Leaderboard

Glad you’re not a commander.

jesus christ

FedEx. No reason to inflate or convince anyone to come here. I'll try to be as objective as I can. Just think it's worth putting it on your radar if it wasn't. Cons: 90 minute call-out on reserve in Memphis. All other bases it's 3-hours. There is such thing as R-24 (with 24-hour notice for assignments) but it's a fraction of the reserve lines and they usually assign base hotel standby to R-24s soon after it starts and bring you into base. None of the "industry common" reserve attributes like long-call, the ability to bypass assignments, aggressive pick-up, etc. Overall, I'd say the reserve system at FedEx is at best middle of the road in the industry. On the positive side, reserve usage tends to be low and if you choose to live in domicile and can hold it, you stay home often with pay. Domestic night flying commits you to day sleeping while you're at work. If you can't do that consistently, FedEx life will be much harder for you. If you're okay flying longer trips internationally, your life can be much simpler and the flying is infinitely easier. Pros: Commuter friendly - I realize the common advice is not to commute. Impossible to argue with that if you have the life flexibility to move to domicile. If you're established somewhere and don't want to move to a pax carrier domicile, there is no airline in the US where it's easier to be a commuter. As someone who has done both, I guarantee the ease of commute at FedEx is difficult to describe to someone who has never experienced it. The entire operation and system form is set up to fly all the aircraft from the outstations into domicile for the sort and launch 2-3 hours later on the first flight of of a trip. Getting to base for a trip from a city served by direct FedEx flights is a piece of cake and there are ample contractual protections for the potential missed commute. Same with the end of a trip. So there's no mad scramble to block-in and run to a commuter flight to get home. Lines are constructed to minimize commutes per month. In 16-years at FedEx, I have never commuted more than twice in a month. The other unique aspect of the FedEx operation is the regular use of commercial flights to deadhead pilots into position. This give a huge percentage of the pilot group the option to commute to and from work with positive space tickets purchased with company money. I have made executive platinum at AA for the last 12 years straight. While I don't have company passes to travel standby for free, I have been able to use my frequent flyer miles to obtain tickets for my family any time it suits us. In terms of career earnings, current new hires at FedEx are going to have access to wide-body captain seats much earlier than their peers at pax carriers. 83% of our Captain seats are wide body seats with the potential to hit our highest pay rates. Run those same numbers on the Captain seats at your typical legacy carrier. We have pilots hired less than 8-years ago who are now wide-body Captains and will be on our highest pay scales for most of their careers. There are even some outliers in WB seats at the 6-year point at our HKG and OAK bases. Based on projected retirements, that trend is going to continue for the next decade at a minimum. These are the seats and pay rates that many pax carrier pilots only get access to in the few final years of their careers if at all. Late in career military retirees can opt to chase $$ and get to seats they would never touch somewhere else. Or they can chase QOL and be in a WB FO seat far sooner, flying long-haul international if that suits them. No matter which seat or aircraft you end up in, the actual flight hours you spend in the seat are usually a fraction of what you get paid for. Domestic lines paying 80-90 credit hours have about 30 actual flight hours in them. Long-haul 777 schedules are probably 50 actual flight hours for 85-100 credit hours of pay. In my opinion, the threat of single-pilot cargo operations are unrealistic. That's a much longer conversation, but technological capability on a test-bed vs realistic industry application that actually equates to appropriate savings are not the same thing. So, if that is steering a current pilot with the quals away from FedEx or UPS, I think you're over-reacting to that potential downside. Just throwing out the cargo consideration for those who may have written it off.

Self-publishing is, as I wrote, a very difficult way to make serious money. But for this guy, good for him. I hope he laughs all the way to the bank, repeatedly.

I can't see any possible way that will go wrong.

9-0 is pretty freaking amazing regarding guns. Did not see that one coming.

To clarify, people like pawnman aren’t actually bothered by unvaccinated people not wearing masks because it’s unsafe or putting their health at risk. They’re bothered by the act of disobedience. They are “following the rules,” and others aren’t. ...And the others are oftentimes “getting away with it.” And that pisses them off. It is the EXACT same nonsense we’ve all seen with reflective belts downrange. Idiotic mandates to wear them in places/conditions that make no sense (day time, etc.) — and people wearing them simply so they don’t get ‘Chief'd.’ It is not about safety/health. It’s about compliance. And the ones that are most outraged, most vocal, and most willing to elevate the issue are the same ones that are reflective belt nazis: the tools/douches that don’t have anything better to do, or the careerists that are eager to demonstrate their obedience. This is exactly why pawnman framed it the way he did. He didn’t pose it as someone who lied about their vaccination status and infected someone.... causing illness, long-term health complications or perhaps even death. No, ...it was about ‘showing red on IMR’ and ‘Violating SECDEF orders.’

Worse, because it’s a vindictive sting operation; if you’re a commander and you’ve got enough time to do THAT much note taking on things that don’t make your squadron run… your focus may be off.

Dude. Listen to yourself. Article 15 for not wearing a mask? “Yes Major ###, your career is done because you didn’t wear a mask thus putting yourself at a .0008% risk of being unable to accomplish the mission.” Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Maybe they should've put this level of effort into keeping an eye on that bio lab in Wuhan.

Has it been defined yet what “extremist” views are? Can’t believe this is legal.

the CDC has lost all credibility on the COVID issue

You'd be punishing them for failure to follow orders/good order and discipline. Policy is still to wear a mask unless fully vaccinated. No different than punishing a person for not shaving or having a haircut in standards (no real basis for those besides "image" and what the policy is). Likely verbal correction at first, but repeat offenders may get more serious punishments.

Effective leadership.

I am pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing...

*airline hires in spite of rona* big blue right now.... 😄

It was a grainy photo from a powerpoint briefing. I didn't see a date, but the data was readable. Appreciate you confirming, even though the person providing it was solid. I also heard not a single 11R took the "bonus"... go figure. It will show in 6 months. Note: The etymology of the word "Bonus" comes from ancient Greek. The verb is "Boner" and means "to bone". The "us" ending (as in "Bonus") is the third person plural of the verb "Boner". Ergo, "Bonus" means "to bone us" or "we get boned", in the American vernacular. (now that I ponder it, I think it is Aramaic, not Greek).

"Although in the past the military has balked at surveilling service members for extremist political views due to First Amendment protections, the pilot program will rely on a private surveillance firm in order to circumvent First Amendment restrictions on government monitoring, according to a senior Pentagon official." From the article... I suppose circumventing first amendment protections is of no concern to you? I'd also encourage you to read up on Bishop Garrison. I just did so from both left and right leaning sources, and that is not a man who is seeking to find extremism in just Boogaloo clowns; that is a man who thinks extremism is having voted for Trump for President.

Anything from the right-wing terrorist Boogaloo clowns would qualify. Like the Air Force NCO from Travis who murdered two law enforcement officers a week apart. What laws do you think this runs afoul of?

And I probably won't. I'm just going to turn off the notifications for this thread. I respect the people in this community, and I fear this topic will erode that.

Soft pay is your friend! I'm currently at the lowest pay rate at DAL (717 FO...8th year pay). For this month, I'll have worked 11 days (well, now only 6 because I called in sick for a 5 day trip), flown less than 30 hours and I'll be paid for 97.5 hours (last month was 132 hours pay). That works out to be ~$16k for the month...18.5k if you add in company 401k contributions. I still have 11 day in the month to either pick up normal flying or pick up some overtime trips, that could easily nudge me over the 20k mark. I enjoy time off more than money so I doubt I'll actually pick anything else up. I had multiple 30k (plus 401k) months as a Widebody FO while only actually working 12 days (due to vacation, overtime "Greenslip" flying and getting paid on days I didn't actually work due to deviating dh). Last year, I was only active at DAL (MLOA the rest of the year) for 7 months and I made more than your example above. A former squadron mate has gotten 150 hours of pay (though not flying much), every month this year. Lots of schemes to make extra pay for very little effort, especially if you get senior. The big downside, is Uncle Sam takes a much bigger cut than you're used to. As a O-4 or O-5 on the bonus, you'll do just as good as a newer airline guy if you look just at straight pay. However, it's the time off that really wins the day for me (pay per day worked). I'm for keeping it as it acts as a natural shock absorber during times like this. We could monotize them as pay rate or whatever, but the next negotiating cycle, the other airlines will match and we'll be back at square one...just without PS. I've worked at a place w/o it and now with it, and I think keeping this type of "at risk" pay is great for the motivation of employees. As long as you're not one of the idiots that COUNT on the PS to keep them afloat, then not having it is not that big of a deal. Though I don't expect to see pre-covid numbers soon, based on what I'm seeing, I'd expect to see PS in the next year or two.

Yeah..no. But I can see defending myself won't go well. Y'all do whatever you want, I guess, since we're no longer listening to CDC and SECDEF guidance.

Agreed. Although I don't think the crux of the case was guns necessarily, but the overreach of the state being upheld by the 1st District. If it were purely a firearms thing, I suspect it wouldn't have been a shellacking. Either way, not gonna look good on the DOJ lawyer/department that wrote/argued the amicus brief in defense of this BS.

While I do agree pawnman's response is heavy handed for a blanket approach, I do see where he's coming from. Agree or disagree with wearing masks, the DoD policy is to wear a mask until you're fully vaccinated. Don't think auto article 15 is the right answer though. You can't force your sq to get the vaccine, but you can enforce wearing a mask. And if it comes to light that unvaccinated individuals aren't wearing a mask like they are supposed to, the easiest solution is to just require the entire sq to mask (standard making everyone wear diapers for the mistakes of a few). It's dumb, but tracking who has to mask and who doesn't is too time intensive and detracts from the attention on mission. And if you do nothing, others will take it as you, as the cc, disregarding policy and erode trust. Plus, the latest memo (https://www.whs.mil/Portals/75/Coronavirus/UPDATED%20MASK%20GUIDELINES%20FOR%20VACCINATED%20PERSONS%20OSD004376-21%20FOD%20Final.pdf?ver=Kx-Isf58hQ-LKMNrvCZDjA%3d%3d) about masking doesn't say commanders can't ask about vaccination status, only that they can't use vaccination status to determine who teleworks and who comes into the office (is you can't make a policy saying non vaccinated people telework while vaccinated people return to the office). This seems to avoid pressuring people to get the vaccine due to potential career impacts (if you're teleworking because you elected not to get the vaccine while most people aren't, you might be out of sight, out of mind) So how do you (as the hypothetical sq/cc) deal with a person that blatantly violates policy? What about if they tested positive and still knowingly came to work without a mask? Even if an airman catches a mild case of COVID with no lasting impacts, at best they are still out for about 2 weeks, and potentially could knock out coworkers as well for a couple weeks due to quarantine requirements due to known exposure. So even if you don't believe COVID to be serious, the practical effect on personnel availability can have a significant mission impact. It's similar to the occasional norovirus outbreak. I've seen norovirus destroy a UPT class due to the faip scheduler pushing the studs to get cleared for sims to stay on/ahead of timeline (and flight med being liberal with not putting people on quarters when they are infectious), and had half the class out for several days to illness and required a couple weeks to catch up. Haven't seen it be as bad deployed, but those docs seen to be more willing to put people on quarters for communicable disease.

Dude spot on. I’ve often considered the analogy between mask nonsense and the reflective belt nonsense of 2004-8. Worth noting, sometime about 10 years ago people just got sick of the psycho belt enforcement and quit wearing them…. Action which resulted in ZERO rise in cases of people being run over by vehicles. We had Nazi level belt compliance enforcement (not hyperbole) for years based on the idea that leadership had to save us from ourselves in the name of safety. We quit doing it, and data proved there was never any “there” there. The belts prevented no accidents, because no statistically significant amount happened when they disappeared. It was just all bullshit. Anyway, great observation. Since I have nothing to add I your point, I’ll post an article instead about C19: Origin worth the quick read. Several good threads; curious one side of our government (DOD) is acutely focused on China as a bad actor and suspicious (with good reason) of their actions. Another side (NIH) is deeply protective of the relationships they’ve developed with China and willfully stopped inquiry into China’s C19 role.

@goodflightcowboy is there any update on this? I too was diagnosed with a possible case of spondylolysis in 2018 due to a combination of high school football and weight lifting. Symptom free for about 3 years until today when I tweaked it at the gym, it feels exactly like the first time. From what I'm reading (page 835) https://www.seymourjohnson.af.mil/Portals/105/Documents/MDG Docs/Air Force Waiver Guide.pdf its waiverable if asymptomatic and less than a grade II. Theres some notes of a study about ejections in there too. Huge knot in my stomach like yourself, knowing a waiver is basically required at this point.

We’re you an MP/SF in another life? This just strikes me as the kind of blatant ridiculousness of arresting people for doing 5MPH in a 3MPH zone at KAF. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Boom! 9-0 against. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-unanimously-rebuffs-biden-administration-warrantless-searches-handguns

Ha, yeah ok my bad. Hadn't got that far, sorry bout the duplicate post. Crazy world we're livin in, uffff

Didn’t blow my fingers off! No video yet (the wife rolled her eyes at me when I told her to come out back and take a video), but shoots great. Now I feel the need to build another one...AR-10, why wouldn’t I need one? Can’t wait for the suppressor.

Seems to me there’s a lot of Tesla scoffing wrapped up in political identity (electric cars are a liberal plot!) Probably a lot of Tesla fandom is about feel good environmentalism as well.

HC-130J CSO Very busy ops tempo. Mix of TDY and deployment. Most deployments are to bad places for 4 months. TDY’s are a mixed bag of Red Flag and good deals (I went to Thailand last year for example). We fly our own aircraft to the locations and usually have fun overnight stops en route. Flying is a mix of older school AFSOC style tac low level, helo, tilt-rotor, and navy/USMC fixed wing Air to Air Refueling, air drop, and CSAR skills. CSAR duties include searching for the survivors, coordinating pickup, etc... Mission is evolving and expanding with the new CSAR Coordinator role. Fun plane, all the C-130 goodness, none of the AMC BS. There is some bad. Rescue tends to be the redheaded step child and the HC can at times be rescues redheaded step child. There are only 3 locations DM (Tucson) and Moody (Valdosta, Georgia) for ops and Kirtland (Albuquerque) for the FTU. My wife and I love Tucson and Albuquerque, but would rather not get sent back to Moody. We are often on a short hook, my last deployment was with only 36hrs notice from the official “go” to wheels up. Deployed life involves a lot of sitting around and waiting for stuff to happen, we rarely get to execute our primary mission (CSAR) but it is the most rewarding mission imaginable when you do get to do it. We often rack up our combat time doing the logistics support side of CSAR such as relocating PJ’s and helo’s, running for supplies or parts for our forward operating locations that AMC takes to long to support, or doing SOF support missions (never enough MC-130’s around). Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Or the corollary: Sure is nice to be the one deciding if your opinion/political views/lifestyle are "appropriate." What could possible go wrong...

So to recap: Opinion “why does anyone put opinions on social media, no one cares what you think” Edited to add: More opinion. lolz Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Look, they made a paper about you guys! https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250123 If you go far enough back in time you can even read the prequels: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5678397/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5597904/#!po=1.08696 Or we can give mommy Facebook groups and 4chan all the credit and totally ignore the fact that authority figures have an impact on common opinions. That works too.

I mean...he recorded and published the evidence. I'd say he proved exactly what he was accused of. I suspect he couldn't define "Marxism" or provide an example without Googling it. But he felt the need to take a shot at the SECDEF.

Were I commander, I'd just take note of anyone who didn't wear a mask. When they make the covid shot mandatory, anyone not wearing a mask who pops red on IMR gets an article 15.

Oh no, holding people accountable for violating SECDEF orders. The horror!