Leaderboard

Definitely a U2 crew chief

So from the filing Azimuth posted... The two alleged victims then are presumably the accused's children, and the mother in question is the ex-wife who he has an ongoing custody dispute with and who he accuses of trying to alienate the children from him. That is some pretty significant context that is missing from the USA Today story and the quotes in it from the various members of Congress, Don Christensen (the ex-AF prosecutor that tried to railroad Lt Col Wilkerson at Aviano), and the SVCs. Not a lawyer... But it appears to me that advocates for the ex-wife, including the AF SVCs, are taking advantage of the fact that the news media has a professional standard of not identifying the alleged victims of sex crimes who don't wish to be identified. They in effect counted on the fact that the press would leave the divorce/custody dispute context out of the discussion to try to win a losing case in the court of public opinion. I don't know if the congressional members quoted knew about that context, but Christensen probably does and the SVCs definitely do. And I kind of have a problem with that. Prosecutors are supposed to have a professional obligation not to "win," but to see that justice is done. i.e. If a prosecutor finds out that they've probably got the wrong guy, or that their office convicted the wrong guy in the past, they have a professional duty to dismiss the charges or seek to have the previous conviction overturned. How does that work with the obligations of an SVC? Obviously an SVC is supposed to be an advocate for the alleged victim... But in an Air Force that allegedly believes in "Integrity First," surely one has an obligation not to make arguments one knows are specious to try to win in the press when you're losing on the law and might lose on the facts. If this is considered "Okay" by the Air Force, then I have a problem with SVCs as a career field just like I have a problem with OSI.

Yeah... True story, I was stuck at a hotel in Bloomington, Illinois with nothing to do one weekend in 2013, so I no shit read everything about the Wilkerson case that HAF had released via FOIA: the record of the trial, the clemency package that went to Gen Franklin, the videos of OSI interrogating Wilkerson and his wife, etc. Huge freaking "2" on Christensen being a POS. Now, I strongly suspect Wilkerson was guilty of some kind of collateral misconduct under the UCMJ (i.e. adultery and/or swinging), but the AF couldn't prove that to save their lives, and Wilkerson/Mrs. Wilkerson obviously had a disincentive not to admit to it in their defense because to do so would risk his membership in the check of the month club. Doesn't excuse blatant prosecutorial misconduct. Gen. Franklin is one of my all-time heroes for doing the right thing then and falling on his sword in 2013 on another case. Got to hear Mr. Franklin, USAF (Retired), speak at WIC 2 years ago and am still sad I never got the chance to shake his hand. Made the mistake of weighing in on this current case on the Doctrine Man facebook and am currently getting eaten alive by the "Won't somebody please think of the children!" crowd.

100% agree...this bullshit "Undocumented Workers"narrative is pure tripe, we are either a nation of laws or we are not. I have compassion and embrace LEGAL immigration, 99% of us are immigrants and the backbone of this country was built on the great melting pot. However, throwing a giant progressive hand wave at all the criminals who came here ILLEGALLY is a giant FU to those who stand in line and try to come here the right way. Progressives have decided they don't want to enforce immigration law, what laws do you ignore next? Very interesting video below about immigration and poverty.

I agree. We need immigration reform, and bad. We should be striving to make it faster, easier, and cheaper for people who want to come here legally. Make the barriers to legal entry low enough, and the only people who will try to come here illegally will be the criminals...which makes it easier to police the borders.

I'll review your packet for free.

“It’s called a court of law, not a court of truth.” That’s what I was told during my court martial by one of my attorneys and it’s a very true statement. Lawyers will fight tooth and nail to get evidence “in” or keep evidence “out” under Rules of Evidence. Christensen is a POS who’s on the SJW #MeToo movement trying to get retribution for losing the Wilkerson case. If you ever read the record of trial, his theme was that fighter pilots were rapist frat boys that got to break the rules because that’s the mentality they have. The SVC position is an odd one. They don’t have legal “standing” in a traditional sense in law since they are neither the prosecution or the defense. They were part of the 2011-2012 knee jerk reaction by the Air Force (and eventually adopted by the military) from fall out of the Wilkerson case and the documentary “Invisible War” where Sen Hillibrand and Sen McCaskill branded a sexual assault epidemic in the military. The SVC position, in theory, is a great resource to a victim about legal rights (self-incrimination, how the military justice system will progress with the case, expedited transfer, etc). However, it’s turned into a personal Kirkland & Ellis law firm for the victim to have the accused prosecuted completely at their personal whim, not what the evidence shows the Government or the Convening Authority. The SVC’s aren’t supposed to align with either side of the adversarial judicial process, but they end up doing so with the Government a lot of the time. Another problem is that a JAG can go straight into being an SVC without ever spending time as trial counsel or defense counsel. This recent Air Force case U.S. v. Vargas shows that the SVC conspired with the Senior Trial Cousnel (lead prosecutor) and the NAF/SJA to have a certain military judge removed from a docketed trial because of how he has ruled unfavorably, in their own opinion, in previous sexual assault case. Then the actual military judge who knew about the conspiracy to remove the previous military judge, was the one who did eventually remove the military judge from the case and then presided over the case himself. He then declined to be deposed by defense counsel to be challenged to be removed fro the case due to his person involvement. In the civilian world that would get you removed from the circuit of trying cases, let alone a bar complaint. In the military they just PCS you or a allow you to retire. I believe that non-judicial punishments authority should be Commanders on G-Series orders. However, major criminal activity under the UCMJ (Rape, Murder, Sexual Assault, etc) should be given to the DOJ because of the misjustices that the Military Justice allows to happen since it’s a Commander ran system that are advised from incompetitent attorneys who aren’t doing ethical actions.

For most people who wish to come to the United States, there is simply no option to come here legally. In my opinion, if someone wants to pursue to American dream so badly that they leave everything they've ever known, put their lives into the hands of untrustworthy smugglers, to come here and work in fast food, landscaping, and contracting, I say, let them. That's more American a thing to do than what most of the people in this country have ever done in their lives. More succinctly, "an unjust law is no law at all." Practically, you are never going to be able to "defeat" illegal immigration. The incentives are too great. Migrants are routinely murdered, sold into sex slavery, or left for dead in the desert trying to get here. If that doesn't deter them, what do you think the government can possibly do? People claim to only be against illegal immigrants, legal immigration, but I rarely hear them calling for increased legal immigration (which is the one surefire way to reduce legal immigration, without government spending billions on mostly ineffective border "security").

That's fine in a theater where being a POW is an option. Being burned alive in a cage or having your head sawed off with a rusty blade on LiveLeak might motivate some folks to face those odds and shoot back.

Usually I despise the Republican Party because they are spineless. At least they are starting to speak the truth...

Eligibles

I posted up in another thread, so sorry to beat the same drum, but being a firefighter (or cop) is another option if you don’t want airlines or an office job. A lot of larger-city options might be off the table if you did 20+ military due to age restrictions (36 is a cap in a lot of cities; but many smaller cities don’t have age caps), but it’s worth looking into. Most cities give points to veterans, let you buy back 3 years military time, are very conducive to Reserves/ANG if you still want to fly, may provide another pension, and are seemingly (only say that because I don’t have military experience...yet) similar mentalities/excitement levels to military service. There are 12 other people all day, every day in my firehouse, with nearly 60 assigned to the house in total. Lots of different personalities to keep things interesting. We have each others’ backs, are close-knit and social (both at work and with our families), help each other through thick and thin, laugh a whole lot (at ourselves and one another), and get to do some pretty crazy/exciting things that change daily. 10-20% of guys are prior military service, too. I’ve not flown a military jet (yet), but driving a 70,000lb fire truck through traffic, pulling up to a building with fire blowing out the window, and heading in when everyone else is heading out is pretty damn exciting. You’re forcing open doors and heading into an environment that’s hot and you can’t see your hand in front of your face to look for victims, or pushing a hoseline that’ll unleash 180-250 gallons of water a minute and nearly send you flying backwards. You will save a cat. Likely many cats over a career. I’ve heard of guys rescuing a cop, who got stuck in a tree trying to save a cat. In front of a playground full of school children... You’ll see the best and worst; often times within a few hours of one another. You’ll laugh pretty damn hard. You’ll go home feeling like you made a difference, even if it’s just a small one like opening up an arthritic old lady’s cat food can or making sure the local drunk is still breathing when passed out after his/her latest bender. It’s not a perfect job always, but it sure isn’t a bad one. Especially if you already have the mindset, as I’d imagine many pilots/military members do.

Click on the link for the upcoming 119th FS UPT board. This is a basic example of how things should be. Also, most boards give instruction on what they what in the packets. https://www.177fw.ang.af.mil/Portals/68/documents/UPT/UPT Package - 2018.pdf?ver=2018-05-29-111104-047