Leaderboard

There’s 690K people in the AF/working directly for the AF. Yes there’s going to be some of every fill-in-the-blank group that is undesirable, but it’s disingenuous and misleading bullshit to say this stuff is a large enough problem that it requires anything to be done above the wing level. Most cases should be able to be dealt with by SQ/CC or GP/CC level (potentially with interactions with JA, OSI, etc.) The AF is not racist, white supremicist, etc...those things exist in statistically irrelevant amounts, so society/big Gov/DOD should stop acting like they are anything but “one offs” (obviously still address those one offs at the local level).

Greta rocks!!

"I want to thank...I keep calling him general...that, that...that guy that runs that outfit over there..." You mean your Secretary of Defense? I want this next four years to be good and hard so much. But at least no mean tweets. Lots more kids in cages, lots more executive orders, lots more money going to Iran. But at least no more mean tweets.

He went down voting my old posts again today, all 26 of my down votes are him, lol

Got it. So it sounds like only the “yes” notifications were sent out, and nobody has received a “no” yet. Good luck to those selected!

I thought the major he was responding to made much better arguments, personally. For an O-6...this guy was really lacking in his strategic planning for getting out. I don't know what kind of McMansion he bought, but if you can't make the budget work on 75% of O-6 pay...you were always going to have problems with the transition. Dude is making more IN RETIREMENT than most people make on Active Duty. Hell...he's making more in retirement than I do right now. I absolutely buy the idea that you need to plan ahead, build a cash reserve, and be prepared to expect the unexpected...but I don't buy that staying in the military for yourself is a better option than getting out because your family is tired of being dragged from duty station to duty station every 1.5-2 years.

Since no dead dinosaurs were harmed in the performance of this walk, I believe our sons of Galland refer to these as a: Greta Walk. No, don't get up, I'll show myself out...

So the Lufwaffe made a big deal about a supposed Elephant Walk of Typhoon Eurofighters... Notice anything odd about the pictures? All the jets are chocked and have no pilots...Basically they towed 18 jets out on the the runway, took a picture, and blasted social media...cool story Bruder.

Anyone else think we should just start giving doses slotted for anti-vaxx holdouts to the next-lower priority? The goal is herd immunity. If a 55+ year old guy doesn't want his dose, let's stick that shot in some college kid's arm.

Requiring a 2 page checklist for basic pilot admin that a 50 hour GA pilot can do is more of a problem than anything else I’ve read in this thread. I can legally kill someone without running a 2 page checklist. Then again, I suppose when you’re in a blue falcon Q3 community it’s needed.

That’s amazing. In the worst way.

some of that's gonna be tough without ever learning fix-to-fix

“Unable STAR request vectors” -every fighter pilot in the history of flying objects with or without TACANs, VORs, or GPS.

it's easy to spot the blowhards on the left too.

"Approach, you know the answer since you also work for the federal government...The government is cheap"

Shoulda asked for an AFI reference.

Nearing 14 years in the AF/ANG. Haven't witnessed or directly heard about (within assigned unit) a single instance of racism, white supremacy or anything of the like.

I heard that’s how you catch bass. Or was it bass?

I actually cold called them like a year ago and got their information for their board then, but then it ended up getting canceled due to COVID. Then they emailed me out of the blue a couple weeks ago asking if I still wanted to interview.

What a great day to be in the market! I am guessing Friday/Monday was the new low/base for Tech.

The jets have no munitions on them either 🙄. This shows the opposite of what an elephant walk should show. I now doubt their combat readiness more than before I saw the pictures.

The only aspect to a Tesla that appeals to me is the self driving. For a long time Waymo/Google was the only player, but Tesla has played catch-up in amazing fashion. Now it looks like they will beat Waymo to the market with a fully self-driving vehicle, and without the use of LIDAR. Rather incredible. Whatever the first sub-$50k self driving car is, I will buy. I'd prefer it not be a sports car, but honestly even if it's a wheel barrow I'd ride it if I could be sleeping on the way to work.

I get the point you're trying to make with your numbers, but you're missing chance of exposure, which reduces that 1/100 or 1/1000 to somewhere lower than that, based on where you go, who you interact with, indoor/outdoor, no mask/mask/respirator, etc. A 1-10% chance of infection puts you in the ballpark of the adverse vaccine effects. Contrast that with exposure to the vaccine; either you get it, or don't. Plus, people are bad with probabilities anyways. (Ref. Lotteries) Having an expert (in this case, the FDA) weigh in helps you make informed decision by analyzing the data and distilling the results into something the average person can understand. You'll still have people that move the goalpost after FDA approval to justify why they still don't want to take it, but that's not a new problem to vaccinations. I'm sure full FDA approval will encourage more people to get the shot. From there, it's how to message to the holdouts to get them to change their minds. What makes this conversation hard is both political sides don't want to acknowledge that different people may hold different values, which changes how they assess and handle risks. So there's a lot of talking past each other, rather than trying to understand their viewpoint and making a case that would appeal to the target audience. This problem gets compounded by the fact that there's still a lot we don't know (percentage of people that have long term side effects from COVID, how long the immunity lasts for a vaccinated person, can a vaccinated person still spread COVID asymptomatically, are there any long term side effects to the vaccine, to name a few) And yes, I was someone in the wait and see camp, unfortunately got COVID over Christmas (not that I had a chance to get vaccinated before), and then elected to get the shot ahead of full FDA authorization after experiencing the "fun" of mild COVID.

Is this a conservative vs. liberal argument or a vax vs. anti-vax argument? I am a registered Republican but vote across party lines and only vote for who I think is the best candidate. I also could care less if you or anybody else believe in vaccines or are anti-vax. I could give a rats ass about the FDA as an agency. My argument is that every vaccine and shot we take in the military has been clinically tested and FDA approved. Even still, people bitch about the anthrax and small pox shots and bitch about having to take them. So why now the big push for a vaccine that has not been approved by the FDA or hasn’t been clinically proven to the standards we’re used to? Honestly, I don’t have to explain to you or anybody else for that matter why I am choosing not to take the COVID vaccine. Until it is required, we still have a choice. I’m only debating this for debate sake and unlike you, I am not trying to change anybody’s minds or persuade them to act like I do. Keep preaching to the masses though and good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Sounds like a nasty hypothetical. Here's another one. You skip the vaccine, catch covid, and end up losing your class 1 due to actual observed long term side effects of covid that we already know about. All you have to do to know this vaccine side effect argument is misguided is to look at the history of vaccines. Adverse side effects across a variety of vaccines are on the order of 1/10,000 to 1/100,000. Depending on your demographic covid has a 1/100 to 1/1000 chance of killing you. So basically you're choosing to risk a much more likely and much worse outcome now, to mitigate a much less likely and much less severe thing later. Am I missing something here? Also I'm really curious how, in the minds of conservatives, the FDA went from giant bloated stupid bureaucracy to ultimate vaccine gatekeeper seemingly overnight.

You forgot to add that that's in addition to the 1 page of decent, approach, and landing briefings. And the NVG brief if applicable. Though the C-17 mission computer was pretty stupid with how it handled GPS missed approaches (did I cross the MAP yet?!) and GPS approaches you wanted to circle from

Even at ~67% willingness to get the vaccine, the military is doing about the same as the general public of the same age range. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1257152 https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/03/05/growing-share-of-americans-say-they-plan-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-or-already-have/ I get why people would want to defer until the vaccine it's fully approved, especially if they are otherwise healthy and have an otherwise stable job and access to decent healthcare (i.e. military). So I don't really hold it against them for wanting more information before injecting something into their body, especially when you can look at your odds for catching and dying from COVID and rationalize waiting.

Much like the O community, there are a lot of dirtbags that make it to the top towards Senior and Chief (if you have ever deployed, then you know). They look good on paper because they’ve stepped over their peers who are hacking the mission. Then they become SELs who have zero credibility in whatever technical mission and compensate by going after mustaches and short lengths instead of helping run the squadron.

Saw this sorta thing on MCAS Miramar, some dude (civilian) parked in the Sergeant Major spot. Said base SgtMaj decides to take his license plate and leave a note because dude wasn’t ‘authorized’ that spot. Same SgtMaj was singing a different tune when this dude got security forces to go visit the SgtMaj with an arrest warrant for stealing a license plate.

On base this morning and realized when I parked the only mask I had in my car was a purple surgical mask and not one of the “approved” mask colors. Joked to myself that I’ll probably pass the wrong person and get lectured. Literally the FIRST person I pass is a Chief who stops me, “Sir, just so you know, a purple mask is not authorized.” “Yeah, understood but it was the only one I had in my car and I’ve gotta get to my desk.” He probably sensed my give a crap level was zero and followed it up with a “when you are in uniform Sir you’ve got to meet all of the standards.” Ah yes, you mean this stupid piece of cloth that was never ever meant to be a part of a military uniform and is actually allegedly being worn for the safety of me and you? Unfortunately I don’t have the balls to say that last part. Just moved on with a “copy” and walked away. Just for shits I looked up the approved mask colors again, and literally the most common surgical mask color you can find (the light blue) is not approved for use in uniform.

Related... Aston Martin Safety/Medical Cars

Probably because he's stupid. You don't have to wait for him to stutter to come to that conclusion. The guy has been a joke for 40 years. Now we're supposed to pretend he's not? He's pants-on-head stupid, and pretending otherwise is just as absurd as the Trumpists denying that Trump was a habitual liar.

100% agree. All three look great. Like you, I don't give a shit about the reasoning behind the Merc color choice, I just think the black looks awesome. Sent from my SM-N975U using Baseops Network mobile app

What's the take home pay after taxes on $15,000... $11,500? Based on working an 8-hour day, that is a a $5.53 per hour raise. Based on working a 10-hour day, that is a $4.42 per hour raise.

All this talk about reviving the companion trainer in a light GA platform sounds like a damn good reason to bring back aero clubs...and then budget a chunk of hours each year for a co/wingman to go burn there.

It doesn’t take much longer to TERPS a conventional approach either. It is also done remotely by the MAJCOM that “owns” that airfield (not your MAJCOM). They can’t and don’t flight check it which is why the Giant Reports ask for crews to do a flyability check. In fact, the most common reason why an approach never makes it into DoD FLIP after the MAJCOM does the review is publication requires a flyability check and no one ever does them. Boy, I wish I knew something about FTIP reviews, procedure validation, US TERPS, PANS-OPS, MIPS, comparison reviews, accreditation, the DoD HN Accepted list, or any of this. Thanks for the lesson. GPS approaches are easy to work with...until I shut off your access to GPS from the ground.

The whiplash will continue and it kills me to see these short-sighted decisions. Two years from now when everyone is running for the doors again they will re-rollout the "We care about you, what can we do to make it better" bullshit. This falls SQUARELY on the shoulders senior leadership that doesn't have the stones to stand up and tell Congress and others to help now to prevent chaos later.

MyCS is in time out.

We may not have complete overlap in our views, but God do I appreciate having a rational adult in congress. Keep up the good work!

No Fear Thanks fellas. Fear is really all over politics and its corrosive. Im at total peace. Put the above video out yesterday on Fear to begin that convo on what is driving our politics and what is the next generation learning, besides be crazy=get famous.

Going to be putting together a GroupMe for RPA selects so we can pass along info we're finding. If you want to be added shoot me a message with your GroupMe name, email, or phone number.

As far as I know, it is not for Guard yet. Does anyone has additional info on that end?

I am officially a has-been. My fini flight was this morning, retirement ceremony this afternoon. Bittersweet to say the least. Getting out of that jet for the last time was a bigger deal than I was expecting. It's been a good ride - 21 years in and 18.5 of the last 19 flying the Mighty-Mighty (quick MC-12 stint in AFG back in '11). I haven't been posting much, but it's about to get a lot less. Thanks to all the warriors out there; keep fighting the good fight. Now I'm one of those guys that thank you for your service. I probably won't buy you lunch though - I'm still a cheap-ass airline pilot. Do your best to keep this place following it's roots - helping people in the fight (or trying to get there). Hasta-la-bye-bye. Evil

"Desperate Applicant" doesn't seem to be that desperate after all. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Because not getting the vaccine could cause you much bigger problems... I'm sorry your friend got brain fog from the vaccine. That's a new one I haven't heard about. But I would urge you to weigh the risks of the two options: Option one: give yourself ~95% protection from the virus and risk hypothetical long term side effects and the occasional case of brain fog. Option two: risk it with a virus that's killed half a million people in a year. Oh and we also don't know what covid's long term effects might be either. And If we're doing brain fog anecdotes, I'll chime in with my anecdotal evidence too: every single person that I know who has gotten the vaccine felt slightly off for one day, had arm soreness for a few days, and then went about their life.

Right. So since I'm sure you are aware how percentages work, that reduces your chance of death from less than 1 in 100 to less than 5 in 10000. Seems like a pretty good deal to me for a mild headache and a few days of arm soreness. But hey maybe 1/100 chance of death is good enough for you. Not the response I was expecting. I guess you got me. So add a fourth one to the list, just sheer carelessness or apathy. Do you also not lock your doors at night, wear a seatbelt, or do other basic things to minimize low likelihood/high impact risk items in your life?

Of course there are other reasons. Medical conditions precluding you from getting vaccinated are basically the only reasons that hold water in my opinion. But based on this thread the only other motivations people have for rejecting it seem to be: -spite -generalized institutional mistrust -F U don't tell me what to do Here's my point. In my organization it was unbelievably easy to predict which people would refuse the vaccine. If it had been a Vegas bet I would have made a shitload of money. So why is that? Do I just have an amazing spidey sense of exactly where everyone stands on issues of personal health? Or maybe is it because vaccine refusal is inextricably linked to a particular political ideology, and it's super easy to spot the far right political loud mouth complainers in the squadron..