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In general I agree with you but..... We are not a secular democracy, we are a constitutional republic, God and Creator are all over the Declaration of Independence, and if the writers wanted the separation in there I believe they would have put it there, at least 6 people signed both. The ones that wrote about it in letters wrote about separation of religion, not from religion. I would also argue that a one persons rights are not more important than another persons. All that being said the military is a different animal, those higher ranking than another can tell you to shut up and color.

Being a commander is not a requirement. If you're not interested in performing all of the usual duties for all of your subordinates who are serving in lawful capacities, then just don't be a commander. It would be pandemonium amongst the ranks if the first gay commander only signed certs for gay spouses, and they would be rightly upset.

You're right. It's fine for commanders to treat people differently because of their personal religious beliefs. Thanks for putting this all to rest.

https://theaviationist.com/2017/11/16/we-have-flown-in-textrons-scorpion-jet-heres-what-we-have-learned/ Good new write-up of the Scorpion.

Unless you fly the Eagle. Still rockin the fix to fix because they won't upgrade us to GPS. [whining] Every time we go cross country (ANG so XC for all my friends!!) it's the same story. "Jazz01, cleared direct BISBY" "Jazz1, unable - need a vector, a navaid or the lat/long" "Oh, ok, um... Jazz01 cleared direct FTBOL then." "ugh.... Jazz1 unable FTBOL - I don't have GPS, cannot go to a GPS point" "Uhhhh, well lets see, uh....Jazz1 fly heading 260" "260, Jazz1" "Jazz1 contact Memphis on 124.8..." "(doh!) Jazz1 still needs a Uniform freq..." [/whining]

I have found a lot of believers have a real problem understanding where their religious freedom ends and where the rights of others begin. Given teh amount of lies they're fed from those seeking to control them, it's not much of a surprise. Here's the Cliff Notes version: We're a secular democracy, not a theocracy. The Constitution does not have the word God in it. The men that founded this country wrote extensively about the separation. Jefferson went so far as discuss building up a wall between the church and state. Your beliefs are for you. Our laws and our public institutions are for everybody. Christians, Jews, Atheists, Muslims, Cargo cults, etc. You may not hold up your belief system as an excuse to not abide by the law or deprive others of their due process or equal access. If you could, then these "church of no taxes" would be the most wildly successful new religion ever, and their members wouldn't be in jail or on the losing end of a huge tax bill and lien form the IRS.

Exactly. And then two, we need to stop being f'in whiny assholes. An O-5 losing a career because he took this stance? Closed door invite, get a complete ass chewing and handled at the lowest level. But instead we blow it all out of proportion... we need to get over feelings.

So my question is, why are we doing certificates or anything like that for anyone? How does this make us a more effective and efficient fighting force. If my wife ever got a certificate of appreciation from the AF, I’m sure she would think to herself, “this is all great, but doesn’t erase all the times I have been treated like I don’t matter at all. I would rather they just focus on doing their primary job so my husband can come home at a decent hour every now and then.” I don’t know exactly what she would think, because I never ask her for her opinion anyways, but this is my best guess for what she would think.

Non-Volunteer Fini-flight? It's the Navy after all.

Some of you guys would lose your goddamn minds if it was a Muslim commander implementing his beliefs instead...

Nah, that's wouldn't work--see the Second Amendment for an example of how people don't care what is in the Constitution or what the founding fathers said about a certain issues.

BWI goes junior at SWA. IAD is fairly junior at UAL, with EWR an easy commute. Same at AA, only PHL is closer if you can’t hold DCA. Driving up to NYC is doable at DAL... and FedEx is arguably the most commuter-friendly airline of all, I’m sure you could make it work. All of those options are way better than active duty. Get an IMA job at the pentagon and get a retirement on the side. Unless you signed a bonus... whoops...

I didn't say WHICH commander =D.... my bad.

I got tentative approval for my palace chase this morning! This was my second application, I originally applied back in January and was denied in March. Here's my info so you guys have some stats: AFSC: 13S (Space) ADSC: Nov 2018 Requested DOS: Jan 2018 Package to AFPC: 13 Jul 17 Package to SAF: 22 Aug 17 (5 Weeks @ AFPC) Package Approved: 16 Nov 17 (12 Weeks @ SAF) I did not have an intent to hire and my memo basically said I thought the civilian sector was a better fit for me and my family. I didn't really try to sell the total force or AF benefit angle. My memo was a copy / paste from the one that was denied back in March.

I saw “Justice League” earlier this week and was surprised at how good it was. Excellent casting all-around, particularly the newest DC movie additions. Jason Momoa is edgy as Aquaman and Ezra Miller delivers a youthful exuberance, a la Spider-Man: Homecoming, as The Flash. Cyborg was also effective in overall film. But Gal Gadot once again delivers a blockbuster in 2017 as Wonder Woman. Gratuitous ass shots of WW are offset with awkward shirtless moments of one male superhero. “Justice League” also cleans up and makes last year’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” better by tying up loose ends and getting closure. This movie reminds me of the successful ingredients found in Marvel editions for years...excellent leading characters, humorous camaraderie shared between superheroes, and a laser focus on new character superpowers. All make this DC theater experience the best in years. Grade: A

Just don't mention it to a certain someone...

Lotsa hate from these boyos...

A gem in my email: "A change to the join spouse assignment policy has been approved allowing mil-to-mil couples to serve together at Osan AB, Korea, effective 31 March 2018. This program has been approved for 36-monhts and implementation status will be reviewed in March 2020. Because of limiting factors with MilPDS, follow-on policy implications and changing join spouse intent codes in the system, implementation will be by exception until the system is updated for normal operations." Cool...if mil-mil couples wanted to get their short tours done at the same time...and the same location...sounds like a good deal. "This change in policy is only for the military couples; dependents are still not authorized to accompany the Airmen to Osan. Each Airman will be required to live in separate unaccompanied quarters; however, they will receive short tour credit and still be eligible for follow-on consideration." Aaaaaand that's where the AF goes and fucks it six ways from Tuesday.

If they reason that a policy letter supersedes written regulation that's fine. We also have a policy letter from CSAF saying stop doing dumb shit. Who adjudicates which letter wins? Commanders. Not their front office or worker bees. This should, clearly, fall into the realm of dumb shit since you wouldn't be in compliance with the policy even if you execute their proposed COA (for arguments sake, assume you get <90). I recommend elevating this past the front office to an actual commander, and presenting it as simply as possible: I can't take the test early and still meet the requirement, so I'm planning to take the test a KRND. If they say execute, do so. Understand your desire to avoid appearing whiny, but you can attack this very nonsensical policy interpretation in a professional manner (which you're already doing); if folks are offended buy that, it's not your fault.

Bag wearers need to stop rolling over at the whim of admin shoe clerks. If the reg is on your side, don't let it slide. If not, smile and take your test. Don't let feelings get in the way of doing what's right because this shit will just continue if nobody stands up to it.

high/low end fights are way overrated IMO any "high" end fight won't be high end after a few days. what we need is for the AF to shit or get off the pot...get something and get it out there...it's not that complex. but if there's an organization that can screw something as simple as light attack up...it's the USAF

Have you seen ops in Africa? What you're referring to is how we used to roll...specifically in A-stan and in hi-vis theaters. That's not how we roll in conflicts that the US media doesn't see or care about. If it makes it to CNN, there will be an F-16, F-22, or F-35 (heaven help us) dropping ordinance. Iraq, Syria, and A-stan are catalysts, not the intended theaters. At least that's how I hope the LAAR concept is being developed. Ok...so it's all REALLY a program to get rid of the A-10, but hopefully there is also a sincere purpose and mission for the airframe we're pursuing. ...or perhaps I'm just an idealist who refuses to quit...

And the whole fixation on ISR allows the intel types to think that they are operators, not support.

The most interesting aspect of our HVI campaign is that we've persisted despite zero evidence it works. There's not a single time we've taken down a #1 target that made any damn difference; that statement isn't hyperbole, it was my ACSC research project. If AQ/IS were killing our generals, we'd make a fuss but ultimately just promote someone else. It wouldn't fundamentally degrade the US ability to project combat power; since it wouldn't work on us why did we assume it will work on our enemy? i know the real answer: leadership for years didn't have the stomach to endorse the level of bloodshed actually required to degrade our enemy so the HVI hunt was something they could get approved rather than something that would enable victory. But over time it was a tactic that became a strategy and we started believing it. Also we fundamentally misdiagnosed the character and motivations of our enemy, so we came up with a "solution" that works on who we think they are not who they really are. And when it didn't work, we tried harder and harder instead of challenging our original assumptions. The good news is that our recent campaign against IS has shown the level of brutality required to stop someone who is ideologically committed. Mosel is totally destroyed, an outcome everyone on our side wanted to avoid but the enemy forced our options down to two: cede this territory to us or crush us out. I'm estatic our leaders finally chose to increase the violence and decrease the ROE. That said, the war on terror is not over. This article is written by someone obtuse to reality. Somalia, Libya, Mali, AFG and Pak, Syria (not even close to over despite success against IS), Yemen..... soon maybe Turkey depending on how the YPG shakes out in Syria. How's the PI looking these days? Seriously, this long war will continue even if we want to quit because the enemy doesn't want to quit. They will continue to press the fight until either: they win, lose motivation to continue, or are utterly defeated. The first is unthinkable, and the second and third require significant resources, time and effort on our part to even attempt. sorry for the long lost. Summary- Author is wrong. I'd like to see the scorpion procured but I'll settle for some AT-802s. No matter what, saddle up for more war.

One of the only valuable part of SOS was the promotion board excercise. Taught me how and why pilots with perfectly clean records get passed over during a pilot shortage. I also learned that your record could be looked at by someone in the med group who won't tell the difference between a copilot/wingman and a weapons officer. It is why I strongly believe that we need to have separate rated boards. The fact that a few games of dodgeball, some obstacle courses and war gaming has the biggest influence on your career potential as an Air Force officer speaks volumes about what is wrong with the Air Force. I met some cool people from different career fields and enjoyed the southern culture from an overseas base but overall, a screwed up program.

SOS is all about how much work you're willing to put into it. That being said, my SOS comprised of flipping feverishly through quizlet cards for a few hours before taking each of the three tests, while I was deployed...worst few hours of my life! ACSC in-correspondence is making me take a better look at the numbers for O-4 vs O-5 retirement.

Nerd.

Gotta keep feeding the military industrial complex, remember the DoD is really just a jobs program anymore, how useful or how much we need a piece of equipment is directly proportional to how much money it wastes in the process

Range with usable load, loiter time, ruggedness to austere field usage, etc. If the point of this whole scenrio was: 1. Display minimal show that the US is in town. 2. Money is tight, do this on the cheap. 3. You need minimal footprint for logistics because where you are going is far more forward than a Bagram or Balad. 4. Have an aircraft you could train the locals to fly while you do mission and support with FMS. For the partner nation it was a question of how do we support operations against targets in a pacific scenario but it works to our what a mole coin game too. How do I take an airfield that can barely be called that in the middle of craptasistan and put enough planes there so as to provide these CAG guys with 3 strike lines on the ATO a night which plane is best suited?" The AT just killed the A-29 and AT-6 when the numbers stacked for comparison. Particularly for persistence with a pod and a useful amount of variable mission packages at ranges away from the MX hub. We were war gaming it against the other 2 options and it just killed them. Scorpion changes the equation a bit because with the added speed maybe you can support from a bigger hub, but if you go look at some of the crazy high side stuff going on in the fight in OIR, getting in the dirt is an expectation you can't get away from. Hell even at Al Asad or Erbil yeah the concrete is well poured, but who is to say there is enough lift in the theatre to support you better than if you were living in the dirt. Africa/PACOM/SouthCOM would be the same kind of problem. We need an aircraft that can be comfortably used in wars we aren't trying to be full might of the US. We've grown entirely too comfortable with the idea there's always a C-17 ring route, you will always live in a CHU, and sustainment is a given because 19 KBR convoys come in and out a day. Take a look at Q-West right now and tell me that logistics and sustainability wouldn't be a primary planning factor for putting a light weight CAS plane over Tal Afar or the Western Syria-Iraq border over speed, sexiness, 2x 34s instead of 4x 114s.