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Got my Advanced Assignment Notification for UCT. RNLTD of 4 Apr.

They definitely meant for the more populous areas to not run roughshod over the less populous. That was literally the idea.

For your first question, depends how much you value Tricare. But let’s say you retire at 42, you’ll have 23 years til mandatory airline retirement. So you gain $50k x 23 years = $1.15M. What you give up by spending 8 years on AD is the 8 years at the end of your airline career (before mandatory retirement). So those are 8 years you could’ve been a senior captain. $350k annually is a very low bar to clear for those types, so you lose out on $350k x 8 years = $2.8M (minimum). That’s why conventional wisdom is conventional. ARC gives a happy medium of still having Tricare and getting some type of retirement while starting on the seniority list ASAP. I personally don’t know anyone who’s even remotely regretted leaving AD, even guys who start at regionals. Even during bitter contract negotiations when everyone’s mad at the company and the company is playing games, nobody would trade that for SAPR training and non-vol PCS/TDYs. The post-9/11 furloughees might have a different perspective, but can’t predict that kind of thing. Gotta take the plunge in life sometimes!

The pain of commuting depends on where you work and where you live. Personally, they could not pay me enough to live in my base, and commuting is what makes the career worthwhile to both my family and I.

Do I know if he directed or gave approval to close Bagram...nope. Do I suspect he forced them to close the base...yup. Do I know if he was briefed on every part of the plan...nope. Do I suspect he and his political minions had their hands in it, of course, every administration does. Did he say we wouldn't leave Americans behind then lie and set the conditions and timeline for an expedited withdraw...Yup He is the Commander in Chief...not a SINGLE Person has been fired or held accountable for the loss of those 13 Marines.

This. If none of the various airline domiciles are palatable for whatever reason, and you absolutely must commute, FedEx is the clear winner. Getting paid to deadhead around the world to and from an airport of your choosing, while keeping the miles, can be a great deal. You can do this at a surprising level of juniority. Perhaps a UPS guy can chime in with their experiences… my impression is that it’s a better deal at FedEx, though. Of course, the other side of that coin is days away from home. My FedEx buddies make a TON of money and have fantastic work rules… but are also gone way more nights than I am. They deadhead in biz class to Australia, Paris, whatever, fly around, deadhead back, home a week to 10 days later. That’s awesome if you’re a commuter! On the other hand, I manipulate my schedule much like Lord Ratner, dropping all of my trips and rebuilding with easy turns and 1-1s, with lots of deadheads, and mostly for premium. I drive to work. Less than 20 nights total away from home in 2021, with 4 of those being for my annual sims. I average less than 1.33333 (repeating of course) nights away from home per month. I make less money than my FedEx buddies (by a lot in a couple cases) but, overall, I’m home a lot more. A few of my buddies ended up moving to Memphis to gain access to the type of flying I do at my legacy (turns, 1-1s, etc). They hate Memphis but it’s worth it to them for the QoL/pay bump being able to drive to work provides. Some others live in Random City, USA and bid for a week of trips that “overnight” (overday would be more accurate) in their city throughout, so they’re home sleeping while the kids are at school or whatever. That sounds exhausting but again, to each their own. Certainly a niche for everyone. I know Hacker knows all this, more for those still on AD contemplating where to go. Tons of pros and very few cons wherever you end up…. but most definitely a thousand times better than the AD USAF cesspool.

The claim is has come from some former VFA skippers, one of whom claims to have heard the PLAT audio. A Navy skipper who is a friend of mine vouches for him. But until that audio is released, it won't get much traction.

Please don't say his name two more times, he might stop cyberstalking pawnman long enough to make an appearance here. 😂 My point, pal, is simply that anyone clinging to the sacred constitutionality of the process, needs to acknowledge that low-density states wield far more voting power than they did prior to 1929, and the founding fathers certainly didn't account for that.

We're not a democracy, dude. We're a representative republic. You're advocating against the American system. That's fine, but you're advocating against the most successful system of government in the history of humanity in favor of a historically much less successful system. Evidence and history are not on your side. Of course there is somewhere that direct democracy can and often is implemented... The local level. Again, it's not a quirk of our system, it's the whole damn point. Our system was never designed for uniformity across the states, if that is almost exactly what Democrats are arguing for. And they do so as you have, without acknowledging the reality that you are arguing directly against the intended and established system of this country. Reading your post, it feels like you're explaining things as though we don't understand your perspective. But your perspective is centuries old. The people who started this country did so using a system that intentionally prevented exactly what your advocating for, because they had experienced exactly how catastrophic it can be. There's nothing unique about the principals of governing in 2022. What's changed in the modern world is that even smaller groups of people can exert disproportional influence on the government and thus pervert the will of majorities. And you would make that worse. Put simply, your advocating for rapid change while the founders did everything in their power to put a speed limit on change.

It’s sniffles and coughs now. It’s all a clownshow now - all this mask business. Everyone just making shit up like an elementary school game when for most people, covid is not a factor, never was a factor, and is sufficiently protected against - also - it’s their choice to do as they see fit for their OWN protection. Clownshow Example: Amex lounge DFW…. Get a whole warning from front desk about the rise in cases (not deaths) from the all powerful OMICRON, and how I need to wear a mask bla bla bla. If you’re eating (have a plate of food on your table)…. No hassle from the employee being the gestapo looking for violators when you don’t wear a mask. BUT! If you don’t have a plate of food, but are instead holding a cup of coffee and taking sips while talking to your group of people surrounding your table….. you get hassled for not wearing a mask and told to wear it and replace it between sips of said liquid. Zero sense. Zero critical thought. 100% clownshow, sheep, fear. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Big Blue reports that 95% of the total force has had at least 1 dose CAO early Dec 2021...so it should not be hard to find someone in the Air Force to talk to who is vaccinated. I hope the pilot and other navy folks who were injured all come out of this ok and that we scoop all the wreckage before anyone else does.

Many of you have seen the topic of the recent F35 crash being discussed, along with statements supposedly made by the pilot right before he ejected that he was having chest pains. As skeptical of everything that has to do with the vaccine as I am, even I thought the reporting on this was BS hyperbole. Until about 30 minutes ago, that is. . . I commanded an F/A-18 squadron in the 2007-2010 time frame, and a good friend of mine who was also a Hornet squadron commander and Airboss afterwards just called to tell me that he heard the unedited PLAT tape with his own ears, and before ejecting the pilots says: "I'm experiencing sudden and intense chest pain as if someone hit me in the chest with a baseball bat. Fucking vaccine!" Again - even though I'd seen reporting along these lines over a week ago, I discounted it as BS. But it's not. . . UFB! anyone see this? Made up, or some truth?

That’s a bit of hyperbole. We aren’t FORCED to buy/use anything. But now we are for these mandated experimental vaccines. it’s not a double standard when we actually have the freedom to pick and choose what we want to put into our bodies.

At the same time ban all of them from participating in the stock market for the duration of their terms. Radical reform of campaign finance rules while we’re at it.

It seems like you want to couch the issue squarely in the political context. While I agree the Biden admin has had some missteps here (I will admit, I was genuinely unaware the admin had lifted sanctions), I believe all administrations since the end of the cold war have avoided a cohesive Russia policy & if there was ever a time for an issue to transcend political spats, this is it. Like it or not, Biden will be dealing with this issue for at least the next three years. I think there is a track here that Rs and Ds can actually agree on. Let’s not shoot our selves in the foot just to hurt our perceived political enemies. BTW I agree 100% with you on nuclear power.

“Most successful airlift in history” Bro. Get with the narrative. Also the 3rd time in History we’ve used the CRAF. And don’t forget every well thought out plan involves activating the Global Reaction Brigade as a primary plan of action. That’s not State getting in over it’s head and hitting the, “F it! DOD activate!” Button because they dropped the ball. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If only the founding fathers had created a mechanism in which we could continually redefine what was considered constitutional... Also, if you think there's some sacred etched-in-stone tradition regarding balance and proportionality, I recommend you read up on the Apportionment Act(s). Here's a good place to start. I doubt the founder fathers mean for a Wyoming vote to have more weight than a California vote. Or for wild gerrymandering from anyone. But here we are.

Just a final round-up to respond and then I'll let it rest from my end at least. BLUF wall of text, feel free to keep on scrolling. 🇺🇸 Ending the Filibuster in the Senate Ending the filibuster in the Senate is not a recently-held view of mine, and it's derived from the inability of the majority to govern, which to me is anti-democratic (small d democratic). Both parties (or any party or political group!), when being freely and fairly elected by a majority of voters, should have the ability to govern and deliver on the platforms they ran on. As a basic principle, a majority of voters should translate to a majority of elected officials should translate to the power to govern; the U.S. has a variety of systems that thwart that basic premise and I think most of them should change. If I could wave a magic wand I would make the Senate proportionally representative like the House or dramatically reduce its power, I would uncap the size of the House of Representatives, do away with the electoral college, and end lifetime appointment to SCOTUS in favor of 18 year terms that rotate on a predictable and fixed timetable. I would also make voter registration automatic and generally implement measures that make it easier for eligible voters to exercise that right. I'd experiment with with multi-member districts, state-wide proportional representation rather than geographic districts, preference voting and/or ranked choice voting, etc. All to the end of making our political system more small-d democratic and responsive to the voters. Little of that is probably ever gonna happen, but that's where I stand - small d democratic reforms are both good and necessary. Why Would Any Legislator Vote Against Their Party? There absolutely is incentive for the majority party to get minority party members on board. This is observable in many other countries and in previous political eras here at home. Going with regular majority rule also allows more elected leaders to vote their conscious and the will of their constituents rather than getting shoehorned into always feeling pressured to support the national party and powerful leaders legislative leaders like the Speaker and Majority Leader. Few people want to be the deciding vote to kill something the majority of their party supports (a la McCain or Manchin), but if the dam has already broken and the bill is passing anyways, you paradoxically see less strident partisanship and more crossover voting. "Selling" your potential yes vote, even if the majority doesn't strictly need it, for specific policy concessions often works! Even large majorities want to be bigger and more robust and to look more bipartisan. You see this today mostly on federal judicial appointments precisely because the majority rules and the filibuster isn't in play - opposition members will vote to confirm even if they would not have picked that person because they are going to get confirmed anyways. Legislators like to jump on the team and come on in for the big win as the good Colonel says. Gorsuch got three Dem votes despite the Dems really believing that seat was stolen due to Garland not getting a hearing...because he was getting confirmed anyways. If that vote was subject to a filibuster (and it was at first!) Gorsuch was not getting 60 votes, and even after McConnell changed the rules for SCOTUS to seat him, three Democrats still voted to confirm him! True bipartisanship at work! Collins voted against Coney Barrett because her vote was not deciding one way or the other, freeing her up to exhibit a bit of bipartisanship that's important to her image (or vote her conscious depending on how cynical you are). Sotomayor got nine GOP votes and Kagan got five, because they were clearly getting confirmed by the large Dem majorities anyways. Other Random Issues The House of Lords in the UK is pretty complicated but only a small number of its current members (~12%) are hereditary peers. The biggest change took place in 1999 under Blair and more reforms are ongoing. Learn about it here. I can confirm I have read some of the Federalist Papers and subsequent scholarship about them and our primary founding documents. Social science major in college so that was kind of a requirement. Big fan overall with some caveats. At the time I 100% would have been a Federalist compared to what their political opponents wanted to enact. That being said, political systems are not set in stone nor should they be. Modern problems require modern solutions. I'm also probably not as "radical left liberal" as some of y'all probably imagine. I'm more of a neoliberal third-way person that can be convinced to support more leftward policies depending on the details. I believe a strong national defense is paramount (plus it puts food on my table haha!), capitalism is great and the best human system we've come up with so far for advancing technology and eliminating poverty, and I'm frustrated by some of the uber-woke folks on the left pushing losing narratives and policies. I go to church, own guns, send my kid to a private (religious) school and I kill people for a living. If anyone wants to talk big-picture political systems or reform I'd love to offline sometime - I enjoy that more than the horserace and/or the discourse on cable/twitter the older I get. Cheers 🍻

The solution to a lack of moderation is not to reward a lack of moderation. It's very easy to win 51% of the Senate. It's a lot harder to win 60%, and damn near impossible to win 67%. 75% would take a massive societal shift. Those are good thresholds for the types of changes that requires those thresholds. Our system was literally founded by people who were terrified of mob rule. I'm perpetually amazed by how many people, who like all humans dislike change in their own lives, seem oblivious to the dangers of minimally-supported change. Shortsightedness is the hallmark of liberal thought. Some of the most consequential legislation in history made it past the filibuster, but you think the problems we face today are higher-stakes? That's the second hallmark of liberal thought: every issue is the-most-significant-challenge-we've-ever-faced. But it's all lies. Cynical politicians (who know they are presiding over a fair and functioning society) are manufacturing fear and outrage to fuel their vanity and power. There's no money in peace. And they are going to cause a regression that's going to hurt people while they skitter off to the shadows like the cockroaches they are.

If you’ve got the apnea … the cpap is a life changer. if you’re just after the 50% … it’s got a long tail attached if you’re going to require an faa medical.

RIP Blackwolf 01. 2 years ago today.

The mark of an educated man that is confident in his beliefs.