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We are truly living in an era where just about anyone can feel like they’re a victim for one reason or another. One of those areas is the “haves vs have nots”…the enlisted, more specifically the younger ones, can easily believe they’re part of the “have nots”, especially when compared to the officers. But like you said, if a young enlisted member plays it smart, they can easily exponentially improve their pay, education, skills, etc in not a long time. But hey, it’s easier to play the victim card or tell people they’re a victim.

oh no you don't...we KNEW pretty early on that covid was statistically a non event for young, healthy people. and turns out Fauci and his buddies at Pfizer KNEW it didn't prevent the spread...we were told straight up lies and coerced into taking a shot that provides zero protection and is very harmful...latest numbers i heard were 1 in 800 have side effects. that is a very high number and this shot should NEVER have been MANDATED. so don't give me this 20/20 bullshit....the warnings were being issued very early on but FUCKING CENSORED

Or.. and hear me out for a second.. two things can be true at once.. Thing 1: go look at the enlisted pay scales and they are scarily low Thing 2: lots of enlisted people make poor financial decisions that only exacerbate thing #1 maybe even a third thing! Thing 3: enlisted pay/benefits are better than the average job you can get as a non college educated 18 year old

Early in this controversy people liked to think it was only rednecks in rural small towns drinking bud light but the truth is it's on tap in bars in big liberal cities everywhere too. Now they've angered both consumer bases.. a rather impressive feat. They've painted themselves into a corner where any move is the wrong one. Let this be a lesson to every other company that provides a service out there. Avoid politics and stick to your core competencies.. in this case: making piss beer, horse commercials, and otherwise shutting the fuck up

Can't be Delta, he spelled it airline, and anyone from Delta knows that the correct spelling is Air Line. There's two words in Air Line. 🤣

The Covid zealots are trying to pretend they weren’t total fucking psycho’s forcing harmful poison on us all. Revisionist history will not work.

Are you talking about 1stLt and Capts in a Marine fighter squadron?

It depends. Are enough people raising their hands to go, where they don't NEED you to go? Then no, you won't NEED to go - unless you're already fragged for that as part of an upgrade, you're a junior guy who needs the experience, etc. If there aren't enough volunteers (AKA - the trip probably sucks, or the ops tempo has been high), then...you're probably going if you're on orders/AGR.

It's a shame our military compensation system creates an incentive for young enlisted folks to get married as soon as the possibly can. Live in a dorm room with drug sweeps at 3am, some asshole reving his Charger in the parking lot at midnight, and leadership randomly dropping by to see if you've dusted and mopped...all while sharing a bathroom with a kid who plays WoW 16 hours a day and has pizza boxes stacked to the ceiling (a ceiling covered in black mold, BTW)...or get married and move into an apartment off-base, away from your leadership's invasive inspections and your retarded dorm mate's behavior?

@Pooter Good points, especially #3. A new guy without a family in my neck of the woods is making $25/hr (assuming 40 hr week shoe clerk), in the 12% tax bracket, has free & comprehensive health care, 4 years in has a solid GI Bill to use, gaining good resume-building experience, potentially had an enlistment bonus, and more. I’m not arguing they shouldn’t be paid more, but how about some people show me all the other options for an 18 yr old with zero skills that beat this deal.

It’s disheartening to watch the minions take it in the rear all because some CC wants to advance the DoD’s latest flavor of the day agenda in hopes that it will advance their career; only to leave behind a swath of destruction that leaves the boys to pick up the broken pieces when they finally leave (while said CC skates into retirement and probably some cush contract job). …the story of the modern day military in a nutshell.

Yes.. which is why having a bunch of dependents you can't afford is a quick way to get on food stamps.. and why family planning is important. Life planning decisions impact both qualification, and your eventual spending. It seems like you're being willfully obtuse here and it's really strange. Your family size is an entirely controllable thing.

Maybe but I think we who don’t like this or similar policies need not give up either our careers or beliefs but look for new avenues of attack (legal, ethical and metaphorically speaking) That’s not an advocacy for anything UCMJ punishable but to use the tools available What’s necessary is solidarity, transparency, communication and mutual support - yeah it sounds like a union and I’m not sure that’s it but a voluntary association that will support those who step forward to say non hoc porcus. The AFA could be tasked with this mission if it could have a level of support / agreement from its members on what would constitute reasons to support current Airmen taking actions to protest / challenge AF policies that this part of the AFA would stand behind the member to prevent illegal or unfair retaliation. Media coverage / information, legal support and career support could be provided to put a net underneath those taking a risk Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Speaking from the tanker side yes. That’s what they are there for. Of course the budget fluctuates but by enlarge they want young mobility guys doing mobility stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or, depending on the type of orders you are on, maybe you wont go because the funding stream won’t allow it, mission requirements, etc For example, if you are on MPA for a MAJCOM or specific mission you may not be able to go on the trip you want to go on because you have to stay behind and support the trip, alert or mission that they are funding you for. So like Lockjaw said it depends Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not pictured: 11Rs… just like the ‘21 bonus.

Absolutely possible, but low chance of success. How: Rush units and convince them to hire you and secure the required T-38 TX, IFF, and B-Course training spots. Why it’s hard: well why does a unit want to risk a heavy guy making it through all that when they can hire dudes that don’t need any of those courses and are already fighter experienced? Also, that’s 1.5-2 yrs in a pipeline as an “old” guy that the unit doesn’t get shit out of you. Then when you’re done with training, you’re a “pretty old” guy basically starting at the beginning and less useful than the 25-28 yr old LT/Capt. Rush less desirable units (location, politics, etc) and you’ll have a better shot, but that really probably means you went from .05 PK to .1 PK. Thats the reality - not saying don’t go for it, but chance of success is very slim.

That's putting it lightly.

I maybe can understand that sentiment for some Russian 19 year old that was forcibly conscripted. The scumbags in the video I posted were part of Wagner, a private military company (mercenaries) that are all volunteers. No one forced them to join shit. Even the mass of convicted criminals recruited out of prison had a choice to stay in prison or volunteer to fight in Ukraine. Wagner employees routinely commit atrocities across the countries they conduct missions in. How anyone would feel sorry for any of them is beyond me.

Well I never heard of any B-29 crews executing a mutiny or trying to kill Lemay when we fire bombed Tokyo. If your counter is to say, well they started the war.. I’d day, who, the thousands of ppl that we burned alive? I’m not saying anyone needs to feel guilty about killing an enemy soldier, but I have no problem with someone feeling bad that some poor Russian kid is getting killed for a war he has no viable way of getting out of short of committing suicide or relegating his family to the gulag.

Babylon Bee crushes it again: https://babylonbee.com/news/navy-somehow-even-gayer

On the Bud Light note, now that Bud seems to be slightly walking back on the woke stuff, they're getting boycotted from the other side as well (and most of the original boycotters haven't stopped). Let this be a lesson to businesses out there; stay out of politics. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/bud-lights-dylan-mulvaney-controversy-deepens-chicago-gay-bars-roar-beer-makers-abandonment-cause#&_intcmp=fnhpbt9

War is horrific...simply horrific. I remember my first few missions and the metric of success was always the number. We count everything, crap many of us growing up who dreamed of flying wanted to be an Ace because we thought that was the top of the glorified pyramid. In time and as I flew more missions and my "number" became stupidly high...(on one misisons I killed 32 men in 8 minutes)...I had to stop counting. Yes they were evil people who deserved to die but it was still someone's brother, father, son, cousin...and I didn't want to surrender my humanity in the process. I PRAY my son never has to see the horror of war. While I cheer the Ukrainians it is not lost on me that the ones dying are not that ones that caused this horror. Yes the Russian troops are committing atrocities but this is not a simple good vs bad situation and a lot of young men and women (and innocents), are dying because of a diabolical human in Moscow. I hope Ukraine kicks the snot out of the Russians and they flee back to Russia and I hope it all ends right there. At the end of the day we all do our duty, and I did it very well, but we don't have the celebrate the carnage

I was enlisted 9.5 years, the rest officer. AD. I was a sheetmetal dude on F-16's and KC-10 Boom. I came in as an E-1. I fucked up and got chick pregnant as an E-3. I grew up Catholic, so did she. We got married. I had zero CC debt, student loan debt and a cheap ass Honda Civic with no AC. I used WIC because I had too. I was embarrassed having to put my frozen OJ, and baby formula on the counter and paying using WIC. There were other airmen I personally knew that were in similar situations. There were a fuck ton of financial dumbasses I met as young enlisted man, but the ones with families sometimes struggled and weren't always financial dumbasses.

Dude most competent adults understand an exaggeration. I don't give a shit. Im done here. You're all worthless to me. The fact you don't have the balls to advocate your people tells me everything I need. Youre shills. Youre your own toxic leaders and frankly deserve every grievance you have at the service. I'll never forget the day a dude called HeloDude told me he deserves thanks for his service but he doesn't even have the humility or grace to thank the door gunner that went out with him, with zero control of the mission execution, the danger, the risk. WTF man? Why would I ever encourage anyone to service. Get fucked.

Dude, you lost credibility by making this blanket statement that apparently applies to every officer. Sure there are shitty ones, but in my entire career I’ve seen maybe one or two that meet this criteria of truly fucking over enlisted for personal gain. I know there’s more out there than one or two, but you acting like it’s a large portion is ridiculous. You mean the things a guy earned via years of hard work and sacrifice? Just because someone is deemed successful doesn’t mean they’re a POS and/or didn’t earn it. Unless you’re a retarded progressive, then that irrational thought probably does make sense. Again, painting with that broad brush only destroys your credibility, not someone else’s.

An entertainer? Bro John Stewart is one of the most important lobbyist for Veterans on the hill right now. Don't relegate him to a simple container. What do you know? You're just a helo pilot right? Why are enlisted on food stamps? Because they keep getting assigned to high COL areas I guess? WTF kind of answer do you want. I already explained how the program works. It's based on your household income and zip code. Enlisted have zero control on one of those factors and minimal control on the other. (No freedom to seek outside employment, spouses have barriers finding work or working within field). You want to make this it's a behavior problem and I've already told you several times spending behavior isn't accounted in qualification.

This is the best advice you’re going to get. I’ll also offer - do your best to love the one you’re with / bloom where you are planted. Once you start learning your mission set it becomes easier to become integrated with the community and enjoy the mission without looking back. Please don’t be the new guy who shows up day one telling everyone he doesn’t want to be there. It’s really hard to recover from that, and many communities even in the mobility world are quite proud. I am not saying you will do that but I’ve seen it rather often with young bucks. I was a 38 to mobility guy. At first I was pretty disappointed but I did my best to accept it and move on before I got to my first unit. If you do not like your mission, still knock it out of the park and there are many options to try something else.

Manchester.

I have a big block of Doge I bought on a whim and dirt cheap...only Crypto I've ever played with. If I lose...oh well, if I win I will sponsor the first annual Baseops hookers and blow convention.

1) Stop the mail if you'll be gone for more than a week or two. Bring a set of orders to the post office if it's over 30 days. 2) If you don't have a security system, get one! I learned that the hard way. 3) Set a timer on a lamp somewhere in the house. 4) Unplug everything else. 5) Close all the blinds 6) Set the thermostat appropriately. 6) Hire a lawncare guy to come every couple weeks if it's summertime. 7) Have someone swing by every week or so to start the car (if it's there) and check or busted pipes, and pull the religious flyers off of your front porch. 8) Get a safe, or hide your valuable stuff someplace your common thief wouldn't think to look. 9) Get as many of your bills as possible set up for online payments. Bring checks and mailing addresses for the rest of them. This has all worked pretty well for me during 2 deployments and many many TDY's.

I don't think most of us who you would call "vax enthusiasts" were going "rah rah mandates are amazing, get your 69th booster or we're all gonna die." Can only speak personally but it was more of the sentiment that when you join the military you sign some of your autonomy away. They can literally order you to go die for your country. Last I checked that's bad for your health. So it's pretty silly to act surprised and upset when they make you get a shot. Not to mention, the "my body is a temple" argument doesn't hold much water when no one says shit about: -the even sketchier anthrax shot -the statistically unlikely to work yearly flu shots -the malaria pills that cause lasting risk of birth defects -the go and no go pills proven to cause dependency that are prescribed like candy to bump up mission durations stopgap the regular obliteration of your circadian rhythm -the culture of concealing actual problems from doctors to preserve flying status So forgive me if it came across a bit like a political crusade. But the fun part is now we all have the benefit of hindsight 20/20. We now know covid isn't particularly dangerous for unvaxxed healthy young people and we also know the vaxxed aren't dying in droves from some hypothetical late-onset side effect. Turns out neither were that dangerous.