Leaderboard

It was time to put away the homemade wine as I was about to enter crew rest for what would be the most memorable flight of my career. This was the third mission of the war for us. A snippet from this book https://www.amazon.com/Ghostriders-1976-1995-William-Walter-ebook/dp/B09VQWY5RP/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid&sr&fbclid=IwAR1vELr1aoqfQjbqO5BywaXVt7DDWvGiBeBh9ZuJL-V4stML3whaaGOFpAY On the evening of January 21, mission planners began tasking AC-130s identically as they did for fighters as two AC-130s were assigned to 30x30 nautical mile “kill boxes.” On this night, weather was good and both crews were advised there would be a fighter CAP available in their working areas. Ghost 02, commanded by Capt P.L. took off first in Grave Digger and proceeded to their target area in south central Iraq.23 Within their assigned kill box was an Iraqi command and control center, which was expected to be protected with AAA. About an hour later, Ghost 03 commanded by Capt Preaskorn took off in Bad Company, en route to their target area. I was on Ghost 03

Also, a common misguidance is “well I just don’t need that much money.” Totally agree, but what you will value for sure is an exceptionally large increase in QOL (with ability to choose whenever you want to give up some off days to make all that money to pay cash for the kitchen remodel your wife wants). I significantly underestimated QOL gains, it’s a real thing that just can’t be realized until you break free of the only work life you’ve known since you were 18-22ish.

Dark humor is best humor…. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am in the guard now, yes. I’m really not trying to dissuade anyone from taking their shot in the ANG. I just want folks to be aware of what’s actually going on. Most AD people (earlier self included) think the ANG is some sort of weekend flying club and certainly second rate. Of course it took about 10 mins of talking with my new ANG buds at UPT for me to learn I made a huge mistake. I got picked up because I was deployed with my ANG unit, as well as exercises. Get to know the bros I strongly suggest any interested in how to get a ANG UPT slot wander over to the ANG/Res section and you’ll find a lot of answers and advice.

That video is a retarded argument. If you sent a picture of a fully assembled SBR as part of your F1 app (which is absolutely not a requirement) you’re a total idiot. This is fearmongering at its finest; and I say that as a huge proponent of firearms and a massive hater of the NFA.

Every time this thread resurfaces, I quickly check it to see if I get to retire a few months early! Guess I'll keep going to work a little while longer...

That's a bingo. You also have to be willing to game the system. Can't tell you how many times it was suggested to me by guys I had respected my whole career to "just submit for x,y,z, they can't prove you don't have it"

Apparently aliens saw us drawing sky penises and have attempted to communicate in return. https://www.cnn.com/videos/weather/2023/01/20/ufo-shaped-lens-cloud-stuns-turkey-cprog-orig-aw.cnn

Some of us miss those days

CDB = Career Data Brief. You can find it on the vMPF in the bottom left corner under "Most Popular Applications" Very similar to a SURF. There's a block labeled "Projected Training"

Same I did mine at wright pat back in 2016, don’t know if that’s too long ago and I’ll have to go back but nothing in my CDB now

Can't speak to the SWO side of the house (never asked one, they're a pretty strange bunch) but Naval Aviation has a screening process for command. They basically have tiers (anyone directly involved in this feel free to correct any incorrect info). Tier 1 is line/fleet squadron, Teir 2 is RAG/training squadrons, and Tier 3 is all others. Of my 3 Navy Pilot buddies on staff, one screened Teir 1 and commanded an SH-60 squadron in San Diego, one screened Tier 3 and commanded the Naval Brig in San Diego (everyone who knew this guy, was a phenomenal bro, thought this hilarious, the jokes wrote themselves), and the last guy didn't make the cut/didn't command (went back to flying for his last assignment, which is pretty rare in Navy Aviation as I understand it). Guy I went to JPMEII with (submariner) had an interesting take on the Navy canning as many skippers as they do. At least in his world, he felt every firing he'd heard about or seen over the course of his career was justified. Every captain of a Navy submarine is directly in charge of running a nuclear reactor (or dozens of nuclear warheads if it's an SSBN). His opinion was there's just no leeway/wiggle room if a higher level commander thinks a guy is untrustworthy/unsuitable for command based on the above responsibility. One guy's opinion.

"How that could possibly happen, how one anyone could be that irresponsible," Biden responded. "And I thought what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods. By that, I mean, names of people helped or et cetera." -- President Joe Biden, Sep 28,2022 "Here's the deal"...."I have no regrets" -- President Joe Biden, Jan 19, 2023

Ask absolutely anyone who has done AD and ANG and they’ll tell you the Guard is infinitely better, 100% of the time. Having said that, ANG slots are much more competitive than AD. We get many, many hundreds of applicants for 1 UPT slot usually. I’m not trying to discourage you from applying, but wanted you to know what you’re getting yourself in to. Best of luck.

Are you Catholic or speculating (or both?) The rules, beliefs and norms of the Church vary widely across the world and are very, very much debated and reinterpreted all the time! It’s absolutely not an unchanging set of very clear beliefs and it never, never has been since the time of Jesus and the apostles themselves. When bishops disagree on a big issue it all becomes a bit unclear, wouldn’t you say? They’re all bishops, who is right? When bishops disagree with the Pope, it reflects the diversity of opinion in a global and universal church! That’s the most generous interpretation. The less generous interpretation is that random activist bishops should feel free to STFU unless they are making a ruling for a resident of their particular diocese AND they’re willing to admit they’re openly defying the Pope because of how important the issue is. Do those bishops deny communion to murders in prison? To those who don’t help the poor? To those who haven’t followed any other number of God’s commandments and Jesus’ teachings? My opinion as a lay Catholic is that communion is a sacrament between God and the person receiving it, and whether it’s “valid” and sanctifying or not is between God and that person, not the minister who happens to be handing out the host. By all means, preach that abortion is a sin, that is the teaching of the Church. But to deny communion over one particular sin and really not for any other is a much bigger issue actually. The Pope is on the record as saying Biden should continue receiving communion and is a “good Catholic.” Last time I checked, he’s in charge of the Church. Case open and shut for me at least.

I love when people try to redefine Catholicism in a way that suits their political beliefs. The Catholic Church is structured in a very clear manner, and the accepted views of the church are equally clear. You either believe them or you don't, but you don't get to pretend that you're part of the club if you're not willing to abide by the Constitution and bylaws. It's one thing to claim to be Christian when you don't have mainstream Christian beliefs. But Catholicism is a very specific type of Christianity

Biden is so Catholic that the church refuses to offer him communion due to his acquiescent views on Abortion.

During the last election cycle, something like 60% of Californians were unhappy with how their state was being run but Newsome wins reelection by a 20 point margin. You can't fix stupid.

Damn near killed em

Come on man! Every suspected criminal in America gets a chance to have their lawyers comb through the crime scene before the cops do (lol). Besides, even if Joey B did take a few little TS items home, he's used to doing a little jail time for all of the times he stood up for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. He was also locked up in Africa during a visit to see Nelson Mandela. He's a tough dude. First Biden in a 1,000 years to attend college. He's from coal mining blood. He's one tough SOB. Oh yeah, and he's a compulsive liar with a crack head son, who's clearly a person kept propped up by using the Biden last name to do business deals. I wonder how much crack was smoked in the vault (Biden's garage)? Come on man, it's just a few secrets.

Totally agree. When I was a captain the idea of flying airlines for $$ while my bros remained in the fight was unpalatable. Getting out in 2012 was the logical financial choice, but was not what I valued. So I stayed, got to overload on war stuff, etc. Right call for me. Now war’s over and there’s not a single O6 job remotely appealing, but I’m very excited about the airline world! It’s been eye-opening to see all the other aviation paths out there as I meet folks with radically different backgrounds. It has validated my decision to stay AF when I did: I’d have been miserable watching the team collect scalps while I fretted about 401k options. But now door A is closed so I’m moving on. All that to say: military pilots are a special breed and I salute each of you. Do AGR if that works (wouldn’t have for my niche world) or get out at initial ADSC if that’s your jam, or stay if you still love it despite the warts. Regardless of the path you choose, I recommend enough self-reflection to have no regrets. My only regret is taking the bonus. The money seems appealing but it’s insignificant in the grand scheme of life; when you are ready to go you want the ability to go immediately.

I agree. If China invaded the west coast, at what point do you think the US would negotiate a settlement that gave up Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington?

I dunno man. Kinda hard to tell a sovereign nation to stop fighting for every inch of territory that’s been annexed by an aggressor. If the Ukrainians are willing to fight for the next 20 years, & tie up the Red Army in the process, I say let ‘em & provide whatever weapons are reasonable for that end.

It's almost like people can't be put into two categories with pre-ordained beliefs spelled out. Yet somehow most Americans act like that's exactly the reality. Turns out that when people think there are only two opposing teams competing, they cheer/donate/vote/campaign/rage far more than if they believe there are many teams with varying overlaps.