happy to have Mattis taking the helm. I hope he can inspire both our military and civilian leadership to return us to our warfighting roots. One of my favorite Mattis-ism's below. https://www.strifeblog.org/2013/05/07/with-rifle-and-bibliography-general-mattis-on-professional-reading/ "Going into Kuwait 12 years ago, I read (and reread) Rommel’s Papers (remember “Kampstaffel”?), Montgomery’s book (“Eyes Officers”…), “Grant Takes Command” (need for commanders to get along, “commanders’ relationships” being more important than “command relationships”), and some others. As a result, the enemy has paid when I had the opportunity to go against them, and I believe that many of my young guys lived because I didn’t waste their lives because I didn’t have the vision in my mind of how to destroy the enemy at least cost to our guys and to the innocents on the battlefields."

Thyroid?

(Edited for link to PDF) The 163rd Fighter Squadron out of Fort Wayne, IN (ANG, A-10C) will have an open application window for Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) from Dec 1, 2016 through Feb 28, 2017. If selected, interviews will be held 5-6 May, 2017. If interested, please visit: https://www.122fw.ang.af.mil/Portals/21/documents/2016 Pilot Candidate Letter UPT questionnaire.pdf?ver=2017-02-16-133305-880 Good luck for all that apply.

My experience echoes yours. I don't think we should move out of NE Asia like the isolationists like to suggest, but this region has been on the gravy train for too long. Mr. Lim is getting old, and Songtan ain't what it used to be.

Ok, I guess I'll go and find a teddy bear and a pretty dress. Thanks, I feel better already.

@Kiloalpha, when I attended the ROKAF Staff College, not one ROK officer I asked about us leaving the Peninsula mentioned the alliance, US-ROK friendship, our sacrifices for them, etc. They ONLY mentioned that it would be too costly for them to replace our capabilities. They only care about the money. Even the pro-US ROKAF guys were like this. As an aside, the most pro-US ROKAF officer I've met in my RAS duties is Lee Chol-sul, the ex-NKAF MiG-19 pilot who defected in 1996 and was a ROKAF Lt Col (since promoted to colonel) when I was at the Staff College.

Mono? That can take you from stud to dud in no time with hardly any symptoms besdies "fvck, I feel worthless".

Any chance of sleep apnea?

Take some time off from whatever it is your doing. You would be amazed how much a couple days sitting on the couch, a 30 rack/bottle of your favorite alcoholic beverage, carry out and some "gettin jiggy with it" will do for the mind/body. Could also be a actual health problem. I would tread lightly, don't get yourself DQd before you even get to the show, at the same time you don't want to ignore a actual problem if it is one. I have minimal knowledge of the medical field, and know little about your situation, but you asked for a opinion, so take it for what it's worth. I'm assuming you probably have been working hard/stressing with college/work/family/OTS packages etc. Sometimes you just need to do what I said above. If being a drunken fat ass isn't your thing, go to your happy place wherever that may be and chill.

Never go full retard.

Can we get cyber command to just hack his bank accounts and send everything to the salvation army.

Interested.

I'm interested, but I can't see any of the pictures No Texas flag for me, but the FAIP mafia flag would be awesome Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Not a FAIP, just curious. Price? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

If you can get this to all the FAIP distros you'll easily get 15.

SERE? No. Who's telling you otherwise? Might have to dig into the actual regs (get used to it, part and parcel of the AF experience) Water survival? Yes. (I know, you've been trained to swim by the worlds largest Navy: the AF doesn't give a shit.) Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I can tell you a thing or two about height waivers, since I'm on one. I went the off-the-street OTS route and did my FCI physical as a civilian while going through the application process for a pilot slot. During my FCI, the measured me 64.5" standing. Shoes off, feet together, up against a tape measure on the wall. I forget what I measured sitting, but it was good enough to pass. After OTS, I went to Brooks and measured up 63.7" standing. Shoes off, feet apart, away from the wall using their super-duper-body-measuring-device. They measured me twice, but unfortunately I was not able to magically gain .3". I passed everything else that day (sitting height included), but was DQ'd for .3". To be honest, I really wasn't worried about my height going into Brooks. It was literally the last thing on my mind. I was worried about them finding a heart or vision problem. I never imagined that my height would vary almost a full inch from what they had measured me before in the FCI. I always knew I was *around* 64" and when I measured 64.5, I figured I was good to go. Obviously, the individual who measured me during my FCI didn't do such an accurate job. Because I failed the height requirements, they took additional measurements on me (reach length, but to knee length, etc...). This had given me some hope because I figured; why would they take additional measurements if they were DQ'ing me? However, at the end of the day, I got the walk-o-shame to the office for the, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go to the MPF tomorrow to pick another job in the Air Force." spiel. The staff at Brooks told me there was no such thing as a "height waiver" because it is not a medical condition. They said I would have to get an "Exception to Policy", which at the time had to go all the way up to the Chief of Staff for approval and could take up to a year to be approved. In the meantime, they wanted me to reclassify and ship off to a new base somewhere while I worked the issue. So there I was... faced with having to reclassify to a new career field so I could start working up through a chain of command that most likely wouldn't have given two poops about me and my flying career. What did I do? Long story short... I raised the BS flag and basically refused to reclassify. I had spent the past 10 years of my life flying airplanes, left a civilian flying job to go to OTS and I wasn't going to give in and let them take the opportunity to go to UPT away from me because someone couldn't read a damn tape measure. I was furious. :mad: This was something that could have been avoided. Things got a tad hot that day, but I ended up being able to proceed to my UPT base and spent 6 months as a casual Lt while I worked the waiver. It was a long process and was an emotional roller coaster, but thanks to a kickass commander and the help from the flight medicine staff at the base, I was granted a cockpit fit check and subsequent waiver to fly T-1's. Overall, not a process I would want to go through again, although would if I had to. It is my understanding, that due to this very thing getting more and more common (especially with more and more women getting UPT slots), they have streamlined the process. I hope for their sake they have.