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If only anything else in the government worked at the speed at which that video was taken down. To whoever found and deleted that video, if you're reading this, I'd like to double your salary and hire you as full time DTS approver for my Sq. PM me.

The AF has always had bros doing funny stuff that leadership disliked: What The Captain Means

As someone who had this happen to me personally, I approve of this message.

"Pictures are bad." I learned that one on about day two of fighter pilot school. If the wrong flag officer gets spun up over this fiasco, I think it's entirely possible Maestro could be back in the frag pattern over that video. This is a great opportunity to give your kids or anyone from the "I'll share anything with the world on the internet" generation a prime example of why you keep your shit private.

What I hate about this situation is that he was professional and reasonable in the statement that came out from Shaw, didn't mention any reasons for doing so, and who knows, spared her some embarrassment by just leaving it at that. Hopefully it doesn't come down to someone saying, "He isn't a bad leader she did X, he had no choice", and now her sh*t is in the street also.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. No way the Col should go down for that video. But knowing today’s culture and Air Force...

Copy of it on a filesharing site: https://k2s.cc/file/c173df3841b24/Golden_Breath Mint For My Balls.mp4

And in the wise words of Rainman, "never talk to the media!"

Maybe they’ve reformed since... My experience with First Command was them giving us their pitch as we started UPT. As I looked at their numbers, it was clear that they were only interested in soaking as many butter bars sitting with me in the room as possible. Compared to the vast selection of investment vehicles available in the world, the rates of commission and expense ratios that they were charging, amounted to a loan shark diversifying into the whole life insurance sector. Suddenly their uncanny ability to attract the talents of so many retired senior officers made a lot of sense.

big blue should start dealing in extreme honesty. they have zero credibility or "trust us" cards left to play.

Nuthugging fanboy, more correctly.

That guy sounds like a real fuck face.

Honestly, it's really none of our business, and I think he's handling it rather well. I've heard from multiple people in the bro network that both the Col (even after O6 lobotomy) and the Capt are solid individuals, so I'm willing accept it at face value. People fuck up, but don't deserve the have their names drug through the mud over any misstep. It's a welcome change from the standard AF (or mainstream media in general) blast the accusation on the front page of every major news source, then retract it a year later....on the bottom left of the back page of the Sumter gazette. Here's hoping it's something that is recoverable careerwise and everyone can move on. I'm guessing if it weren't for threads like this, people would have already forgotten about it.

Back to doing it illegally, like we used to do with the flight suit.

Well that was fun while it lasted...

Maestro....BYU class of 1996 😂

Face palm. Maybe that seemed funnier after spending most of a 365 unaccompanied on the rock. WTF?

Wait...are you suggesting the institution would push a gender-biased agenda where no actual story exists in order to fabricate favorable optics only to cut its own throat with soon thereafter because someone is a fvcking human being? The machine has chewed up and spit out another pretty face. Sorry for the sarcasm, but I'm not surprised at all. This is called a Monday in AMC. Why dudes and dudettes somehow think THEY are different, THEY can affect change, THEY will make it through the command crucible is beyond me. I also didn't know a flying Captain could be the commander of anything beyond the snack bar. Guess the attrition numbers may have some merit.

SiS is her callsign - and as a fighter pilot the story behind it is hers to tell. Buy the “brodette” a round, sit down and listen. I’ve flown with SiS and recognize her as a good pilot and good person. I was excited to see her career advance, and saddened and disappointed by this announcement. I have also worked for Maestro. Unless his F35 time ruined him he’s very level headed and really cares about his pilots. Where these two intersect leaves me at an impasse. I think the AF needs to throw on the “safety privilege” label and explain to all of us what is going on in these cases. We can literally be fired for “mission planning buffoonery” to “redecorating” to “having an awesome instagram?” and then have airline prospects ruined thanks to Public Affairs. if Anyone discovers valid details (mine was a joke) please inform us so we take appropriate defensive options!

My whole family are union service job blue color Ohio/Penn democrats. Any time I open my mouth with what or why those people would possibly vote for Trump or sit out an election because of the complete scizm in the dem party toward extreme left loonacy the coastal loons all dismiss it as “your family must be racist or something.” No they were promised a bill of goods with Obama and none of it happened. Because to those people the most important thing for our government to be concentrated on isn’t social progress and global warming. It’s sound foreign policy for their deployed sons/daughters, it’s not trying to hobble manufacturing jobs through ridiculous cafe restrictions or corporate taxes, and it’s not telling s bunch of nurses if they think there are limits on when abortion becomes wrong they are evil, and it’s not telling a guy who worked as both a cop and a military officer he can’t have a gun to defend his family because he might be a mass shooter waiting to happen. Until the democractic party learns that lesson I’m more than happy to watch them get their butts kicked in the greater electorate. But it’s just easier to hit the button that dismisses loss to a person like Trump as part of some secret army of racists so they probably won’t learn anything.

He’s going to be happier in the airlines. He should thank the AF if they make him walk away.

Well this escalated, wonder if Maestro is brushing off his airline apps.

Annnnnnd there it is... https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26479/commander-that-fired-zoe-kotnik-from-f-16-demo-team-made-this-crass-video-15-years-ago

It's back up here.

And neither will get exactly what they want.

I woke up and it had been deleted. Maestro must have the DMCA complaints on redial.

Except one want $5b and the other wants $40t.

Don’t know him, but several friends do. I’ve heard nothing but good from his peers and subordinates, dudes and dudettes, for what it’s worth. He likely did the best he could for the situation. Sometimes command sucks. Rarely am I the fun police, but reposting the video is like taking photos in the bar. While TDY. It can’t possibly do any good. I also don’t get what the big deal ever was...PG-13 at most.

That was what I thought. Why did the Wing feel they needed to make a statement out of what amounts to moving a flight commander around? Who cares why she was removed if she's not a unit commander?

Trust me, good folks who have careers maimed by stupid Big Blue tricks will be just fine when it comes time to go to the airlines.

Nah, high profile women don't get away with frat in my experience. They may not get court martialed, but they don't keep command.

I'll bet $100 I can guess what happened. I wonder who the lucky crew chief was.

Really sorry to see SiS relieved. Post the video. If he doesn’t like it and cannot laugh about it, too bad. And post part 2... too.

I have a copy of it, and I got a nastygram from Maestro back a long time ago when I posted it. This is truly a funny Gordian Knot of USAF PC culture.

I've ran a board or two and been on 6 or 7 hiring boards. Biggest piece of advice I can give is read each squadrons instructions thoroughly and do what it says...don't try to church it up thinking they'll appreciate it. We used to say place a single staple in the upper left corner and no protective covers. You wouldn't believe how many people would send there app in a spiral binding and plastic covering. We want the single staple because all we do is rip it out and run copies of your app for everyone on the board. Don't overthink it, I would just put it all on the same paper. More advice... - Be sure to double check your cover letter and recs. I've received more than one app that had a cover letter talking about their dream to fly a F-15s (or KC-135s)...I appreciate that, but we fly F-16s lol. Personally, I don't mind it because I remember being there and it shows me there applying elsewhere and this is probably someone who really wants it. - If you can go visit the squadron, do so! Multiple times if you can swing it and they're ok with it. Face time is great so all the guys can get to know you...puts a face with the app. - During the interview, be yourself. Don't tell us what you think we want to here (it's obvious), just answer the question the best you can. - Know the mission of jet you're applying to fly...not just that the F-16s shoots missiles and drops bombs. We don't expect you to recite doctrine, but have a little more understanding than just we go fast, pull-Gs and bomb bad guys. - Be prepared for an oddball questions or even to tell a funny story. Best of luck!

Coast Guard. ANG. DMV. Wal-Mart greeter. AD AF. In that order. You’re welcome. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

You don’t have to pay it back. You only have to pay back the unearned portion of what you’ve received. So if you take the lump sum...then you might have a good sized payback. If you didn’t...then you might have a partial year to pay back depending on your bonus anniversary date.

Purchased a new car last year and called around for different quotes. USAA wanted to charge me more than double what EVERY OTHER company quoted me. It's actually crazy how bad it has gotten in the past few years.

USAA has gone significantly downhill. They got too big for their britches. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

If it's a Guard or a Reserve unit address the person by their rank once in the conversation, "Good morning, (Colonel, Capt, Chief, Sgt, Amn) Jones." If talking to an officer during the conversation, throw a "sir" in there once, maybe twice, when asked a direct question just to let them know your parents raised you right. Other than that, speak normally and naturally. They're just people and they prefer talking with those who do not seem intimidated or excessively deferential.

They don't even need the C - what they need is CAS for the ground unit in a permissive environment (light attack, etc). There is no situation in which a MEU is going into a threat environment by themselves that requires 5th gen capes. A MEU is not storming Iran's or China's beach by themselves, a MEU is not starting WW3 in Ukraine, etc. The MEU concept is viable for rapid response to problems in 3rd world countries that aren't rocking operational IADs or even just a few autonomous S-300/400s. If those things exist, the MEU is not going to be the answer for the problem. Additionally, a Marine rifleman charging into Indonesia or Africa (for example) is far better supported by something purpose built for CAS - they should want light attack FW and RW, or something like a re-engined A-10 that can fly off the boat. FWIW the Marine F-35 guys I've been around have done a great job learning and adapting to the new missions of the F-35, but their $100M aircraft and awesome OCA skills are going to be of low utility when their bros on the ground storm Embassy X and it's a classic 3-09.3 CAS fight.

I think the General's article raises some interesting possibilities to improve UPT. Better said, I think he is offering some valid ways to improve the transition from UPT to today's modern fighter/attack platforms. However, I think he's forgetting the basic goal of UPT. We still need to produce pilots with strong foundational skills in basic aviation before we start giving them extra "toys" to play with. The problem with making changes to syllabi and training programs in aviation (military or civilian) is the guys making the changes are usually the old guys who were trained one or more "generations" in the past. They always seem to apply their perspective of how challenging it was to adapt to new technology when most of the time, the young guys do fine. What’s actually harder is being able to go backward once someone had become proficient with new tech. I've seen it over and over again. F-15 FTU syllabus changes to include advanced subjects and tactics that had traditionally been left until arrival at the ops units. Old guys are highly skeptical and swear the students will flail because when they had to learn the same stuff 10 years into their careers, their ingrained, semi-hardened brains found it a challenge. Surprise - the students eat the shit up and adapt because they don't know any different and they come out the other end more lethal than their instructors were when they were LTs. Airline X decides to put new hires into the right seats of the latest Boeing or Airbus wide-bodies because 1 - there aren't any more 727 Engineer seats to stick newbies into and 2 - they need to fill the seats. Old guys lose their minds again considering the impossible task of learning the ropes at a major airline while getting through right seat training on the modern marvel that is a 21st century airliner with a glass cockpit and all the bells and whistles. Surprise again - new guys (most anyway) from all kinds of backgrounds deal just fine with all the magic that the old guys stared at like a pig looking at a wristwatch. My point is that new pilots rarely have difficulty adapting to new technology that reduces workload, enhances SA and allows easier human interface. But, once you give them those new toys and train them to use and rely on them from day one, they have no ability to retrograde back to more basic methods. When my airliner computes a descent to hit waypoints at specific speeds and altitudes down track, I do the math and compute my 3:1 descent in my head to make sure the jet's plan is reasonable. It's just a habit developed before I had all the magic. A "child of magenta" probably doesn't have that same habit and may not even have the ability to do it. He's never needed to. So, when Murphy strikes in that scenario or any number of potential problem areas in civilian or military flying, if a pilot has no old school skills and is completely reliant on technology to do his job, he's less capable - period - dot. I laughed when I saw the side by side picture of the T-X and F-35 cockpits. YGBSM. The fact that both cockpits utilize similar displays and automation isn't going to matter on "Stanley's" UPT sorties when he's trying to figure out how to develop contact flying skills, land out of an overhead, not kill his classmate during a rejoin or shoot an approach to mins. I guaran-fucking-tee that his first sortie in an F-35 is not going to be any easier because he had a moving map or some other sensor display in his T-X while he was still earning his wings. Anyone can go from round dial steam gauges that actually required an instrument scan and some mental challenge to maintain positional awareness and overall SA to the latest, greatest glass cockpit. Going back in the other direction is a far different story. UPT needs to produce pilots with solid, basic aviation skills. Skipping over those by handing Stanley a glass cockpit with a moving map, HUD and whatever other toys are available isn't going to do that. I have no doubt he'll do just fine with them, but there's benefit to learning this job from a basic level first. You produce pilots who don't just take the information presented to them as gospel and blindly follow it - but have the ability to understand how to back it up, QC it to ensure it makes sense and flex to another option if it doesn't. I've seen pilots blindly follow steering bars on a flight director into oblivion because that's all they've ever done. Another is unable to transition to a round dial ADI because they're a HUD baby and it's now tits up. I watched a guy in the sim completely pork a way an approach because he chose not to use DME to the field, mis-interpreted his NAV display and lost SA on where he was. A bearing pointer and DME is a beautiful thing if you know how to use them. My point is that the General's concern seems to be how can we introduce more shit to Stanley sooner so he'll be more familiar with the F-35 or F-22 cockpit if and when he finally gets that far. I think students will adapt to those environments just fine when the times comes. There may be an opportunity to help begin their transition later in UPT or during whatever we're going to call the IFF phase. But not at the expense of creating a generation of pilots who start out from day one completely reliant on the most advanced cockpit we can field. Maybe the General needs to take a peek at the existing F-15C or A-10 cockpits. They sure as hell would be about 10 steps backwards for a UPT student who just got winged in an F-X and now has to figure out how to fly round dial steam gauges so he doesn't kill himself on his first ILS to mins. Anyway..... just my old guy two-cents. I still see some value in swinging a weighted bat in the on-deck circle before I'm up.

Never been a UPT instructor but I always hated UPTs system and felt anything could be better. The more and more I recollect on my experience there, the AF never taught me to fly. They handed me a book, a disk full of CDs and a syllabus and I taught myself how to fly, after which my progress was graded by an "instructor." (This is not a knock on IPs, they are great Men and Women who do the best with the tools they are allowed.) My understanding is UPT NEXT uses new technology in the VR and sim spaces to increase repetitions before students get in the plane. Working off my perception of how UPT was, it makes sense that if you give the students better tools to teach themselves you will get a better product.

"... I want them to have the opportunity to learn from them without being under public scrutiny..." With all due respect to the good Colonel. When you volunteer for a high-visibility position, you agree to become a public figure. Don't step on stage if you can't handle the lights. The non-disclosure of her removal raises more questions than anything else.