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God Dammit, just let us take CBD, edibles without getting crucified, I started getting anxiety attacks when in crowded big box stores. I thought all I did in the AOR's was fix jets and did some contracting, thought I was just being a pussy. Retired from USAF again in June WG11. Over 40 years wrenching and moved to a small town in Colorado, I hate going to Colorado Springs, Canon City or Pueblo. Just can't handle crowds anymore, 8500 ft elevation and alone I'm great, and this is a guy who was born and raised in the south side of Chicago. I go the hardware store in town and buy some CBD drinks and some drops at the health store. It helps, don't know if it has placebo effect, but I feel better, the clean air too is a plus. Take care of yourself boys, Uncle Sam will just drug you so you will go away.

It would appear the Ukes smoked another Ruskie ship!

Shia militias in Iraq don't like the US government? Who would have guessed.

I went back through 10+ pages of archives here to see if there was a thread I could bring back from the dead. I couldn't find one so I'll make a new one. I just recently transferred from the ANG to an AFRC IMA job. This post and thread will be a place holder for more information when I have more time to sit down and write a novel of my experience with this process. Like anything military personnel/administrative related, it was a nightmare... so far. Hopefully it'll all be worth it. I've got my 20+ years already, but decided I didn't want to fly anymore or do the UTA thing anymore and didn't quite think it was a good idea to retire yet so I decided to try the IMA world. *****EDIT***** I'll start answering some of the questions below. I really had to seriously compare the pro's and con's since my brain was pretty much committed to retiring when I stumbled across the IMA vacancy, but my main reasons for staying in were: I've already been an O-5 for a bit over 3 years. I was one who was good going out as an O-4 and then I promoted to O-5. When I did the math, an O-6 collecting an ARC retirement in 2037 with 6,000 points was over $20k per year more than an O-5. Well beyond what I had imagined, so it was a big factor in my decision. The opportunity to promote to O-6 is a good possibility in the position I'm in. There are a couple of O-6 positions above me in the unit already. I also decided that I wanted to stay in and try something different before I pulled the plug. The ANG has it's advantages in that you can be a flyer for your whole career if you want and retire as a mission-ready line pilot, but a part of me felt I needed to try something else. Military flying wasn't doing much for me anymore and I felt I needed to put that phase of my life behind me. There's only 24 IDT and 12 AT plus MPA when made available (reduced retirement eligible). I really don't need military days to augment my airline schedule anymore as I am very senior in base/in seat, not commuting and loving life. With the amount I was having to participate in my Guard unit (the ops tempo just never seemed to let up), it was basically starting to hamper my ability to pick up open time and make more money at the company anyway. One 2-day premium pickup is worth more than a whole month of ANG pay. No UTA's. I was really done with the whole one weekend a month thing. I won't work weekends and the schedule is very flexible. I'll be the only reservist in the squadron (it's all AD) and the position is basically a deputy Sq/CC augmenting my AD counterpart. So, I figured I'd give it go. Worse comes to worse, I hate it and I pull the handle in a few years. No commitment. Still eligible for TRS healthcare as an IMA (A or B, not C). THE PROCESS (I may add to this little by little): 1. Find the position you want. You do this by going on the Reserve Vacancy site off vMPF. It's in the same area you can find the PERSTEMPO and PRDA links. Click on that and go to IMA vacancies. If you're a flyer, you'll pretty much be eligible to apply for Pilot IMA (11XX) and Operations Support (16XX) vacancies. Note that IMA positions are rank capped, so if you're an O-4 close to meeting your O-5 board, you probably won't get hired into an O-4 IMA position and probably don't want to because you will not be able to promote until you find an O-5 position. If you're already an O-5, you can sit in an O-5 IMA position until your MSD (not a bad deal). 2. Find an AFRC recruiter. I'd imagine this process is a lot easier if you're already AFRC. The recruiter can get you more info about the IMA position. If there is no POC listed on the vacancy announcement, they can get you this info. I'd advise you contact the hiring official via email or phone and discuss the position. If it's local, you may even want to show up for a meet and greet, which I believe goes a long way in showing your interest. Lots of people apply for these positions and many of them are not local. There are IMA positions all over the country. The recruiter will probably have you fill out a bunch of AFRC application-type paperwork to start a file on you. 3. If you're ANG, you'll need to get an AF 1288 drafted and routed through your Guard leadership. Your unit may have other local processes for a separation, but it'll go up through your CoC (up to TAG) for approval. This takes a while. It shouldn't, but it does because FSS manages the whole thing. For me, it took about two months. Once the AF 1288 comes back signed, it goes back to your recruiter. The recruiter will have to put a separation date on your AF 1288. Picking this date is very important as I will discuss in a bit in my take-aways and how I would have done things differently if people actually knew what they were doing and gave me the correct information during this process. If you explore the IMA world from the ANG, expect that this will be the first time everyone is doing this and in the end, you're the one who can get screwed if it's not done correctly. 4. Once the 1288 is ready to go, the recruiter will submit it to HQ RIO/DET - X. Depending on what MAJCOM this IMA job falls under, that Detachment will vary. RIO/DET will review your application and send it to the hiring official after they review it. Keep in mind, you may have already had a hand-shake agreement that you have been hired into that position by the hiring official. If you haven't been hired, your application may just go into a pile with everyone else's. These IMA jobs may be a lot more popular than you may think so it is important to network and/or rush the unit. RIO/DET had my application for almost two months, which at the time, I was told was longer than usual, but apparently there was a hold up with their HARM reviewing my flying records. We're now at about the 4-1/2 cumulative month mark from when I began the process. 5. RIO/Det adds some things to your AF 1288 and will send the package back to your ANG unit's FSS. Your FSS will submit the separation package to ARPC. This happens through the new "myFSS" system, which at the moment, is a colossal train wreck (because vPC-GR was so broken, we had to change it, right?). Even though your 1288 got routed through your leadership for you to apply to get out of the ANG, your separation package will now be routing electronically through myFSS to your leadership again (at least through SQ and OG/CC's) for approval. Even though this should only take a few days, expect another month. 6. Once the package is signed by your leadership, FSS will submit it to ARPC. If there are any errors in your separation package, ARPC will kick it back (there were thanks to my FSS). This will delay the process more. 7. The ANG and Reserves like to play games with manpower numbers so depending on what time of year and what those numbers look like, they may not let you out until it's good for their PowerPoint presentations. Mine sat with a technician for three months. Depending on what separation date you put on your 1288, this could screw you. More about that below. 8. When my 1288 came back from RIO/Det earlier in the process, my FSS told me that once they submit the package to ARPC, it'd only be several weeks for an approval. Why I believed them, I don't know, but I did so when I chose my separation date, I picked one out ahead about a month. Well, the process took another six months. With each and every day that went by past my separation date, my separation was to be back-dated. The catch with this is that I could no longer do military duty with the ANG past this date and I could not do military duty with the AFRC yet prior to being gained, which meant I was pretty much in limbo. Depending on your points situation and your R/R date (which stays the same going from ANG to AFRC), you may back yourself into a corner getting your 50 points for a good year. Your 15 ANG membership points will be prorated based off your separation date. My recommendation is to set your separation date out further in the future and make sure you get 50 points for the year before you separate. I was already past my 20 year mark, but I'd still not want deal with not getting a good year. Also, if you are using Tricare Reserve Select, back-dating your separation will screw with that and DEERS as well because you may show a break in service for a while until the AFRC gains you (could be a week or more). Expect disrupted military email service, CAC certificate issues and you will come up "terminated" when they scan your CAC at the front gate. It will also not work at the commissary (but they let me shop anyway). I am also hearing "rumors" that approved reduced retirement applications that were done in vPC-GR are "lost in space" and especially so going from ANG to AFRC or vice-versa. I am in the process of trying to track mine down. It is no-where to be found in the new myFSS system and vPC-GR is gone. What is even sweeter is that ANG AROWS doesn't talk to AROWS-R and once you are separated from the ANG, you will no longer have access to your orders. So, it'd behoove you to download all of your orders from AROWS-ANG and store them somewhere safe (maybe multiple places) because you won't be able to get them. Ask me how I know. Of course, don't expect anyone to tell you this very valuable information at your unit or find it on any out-processing checklist (probably a good place for it). Luckily, I was able to talk my ANG FSS into downloading and emailing me all of my 200+ orders after I was separated. Don't expect the same treatment. More to follow....

“We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves in strictly special operations”- Air Force Special Operations Command official

FIFY. Having worked in NATO...NATO cannot and never will be able to defend NATO.

Got a call from my Rep regarding the message I left last week with a staffer. As I said, when researching the most recent Ukraine aid bill, I used the roll call to find out who voted for/against. When I got the call, I expressed all the concerns and arguments that I have made here. They were highly receptive. As a result, their office bought a social media ad asking constituents one question: "Do you support sending more Aid to Ukraine?" The answers were recorded on the Representative's website (results not public). However, the comments below the social media ad were telling. Perhaps 5% were in support of, and all the rest were something to the effect of "America First!" In my district, my Rep is supported overwhelmingly, but not on this issue it seems. It appears they may be changing their vote for the next one. Fingers crossed. I appreciate the opportunity to work on and improve my positions here so that when I have the chance to articulate them to someone that can act on them, I can feel hopeful I've made a difference.

Until Russia isn’t holding forced in reserve for the impending fight for NATO, they are not attrited. Tats how this ends, a Russian incapable of either conquering a NATO neighbor or threatening an invasion of the Baltic states. Until then we are far from broke compared to what a nuclear exchange with a Russia that foolishly invades and responds to losing would cost us. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Finished my Texas LTC application waiting for the license and I've been completely blown away by the Sig P365X. I put a Holosun on it and ended up swapping it for the Holosun with the ACSS reticle (it's a single dot with a dashed 232 MOA circle that helps massively with initial target acquisition. I can see why it totally took over the market; it's a really, really nice pistol.

We need internal borders with blue areas apparently hell bent on taking everyone down with them Virginia Sanctuary County Frees From Jail Illegal Alien Accused of Child Rape After Biden’s DHS Freed Him into U.S. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/11/06/virginia-sanctuary-county-frees-jail-illegal-alien-accused-child-rape-after-bidens-dhs-freed-him-into-u-s/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very good points but I absolutely support term limits to prevent lifetime politicians.

Ah, gotcha, you want the lobbyists and interest groups to run things even more than they already do. Because I'm telling you, there are very few people who know how to write a serious piece of legislation and then get it passed, and almost all of them are employed on K Street. Mr. Smith does not go to Washington and actually get anything done. Ever. Part time Joe the Plumber politicians do about as well in Washington as a Pop Warner all star would do in the NFL. And for what it's worth, the 1st United States Congress was in session for 18 months out of the two year term. Not exactly part time, especially considering weeks of travel to and from the districts. And that was managing a government that was far smaller and less complex.

Had a checkup at the VA very recently. Doc was an older gentlemen (55+) and did the normal doc stuff then we started bullshitting. He went on a 20 minute rant of how much pressure the VA docs are under to prescribe 'something'. Especially when it comes to the mental health side.

'Myopic' in that Bone WSO a) may have a bias from a close and personal working relationship with the aforementioned Senator, and b) his was a micro look at a singular member, not the macro level I was initially referring to. As far as being a Legislative Fellow goes, I'm sure every selectee has a solid paper trail of sustained performance and is everything we've come to expect from years of military training. As a future senior leader in the USAF, I seriously hope for nothing but the best for those cats...living with high expectations can be a bitch. YMMV.

Achtung, baby!!

Dirndl sweetness!

So every one of the 535 are not striving to improve things? And Bone WSO is "myopic" after having served as a Legislative Fellow?

My Senator (Sen Mike Rounds) actually did a ton that you would never hear about. He is a genuinely great person. I know it is popular to hate Congress but he made a real difference for the military and for constituents, including regular Airmen that were getting screwed over by DoD. For example, I made a trip to Ellsworth when I was there and met with the Vice WG/CC. He told me that they were having issues with Tricare. There weren't enough providers in certain specialties and the providers they did have were taking months to get paid. This was negatively impacting families that had children that needed to see specialists. When I got back to DC, the Senator asked me how my trip was and I conveyed the Tricare problems. He was not happy. The next week we had the Admiral in charge of DHA in our office and the CEO of Healthnet, the Tricare provider in the region. He let both of them know it was unacceptable what was happening. They both promised to fix it and they did. Within a month, the Vice WG/CC called back and told us things were much better and the providers were paid immediately. Of course you would never hear about this. But this is the type of stuff we worked on day in and day out. I also worked on increasing the number of O-5 control grades for the ANG, and it passed into law in the 2019 NDAA. This opened up more billets for O-4s to get promoted to O-5. Again, you never hear about this but it has a real impact for military families. You see a lot more of the grandstanding and BS in the House. Many of the bills over there are simply PR stunts that would never pass. We did none of that. Other than deploying and dropping bombs, my year on the Hill was the best year I've had in the AF. There is so much ability to make an impact there compared to what you can do in the Pentagon. I'm not saying Congress as a whole is great and I'm not defending their ability to get anything done. But in my little corner of the Senate, we worked extremely hard with a small staff and made a huge impact.

BLM, Palestine/anti-Jew, etc. protestors - they are all people without a shred of individual thought and amount to nothing more than useful idiots for anti-American causes. I’ll hold my breath waiting for any of these jackasses going to jail.

Liberals are 100% consistent: they want to defend the democracy in Palestine from the first-strike tyranny of Israel. Hamas values trans-rights and Israel just wants to ban music festivals and gay people. #freeukraine

Right up until they started defending themselves, roughly.

Fascinating observation. Thanks for your contribution.

Not 100% sure this is a dirndl, but who cares?!?

I take all of this with a massive grain of salt. First of all, hypersonic capable missiles and aircraft have been around since the beginning of the space race, so we should clarify terms. Maneuvering hypersonic weapons that don't follow a ballistic trajectory is what we're really talking about. And even those aren't turning out to be the silver bullet everyone thought they were. Russias claimed "hypersonics" are basically just air launched ballistic missiles that are easy to, and have been intercepted. China's hypersonics, while a more compelling design, are very shiny but entirely unproven. Like most of the rest of their military. How many foxbat-esque supposed world beating weapon systems have to be exposed as dogshit before we start to understand that corrupt communist dictatorships massively inflate their military capes? Im not saying we should discount these threats, but perhaps the reason we're "behind" on paper is because we're trying to build something that's actually effective rather than a PR stunt.

Very confused AD crewdog here.. regardless of what union I eventually join, will I still get paid more and not have to write OPRs?

It is feasible and THIS is part of the problem. If you have to be confirmed by the Senate why just accept the blanket approval of each service. This practice only reinforces the broken process and continues to promote some of most acidic leaders we have ever seen.

Best advice I ever got was from an American captain at the hotel bar on a nice overnight. ”son go back to your room and strip naked and look at yourself in the mirror. Does she really want that? Or does she want what you can provide?” never looked at it the same since

I mean, enlisted 10/10 tits are still 10/10 tits.

As 19 AF/CC, he would’ve probably crushed any rated officer instructor for anything like that with a student. ”Rules for thee, not for me.”

https://news.yahoo.com/us-air-force-may-remove-171141507.html

I love that people have this idea that if we stop giving weapons (not pallets of cash) to Ukraine, that the government will magically fix the issues at home. They didn't use that money to fix those issues over the last 30 years. Didn't fix them pre-9/11 with the Peace Dividend. Didn't fix them between the time we left Afghanistan and the time Russia invaded Ukraine. Not sure why folks are so confident they'll suddenly dedicate those resources to the things you care about once the Ukraine situation is resolved, one way or the other.

Weak attempt at trolling. Ten yard penalty, repeat first down.

I just can’t understand why people don’t want to sign up… https://dnyuz.com/2023/11/05/a-secret-war-strange-new-wounds-and-silence-from-the-pentagon/ Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

because our objectives are done in ukraine. russia is drained. and we have bigger problems to worry about now in the middle east. oh and we're fucking BROKE

jesus christ dude this is how we end up in these insane wars. nowhere at the start of the conflict was the military goal to attrit russia until they no longer were capable of conquering NATO. and the russia boogie man that you guys keep worrying about isn't coming thru the fulda gap... give it a rest.

you sound like a putin agent!

ukraine absolutely cannot win and should start negotiating terms.

ukraine isn't nato. i don't care. end of debate. i'll wait for the article 5 country.