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I think the meme pages hurt retention far more than recruiting. I doubt very much if high schoolers in droves are following viper driver memes and chuckling at ultra specific FLUG DCA jokes or complaints about morale shirts or FSS walk in hours. What is hurting recruiting far more IMO is the left's constant push to make people ashamed of our country and our history.

In 2010 my son was excited to join the military and do badass stuff I was doing. By 2023 he is not joining, and instead on a pre-Med scholarship. None of his friends are joining. It's a tragic loss for our nation; he's a state champion athlete and top 2% scholar with no qualifying issues, whose dad was pushing him towards joining. But it's a shit deal to join after we wrecked a generation in IZ/AFG for nothing. Our humiliating exit from wars which defined his youth was decisive. He thinks the government will send you to die and never let you win. He's not wrong.

Republicans don't hit on democrat NIMBY-ism nearly enough. Bussing migrants sanctuary cities they ask to go to = cruel political stunt by evil Greg Abbott Turning a blind eye to small Republican border towns with no resources as they get complete overrun = "what border crisis??"

I was a pilot for MOST of my career, the first quarter of my career, I was as a crew chief. I'm still close friends with many of my crew chiefs friends (as we're all still at the same base). Those dudes have a damn good life, and make way more money than they likely would on our local economy (most won't leave due to entrenched family). I specifically mentioned in my post that I'd only recommend it if they joined the ANG. I know some companies (mentioned above), provide some TA, but I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to beat what they offer in the ANG. I can certainly understand why many won't sign up for a 4-year AD stint. I wasn't willing to do that in 2001 because I didn't want to lose out on those college years. To your second point, I couldn't agree more, especially when you're talking Army. My last trip to Bagram circa 2020/21, the Utah Army NG was there with their Apaches. Talking with those guys, I was floored by how much deployed time these dudes had, mostly a year at a time. I seriously can't understand how anyone maintained a family throughout that (lots didn't). If I were a young kid and that was my only exposure to the service, I'd be looking for other options as well. However, the big reason I was able to become a pilot, was because of my time as an enlisted guy. I guess our leaders need to figure out how to leverage the fact that an enlistment has the potential to open up awesome opportunities, if you chose to take them. Goodluck! We are now seeing another giant price we'll pay for playing a 20 fucking year game of whack-a-mole in Afghanistan and Iraq/ME. Did anyone really even understand what we were doing past 2011? I mean, did we ever have a boss that clearly laid out and end state and even a tiny semblance of how we were going to get there?

Great questions. The answer is no. Every GO sold out, repeated the same supportive tripe in public while privately voicing concern at our trajectory, yet continued up the chain of rank and pay. Imagine if we had leaders who said this: “I resign from active service. I love our country but cannot continue in good conscience to lead our men and women into danger with no clear objective or purpose. Indecisive political policies are irresponsible, and I resign in hopes the ensuing attention will cause this matter to be taken seriously and resolved with urgency.” GOs reading this, and I know they are, will doubtlessly guffaw at the simplistic scenario I present above. However, they lacked the courage to take bold action. Everyone with combat experience knows we don’t have bold/courageous General Officers. We have highly intellectual GOs who can stay up 20 hours a day, run miles each morning and work their staff to death analyzing a multitude of variables… but they aren’t bold and can’t win.. So to the GOs readIng this in fury at my condemnation- I’m certain you think I am ignorant of how futile and ostracizing my proposed COA would be. You’d be embarrassed in front of your peers. It would be awkward and socially uncomfortable. But had you played that card, you’d be a hero today. Instead, congrats on the retired rank but you’re forever attached to the ignominy of how those wars ended. FWIW I practice what I preach and burned every bridge on my way out over an issue to help my young squadron members. It was uncomfortable going from #1 to the trash can, my peers and supervisors despised me at the end and I didn’t have a retirement ceremony over this issue. However, I played every card and logged a major win for the young captains 6 weeks before retiring.

So they wait until the 9th month of the FY to roll out the bonus, it's out for like 3 minutes and then they shut'er down....you can't make this shit up. Listen up young punks, this is what your leadership thinks of you, and I'm not just talking leaders in a military uniform. What do I expect them to do? The same shit they expect me to do when they give me a TDY/Mission/task and only give me half the budget to accomplish it...figure it the fuck out!

I'm not sure there's a point in joining during the post-war periods. Obviously if you don't have other options, sure, but I started at the Academy in 03 when military appreciation was sky-high and the budget was booming. By the time I got out in '17 the silliness was outweighing the serve-your-nation pretty significantly. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the O-6+ cadre who seemed to think mentorship was telling you how awesome it was for them as CGOs and how they didn't understand why my generation doesn't want to stay in (without ever seeming to realize pre-9/11 O-club antics were long dead by the time we commissioned). Then of course the obligatory lecture on how you were a bad officer and bad person if you needed more than 3 drinks to have a good time, from the dude with a bottle of scotch in his desk. Unserious leaders in unserious times makes for a pretty frustrating experience. And if things get serious and scary, there will be limitless opportunities to join a freshly funded and focused military with a renewed appreciation for killing enemies and breaking things. So maybe do something else until then. I'm pretty content in my airline job that the military rolled me into, but someone starting off now would get to the airlines with less time and frustration if they just went to one of the pilot factory schools, and they'd have a better seniority number and higher income to pay off the loans. That wasn't an option in '03-'13. In retrospect, being told that all men are rapists and only women lack the capacity to consent to sex after having a beer was a walk in the park compared to the nonsense now. I had fun, but I don't miss it

Now if only they would offer VSP and TERA… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s been available forever - called absentee ballots. The difference between those and “mail in” is significant and I think widely misunderstood (people think they’re synonymous when they are not). Nobody is barred from voting if they can’t make it to the polls, just takes a few min of effort. All I’m saying is if you’re not willing to put those few min of effort in, then you don’t deserve to vote (e.g. kill all “mail in” ballots immediately). I agree. All I was arguing previously is it’s bullshit to say it’s a “barrier” to not allow it (and have some limitation like registration up to 7 days prior or whatever). I don’t really care if it’s Election Day or 14 days prior (obviously there’s some reasonable limitation that should t be exceeded), everyone has the opportunity to register, and it’s your fault if you don’t get it done in time based on whatever requirement your state has (caveat is the scenario of turning 18 within “the closed window.”)

How so? Not a snide question, I really am curious. The mil is free college (state school) plus books and living expenses (capped obviously). They beat that? I grew up in a fairly well off area where the majority of my class went to college. And I’m fairly confident I have out-earned most of them to this day and now with the airlines am exponentially out-earning them at a rapid rate. Even the doctors I know aren’t out-earning me (when you take into account my zero debt and their mega shitload of debt still remaining today). The best part is I’d bet out class’ highest earner is a great blue collar dude who owns his own business and is killing it. Point is the mil earning potential really is hard to beat unless you’re a young dude straight to the investment world with connections, or something like that.

I tell them that if their ultimate goal is to make money, don’t join the military. Go make a pile of money selling insurance or working at initech and updating code. If you want to have a fulfilling life, do something with a purpose beyond making money. That doesn’t have to be the military, but that’s a great option. And the current state and assessment of the trends isn’t some Orwellian proto-gay state despite what a lot of you think. The kids today think differently but I promise you they would make the Greatest Generation proud if they’re called upon. Like Brabus said, every preceding generation thinks the succeeding generation sucks. Where our recruiting is going wrong is they are leaning way too hard into the “woke” crap and not selling the purpose side of the military. And the benefits. 18 year old young men are the same as they’ve always been and the more macho aspects of the military of blowing shit up, operating cool equipment, etc is the ticket. Not cartoons about a female with 2 moms. Not to single that soldier out, but that’s the truth. Same with the Army changing their PT test that was tailored toward more general strength and athleticism. When women were having significant problems with it (but getting better over time), they just scrapped the test and went back to the old one that more women could pass. Stuff like that looks horrible to potential recruits. To me, one of the other major problems with recruiting is the constant stream of cynicism from meme pages and comment sections. Lots of it is funny as hell, but to impressionable recruits seeing all that who don’t have the context, it’s different. That stuff is way more effective at reaching interested recruits than PA would ever dream.

DOD can't pass an audit to save their lives, now this happy horsesh!t, Lockmart always gets its money though... and they still have the temerity of accusing my dual-vet household of sabotaging their recruitment efforts by steering our kids away from military service. Un.f^kin.real. USAF takes run the clock offense to the Olympic Gold level. 🤷‍♂️

Is this gay? I don’t know what’s going on anymore. It’s almost time for the universe to send another 8 mile asteroid to give Earth a restart…again.

100%. On an individual job level the Air Force is amazing. Best flying and best camaraderie to be had anywhere. But on an organizational level it's a shitshow.. wrapped in a dumpster fire.. inside a clown show.. all ultimately governed by our broken political system. You know something is deeply fucked organizationally when they decide to cancel bonuses and pause PCSs and the first place people are finding it out is the front page of CNN.

I believe it was from date of commissioning Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I flew both the Herk and the -135, I enjoyed the Herk mission more. Lots more mission variety. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Fair point. Also fair that “idiots” covers a wide variety of people! 🍺

A man won the Miss Netherlands competition.

PAUSEX, PAUSEX, PAUSEX... Tactical Pause... Timeout...

One of my sons ships off to the Navy in Aug. He’s trying out for SWCC. He hasn’t even left yet and the Navy already has his ass up every morning doing pretty intense physical training. He’s pretty stoked. I tried to talk him into being a pilot but he wants to shoot fully automatic guns, drive boats and hop out of aircraft. You can’t do that in the civilian world. My other two sons have expressed zero interest in the military (I’ve taken all of them flying, and none want to be a pilot, lol). I think volunteering for military service has to do with your personality. Not everyone wants to the excitement (or extreme boredom) that comes with the military life. Most news articles want doom and gloom. I trust my son and the kind of dudes he hangs out with to take care of us if shit goes down. The young guys aren’t all selfish dumbasses.

All of Bashi's accounts are troll accounts.

Wrong. Mods are we allowing this type of flaming on this site now?

He almost exclusively neg reps me and never responds. It’s actually funny to watch

Do it, that’s what I say. I get it there’s bullshit and worrying things occurring, but go back and every generation thinks the next generation/version of the mil is bullshit, ruined, sucks, etc. Things have changed a lot in my career, and I don’t care for many of them, but the core job satisfaction, the bros, and the adventure you can’t get anywhere else persists. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t rewind the clock and do it all over again (while simultaneously counting the days until retirement and lamenting my fucked up back!)

@Best-22 Why do you only downvote posts, yet never contribute to the discussion? No one cares about your downvotes, least of all me. This isn't Reddit. Likes and dislikes mean nothing. If you have an opinion on these issues, posting is super easy. I'm more than happy to hear you out and discuss your concerns. But if you're going to take pot shots with your BB gun from a distance instead of actually engaging with a single original though, it really makes you look like a giant bonus hole. Edit: I'll give @nsplayer and @Prozac a little credit here, at least they have (had) the courage to put an unpopular opinion out there. You never did. Weak.

ahhhhhh there it is! the CLASSIC drone narrative! "IF YOU DON'T GET ONBOARD WITH THE GOVERNMENT YOU'RE SPOUTING ENEMY PROPAGANDA!" listen to yourself my man...it's pathetic. do you swallow up everything the legacy media and the government tells you?

You should know: General Chang is actually James "Don't Call Me Jimmy" Slife

Someone earlier asked what exactly Bashi has been spreading of Putin’s platform, and primarily it is this. This is directly from Putin’s talking points.

Brother...for pennies on the dollar and without loss of American life (other than those who volunteered to go over), we have helped humble a superpower and a direct threat to the United States. The damage done to Russia's military, population and economy will likely limit Russian aggression in Europe for many years to come. A peaceful solution should not include Ukraine surrendering even more terrain after we promised to provide for their security when they gave up their nukes. Any ground they reclaim, including the Crimea sets Putin back even further, I don't see how he survives.

Bookies list Hunter Biden as favorite to be White House cocaine culprit Why is the liberal mainstream media so outraged by the assumption, is there another crackhead running around the White House?

Look for ground jobs that suit your fancy (Exec, CAG, DS) and volunteer like crazy for everything. That will create a lasting career. Trust me, you will thank me later.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a member of the C-130J community who doesn’t like the mission.

You need to throw your hat in the ring for big jobs like Exec, CAG, DS, stuff like that. We need more pilots willing to help move the ball forward in the office, not on the flightline. If you want to get promoted, that’s your ticket- stay where you are at & become an invaluable desk jockey.