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A few questions that can perhaps be answered without bias? 1. Did Obama weaponize the IRS against 501/3 (C) conservative organizations? Yes...which at least plants the seed of believably that it was done with the FBI as well. 2. Did Hillary mishandle VERY classified information and was she given a pass? Yes and how Liberals can give her a pass is beyond me. How was the outcome memo drafted BEFORE they even interviewed her? She lost...so what, that doesn't mean you ignore the law...PERIOD FUCKING DOT. 3. Did Comey purposely release leak information to the press through a friend? Was any of this information classified? Yes he leaked it...was that legal? If ANY of these questions have an unbiased yes answer then there is at least the potential something nefarious happened inside the FBI. Despite the firings and resignations, the only guilty pleas appear to be related to lying to the FBI, ZERO evidence of collusion thus far....we shall see what comes out in the long run. IMHO the Justice Department IG investigation will be far more damning and telling than the Mueller investigation.

Yep. Impeachment is not a law enforcement issue. Rather a smart way the Founders came up with to help keep the three branches of government equal. The purpose of the special counsel isn't legal, it's to set the groundwork for impeachment. Politics is a rough sport. Don't play if you can't take a hit. Trump takes his chances with the special counsel. On the other hand, how many of us could withstand the unlimited scope, resources, and effort that such an investigation entails, much less a billionaire with all the complicated things that must occur in that life? Mishandling classified and deliberate spying on Americans using the Intelligence Community for political gain is not politics, however. It is illegal. If something develops against Trump and he's impeached; so be it. Liberals, including the establishment GOP, want Trump gone because he's a threat to them and their way of life. Bill Clinton lied under oath as was impeached but not convicted and removed from office. I expect Trump will likewise survive such an event, but won't make it for a 2020 run. Which, IMO, is the point. If you can't beat him, kneecap him. Especially by the #neverTrumpers. The senior ranks of the FBI has been revealed to be tilting to one side and putting a deliberate thumb on the scales of justice. So they have only themselves to blame.

Great advice here. FWIW, my only "ragret" is staying beyond initial commitment. Staff is super lame.

26 years and I would NOT do it again, but "MY" thoughts probably deserve an explanation. Did I have a blast flying, yes. Did I have incredible life experiences, yes. Did I serve with incredible people, yes. Did I leave the organization hating what it was and what it did to me, yes. There are truly some sick horrendous people in the senior ranks and it sickens me to see them in leadership positions where they have done real and lasting injury to families and careers. That being said, those people exist in all walks of life and for most the rewards of flying offset the negative. I passed on Med School to go to UPT and there will always be a part of me that wonders how a walk down that life path would have turned out. That being said, there is one thing I would not change and that is the relationships with the brothers and sisters I flew with. I continue to mentor many of them to this day...but in all honesty, late at night with a glass of brown liquor and the perspective of age, I sometimes wonder if it was all a waste. In the end I would recommend you follow your heart. Don't live in fear of the experience of others, make your own path so you are not sitting on your porch one day wondering what could have been.

Which of those senior leaders exactly? Maybe you mean the Trump-appointed Attorney General Jeff Session? Or is it Trump-appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein? Maybe Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray? Those insidious liberal working to take down the President...they’re really playing the LONG, long game. All they had to do to get here was be lifelong Republicans, then be personally vetted and hired by the President himself before they’d have enough power to take him down from the inside! Brilliant. Probably would have been much easier to get Soros to bus a few more people over to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016. “I’ll hire only the best people, believe me.” 1 year in: 2x guilty pleas, 2x indictments, 1 fired FBI Director, 6 fired/resigned top WH staff, 1 fired/resigned Cabinet Secretary, etc. Mueller (another lifelong Republican FWIW) is not known to fuck around, so we’ll see where his investigation ends up. More to come at 11, stay tuned.

Based on what? A wet dream you had? Really, now that the Meuller investigation is dragging itself into Ken Star proportions, I really want to know if there are any crimes behind the curtain, or if we're going to be subjected to years-long fishing expedition. "Don't be surprised..." GMAFB; if there's something we're missing spill it, dispense with the VagueBooking. Birther-gate was about as tiring as this trope.

A Cabinet Secretary knowingly sent and received classified material via non-secure, non-government systems. Not just once but dozens of times. Her staff did likewise. Even the President of the United States communicated to that official on that system. Knowingly. (Although "knowingly" isn't a requirement to be prosecuted for mishandling classified information. Just f'ing it up is enough if the Man wants to prosecute.) The FBI interviewed that Secretary during an investigation, but not under oath. Other subjects of that investigation were allowed to serve as legal council during that interview. Those other subjects were also not under oath during their questioning. The FBI agreed to only search part of the memories of multiple IT devices from those under investigation. And to letting those devices be physically destroyed immediately following those limited searches. U.S. citizens were deliberately unmasked from NSA collects. The US Ambassador to the UN is responsible for 300 of those unmaskings in the last few weeks of the previous Administration. Said Ambassador denies doing so. So, if she did it, why? If she didn't, who did using her name? Why? The Attorney General of the US met with the husband of a subject of an investigation privately during the investigation. The Director of the FBI drafted his findings before the investigation had concluded. The Director of the FBI, who investigates crimes but doesn't decide on prosecutions, made the determination to not prosecute. And the Department of Justice was fine with that. The Director of National Intelligence perjured himself to Congress regarding unmasking. And, as a result of this memo, apparently about knowing of a FISA warrant to surveil an opposition political party. The head of the FBI's CI division, who also did the investigation of that Cabinet Secretary and subordinates is the same one who was leading the investigation into Trump and associates. Including conducting, under oath, the no-notice interview of Flynn which led to his guilty plea of lying to an FBI agent. The now-fired Director of the FBI deliberately leaked classified info to a friend with the intent of that information to go to the media. Which lead to the current special prosecutor. Who, until it was publicly known, used that same FBI CI investigator from above. Who used a seemingly dodgy politically motiviated dossier that the wife of the number 3 man in the Department of Justice's wife worked on. Corruption is always there, regardless of party. Both sides suck. But, we are supposed to be a nation of laws. Try sending something interesting, but classified, to your home e-mail. Ask for the Hillary option...

Don't be surprised if the investigation reveals a huge chunk of Trump's wealth was gained via money laundering, specifically laundering for Russians.

Why wouldn’t they?

They fly with grenades?

Well, he did take over when the economy had crashed and he had the stones to call for Bin Laden to be captured or killed. He also didn't go through cabinet members as fast as Trump, nor did he have a few cabinet member plead guilty to federal crimes. You probably forgot that late 90's Republicans were calling Clinton the worst person in the world for getting a blowie and the obnoxious Ken Starr investigation. I don't think Trump will be impeached due to possible collusion with the Russians. I think the House, to much chagrin to Paul Ryan, will start the impeachment process via obstruction of justice and making false official statements. If that's the case I don't believe the Senate will approve the charges, much like they didn't against Clinton and Andrew Johnson, however I believe it's going to cost Republicans seats in the 2020 election and the Trump a reelection bid. You know, the same stuff that Nixon scoffed at around '72-'73 as he ran around obstructing justice and abuse of power until he was resigning two weeks prior to the House preferring impeachment charges against him August of 1974. At least Obama and Nixon were lawyers and Nixon knew when to quit, Trump's and idiot an doesn't.

Also took it recently....seems like the only thing you’d gain is “flying related jobs/deployment” only and the ability to stiff arm school. You trade a 7-10 year commitment for it...like signing up for a UPT commitment all over again. As mentioned that seems way to subjective to me! Doubt the Sq/OG/Wg is going to care if you are “fly only” versus traditional when they need FGO bodies for their queep. No thanks, I’ll keep my ability to 7 day opt an air advisor role or crappy assignment and take my talent/training elsewhere when active duty stops making sense for me.

Just took a survey posted to a MAF Facebook group by someone who’s supposedly in the aircrew crisis task force. According to the survey, the proposed “fly-only” criteria are as follows: 1) Eligible for 10-13 year Majors, requires a commitment to 20 years 2) Receive current aviation bonus 3) Limited length (ineligible for 365s) and type of deployments (flying-related only) 4) Eligible for specific flying-related jobs (Stan/Eval, training, etc) at all levels 5) Extended time on-station to 4-5 years 6) Eligible for advanced aviation courses (WIC, AIS, TPS, etc) 7) IDE/SDE optional and by correspondence only 8) Ineligible for promotion above O-5 and only compete for promotion against other fly-only officers, with promotion based on sustained superior performance as an aviator 9) Pilots can return to the traditional track NLT 13 years TIS I may be missing a few smaller things, but those were the main points.

That was by far the best option. The alternate ending had they captured him would have been much worse I suspect.

Here's what it comes down to and this will never change: Progressives, like yourself, are still very upset that Trump won in November 2016....especially after Trump was/is on record saying stupid/disrespectful shit, and coupled with nearly every poll/analysis saying Hillary had this election in the bag. I get it--you and half the country don't like it, and the Gorsuch confirmation was additional salt in the wounds. Also, traditional Republicans can't stand Trump either because he does not follow traditional Republican norms, hence why guys like McCain and Lindsey Graham aren't fans and are very reluctant to work with him on non-traditional legislation. Conservatives (largest single group of the Republican base) don't like Trump for who he is/how he acts, but is fairly happy with what he has done over the first year (Gorsuch, tax cuts, saying pro-Israel stuff, etc). This all leads to progessives scratching their heads even more as to how he won, how is he getting some things done, and how is he doesn't fold to their attacks on him. So what do they do, they scream Russia and call him a racist. Yet, if the economy is still humming along in 2020 (who knows if it will be, I have my doubts) then Trump will get re-elected, especially if the Dems go further left (Warren, Bernie, or Harris type candidate). So in the meantime, progressives will stay the course on the Russia and racist talking points and truley hope something breaks in their favor. Will it? Possibly, but I doubt it. This is coming from a person who would have loved to see Rand Paul received the nomination, and would have been ok with Cruz as a second option. Since there wasn't either, I supported Gary Johnson one again. That being said, I appreciate Trump reducing more regulations (vs a net add), and adding guys like Gorsuch to the Supreme Court vs a guy like Garland. I also come out ahead on the tax cuts, but will be annoyed (but not suprised) that they're not reducing overall federal spending which takes us further down the hole. As for his crude/stupid comments, that doesn't affect my pocketbook when the economy is doing well, so I just continue to dislike him as a person and like it when he does stuff of which I approve. But for you progresives screaming Russia, this short conversation between Obama and Medvedev shows politicians will do whatever they want, whenever they want if it helps them/they can get away with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXx0zxTarE

How many presidents will we have to endure coming into office and wanting to build a bridge with Russia? It's time to treat Russia as the aggressor it is. Enact the sanctions, let them continue to economically wither. It's infuriating a country with a GDP half that of California is left unchecked. R's love Putin now, but wait until the 2018 elections. If you were Putin and you wanted to create the maximum amount of chaos within the US...how would you tinker with the 2018 elections?

Well I didn't agree with that when big O did it as well, albeit for different programs. I dunno, maybe it has something to do with armed jets flying next to each other over a certain middle east country, the stories I've heard.....

Don't be a pussy. Do it. "Thirty years from now when you're sitting by your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?' You won't have to cough and say, 'Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.'"

It's fun to bitch. There are some legitimate gripes, but I don't know a single pilot pining for a finance job.

GMBL would be an epic callsign for an MQ-9 sensor operator...thanks for the tip (sts)!

Well, you're going to get people like @Duck and @BashiChuni, giving their completely valid and "right" responses to your question. It's a completely subjective question, man. Two people can work the same job, with the same pay and the same perks... but come home at the end of the day and feel vastly different. That's life. No one is going to tell you anything here that you don't already know, or can't google already. At an absolute bare minimum, you need to be visiting Guard/Reserve/AD bases in your area. Talk to every person in a bag that you see. Ask questions, pick their brains, learn the lessons that they have to offer. Gain as much experience and info as you can and then sit down with yourself and hash it out.

CBM 18-05 T-1s C-146 Duke Field C-17 Elmendorf C-17 Dover (USAFR) C-17 McChord KC-135 Scott KC-135 McConnell KC-10 McGuire AC-130J Hurlburt Field EC-130 Davis-Monthan C-130J Keesler (USAFR) C-130 West Va ANG C-130J Little Rock (USAFR) C-130J Ramstein C-5 Dover T-38s Saudi F-15 2 x F-16 TBD C-130J Yokota T-6 FAIP F-22 Tyndall

God damn it. Fucking do it.

I don't get it.

Did you ask for SERE before UPT? You're going to be brining your own handcuffs and whip aren't you?

Ok, you asked. Fedex 777. Mission is to make the company billions and for me grab some of the crumbs to the tune of $250K a year as a co-pilot(First Officer). Typically work 12-14 days per month either all at once with the rest of the month off or week-on, week-off. Much of that work time is soft time (i.e. not actual flying hours). Typically, I'm paid for 80-90 flight hours each month, but it's rare for me to actually have air under my ass for more than 50 hours each month. Since I'm an FO, many trip are as a relief pilot which involves deadheading around the planet in business or first class to various locations where I will meet up with the crew and act as the "free agent" third or fourth pilot on a long haul flight and then part ways. For the last 10 years straight, I've made the highest level in American Airline's frequent flyer program annually and have 1.5 million miles to use for family leisure travel. I can choose how I orchestrate my passenger deadhead flights using the company money available and any extra $$ is available for various travel expenses incurred in conjunction with any trip. Next month, I will be picked up at my house by a limo (paid for by Fedex) and driven to O'hare to begin my journey to Tokyo. My trip is due to start on a Thursday but since I'm not going to follow the deadhead schedule, I will stay home on day one getting paid. Friday, I will fly from O'hare to Tokyo in a lay flat business class seat sipping single malt and maybe catch a movie. From there, I'll take the bullet train to Osaka and have about 48 hours off before I have to work. My only flight on this trip is a 4-hour leg from Osaka to Guangzhou, China. Once I arrive in China, I'm done. I have a quick 12-hour layover and then I'm scheduled for 3 day deadhead sequence to get back to Memphis. Since I don't want to go to Memphis, I'm going to stick with the original plan of a private car driving me to Hong Kong which will get me to my first flight out. Thanks to my frequent flyer status, American has upgraded me from business to first class on my HKG to DFW flight. Once at DFW, I'll hang in the lounge until my flight back to O'hare. Once back to Chicago, another limo will take me home, dropping me off on Wednesday, 5 days after I was picked up. Since I shaved some time off my trip home by deviating, I'll be on the clock for almost 24 hours after I get home. For my trouble, I'll have about 30K more frequent flyer miles and my paycheck will be about $10K fatter (before taxes). Now the rest of the story........ About the time I'm landing in China after the 4.0 from Osaka, my family will be doing the Christmas morning routine. Being an almost empty nester, that's okay and gives someone with little ones a shot at being home. Hardly as noble as it sounds. I'm just a lazy MFer. Getting paid 10-grand to deadhead in style back and forth from Asia so that I can fly a single 4 hour flight is a fair trade off. That trip plus another for the first 6 days of Dec make up my month. So, that's one snap-shot of the Fedex 777 thing. Believe it or not, I've had better months, but this will definitely be a good one. The bad ones can be tough but with a little seniority, the good far outweighs the bad. Our bad doesn't hold a candle to the long days those of you still doing the job for big blue deal with. So, when you decide to bail, come on over - the water's fine. I usually get a paid commute via private car and first class international deadhead every month. There's lots of "Q" in the QOL and I definitely recommend it. Also, WTF is a "stewardess"?

There are plenty of threads to search through.... I'm not through UPT yet but I can give you my two cents from what shaped my decisions up to this point. I think that if you want to fly as much as possible, tankers or heavies are a good bet. You'll log time quickly, and it will be heavy turbine time that is valuable for airline/cargo apps on the civilian side. KC-10s & C-17s both have really high ops tempos and you'll have enough hours to get your ATP and get competitive at airlines quickly, maybe even within 12-18 months of reverting to a traditional reservist/guardsmen which will mean you wouldn't have to be a bum for long, or hold an ART position for longer than you want. I really don't know much about how fast fighter time accrues. My dad was a C-17 pilot, I was hired to fly KC-10s, I really wanted to be a heavy pilot and applied to units accordingly. I think that the KC-10, C-17, and probably KC-135 fly most... I don't know much about the C-130, but you will deploy for tactical airlift and get to do some awesome flying and build good time - as far as I know turbo prop time will count for your airline apps. My KC-10 unit sees most guys and gals do a 60 day deployment to Al-Dhafra every 16-18 months. If you figure that in with all of the other flying the KC-10 does they were saying I'd get 600-800 hours a year easy. After UPT, KC-10 schoolhouse, and seasoning orders it would only take me another year and a half or so, maybe two, to start applying to airlines and be competitive, even less if I deploy and fly my butt off. C-5s will fly significantly less - the unit I applied at was saying 300-400 hours max a year, and not all of it would be PIC because they fly with very large crews, trying to fit peoples currencies in etc and it all adds up as "other" or SIC time as far as the FAA is concerned, so you'd have to figure another 2-3 years in if you want to be competitive at airlines. It all comes down to your own flying goals i guess. If you want to fly with a crew and have a quick transition into having a secure civilian aviation career, go heavies. If you want your ANG/reserve experience to include flying many will never experience, learning about weapons and air to air combat,etc, go fighters. Personally, I wanted to fly a huge jet with a crew and see the world more than I wanted to learn air to air combat or air support. Both paths have different monthly currency requirements meaning that the bare minimum for some heavies will be different than other heavies, and certainly different than a fighter, so that's something to take into consideration as well.

C-17s: 1. Ops tempo's varied wildly over the life of the program. Before my time, it was common for guys to be gone at least 250 days a year, but it's not nearly that bad anymore. These days, you can probably expect about one 90-day deployment every 18 months or so, and an average of one 7-10 day mission per month out of home station. As a young guy, you'll also spend a lot of time back at the schoolhouse at Altus. It takes five trips there to go from UPT grad to C-17 airdrop IP. 2. Lifestyle/family stability: highly related to #1. We generally don't get many long deployments, but you'll often be gone for relatively short bursts. Like Jarhead said, it's AMC. 3. Morale: Probably average compared to USAF flying squadrons as a whole. You'll get some amazing opportunities to travel to some really cool places. I've been handed papers before to fly to a country I didn't even know existed at the time (Mauritius, as an example). But the sweet trips are tempered with the usual AF BS. Most C-17 guys who are past their UPT commitments are now based at KATL or KJFK, leaving a relatively young and inexperienced crew force behind to pick up the slack. Like I said, standard. 4. This jet's not going anywhere. Being a newer airframe, she's already got most of the bells and whistles that you want. The jet was designed with a 30,000 hour service life in mind, but several of the tails have already hit 20,000+. That lifespan will be extended well past 30,000 in due time. As far as usage goes, I don't see any real changes coming down the pipe. Wherever the US gov operates, which is everywhere, there's going to be a need for airlift. 5. Besides the FTU at beautiful Altus, there are seven AD C-17 bases: four on the west coast (McChord, Travis, Elmo, and Hickam) and three on the east coast (Charleston, Dover, and McGuire). Charleston and McChord are by far the two largest hubs, each with close to 50 of the 223 tails. There are also some limited opportunities to pick up exchange tours with the Aussies, Brits, or Canadians or to go out to fly with the HAW, a NATO unit based in Hungary. All in all, I've really enjoyed it. If you like to travel and you like working with a team of guys and gals on a crew airplane, you'll have a good time. The mission set is varied enough that it's never the same thing twice. You'll see plenty of Iraq and Afghanistan, but you'll also wake up in Peru, Chad, Myanmar, or wherever else Uncle Sam wants to go that day. Pretty fun gig.

Are you seriously asking a bunch of randos on the internet what to do with the rest of your life? If this was your first ride at UPT, you’d hook for SA and judgement/decision making. You should probably stay at Lockheed Martin.

Where did I say I was? I just wondered why his supporters back him not following the rule of laws. Congress seemed fit to pass this law for a reason. Trump himself signed it, then refuses to act in accordance with it. Why? And don't tell me it's because he's trying to not escalate conflicts. That's b.s..