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We should’ve gave all those weapons we left to the women. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I've cancelled a few times when wx was technically legal to fly, both as the Flight Lead and the OPS SUP said go, and as the OPS SUP when the Flight leads were willing to go. There have been plenty of times where it's much more prudent to not fly that day. Realize you may have to do some explaining, but I've never once been threatened with loss of quals. Even if I had, it wouldn't have changed my mind, especially for a daily CT line....lol make me a wingman only (twoop!). If you said you'd have to "report it to the DO," I'd say sure thing, let's walk down there right now....hell, get the SQ/CC and OG if you want, I don't really care. Once you've been a FL/AC/OPS SUP for a while, you start to learn what really matters and what doesn't. I'm all for going out and getting some good experience/lessons learned, but there are plenty of times where, even if the weather is technically legal, the gain does not outweigh the loss/potential risk. It gets even easier when you have the option to cancel and go fly that mission in a sim.

Remember when you weren’t a dickhead? Oh wait…. Cheers 🇺🇸

Danger41 says this was deployed. SEFE dude is sandbagging, in his opinion. And based on the story shared, I agree; Wx above legal mins and solid alternate. All the facts and excuses aside, I would remove the crew, that was assigned to perform a tasked mission in support of combat operations, and call in the Bravo crew. I would then put that sandbagging crew on duty desk for the next umpteen days to weeks. We need crews that can perform ATO, ORM'd missions. That crew would likely have a sitdown with themselves and express some feelings to each other. Also, the other crews picking up the slack would eventually know. Would they side with the AC or tell them to sack up and do their job? I've seen similar and problem crews got the jist. I've also seen a SEFE do stupid downgrades and been told that they keep that shit up, they won't be doing the job anymore. That is all, out.

That would be a view from MSNBC or typical lying left. I think PV forced lying news to retract their lies over 350 times.

How dare someone have to explain their decision why they can’t do their job when others (trained exactly the same way) can. Accountability is so tough these days…kind of sad. Sucks to suck I guess.

Shack That's the best argument against the US-2 but I'm not sure it's a disqualifying one. The cargo door / ramp capability is perhaps a requirement for a mission that may have gone by or one that we will not do in the continuous spectrum of conflict / competition with China and other challengers in other arenas. The air / amphibious delivery of cargo (mass, wheeled vehicles, etc...) may not be what this platform could / should be doing for support in the Indo-Pacific, versus smaller, lighter, on demand deliveries and support of cargo, pax & fires / effects to outposts and teams sustaining, taking, defending and securing objectives (islands, ships, platforms, etc). Taking a look at what the competition is doing, namely the AG600, it has no cargo door and only conventional crew / pax entry doors It appears they are not planning on using this as a means of rapid delivery of outsized cargo to remote locations principally accessible via amphibious ops. As the most likely aggressor in the Indo-Pacific, if they don't see the need to have an amphibious aircraft with a cargo door, we as the most likely defender probably don't either. As our Marine Corps (the principal land warfighter in the Pacific) is moving to a lighter, agile, lower footprint force structure, we as the supporting services should probably OT&E a certain small percentage of our force for that. If they intend to be unencumbered by heavy armor, fighting vehicles and the like then they should be supported by force that supports the light, small and agile. Concur with your point on SOCOM, they like to modify iron not wholesale acquire it themselves (the fleet of platform X). I have no solution to that fact, only the conventional force providers have that much money and wherewithal to buy, sustain and operate an entire MDS, SOCOM ain't doing that so you have to convince the USAF, USN, USMC that it is (amphibious capable air mobility / utility platform) is in their wheelhouse. Maybe AFSOC would see this as an opportunity as the ME AOR is downsized in DoD engagement, not sure, not an AFSOC staff / braintrust guy but maybe... For me, one platform, is interesting but it needs to part of an overall warfighting strategy for the air platforms of the USAF, USN and USMC, for the USAF as a part of ACE. An amphibious mobility / utility platform, a manned multi-role manned tactical expeditionary / dispersed ops capable platform, an unmanned modular expeditionary / dispersed ops platform and a family of systems for logistics and C2 for these systems. A Cactus Air Force that can survive and move, fighting and supporting while under long range fires to its fixed bases and operating sites. ACE is great and moving in the right direction but there is only so far you can go with systems designed and built decades ago with certain parameters and expectations.

Truth, although there is something to be said for being told to proceed direct Sammy for 69 turns in holding.

In my civil life, I operate a plane that will land itself in bad weather. Why on earth is weather even a discussion topic in military aviation at this point? It should be motherhood that in a briefing would sound like: "we'll autoland if needed, standard, next?" I know. I know. I also fly basic female dog airplanes in the reserve... I'm just saying, Lemay would be very sad at the state of how our military leverages tech right now...rightly so...

Skillsbridge was too good, probably the best transition program the DoD has ever had. So, logically, they had to hamstring it. For retention.

Its actually worse than that (hard to believe). Danchenko (Who has ties to Russian and did PR work for them previous to this), was used as a source and he himself fabricated information. He lied to the FBI (one of the reasons he was indited on five charges), about meetings, phone calls and a trip to Russia to get the "Pee tape"...that trip was a fabrication. In reality he was a pawn. Charles Dolan, A Clinton Advisor met with Danchecnko multiple times and fed him more false information knowing it was going into the dossier, that Hillary was paying for. They still needed a way to get the information to the FBI (and the press). Enter Fiona Hill, a member of the NSC. She is now linked to the Steele Dossier and bringing it to light. WORST OF ALL...The Democrats called her as a witness in the impeachment trial. If you are upset about January 6th (as am I), you should be equally OUTRAGED by what happened here. The Clinton Campaign and the NCS were knee deep in fake information that was used to impeach a sitting president and overturn an election. By the way, that's Charles Dolan in the picture with Biden. I used to laugh when people said the phrase "deep state", I am not laughing now. I can't believe anyone would think this is alright.

A decade or so ago. A fighter guy at UPT was at the ops desk upset because weather was at mins (alternate was VFR) and he said he wasn’t going to fly. I took his jet instead, never understood why anyone argues a black and white item like mins. You are qual’d or not.

Maybe he carved a bomb ass pumpkin?!

The Taliban is begging for Afghanistan's frozen money to be released as the country's economy spirals into crisis (msn.com) Actually governing is a real bitch isn't it. Hungry desperate people tend to get surly at the people in charge. I would say very little of the money they're discussing was provided by Afghanistan versus foreign donations anyway. I would tell the Taliban lets see some concrete action on human rights. NOW. By the way here's our list of wanted criminals including those who committed atrocities against our troops and our Afghan partners. Certainly not all the money at once and you will show an accounting of where it goes. If we even smell a hint of diversion to fund terrorism or corruption the gravy train stops. We have the watch AND the time now. This isn't the 90s anymore.

In my opinion, it extended much further down than just the top level GO/FO leadership. Long but interesting anecdotal story. When I was a young staff officer I was assigned to be my command's GSOS lead (Global Special Operations Synchronization, it's how SOCOM is supposed to prioritize where it puts SOF, feeds into the GFM process). BLUF is its a multi-phase process with a lot of data collection/processing and in person PPTs to a board. During my second year doing doing this, SOJTF-A J35 was presenting their Campaign Plan for the conference (presented to a board of 6 O-6s from SOCOM), SOJTF-A team was made up of an O-6 and several O-5s and civilians. The SOJTF-A team VTCs in and has this very bright, optimistic "this is the year we turn it all around, X years to stem the tide, XX years to seize the initiative, we're gonna take it to them with this new strategy, etc, etc, etc). I think they even used the word "defeat" in some of their presentation. The O-6 board receives the presentation, asks a few minor questions, then says great job, go get'em, we really appreciate you", or something to that effect and starts to move on. That would've been the end of it except for 1 O-5 Army Strategist (extremely intelligent guy who was about as cynical as they come) in the audience. He stands up in this room full of 50 people with god knows how many others in VTC land and politely asks what's different about this year compared to all the other years in the Stan (this conference was in early 2018). When SOJTF-A says they don't understand his question, he expands by saying what they've presented looks remarkably similar to his 2005 experience, which also mirrored the time he was there in 2009, while not differing all that much from the strategic plan in 2011, seemed shockingly similar to his deployment in 2013, and he didn't see all that much change from 2015-2017. He then asked how on god's green earth they were going to seriously degrade or possibly defeat the enemy with a fraction of the resources previously available and an ANA that wasn't that much more capable and suffering a record high number of casualties. The crazy/really eye opening moment to this whole thing was that the SOJTF-A guys just sat there dumbstruck, like they couldn't believe anyone wouldn't believe in or would dare question their plan. They literally had no answer. I seriously think several of them honestly believed the nonsense they were presenting. The O-6 board quietly ruffled through their notes or stared at their hands. The O-5 strategist shook his head and sat down. Will always be one those random moments in my career I'll never forget and the moment I knew we could've been in the Stan for another 20 years and it wouldn't have changed the ultimate outcome one bit.