Leaderboard

I still remember (then) Colonel B, the high-calorie human pictured above, coming to an undisclosed location where I was deployed with a retinue of minions. In our TOC there was a plywood box room intel normally used that had our high-side computers. He commandeered the room for the duration of his stay (sorry intel bubbas!) and one of his lackies put a sign on the door saying, "Do Not Touch Col. B's Giant Computer!" We all were ROTFL because yea, I mean he's a real big guy, maybe he does need a "giant" computer 😆

They “had their say” at the ballot box. We are a representative democracy specifically to avoid the sways of the populist mob which does act in ignorance. Does John Q Public have a firm understanding of why you need X number of aircraft on a flight line or ships in dock to make effective combat power? How about assault weapon bans? You can pick any number of loud polarizing topics that general public ignorance wants in a given space of immediate time. A good chunk of the public has isolationist desires to walk away from NATO. Hypothetically: Should we let the mob slow down or loudly call to stop the process of mobilizing and responding to direct aggression to an Article 5 member? You know just a recheck by show of hands on policy they were happy to live with when it was convenient for the last 70 years? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is comical watching the left have to navigate the minefield they’ve created through virtue signaling.

I try to rotate around the various news outlets and listen to how the other side presents things (if they ever talk about anything other than Trump). This morning I was running errands and switched over to CNN to hear their coverage of the Hunter Biden indictments. The guest was a former DNC appointed federal prosecutor who was commenting on the three felony gun charges against Hunter Biden (she didn't want to talk about the tax evasion.) She started by saying that they rarely punish this crime when a drug user is associated with a drug user (I thought that was the whole point of the law), and that while he was "technically guilty" she thought his prosecution on three felony counts was politically driven. I can buy her argument for first time offenders and diversion programs but then she went totally batshit crazy. According to her, there is a "serious Constitutional challenge" to sort out...BECAUSE...here it comes boys and girls....because Hunter Biden has a second amendment right to keep and bear arms and laws that seek to restrict ownership because of drug usage have yet to be challenged up through the Supreme Court. The left is so determined to protect the Biden crime family they will surrender one of the center pieces of their political ideology as part of his defense. So in most liberal states leadership is passing law to restrict you 2A right but the left would now like to use the 2A to protect Hunter Biden.Truly bizzaro world and beyond hypocrisy.

That dude looks like he needs to cut back on the jelly donuts.

Probably what they're trying to avoid. I always thought that was a bait and switch where you can go to DARPA or the Willy Wonka factory or whatever else for IDE but still had to do ACSC online to get IDE credit. I hope they still have guys go to the sister service schools so they can come back and act all superior and speak some filthy Pig Latin about "METT-TC", "MDMP", and "it's not gay if it's underway" and the like.

I've worked with the Brits for years on many things and I have never seen this reaction. I was with them after the Tube bombings in 2005 and was stunned at their reaction...more than put on a brave face, it simply FU terrorists as we press forward with life...we saw far worse during the blitz. By chance I was with a very senior recently RAF pilot traveling through one of the heavily bombed areas from WWII when he showed me the article about the almost shootdown. He shared some other details I won't publish and I said I was surprised the truth leaked out, he was not surprised at all given the underlying anger and contempt for what almost happened.

These make good generals lol. Id like to see him do a sit up lol. Not in a sexual way but for comedy lol.

You're there, and your work puts you in a much better position to know, but it's very hard to imagine the response you suggest. Especially considering the history. This is a real question: Are there still reputable groups that believe the pipelines were blown up by Russia? The public narrative seems to have settled on Ukraine-assisted-by-the-US/UK and then the story kinda faded. I'd expect the pro-Ukraine-support crowd (myself as one) to be talking about that more if there was still a credible argument that Russia did it. I remember you implied you saw or were told of very definitive evidence that it was Russia.

Maybe at the bars you hang out at Biff…never had that saggy trailer park problem once I left the Deep South. Although the metropolitan chicks come with their own issues. Glad I’m married now and don’t have to deal with the me too movement. But yes…nothing wrong with being a gray beard iron major. Just make sure you’re square with that down the road and don’t have regrets.

RAF Airplane with RAF service members is not an airliner (not sure if any Brits were on that flight....and BREXIT has changed a few things. I've been in London all week and there you can feel it in the air when this story hit BBC.

Got married just before going to Ramstein, and got a dog (practice kid) shortly afterward. Wouldn't change a thing if I could. As mentioned, dogs are almost universally welcomed all over Germany and we never had an issue with our Westie. In fact, he used to love meeting cows along walks between villages. As for cars, you can bring a US one over without much problem but understand Germany roads tend to be narrower than in the US (especially older ones). Not sure if I'd bring a F-350 but I've seen people do so. I bought a hoopty German-specs BMW 3-series from a Lt Col for about $1500 when I got there in 1995, I'm sure it's still easy finding a second car at a decent price. We kept USAA insurance during our time there. I hope she enjoys GK, it's in a great location if you like rural environments! The biggest issue is the limited US services provided. I believe they send everyone to Spang (a two-hour drive) or Ramstein (three hours).

DIA not wanting to disclose sources and methods regarding information gathered (likely digital or human) in the only other country on the planet that poses a military and economic threat to the US security. Not shocking. Having seen how the sausage is made, I can attest that we overclassify the ever-living crap out of everything. Given very active Chinese efforts to infiltrate every aspect of our society, politics, and military, that's also not surprising. Frustrating as all hell, but not at all unexpected. I have no doubt that espionage effort is definitely a two way street. What is sincerely concerning is the fact that our current leadership is not simply doing nothing at all to bring China to account for creating or at least not containing COVID, but that individuals in the administration are actively engaged in personal gain from Chinese influence, and have been for decades.

Great question. No, but let me explain: the current level of support is escalating not remaining static. From types of weapons (cluster bombs, F-16s) to amount of funding to real-time tactical intelligence used for lethal targeting, it’s continued up up up with no end in sight or coherent vision of an upper limit. I would answer yes if anyone had a cogent articulated strategy with self-imposed limitations (example: containment, MAD, etc.), but we don’t. I’ve had GOs summarize our strategy as “continuing to dial it up as the Ukrainians need, to bleed Russia dry.” This seems open-ended and risky, but my question is how much say should the electorate have in the risk our leadership accepts on our behalf?

Yes because we have no historical examples of proxy wars with an opposing “great power” that led to not-a-nuclear-exchange… Jesus Christ we are giving them munitions to fight a war they aren’t the aggressors in. When we start flying strike sorties out of Spang to blunt Russian logistics or putting regular Army troops on the ground in Kiev maybe you have substantiated examples and a point to make. Until then vague warnings about WWIII is just grand standing to make a point in an argument. Given the anecdotal evidence it seems that is entirely politically aligned and not actually based on some form of strategic analysis of the facts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Full story of the Rivet Joint incident finally coming out. We came EPICALLY close to Article Five thanks to incompetence. Crazy that both missiles failed thankfully saving the 30 man crew. This could have been FUGLEY! Rogue Russian pilot tried to shoot down RAF aircraft in 2022

Those will bounce!

Last Reno Air Races start today. Weather looks great and it will be packed.

Oldie, but can verify that the dude has always been an arrogant, narcissistic, self serving, attention seeking douchebag that will eff over his peers in a heartbeat to get ahead. Seems like he went to Harvard so now he’s someone else’s problem until he gets picked up for a USD position and joins the ranks of other affirmative action hires that have no business touching anything in our military’s decision making problem.

That’s a narrative constructed to ignore the previous past of Russia during Stalin’s expansion of the Soviet Union and blame NATO as an aggressor. It ignores how countries in places like the Baltics became Soviet satellites (or why Russia was fighting a war in Finland before fighting the Nazis). The Russians aggressively annexed those nations under the guise of protecting the smaller nations against the European great powers. Once done it immediately moved to a policy of Russification something plainly evident as still policy in Ukraine with things like changing the spelling of a Nations capital (we all grew up recognizing it as Kiev until they gained independence) along with a host of brutal actions against the native populations. Russian authority’s in Putins group don’t view things like Latvia as some aggressive preemption by NATO to invade them, they view it as it and other nations maneuvering away from some perverse “rightful position” as vassals to the greater Russian motherland. This whole “view it from their perspective,” is fine. But let’s not pretend they base that perspective on reality. It’s like asking a Japanese citizen today about why we dropped the bomb. They’ll have a lot to talk about, but somehow things like Nanking or Saipan propaganda causing mass civilian suicide isn’t going to be part of the discussion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

'more aid' ≠ boots on the ground also, 1/3 > 1/4