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As many of y'all know, I'm involved in the airshow industry. This photo is the hangar of the Texas Flying Legends, which has a great collection of flying aircraft: Mustang, Spitfire, Warhawk, Mitchell, Zero, and more. The collection's owner, Bruce is a great American, and the pilots and mechanics are just top-shelf folks. Their customized hangar is also one of the coolest places on any flightline. If you've been cross-country to Ellington (KEFD), maybe you've seen it. It seems a lot of the NFL teams, staff, bigwigs, and others will be using KEFD for the Super Bowl, and Texas Flying Legends wanted to make sure those players, owners, and NFL employees knew where TFL "stands" on the issue of Kaepernick and others.

Somewhere in the cobwebs of officer school I remember learning that military action was an end to political means.

Dudes, there's a huge difference between a reporter getting something wrong and some guy just making shit up to get clicks. The paper posts a correction and updates the article plus admits mistakes. Fair enough. Should have got it right the first time and verified sources better. Romanian guy writes that Trump is eating little children's hearts for breakfast at the White House. Unrepentant and will even tell you directly that he just made everything up to get ad dollars from clicks. One of those is fake news and the other is the normal ups and downs of journalism. Or it's all the same, morally equivalent. https://www.google.com/amp/insider.foxnews.com/amp/article/54120 Kind of like Putin is a killer...there are a lot of killers or there. Are we so innocent? Y'all know you would have completely lost your GD minds if Obama had said that, regardless if there's a kernel of truth to it.

Found this entertaining Because screw that bitch and her "it's my turn" mentality. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Huge difference between international politics driving decisions to go to war (as they should and do) and domestic political strategists bringing up poll numbers and re-elect-ability when national security decisions are at stake (and I'm not suggesting we're there yet, but that's the slippery slope). It's completely true that the President can make whatever decisions and listen to whoever they want...and I understand that in the past some presidents have marginalized the NSC or other agencies/positions when making their policy decisions. But the fact of the matter is that the NSC is supposed to provide non-political advice on what's in the best interest of national security, which is why there has never been a political strategist as a permanent member of the PC. In fact, as the article posted earlier shows, most of the time, when a political staffer attended meetings, it was met with strong rebukes from others in the administration/NSC. Edit to add that the NSC works for the President, so obviously he's free to appoint whomever he wants on the council. I just disagree with the judgment. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

Please, name names. As actual NSC PC principals. In the 70ish year history, the NSC has not had permanent PC members that were political strategists. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

FIFY. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've written the first draft of every letter of recommendation I've ever used.

Totally agree there. The anger on both sides and hyper-partisanship is pretty bad and discouraging. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

I was a nav in the RC-135 for 6 years, and I don't think there was really a difference in QOL or deployment rotations between nav/EWO, or if there was then it was better for the navs because we never complained about it! Honestly the two jobs are very different so you should base your decision on which part of UCT you liked best: the instruments and navigation or the beeps and squeaks. Also, you need to consider how much you like Star Trek, and if you're willing to talk to the 2 other EWOs about it for 12 hours at a time.

Please. All of Obama's decisions, for 8 years, were made seemingly based on re-elect-ability and his "legacy" instead of the best interests of the United States. I don't like the thought of either one of them making decisions that way, frankly, nor am I yet comfortable with Trump's motives...but Obama and his Harvard-smart team were the kings of making decisions to make him look good. Just without the guy on the NSC facade.

Ah, yes. Because the National Security Councils of the past gave been so infallible, and have such an impressive track record of good decisions......

I guess I wasn't clear. The things he complains are now missing (such as "being recognized" and "not calling a former officer in civilian clothes sir") are the things that make me glad I didn't go to the Academy 20 years ago.

I've always thought that Hawaii is the diamond of the Pacific, and Guam is the cubic zirconia.

30,000 hours... Better look at retiring the fleet soon, since we are getting close to the halfway point of our 75,000 hour airframe limit.

While I don't have first hand knowledge of the what's happening today at USAFA, these articles basically describe the attitude and focus of the AF as a whole. Our culture has gone from combat to corporate. Front line folks still have the right focus, but that seems to be in spite of the overall culture, not a result of it. Depressing to see.

Thanks for putting up that link. That PDF is actually for the last board, but nothing has changed except the dates iirc. Applications need to be postmarked NLT 28FEB17 for consideration. Interviews 5,6 May 17. If you are applying for this board and need the current PDF, please PM me your email address and I'll get it right out.

One of the most intelligent military minds to have ever lived.

It's a big, beautiful wall, it's true, believe me. I wanna keep all the bad hombres out of the NSC. And you know who's gonna pay for that wall of text? Mexico!

Some thoughts: work hard in college, don't be an Art History major (technical knowledge helps), learn about flying (take a few instructional flights if possible), take the FAA private pilot ground school course, keep your knowledge of basic arithmetic (pencil and paper, not with a calculator...they don't let you use one on the test), keep up with basic physics, chemistry, algebra, and geometry, read a lot...it will help with word association. Don't worry about the actual test until six months before you take it; Do worry about the basic math and science and aircraft knowledge as you go through college. Finally, if you have a hot date some night or could study for the test...take the date option!!

Why?

What are you so afraid of? That politics play into national security decisions? BTW, I think I once read that a president (last 30 yrs?) rarely ever used the NCS. Law says he gets to have one and calls out specific positions, but does the law mandate how the NCS is used? And I'm too old or lazy to look up sources. Look, the Pres is going to listen to whomever he wants for whatever reasons, just like all the ones in the past. If the Pres thinks that putting a politics guy in the fish bowl to "stir it up" because he thinks that may yield better results, let him try it. If the dude fucks it up, he'll get fired. I heard 2x Obama holdovers got canned already for not following orders. Did O ever fire anyone? And I'm not talking about the touchy feely mention of someone resigning but was actually fired. This Pres flat out fired two people. Now I've got to get ready to see Tom Brady lose it tonight, you all have fun out there. Out

Fake news https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58965b8ce4b0c1284f26473f?utm_hp_ref=donald-trump

You don't like Bannon. Got it. Neither do I for that matter, but this doesn't pass the sniff test, unless your indignation applies across previous administrations as well. Do I need to name names? I could go back to at least Reagan off the top of my cranium, but I'm sure the Google machine will help me find earlier examples. Copy: the WH has been running the first few weeks like a rally car race, with fender scuffs to prove it. The article that you provided was that at the end of the day they are adults and found their designated lanes. Like the author said at the end: a tie.