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me too. General Chang.

Normally I’d agree, but these are exceptional circumstances. Think of his context: he’s been hounded by false accusations, literally had SES level players working with opposing campaigns to fabricate stories about him, his own generals illegally conspired behind his back to undermine his orders…. This has been a unique period on our history. He was given a decisive mandate for change by the American people, and knows from experience he cannot execute without a team committed to his vision. If you were a WG/CC leading a complete re-org under pressure of WW3 and given total hiring authority, would you rather have a team of SQ leaders you trusted to follow your intent or a team who had the normal pedigree but you knew their hearts weren’t onboard with your priorities? An imperfect analogy but it conveys my point. saying “loyalty is a key hiring criteria” plays into the dictator claims made against him, but I also see his perspective. If a boss asked for my loyalty, I’d say “loyalty to what?” The mission? The team? The ideas we took an oath to protect? Commanders intent? Or you personally even if you commit crimes? The first 4 are fine of course, the fifth definitely not. He’d be better served saying “trust” instead of “loyalty” but who am I to give advice? Bottom line I’m excited to see how it plays out and optimistic.

I think Trump defines loyalty as executing his directives as given and not stabbing him in the back…which clearly didn’t happen in the first term. Don’t military commanders expect the same from their subordinates? You can’t be told to do one thing by your commander and then intentionally try to undermine him/her without their being consequences. And if you believe what your CC is in the wrong, then you can go to their boss and so on, and/or write your Congressman. If you’re in charge of the executive branch, then you want your orders followed. As for those who need to keep Trump in check, push back against him if he’s going too far, want a way to “blow the whistle” etc, then that is the job of the other branches via our “checks and balances”. Perhaps the justice department should be its own separate branch of government that shouldn’t have to answer to the President, but that’s not what we have. We give our President a metric shit ton of power/control…if we don’t like who is in charge then the better discussion is how to reduce that power/control, regardless of who is President.

Concur, my biggest concern about his picks. While I want him to shake up and change the establishment there should be some solid thought behind it. He was interviewed two days ago about his picks and they asked him about his criteria, his #1 was loyalty which I completely disagree with. We will see how is shakes out.

There's no such thing as a chief that polices reflective belts without generals who tolerate such behavior. Anyways, witch hunt or not, you can't inflict this amount of rapid change without a tremendous amount of pain. Rip the bandaid off.

I think Tulsi was a great pick. Gaetz might be entertaining at times, but he ain't right. I wouldn't select him as dog catcher. I hope he steps up and does his job appropriately, but that appointment might bite trump in the butt.

I’d put more money on it gets him out of that district in Florida since all he did was impede legislation and prevent any coalition. His only skill is causing chaos, not representing anyone. Without him in the House, might actually be able to make something happen. The tried and true Air Force way of firing by promoting.

I knew I was not getting a far left progressive who was happy to take away the 1st and 2nd amendment, while paying for the sex changes of illegals and felons in prison all while cramming DEI up my ass.

I understand your point but disagree. I fully understand his optic and the relentless use of lies, deceit and government agencies to stop his candidacy. However, we are a nation of laws and if we simply go with people that are loyal to POTUS rather than the Constitution they we have stepped onto some very slippery ice. Think about the certification of the last election, Pence would not bend to the Trump will and was excommunicated for being disloyal. Like most of the people on this forum I swore an oath to the Constitution not the President. I don't like Trump but I am glad he beat was what clearly a far worse choice, going down a road of decision making that follows loyalty to POTUS over the rule of law and the Constitution is a non-starter to me. Trump has an epic opportunity to make meaningful change and to prove a lot of people wrong. I don't mind game changing picks like Hegseth and Elon, but we need people who will push back, even at the risk of being fired, when faced with choices that are more self-serving than legal.

Biff checking in. Negative on Dibs. I'll leave that one for Rachel Maddow.

As reticent as I am to do someone's homework for them, I'll move the ball down the field...so, yes. Watch for one minute; up until about the 3:30 mark. And no, I don't think she's a Russian agent. She characterizes the Iraq war as a war for "financial reasons" that was sold on lies. Now, I was a naysayer (at the time - like in 2003 when I was a cadet) about Iraq part 2. Put another way: I was against the Iraq war before Tulsi was. I didn't think we should have gone in for the reasons we did and I have posts on this site that go back years which indicate that - I'm no Iraq '03 apologist. That being said, there are only two ways you can fairly approach an understanding of our decision for going into Iraq the second time. The first is a fear-based reaction that is grounded in our assumption or lack of knowledge into what Saddam Hussein was up to in the aftermath of 9/11. I thought there were smarter ways to handle that fear and I think in different times and under different circumstances we would have done better. That said, it's a perfectly acceptable response to the "why" behind our decision to go in. The second (fair) way to approach the decision is to acknowledge that we "went in for the oil." Though that one requires you to grapple with the fact that we're going to trade blood for oil. I am a blood for oil guy because I'm a realist. We are not going to allow a dictator on the other side of the world put a stranglehold on the global economy. We fight over natural resources. We always have and we always will. Decrying "no blood for oil" is absolutely ignorant, hippy-coded nonsense. If you want to be a realpolitik type, you can lean on this one. If you want to be a hippy pacifist, you can lean on it as well. It works for both groups. So yes, I agree, if you want to characterize it as "we went in for financial reasons," then yeah, sure we did, but then again, everything we do has a financial dimension, so it's really not a very illustrative way to view the world...but I digress. The problem I have with her, however, is her characterization of the "why" surrounding going in for oil. She posits some sinister, financial, get-rich-quick, evil motivation that led the likes of Dick Cheney to use 9/11 as a pretext to get Halliburton into Iraq - which was always his master plan...it was closer to the view I had when I was 20...but I was 20. I'm now a grown up. Zip ahead to 4:45 when she goes into "just like we wouldn't want Venezuela to come to our country..." to over throw our government, we shouldn't go into theirs...blah, blah, blah. It underscores this neo liberal idea(l) that all country's are equal and get to have an equal say in the way the world works. Nah. No thanks. Venezuela's merry-go-round of dictators don't get to have an equal say in the way the world works because they're a so-called country with borders on the map. There are other examples available, but I'm not going to trouble myself more tonight by expounding anymore on them at length. The bottom line is that her world-view is conspiratorial, and that one which has no place in a position as serious as the DNI. So no, what I'm doing is not name-calling. I am looking fairly at the implications of her worldview and it concerns me. I haven't written her off. Like I said, I hope she's a fast learner with an open mind. On a somewhat related note to help characterize how I approach the world, I also think the regime in Iran must be toppled. October 7th has necessitated it, and it's only a matter of time before it becomes a reality. I'm not a war-monger, though. I'm just taking an honest look at who's who in the world, and "countries" that engage others in that manner have to be transformed. That usually takes force.

50 gauge full auto, hmmm. @M2, where were you on Mon night, between the hours of 2000-2200?

Wouldn't most of the ones that retired recently be focused on reflective belts?

I'm baffled in this age of near instantaneous information exchange, Google searches in microseconds, and real time tracking of millions of package locations by freight carriers, why the hell can't votes be counted in a day? A week is just plain stupid.

My brain has two points of view on this: First and foremost, any leadership involved specifically in the Afghanistan withdrawal should be keelhauled, then fired, and exempted from any mil-industrial complex jobs. Second, the concept of subjective and politically based "purging general officer leaders" should induce shivers and revulsion from anyone who has studied history. This will be messy.

Some district in CA has successfully counted 76% of ballots. I'm envisioning some 90 year old dude with an abacus pulling sacks off the dusty delivery donkeys before dragging the bags into a 1930s vintage country store counting a few ballots between conversations with the locals about that new fangled telephone on the wall.

Loyalty is a one-way road for Trump. And CH is on target. Trump wasn't the best option, but I would hate to think what direction this country would have gone had Harris won... I am not sure if Trump's methods will work, but I definitely see the need to change things!

You know you want some… Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

California...what else needs to be said? 😒😒 In Texas. we would have shot the fucking bear! 4 charged with insurance fraud after allegedly dressing as bears to damage cars Four people were arrested Wednesday in connection with insurance fraud when they claimed a bear damaged their car, but it was really a person in a bear costume, the California Department of Insurance said. The suspects filed a claim with their insurance company, saying a bear got into their car, a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, at Lake Arrowhead on Jan. 28, 2024, and damaged the inside with scratches. The insurance department said the suspects provided a video to the company, which showed the "bear" in the car... (full story at title link)

lol what did you think you were getting?

The Onion buys Infowars, best Onion headline in years. https://www.status.news/p/not-satire-the-onion-acquires-infowars

I voted early, but the wife waited until Election Day. I walked down to the polling place with her and for a split second I was tempted to see if I could vote again, but the prospect of being fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to five years (or both, per Title 52 of the United States Code, Section 10307(e)) and even worse the possibility of having to give up my arsenal as a convicted felon (I'm not a politician, so I wouldn't have been able to get away with it!) was an effective deterrent! But honestly, I do suspect there was a chance they would have let me do so...

I’ve listened to that interview and can say I find no fault with her logic and I agree with everything she articulated.

Florida with a population of 22 million completed the ballot count that evening, while Arizona with 7 million took a week...a complete embarrassment for Arizona, but they don't care. Florida made big changes after the hanging chads incident and it shows. Early voting opens 22 days prior and they count all of early ballots before election day. In fact, it is state law that the early ballot results MUST be posted 30 minutes after the polls close. I voted about two weeks early and was in and out in 5 minutes, my wife voted the day of and it took her about the same amount of time. I think the process encourages voting, our county has roughly 145,000 registered voters and 113,000 of them voted in this election.

I can easily vote illegally in two states based on first hand experience - so I’m sure sorting through that shitshow takes egregious amount of time. If we had solid voting ID requirements and continuous, stringent voter roll QC in place in 50 states, this delayed timeline wouldn’t be a thing.

It will be tested above 1.0 but the USAF didn’t pay for it to be certified so the placard limit will be below it. it was a desired not required part of the contract. If we pay Boeing they will magic wand make it supersonic.

Thanks Wikipedia! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's not sarcastic. She possesses a high-school-debate-club-level understanding of politics, war, the Middle East, and our role in the world. I hope she wises up quick if she is confirmed to that role. I don't want someone in that role who thinks we're up to no good at a fundamental level, or someone who thinks we can all get along. I want a stone-cold killer as the DNI. She doesn't seem to fit that description to me.

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Don’t know much about him, but I enjoyed his grilling of our idiot SecDef Austin. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I thought the same. I will admit it will be a relief to have him out of Congress. You don't normally hear much of from the attorney general, so perhaps keeping him out of the spotlight will allow him to shine at whatever the fuck it is he's good at. So far he's the only one I'm skeptical of.

Unless this is some next-level sarcasm that is sailing over my head, I cannot disagree more.

Point counter point on twitter: Nominated to AG by Trump At least 2 US senators came out publicly saying they would not approve - it will take 4 He cannot be named an "acting" in a 3-day recess appointment because he doesn't work in the DOJ House Ethics Committee prepared to release its investigation of Gaetz on Friday Gaetz immediately resigns from Congress, leaving House Speaker Johnson shocked Resignation drops the number of confirmed Congressional seats for the GOP to 217, bringing into question which party will control the House DeSantis will fill Gaetz's seat by Jan 3 - Republicans retain majority of both House & Senate Republican House and Senate calls for a 10-day recess Trump appoints Gaetz as AG w/ no Senate input Gaetz then serves as "Acting AG" until either Senate confirmation or for 2yrs.

Laws. Regulations. Regulatory capture. Bureaucracy. Safety. Equity. Fairness. Status quo. Oversight. Risk-mitigation. Risk-aversion. Precaution. Guard rails. Red tape. Protocol. Compliance. Special interests. Precedent. Motherhood abounds in our society. Votes could be counted nearly instantaneously if we really wanted them to be. But it wouldn't be fair to some person, in some place, at some time. Or something.

Deal!

What is wrong with you people? How could Hegseth with a Bachelor of Arts in politics at Princeton University, A Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, multiple combat tours possibly know anything about leading the people in the DoD? Instead we should rely on professionally trained people like Donald Rumsfeld, at the time of his nomination had three years on active duty and two terms as a Congressman under his belt. Maybe Obama's model is better, he picked Chuck Hagel who served as a squad leader in Vietnam before becoming a senator, businessman and LOBBYIST. You are all racist.

Well, he's not a pussy and he hates feckless weak bureaucracy. Good in my book. What do you consider appropriate pedigree for the position?

Merica!

No, this is PAO's release.

Board process started today and goes until Friday! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

It doesn't have leaders like MG William Zana... An Army general’s final ‘walk’ at the Tomb of the Unknowns MG William Zana, the only guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to reach the rank of general, took a final guard shift on the night he retired. At exactly 10 p.m. on the warm, last night of May, MG William Zana received his orders and began his final guard shift on the smooth marble stone plaza at the center of Arlington National Cemetery. In two hours it would be midnight, a new day and new month. A new guard would relieve him at his post, he would march off the plaza and suddenly, instantly, be a civilian. But for the final two hours of his 37-year career, Zana wanted one last chance to stand a shift he had held as a young sergeant: keeping watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “I was Pvt. Zana when I showed up to the Old Guard,” Zana told Task & Purpose.“You know, all of us who raise our right hand and serve, there’s things that define you. First combat tour, first loss of personnel. For me, volunteering for and serving at the Tomb was absolutely both defining and shaping.” (Full story at the title link) I don't know the man, nor do I know much about his career other than what I read in his bio; but based on this article, I have the utmost respect for him!

I blame State way more than I blame the DoD. Fire them all first.

Dude thats pretty cool that you took it on the chin last year and came back stronger instead of letting it beat you up. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get picked up this year especially if they have your old package in their system to see the improvements you did.

Good luck! my first time my scores were average. I had a Pilot score of 78 and a PCSM of 76. I was number 3 at the Wg. I was a non select. I took this last year to really work on my application. I retook the AFOQT as a senior captain. I felt like Billy Madison in my testing center with all junior enlisted testing to commission. I was able to bump my scores to a 99 pilot, 92 PCSM and earned the #1 Wing strat. I sincerely hope this is enough to get me across the finish line for this year!