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Gen Austin Miller made the call, although Biden & Blinken put him in a box: they imposed a troop cap which made staffing BAF along with the embassy/HKIA impossible. Then Blinken said we cannot withdraw from the embassy due to optics, ergo BAF must close. And because they were unimaginative and underestimated the enemy, they assumed GIRoA could hold out until 2022. Miller pushed back but ultimately saluted and executed. He should have resigned instead. McKenzie, the COCOM/CC, took command from Miller (meaning the COCOM absorbed what had been its own 4 star command, you can imagine how butter smooth that COMREL change was) in July of 21 I believe, after BAF was handed over and when the assault on the outskirts of Kabul began in earnest. He failed to take any bold action although several of us were sending very clear recommendations and security warnings. By early August it was an insane situation: the Taliban was moving openly in large formations massing artillery and supplies as close as Maiden Shar and all ANA checkpoints on Highway 1 had fallen. Camp Commando had fallen. We were going Winchester and not slowing them down; our own FIRES process was complicated by surrendering ANA personnel and enemy use of their (our) equipment /uniforms. The AAF ran out of munitions and ceased flight operations. I landed in HKIA after one sortie and stated clearly: we must initiate the NEO now. The front office for the 2 star in Kabul (senior US Officer in country) told me “not possible, the Turks won’t allow it.” The Turks were running HKIA at the time. 3 days later the Turks were burning all their papers and excess equipment as they ran to their own aircraft to escape the fall. A lot to digest from the experience. My biggest surprise has been that absolutely no one higher wants to hear about it. There was no AAR, no hot wash, no internal mil attempt to investigate and figure out where it broke down. Just sweep it all under the rug, too embarrassing. The AF history guys did a quick report, although it was mainly focused on the 2.5 week mobility surge and they didn’t even know my unit existed. My AAR is now in their secret addendum, but the document is shortsighted by exclusively focusing on the evacuation rather than how the hell we allowed July-Aug to ever occur. Without any accountability and with the same idiots in charge, we should unfortunately expect another epic strategic humiliation.

I'd say alot of things TSA does are counter to intelligence.

Well, as everyone probably knows by now, the U-2 is being divested. The entire thing has been a public affairs disaster on how to release the information. Still, there is very little going out, and I'll avoid crossing any lines. Needless to say, the capabilities the U-2 has and that are ready for prime-time are pretty significant. Oh well... someone thinks the money is better spent elsewhere. The last interviewee was hired in January. Could there be an extension in the U-2's future? I think so... for reasons I won't discuss. Unlikely, yes. But you just never know. Hail Dragons...

I can’t think of anything more weak than a president who has to use the baby steps into Air Force one, has to be pumped up with uppers to deliver speeches, and who only makes the decisions/takes questions that are approved by his handlers.

Not a fan of Trump, but there is no way you can convince me the last four years under Biden were better! Had Trump won, our economy would most likely be doing better, our foreign and domestic policies been more focused on important things than wokeness and transgender recognition, and honestly I believe most Americans would have a lot more pride in this country! The fact that Biden even won (if he even did!) and pretty much every action he has taken over the past four years has been a major embarrassment to the US. This has got to be the largest amount of horseshit claims I've ever seen in my life, and I did 25 years in the USAF! The Biden-Harris Record | The White House Does the White House really think everyone is so stupid to believe all that?!? Again, I would prefer a different candidate to vote for, one more along the lines of Reagan in the 80s; but once again we are stuck between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich. I for one would rather endure the Giant Douche then to spend another four years having a Turd Sandwich shoved down our throats!

Low level, huh? Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

On previous VMLs in Talent Marketplace there's specifically a "KC-46 Crossflow" billet to all the 46 bases, and in the description it will say "this is to crossflow to the KC-46, not for current KC-46 pilots, etc"... You may have to change your filters to find it. Easiest way would be to probably search "Crossflow" or filter it under 11M. Increase your chances by applying to the main active duty ones (Travis, McConnell, McGuire), but the higher QOL IMO lives at Pease and Seymour. Also, buyer beware that if the 46 is your first or second assignment, there's a strong chance you're going to Altus at some point in your career, and almost a guarantee if you're sticking around for 20. Interesting, I did not know that. My RUMINT was off then. I applied to this once and was not selected to interview but it sounds like a pretty cool opportunity if you're one of the few guys that gets the call.

If all else fails, UPT IP is a great assignment. I actually went voluntarily but many who didn’t ended up loving it too after they got there and spent some time doing it.

The power of placebo and positive thinking!

Username checks out.

Good. Hope he ends up on the wrong end of a $75 drone (with a hand grenade taped to it).

At least he knows only women have pussies…those on the left don’t seem to believe so.

One of the topics I neglected to mention was where I got some of the information on the RB-57. For a fascinating history of this and other specialized aircraft I recommend the book “The History of BIG SAFARI” by Col. Bill Grimes. This book was a trip down memory lane and brought back memories from when I was a B-52G Crew Chief back in the ‘80s and my line supervisor worked on RC-135 aircraft in Alaska before being transferred to Bombers. He would regale me with tales of fantastically modified RC-135 aircraft (sometimes for a single mission) that I sometimes thought he was just embellishing to make a compelling story. After reading this book I wish I could remember more of those stories since they were all true!

At some point I'll write out the utter shit show of DOS on 14-15 Aug during the embassy evac. And nothing improved for the remaining 16 days. As a commander on the ground, I felt sold out and abandoned by every level above 06. On the plus side, there was no one to stop me from doing what I thought best.

What's next, companies and billionaires are going to just *give* money to candidates in the hope they will get special consideration should the candidate win? Wait no, it's different because it's a PAC or campaign donation, right? You guys are trying too hard.

Can't be worse than the Big Guy being beholden to Chinese billionaires

Point of order: No we don't. I actively refuse. Someone wants me to call them something specific? That's fine, we can discuss that in that moment. But someone else's mental health issue is not mine to track until I meet them and I learn the specifics of their case. In my world, there are men and women. Some have mental health issues.