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69% of this forum is people talking to themselves on different accounts.

When I was a SQ/CC I sent alot of guys to get seaplane and tailwheel rated at a 2 week civilian school in Alaska. I would have done everyone but didn’t have the budget, instead it was about 2 dozen and used as an incentive/reward for great work: IP OTQ, Pilot OTY, etc. Didn't work with everyone’s schedule so randos got to go too. It definitely teaches pilots to unlearn some overly safe attitudes in UPT (nothing wrong with that for their level) and how to fly aggressive without being unsafe, meaning have the confidence to take calculated risks. You can’t quantify the benefit of learning to be comfortable outside your comfort zone, but vignettes can draw connections between unconventional training and success in unconventional combat situations. It’s the same logic used sending officers for masters degrees- “this may not apply directly to current job but you’re learning how to think using new tools, thus arming you for the unknown.” That’s the argument I used to get it approved and left my boss speechless, lol. My thoughts are that if you aren’t actively finding fun creative ways to make the team better you have no business leading. Also if you aren’t willing to take some personal career risk by trusting the team to do these things, you have no business leading in combat. We ought to have the best pilots in the world and that costs money and requires leaders who aren’t pussies.

This is the part that I find so funny. People act like these programs have existed for thousands of years and are the sole reason why humanity has survived. Who gives a shit if we over correct? If the alternative is fixing nothing, I would rather zero the budget out entirely and rebuild from scratch then guarantee my children and my grandchildren will live in a financially collapsing empire. People all over the world are living in much worse conditions than we are. We can survive a reduction in government provided quality of life, for a decade or so.

Trump talks to Putin must mean that Trump is Putin's puppet. Ya not buying that. Despite the noise in the first Trump term, something struck a nerve, at least for me. Some background: I cut my teeth in the military with my first assignment in Okinawa--the Korean Theatre of Operations. Obviously as an E3 my worldview was as tight a soda straw as it gets. But there I was going through exercises, training plans, sorties, upgrades, trips, and doing research projects on forward operating locations both in Taiwan and up on the peninsula. 1995, so KIS had just kicked the bucket leaving KJI in charge, but not before he'd started lobbing ballistic missiles across the Sea of Japan. Fast forward a decade, and I'm back in the KTO, this time as a member of the LPA. More bluster, more ballistic missile launches, KJU taken over after his dad. At this point, patterns start to emerge, at least in my mind. After the NoDAKs had lost their benefactor, the USSR, they devolved into a pattern of famine, saber rattling, receiving aid from the west, less noise until the aid starts to run out, then lather rinse repeat. All while, for the most part, diplomacy is cold and almost non-existent from the west. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, POTUS is standing on the other side of the line in Panmunjom, shooting the shit with KJU. What in the actual fuck? But for a minute at least, the NoDAKs appear to have blinked, taken a moment to consider some economic incentives, trade even. ========== Ok, lots of words, but how does this tie into the Ukraine situation? 1: Remember when Obama got caught on hot mic with Putin whispering all of the sweet nothings he could do in his second term? -->Clean pass. DJT keeps a line open to Putin-->obviously a puppet. Bullshit; don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. 2: DJT, as I illustrated above, clearly breaks with established geopolitical dogma. And I honestly cannot say that I see the downside, although I will not suggest there won't be a downside ever. Likewise with UKR: he's changing course, and I for one do not see a desirable outcome in the course followed over the last 5 years, so by all means pick another point on the compass and press. Folks (not the least of which Zelenskyy) want to see Putin/Russia defeated/punished/humiliated. And they are willing to spend as much of our treasure and the UKR military aged population to reach their utopian vision. Here's the bottom line, as I see it: Putin/Russia are not going to be defeated/punished/humiliated without a real cost that we will not want to pay, and I just cannot fathom how everyone is ignoring that elephant in the room.

All those are problems that should be fixed, but let's not forget that they were within 100' of their assigned altitude while hand flying at night on NVGs and crossing bridges. Anyone that's flown low level at night on NVGs and always been exactly on altitude, raise your hand..... yeah, that's what I thought. Zero people, ever. Yes, they should have been at their assigned altitude, but the real problem here was the FAA allowing helos to fly directly under landing aircraft. No reasonable person should have looked at that procedure for five seconds and thought that was ok. Maybe that's not what the procedure was designed for, but that is apparently how it was used. Procedures need to be developed with a buffer under the assumption that aircraft will be a little off airspeed/altitude/position without causing a safety of flight issue.

Sigh. Okay, I'll pretend you guys are as dumb as you're pretending to be. Right. So, from the article posted: This is what we call "lying." The official knows damn well that the database hasn't been finalized, because everyone (yes, including you) knows that pictures of the Enola Gay aren't going to be deleted (intentionally). However, a stupid person might not engage their frontal lobe and realize that if you are on a quest to purge the DOD of a decade or so of intersectional nonsense, and you were going to do it in 2025 when you have this neat technology called a "search engine," you would probably search for key words that are heavily associated with DEI initiatives, collect the results into a "database," then go through the database to pick the content that will in fact be deleted. A military officer with the cognitive capacity of a rhesus monkey would realize that the people in charge of this process would definitely search for the word "gay" and get a bunch of DEI nonsense, with, you guessed it, some pictures of the Enola GAY mixed in. But of course, "the official said it’s not clear if the database has been finalized," so until the Enola Gay is actually deleted from the DOD history books, why don't you guys stop acting even dumber than you are and just chill the fuck out. Nah babygirl, you're just so lost in the media-induced desolation over the surprise-domination of the Trump candidacy that you are clinging to anything that feeds your intense desire to have your fears justified. And what would be a more justified fear than watching the history of WWII erased? But just like the Russian pee tape, the not-a-chinese-lab origin of COVID, the Hunter's-laptop-is-fake story, and so many other too-good-to-be-true progressive fever dreams, this one was obviously a nonsense story put out by a desperate journalist feeling completely helpless to stop the erasure of the last 20 years of progressive change. You aren't out, and we both know it. You need this place because you need somewhere to scream into the abyss, but you don't want anyone to know it's you when you do it. It's not a coincidence that all the progressives/liberals/never-trumpers are coming back now that the Boogey Man is back in office.

The what about-ism's gotta stop for the republican party. Admit your fuckup, fire/don't fire and move on. Republicans aren't going to 'win' over mainstream media regardless. They will lose some voters who came over for a change. I love the policies (mostly) so far. This is a massive own goal. Move on. As someone said up higher, we could have told the Houthi's everything and it would have had zero effect on their response.

It would be refreshing to see them say 'we fucked up, shouldn't have happened. Here is what we're doing to prevent it in the future'. The flip flopping of all these admins suddenly caring about security when it suits their side is nauseating.

I hear you brother and there is blame to share but LM does NOT deserve all the blame. As noted, requirements creep and an unrelenting desire to purchase a single airframe for all services that forced multiple comprises, usually without coordination within the service let alone with other services. As an example I was in the five sided funny palace when they discovered the F-35 datalink was incompatible with the F-22 datalink...YGBSM...built by the same company! And for the record, that company tried repeatedly to tell the government it was an issue but got the hand waive from DoD until suddenly it was a crisis. Fat Amy will always get a bad name but behind the green door she is a bad bitch in her mission area. Post merge she is the chick you don't want your friends to see you with, especially when the bar closes and the lights come on. Behind closed doors and pre-merge she will rock your world (sts) like a MILF nymphomaniac who spent time in Thailand. I truly hope everyone continues to underestimate her. For all her incredible capabilities on the classified side, they made huge sacrifices to make a VTOL version. They made even more sacrifices to get the naval variant on the boat while meeting the range requirements...as a result it doesn't even have a gun...didn't we learn that less 50 years ago in Vietnam? Many of the issues are software related and driven by DoD that does not understand AGILE software development. The history of the sausage making behind the scenes is boring yet maddening, the government made it SOOO much harder (sts). Similarly look at the V-22...the Marines ran the program and controlled all the key design and performance requirements which led to many of today's issues. As an example, the rotor disc is not aerodynamically optimized, the diameter should be about 20% larger but it would not fit on the boat so out of the gate a huge sacrifice in performance that impacted every service that flies it. I am certainly not a test pilot but have been told the performance issues like Vortex Ring State are made worse by the reduced optimization of the rotor diameter. All is not doom and gloom, especially with Fat Amy. In reality in most circumstances if a peer or near peer gets to the merge with an F-35....even if the F-35 is flown by a mediocre pilot, something went very wrong. Not saying things don't go wrong, but she is not incapable.

Bet it will combine all the magic of the T-7, 737, kc-46 and rocket programs they've been rocking.

What a ridiculous legal argument. You have to wait until a full trial before the government is allowed to do anything to stop you from breaking the law? So if a cop pulls you over for speeding, 50 mph over the limit, he has to let you keep speeding until you've gone to trial? No. They seize your car for reckless endangerment. You get your car back after your day in court. If I decide to dig a 50-ft wide hole in the middle of the street, the cops can't fill it in until I've had my time in front of a judge? This falls apart immediately upon even the most simple-minded analysis. They may deserve their day in court, but we have no obligation to keep them in our country, which is an active and ongoing violation of the law, until they get their chance. I sincerely hope the Democrats keep hammering away on this issue. They are doing everything in their power to keep Americans on Trump's side.

Stop. You don't know anything about the Army or what an RLO's primary duties are. You don't know what a "normal" amount of flight hours for an Army officer are in right now. You don't know anything about this person. You are pulling your un-informed, vapid internet opinions out of your ass.

I can normally be found hunting ancient artifacts like Indiana Jones....or maybe hanging out with Lara Croft? I do use WeChat during my Shanghai and Guangzhou layovers, so maybe that makes me a CCP associate.

Much of this is self-induced by absurd over-classification. I did a TSP and everyone was told the location was classified. Finance accidentally typed the location into our travel orders and that resulted in their network being isolated for a day while comm went through and did whatever they do to fix that. Obviously finance was even less useful than normal during that time. We were told that we could tell our wives where we were going once we arrived in country. Meanwhile, the local national travel agents on base with zero clearance for anything booked ADVON on commercial flights and emailed us our tickets to the 'classified' location. Then we arrived to a reception of a dozen host country reporters to cover our arrival who had been told a month prior. We had to jump through all sorts of hoops pretending the location was a secret, but everyone knew where we were going and there was no real reason for it to be secret in the first place. Things like this make people desensitized to classified.

Wait... is this an elusive "Hacker spotting"?!?! Kind of like seeing Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster! Or did Chang hack Hacker's account??

Covid lab leak Russia collusion Hunter laptop etc, etc, etc Perhaps there's reason to be skeptical

AQPjqkYADsPNt9nI_LUdigcBGz6doblOkwZlEvBJLfGIMCT5py_evOxJTUay5j_r2bNuDI-qv37G6E1_XMIE3vJv.mp4

Their specialty is passing gas.

Sim Instructor.mp4

If Congress doesn't fix the U-2 divestment really soon, this will likely be the last Beale Airshow with a U-2 flying. Lineup is coming along well, to include TBirds, F-18 TACDEMO, Rob Holland, Aarron Deliu, T-33 Demo, Vicky Benzing. If interested in bringing a static to the party, drop me a note. It should be a large time.

MARSRADIO, the civilian HF service backup to HFGCS enjoyed communicating with Air Force One today. A member of their team, MSGT, was retiring and this was his last flight. Approximate 12 MARSRADIO operators briefly talked to AF1 with best wishes in his retirement after 20 years. “On behalf of Air Force MARSRADIO, we congratulate you on your retirement. We wish you blue skies and clear frequencies in for your future.” (MARSRADIO Squadron Commander) There is increased activity in the western Pacific supporting flights between Hawaii, Guam, Wake Island, Japan and Fiji. We are still optimistic that we will get a remote station in the Mariannas by the middle of the summer. The net averages 20 hours of support daily with calls from around the globe.

This is a great point, once we established air superiority against the Taliban, the Houthis, & HTS we've dominated. That's why Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria are solid victories for the US 🇺🇸 Honorable mention to Libya, Somalia, Mali. And the "all air power no-fly zones" from Iraq in the 90s definitely prevented a decades long ground war. You seem like someone who spent the last 20 years fighting all over the world gaining a wealth of practical combat experience, not at all a new guy.

Or, arguing with you is like playing chess with a pigeon. You just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut around like you won the match. There are more interesting people to converse with here. Though you are occasionally amusing.

The one Zelensky fucked up? I'm one of the more pro-funding-Ukraine people here, but that was an absolute dumpster fire. What did he think his job at that meeting was? Just because your flag is raised to the same height doesn't make you peers with the US. He knew the starting positions of Trump and Vance, and he should have known Trump's disposition towards flatter, and he decided to press. I'm not saying he's factually wrong, but his job at that meeting wasn't to be the debate champion. I wish this was just Trump playing 4D chess to get the Europeans to take over funding Ukraine, but it's not. Trump's first impeachment made Zelensky the enemy, and he's looking for any reason to embarrass him. Zelensky failed the test. However the end result may still be that the Europeans finally take ownership of their sphere of influence.

So a "known racist" has a POV on a topic unrelated to race, and it's "not ideal" that a similar POV aligns with this? What? hope you don't like vegetables, because Hitler liked vegetables and we know how that turned out.

I’ll be as clear as I can. I would absolutely be held to a different standard than leadership. Dick Cheney had evidence manufactured to justify starting Iraq War two, killing hundreds of thousands of people; no consequence. James Clapper lied to the Senate about NSA spying on American citizens; no consequence Drone strike after Abbey gate deaths during Afghan withdrawal, family of 10 murdered; no consequence For those in charge it is, and always will be, rules for thee, not me Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The doubling down on nothing being classified is insane.

who could've seen this coming

Did you watch the testimony this morning? Signal was installed on their computers/phones one day one of the job by the GOVERNMENT. I am certain that came with usage restrictions but still! From an intel perspective the material was not classified, but they drew two very fine distinctions: 1. They CIA/FBI/DNI were not the arbitrator of DoD classified and referred questions to DoD - valid. 2. SECDEF is the declassification source for DoD material (I did not know that). In my mind a crap argument to assert SECDEF can declassify simply by sending...I hope that is not what they are going to argue. Bottomline - if the material was not classified as asserted, publish it for all to see...sunshine is the best disinfectant. If it was classified, do not publish and hold those responsible accountable. Not hard to say unless you are democrat talking about Hillary's private server and 33,000 emails.

I don't know what they did or didn't send over Signal, so couch this in terms of hypotheticals. *IF* actual plans were sent over signal, that's every bit as bad as Hilary's email server. It's sloppy as F and warrants resignations, and criminal charges. If we're gonna hang out to dry airmen who flex on whatever video game crew they play with by sending secret info, we sure as hell are gonna do the same if the SECDEF is being a sloppy MF. That said, it's very likely this is more of the same blue-haired hyperventilating ala "January 6th was a coup d'etat."

To be fair, the previous admin was never at risk of leaking any secret war plans because none were made.

Bud, this isn't that complicated. And you can't just throw quid pro quo around like it's some sort of all-covering Boogeyman. If I pay you to build me a fence, that's a quid pro quo. If instead of giving you money I decide to offer you flying lessons, that's still a quid pro quo. You don't have to like it, but the government is well within its rights to include a certain amount of charity work in exchange for a contract. As long as the law firm has the option to say no, which all the articles you're citing have plenty of examples of law firms that are refusing, then it's not extortion. Where was all the righteous indignation from these law firms when the government was requiring vendors to have a certain number of women or minorities as founders or executives? Suspiciously silent. I have every confidence that a law firm as prestigious as Weiss can survive without federal cheese. And if they can't, like so many other vendors that are about to be DOGE'd, they will adapt or die. This firm chose, voluntarily, to accept the president's offer. His quid pro quo, if you will. 😂 Of course it's not good for the country, but it's just fun watching the progressives roll around on the ground like they're on fire now that their own tactics of the last couple decades are being used against them. They got so comfortable with this one-sided game that they forgot how to lose, and the meltdown has been spectacular.

Epic PA failure here, reservest claiming to be a former SEAL. Don Shipley contacted him and called him out on it. https://videos.extremesealexperience.com/movie_Phony-Navy-Seal-Of-The-Week-Ryan-Jay-Spencer-Youngstown-Air-Reserve-Station

My only thoughts: It was going to burn down eventually. Best to do it on our own timeline with some semblance of a plan. While I don't think everything has been anywhere close to managed effectively in regards to massive cuts, I think it was the necessary shock to attempt to get the country back on track. All media talks about is tariffs we're imposing, no mention of the tariffs that were already imposed on us for a long time. It's going to be ugly but in the end I think it's necessary. Nobody is going to change anyone's thoughts on the internet. Just come here to see somewhat opposing viewpoints of mine. Sadly some of the opposing viewpoints have left and it's a bit of a chamber but

So you're saying that to prevent our pic in the base paper, all we need to do is have a "gay" sign somewhere in the background? Damn, are they going to delete all the Navy pics?

Gangnam style!

Is anyone surprised the organization that made people take photos of their wives off of desks would also over-react here? The DoD only knows bang-bang control logic.

WRT RIFs, the AF keeps forgetting there is a place for iron Capts and Majs. They don't need the shiny jobs and tend to be your best experienced flyers. And they cost less. Efficiency!! Once they become non promotable, the filters drop off their mouths.

@Sua Sponte I know you, dude, and I know you're one of the good guys. I do sincerely hope that you aren't fired and caught up in this churn.

Rather have this dude than DEI Lloyd who fucked away Afghanistan, was in a coma while an active member of the NCA, no strategy on Ukraine, and wore a double Covid mask and face shield while in public.

"If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project will have failed.” Eisenhower in 1951 I saw this morning refusal to refuel USN ships from a Norwegian company https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/01/mike-lee-calls-for-exit-from-nato-after-norwegian-fuel-company-stops-refueling-u-s-military-ships/ I’m not sure the US doesn’t have interests in Europe or should not have some military commitments/alliances but perhaps NATO really has out lived its purpose, perhaps a more focused alliance of the US and perhaps the UK to the nations of Eastern Europe (Poland, Baltics, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece) is realistic and more in our interests. A smaller very mission focused alliance (territorial sovereignty and nothing more) would be more manageable, sustainable and with this membership be more cohesive as these countries would not be at odds with the US in other areas (economics, political differences, strategic areas in other theaters, etc…)

The meme factory is running three shifts

Fine, but I'd also like to Q3 the requirements branch that bought the R model engines without flat bottoms. The AF decided it was cheaper to Q3 people than add some breathing room to landing a, looks at calendar, 80 year old airplane. So if we hold the pilots responsible than I also want everyone else in the stupidity tree to be held to the same standard.