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We stand nothing to gain? From taking most of Russia’s pieces off the chessboard? From showing the Chinese how high invasion costs can be? From gaining valuable intelligence on how Russian supplied war machines work? From coalescing Western allies in ways we haven’t seen in decades? From taking the Russians out of the European energy game? Etcetera. Etcetera. Curious as to what you think are more worthwhile foreign policy goals?

Thanks for the compliments from both of you! I enjoyed working with you guys and happy my team could provide such a great rate/service. I'm always here for you and I'll be keeping an eye out for no cost streamline IRRRL opportunities as rates decline! I've been meaning to post a market update on here since we're getting into PCS season. Also with all the crazy airline hiring we're doing a lot of loans for new hires or people upgrading so I'll address those too. Here are the highlights: 1) Mortgage follow the trend of the 10yr treasury bond not the federal reserve rate moves. The bond market as of today is down over 1% since it's high in Oct which means rates are down over 1% as well. The trend will continue through '23 with expectations that VAs will be back to the mid 4 area by the end of the year and then see continued decline back into the mid to upper 3s over the next couple years. Rates are definitely getting better and no cost refi opportunities are around the corner so reach out anytime if you want a sanity check. 2) If you closed Sept-Dec of last year you unfortunately hit the peak rates...reach out to me when you're making your 6th payment and I'll do a no cost VA streamline refi for you (informational flyer attached). No closing costs so no breakeven...then we do it again after you make another 6 payments as rates continue to decline. Anyone 5.5%+ will probably be able to take advantage of this by the end of the year. If you're 6%+ you'll be able to do it sooner. 3) Congratulations to anyone getting CJOs...so much hiring going on. Transition is a tough period when qualifying for a mortgage as is being on first year pay. I recently did a video (below) and had an article published in Aero Crew News (below) on airline pay that you can checkout. Every scenario is a little different so give me a call to chat through it. Pilot Pay Article: https://aerocrewnews.com/education-2/finances/mortgage/know-your-worth-pilot-mortgages-debunked/ Video: Bottom line is there is a lot of good stuff on the horizon and I want to help you however we can. Please feel free to reach out anytime. Cheers! Jon 850-377-1114 jk@mythl.com https://jonathankulak.floify.com/

@Danger41 The tactics examples you mentioned are all good stuff and the reason I get out of bed in the morning as well. Don't get me wrong I love my job. I love flying fast jets and I love trying to get better every day and improve how the CAF does things. Like you, I also have been involved in some meaningful changes on the tactics and instruction side. I also really really care about teaching the FNGs coming up the right way to do things. From an ops perspective I am 0% jaded. But there is a whole other side of my job, and that's the one I'm pissed about. I notice none of the innovations you cited have anything to do with queep reduction or admin. The administrivia side of the Air Force is kind to those who "play the game" so the only people who ever make rank high enough to change the game are the people who played it in the first place. You asked why I want specific directives from top level leaders. It's because I believe that's the only thing that will dismantle the queep empire that's been built. I don't need specifics from majcom/ccs about tactics or mission leadership or how to manage my flight. I want specifics because generic inspirational fluff does not make it down through the 69 layers of administrators to result in any change at squadron level. A perfect example of this: a few years ago when Debbie James was the secaf, they did an additional duties reduction initiative. Big email got sent out about it saying something generic about how we're going to get leaner and reduce add'l duties. Literally the next day I was appointed the squadron emergency management rep, and DTS AO. The secaf email and my new appointments email were sitting right next to each other in my inbox. The next one was some horseshit about looking for volunteers to run that year's CFC. I screenshotted it at the time because I couldn't believe the irony of these 3 emails sitting next to each other. But anyway, cheers. I'll keep trying to fight the good fight, get better in the jet, and the moment I can get chat gpt to automate the queep side of my job I will spread the gospel far and wide.

They've had years to "stress" over it. Its not anything new apparently.

Did you change your username, torqued?

You're right. We should absolutely not joke about it. Lets all take a moment of reflection and pray for our leaders in this tense moment.

I emailed the board and asked them how the PCS orders thing would affect UPT dates and assignments. This is the response I got back:

And that's their choice. But as long as they have to rely on our weapons, training, and Intel, they have to do what we tell them to do. Right now I see no reason to change the status quo. The Ukrainians want to keep fighting, and that's absolutely their choice, and I'd like to see more dead Russia soldiers and smoking tanks for however long they insist on invading a sovereign nation. And at bargain-basement prices, no, IDGAF about the spending. You're posing an alternative that doesn't exist: No one in power is willing to do that, in either party, and the largest voting block isn't going to vote for it. We will not fix the problem until it materializes and slams us into austerity, and that's not going to be a time-based event, it's going to be a debt-based event. Spending on Ukraine pushes us closer to that inevitability, sooner. That's good. Otherwise it would just go towards the nonsense domestic spending. You want to talk about appealing to the extremes? Your fairy tale let's just put the money towards responsible government spending is the most unrealistic thing I've heard in this thread. I wish it weren't, but it is. And I really don't give a shit about nukes. Maybe you guys have never dated a truly crazy woman, but I have. Eventually every fight they lose gets to the suicide threat. The ultimate trump card. But what are you going to do, be a hostage forever? Fuck it, you want to kill yourself over breakup, go for it. If Russia intends to unleash nuclear destruction over a failed invasion of another country, then they are operating on a different set of rules that we will never be able to follow. People will die, but we'll win that war. We're overdue for the fourth turning anyways: https://a.co/d/4gG2rqg

Thanks man! You’ll be in a good spot once you get the class date locked down. I think Trident is one of the few credible lenders out there that can speak/execute AD/reserves/airlines loans very well. There are some small broker shops that do but they don’t lend their own money or do their own underwriting. I always recommend folks transitioning add a mortgage plan to their 1yr out checklist if they plan to move. Once you are inside of 1yr from your separation date no underwriter for any VA, conventional or FHA can use that income because it’s not stable. There are ways to use future income or close you before your separation date is in but you gotta know the rules to work the gray area. I see other lenders preapprove people all the time based on their current AD income because they don’t check anything or are incompetent then it all comes falling apart in underwriting. Helped a guy who’s lender canceled them the day of closing because they did a final employment verification and discovered the separation date. Don’t fall for fancy sales tricks or being told what you want to hear. Always here to help! Jon

You probably know better than I that the AF is built upon regs that tell you only what you’re allowed to do. If you do anything outside what is specifically stated then you’re wrong. With this alone in mind I get the sentiment about wanting specific guidance. When I think about the sq, og, and wg/cc I’ve dealt with in the CAF, I have zero trust that they would have my back based on this memo. Obviously I can’t speak for AMC. I saw it when the approval to roll-up sleeves started and we had dudes carrying around the memo so they could tell chiefs to get bent. I’ve heard numerous stories about chiefs arguing with CGOs about how it’s not allowed because the reg hasn’t changed yet. This was rolling up our ffing sleeves mind you. I’m sure you’ve heard similar stories. The “if the reg doesn’t make sense, then do what makes sense and we’ll get the reg changed.” was a warm fuzzy for about 6.9 sec. Standing infront of the Bobs and explaining why we should violate a reg. because it’s the right thing to do for the sq/training etc, when you know all they care about is getting that school slot is a daunting thing for a young Capt. Bottom line. I have zero trust in the majority of individuals in leadership positions that I’ve dealt with in the CAF. CGO/FGOs need actually backing to make these changes because when the bros don’t trust their local leadership they need something specific and definable to back-up their thinking. Otherwise it’s onto the shit list and guard life here we come.

I think you’re new wave rebranded isolationist BS is no less dangerous than the “it’ll all be ok” crowd that was laughingly dismissing Romney in the debates when he suggested Russia is our #1 geopolitical foe. I think your entire presence in this thread is to do little more than try to play at being some sort of omnipresent intellectual when really you don’t realize your misgivings being the guiding beacon of what we should do (cut them off and let’s see) is more likely to result in a wider conflict not head it off at the regional level it currently resides in. Your apologist sentiment/statements for former exploited Russian satellites recognizing the reality and running to NATO because never again being a great example of that. Oh how dare the Czechs and Poles or Latvians want to actually stay sovereign. What a god damned crime. They should recognize they have old ties to respect and be more Hungarian in their outlook. I would rather back Ukraine despite all their rotten apples in the cart than see yet another example of Russian aggression go unchecked and be successful in its results for their end goals. And you and others are flatly getting in the way of that with your “yeah but what if they attack our transport ship” bullshit from earlier. We tried isolationism or rather “that’s a Europe problem” before. The end result was us getting into wider conflicts both unprepared and more expensively than smaller sooner conflicts would have cost. That was the reason we changed our mindset the last 70 years. Turns out just having nukes and oceans between us and conflict isn’t enough. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I want to help Ukraine stop and reverse a Russian invasion. Nukes would help towards that goal. Yet somehow I manage to justify not sending Ukraine nukes, because they would do more than simply help return Ukraine to the Ukrainians. Do you really have a hard time imagining a world that isn't black and white, because I don't, and I don't think any of the "pro-Ukrainian" posters here do either

Me trying to sideward advancing of the point I want to make isn't, you do. Huh? I just offered a question about giving F-16s to Ukraine. You answered and I agree. It appears that's not satisfactory. Not only need I agree, I must agree for the same reasons. However.. as you requested: I will finally come out and admit that I believe that there is a limit to the amount of military aid and debt obligations we as Americans, should assign ourselves for this conflict. Quite the revelation. Perhaps you also have a limit, I but think it's likely that you're going to defend every dollar of every forthcoming aid package up to and including aircraft because you don't want to draw a line and have it exceeded. Perhaps we could agree that there is, in fact, a monetary and material limit but we'll likely not agree what it is. There is another aspect. As many here have pointed out, NATO benefits massively from having a strategic enemy engaged in a prolonged quagmire conflict and weakened as a result. All we have to do is print the money and provide the fighting equipment, but not too much. And as others here have argued, it's quite the bargain. But who is doing the fighting? You're not. Millions of Ukrainians killed, displaced, and plunged into poverty. Ukr soldiers likely being killed at the same rate as the Russians while Rus continues to make minor advances. An economy, society, and countryside destroyed. And not a single NATO casualty. You might call that a bargain, but you shouldn't call me intellectually dishonest.

While it’s nice to sit here and pontificate about people leading a rah-rah grassroots upheaval of the queep; having watched this show 69 times already over the past 13 years, you and I both know full well this will NEVER happen in this particular context.

When I was a boom line flier, we didn't come to work unless we were flying. The squadron was a ghost town. Being a prior Mx dude, in the beginning, I would show up at work when I wasn't flying until my Chief boom ripped me a new one for being in the squadron. He told me my job is to fly. I'm not sure why this practice stopped. I did my job in an aircraft not at an office. Towards the end of my AF career, they put me in the OSS. I didn't come to work unless I was flying lol. The trick is to be really bad at office work or simply don't do it if it's bullshit. Mass deleting emails was also fun. Them: "Did you get the email I sent you?", me: "Nope" I was actually taking flights from people who were "too busy" with office work. Lol Fucking weird. In my time, it went from flying being my primary job to office work. Caution: You will most likely not get promoted beyond O-4 (perhaps even O-3) following my path of deleting emails.

It would be pretty easy for them. This is the party that called Larry Elder the "black face of white supremacy" while supporting one of the most privileged white dudes in California for governor.

The fun part of a Nikki Haley campaign will be watching all the gymnastics from the “you have to vote for a woman of color” crowd who treated that as the only qualification that mattered. Suddenly they’ll be supporting old white guy because “well yeah… but not that one, she doesn’t count.” Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think he’s doing a good enough job of that on his own. I predict the lid gets blown off of the Bidens soon. I think the classified docs, the insane amounts of money, his health, Hunter, the drugs, the laptop, the Chinese, the Penn Biden Center, etc are all connected. I truly believe the smoking gun will be found in the classified docs. I don’t think the powers in DC or in the media can keep it hidden for much longer. Hopefully, people’s eyes are finally opened to what the elites are up to and we get the massive reset we need in this country.

Quoted for posterity, because I think you're 100% correct.

Am I the fool? They are the ones living highly on free medical care, social safety nets, 2 years unemployment benefits at 75% salary even if you leave your job voluntarily..... and we are the ones paying nearly 20% of our annual budget each year on defense and national security architecture to ensure their security while they lift their noses snobbishly at us and demean our culture, values and ideals. Not sure about you man but I didn't join the service to go spread the good message of "European" identity all over earth, and praise their values and ideals. I did it to show the good will and generosity of Americans.... within reason. Secondly..... Two WORLD wars. Key word there being WORLD. We tend to frame WW1 and WW2 as being primarily European affairs. They were not. In WW2 50% of the casualties in that war happened on the Asian continent. JAPAN attacked the US, not Germany. 8/10 of the largest world military powers are in the Pacific trade hemisphere. Only 2/10 are West European. Over 50% of the world's GDP is generated by just 5 Pacific region countries. 2/3 of every R&D dollar spent on new technology is spent in either Asia or North America. Am I missing the point here or are you? You are clinging to decades old ideology that generals who fought and won WW2 ingrained into our service--dogmas that are generations old without willingness to pivot or realize that the global playing field is changing, the rules are being rewrote, and the geographic center of Global Power is now as far away from Europe as you can get. Yes, Europe used to be the center of global power and dominance--largely because of colonialism. That was a 200 year hiccup in 5000 years of written history that said 80% of Global Wealth was in the hands of just two societies--India, and China--since agriculture began. If anything, WW2 and the prolonged Cold War was an indicator of their global relevance dyeing out.

Nikki Haley will announce candidacy tomorrow. 100 I would vote for her.

I recently received an 80% rating. Filed BDD claim in May, retired in September, award received in late December. I worked with a VSO and contrary to some experiences on this thread mine was excellent. We went through my records, he offered his recommendations which I mostly agreed with but did not claim everything. For example he saw a mandatory mental health screening and without details he listed that in his draft, but I'd never been seen for an actual issue so didn't feel right about including it and pulled it from the app (oddly enough my comprehensive exam doc added added a follow on mental health appointment but I didn't receive any rating for it). Ultimately I had one 50% rating, another 20%, and several 10%s that worked out to 80%. There were also several 0%s but that remain in my file. In the end I was a little surprised but there wasn't any gaming of the system and I used only what was in my records and offered honest explanations during my appointments. One note... they denied my claim for dependents which I'm having to re-file for and should be fixed shortly. Should have included marriage & birth certificates in my app it seems. TLDR: Long process but ultimately what appears to be a fair rating based on VA's guidelines and my records, albeit a little higher than I expected. ZB

I'm sure they'll all be treated the same way.

I don't disagree that the battle is uphill, however the alternatives of tolerating the BS (which will only lead to more BS for us to deal with) or worse, giving up and accepting the support noners running the wing, are completely unpalatable to me. I refuse. I'm not going to email Mini direct, but I sure as hell won't let the FSS queens walk all over me and the people I'm responsible for. It's up to operators to make sure the mission comes first. Yes, I want Mini to push for real changes in the system, but I'm certainly not going to wait for him or someone else to do it. I personally won't change the whole Air Force, but if enough of us stop putting up with the BS, we will. As to the Facebook activism, yeah, no. I've never once heard of someone changing anything for the good by spouting off on facebook.