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Trudeau looks like he could be a quarter gerbil.

It's moved overseas

43/69 of last year's selects for pilot were already rated aircrew.

Is the general consensus that it is easier to get picked up from non-rated career fields?

We told the SAP guys to turn the thing off regarding Regiment. Should work fine now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

USAA names a new CEO this morning. Juan Andrade. Article says he's only the second CEO with no military background, Peacock being the first. He's been on the USAA BoD for 4 years and is leaving Everett Group, a multi-national insurance provider. It's pretty clear the USAA trajectory isn't going to change. Over the past few weeks, I've moved nearly all my assets out, changed my direct deposits, leaving just enough to keep a checking account open. With it clearly not being military focused anymore, there's just no advantage in doing business with a bank that has no local branches. https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/usaa-new-ceo-20023348.php

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. https://x.com/RyanMcbeth/status/1877189961608233012

We don’t lose missions to the 160th. In my 12 years we all flew specific roles within the missions we participated in together. Ospreys aren’t going to a contested X (no shit), but we were certainly there doing other roles or other unique missions. Frankly we ended up (as a community) doing a few things the 160th couldn’t. The hostage rescue in 2020 is a great example. The most interesting/rewarding missions I ever did had nothing to do with infil/exfil. The relationships we had with different SOF from around the world were second to none, built over years of working together closely and doing some awesome things. I personally don’t think any other AFSOC airframe had that kind of close relationship with the teams. The reality is that both organizations serve a purpose and the aircraft within have their niche roles for SOCOM. Overall I thought things worked fairly well. But to say we lost missions to the 160th is naive. I agree with most everything else said on here. I left AFSOC for other pastures mainly due to my personal feelings about the lack of any direction of the command. While I loved the airframe and the people I flew with, AFSOC was destroying the program (amongst many other programs) with Bold Moves. Combined with the HCE issue and now the fallout of (criminal) actions of the PRGB parts manufacturer…..the community is in a very hard spot. It was a great place to be until it wasn’t. I consider myself lucky to have been part of it when I did. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Ego drives all these interactions

Body cams have been a godsend. I remember there being a lot of debate over them back in the day.

Hey Big Blue:

Disclaimer, I'm not a computer nerd, so I'm sure many people here will be able to amplify/correct this: Yes, https encrypts your data between your browser and the server. Which is why when I'm at home, I don't use the VPN. However, when you're on a network you don't trust, which should basically be any that isn't yours, there is a pretty high amount of traffic and peripheral information that is visible to anyone that knows how to look for it. Think of the https as you sending a message in code over the radio with both the sender and the recipient named in the clear. Anyone with a radio can hear that you are talking to site X, W, and Z. The VPN takes that same coded message, but now encrypts it a second time and all anyone can see is that you're sending data to site Y. The VPN (site Y) in turn talks to X,W, and Z, but the person monitoring the network can't see that. Its just another layer of protection and protecting information that isn't protected with https.

VPN or not, isn't all your traffic encrypted while you're on https???

Haha. What's more embarrassing for you? Announcing to everyone that you're quitting the forum, or being too weak to actually do it?

We could call it Operation Just Cuz

The most accurate documentary on the DoD acquisition system ever made!!

I don't think it's on pause, I think they just moved production to china..

Not a lot of CAS for USAF Helicopters. AFGSC does either CAS or AI, but they are stateside missions. No rockets or missles just the M-240. CSAR dudes have a very cool mission. They have 50 cal and mini gun action. If you go AF helicopters, you'll have a good time. Just realize AF Helicopters are not slinging hellfires like the Army and Marines. We sit a lot of alert regardless of what helicopter you end up in.

Fat Amy enters the chat.

Say no more

Not the totality of the dynamic, but the main issue is an accessions/compensation chasm, like everything else in life. No buck no buck rogers. As an employment demographic? No, I don't think you're working with the best psychologically suited for the job; giving some of these types lethal force legal arbitrage is a poor bet all around. Frankly, the compensation situation in some jurisdictions is so bad you attract the exact wrong temperance for the job, as a Hobson's choice. Everybody loses in that deal. Just like educators, you can't afford the people you presume to want. The thin blue line stuff is also caustic and tribal. I argue if jurisdictions paid and thus had the ability to accessions-discriminate to the standard needed, the qualified immunity issue would be moot. #hottake

I also would never do the job. You're dealing with the absolute worst part of society every day, often the same people over and over. I give them a lot of leeway with the interactions I see. BUT. When they fuck up willfully, they need to be held accountable. When they don't know basic laws (ignorance doesn't work for us) or how to apply them, they need to be held accountable. In most cases, without this type of publicity, they aren't ever held accountable.

The good ones all leave because they're scared they won't be backed up by their leadership. We have lots of LE on our Guard base and many have left their gigs for full time Guard for these reasons. They all say the same thing, I'm one well edited video away from being fired, or worse. These are great people who I imagine we're great cops, trying to be good public servants to their community. Just like active duty experiences, most of the good ones bail and your left with what's left. The good ones who do stay, have an uphill battle. Side note, I could never be LE... I'd be fired, or in jail for excessive force when dealing with some of the assholes/bad guys they deal with daily. I'm very thankful we have those who can keep their tempers in check.

On topic, a family member got pulled over in GA and was confronted by an angry cop. Situation was described as very unprofessional. Fam said he was accused of cutting the cop off and nearly causing an accident, but said it wasn't him. Fam filed a complaint, requested cam footage, and fought the ticket, which was eventually dropped. I can see a cop getting pissed for what happened to them and then pull over the wrong person because there's plenty of white pickups out there. Not an excuse for the behavior, but the job can wear a good person down. I have a cuz that lived thru BLM riots, and have other F&F in policing. I hope they don't let the bad affect em too much. Good policy is paramount. I see the problem is somewhat like the AF. The good ones get tired of the system and leave for better places. The bad ones thrive and rise in rank. These YT channels are good sunlight.

I hope you boys haven't accidentally summoned PYB back into the chat. ETA: Oh shit! He's still actively posting on his site and clearly still lurks...

Civil Rights Lawyer is good as well. I should have included Audit the Audit - https://www.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit They include all the relevant case law.

Lackluster is also great. Everything is backed up by law/case law in all his videos. https://www.youtube.com/@LackLusterMedia Same with this guy. Great content https://www.youtube.com/@thecivilrightslawyer

I wanted to believe the numbers were small but man there are a LOT of videos out there. The First Amendment Auditing Community shined a big spotlight on how many cops don't understand our basic rights. As a dude who swore an oath to the Constitution I'm appalled at some of the stuff that is out there. For the record, my brother in law is a chief of police for a large department and we talk about it a lot. He graduated from the FBI academy and as a side gig has been doing all sorts of contract training at departments around the country. He has watched many of the videos with me and is just as appalled. His comments always fall back to two things: 1. A lack of training and 2. Contempt of Cop. It is even worse when you mix the two together. For those that want to know more I highly recommend a youtube channel run by Jeff Gray. He is one of the OG auditors and does not have the caustic insulting approach many of the others have. He rarely insults the officers...on occasion when they clearly push him over the line. Jeff's standard procedure is to stand on public property, usually the steps of city hall, with a sign that says God Bless the Homeless Vets. I've lost track of how many times he has been arrested for holding that sign. He works with a couple of non-profits and tries to hold these department/cities accountable. He donates most of the settlements to charities including homeless shelters. His channel is below. https://www.youtube.com/@HONORYOUROATH/videos