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RF-4C 1. Ops tempo: Outstanding. Best kept secret. Basically a flying club. As a 1Lt it's your airplane with great responsibility; "All we ask is bring it back in one piece." Flying is mostly low level single ship to where ever YOU and your WSO decide to go that day. Not flying, review your film from previous day, do a tour in the RSU, perhaps a little studying in the vault, shelf check at the BX. TDY's and deployments minimal and considered a good deal. AAR training every couple of months. Night AAR is always scheduled with a full moon. If stationed in Germany always save a little fuel for the fur ball with whomever is trolling along the Rhine. 2. LIfestyle/family: Could not be better. Home every day by 5. No working weekends. If stationed in Germany most have a rental Swiss chalet for the winter skiing months. 3. Community morale: Excellent. Surprising amount of fellow pilots UPT DG's. Some turned down fighters to fly Recce. Everyone works and pulls together. 4. Advancement & Future of Airframe: Terrible, once Recce always Recce according to MPC although I managed a 4 yr OA-37 assignment to DM. (another flying club). NO future dedicated manned Recce airframes. 5. Preferred PCS locations: Zweibrucken, Alconbury, Bergstrom. Oh crap, just got up from a nap. Dreaming it was 1977 and not 2017! Sorry guys, you missed a great time in the AF. 10 years AD then off to a legacy airline.

So, there I was. No shit. Middle of an ORE at Shaw, first of three sorties for the day turning ACT x ACT x RED. I was a brand new CMR #2, all thrust, no vector; I'm a pitbull on a fvcking leash. Brief and ground ops were uneventful, up to the point where PFL (wussy flight lead) calls Ops and tries to cancel due to isolated VCTS. Fvcking FAIPs. Ops recommended he grow a pair so we took off and headed west. After precisely 69% of the vul covered, with a clean picture and most of my missiles expended, the SOF calls on AUX - mushroom cloud overhead; we need to divert to WRB. PFL quibbles, something about it being his turn to cook dinner that night. Those of you who know MatMac are aware: this is no joke. Anyway, Georgia is a state where (up to that point) I had yet to slay so I tactically declared BINGO and reached back with my right hand to make sure my helmet bag contained my trusty mark-1 divert kit: deodorant, toothbrush and a box of rubbers. On vectors to WRB I've got snowplow called up and I wisely aimed for every rainshower I could... On the ground, we talk to TA about turning our jets. Well, I talked to TA. PFL was on the horn with his wife and then PF Chang's ordering food so he didn't get in trouble. Turns out TA will take 3 hrs to turn the 8 jets so we go to the bowling alley to get lunch. This is where the fun starts. It's summertime, so school is out. I spy a group of four lovely ladies (who were looking for heroes) on lanes 6-9. I give PFL a 5-spot and directions to order a burger, then I go anchor by the ladies. Turns out the outgoing blonde is the wing king's daughter and the others are her friends from the nursing program who happen to be visiting during the summer. Shitty food is consumed. Numbers are exchanged. I depart for Base Ops with digits and the hope of a road trip some upcoming weekend. I proceeded to do the most thorough pre-flight inspection of my life. Low and behold, I find an EMS bit ball had popped after landing! Sure, if I had noticed it on my post-flight then maybe they would have had time to send dudes from Shaw to fix it that day. Not likely though. Now, everyone knows that flight through precip is likely to trip one without any real problems, so PFL comes over to survey the situation. He closes the panel and asks what I'm gonna do. I give my best pep talk about how happiness comes in small doses and opportunities to be true heroes are rare. His response: "I know dude, that's why I need to get home. I'm only allowed two TDYs a year, I don't want to burn one in WRB." SQ policy was to divert as two-ships but I sit idly by with a shit-eating grin on my face as 7 jets blast for home and I walk off to the Qs, helmet bag thrown over my shoulder. Aftermath: he told me the lettuce wraps were particularly good at home that night. Me, on the other hand - I got back the following afternoon and was completely spent. 4 nursing students not worth burning one of your allocated TDYs on? For me it was, and all it cost me was a phone call to my neighbors to take care of my dog. Well, that and I did have to replenish one divert kit.

Laws against shooting others as in murder. Check. Laws against using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Check. Laws against felons obtaining/possessing firearms. Check. Laws mandating felony convictions put entered into FBI's NCIS database. Check. Big Blue f'ing this up. Check. So, to some the solution is more government. The same government that can't do this. Sick fcuk, abusing his wife and his infant. Now this. Rot in hell, you motherfcuker. I also hope that Big Blue is named as a defendant in a giant civil case as being negligent and culpable and the families get huge dollars. I also hope OSI pogues and Holloman leaders in place at the time draw, at a minimum, career-ending paperwork. Those who are supposed to audit such processes as well. Do your fcukin' job, morons.

I think we can get behind a man teaching his daughter how to shoot, especially with a well engineered firearm. Personally, the MP5K clone was just too iconic to pass up. Suppressed Z5P with the B&T style brace is the new range toy. :)

You just got SuperWSOwned. The only acceptable solution at this point is harakiri. RIP.

Anything I add would be quibbling.

You guys are applying the same logic that you bitch about constantly with sweeping punishments for individual transgressions. You think the CSAF and SAF should be fired because some OSI person in New Mexico messed up? What possible good does that do? It's awful what happened and the fact that an administrative issue enabled it is heartbreaking. Punish the right people, fix the process, and ensure that there's corrective action moving forward.

Full supporter of 2A, and carry (to include OC'ing) as much as I can. Too bad the USAF doesn't understand what "shall not be infringed" means, but as I still have to bring home the paycheck, it's a risk I have to accept. Otherwise, I'm usually packing a 5.25" XD-M with 13+1 rounds of .45 ACP (plus a second mag). True, the shooter had an AR and would definitely have an edge on my with my every day carry gun; but at least I would have a chance to defend myself and even more importantly, those I love. I will not speculate on this recent tragedy which struck so near home to me (Sutherland Springs is only 35 miles SE of San Antonio), but I am curious as to how a congregation of 50+ people in a rural Texas church did not include any LTC/CHL holders. Given the number of licenses issued by the state, there's usually a good chance someone is packing. I don't know if the church had a 30.06/30.07 (prohibiting concealed and open carry) but if that were the case than this is how disarming law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop such shootings. As has been seen in previous mass shootings they usually occur: 1) in a place where the victims are unarmed and 2) end quickly once the shooter is threatened with a counter-force. In fact, reports are indicating that a citizen with a rifle most likely stopped the shooter from claiming more victims! God bless him and the guy who helped him stop the threat! Unfortunately, much like the recent Vegas shooting, NYC truck massacre, and every other mass killing in recent history; something else will pop up and this will be quickly forgotten by everyone except those directly affected by it. There will be the usual cries for greater gun control (that will have no impact on stopping future shootings), but that is about it. I don't believe it's some huge conspiracy as some claim, it's just the way of the modern world. People will react, but the truth is we are becoming more and more desensitized to such horrendous acts. Sad...

I’m sure there will be swift accountability in the AF legal world ....just like when finance fucks up.

It was the fault of the Air Force for not reporting his domestic violence conviction. You have got to be shitting me. Our service is so f*cking incompetent I can’t believe it.

Aviano specifically carried extra gas to account for it when I left there a year or so ago. Or maybe that was to drive the gas requirements so high we would have to cancel and go drink espressos until we switched to wine.

I hear what you are saying and I get it, your points are very valid. My first time in real combat was an eye opener, the adrenaline was flowing, things happened fast and with extreme violence, I immediately fell back on training and it saved my life. Most people have no concept how psychological and physiological impacts will shape a fight. In the end, I do not intend to "go up against a determined killer," I sole intent is to protect my family and if I can generate some space and time, even if it is minimal, it may make the difference. To your last comment, I would like to see the facts, if there was no mental illness or other mitigating factor how do we as a society propose to stop this without taking away weapons? Question for another day. Prayers to the victims.

I have found a good, proper gun belt made a huge difference. And when I carry, it’s a stainless 1911.

I don’t leave home without my carry weapon. Only exception is if I am going somewhere that has a metal detector or I know I am getting checked. I made the choice a long time ago signs/retarded rules are not going to get me killed. I would rather deal with concealing a firearm illegally/against a establishments rules and saving my family than watching my family be killed. Each to their own, it’s a personal choice, and I know the potential consequences.

Long live Midnight Hot. How that was some of the highlights of being up late over there.

"2, I'd rather burn than hear your voice." -Rainman

Not in the U-2. A few seconds past break release, you go, unless the Cuisinart stops blending completely. I'm go-oriented in the T-38. My technique for T-38 ops used to be abort if you were below bug speed. Then it was abort if below 100 KIAS. Then it was abort if the burners hadn't lit Then it was abort if the engines won't start. Much easier decision since you're going so slow.

Below average IQ and brass balls, I imagine.

To Hell with AD vs. AFRC vs. ANG. The downfall for all of us came when priorities shifted. The priority of our men's welfare and morale vs. the political correctness in which we operate; the priority of mission vs. efficiency - i.e looking good vs. being good. There is a lack of balance in the way we fight. Our management has embraced efficiency, but taken it to an extreme, therefore doing the job 100% 'right' gets you wrapped in red tape and regs. The political correctness and 'equality' directives have driven a culture of watchdogs and yes men, who openly disregard the general respect for experience and rank because an AFI tells them otherwise. I look at the pictures and read the stories of our heros in past wars - flight leads with grit who gave their folks the slack to cut loose after they met hell, salty crew dogs working planes without shirts cause' it was hot - men who had the understanding of what it meant to fight and work hard and didn't give a damn what it took as long as the mission was accomplished. Some saw that in 03' when things spun up for us, but over time the pendulum swings the other way. It is sad to see things the way they are now, but regardless of the 'type' of Air Fore you are in, if you can do your best at your AFSC, and bust your ass in the same manner our boys did in their day, than you can get home every day knowing you did your part and to hell with the rest of them. As for the Guard being a little different, I think its because the majority of the folks in Guard units have been there and will be there for a while, so people are more likely to take care of and look out for each other to the max extent possible within the realm of integrity - and thats the way it should be for every single one of us regardless. (title 32 helps too) / drunk bitter rant off

Yes, ignore my predictions, and then be blindsided when they come true. This will be a very interesting week. Prepare yourselves or be inundated by the tide of history. The Saudi hardliners have big plans in store for the middle east.