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Dude this kind of shit infuriates me. Congress passed a law, it's signed by the President, it directs the DoD to do X,Y, or Z. The DoD then fails to take any action, can't update AFIs in a timely fashion, provides vague or no business rule guidance or policy memos, and then just fucking gets away with it sometimes for YEARS. If I were a Congressman I would unscrew heads and start shitting down necks until the law was implemented. This same thing has happened with the 2021 NDAA expanded baby leave on the Guard side. I've literally been told I (and quite a few other guys in my unit) fall into an "unfortunate Catch-22" that prevents us from taking the leave...it's shenanigans. We had babies (well, our wives did, thanks dear!), we earned the leave, but we can't take it, what kind of fuckery is that? Our local-level commanders are pissed and sympathetic, but they are hamstrung by MAJCOM and NGB nonners who are saying it can't be done. An officer's job, IMHO, is to receive intent from his/her superiors all the way up to the NCA, and then apply his/her knowledge, skills, leadership, creativity and ingenuity in order to meet that intent with appropriate effects on the battlefield, however that is defined for your career field. Somehow every single one (ok, to be fair, 99.69%) of our personnelists and finance officers seems to have missed that very important lesson from their commissioning source and subsequent PME. As a group, they are pedantic, lawyerly, miserly bean counter shoe clerks who treat every single dollar as if it's coming out of their own personal wallet and scour every single potentially beneficial personnel policy for loopholes and ways they can fuck people over rather than implementing the intent of the policy as written. /rant off

Circa brand new Major SocialD days...I'm the flight lead on an AOS from the states to Eastern Europe. I have 2 very young wingman (1 fairly weak swimmer) and a solid flight lead (generally) as my number 3. The AOS rep (a Nav...foreshadowing!) briefs the notams as "no big show stoppers," and hands me the printout of notams. I hand them to my number 3 and ask him to take a peak and make sure we're good, then go about my other duties. Fast forward to the middle of the Atlantic as we prep for another AR...bad news, boom won't unstow. Only real options for an MRB is either Keflavik or Lossiemouth (is that even a real place?). Lossiemouth is OVC003, +RA and direct cross at 20kts and we have just enough gas to make it there with IFR reserves. KEF is winds calm and CAVOK and we'll be burners and boards to burn some gas for landing...obvious choice is KEF. Check in with KEF approach and the conversation goes as follows; Approach: Confirm you have the notam for the shortened runway? Me: (on AUX)....ummm 3, WTF?!?! #3: Standby... Approach: Runway is shortened to 2,100 meters.... Me: *pondering what that is in real units of measurement* #2: (nerd type)...that's like 6,900 feet. Me: STFU #2...3 isn't that like 6,900 feet? Me: You awake 3? #3: Ya sorry dude, the runway notam was in the middle of page 2 of the KEF notams. On the plus side, we got to do an epic VFR tour of Iceland at like 4,000 ft while we burned gas. FYSA, we can only go below 8k with an OG waiver. Or...6,900 feet with a 4-ship flight lead, we ain't got anywhere else to go waiver. Bottom line...never trust a fucking NAV!

So, if we're talking about details and context: if the person involved is, in fact, the top classification authority (even if he has only a vague idea about the rules of classification), and has decided that letters from other heads of state are now unclassified, those documents then become unclassified, correct? Removing political bias in the analysis: The Trump case is most likely that the sitting president decided to declassify certain documents that he wanted as momentos and then got cockly and arrogant about "his" momentos (oh, the ego on that moron) that he most likely declassified with a verbal order only (which is technically legal, though very poor procedure), while the Biden case is most likely that the non-sitting ex-vice president...or more likely his staff...unwittingly moved and stored classified documents inappropriately. Like it or not, the Trump case was, at least in theory, possibly legal. The Biden case was most definitely not. Both, in my book, were violations of proper processes (verbal declassification is only supposed to be used as an expedient, and should be followed by the written process) and should be investigated as such, intent or not. I see no malice in either case. Lets face it, neither of those old guys was salivating over nuclear secrets or special intel. It was ignorance and arrogance in both cases. If the legal process is completely fair, should there not be an FBI search of Biden's house? Especially considering that his son may have had direct access to said SAP documents? But instead of logic and reason, let's go ahead and analyze things with our Red or Blue glasses on instead, because that makes things so much better...

Well they were much more so before they voluntarily destroyed a large chunk of their armed forces and young male population attempting in vain to annex a neighboring country that decided instead, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” 🇺🇦 But if you don't actually think a leader like Putin with the energy and military power of a country like Russia was a threat to the U.S. in any way and that we shouldn't happily assist them with stepping on every rake and landmine in Ukraine for pennies on the dollar...I don't know what to tell ya. $48B to Ukraine out of $6.3T in federal expenditures in 2022 is 0.7%. To help significantly kneecap one of our biggest geopolitical opponents. It would be a bargain at 10x the cost! Literally, if we could kneecap the Chinese military and oppressive CCP leadership in the same way and essentially guaranteed unfettered US & allied global dominance for a generation + for $1T and zero American lives lost, I would sign the check myself.

^^ so what you’re saying is that nuclear weapons are very dangerous and we should be worried when a larger number of belligerent tyrants and/or unstable shitholes control them…and also you’re questioning if Russia is a threat?? 🤷‍♂️

Sorry to hear that you weren’t picked up AD, however if you do get selected by a Guard unit, you’ll be forever grateful you weren’t selected AD. Having said that, it’s gonna be a bit tougher considering your age. Declining an RPA assignment won’t hurt you in the least. The fact you already have your waivers will help a lot in the interview process as well. So now the process is like anybody else out there. Go find the units you’re interested in. Get to know them, and start applying. You do have also have the advantage of being a C-130 Nav and there’s lots of H model guard units out there still who are perpetually short on Nav’s. You could always roll the dice and get a Nav job and hope they’ll make you a pilot. It’s a bit of a risk though as they may want to keep you as a Nav. Either way, I’m certain you’ll be much happier. Best of luck.

UPT select! Best of luck to everyone!

To be honest, now that Biff_T mentions it, they may need to amend this policy to not apply to load masters.

While I think what Trump did was wrong, when it comes to the law I think there is certainly some nuance that has to be worked through in the courts. POTUS is the declassification authority and while I disagree with the "he can declassify just by thinking about it" argument, the process is not codified in law. I don't buy into the spin about the subpoena, again a lot of nuance given Presidential records, not defending his actions just saying the law is not clear. Also, he did exactly what they requested with regard to securing the material at Mara Lago. With regard to the law, Biden is in real jeopardy if the AG follow the law (highly doubtful). Trump as POTUS had legal authority to have those documents while in office, Biden as VP did NOT! Intent and context DOES matter. Lets peel that back a bit since you brought it up. 1. As VP he did not have a right to that material, you think it was a simple mistake VERY classified materiel has been found in two locations? It seems like you are willing to employ the Joy Behar standard "Joe is not a crook so we should give him the benefit of the doubt"....Ahhh NO! He has other facilities and homes, out of an abundance of caution, shouldn't those sites be searched? 2. The context of the material is also VERY important and feed to a bigger issue that has been suppressed by the left for two years. Initial reports indicate the material related to China/Russia/Ukraine from the time period when Hunter was being paid buckets of cash to work for Burisma. At what point to you acknowledge there is enough smoke we might want to look for a fire. 3. Your example about the dude having SCI in a bag is interesting, I too have seen this scenario. The CONTEXT of the Biden situation is VERY concerning. Trump's material was stored at a facility protected by the Secret Service. Biden's material was in a closet at the Penn Center, a facility paid for by the Chinese government. They won't open the books on that organization (more smoke), and it is entirely possible Chinese foreign nationals had access to that facility. 4. Are you not concerned about the timing of this story. This was discovered BEFORE the Mid-terms. The AG and others kept it quiet until this week, with reports indicating they were going to continue to keep it quiet but someone in the press was tipped off about the cover up. Absolutely criminal to keep this from the American people before an election. 5. When hanging your hat on the intent argument you again bring Hillary back into the spotlight. 33,000 emails purposely destroyed. TS/SCI SAP PURPOSELY moved to an unclassified server where it was likely scooped up by the Chinese AND Russians, no accountability. As usual, the left has no problems with a double standard. ***UPDATE*** The second batch of classified was found next to his Corvette in his garage! His retort, "it was a locked garage". UFB!

🖕🏻@FourFans130, you learned that the hard way didn’t you? but so true. Never trust a nav, especially ones that become pilots right?

Yep. Classified where it doesn’t belong: bad. Should be investigated. Classified where it doesn’t belong & refusing the subpoena to give it back: objectively worse. Perpetrator should probably go to jail. This isn’t that hard.

Do any of them actually make a difference? ANY classified material outside a secured environment, not to mention SCI, should equal severe consequences. One standard. The end. Seriously. Imagine realizing you had TS/SCI/SAP info in your closet at home. What would get you first, the police or the heart attack?

Yeah…CNN is reporting it and is definitely not trying to spin this as Biden is good and Trump is bad.

UPT select! 98 Pilot / 98 PCSM / PPL / RPA Pilot (RQ-4) / 2/5 Wing / Master's / 1st time applying

I think there's a legitimate Arsenal of Democracy case to me made on top of the realpolitik aspect. It just feels damned nice, for once in the past seventy years or so, to be on the side of a no shit more or less democratic and free people who are more than willing to put their own asses in the firing line on behalf of their country. We've spent trillions and tens of thousands of American lives in defense of people who couldn't find the will to fight for their country with two hands and a map. What a cruel joke it would be if we gave the Afghans our support for twenty years but couldn't be bothered to help Ukraine.

The same POS that embarrassed the U.S. on the international stage with our humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan and still has a job. Too busy making extremism in the military videos.

I totally agree man…so what exactly happens to Biden?

No, what I'm saying is the likely inevitability is that Russia is going to go down in history as one of the most benevolent actors with possession of nuclear weapons. And that's a sad but truthful statement.

STS

Why?

It just says “candidates selected as alternates” but no category to.

If Russia isn't a threat, why do we have a military? Just China? Or are we worried about South Africa? Brazil? World's most expensive military just to counter Al Queda? Russia must be considered a threat if you accept at face value that we have a military due to foreign threats and not just for defense contractors. And if the size of our military (and thus the cost) is determined by the scale of our adversaries, wouldn't we be better if with weaker enemies, allowing for a smaller military?

So now, does anyone have any insight on when assignment notifications drop? I assume it's also a full PCS, but for us single people, I'm sure we'll be in dorms and will need to put most of our stuff in storage for UPT/UCT/URT

Well the earned amount of leave under the new policy is 12 weeks for dads (all numbers here are dad-centric, no offense to the moms out there). I am sympathetic to commanders that say that is much harder to swallow than 10 days (my first baby) or 3 weeks (recent policy) that previous AFIs have directed, that’s valid. BUT, the law says 12 weeks and active duty has done it fairly seamlessly from what I’ve heard so #NoExcuses. We can’t just fail to follow the law because it’s inconvenient, and if the bean counters need to add slightly more days/dollars to the unit funding algorithm to account for this change in the law, so be it, make the change and move on. There’s already a buffer built in for illness/injury, bereavement leave, personal leave that accrues and is taken, and the old baby leave policy.

If you're really on JWICS everyday, then you must know that Russia is a major global competitor that attempted to influence both the 2016 and 2020 elections. You can't possibly believe that the US isn't better off with a weakened Russian military, especially if you're on JWICS every day.

Yea actually they do, ask your security officer. Intent matters, cooperation or lack-thereof with an investigation matters, and deception matters. Not that you wouldn't get in trouble no matter what, but your intent, cooperation and any deception do matter a great deal in terms of how much trouble you'd find yourself in. I have seen a dude who accidentally had a SCI document in his bag and had to deal with it. It was discovered by him and he reported it promptly, taking that doc out of an approved storage location was completely unintentional, there were mitigating circumstances, and he never lied about any aspect of the situation and fully cooperated with the security folks investigating it. AFAIK he continued flying and serving relatively unimpaired until I PCS'd and lost track of him. Obviously the scope is different for high level officials, and there does seem to be a systematic problem that's plagued quite a few folks of all stripes, but again, the things I highlighted do, in fact, matter!

CC just called and told me I was selected UPT 93/86/No PPL/21 hours I had some really solid bullets For all those that made it congrats for all those that didn't best of luck next year this was my second attempt at getting in!

Enough scotch and the Lossie honey's are a close second 🙂

Yeah, I'm satisfied I got pilot, but given the scores you and others are posting here, there seem to be quite a few that don't quite make sense. I'd love to hear the reasoning and I think it's something you and others should pursue so you know what to strengthen for next time/know what is actually most important. Scores and rank of LOR writer matter but there seems to be a larger and more unknown X-factor

One did and one did not. The one that did is a 14F/Information Operations Officer like me. As for the one that didn't, he is either intel or engineering. I'd have to ask which but they all blend together at NASIC

Should have went to Lossie 🙂 Smack dab in the middle of the best scotch distilleries in the world.

What's happening in Oregon and Illinois is concerning. To HD's point, even if it is gimmick that they know will get struck down for now, it is still conditioning people. Just like the Green New Deal, just like the ban the gas stoves/ovens nonsense. That stuff gets in people's heads and starts to normalize politicians know that. The republicans do it also of course - the consumption tax gimmick that they are taking for a test drive is not going to pass right now. But it gets people thinking and eventually someone will campaign on it and then all of a sudden America wakes up one morning and the banning of "assault" rifles and high capacity magazines doesn't seem so shocking. To go the other way, we wake up and all of a sudden killing the income tax and to a large extent the IRS doesn't seem so shocking. To me the difference is, one is taking away liberty from me and the other is (for me personally) giving me more control over how much money I hand over to the govt.

Non-select (applied to all): 87 Pilot, 86 PCSM, 12 hours and did the rated prep program. Had a F15 O-6 Wing/CC LoR, a Dec, and got my masters this year. I feel that PPL is the only thing missing and maybe rank? Only 4 Lts got picked up. Just an observation. stoked for those who got picked up. Best of luck!

A second set of classified documents has now been found. The first set reportedly contained TSI/SCI SAR/SAP. Where is the outrage? CNN/MSDNC/and the other extensions of the DNC were not even covering it. I think ABC finally broke down and had to acknowledge. Odds he has a secret server in the basement of his Delaware beachouse...

Woof. If I didn't get alternate that's even more depressing because I've got a 99 pilot, 87 PCSM, and 25 civilian hours.

This is probably the best response to this whole debacle I've read, so thanks for articulating as well as you did. I appreciate your understanding that this is not a humanitarian mission and is simply a state interest to remove Russia from the strings of power. Dont 100% agree that it should be a state interest but this explanation makes thousands of times more sense than the normally emotionally based "but the Ukrainians were invaded....."

Let me know when a major global competitor starts getting their ass handed to them by Nigeria. We're not funding Ukraine because we love Ukraine. We're funding Ukraine because it is a unique opportunity to significantly degrade a major global competitor.

Standing by for the FBI raid of the Biden household.

gotta buy the printers

I mean, if we're going to play shocked, pearl-clutching humanitarian, this conversation will be even less fruitful. We judge the worth of a cause every day from the homeless panhandlers you drive by to the countries we send missiles to. Don't be intentionally obtuse. The Nigerians aren't offering us the opportunity to decimate the military capacity and reputation of a geopolitical adversary. Part A: That's MMT, which I certainly don't make arguments for. The spending increases matter, but they matter as part of an overall economic problem. They do not matter in regards to Ukraine, because the funding for Ukraine does not represent specific type of spending that, if halted, would solve our budgetary problems. A weak analogy: If you have hypertension because you only eat bacon and chocolate burritos three times a day, you have a heart condition that could kill you when you exert yourself. But when the neighbor's smoking-hot ex-wife is putting the last of her things into the U-Haul, and she offers you VIP tickets to the suck parade for helping her get the tailgate closed, one might argue that your heart-condition is going to be materially worsened by by accepting her offer of oral nirvana. But it wasn't MILF blowjobs that put your heart at risk, and this opportunity is about to drive away forever. So you do the math and take the risk, because at the end of the day it's your addiction to deep-fried butter that put your heart in danger. Part B: There is no "healthy for the country" solution; we are well past that. The disease is now a cancer, and the treatments are all going to be a whole lot more painful than life would have been if we had just put sunscreen (balanced budgets) on in the first place. But there are treatments, and they will still work in the future, though they will be more painful the longer we wait. A lot is going to depend on the attempted bifurcation of the world currency system by China and Russia. They might be able to accelerate the collapse of fiat to the point we see some solutions in the next decade as opposed to the second half of the century. With the worldwide decline in birthrates and the suicidal refusal to produce cheap energy, the grow-our-way-out-of-it solution that the entirety of the planet has been relying on seems completely unrealistic. So that leaves the really shitty solutions.

"Air Missions". What if you're not doing a mission? Maybe it's just a training sortie. I'm offended that they assume everyone that is flying is performing an operational mission. That's cultural appropriation. Really? Airmen is offensive? They should have changed it to Notice to Flying Genderless Humanoids. Fking Nerds Afterthought: Special consideration required operating the air machines, or simply SCROTAMs would ensure that nobody gets gender involved with flying duties. Make sure to check the SCROTAMs before you step.

So the NOTAM system is broken beyond all recognition & finally shit the bed in a massively disruptive manner? Color me shocked! Good thing we corrected “Airmen” to “Air Missions” a while back. Maybe now we can move on to some more substantive upgrades.

Incredible. So Kinzinger is a liar in addition to an attention whore. Woof.

Does pushing it allow you to communicate with the bridge at anytime?

EVERYONE Knew this was coming ...

Man I hope this is legit! The dumb fucks a Luke stopped one of my guys less that was aweek or two from finishing the B-Course. Now, "saving those 6-9 rides," will cost the AF an entire B-Course, and then some. Instead of spending the last 2 years honing his skills as a fighter pilot, he's been languishing...waiting on our "leaders" to stop making the wrong decision.

Yes. We are getting TAMP. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

We tried that. Democrats called Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy racist.

I can think of a few thousand very well appointed resort rooms and some very nice winter coats from dozens of overpriced ski shops that could be provided to those migrants free of charge! That might mitigate those cold temps if the left was actually serious about helping people. But we both know that would never happen. Their care for fellow humans extends precisely as far as the "coexist" bumper stickers and "hate has no place here" lawn signs.. and not an inch farther. Their nimby-ism is on full display when they cry 'logistics' over 50 people in Martha's Vineyard or even the possibility of a few migrants in aspen while conveniently ignoring the absolute shitshow they've forced on del rio for literal years. Out of sight out of mind I guess. Oh wait! and when they do pay attention to the border they publish literally false stories slandering border patrol for supposedly "whipping" migrants from horseback based on a single misleading photo. I have zero sympathy for the flaming hypocrisy of the left on the immigration issue. They've been using these immigrants as human pawns to bludgeon the right for decades while completely avoiding any consequences for their virtue signaling sanctuary city and amnesty policies.

And while sleepy Biden and his affirmative action Vice President fail in this line of effort…we should move migrants to so called “sanctuary cities” should we not?