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As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

Hard to get a word in when they are screaming equity, DEI, open borders, hate the orange man and white guilt. Not a good reply if you don't invoke Trump. I am not a giant fan of the waiver either but there are good exceptions but IMHO Mattis was a good one. For those that know Austin it was obvious he was not a good choice for the job or the waiver but he did hit the DEI metrics. Having worked in that office I do not agree with this assessment. Yes we absolutely need civilian control of the military and that is one of the main drivers for the waiver requirement but some of these "straight-up civilian defense/security executive", are nothing more than academics (usually from left wing Ivy universities), and that presents a separate issue of ignorance. If these were elected positions I might think differently but I always flash back to Robert McNamara and the horrific damage he did and the American lives lost because of his actions as SECDEF. Interesting you mention Kathleen Hick, I've worked with her and again I do NOT agree with your assessment. Having a public affairs grad Mount Holyoke College determine defense policy for the most powerful military in the world is far from optimal. I hear you...but different personalities and drivers, not everyone is the same. You and I have both worked with people driven by power, like you I am not in that ilk but I can see how some need that pursuit to keep them going. I will be curious your view when you get closer to my age. Growing up poor I am now in my peak earning years which is beyond anything I ever dreamed of as a kid. It's crazy, my wife and I both drive cars that cost more than our first house. Also, based on my childhood I will ALWAYS have the irrational fear, I don't have enough. I've mentioned before that years ago I set three personal numbers. The first number was absolute minimum to retire...I will easily meet all basic needs and never have to work again. Second number was great quality of life, freedom to do whatever whenever. Third number was FU money. I had first number when I retired from the AF and was fortunate to hit second number years ago thanks to second job and two big investments that paid off. Oddly my childhood wealth insecurity is colliding with peak earning years and a bonus package from new job. In round numbers if I work another 14 months there is a big payout. In essence would you work another 14 months for $100K a month? It is probably irrational especially knowing my family and my wife's family are both wealthy and will leave us more than we could ever spend, but inheritance was never part of my retirement calculus. My wife confronted me over the holidays and asked me to retire and I committed to get across the bonus finish line then hang it up while we are both relatively young and have our health.

Just sayin'...

Myself also at 60,

Golf courses should have been closed long before they waged a jihad on the aero clubs.

No reason other than my gut/hope, but I think this is the week! Sending you all good vibes.

Kill two birds with one stone, build the plane and fly the grandkids. I'll check out the book but having no 'squids' and wife's current spending, we are on a direct path to Die With Zero.

I in that case would ask for a later retirement date after I return from said deployment vs sell back more leave.

I believe they can pull it from your unmasked SURF as shown in the slide show FloridaMan26 posted back on Nov 8th. I 100% agree that they should not push someone to the top of the line just because they are underrepresented in the community especially if there is a more qualified candidate out there that could really save our tails in the future. The countries that we are going to working with and against in upcoming conflicts pick the best that they have because they want to have a strong force. I know I would be extremely disappointed if I was not selected because of my test scores, leadership or anything else I busted my butt to excel at, but instead because of my race and gender. However, I do see the argument that that the less diverse our pilot corps are the more likely an amazing candidate that is a minority may feel intimated to apply hurting our potential as a force in the future that can snowball. We have seen that in our history as Americans in professional sports or executive positions. I am not sure of the best way to create a healthy representation to mirror the rated community's diversity to that of the non-rated community and from the sounds of it, AFPC was not 100% sure themselves because it is a hard thing to balance.

Wengen, Switzerland....car-free mtn village overlooking Lauterbrunnen Valley. Discovered during my Germany tour. Hasn't changed in the last 30 years. And yes you need to go there.

Hell of a season Jackrabbits! Congrats @Danger41

To be fair, Austin probably did tell Biden in person. Hell, they probably had lunch that day and talked all about his upcoming operation. Austin assumes it’s cool and our senile grandpa of a president, wanders off thinking how fun it was to have just had lunch with Grimace from McDonalds, Elvis and Captain Crunch and proceeds to shit his pants, catch a Matlock episode, and in bed asleep by 1600.

As a bonafide elitist Dem who would not do anything to maintain power, I do care. I know some of y'all don't talk to many Dems these days it seems... I have never understood the Austin pick and don't know how you could possibly go to the ICU and not direct a member of your staff to inform the White House. In fact you would think he must have directed his staff not to say anything for this to have occured. If I was on Austin's staff, my first phone call would be to the WH Chief of Staff after the boss was admitted to give them a heads up. Specifics of this hospital stay aside, from the start I'm not a fan of waiving the requirement that flag officers should have been out of uniform for seven years. I didn't like the precedent set by approving a waiver for Mattis (even though liked Mattis, especially in a Trump admin), nor do I like that the traditional was continued when Congress approved a waiver for Austin. The SECDEF should be a straight-up civilian defense/security executive, not a very recently retired 4-star with all the active duty military political baggage that comes with it. Someone with a background like Kathleen Hicks, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense, should have been tapped for the top spot in the first place rather than a recently retired general or admiral. Also Austin is 70...for fucks sake Boomers, fucking retire already! Hand-build a canoe in your garage and let your grandchildren sleepover for the weekend. GTFO of high office and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. And I say this to all of you equally in the 65+ age range. When I am that age, I sure as hell won't be commuting to an office 6am-8pm, busting my hump flying around the world, dealing with Congress & pulling my hair our managing a gigantic organization. Screw that man - that could not possibly sound less appealing.

To be fair, I don't think Biden knows where he's at the vast majority of the time! On the other hand, it shows how (un)important Austin is in the current administration!

Can you imagine if an active duty member was not at work, in the hospital for a few days and didn't notify their supervisor/commander. Yet another double standard by Fat Albert...he was the WRONG choice for so many reasons. Biden and the elitist Dems don't care, maintain power at all costs.

So Palestinians are now bigots? Isn’t the left all about giving Palestinians more power/control? Or are all the “Free Palestine” chants only done by right-wing types? For Palestinian women, abortion can mean lies, jail or worse https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WA1V9/

Just throwing my two cents, don’t crucify me. If you’ve already made it to commissioning then you should know you won’t get far in life without pushing boundaries. My biggest successes in my short time in were all due to me just walking up to people I didn’t know and into places I wasn’t known. Thinking “I don’t want to try this thing because I’ll be the only *insert characteristic* person…” is a pretty good reason itself that they shouldn’t do that thing. If they’re an amazing candidate but have the mindset that their skin color or whatever else might make it harder and therefor they won’t do it, I don’t think they’re an amazing candidate. I would rather have a system that might make some people feel that way than a system that instills doubt in everybody because you never know if you’ll get the spot or not due to things you can’t control like you race or gender.

I don’t agree with you often, but fuck yeah, nailed it! Credit where credit is due.

Nothing thug there, more crazy. I learned to keep the conversations quick since he would spin off into strange conspiracies etc. He is well known for stock piling Butterfingers while deployed and bringing his prized collection home. I swear they had to install the tail stand when he showed up with his stash.

It’s inexcusable and they should all be removed Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

In a giant majority of the places now days, you can go off base for $5 over on base rate with much much nicer accommodations, breakfast and points.

Don't let Biden jumpseat. I heard he likes to pull fire handles.

Sounds like the trend of Air Force golf courses closing has been going on for the past couple years. Relevant Reddit thread here. I know golf in general as a sport has declined in a lot of places around the country, due to the usual suspects (lack of free time, shrinking middle class, changes in people's interests, etc). The fact that the AF golf courses have to be self-funded just make it that much more difficult. Interesting to see "inclusivity and diversity" weaved into the official press release. It seems like people in command get extra points anytime they can invoke the holy trinity of DEI. Perhaps this is just the Barksdale Wing CC being savvy and tacking on "inclusivity and diversity" to anything and everything. Need to repave the main road? It's going to be the most inclusive and diverse pavement we can get, utilizing asphalt from underprivileged areas. Need to replace a snowplow? We're going to ensure the new plow implements the highest standards of equity, and drive it around in the summer and winter.

Makes you wonder about the competence of a person that can be missing without informing his boss and nobody seems to care.

Best upgrade for an M9: Sell it, buy a Springfield, and take your wife on a fancy hotel date with the extra money.

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.

The use of 'we' is hilarious 🙂 Carry on.

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.

That's simply horrendous reporting. I know I shouldn't expect anything, but wow.

Because you finish what you started...ABSOLUTELY a culture problem. At the first hint of trouble all the key FSU players ran for the door and themselves...that says something about a team. Meanwhile the vast majority of UGA's players stayed and PLAYED...one of the reasons they won Nattys back to back...FINISH what you started.

I’m currently on mil leave finishing up my retirement but looking at the January Bid lines out of Orlando they varied from 60-80 hours, some of them with 18 days off for the month. Since I’ve been gone for a couple years, I’m not sure what the high time flyers are getting, so I’ll leave that question for an active guy. Before I left though, the sky was the limit and as long as it was legal and you could put it on your board, you could bank $$$. Personally, life is great. I ended up having to take my ex back to court and won full custody of the kids (hence the reason I am putting the airline life on hold temporarily and finishing up the mil career). We are all extremely happy. I did end up getting remarried and she has been amazing and my kids all call her “mom”. My older two have pretty much nothing to do with their birth mom, and my youngest is the only one that goes for any sort of visitation. It’s funny what a little bit of wisdom, maturity and life experience will do for the second time around. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

F-35 - YF-23 mash up:

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.