Leaderboard

Some aircrews may remember MARS primarily for morale phone patches, but today's MARSRADIO provides considerably more. MARSRADIO is an Air Force MARS operation authorized under DoDI 4650.02, providing HF communications support to DoD aircraft and units worldwide as an additional backup to HFGCS. Air Force aircraft are consistent users of the service, but we also routinely support Navy, Marine Corps, and Army aviation. Most of the traffic we handle is real-world operational support, not exercises or training. So far this year, MARSRADIO operators have provided nearly 14,000 man-hours guarding our calling frequencies and supporting DoD aircrews. That has included more than 330 official phone patches, 80 METAR/TAF weather requests, and nearly 2,300 radio and SELCAL checks, in addition to morale patches and other operational support. The official traffic can be as routine as passing an ETA or arranging customs, fuel, parking, maintenance, or ground transportation. At other times, crews have used us for diversions, aircraft system problems, severe weather, medical situations, command post coordination, and troubleshooting SATCOM or digital communications. The real value is having another communications path when the expected one isn't working. We have had many situations where an aircraft could not establish its normal SATCOM or data link, but an HF phone patch through MARSRADIO allowed the crew and ground personnel to troubleshoot the problem, coordinate what was needed, and continue the mission. That is where MARSRADIO fits into P.A.C.E. planning—not as a replacement for existing systems, but as another path available when needed. The net operates nearly 24/7, and there is no need to coordinate ahead of time. Crews don't need to wait until something goes wrong to use us. A routine radio check, SELCAL check, weather request, phone patch, or pre-arrival call gives the crew familiarity with MARSRADIO before the day comes when the primary communications path isn't available. For aircrews unfamiliar with MARSRADIO, information on frequencies, calling procedures, and available services is available at MARSRADIO Global.

Where's a grizzly bear when you need one?

Sen Moreno asking Fauci “who the fuck do you think you are!” Classic

Haha, you and I both! I haven’t heard anything from my Wing either, but I’m definitely trying to have everything ready on my end. My TBAS is scheduled for next week, and I’m planning to have my packet complete by then. From what I was advised is to give the “why” and what I can bring to aviation community. I think leadership should still be emphasized in ways it may not be captured in the LOR but I’m sure others here will have better input. Wishing you best of luck 💪🏻

Good luck! Finished mine last year and it was a rewarding yet incredibly challenging few months leading up to it!

One must ask why Dr. Fauci would invoke the Fifth Amendment if he has already received a pardon. For years, the American people were told to simply trust the experts. Yet serious questions remain about the origins of COVID-19, gain-of-function research, and what government officials knew and when they knew it. Dr. Fauci has faced sustained criticism over his public statements regarding U.S. funding of research involving coronaviruses and whether that research met the definition of gain-of-function. Those questions deserve transparency and honest answers. A pardon does not answer those questions. It does not explain decisions that affected millions of lives, businesses, schools, and families. If there is nothing more to hide, the American people deserve a full accounting of what happened. History should be based on facts, transparency, and accountability—not unanswered questions. AQNK_aTkporUih4exAkCb4CZe5umWiAzpJXSoLKyNJ7_7WCENZvo-jtrC2eNglWkHIQAchR6A6HujgZiB6LOkP-ar5z6PMI8hk3I18wkzTWxBg.mp4

Supporting this quagmire feels like peak sports team style support for your preferred political side. I voted for Trump all three times and I am still thankful to this day that Kamala Harris is not the president. But there has been plenty to criticize the Trump admin about this term as well, the Iran shit show being chief among them.

He’s sitting in front of congress pleading the 5th right now. The covid saga can’t be allowed to be buried in the pages of history. We must know the truth.

Would love to hear what takes of mine pertaining to this war are “laughably incorrect” Is it, in no particular order: -That Israel roped us into this -Our own DNI said Iran wasn’t making a nuke prior to the start of the war -Our destruction of a non-factor navy and Air Force doesn’t amount to a strategic win -Iran was never in a weak negotiating position which is why we signed a deal favorable to them -Iran’s TBM stockpile is mostly intact and the primary tool for their power projection -The blockade of their blockade didn’t do shit -Bombing cave entrances in a country of 90 million people the size of the entire eastern US didn’t (and won't currently) accomplish shit -We did not effect regime change and in fact ended up with a more hardline one -The people did not rise up -We have depleted our interceptor and SOW munitions to an alarming level that will take years to replace -We are objectively on the back foot in other AORs that had their resources poached for this boondoggle -Trump’s apocalyptic and incoherent messaging was strategically damaging and galvanized the Iranian public against us -We fell into an escalation trap that we now cannot get out of -Still don’t have the nuke dust -Constant admin goalpost shifting about the objectives where now just getting the strait back open and un-tolled would be considered a win There ya go. Feel free to address any of them specifically and I’ll respond with well sourced arguments. But this hiding behind “you don’t know what you’re talking about” or “you’d know the real story if you were in the strat division vault” is just pathetic BS. We can all see the shitshow unfolding with our own eyes.