Leaderboard

Your critiques on his part policy seem to fall in line to a media agenda to paint them as irrational and misguided. Your an officer dude, you have to be able to read between the lines on some of this stuff and realise POTUS doesn't make those decisions in a vacuum and media has no way of knowing what the environment around those decisions are. People bring him researched options and he makes choices. Usually the people that bring him choices are informed and briefed by career employees and not appointees. There is a circle in Washington that has been discussing the same shit for years. It's a mix of federal employees, academics and senior uniformed members. I can name a dozen reasons why all of your policy critiques were GREAT ideas although I don't personally agree with 100% of them. So before you discount the country for anti-intellectualism I'd suggest you review your own geopolitical playbook and figure out why some of these things could have been a good step for the country because you automatically assume the items you listed were "bad things". I think the current POTUS has the best geo-political strategy we've seen since Bush #1 up to the point he ended the Cold War. Leagues better than Clinton, Bush #2 and Obama. Why? Because Trump recognizes there are capacity limits for our foreign influence and being the only world super power, especially one bogged down for 20 years by a counter terrorism quagmire, doesn't give you carte blanche to effect the world any way you want. I got other news for you too man, foreign policy is America first. That is the basis of Western sovereignty and is nearly universally agreed upon by ethicist and academics who discuss the role and purpose of a state. Every country's government acts in their own interest. If you think Germany, the Kurds, South Korea or any of these other partnerships we broke glass on think we are "friends" you are full of it. They are going to stab us in the back the moment our interest misalign. Trump's vision is quite simple. America's best bet at influencing foreign politics is by being a stalwart example of domestic statecraft for other countries to model. Focus on ourselves first, and our virtue and prosperity will become attractive enough for other countries to model. But if you want to go adventuring all over the third world to build partnerships, my question is, who's going to pay for it? You complain about rising deficit but then half your post levies complaints that we aren't spending enough. Speaking of economic ironies, you bemoan the fact that jobs are stagnant and trending to a service economy but also bemoan withdrawal from environmental protection agreements and a trade war with China. Can you not see that these things are interconnected? A business only does one of two things. It either provides goods, or it provides a service. If we aren't providing goods, we have to provide a service. The US is trending to a service economy because it is too expensive to setup industrial manufacturing here, hence no goods. One reason that it is expensive is because of strict EPA laws that mandate companies have to front cost for compliance and how their waste is handled. For a while we were able to float on certain tech sectors because China didn't have the technological know how to upstart this on their own. But since we decided to allow 20 years of industrial espionage in an effort to preserve "a good relationship" we have now lost that edge as well. Bro, the world isn't sunshine and roses. You can have your EPA laws and warm fuzzies with China, but don't wake up pissed you are working at Starbucks at 35 then. You made a choice. But I think what annoys me about your post most of all is your use of the term progress. Because you don't recognize when you say that you mean progress by YOUR standard. What you don't realise man, is this all comes down to values, and in general Americans have the same values but they tend to order them differently. So when you say "progress" you have belittled every single person who doesn't order values the same as you do. You don't think conservatives love the environment? Bro have you been to a Cabellas? However, a some conservatives are making the concious decision that people having means to put food on the plate is a higher value than protecting a climate that we honestly have little understanding of how it's change will impact global sustainability. Some people are making a concious choice that economic prosperity is the most important thing to get control of first and then interest can be taken in foreign influence, the environment, etc....

Total military time is about 7,300 hours. 4,100 sorties.

I quit reading after this quote. Such an asinine statement. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I think there is a valid argument that if someone joins the armed forces of a foreign military the US is at war with, they forfeit their rights to citizenship. I don't think you can have a reasonable expectation that Benedict Arnold could ride into battle in his German battle tank in Trier and we can't do shit about it. However we are still debating whether its even reasonable to be "at war" with an "idea" (war on terrorism), hence classifying that dude as a combatant gets really tricky. The reality is, up until the 21st century no one seriously regarded terrorist as military problems outside of the force protection concerns. They were law enforcement problems and terrorist were regarded as criminals, not combatants. However when we set out to dismantle al Queda there was a realization that there isn't enough federal power in law enforcement to do that. I blame Bush and Obama for this quagmire. Obama's obsession with RPA's though is particularly interesting to me because there are a lot of parallels to that and JFK's obsession with US Army SF. I wonder if the MQ-9 schoolhouse one day is going to be named the "Barrack Obama Remotely Piloted Aircraft School."

I think your frame is backwards. This isn't an election for things. It's an election against things.

And yet somebody did it. And an entire chain of command knew it, literally from POTUS down to trigger-puller. Tough if you don't like being reminded that a US President ordered the deliberate execution of a US citizen without benefit of trial. It's kinda a thing we get the right to for being an American. I'm not willing to forget it or let it go. Because otherwise, it will be done again as a precedent has been set and no one was too upset.

Pretty sure the select message comes out prior to Senate confirmation. No one can actually pin on O-5 until the list is confirmed.

Pretty well known(except for Biden) that his VP pick will be a black chick. Racism?

What Flea is saying above is all accurate. What I think is missing in a lot of the critiques is that NATO is a military alliance but also a political alliance. I think a lot of y’all are discounting the value of being closely allied with many of the worlds largest economies and most enduring democratic states. There is, in my view, a lot of value beyond the petty, transactional nature of “who paid for what” and there are also far better ways to encourage our allies to spend more on defense without poking them in the eyes constantly. For people asking why the F NATO was in Afghanistan, it was us that invoked Article 5 after 9/11 and the way I see it our boys rode with us when it was time to F some terrorists up. The fact that the Afghan War turned into an extremely drawn out and ultimately pointless (IMHO) land war in Asia from about 2003-present is kind of on us as the leaders of that posse. NATO also includes 3 of the 9 world nuclear powers are for whatever that’s worth when the aliens invade 🛸

If you look at 3-Holer's picture I think the smaller ship got lifted onto the shoreline on the right side of the image.

Lebanon was already in an economic freefall. Their currency was becoming valueless. What a tragedy. “"The main grain silo, which holds 85 percent of the country’s cereals, was destroyed. Even more, the port will no longer be able to receive goods. Lebanon imports 80 percent of what it consumes, including 90 percent of its wheat...60 percent of imports come through the Beirut."

Orange is the new green.

Huggy's orange flight suit is f*cking boss.

I just watched the videos of the blast and the bigly reddish/orange cloud; Some commercial/mining explosives (particularly Ammonia Nitrate) produce nitrogen dioxide (NO2) when detonation occurs. This typically results in a reddish or orange cloud when mass amounts of Ammonia Nitrate are detonated (large surface detonation). There's also some commercial chemicals that when in involved in a fire/explosion produce NO2 and the same cloud colors (red/orange).

As Ernie Gann wrote back in the 60s: “All airline pilots are subject to the high cock-o-lorum of seniority, whether they like it or not. The system was established to banish favoritism and to provide some basis for assignment of bases, routes, flights, and pay. Its great fault, as in any seniority system, is the absolutely necessary premise that all men are equal in ability. The dullard and the genius must both live with the ostrich philosophy that one man can fly as skillfully as another. No one, of course, maintains this to be a truth. But the seniority system must ever persist if only because it is a protection of the weak, who are everywhere in the greatest number.”

Yep. I thought we had kinda gotten better about this in the last few years, and then I watched a person in our wing who is tactically dangerous and useless, who prioritizes qweep above flying at all junctures, and essentially needs as much flying oversight as a CGO that you give to senior officers get pushed for tons of awards and receive a top push line.

Anyone else skeptical of this all actually taking place if we get a new SECDEF and POTUS potentially in 6 months? I’m also just blown away that so many of y’all are willing to throw NATO in the trash. We benefit greatly by a relatively peaceful and united Europe and part of the price of that is NATO and our encouragement of broader European integration, e.g. the EU. Not that institutions can’t or shouldn’t grow, change and evolve, but I for one am not willing to abandon a project that has been extremely fruitful for the last 70+ years.

Imagine if you will, a place where the Air Force could groom top quality pilot candidates, educate them on flight maybe in their late teens/early 20’s....get America’s best by offering a free 4 yr education. We could call it, maybe an “Academy” or something. Seriously, I’ve railed on this before. Why isn’t our academy and flight screening getting us people who can kick ass? I’ve had academy grads (and ROTC) teaching at UPT I’d gladly trade for the high school educated quarterback at my B-8 football school because that guy working at the local grain elevator had more leadership and pilot potential than the band-geek-chess-club Academy grad. Part of the problem is we aren’t getting America’s best through our commissioning sources. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

How can it be that nobody's yet posted the clip of Baseops' @Steve Davies vs @HuggyU2 battling for ultimate domination of YouTube? https://youtu.be/ZgR3wzOioks

A prediction. There are undercover federal agents in the crowds in Portland and Seattle. They are running intel and building cases on 50 - 100 people. In a few weeks, you will see raids on where these 50 - 100 people live. They will be arrested and charged with serious federal crimes such as domestic terrorism, assault on federal officers, arson etc. They will be denied bail and will face decades in federal prison. That is how these protests will end. The rest of these criminals will wonder if they are next and start to rethink their decisions.

@Guardianexcellent discourse, I really appreciate your perspective. And I'm not here to change your mind. I think everything stated above was racially motivated, but thats my opinion. I do think the system is racist, heres why. Those people that called the cops on me, did it because of my skin color. Beyond that, they both have jobs. What I mean by that is, we can agree that racism exists. I don't think that hate and resentment towards minorities stops when they go to work. Racist people are in the system, and I believe that some of them allow it to cloud their judgement. When overt racism became uncool at the turn of the century, those people didn't stop being racist, it's just undercover now. I agree the BLM moniker is tainted. But from what you're saying, you understand that there is an issue, but others won't join because of the BLM moniker....that makes sense, I can understand that. I brought up the OKC issue to point to BLM here isn't tearing down stuff, looting, or rioting. I agree with you. And it's a call to celebrities in and from the area to help. MLK did say a riot is the language of the unheard. However, I agree. I don't like some of the things I've been seeing. Hopefully you don't think I think a whole race of people are racist because of MLK, I don't. I brought it up to show that it wasn't that long ago, and people that think that way are still alive. Most of us fully understand all whites aren't racist. We're trying to bring attention to those that are. I don't like preferential treatment either. But I also don't like people thinking I received preferential treatment to get where I am. I'm just damn good at what I do. Example. One of my peers (at the direction of some other peers) had enough balls to tell the Sq CC that we had too many black flt ccs. We had 2. 2 out of 10. I was one of them. Got Flt cc OTY at the group level, and the other guy got it the year after me. But some say we got it because we were black. Further, who ever these people are, are going to stay in the AF and continue their careers with that mind set. Thats bad in my book. But I'll continue to overcome that. As far as the system, there is a disparity from that I'm seeing. Brock Turner got 6 months for raping a woman an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. My cousin got 3 years for a dime bag of weed. That white lady that paid 15k for her kid to get into Stanford got 14 days in jail. A black homeless woman who used a friend's address to get her son into elementary school got 5 years. The change I'm trying to see is everyone being treated equally. I want the white racist that call the cops on blacks for nothing to stop. That fact that it's ok to use the police as a weapon against someone that has committed no crime is heinous. What police do when they get there is a different story. I've seen your post, and I'm aware you have different views. I see the world differently as well. I see it from an inner city kid perspective that made it out. Someone who couldn't go to schools in a certain areas, that was only looking for an opportunity to make it out. Believe it or not, not all of those kids believe they can make it out ( I didn't) and that's a shame because they can. The change I'm looking for is for us to get into those communities and show those kids it's possible. For me it was a white Capt in a flight suit at an inner city high school football game, where there are shootouts every weekend. After my game I asked him if he was a pilot, I wanna be a pilot. He said yes. I told him, you're brave for coming here. He said there is untapped potential in your neighborhood, so you want to be a pilot? And the rest is history. That's what I want. Also, I don't see that as preferential treatment because all I received was information on how to become a pilot that I didn't have access to/didn't know existed. You can believe everyone starts on equal footing if you want, but that's not true where I'm from. The change I want is for those of us that have made it, to reach back and help others, regardless of race. Get in those neighborhoods. There are 100 of me in each of those neighborhoods, just looking to take the next step, but they don't know where to place their foot. I don't think the fabric is racist. The behavior I'm speaking of is what's happened throughout America's time. The raping, pillaging, looting, and murder of the Native Americans. The enslavement of Africans. We literally fought a war to end slavery, and the beliefs of those on the losing side have been passed down. I'm saying rioting/fighting, and forcing people to bend to our will is what made this country into what it is today. That stuff happened, it's in the past, but it is history. I don't think we can dwell on it, but I do think it's important to understand that blood has been spilt by this country since it's inception. It has made us the greatest country on the planet, but my patriotism leads me to believe it can be even better.

The former 9 RW/CC was brilliant, and a man of impeccable style and taste. Nothing "questionable" about his decisions.

All good stuff, but the former Wg/CC also made some questionable civilian hiring decisions. Huggy, care to comment?

Hey guys. Update on UPT 2.5 from what I know. To lead, I have no idea if any other base is doing this or if it's just Vance. Was just briefed we're starting UPT 2.5 in July. The timeline is going to be T-6s to Wings in about 7 months. Heavies will find out both airframe and location at/before graduation. Fighter/bombers will continue on in the T-38 to do IFF and some B-Course related stuff. Unsure of their timeframe and exactly what they're going to be doing. As I'm sure we're all aware, the AF is trying to get rid of the T-1. Well, this is where they're starting. Looks like they'll be either completely removing the T-1 from the syallabus and replacing it with only T-1 transition to a heavy airframe Sims...or doing a mixture. T-1 timeline is guesstimated at about 2 to 3 months. Then off to Altus or Little Rock or San Antonio. Unsure if they're planning on extending those secondary trainings or if their idea is to place a lot more training on the gaining unit. Again, I'm not involved in the planning of any of this. Just what we've been briefed as the OSS at a UPT base. Feel free to ask any questions!

My personal preference of CSAF would be a career ops O5 straight to CSAF. That would shake things up.

I have quite a few. And I know that all it takes is for you to quote the one thing you disagree with for you to feel like I’m entirely wrong, but I encourage you to suppress that notion and respond in kind. It’s given my friends the courage to unabashedly post QAnon videos without a second thought. It’s allowed for people I once respected to just say “do your own research” and “fake news” about things that are scientifically proven, such as vaccines, global warming, or even eugenics. It’s allowed my friends that I grew up with in the South to feel comfortable saying “Why shouldn’t I be able to tell a black person I’m proud of the fact that I’m white?” The culture of discourse over the last 3 years has markedly worsened. People don’t feel like they have to back up anything. “The president doesn’t, why should I?“ A byproduct of the Trump presidency is that anti-intellectualism and racism has been allowed to grow significantly and unabashedly in the last few years. And these are people I know. As one comedian said, “not all Trump supporters are racist, but all racists are Trump supporters.” On top of that, he’s not doing anything to try to calm down tensions. I have a gay brother in law that was assaulted for the first time while out with his partner. It makes me feel like I live in a less unified country. On top of that, we have made no effort to improve our economy for the future, we have no significant effort to build infrastructure for me to live in in for the next 50 years, we’ve added more debt to the national debt and balance to the federal reserves than anyone, we’ve started an irrational trade war with China that we are going to lose based on poor planning - my family owns a soybean farm and have absolutely loved the last few years (sarcasm) - we pulled out support for the Kurds (after I spent 9 months of my life flying directly over them protecting them) in an irrational and unguided Middle East plan. Foreign policy is now just say “America First,” forget the “haters,” and disregard the last 30-40 years of geopolitics. America has slashed long term plans when it comes to Global Warming, which is a thing. In the last week we saw sea temps that were 10 degrees F above baseline near the poles. There is no plan to deal with rising wealth inequality in America - and that directly affects everyone. Tax cuts haven’t enabled me or my friends to create significant wealth, instead enabling us to earn pennies less when productivity has increased orders of magnitude. Our economy is almost entirely services based and only getting worse, and Trumps best publicized bet at fixing it is bring back coal mining. Ygbsm. Good luck with our airline jobs when they get automated. My nieces and nephews have no ability to actually earn money or move out of their house when they graduate college anymore due to lack of job prospects. I think I recently read a statistic that more people 18-34 are living with their parents than with a partner for the first time in history. America is trying isolationism in 2020, which sounds cool on paper - only care about yourself - but doesn’t work when China and Russia are laying seeds for productive alliances in Africa, Asia, and South America over the next 100 years. Our foreign policy vision is terrible, and it will affect the future of America if we try to maintain this course. We need fundamental national strategy change if we want to maintain our statuses as a superpower. In 2008-2016 we did make some progress as society and in the world, in my opinion. Only about 2 people here have actually talked about what they liked in this presidency, whereas everyone else (I’m pretty sure you included) just says that I’m wrong and won’t answer my initial question. I still don’t understand what policies the majority of Republicans push for that have been enacted in the last few years, and I’d love to hear them.