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Media never has the full picture, as you and I both know quite well, but the general outline from open source angles paints a picture where the US likely helped with logistics & intel while the Ukrainians actually did it. And I get it; if I were a Ukrainian I’d be doing everything possible to hurt Russia inside and outside my country, and I’d attempt to drag another larger power into the mix to create dilemmas for my adversary. But I must be wrong, Ukrainians are too pure for such tactics. It was definitely the Russians who blew up their pipeline… and the damn as well. I do find it incongruent to support this massive act of environmental terrorism concurrent with domestic efforts to ban gas stoves. But in the world of doublethink, there are no ironies.

Nashville.gov Nashville, TN Is Among the Most Dangerous US Metro Areas https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/violent-crime-rates-nashville-2022-report/ It is not apples to oranges. You have repeatedly stated all the big cities are run by democrats, that data (adjusted for population), clearly shows the rate of crime, especially violent crime is far higher when you live in an area controlled by democrats. Interestingly the 2022 election results by county directly correlates to that data set. Ummm the graphs I posted are indeed population adjusted, Perhaps you didn't actually read them? 🤷‍♂️ You used data adjusted to 100K, the graphs I posted are more granular (FBI data sets), and are down to 1K. Bottomline - you assert Nashville has never been better, that simply is not true, especially the past four years. Your data set stops in 2021, the data I highlighted continues in to 2023. From your data and mine, yes some crime is down, but violent crime (the crap that matters to me), is way up, particularly over the past four years. Violent crime and murder are up 29%, I would invite you to focus on the bottom lines of the link YOU posted...notice the red? Walk the data out to current day. Violent crime, especially since the last election when the dems went soft on crime, is unsurprisingly way up. A very telling quote from the story WKRN did "This year was the third year there had been over 100 homicides reported in Davidson County by Dec. 24. It was an 82.8% increase compared to just 10 years ago when there were only 58 homicides reported." We both know Nashville is fast growing city, but the growth rate over the last ten years is 20.9% while the murder rate is up 82.8%. Doesn't sound better than ever to me... The FBI stats as of January stop at 2021 (no idea why it takes them so long), but as of 2020 Nashville was #41 in FBI ranking of most dangerous cities in the United States. Given violent crime is accelerating thanks to the radical Dem policy of "Defund the Police", it will be interesting to see how Nashville relates to other cities.

They can’t vote in national elections …. But can vote in many local elections and referendums.

Fear is the #1 reason I've heard. Most academy and ROTC bros have never had a job outside of the Air Force and are afraid of not having a guaranteed government paycheck. Another reason is that people can't do math. Zero people make more money by taking the bonus and staying in vs. leaving for an airline. The bonus is only for people that would stay in any way and for those that can't add.

How many Air Assaults did you fly? I’m just curious if your pax list looked different than mine, because while what you’re describing it as looked accurate early, it damn sure didn’t match what was in my aircraft during the later years of the war. But yeah, you got it all figured out. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm not sure where the stats from your paragraph are from, if you'd like to share I'll check out a link. Your graphs compared Nashville to the rest of the state, which is apples to oranges. You need to compare the same place in different years for a fair comparison. Crime (and life!) is obviously different in BFE than in downtown Manhattan. Here's what I know, based on the data the city provides. I didn't take the time to make a pretty graph because the data is provided in a table, as a PDF 🙄 Too much work for the dumbest hobby ever, forum posting. What I'm looking at is the crime per capita (per 100K residents) from 1963 through 2021, the latest year they provide data for. It can be found here. Crime per capita to me is the fairest measure because measure X in relation to measure Y is much more meaningful than measure X as just an absolute value. For example, there is absolutely no crime on the moon! Statistically it's the safest place you can live /sarcasm Some highlights: Total crime varied from a low of 3,188.9 in 1965 to a high of 11,146.0 in 1996. Recent numbers are 5,475.8 in 2020 and 5,080.0 in 2021. So total crime is now less than half of the peak worst year. Violent crime has been pretty stable since 1987 (the data before then is lower with a cliff-like step change between 1985 and 1987...I suspect there was a change in how violent crime was categorized before then). From 1987 - 2021, the low was 1,105.2 in 2019 and the high was 1,963.2 in 1996. So the safest year for violent crime in Nashville in nearly my whole lifetime was a year when I lived there! You mentioned murder, which is indeed up. Although "up" is from an aberrantly low level between 2010 and 2014. Murder bottomed out in 2014 at 6.5 and is troublingly back up to 14.8 in 2021. The peak high though was 20.3 in 1997, and the historical average over 59 years is 14.6, so we're basically back to exactly historical average. Needless to say even one murder is too many, and whatever we did to drive murder down for a few years, let's do it again! Property crime between 1963 and 2021 varied from a low of 2,885.7 in 1965 to a high of 9,183.8 in 1996. Man, 1996 was a terrible year for Nashville! Luckily in 2021 it's down to 3,836.8. This would all be more compelling with graphs vs random data vomited into a forum post, I get it, sorry. If you wanna TL;DR I don't blame you. Bottom line on bottom Crime per capita in Nashville is significantly lower now than in the mid-1990s. Total crime has been quite stable since 2013, locked in at that relatively lower level. Violent crime was the lowest it's been in a generation in 2019! My point: negativity against cities in right-wing circles is grossly overblown. The city I know best, where I lived for 7+ years and continue to live near, is a safe, prosperous, fun place to visit, work, and raise a family. The trends on crime here are either static or declining, and crime is much lower than when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. YMMV with other cities, but if you wanna make the argument that a certain city is a dumpster fire shithole or some other hyperbolic BS, best bring receipts.

Some like it. Some have families and don’t want to leave the steadiness of the job. Some would like to punch but can’t get hired at the local reserve unit. Not sure if you’re being glib but grabbing an AGR job is not nearly as easy as people make it out to be. For example, say you’re from Denver and want to leave AD and join the ANG. Sweet! There’s a F-16 unit there and they’re hiring! You’re not current and qualified Viper IP? Kick rocks. Okay, NBD you can go to USAFA and teach there. Oh you never did that and you’re an average dude that isn’t in the top 100 applicants? Bummer. Cheyenne is pretty close and you could fly Herks! No connection to the unit and not a Herk guy? Line is over here. Hopefully your mileage varies but it’s not often that easy. Whereas staying AD is easy and safe for a lot of folks. Don’t necessarily think that’s the best reason to stay AD, but not everyone that stays is an idiot and deserves to be shit on.

Yeah I'd trust the base of preference thing about as far as I can throw AFPC.. which is to say zero

But award winning journalist Seymour Hersh cited multiple anonymous sources and said the US did it! You’re telling me this entire thing is BS?! https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream What cracks me up about this type of thing is they could quote me as a “Senior DoD Official” and I’m just an O-5 complete dipshit that has pilot wings so therefore I must be an expert on all things aviation and foreign policy related.

I wonder if the illegals will continue to vote democrat once they figure out a lot of the left's policies directly conflict with traditional Catholic teachings. I don't see deeply religious Hispanics (sorry, Latinxes) getting on board with transgender kids, gay pride in kindergarten classrooms, abortion up until the moment of birth, and a general disdain for the traditional masculinity found in so many Hipanic cultures...

This. The loudest voices on the mil meme sites are all echoing the same negative sentiments…”AD sucks, if you stay past your AD commitment you’re an idiot.” The truth is YMMV. Personally, when I came up for the bonus I was loving USAF life. I’d just spent 4 years overseas (a unique opportunity AD affords) and was on staff doing a job I found very fulfilling. We’ve lived all over the world, flown some amazing missions, met some amazing lifelong friends, and ultimately found where we wanted to settle down in a place I never would’ve imagined living otherwise. Is AD perfect? Absolutely not, but in general it’s provided me and my family a life filled with adventure. Don’t make a decision on the bonus or getting out based on what the loudest voices on the internet are espousing…do what you think is best for you and your family.

Back about 7-8 years ago in my ANG unit we experienced what became known locally as the “Techsodus”…a mass exit of many of our Air Reserve Technician pilots to seemingly greener airline pastures. A growing bias against the full-time techs took shape. “Dude, how can you stay a Tech? Being a Tech SUUUCKS” A lot of young guys got swept up in the wave and followed the older techs out the door and it definitely hurt our ability to do business. One of the DSGs made an observation one day after overhearing these conversations at drill. He said something along the lines of “you guys understand that, in order to exist as a Guard unit, we actually need some people to stay full time right? Like…if EVERYONE goes to the airline then nobody will be left here to build a schedule, create training plans, run a Stan/Eval program…so maybe just consider that as you run down the hallway talking about how much being a fulltimer sucks to all the young guys that look up to you…” I feel like the same thing is happening today. There is so much hate on the mil meme sites and it’s all a one-sided “ F*** Active Duty! The bonus is for chumps! Come to the Guard and get your line number! If you don’t you’re stupid!” But…the less Active Duty we have, the less Big AF is able to man UFT and FTU training, deployment taskings, headquarters manning, etc, etc and that hurts the ARC’s ability to train and equip which in turn makes it harder to be a DSG/airline guy. Bottom line - the airlines are a great deal, but it’s not for everyone and if someone’s beliefs, goals or family situation dictates that it’s better to stay on Active Duty, they shouldn’t automatically be vilified for that decision. Full Disclosure - I was Active Duty for ~8 years, Guard for 20 as an ART and as a DSG on and off orders. *Edited to add my censored F bomb back in for effect Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk on

I know the truth hurts...

Lol, when the next 19 year old guardsmen who is somehow read into alien chem-trail SAP leaks to his Chinese Minecraft league we'll all have a better of who "akshuslly" blew the pipeline! my theory is the whales have been trying to warn us but Greta keeps killing them with offshore wind farms.

I'm glad you bring up rate of crime, since it shows just how equally prevalent (if not more so) violent crime is in areas that vote red. Interesting enough, your own source you cite ( Nashville, TN Is Among the Most Dangerous US Metro Areas ) lists dozens of republican run cities with far higher rates than Nashville. Sure Memphis is #1, but I lost count of the GOP run cities on that list not to mention Anchorage with a violent crime rate almost double that of Nashville. Not even trying to blame it on Republicans, just pointing out that correlating crime rates to the political party that runs the city is a fallacy and a pointless argument.

I pray that when the next disgruntled leaker puts out TS info it’s revealed that Greta Thurnberg actually blew it up in some fucked up false flag like the environmentalists in the Rainbow Six book.

NSplayer, I was aware that Bloomberg is really a Democrat, But he ran as a “R” because the NY Dems didn’t support him. Nevertheless, He continued Rudy’s policies. Good on you for the facts. To answer your question why only 9 out of 50 of the top US cities are run by Dems, here’s my opinion. There are the “Makers” and the “Takers” in society. The Makers live in the exclusive enclaves of the city or more likely the suburbs. The Takers live in the city. Look at the voting demographics in any large city and the burbs are Republican, while the City is democrat. The democrats cater to and attract the takers. The takers stay in the city where they are taken care of, and the makers leave. Let me throw a question back to you. “Why are the Democrats so hell bent on opening up the border?” They are pandering to illegals, because these are the future voters for their party. They are importing votes. Do you think an illegal will vote for a party that promises to give them everything, or a party that promises them nothing but equality of opportunity? It’s a travesty. take care, good debate.

The next President is Nashville?

YMMV significantly, but in my unit among AGR pilots, the one with the most recent hire date was 2015, and he's the squadron patch. Other than him, the "newest" guy who is an AGR was probably hired in like 2007 as an enlisted dude. You can't just walk into an AGR around here as much as many folks would like to! Still waiting patiently for someone to die or retire, as god intended for his wayward children the Guard bums 😅

Except you already know what's going to happen. Surprise! Needs of the Air Force. Promising Base of preference on an enterprise level doesn't work when you have objective shitholes that you have to man with people. What happens when every eligible UPT ADO preferences Randolph? Are they just gonna stop manning the UPT bases with majors and above? What happens when every viper driver in existence prefs aviano/spang over holloman? No more b-course I guess. And if by some wild chance the Air Force does attempt to keep its word to the bonus takers, now they have to try and force free agents to PCS to the Laughlins and cannons and minots of the world, resulting in the same 7 day opt waves we've already seen. It'll take big blue 6.9 seconds to figure out it's totally unsustainable and turn it off.

Yea, those were some rough years man, props to you for getting through that shit. I'm glad we have significantly cleaned up crime in US cities since the mid-90s. It's funny that one of the two Republican mayors you give credit to is...Michael Bloomberg 😅 I get that he was officially a republican for his first two terms, but you know where he stands today politically. He would get 0.01% of the vote were he to run for office as a Republican today. I am pro-enforcing the law, I am against defunding the police, I am in favor of legalizing most drugs rather than having a broken-windows policy for low-level drug users. Legalization would also severely curtain illegal drug dealing, because users could get legal, safer drugs from authorized distributors, just like alcohol and weed now in many states. Doing drugs is usually destructive and I don't do drugs myself or encourage other people to do them, but in the War on Drugs, drugs won, and we need a different approach. Prohibition of alcohol didn't work either. Legalization + safe supply (eradicating fentanyl) + robustly funded support for getting clean for those who want to, plus abundant housing - no doing drugs in the street or on public transit. Speaking of abundant housing, I'm also an extreme YIMBY and I think the #1 scourge of urban life today is a lack of enough housing. I want to build build build and jettison every uptight "local control" NIMBY liberal directly into the sun for their role in making their cities worse for everyone else. I genuinely think that slate of policies would make urban life in particular better. More housing, more freedom, and the ability for a robust police force to focus on violent and destructive crimes rather than drug addiction.

Copy. I appreciate you response about Nashville. And honestly, I wish the best for your parents/family.

NSPlayer, I'll be blunt..I grew up in The Bronx during the 70's and 80's. Those were the Ft. Apache years (look it up) anyway the City was a mess, high crime, people leaving in droves, financial issues, high taxes, an Garbage and graffiti was everywhere. Rudy Guiliani gets elected Mayor, the first Republican in a long time. He"s tough on crime and within a year or two the streets are cleaned, the beggars are gone the"Squeegee" guys harassing motorists gone, and the City experiences a Renaissance. 42st street, went from a drug infested, crime zone filled with druggies and porno theaters to something akin to Disney world for tourists. the murder count dropped from over 2500/year to 400/year. the City stayed that way for 14 years under 2 Republican administrations until a democrat was elected in 2014 Bill DeBlasio. Since a democrat was elected the city has reverted back to the dirty, crime ridden, days. I know because I live and work near NYC. The same has happened to the State of California, Portland, San Fran, Memphis, Chicago, the list is ENDLESS. and its all under Democrat rule. Democrats have a knack for ruining things, and people are noticing and voting with their feet. If you haven't noticed yourself, open your eyes.

I’m really interested to see what happens in a few years when situations develop like Osprey dudes taking the bonus and choose OCONUS/Hurlburt to avoid Cannon.

I found a pic of the guy.

Naaah. I really don’t see much value in going any more rounds with you. Imma go hang out bin the drindls & beer thread for a bit. 🍻

One time I went full honest with the new flight doc because at that point life was more important than flying. She said, “holy shit…don’t ever tell anyone other than me.” I said, “copy. But just saying, that’s a perfectly normal Wed night on a TDY!”

kind of like our "afghan led" raids...that had a pipe hitting force of rangers with two afghans handing out with the GFC...they can say anything and qualify it you know that!

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." I guess you forgot the first and most significant part of the Preamble to the Constitution. Life may not be fair, but we should always be striving to ensure we achieve "Liberty and Justice for all." What does Justice mean? Justice, in its broadest sense, is the concept that individuals are to be treated in a manner that is equitable and fair. This is what people fail to remember when they say "Life isn't fair" or "Fairness is socialism" or "DEI is racism". They forget that the very first objective the Preamble states is to "Establish Justice." Even if you interpret Justice in this context to mean Justice in the eyes of the law, that still requires fairness. I cringe at almost everything the modern Republican does these days since its goes directly against the Constitution. Diminish and seek to eradicate LGBTQ+ people? That's definitely establishing justice. Eliminate programs like DEI and the ultra scary "Critical Race Theory" that seek to highlight institutional discrimination? Lots of justice there. Create a state where armed individuals/cops can essentially kill whoever they want (especially minorities) while suffering 0 consequences? Definitely a more perfect Union with a ton of justice. Denying the outcome of a free and fair election without a shred of evidence to back-up any of their claims? Dang man, those Republicans really want Justice. I could go on and on with examples of Republicans ignoring the Constitution, much like how Fourfans just ignored Prozac's post and keeps asking him "Why, Why, Why", showing an excellent example of the start of the infinite regress fallacy. No matter what Prozac types, Fourfans will just keep asking him "Why" so he can attempt to win the online argument. This is a very common tactic that weak debaters use to defend their weak positions. Definitely not surprised to see it on this forum.