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Trump: Old, loud, unsophisticated, shoots off at the mouth, takes enemy fire up close, they keep trying to get rid of him but he sticks around longer than anyone thought. Harris: Remote controlled, annoying to be around, a threat to US citizens. Goes down a lot.

ironically the REAL threats to democracy are all on the left

Honestly the #metoo movement has basically created the #believeNOwomen movement. Way to go idiots.

It’s not hard. 2016-2020 was better than 2021-present unless you are a trans/illegal border crosser/indebted student/Taliban/woman unable to figure out birth control/welfare recipient/guy who wants to compete in women’s sports/person wants to get paid not to work. Who’d I miss? Choice is easy to vote for Trump despite him being a dickhead on Twitter. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Whatever. This thread needs pics.

I don’t know, I always thought Biden was pretty dumb. I’ve always thought he was kind of an idiot and crackpot going back to 2007-2008. It makes sense, if you were one of his or Kamala’s handlers part of the deep state swamp cesspool, wouldn’t you also want two blithering idiots that are easy to control?

On 27 Oct 1954, 70 years ago this Sunday, the U.S. Air Force got its first black general officer when Gen Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., was promoted to Brigadier General (temporary grade). The promotion would be made permanent in 1960, and he would eventually retire from the Air Force as a Lieutenant General. In 1998, President Clinton advanced him to a full (four-star) General. General Davis Jr. broke many barriers and accomplished many “firsts” during his career, such as when he became the first black officer to attend Air War College in 1950 or when he became the first black wing commander of an integrated wing in 1953. He originally earned his pilot’s wings in 1942, and participated in WWII with the Tuskegee Airmen, commanding the 99th Fighter Squadron and later the 332nd Fighter Group as a whole. In the photo below, his father, Gen Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (who was the first black general officer in the Army and in the Armed Forces as a whole) is pinning a Distinguished Flying Cross to him (when he was then a Colonel) at Ramitelli Airfield in Italy in Sep 1944. He earned the DFC for a Jun 1944 bomber escort mission where he managed to lead his outnumbered fighter escorts in defending an Allied heavy bomber formation against approximately 100 enemy fighters. (Photo: USAF)

Thank you for proving my point. You missed the central point about the contradiction: If these Generals are such shitheads and “swamp dwellers”….then why did Trump hire them if he “knows the best people. Great people.” In fact, he only “hires the best people.” The answer, is, he was bullshitting, which he admitted to on the Rogan podcast yesterday: Rogan: “how did you know who to appoint?” Trump. “Well, I didn’t. I didn’t have any experience. I was there 17 times in Washington, but never stayed over. But I didn’t know anybody. I was a New York guy. I was a New York builder andI knew that whole world. But I didn't know the Washington world too well. And all of a sudden, you're supposed to be appointing top people. It’s the biggest mistake I made.” He found out he would have to take recommendations from advisors. He discovered that there were important reasons why politicians typically got hired. He mentions that some of his hires were “bad.” Joe asks how, and he answers “bad or disloyal people.” So this is a decent example of a core reason that many people are appalled at Trump’s candidacy: He’s fundamentally too foolish and arrogant to know what he’s getting himself into, so he just tries to make it up as he goes. …possibly the biggest example of “fake it till ya make it” ever. And worst of all, as he fumbles around faking it, he makes decisions based on ego and self-interest. That’s it. That’s the lense through which he sees life. And I know……people will say he was already President and we survived. That’s true. And I’m sure many will disagree with me, but I simply think we got lucky. I do. He’s in way over his head. A lot can go wrong in another 4 years. I posted about this before, but I’ll summarize again: Every single time people claim that Trump is smart, it’s by implication. Just like you did. “He must be smart, just look at how rich he became” or some such example. It is absolutely stunning that people don’t recognize him as an idiot. It is, to me, his most obvious and pronounced trait. Instead of implication, try using direct observation: Just listen to him speak (unscripted). Does he ever say anything that only a smart person could say? He rambles. He rants. He complains. He calls his enemies names. He never says anything that demonstrates knowledge, wisdom, vision, or expertise. To me this is the most fascinating part of politics, and it just gets more intense every campaign: The way people convince themselves that their candidate is the polar opposite of what they actually are. If you read 1984, the chapter about “Doublethink”, ….holy shit….it is profound. I’ve talked to many Trump supporters who call him brilliant, ….when he’s obviously stupid. They call him an Alpha male…..a guy with man-tits, a combover, and makeup. A guy who Harris was able to toy with just by saying people were leaving his rallies early. They actually think he’s religious… he doesn't know a thing about the Bible or the core tenets of Christianity. They’ve convinced themselves he cares about people and is selfless, ….. he obviously only cares about himself…… Rogan’s first question was: “what was it like right after the inauguration, actually being the POTUS?” And Trump goes into a stream of consciousness about how opulent and luxurious the bedrooms in the White House were. Mentioning the responsibility, a sense of duty, the trust imparted by the American people, the hope and pressure to do a good job on behalf of American people. …..anything like that….. It doesn’t even occur to him. For nearly 3 hours, the guy talks about himself, complains about criticism towards himself, complains about other people doing “terrible jobs” and “destroying the country,” etc. Like I said before, he’s faking it. But even in faking it, he’s not smart enough to fake caring about other people. It never occurs to him to praise other people or show gratitude or appreciation. It never occurs to him to mention colleagues, coworkers, friends, his wife, or people that have helped him. He never speaks of his confidence in Americans as people. He never even hints that pride and the success of the country are dependent upon other people. He just makes nonsense threats that the country will literally “cease to exist” if he’s not elected. I just find it remarkable that AF pilots, who ostensibly target “Humble, Approachable, Credible” as a measure of good leadership, can doublethink themselves into applying those traits to Trump. But….as they say, my personal opinions and .50 cents will get you a can of Pepsi at the snack bar. So, I’m going to bow out of this until after the election. I’m sure many will be happy about that. But……for all the downvotes and videos of my mom and accusations of TDS, here’s the crazy thing: If we were in a squadron together, we would get along great. I know, because many of my closest military bros and lifelong friends are Trump supporters. We rarely had spirited conversations about politics, but when we did, it never affected or soured the friendship. More often we’d have conversations about family, flying, tactics, sports, etc. The internet is a cesspool. I’m sure you guys are good solid bros, pilots, officers, and people. (…..the jury is still out on HeloDude if I’m being completely honest….but maybe.) Cheers

Definitely bring it back. I was a FAIP during Project Warrior's years, and at Laughlin, we used that to go pick up guest speakers in the T-38 to bring them out to talk to the Wing... usually done so they could go to the monthly Daedalians meeting that night. I flew to Oklahoma Cuty and picked up Bob Anderson, MiG killer and early Thunderbird. "Here's a helmet... unpin the ejection seat when I tell you. Questions?" Also got to fly back from Phoenix with X-15 pilot Pete Knight on my wing. Another FAIP got to pick up Victor Belenko. That was cool. After the Daedalian meeting, he wanted to hang out but most everyone left. So myself and 2 other FAIPs sat in the OClub bar and drank with him. Surreal. Project Warrior was a huge positive. But I seriously doubt our risk-averse culture would allow it to happen again like it did.

Enjoyed the read and I hope this dude finds his peace. I really don't struggle to find meaning for my trips to Afghanistan (all post 2010), it can be summed up rather simply...a complete waste of my time away from family. Thankfully I'm at peace with that. Sadly, I think the lessons will be lost in time and the bureaucracy that is our government/military. If that weren't true, we wouldn't have made the same mistakes as we did in Vietnam.

Precisely because you can't predict how an individual will age and decline, and the job is too important to risk on something like Biden, I'm using statistical models of cognitive decline, and last I looked the models showed cognitive decline increasing around 75 years old pretty substantially. So, 65. Yeah because there isn't a gigantic industry behind analyzing election results and voter habits... It's all just magic smoke! I've been surveyed no fewer than a dozen times this election alone. More to the point, I avoid hiring people over 75 whenever possible. I'm not allowed to fly passengers with them (at a much younger age of 65), and I don't find them to be open minded or particularly fun as a group. So why would I vote for them to run the country? They (Boomers) are also the biggest threat to the financial stability of our nation. Almost everything in this quote is... Silly. I never once studied in pilot training (other than going to the UTD), so I'm not sure what that does to the rest of the analogy. Nor did it mean everything to me. I turned down one of 3 T-38s for my class because I knew that being a fighter/bomber pilot would mean a *lot* of studying and I don't like studying. I've recently not filled out preferences if I didn't have a preference. We definitely had students who specifically didn't want to fly the older airplanes because they were old. And the AF doesn't study dream sheets in the hopes of understanding future track select trends. You do know that they track partial ballots, right? Is this why you vote? To feel brave? To gain the admiration of your peers? I don't. I just vote for what I think is best. And while I think Trump winning is better than Kamala winning, I think it would also be good to see reduced turnout for Trump as an indication that despite his victory, he is not the direction the conservatives should go. Your suggestion that these things are not tracked is frankly laughable. Agreed. And I'll be voting, just not for president.

She was gropable. Thanks for the pics

LOL. You, however. I think you shouldn't vote.

Good post, but I don't understand your arbitrary hangup on age 65. Why not 69? Age is an immutable characteristic, even moreso than race or gender, that isn't necessarily and indicator in itself of future performance. Biden and Trump are roughly the same age, but why the cognitive disparity? Not one person will ever notice, nor even consider your reason for not voting for President. Here's an analogy: When we went through pilot training, it was challenging (probably more for you). We had a deeply seated personal interest in the outcome. It meant everything. One day the FLT/CC said, "Here's the drop." Would you have even considered saying: - "I don't like the choices. They all suck. I'm not filling out the dream sheet." - "Not interested. The C-130/KC-135/B-52 are too old." - "I trust all my classmates will make the right decision for me." - "If I don't fill out a dream sheet, the AF will understand that I'm not happy, and give me better opportunities in the future." And none of your classmates would have ever said "Wow, what brave and principled position. This guy is above the fray." The guy who would have gotten the AWACs is going to point and laugh at you. The choices are what they are, and the likelihood that the process by which we arrive at these alternatives is going to get better in the future is low. Everybody wishes they had a better menu from which to choose. It's just fantasy. Anyway, that analogy was a bit of a reach but I hope you vote, brother. Cheers

Great question. I've been busy building a house this summer, so I haven't been able to pay attention. I just did a quick google search for "Russia Ukraine advances". I just clicked the first article from the Independent. The first few lines. "Russian forces are making swift and “significant tactical advances” into the eastern Ukrainian city of Selydove, war monitors have said. Open source data suggests Russian forces advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, despite Ukraine taking a part of Russia’s Kursk region. Those rapid advances have continued in the past week as Russian forces appear to be charging towards - or even into - the city of Selydove, which is less than 10 miles south of its main target, the larger city of Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the wider Donetsk region’s defences." I don't think many in the West have the ability to understand an adversary using a "dilatory tactic" in conflict. "Rapid Dominance, Shock and Awe, and Blitzkreig" are what the average American understands as the standard strategic winning tactics. Someone committed to the painfully slow grinding advance without regard to timeline, goal posts, achievements has always been a difficult problem for us. “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”

I don't think I've heard anyone on here, or anywhere else for that matter, saying that Trump is a 'good person'. I would never invite him into my home, but that's true of almost all politicians. He's had multiple wives and apparently cheated on all of them. He's clearly an egomaniac. But an idiot? I realize he inherited a bunch of money, but you still don't get to where he is by being an idiot. Any claim that he's an idiot is not grounded in reality. I can't think of a President in US history that is/was an idiot. Harris on the other hand is clearly a 'shitty person' AND an idiot. Any time she's asked a tough question she does that stupid hackle and then proceeds to string together a sentence that is less coherent than the crackhead on the corner in LA. If you think she got to where she is today by any qualities than her genitalia and melanin, I'd like to try whatever you're smoking. She was offered a job with the DA before she passed the bar, which is absurdly unusual and clearly was paved by a patron, which has continued throughout her life. After she failed the bar, the job offer was not pulled. The majority of lawyers (including every single of dozens of lawyers I know) pass the bar on the first try, which means she dumber than the average lawyer. Average is shockingly dumb, so since she is below average than it is reasonable to think that she is in fact an idiot. The problem is we have very limited choices. 99% of politicians give the other 1% a bad name. We are stuck with voting for the person that advocates the polices that are closest to what we want. Trump's policies are not what I would like to see, but they are better than Harris'.

how's that ukraine war working out right now that so many of you were in love with? seems like a lot of crickets

The electoral college is going nowhere. They'll find something else to complain about, I assure you.

I would encourage to still vote even if Texas is likely to go to Trump. The last 2 Republican Presidents have won the electoral college but not the popular vote. As long as that continues to happen you're going to hear appeals from the Democrats to abolish the electoral college.

The tolerant left strikes again.

SOH's Mom dealing with a Trump sign. video_56BA7HQ.mp4

I personally would not recommend NM ANG for anyone just getting out of UPT/off the street. It's definitely more of a chill role but geared towards dudes that have been around already- much moreso than the other guard units. Most of the sorties there are canned due to the nature of being at a schoolhouse. You'll get much less actual mission experience. Also, you'll likely get less flight hours in general because they have a contingent of active-duty HC guys there that primarily run the schoolhouse. I've heard that the guys they get that are pretty fresh (i.e, off the street hires) they typically have to send to other units to get their seasoning done in a timely manner.

kamala can't even win a primary in her own party and some of you betas gonna vote her for President. worst presidential nominee in the last 60 years easily.

Cripple fight?

Last time I saw Israel drop a building that cleanly was 9/11.