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Here’s a badass most never got to hear about! https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/20/asia/korean-war-fighter-pilot-soviet-shootdown-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

M2, you explore some truly unique corners of the internet.

Rest easy. The best and brightest that helped plan and execute the flawless withdrawal from AFG are being hand picked for the task force assembled to game plan future Russia.

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

...from a completely different perspective: I punched from AD at 17 years and am about to finish my 3rd good year in the AFRC. I AM NOT GOING ON ORDERS. I just rolled into year two at my major airline, and you would have to throw 7-figures+ a year at me to get me to go active for 3 more years. The BS level is simply not worth it, and the arithmetic is a wash on that active retirement.

Biden has apparently had dementia since he started his career as a politician. Among other gems coming out of the current President's mouth, Regan never claimed to be arrested visiting Nelson Mandela. Regan didn't lie consistently about his life experiences. Regan didn't have a son named Hunter smoking crack, making porn and using the name Regan to make business deals. The Bidens are scum.

Dude Checkertails at 2am during exercise weeks is some of the best memories I have in my life. That shit was awesome.

Nothing like a Split S to beat an SA-8 in a gunpig. Bill did good that night, you all did. Well done brother.

WTF was that??? I'm not sure if M2 needs a psychiatrist or a veterinarian.

11 more days brother! Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WTF?!? 😶😶😶

Who says you can’t have both? Do your 11-12 years AD. Join ARC unit. Get hired by airline. Drill with unit, go on a deployment or two, sit alert. Upgrade. Go to in residence PME. Whatever to mitigate first year pay and get orders. MEST, whatever. Fly the line for year two at the airline. Continue to chip away at AD time until you’re close to or over the 15 year AD mark. Seek out a temp AGR or ADOS tour. Flying, non-flying. Doesn’t matter. There’s a lot out there, especially if you’re willing to move. There’s probably a need at your own unit the way things are going now. If you’re willing to work and you have the qualifications they are willing to give you the chance. Get to 20 active. It’ll probably take you 25 years of total service to make it happen. Go back to year 6-9 pay at your airline with an AD retirement safety net for the next economic downturn. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

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

This is a typical Sunday for retired aviators. Lol

Not to mention great midnight chow friends while “slaving away” at an Osan exercise!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You sure he wasn't in the Air Force?

Biden's comments on classified summed up in two memes.

The video I posted, that you quickly dismissed, was discussing how if someone (you or anyone else) attempts to register their current pistol w/ brace under the ATF’s current plan, that person is telling the ATF they have an assembled pistol w/ brace, ie an unregistered SBR according to the ATF. If you’re wanting to take advantage of registering a future SBR build, then go for it. But that’s not what the video was discussing.

The difference? Your neighbor had it in their military medical records, which made it automatic service connected. You probably never saw the flight doc because you didn’t want to get DNIF or possibly DQ’d.

Congrats on getting into the check of the month club! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tech pay for a Viper IP in Tucson that sits alert starts at ~$205,000 + TSP match up to 5% + profit sharing at 69%. $4k/ year pay raises each year for the first 4 years then potential for annual bonuses after that. Never having to say "light chop, ladies and gentlemen, ahhhhhhh..." or tell a traveler where the nearest bathroom is in an airport you've never been to...priceless.

Of course you think it is normal for a DNC controlled media outlet to suppress a potential crime that jeopardizes national security by the sitting President....perfectly normal, nothing to see here.

is he ok?

COVID is an actual thing, cooked in a Chinese military bio weapons lab (partially funded by Fauci), released on the world (maybe by accident), which then killed tons of people. I do not think it originated as a way for rich people to get richer, nor do I think anyone is saying that. However, it is undeniable that one of many side effects has been some rich people exploiting the situation to make themselves richer (Bill Gates). And the government also turned this into a power grab (they’re still fighting in the courts for the right to forcibly mask you on airplanes). Additionally, there was a massive conspiracy to suppress information and free speech in order to perpetuate this power grab; evidence of government collusion is now overwhelming. You are a victim of this effort, and I wish you the best as you struggle to regain autonomy from truly evil people who have lied to you and turned you on your fellow countrymen to increase their profit margins and political power. The moment dudes like you & Nsplayr & Negatory realize you were hit with a deliberate psyop to benefit people/corporations that hate you and would rather your children be physically poisoned than lose their grasp on your mind… I will celebrate 🥃

A little squadron souvenir earned while protecting a TF-160 MH-47 one dark night many years ago. 40MM HE impact right on the RPG launcher (and shoulder/neck area of the bad guy).

Hawaii and Alaska??? Hell no. California, Oregon, and Washington.... Can I get back to you on that?

IMHO supporting Ukraine has been and continues to be a wise decision. As of the end of November the U.S. has given $50B to Ukraine, with half of that being military aid. Our annual defense budget is currently at $725B. For just under 7% of a single year of defense budget we have helped humble a superpower, all without losing American soldiers, that my friends is a bargain! For at least the next 10 years Russia has been removed from the world stage as a conventional military threat and I believe it has given China something to think about, all without losing American lives. In many respects I would argue this has been our most effective proxy war. Russia may or may not ultimately win this war but the implications of it will shape Russia for a generation. The Russian military has lost significant amounts of equipment (and I guarantee there is a flood of captured equipment flowing to the U.S. for exploitation that will pay dividends for years.) The Oryx website reports 8,000 pieces of equipment destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured, including some 1,500 tanks, 700 armored fighting vehicles, and 1,700 infantry fighting vehicles. Bottomline, it will take years and huge amounts of $ to rebuild their military. The bigger impact is in casualties, the numbers are staggering. I obviously don't believe the published numbers from either Ukraine or Russia as they are always misstated. DoD and several think tanks have done independent assessments that seem to settle on 100,000 Russian Casualties with between 40,000-50,000 deaths. The demographics of those losses is staggering and touches every part of Russian society. A few data points to put it into perspective: 1. In 20 years of combat in Afghanistan there were 2.456 United States military deaths. 1,932 of these deaths were the result of hostile action. 20,752 American service members were also wounded in action during the war. 2. In 20 years of combat in Vietnam there were 58,148 were United States military deaths. 300,000 American service members were also wounded in action during the war. 3. In 20 years of combat in Iraq there were 4,431 were United States military deaths. 31,994 American service members were also wounded in action during the war. In a single year the Russians have suffered almost as many deaths as the U.S. did in 20 years of war in Vietnam. Additionally, Russia's population is less than half (143 Million versus 332 Million), this war has touch a large majority of families in Russia. Putin's ability to survive demonstrates his grip on power, but without success I don't think he will survive. War is terrible and this is no exception. But when you step back and look at the situation from the perspective of the Great Power game, this has been a huge win for us.

I’m not a Republican, but if you’re asking why some people would “whine” about spending (defense or otherwise)…oh I don’t know… https://www.usdebtclock.org

We’ve decided it’s worth it to participate in other countries’ defense because the benefits of having secure, friendly nations to trade with far outweigh the cost incurred in defending them. We want more Germanys and fewer Chinas.

100%. No matter how much we've given Ukraine, it's a fraction of our annual DoD budget. We are witnessing the wholesale destruction of a near-peer's military capability with zero US lives spent. It would be a bargain at twice the price.

Someone please explain to me how it could possibly be in the best interest of the United States to not give Ukraine really significant military assistance. They are killing Russians and blowing up their stuff. Russia is one of our two near-peer adversaries. The one that is run by a crazy man. What’s the point of being in NATO if just fold our arms and say ‘not our problem, we need the money for dish washer rebates and drag queen shows’. Yes, I know that Ukraine isn’t a member, but all their neighbors are. What will we do if we see Putin dancing down main street Kyiv while the FSB is going door to door kidnapping kids and sending Mom and Dad to Siberia? And why are Republicans suddenly whining about defense spending? Are we now in bizzaro world?

It boggles my mind that people are actually making decisions about staying in or getting out based on this crappy “bonus that is not even close to the amount it should be. Either stay in because you want to or jump ship and make more in the outside world. If the “bonus” is making you stay in you probably need to reevaluate your life choices.

I feel you there. Though I didn't have a lifetime dream of flying in the Air Force growing up. There is more to flying in the Air Force than a paycheck. I enjoy my job. I like my coworkers. Job satisfaction is high for me right now. I'm also at the end of my career and am transitioning to the civilian sector where my flying training will be properly valued (at least by second year pay--I don't believe that the airlines pay well out of the goodness of their heart). I'm proud of what I've done in the Air Force, I'm grateful for the places I've been, the people I've met, and the missions I've flown. So many people in life are just angry. Angry at "the Air Force", angry at "the libs", angry at whatever. I also understand that many have had negative experiences in the Air Force. I have too. I was non-vol'd to Afghanistan for 364.5 days during a time where Greens were killing Blues. But I also had doors open from that experience that served me well later in my career. I wish I made $300/hr plus profit sharing in the Air Force. I'd stay longer. But the money has been good enough and now I'm moving on. And a great big "thank you" for those who leave after their UPT commitment is up too! You served. Most Americans can't say the same. Go make that bank. Buy that boat, plane, or second wife. Enjoy life. Be happy. Staying in the Air Force isn't for everyone. But it is for some.

I know financially it makes sense to get to the airlines ASAFP and never look back. I unfortunately suffer from delusions of grandeur and Stockholm Syndrome and don't really want to leave the job that I wanted to get for my entire life. I'm also not totally selfish and know that my family could really benefit from the extra $$ in an airline career. In my current and future job I will absolutely be gone from home more as an airline guy than an AF pilot. YMMV on that one, big time. It's a no brainer to me that (in my own situation) the only extenuating variable is money. Why not pay up? I have a unique perspective on all this stuff though as my dad was an airline pilot that went through not getting hired for awhile, mergers, furloughs, and 9/11. He punched early after 9/11 to try to get back in the AF as a 59 year old retired O-5 but they didn't want him to fly tankers so he just retired. Even I tried to jump right to the airlines in mid-2020 and that wasn't exactly good timing. All that to say is that I know more about the airlines than the average Joe that never experienced any of that stuff and has just been living the good life the last few years. Honestly the hardest part for me is thinking back on some missions where my crew and the team writ large was able to make a big difference and bring Americans home from some pretty hairy situations. I know that's stupid and you've got to move on but that type of feeling is nagging me more than I thought it would.

Let's arm our foes with new US military equipment, and send Ukraine their old shit equipment. Another brilliant idea. "The US intends to take Soviet weapons for Ukraine from Latin American countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela, as long as these countries replace Soviet weapons with American ones. -US Army General Laura Richardson" https://twitter.com/PadreEmerito/status/1616755950819618822?s=20&t=KG0N9myLOcCIPwWjZ0Nttg

Amusing thing I found today: after 21 years/4,000 hours in ejection seats and all the neck/back issues associated I ended up with a smaller disability rating than my neighbor who just left after 4 years in an office. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Really?! Joking, right?! I am all about the second amendment, but is all of that necessary? I'm curious of the purpose of such extensive firepower. Obviously, firearm ownership lines have to be drawn somewhere. Whether it's semi-automatic handguns, fully-automatic rifles, or personally owned A-10s, there comes a point where the right to bear arms ends. Just like well-intentioned evangelicals, over-the-top radio talk show hosts, or radical political activists put-off the general public with their voices, responsible gun owners can be a lot more successful advocating the Second Amendment by quietly promoting safe and responsible gun usage than by owning, bragging about, or encouraging stockpiling of military standard weapons. No private citizen is going to fend off any tyrannical government with any amount of firepower, and for the safety of my family, I prefer just enough firepower to get lodged in an intruder, but not go through my baby's bedroom wall. I am a Constitutionally-minded conservative, but bragging about the size of your "gun" in the aftermath of events like yesterday's shootings does more to hurt Second Amendment rights than help. I'm not sayin', but... I'm just sayin'.