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We are not "making" them fight, they choose to fight because well you know the Russians INVADED their country. I guess we should have forced them to roll over and surrender rather than defend their sovereignty.

I still wear mine on ladies night at Cali Cocktails in Cypress, they all think Im a special ops F-22 pilot and a General though. Don't tell my wife. 2nd Edit: Or the ladies It's all about that cummerbund baby.

@nsplayr Politics are dumb. I agree. Good to see you didn't egress BO. This site has helped a lot of dudes out, myself included. I always look at the political threads in here as sport bitching. The kinda stuff my wife doesn't want to talk to me about anymore. Lol. I've never argued hoping to change the world on BO, just fun to hear other people's opinions.

I'll reiterate that I'm not gonna respond to political stuff anymore. There is no need to @ me. I've always been a mainstream liberal democrat, a Kerry-Obama-Obama-Clinton-Biden voter, and probably always will be. If in the future you have questions like, "What would nsplayr think about XX?" you can look at what the mainstream Dems are saying and that's probably close enough for government work. If you really want to know my political opinions, feel free to reach out and we can hang out in person if you ever visit Nashville or if I'm TDY to wherever you are. I've wasted enough time & energy debating here for 15+ years. For where I'm at in life now, the juice ain't worth the squeeze. It probably never was. Being a keyboard warrior is a terrible hobby that I don't recommend anyone partake in, and I've officially given it up after a long and illustrious career. I'll probably still comment sometimes on AF-related stuff and my DMs are always open to help out homies who wanna know more about Draco, the Guard, L3 Harris, the MQ-9, Nashville, etc. I've learned a lot about the Air Force, have gotten good advice from older dudes, and have enjoyed all the RUMINT since joining BO.net as a baby 2dLt...I'm still happy to pay it forward to the next guys for whatever my $0.02 are worth.

Is this supposed to be some appeal to world peace where they wouldn’t be resisting the Russian invasion if they didn’t have western weapons? Because I’ve got news for you, like so many invaded peoples before they have a means and will to resist. They just do it a hell of a lot better with our stuff in hand. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All jokes aside. My middle son is leaving for Navy bootcamp in an hour. He's going for SWCC. Ive met some of his fellow trainees (been training with navy special warfare dudes for over a year) and there are still bad ass kids out there. I dont think they yell about it on social media as loud as the greenhaired woke Hobbits trying to neuter our male population though. We still have little bad asses out there. Sleep safe. Edit: My son after a few helicopter rides:

The way I read it...he saw the tranny, got a rock hard piss boner, and had a life changing experience.

New bonus, including the Assignment of Preference option. Looks like scaling monetary options based on contract length OR Assignment of preference (with several caveats) OR both options that incurs a longer ADSC.

I've worn mine 3 times in the past 12 months. UPT Graduation, formal military banquet, wedding (saber line). Re: Brabus' comment on scarves... when the "no morale shirt" guidance came out a few months ago, a number of us dug through our stuff and found our old scarves. The pilots quit wearing them after 9/11, but a number of us continue to wear them again. And some of the newer pilots seem to be joining in.

Attention to detail gentlemen

And I guess I'll hold out some kind of hope you change your position on international relations.

Not necessarily. Any minor expression of regret or acknowledgement that perhaps you were caught up in the mass hysteria, as many good people were, would completely absolve you in my mind. Until then, when I see your screen name, I see the guy that he wanted to pull the plug on people in the hospital. I'm morally obligated to say something. You believe the world is round. If a Russian also believes the world is round, does that mean it isn't? That's been your entire defense this whole time. That if someone from Russia espouses a similar narrative, then that narrative automatically becomes Russian propaganda or a lie. One can be critical of his own government without being a Russian sympathizer. Allow me to make it abundantly clear to you: In my mind, Russia is a terrible country. They don't have the freedoms we have enjoyed. Russia's economic prosperity is in sharp decline. Putin is corrupt. Putin jails his political opponents. Russia has invaded multiple foreign countries recently. Why would I want to sympathize with the official propaganda narratives a country like that? There would be absolutely no benefit whatsoever for me to promote those narratives. I don't want to live under Russian rule. I want Russia, as a system of government, to fail. That doesn't mean I'm willing to excuse the leadership of my own country, the United States of America, for engaging in the same behaviors to counter them. I don't want US to become Russia, just to fight Russia. The first time I touched AFG soil was in 2001 and the last was 2018. I invested a lot of my time and career there. So when I recall my experiences there, it's not just to score debate points. To watch it fail miserably in the end just so that our leadership can begin the process of entangling the US in yet another foreign conflict only a few short months later, where we will send even more vast amounts of treasure, and ultimately American lives isn't something I am required to do quietly as much as you would like for me to. I'm going to say what I believe and let the chips fall where they may. That's the nature of free speech and what I want to preserve. That's what made us better than the USSR/Russia. If you want to more adequately silence my dissent, do so with substance, not dismissal. As you tout the capabilities of the Russian propaganda machine to reach deep into the hearts and minds of veterans and what not to manipulate them according to their will, do you honestly... honestly... believe that the US does not also have that capability ten-fold, and aggressively using it around the world? Unbelievably Naive. You have the basis for a decent argument to be made. But you ruin it with ridiculousness like this. You just fabricated a straw man from silliness that no one here has brought up... just so you can make a spectacle of yourself swatting down bullshit that you, yourself, created. It's dumb. It's childish.

I haven’t met a single ACC heavy pilot who doesn’t hate their job. It’s usually those dudes fighting to get to AMC. Let’s see, in pretty much every ACC heavy platform you as a pilot are not in charge of the mission (ref tinker thread), you are literally the red headed stepchild of ACC, and as mentioned there is no reward outside of the cockpit. If I was king for a day I would put most ISR platforms (to include E-3s, E-8s) in their own MAJCOM. AFSOC would still keep some MQ-9s, GCCs would still get allocated their sorties, but you have a whole world dedicated to airborne ISR and C2.

Agree with above. If there had been a real playoff for a few years at least, the need to jump to a bigger super conference wouldn't be necessary. Although money was the #1 factor as you said, the long odds of a "lesser" conference standout actually winning the national championship always seemed like BS to me - you should get to play for the trophy. Being undefeated in the schedule you were handed and then going to the Tire Bowl or whatever is just wrong. I'm just happy with the PAC 12 now dead that my University of Utah showed out. Members of the conference for only 11 years, 4x championship game trips, 2x Pac 12 championships, back-to-back, reigning champs and last champs before the lights went out. Good luck in the Big 12! (or 16? we really gotta drop numbers from these conference names...)

Lol right, as if our own damn gov isn't corrupt, à la any one of the numerous contracts awarded in the GWOT. Also, what CH said.

What we used to refer to as "kinderschnitzel!" 😉

Its sad when political ideology clouds common sense, for pennies on the dollar and no American lives we have humbled the Russian military for a long time to come.

Yeah, damn that pretzel looks good

KDLF 23-12 AH KC-46 / McGuire C-130J / Ramstein C-130J / Ramstein T-6 / Laughlin T-6 / Laughlin KC-135 / Kadena C-17 / Charleston 23-13 AH C-21 / Scott KC-46 / Seymour Johnson AFRC C-130H / New Castle ANG KC-135 / Salt Lake City ANG C-5 / Travis AFRC T-6 / Laughlin T-6 / Laughlin KC-135 / MacDill AC-130J / Hurlburt KC-46 / McConnell C-17 / Charleston 23-14 AH C-146 / Duke C-146 / Duke C-17 / Martinsburg ANG C-17 / Hickam ANG C-17 / McGuire T-6 / Laughlin C-17 / Hickam

I swear, I think if China invaded California half of these guys would say we shouldn't respond because governor Newsome is corrupt...

Mods while the Ukraine/covid circle jerk continues..

You and Bashi could just go find a room to stroke each other in and save us all a lot of time. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hey everybody, the crew of people insisting they are interested in the “middle ground” approach are here to remind of a bunch of reasons we should stop helping the Ukrainians. But remember they want Russia to fail. We just have to wait until we find the flawless pure allied entity to do it for us, because until then we can’t allow our resources to be used for that purpose. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The lesson from hindsight isn’t “well if they’d just” as an appeal to how much smarter we are, it’s to go “that was stupid, they ignored warnings x/y/z,” and then learn and apply it to present situations. Rewarding naked Russian aggression by simply sitting over here and “seeing to our own problems” or whatever BS excuse is offered would be the opposite of that. In <2 years we have gone from posturing NATO to repel a viable conventional military threat from the Suwalki gap, to watching that threat absorb 100-125k casualties, loose 1/3 of its conventional attack helicopters, somewhere between 1500-2500 front line armored vehicles (its pulling BTR-50s out of storage for Christ sake), and empty munition stocks that would be necessary for any engagement with NATO. And it cost us how many lives exactly? But sure we could just see to our own problems and nobody would have died for sure. Nothing would have been gained, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be deploying (again) this year to Poland. And by doing so despite you and others pretending it doesn’t, the Chinese are evaluating a war stock of weapons they get to watch underperform embarrassingly in Ukraine. Now take those same weapons and put yourself in executing the largest amphibious operation since D Day but really, except over 4 times the distance without any of the logistics. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was attempting to mock that COA, but the resignation is starting to set in. Dont worry about it, I’ve never liked you anyway.

I'm trying to remember how many people that threatened Trump were raided and killed. Google didn't remember any either.

Interesting indeed. I’m not surprised by those poll numbers. Now, I know this realignment is entirely about the almighty $ that comes with TV network sponsorships. However, I can’t help but think that the stupid way D1 football crowned its national champion for the past 100 years had something to do with this as well. Had there been a playoff similar to the FCS all these years, then perhaps school presidents, boosters, etc. may have been a bit less antsy to jump into a “super conference” if the season’s champion was decided on the football field instead of by a beauty pageant at the end of the year. Im not naive enough to believe this was the only issue facing FBS schools, but next year we get a 12 team playoff and we’ll likely be down to 3 “power” conferences by then, thereby completely cheapening the magnitude of being “conference champion”. I know there were many wrinkles that needed straightening, but certainly could’ve been. And had the opportunity been available to all conference champions, the powers that be, might have been more comfortable with the status quo.

@HerkJDriver, holler when you get your dates/location. Headed to OTS later this year, UPT early next myself through the guard.

There I was, standing on the flightline, getting ready to step to the turbofan.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Obviously the turbo.

@ClearedHot I wish I could meet your dad over a bottle of scotch…bet he has some badass stories!

Story time... Pops once told me about the old days when all the F-4 units in Europe would rotate down to Wheelus AFB Libya for desert bombing and gunnery training. The first base to arrive would typically load up beer, ice and bbq items and roll down to the beach to watch jets from the different bases arrive and prep for a 1st night beach party. On one deployment my dad had a new guy in the back seat and having had a nice tailwind on the way down he arrived with a lot of extra gas. He decided to give the new a quick "area fam" which was just an excuse to do an airshow over the beach while the bros set up the grill and "graded" his performance. When he landed the deployed commander was waiting for him as he shutdown and said "you are directed to report to the Wing/CC's office tomorrow at 0700 in your Class A uniform. Back then you were always supposed to have your Class As with you but for some reason his was back in the office at Bitburg....oops. My dad was a large dude and there was only one other bigger dude that bothered to bring his uniform and this guy was 6'6". My dad said he had to fold the jacket up on the inside and pin the sleeves, same with the bottom of the pants. He was the Squadron Patch at this point and helped start the Fast Fac program when he was in Vietnam with the Triple Nickel so most of the leadership at other bases knew who he was, including the Wheelus Wing King. My dad had five DFCs at this point but the owner of the uniform was newer and had not completed a Vietnam tour so his ribbons were a bit "sparse" which the Wing King immediately noticed and make a snide remark about. Over the next few minutes the Wing King very loudly chewed his ass. The base had some sort of conference center and senior officers often would rotate down for conferences. As luck would have it some senior Navy Admirals were there for a conference and had their wives in tow... Unknowingly pops flew right over their outdoor social at 50' pushing 600 knots. Pops said he took the ass chewing and was dismissed so he turned to leave...as he got to the door the Wing King said "Stop!", then with his back turned said "DAMN FINE Flying!!!...now get out of here." He never heard another word about the event except from all the bros that were at the beach that day.

Well, here you go then: The vaccines definitely don't work as well as advertised. I don't think there should have been a mandate. That said, I think the knee-jerk reaction against any kind of protective measures was pretty ridiculous as well. I think that Pfizer and company made a shit-ton of money from hysteria, and I think that's shameful that we were sold that bill of goods. I also think it isn't helpful to paint every medical professional as a mustache-twirling evil doer for suggesting basic protective measures. And I still think it is incredibly alarming the number of military members who think they can just tell senior leaders to pound sand over a decision as trivial as "wear a mask at work if you're not vaccinated". Like, I get it, people didn't want to get the vaccine. I still think the DoD has the authority to require it, but whatever, it doesn't seem to be super effective anyway. But the idea that you can't even be bothered to put up with the barest inconvenience when required by the SECDEF is baffling to me. "I'm willing to fight and die for my country, but I'm not willing to wear a mask". And then, to reinforce your point, you parrot Russian propaganda. Like, literally, Russian talking points. On Covid, on the weakness of the military, on the weakness of the US in general, on the weakness in the culture, on Ukraine. You could, quite literally, be a stand-in for Putin's press secretary. All while claiming to love America. So sure, I'll apologize. I'm sorry that I thought the vaccines would be helpful. I'm sorry that I supported the mandates given their track record. I won't apologize for "leaving people to die outside hospitals", because that was never a stance I took. If you want to misrepresent my position, go for it. I won't say what I see when your username pops up, because quite frankly, I value the forum too much to risk the ban.

It’s (Ukrainian war)become a proxy war between the globalist left (not meant derogatorily) and the sovereignty focused populist right (again not derogatorily) in Western particularly American politics. I think both things are true at once but which do you prioritize? I suspect we need to call it (supporting counter offensive Ukrainian operations) but not quit supporting the Ukrainian state. They’ve taken back about 100 sq miles of territory at an unsustainable loss rate against the Russians so far, the Ukrainians know this hence the anecdotal stories like the above conscription bribery ones. I’m not for ever recognizing that territory as Russian and not for treating Russia in a antebellum manner until Putin is gone but it seems to me that we are approaching the point of negative returns if we push, encourage, support and resource continued Ukrainian offensive ops to reclaim territory. Free Ukraine has to be long term viable and I think the cost in blood and treasure to retake more territory probably works against that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We should make them fight until the last Ukranian dies. They are not American, so their deaths mean nothing as long as it makes Russia look bad.

Concur with the idea of cutting them off and then beating them in logistical support for a better position for a tenuous settlement to a likely frozen conflict, I hope they can but judging from what the Russians have built to defend their positions in occupied Ukraine, I am dubious it could be done or done at an acceptable cost in blood and treasure, but if the people of Ukraine and their government decide it is in their interest to continue to fight, then fight on. My tin foil hat side is suspicious that Ukraine is in a damned if you do damned if you don't position vis a vis their aid from the US / some Europeans. We want them to continue to fight so we tell them to not sue for peace or they risk being cut off, they'll need aid to recover, deter and probably have to have to fight the Russians again when they likely will try round 2 so no matter what they have to fight, or is that too cynical. Kofffman and Zeihan have been good to listen to on commutes, they concur with an isolate Crimea strategy and roll up Michael Kofman, Author at War on the Rocks https://youtu.be/Hrv7HzUXhcE