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In the last few days under the Biden/Harris Administration and a Democrat-controlled legislative branch: - a federal judge ruled Biden's cash for only farmers of color is unconstitutional. Something about any race being singled out for special treatment or something... - another federal judge struck down the Biden EO stopping the development of already sold gas/oil leases on federal lands. Something about contracts being honored or something... - President Biden was corrected, publicly, several times by the Prime Minister of the UK over names of various G7 guests and topics. Guess the picture of the First Lady "prepping for the G7" should've been taken seriously and had her answer instead of Jello Pudding Pop guy... - President Biden said "Libya" instead of "Syria" three separate times, despite being, gently corrected after the first gaffe, in discussions about Syria at the G7 summit. - President Biden nodded directly and affirmatively when asked by a reporter if he trusted Putin prior to the on-going US/Russia meeting. The White House Press Office issued a correction, "The POTUS wasn't answering that or any other specific question when he nodded." - Inflation is equaling that of the late 1970s. Good and hard. I hope those that voted for this current debacle get it thusly.

I appreciate the answer. Others here have pointed out that Biden is taking credit for things that were in the works before he took office. Infrastructure has become the latest example of Dems manipulating language. They intentionally use the word infrastructure knowing that a majority of people would support fixing bridges, roads and airports. But, when you get into it, you hear about things like “human infrastructure”, “healthcare is infrastructure” and “child care is infrastructure”. It’s just another attempt to spend trillions of dollars on social projects paid for by tax increases on the wealthy. The goalposts are constantly shifting. It’s never enough. And it all starts with language. It’s being done with race. Notice how white males aren’t being called Nazi’s anymore? It moved on to white supremacists for a while. Now, just being white is the problem. It’s absurd. It’s been done with drugs. We are going to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Now, I can’t walk around downtown without smelling so much weed that I worry I’m going to pop hot on a drug test. It’s why I was opposed to the repeal of DOMA. It’s not because I have a problem with gay people. It was because I knew what would happen next. The end game was never about two gay people trying to live out a normal life through marriage. It was about the sliding scale of gender, trans, pronouns, etc. Look where we are now. It never stops and it’s never enough. There are plenty of other issues that we can not bend on knowing there is no end game. The goal posts will never stop shifting. Gun rights, abortion and climate change are a few that come to mind.

Been a year since we lost Kage. I didn't chime in last June due to being directly involved in the search operations and felt it wasn't right to talk about it then. That said, it was a long day for all involved with some really terrible weather down low. My aircrew and STS PJs performed admirably and we had some great support from some UK standby support vessels from the oil industry. Unlike the AIB mentioned, American aircrews found him, not the Royal Navy (they were not even there, so not a dig on them). I am glad we were able to help give closure to his wife, family, and squadron mates. To Kage, Nickle on the grass.

One of the main barriers I see when people debate airlift fires is everyone hears a few snippets of narrative and fills in all the rest with their preconceived notions of how it’s going to work (or not work). Understandably, most of those preconceived notions are based on their individual backgrounds, but “traditional” isn’t how this is supposed to play out. If C-17s were going to employ JASSMs for targets sets the way a B-1 or Strike Eagle does it, sure, that’s not going to work great. This is not a one-for-one swap for CAF assets or to go after target sets the CAF will always be best suited for. There’s no intent for replacement here. For the CAF dudes who don’t understand what’s involved in airdrop execution, airdrop really isn’t all that different from going to a LAR. Yes, MAF guys know how to make a ToT and release on parameters for a given thing. When MAF airdrop guys are saying there isn’t a lot of extra training involved, that’s what they mean. And in this regard, they are right. This system is designed for them to operate like they are dropping a normal heavy equipment platform. For the front-end crew purposes, it should be fairly transparent. The platform then does the extra work once released. Yes, pre-mission planning JASSM and supporting JASSM systems in-flight are separate topics with separate solution sets. That’s not what people are talking about when they say there isn’t a lot of extra training. I’d prefer to say away from that discussion in this forum. This isn’t also just about JASSM itself. If this works for JASSM, this will probably work for other things that we have now, or we are getting in the future. Many of those are compelling when you can employ en masse. Also, not everything goes boom. Finally, what we have today isn’t the same stuff we’re stuck with 10-15 years from now. You needed a fabric covered plane with a bullet deflector on the prop before you could get interrupter gear to fire between the prop, then on to all-metal .50 cal firing beasts. The first deployed capability doesn’t mean that’s where development ends. But you’ve got to start somewhere. There’s some interesting second and third order effects: Red knows where we are going to operate our fighters and bombers. Now, look at the potential operating locations of austere capable airlift. CAF dudes, do you want all of Red’s hate directed at you, or would you rather Red having to trying and figure out who else is going to give them problems? How many of our Allies and Partners have a robust bomber force, able to operate at range without AR and with significant payload capacity? Zero. Ok, now how many of them have airdrop capable airlift? Probably dozens. Again, this isn’t just about JASSM. If you can throw a JASSM, you can throw something else. That something might not have to be US designed/built either. Our friends aren’t going to buying bombers or rapidly expanding their fighter force any time soon. Do you want access to effects or do you not? It’s a lot cheaper/faster to build a new type of munition than a new platform. New munitions unlock capabilities that weren’t previously available to a given platform. For some munitions out there, does it REALLY matter what platform you use if you’re going after a bridge or building? I know, people will come back with “it depends…” Point being, not every target requires the systems in a CAF asset to kill/degrade that thing. I’d argue if you’re sending the CAF after those, you’re squandering valuable assets when you have other options. We’re not able to have the billons needed to buy and sustain a temporary surge fleet of traditional munitions slingers. Even if we did, I’m sure Red wants us to keep on doing what we’re good at today. They have been spending the last few decades learning how we operate and I think they would prefer us doing “more of the same.”

The lab leak theory would have been taken more seriously if the powers that be in the media, big tech, etc… didn’t have such an out of control case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It doesn’t matter what dumb way Trump mouthed off about that; anyone with half a brain could put two and two together early in the Pandemic and realize that a lab leak, from a totalitarian nation with bio lab/research facility in that same city, was a legitimate possibility. Who cares how Trump phrased it, there are other adults in our political class that should have put their heads together and tried to find a way to get the world behind finding out the truth. Also the fact that talking about a lab leak was a silence-able offense and is now not just speaks to the MASSIVE hypocrisy many in positions of power have in this country. Big tech and political leaders went out of their way to silence legitimate discussion on the topic, but now that a certain orange man is out of power and Fauci’s emails have leaked, it’s okay to talk about again. Orwell much? Regardless we’ve probably lost any opportunity to actually find out the truth. Whatever way the virus came to be it sure as hell worked out in China’s favor.

No, they just can’t wear faip flags every day like a bunch of dorks.

Hmm we’d better have a backup plan for when the E’s go DNIF or call crew rest.

As met records now in PRDA

But how will he have time to do the rest, he’ll be too busy making sure the pilots are checking ATIS and adjusting the heading bug properly.

https://youtu.be/sSfejgwbDQ8 Jon Stewart on the lab leak theory. Absolute gold. A few thoughts in no particular order: -I really miss Jon Stewart on tv and his show was genuinely the last time a parody news show was funny. Definitely didn't agree with him all the time but you could tell he thought critically about things and formed his own opinions. -Pretty wild that the lab leak theory is now mainstream after being a cancellable offense only a few weeks ago. -Maybe the lab leak would have been taken more seriously by everyone involved if trump and fringe right wingers hadn't immediately equated it with an intentional release of a bioweapon. That was one of trumps biggest weaknesses. He said plenty of true things but most of them were buried under a mountain of horsesh!t and/or packaged in the dumbest way imaginable.

Tire wars make for more failures. Ref 2005 USGP. I was there, it sucked. Michelin tires were faster all year, then they dialed it up one notch too many and dudes almost died. If people are unhappy with Pirelli, get a new sole-source vendor, but don’t make tire companies compete to make the lightest, softest tire. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_United_States_Grand_Prix Edit: Also don’t take my word for it, every major racing series has a sole tire supplier for safety reasons. Tire wars cause failures, on top of it no one wants to see a driver handicapped for multiple seasons because his team can’t get the tires to work right. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_wars

Jeebus, why? We’re so dumb. What if O-6s could decide which of their guys get paid more. Like the entire rest of the world.

Different IMA billets have different “minimums”. Some have higher minimum IDT amounts (48 vs 24 is typical). Two IDTs would make up an 8 hour day so it sort of works out to 24 vs 12 “days” of IDTs. You can very much work only half days, or work an afternoon on day 1 of a string of IDTs and a morning on day X to allow for a commute in and out. There’s officially zero travel pay for IDTs, but there’s also an annual critical AFSCs list that allows for some travel pay with your IDTs. Otherwise you’re on your own. Getting paid, for either the travel pay or the IDT itself, is typical AF incompetence. Archaic, non-functioning systems supported by lazy, brain-dead civilians/enlisted folks. Yet I’m supposed to believe we’re gonna actually go to war with the near-peer bogeyman… but I digress. The 14 days of Annual Tour is sort of set up to be: commute out day 1, work days 2-13, commute home day 14. There are ways to split up the AT, and/or combine it with IDTs. AT is 1/30th AD pay/benefits/etc more or less. Travel is always paid for AT. Doesn’t mean the archaic systems are gonna get you paid on time, though. I’d rather telecommute and never step foot on a mil installation again. A lot of this stuff is unit dependent as to what they expect and how flexible they are. There are certainly MPA opportunities if you want to exceed your AT/IDTs. Some people volunteer for those Korea AOC exercises or COCOM duty officer shift work things in addition to their IMA gig… I have no idea if those are good deals or not. Probably not during this COVID insanity. Did I mention the best part of being an IMA- never deploying again?

I dunno man, the prune juice crowd might be holding the total down... 🤣😂

Good thing tens of thousands of pounds of airdrop loads don’t require any planning either. Just press the green light and the load does the rest.

So kinda like a JPADS bundle that can fly further and go boom? And some stuff is similar to conventional airdrop, where we plan CDE (oh wait, we have to call it ADE) with a stupid large CEP because winds (which you may not be able to get a good forecast or observation in execution) significantly affect parachutes and where the stuff lands. Not saying it's a 1:1 comparison, but a lot of the concepts in airdrop seem similar to weapons employment concepts used by the CAF. Not saying I can do what you do (because I lack the appropriate training), but we do more than just "gear up, feet up, collect per diem." Like Brabus was saying, this definitely won't be the go-to option, but if it works out it can help free up fighters/bombers to handle the more challenging targets, potentially increasing surge capacity without having to buy more platforms.

I’m well aware of how JASSM works and is employed. Are you implying AMC guys can’t hit a release point on time at a specified altitude and heading? I support outside the container thinking - this is worth pursuing.

It's all about getting a "good" year for retirement purposes. You must fulfill your IMA category requirements to earn a good year. AT is AT period. You only get your 14 days annually for that. For MPA days, that will depend. If the office/unit is short-staffed, then MPAs are easy to come by. It's all about annual funding. But you also can earn good year points for PME and other stuff. My last six years were as an AGR. The rest of the office were IMAs. I was there for the 24/7 coverage if the bell rang until the IMAs could ride in. Since it was a 16/7 shift at the FAA's Command Center, it was easy to get orders when guys needed some help during furloughs, etc. Been years and years since I worked there, but the National Air Traffic Services Cell only hired rated and ATC personnel due to the interface with the FAA. Was a good gig. I was also a IMA historian for a bit as well that turned into long-term orders. I accumulated enough points to ring the 20 year retirement bell just as if I'd stayed active duty. There are IMAs at Red Flag as well. It's obvious when they would pull tours and getting extra days wasn't difficult there either. The point of this wandering is to say that IMAs are in lots of unexpected places. Talk to a reserve recruiter. YMMV but IMAs are a pretty good non-flying gig.

IMAs don’t drill like traditional reservists. You get attached to active duty units and work out a schedule with them on when they want you to come support. An IDT is kind of like a drill day though in that 4 hours of work equals 1 IDT. So a CAT A IMA usually works 24 actual days to fulfill that requirement since the active unit is almost certainly going to want you there for an 8 hour day. Just like all other reservists though you still need to do your “two weeks active duty”, so that’s what the 14 day AT requirement is. The beauty is you can basically schedule it however you want as long as your active unit agrees. I recently transitioned to an IMA role but haven’t finalized my schedule yet. However a former unit I worked in had a CAT A IMA and she would only be in the office twice a year. For like 2-3 weeks max at a time.

You must work pretty deep in the JCS to predict what the construct of the next war will look like? What are the odds of us seeing a B-2 employ a nuke in our lifetime? Does that mean that B-2 dudes don’t train for the worst case, high end fight nor ensure they have the best equipment to deliver that effect? To other posters talking about the current ops tempo, I got it - but I’m tired of that being an excuse. What we do in CENTCOM and other commandant commands as MAF dudes is not hard, at all. You have got to be an average aircraft commander at best to succeed in most operational missions currently. Don’t tell me there isn’t time back home during the workday to get a little smarter on near peer threats or attempt to be more tactically oriented. Maybe less Christmas party/CGOC planning and more time in the vault might help. Circling back to the MAF JFR/GRF construct passingtime69 aludes to: it was option B to invade Iraq in 2003, it was almost used in Haiti with 130s/17s enroute with 82nd troopers on board until they were recalled. Unlikely? Probably, but not out of the realm of possibility if we decide to kick the doors down of a country.

I’m tracking what Joe’s saying, and he’s right for the most part, our frustration mostly lies with entities well above an ARW level. But, dream’s quote above is still very applicable. I am rightly frustrated with tanker crews when they show negative desire to make the mission happen...not flexible at all, outright don’t want to be “tactically” involved in a mission (because excuses), flip out at the smallest of changes airborne (I guess that’s a double hit on inflexibility), etc. In general, the perception is those crews are checking the box for the airlines/can’t or aren’t willing to do something outside of their super low-risk comfort zone driven by a career of CENTCOM ALR low. I’m not talking scheduling at all, but the planning and execution part. Now, I also know some of that is because some OG’s are giant pussies and the FGOs/CGOs can’t do anything about that. If that’s your case in life right now, then at least resolve to not throw in the towel, wait that guy out, and be ready to win harder when the next guy (who hopefully isn’t a pussy) takes command. Now, I have also worked with phenomenal tanker crews, both AD and ARC. Same MWS as the shitty ones, but a whole new world attitude-wise. One real world example...Niagara lost their -130s, but they clearly brought the more tactical mindset to the -135 world. Those guys have their shit together and are willing to “push the envelope” to make the mission not only happen, but be more effective. I appreciate their openness to “non-standard” things and their flexibility. My perception is they care about the bigger picture and doing their damndest to make the team more effective within their means. There are other great units in the region as well, but I think the Niagara example is one that shows perspective/attitude can be the sole thing that makes a tanker unit awesome, or dog shit. But that’s just one fighter guy’s opinion. I do truly feel for all my AMC bros who have to deal with monumental bullshit and candy-ass leadership on a daily basis. I know many of you would be doing things a whole lot differently if the careerist weren’t on your backs 24/7.

If you’ve never sat down and chatted with a chaplain one on one, give it a try. If you’re not a religious person, most are very good at taking off the “religion hat” and putting on the “counseling hat.” Most are very receptive and flexible if you tell them you aren’t coming to them for Religious needs, you’re coming to them for their confidentiality. Highly recommend.

I went to MH a few years before I retired, knowing 2 things - it was my last assignment and I was going to retire, so I knew I had little to lose if I said the wrong thing to the wrong people... (I think you all knows these “words” and they are serious enough that you/we should put them at a priority above flying, but I know full well the internal dilemma) ... I had been encouraged after talking with (and taking) another pilot at another base who went through a divorce and who smartly gave someone else his guns (temporarily of course!) and went to mental health... and I don’t think he ever got dnif-ed. so after they ask the big question about 20 times in a mostly straight forward manner, then you are just going to talk about your life and daily routine. I had a game plan, but please don’t feel like you have too, just remember if you are dancing around the big question, they are really there to help ascertain where on the “scale” you are... and yes they’ll error to the side of safety as they should...they tried to push some meds that I knew were a no-go for the FAA (they are easy to figure out, most likely you’ll have to show 6 months of use with them, with limited side effects and reduction of symptoms for FAA approval)... so if FAA is your plan you can get those months out of the way while you are on AD, NOTE: there is little guarantee that you’ll make it through the FAA waiver, but I would rather know that on AD/early then wait to fly for the airlines for 10 years and then take that gamble at 50. I’m really glad I went, at least it is documented if something goes south later, I felt it was pretty low threat and I was never dnif-ed (even though it was non-flying, it was a flying billet and the FSO didn’t know the difference). If nothing else, I realized that life really does suck some times and feeling that way can be a normal response or it can be a imbalance and it is not that “you” are bad, there is just somethings you need to balance in your life, and sometimes it can be chemical and there is help there if it is needed. It definitely does get better. so risky yes, but much less than you think... just talking with someone about something I had bottled up for a decade plus was pretty liberating and worth the risk... throw a spouse and kids in the equation and it becomes a no brainer, they need you even if you can’t make the airline pay check. I eventually chose to not do the airlines (this being a minor part of the decision)... glad I did, gave me time to get “me” in order... looking back I can’t believe I waited so long, and can’t believe I put flying above my life and my family for sooooo long, but that’s unfortunately part of what you are going through. I do remember many nights struggling/worrying about the what-ifs. You can get better, there are people who want to help you get better, and there is way more to life then Mach 1.5 or a airline gig, WAY more! You just have to realize that first.

I think both the AF and FAA like to talk a good game about access to mental health for pilots, but I don’t trust them to not take flying status away.