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Glad everyone got out.

That's me after about half the threads I roll into 😂 and I'm usually right!

Months ago, I had written off Vivek Ramaswamy because of some positions on foreign policy. Though I think he still needs to refine his aim a bit on some of those topics, I am now re-visiting that position. The guy is fire. As far as his aim is concerned with regard to "the media" and the culture war, he directly over the target.

I'm sure I will regret weighing in on this, but do you seriously believe this? Like actually think people "punish women for existing" and hate them? Based on the stance on abortion, they hate women?

If it’s actually a “real” roll call, do not tell a story, an instant justice, etc. Even if asked…your only response is whatever their toast is and take the shot. No matter how funny you think a story at college, while flying a 172, etc is, it will not land as well as you think. Don’t get hammered - you haven’t earned the ability to get wrecked and have all of them still like you the next day. Also helps you maintain control of yourself and not say dumb shit. Be yourself. Don’t try to be someone you *think* they want you to be.

I'm celebrating these warriors this weekend. Gone but not forgotten!

Internal struggle? It just sounds like you, and he, have issues with trying to punish women just for existing. You both should probably get some help on why you hate them and can't provide leadership when you can't control them. Even so, the AF and DoD are better off with people in that mindset not in leadership positions. Or really in at all. Your bigotry is old and worn out.

I've learned a lot about the KOA life today.

The DEI hire was not the issue, it was the damage done by Jimbo who ruined the culture and legacy built by Bobby. Jimbo built a necrotic culture then ran away in the middle of the night to get paid, not surprising ran A&M into the dirt - oh and he had weed problems of his own three freshmen suspended for smoking weed in the LOCKER ROOM. I think Norvell has done a great job of rebuilding the FSU program and brand but how you carry yourself through adversity matters and yes it is part of the culture. I know this is personal to you as an alum, but this has happened to numerous other schools who were either left out of the playoff or worse didn't get enough support when we VOTED on a national champion. Yes FSU should have boycotted the bowl game, but they made a conscious decision to play (likely a monetary decision), so yes the players should have stepped up. Opting out of bowl games is a relatively new phenomenon, it certainly didn't happen when I played ball with Jim Thorpe and the Gipper. I think back to many years of playing this game (2nd grade through college), and there was a recurring them of "team" and "family" instilled by coaches that you hear kids talk about today. Unfortunately driven by NIL and the NFL many college players don't really believe that and drop their allegiance at the drop of a hat. Fortunately some kids still get it and I would point to an incident that was captured after the Alabama v Michgan game when everyone stopped watching. Tyler Booker and J.J. McCarthy played on the same high school football team. Tyler found JJ and listen to what he said..."I love you baby, go finish the job, I am so happy for you bro" THAT is culture that matters.

Ah the locked bin was yours?!?!? You didn't think that single lock was going to keep me from lifting a corner of the lid and dropping the 💩, did you? Ima drop the dog poop at that bin even harder now!

I like Vivek. Not saying he’s perfect or I agree on 100%, but those will always be true statements for anybody vying for my vote. Too bad we’re all going to be force fed old guy vs old guy, as is tradition. I hope he can posture well for a ‘28 run.

Didn’t know about that in the 70s, is that a specific event, would want to know more about it. I think that India can serve two purposes in our upcoming sequel to Cold War 1, a type of foil to China and a link to a wounded and pissed off insular Russia after the Ukraine War stops MCO, my belief is it will likely be a frozen conflict with a very tense situation for the next few decades. India can help the West with Russia and we can help them vis a vis China Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

US Air Force legend Robert “Bob” Pardo, known for his selfless action known as “Pardo’s Push” during the Vietnam War, has died Dec. 5 in College Station, Texas. He was 89. https://nypost.com/2023/12/17/news/air-force-legend-robert-bob-pardo-famous-for-pardos-push-maneuver-dead-at-89/

My close friend Ray was with me that day and got all four of them to sign this. Earl Aman was confined to a wheelchair with Lou Genrig's and died 2 years later. Pardo was selling those prints to raise money to help him. Here's a good pic of Aman.

In a spirit of innovation and pathfinding, the next iteration of the gunner hug Ive been subject to is the ‘glow worm’. It involves a finger light and you can guess the rest…

You gotta be an MC dude…

Downvote all you want. The timing stinks to high heaven of political opportunism. If this dude cared so much about abortion policy he'd resign over it, he 100% knew about the policy when it was enacted. Assumes command anyway, only to resign months later, waiting just long enough for the election year to roll around, with the governors PR team in tow.

Good riddance. If you're going to make your airmens' travel for abortion/reproductive medical care the hill you die on, your priorities are clearly f-ed up. There is a time and place for the abortion debate and it is not denying your airmen the care they are entitled to by federal policy. The dude assumes command in June 2023.. 4 months AFTER the policy was already in effect.. then resigns over that same policy 6 months later. I'd bet my house this is a political move to gain local/state recognition as the guy who fought the libs. Hell, he's already got huckabee-sanders out there grandstanding for him. O-6 wing kings in the guard don't have much road left ahead of them, so a career pivot to politics makes perfect sense.

Barbus - I hope so. Biff - I agree that most immigrants have more traditionally American values (work ethic, traditional family structure, etc) than many Americans do now. The problem is that people so rarely vote their values. According to Pew research, Catholics are 7% more likely to be Democrat than Republican. It is insane to me that the Catholic church teaches that abortion is murder, yet people that self-identify as Catholic vote to keep the practice legal anyway.

Im gonna need some more of these because I just pissed myself again! Good thing they're on sale at Target!.. XXL maximum depends... How does one become the XXL size 44 underwear model for depends?... Asking for a friend

There's a saying in AFSOC in regards to Q3s "those who have and those who will." A Q3 doesn't tarnish your community rep like I would imagine it would in those where they are far more sparse; it just makes life more difficult as a whole to leave/fly outside of AFSOC (TPS, white jets, etc.)....unsure if that's a bug or a feature.....

Quick thread off-ramp: SAC gave us a patch to wear on our jackets. When the staffing was done, it was given to Gen Chain for final approval. He ticked a checkmark on the drawing to signify he approved it. His staff saw the check and figured it was something he wanted added... and so they did. He had a reputation for being pretty gruff and supposedly none of his staff wanted to ask him about it.

Isn’t a call sign, it’s a nickname coined by some guys in the 15th when he was the DO & CC. Came from his habit of rolling into offices in the unit, completely upending/wrecking everything and leaving nothing but destruction in his wake. See Danger’s above comment as an example, when he was a Sq/CC he gave out 34 commander directed Q3s.

Based on what I saw coming into CVS I’d 100% agree with you. My personal opinion/observation is there was a serious absence of leadership at the Wg/CC level (I’d argue the whole Wing command team and staff agencies) from time I arrived here till the UEI. I told my boss months before the UEI that I thought the Wing was in serious trouble going into the inspection; unfortunately events proved me correct. I say unfortunately cause now we’re suffering through the 2nd and 3rd order effects of playing catch-up/prepping for the re-inspection, which is real annoying. It’s been said on here before but the general belief, at least here at CVS, was the Wg/CC wasn’t fired because he’s AFSOC’s first black general and AFSOC leadership (CAT 5) wasn’t going to fire him based on that alone. I have no idea if that’s actually the case but I personally believe there’s truth to it.

Lotta good words here. Last couple CCs and SELs I’ve seen get canned in AFSOC have come with zero explanation from the higher ups. It would kill the gossip chain quite a bit and possibly let people learn from other’s mistakes if we implemented the recs above. Not to mention maybe giving the rank and file a little restored trust in the system.

1. Sex with the wrong person. 2. Money 3. Offended the wrong person. It's usually #1. I've long thought that Big Blue should publish leadership mishaps like we do for aviation, with the same level of privilege protections and the overall intent that we can learn from the mistakes of others. You don't have time to make them all yourself, so might as well learn from others. One could make the argument that the information eventually comes out, but I'd counter with the same "links in the chain" that safety discovers. How many times in a leader's past did we have a chance to avoid the catastrophe waiting in the wings? How can we learn to break that chain earlier in the sequence? If you fire someone, I think you should have to write that report. Might keep a Bob busy enough to cancel one of the BS meetings that we love so much.

In 1996, I was co-chair of the annual POW Reunion at the 560th at Randolph. We got all four of the Pardo's Push guys there for the Friday social. We even got an F-4 on the ramp and had them pose by the tail. It was the first time all four had been together at the same time since the actual Push. Bob Houghton was the only guy we originally couldn't find. Keep in mind this is 1996... a lot harder to find people. Bob got word of the event about 36-48 hours prior to the event. IIRC he was doing missionary work in Africa. He jumped through hoops and made it there. These guys got a hero's welcome. I need to see if I can find some photos.

If Putin is allowed to invade Ukraine without repercussion do you think he’ll stop there? He will be emboldened and the Baltics, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, etc, will all be in his crosshairs. What happens when he decides to attack a NATO member, thinking the alliance is too weak to respond? I’m not saying I support a direct NATO response wrt Ukraine, but sanctions, strong military support, and a more aggressive NATO posture in Eastern Europe should be the minimum response. Letting a tyrant run amok on the European continent has never worked out for anyone.

Or maybe he legitimately couldn’t look himself in the mirror anymore and grew tired of the internal struggle? I get you like to pretend you’re some dark knight on this mostly red forum, but your online persona is old and worn out. Not that BO.net needs to be an echo chamber, but your political stance is so far off from the majority here that’s it not even worth considering 87% of the time.