Leaderboard

Oil pissing contest aside, Iran has brought death, destruction, and/or destabilization to most of the world for many decades. They are, and have been, wildly dangerous for a long time. It’s a failure that nothing with teeth behind it had been done about it decades ago. So while execution is never perfect, and there are valid critiques, it’s asinine to act like the status quo (or similar version) was doing just fine. War is ugly and unwanted, but it will continue to be necessary and unavoidable for the rest of human existence on this planet.

Some of us believe that expensive gas and unstable markets are worth it to move the pieces on the board for the inevitable war with China. Apparently some of the Trump admin, including Trump himself, agrees. I'll judge the effort once it's done, or at least a few months in, but if it works, then yeah, easily worth it. Seriously though, noble deaths? Who's the child now? We all signed up to die for causes that were too big for us to understand as 18 years olds. Now you should know better.

Hopefully it was off the Grand canyon..

I’m not getting the alarmism from the media.. it’s from your post: “It is completely conceivable they would strike us, Israel or Europe first with a nuclear weapon in an unattributable manner.“ No it’s actually not. Why do you just take that as a given? North Korea has nukes now, why haven’t they funneled one to a terror organization and blown up Seoul or Tokyo or NYC? Because it would be obviously attributable.. you think if a nuke goes off in Tel Aviv and because the terrorists that hypothetically did it weren’t draped in Iranian flags it’s some giant mystery where they got it from? Did they get it from France? Of course it’s attributable. These regimes want the nukes as a deterrent and tool to ensure their own survival. You think they’d spend all that time and energy to make one and then give it away to some 3rd party who may or may not even set it off properly? You guys act like all these countries are lunatic isis-style suicidal head choppers but they actually spend most of their time acting in their own rational self interest. And the whole point is moot because our own intel community assessed they weren’t building a bomb but clearly we’re gonna keep ignoring that.. This hypothetical nuke situation is all just another GWOT WMD pretext for war and maybe you don’t watch Fox News but somehow the Mark Levin boomer talking points have filtered down to you through the algorithm. Netanyahu has been saying Iran is weeks/months from a nuke since the 1990s. You can find the compilations on YouTube.

No, I don't think that would work. But I think you're close. This idea of yours needs to happen where the major airline hubs are. That's where you could find cfis with military experience and a general willingness to fly for money. I can think of a lot of guys at American Airlines who would love to moonlight teaching the next generation, as long as it didn't take away from their lives in the same way that all the other Air Force /guard/reserve duties do. Pay for a retired or separated Air Force pilot working at the airlines to get their CFII, and then give them a decent "per day" pay for showing up and flying two or three student rides. Do it like the Air Force academy liaison program and allow them to accrue time towards retirement, but no official Air Force pay. You get the idea. That would end up being wildly cheaper than active duty pilots at an active duty base teaching, but you could get that military-esque training. Just a thought

There is a much bigger picture going on here and all actions point to neutering and cornering China in the long run. Russia is depleting its military on its own, Venezuela got the message, Cuba can’t turn their lights on and the Iranian regime will collapse. It’s fascinating watching nearly the entire Middle East come down on Iran. It wasn’t long ago when Iran held the cards via their proxies. The Middle East isn’t what it once was. Those of us that have been vacationing on the Air Force’s dime in the ME for a couple decades have seen the transformation. The most modern cities in the world are now in the Middle East. This war with Iran has been extremely uncomfortable to watch unfold. Servicemen and women have given their lives. The markets are getting crushed - although today looks promising. But, I’m ok with it understanding the bigger picture. This administration is tackling long lingering complex problems. It’s needed to be done for a very long time.

Huh? 140Million barrels of Iranian oil are stranded at sea. the sanctions are to bring that oil to market. It is useless to engage the trolls, there is no discussion because they are single minded in their hate. Most of us have repeatedly said we don't like many things trump but he has done good things...no one is perfect, most certainly not our politicians. I saw what was in my opinion both good and bad with Biden/Obama/Bush/Clinton and was intellectually honest to admit those things. As most on this forum are in or were in the profession of arms it is stunning to find zero value in degrading and hopefully removing the single biggest purveyor of death and instability in the Middle East. The number of American lives lost or changed forever thanks to Iran should never be forgotten. If there is some short-term pain at the pump/economy to perhaps stabilize the Middle East and remove the biggest exporters of terror in the world, then I most certainly approve. Time will tell but at this point trying something different appears to be better than doing the same old thing like flying $1.6 billion in cash to Iran.

Yeah, this is exactly the point. Except your contention that they aren't a bunch of irrational head choppers is mostly unsupported. They have repeatedly and continually acted in a way that is only rational if you truly believe the United States was never going to respond. As demonstrated over the past few weeks, they are powerless against us. And yet for decades they have targeted and slaughtered Americans whenever they could. In fact if you listen to the entire podcast Coleman covers a multitude of attacks that are clearly insane for the Iranians to have attempted. And yet they did. So yes, the evidence suggests that they are in fact irrational head choppers. And those irrational head choppers can never have a nuclear deterrent. So long as they are irrational head choppers, we must retain the ability to stomp them whenever their antics exceed our patience. Enriching uranium to 60% obviously indicates the desire for nuclear weapons. We need not wait any longer than that to act against those goals. We certainly don't need to wait until they are at some arbitrary point much closer to a nuclear capability. There is not another country on planet Earth that regularly conducts government proceedings after proclaiming "Death to America" loudly and publicly. Why people keep pretending that Iran is just like our other adversaries is a mystery to me.

That’s civil lawsuit against the cops and AI company is going to be sweet.

I don’t think we are getting sucked in as much as we didn’t have a choice. Iran having nuclear weapons is not acceptable in any scenario, it is different than NK, Pakistan or Turkey developing nukes. Not only would they still hold at risk the Strait of Hormuz, they would still command some of the largest oil reserves and now a military capability that effectively holds at bay or at risk the world. They would have the means to if not push us out of the ME effectively, severely limit our options, if they developed a nuclear weapons capability. They are completely capable of nuclear terror, feigning innocence or ignorance if a weapon was used. It is completely conceivable they would strike us, Israel or Europe first with a nuclear weapon in an unattributable manner. Russia and China may be enjoying seeing the USA get into a fight with Iran and I wouldn’t intervene if I were them but we are not them. We occupy a totally different role in this drama, they can and will do things that we won’t because they, the mafia regime running Russia or the cult of personality running China, are the bad guys for lack of a better term. These are countries that might poison you with radioactive materials if the leader doesn’t like you or assign you to be worked to death and steal your organs if they want to. We are not perfect and neither are our leaders but by any measure we are more good than bad. I don’t like the fact that we secure a world that a lot of preening, hypocritical assholes free ride on and enjoy the benefits of while not doing shit but it is preferable to a world where China controls micro chips, Iran controls or threatens half of the worlds oil supply and Russia has retaken Eastern Europe. They will use that leverage to push us out, choke our economy and weaken us in ways we are not really widely thinking of. Chinese diplomats in unguarded moments have told American diplomats they wish to deindustrialize the USA, to turn us into an agrarian nation that supplies China and is essentially a vassal to it. Fuck that. Iran is part of the strategy to defeat that, not only for us but the free world and allies, as fair weather friends as some of them might be. We all have bitter memories of the GWOT, other long term missions or actions taken in the ME, we can legitimately be wary but we must be open that force is required yet again. The Korean War happened only 5 years after WW2, I’m sure the public was not happy with another war after fighting in the most destructive conflict ever but history waits for no one and reality is utterly remorseless, either we fight our enemies or we let them take what they want of the world.

100% This is gonna get blown up into a controller/FAA manning issue (as it should) but a huge portion of the responsibility shared by the fire truck crew is going to be lost on most people. Nothing against our emergency response folks but anyone who’s been a pilot long enough knows they kinda blast around airfields with very little regard for clearances. In the few times where I have ground egressed a jet, my primary concern after getting out was not being hit by a firetruck. And they aren’t pilots so they’re not going to have the same mental picture we might have after listening to a tower freq for a minute or two. I hope this incident prompts more airfield ops training for emergency crews because in my experience their shenanigans on the airfield and generally garbage comms tend add more chaos to emergency situations than they alleviate.

One of my biggest issues with the current administration is their attacks on free press. We've all seen Trump's contempt for new organizations that attack him and while some of what they say is not true...the same goes for many things he says. There is a reason freedom of the press is in the First Amendment...the founders thought it was that important. As Edmund Burke stated, the Press is the 4th estate...a final check and balance outside the control of the government. Current efforts by this administration are horrific and I hope the courts continue to punch them in the face. For those not following the story below, Hegseth tried to limit which press organizations could freely roam the halls of the Pentagon...sounds odd but it has been going on for years and if you know anything about the Pentagon it is normal to see Barbara Star and others standing in line to get coffee or lunch down stairs. A federal Judge struct down previous restrictions so Hegseth is doubling down and moving EVERYONE outside...very ungood. The Pentagon Imposes New Restrictions on Journalists

Odd angle to see for the Firetruck but I am the only one that thinks the have some responsibility as well? I ALWAYS check final when cleared for takeoff and check both ways when cleared to cross.

The U.S. restricts Iranian oil sales primarily through heavy financial and shipping sanctions, targeting foreign banks, shipping companies, and refiners that buy from Iran to cripple its economy. These measures, often utilizing secondary sanctions, essentially cut Iran off from the global financial system and tanker services, though occasional temporary waivers (like the 2026 30-day waivers for stranded oil) are used for global price stabilization. Secondary Sanctions: The U.S. threatens to penalize third-party countries and companies—notably in China—that purchase Iranian oil or petroleum products. Banking Restrictions: Sanctions prevent Iran from accessing international financial systems, making it difficult to process payments for oil sales, often forcing the use of illicit networks. Shipping & Tanker Bans: The U.S. targets the national tanker company of Iran (NITC) and forces shipping insurance providers (like the International Group of P&I Clubs) to deny coverage for vessels carrying Iranian oil. Maximum Pressure Campaign: Sanctions target Iran's petrochemical and energy sectors directly, focusing on closing off all avenues for revenue.

We need a pause on legal migration, this is not working as intended https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2026/03/20/give-us-your-tired-your-poor-yourfreebies-nearly-half-of-us-immigrant-households-on-welfare-n2200446

This forum still needs a TDS button.........

US removes sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil Just like we planned it...

Doing this during the trail is hilarious - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4AiuqQpB1U

The welfare/administrative state must be shrunk by at least 50-75% The GOP should run an ad campaign with two tax scenarios for the average tax payer, one funding the beast of bloated social services and one with very modest social programs where welfare returns to the churches and local civic societies thru individual donations Ask the voter what do you want, aloof bureaucrats wasting your money in utopian schemes to address aspects of free societies that are features not bugs that can’t be solved only treated or you deciding how much and where you want part of your income to go to benevolent efforts?

I've gotten into the habit of twisting my entire body towards the window and looking as far back over the wing as I can when visually clearing. I find that the physical movement makes the action take approximately 2 to 3 seconds as opposed to maybe half a second just quickly turning my head in that direction and back. Makes it a lot harder to "pencil whip" the act and miss something because my mind is on another task. Basically the same idea as pointing to or physically touching the altitude window when confirming an altitude clearance. Makes it a lot harder to miss any errors when you add an exaggerated physical component.

Being a ground pounder with many miles under me on aerodromes I'm blaming the firetruck driver, many times I have been cleared to cross, and many times with a jet on final. Nothing beats an eyeball looking down the active before crossing after getting clearance. A few of those times I had a jet hooked to my uke getting clearance to cross.

Well survived where flying dreams go to die (MFS) for the second time. Im glad I did my FC1 two years ago cuz my eyes arent getting any better. Hoping whatever my assignment is its soon. Had a handful of the UCT and OTS reclass folks here as well.

I was SCREAMED at on SATCOM by the JFAC himself (Moseley), for going below 10K in 2002 to get below weather and support a TIC.

I have zero desire for the Iranian regime having any bargaining power WRT nukes, or anything military related for that matter. That goes for any other regime that executes the atrocities that Iran does. Believe it or not I signed up specifically to do what we're doing right now.

The intelligence community doesn't have a great track record of knowing when a country is close to getting nuclear weapons: At 1:21:00 Coleman covers the many failures, but the whole debate is good. Literally no country has ever refined uranium to 60% and not been working on getting nuclear weapons.

Maybe it's because I don't watch any major news outlets...in fact it probably is precisely because of that...I haven't heard the above said even once. Have you considered that maybe you're allowing yourself to get jacked around by the media outrage coupled with the active disinformation that accompanies all armed conflicts? I'll grant that Trump is a loose cannon when he's in the media spotlight, which I think makes everything worse. I won't rule out the possibility that he INTENDS to be a loose cannon when in the media spotlight, but that doesn't really matter. In any case, spare the outrage and acting like you see something no one else does. There's already enough whiplash going around. Send your letters to congress and the president when the 82nd is actually ordered to invade. (which btw, I've already started drafting now that they've been given a WARNORD to deploy. Not happy about that)

Russia and China were well aware that our military is dope before we showed it off yet again. This isn’t some “oh shit” moment for them. They’re patiently watching, collecting valuable intel, and they’re celebrating that every JASSM, MOP, TLAM, PrSM, and high end interceptor missile used against Iran is one less we have for an eventual fight with them. We moved CSGs, marines, fighter squadrons, patriot and THAAD batteries, and countless weapons from other AORs to the Middle East and I’m supposed to believe this makes our force posture toward China stronger?! Our resources are vast, but not infinite, and everything you expend against a second rate regional power is stuff you won’t have to fight against the big dog. Also agreed, Iran with a nuke is not a good thing, but as I posted earlier, our own intelligence community assessed they were not trying to build one as recently as this past year. Which I guess is just an inconvenient fact that we’re gonna continue to gloss over. Then we “obliterated their nuclear program” in midnight hammer but now suddenly there’s an imminent nuclear threat of the bomb we already assessed they weren’t making, then “obliterated” … So what the fuck are we even talking about? This is all boomer GWOT Fox News alarmism. “IF WE DONT ACT NOW THEYRE GONNA NUKE TEL AVIV OR NYC NEXT WEEK.” How do you guys not see this is just the same old script the establishment uses to sell every war?

Was always a huge concern in the Gunship, especially in our Hot Cargo area which could be very dark and isolated. I always briefed the crew, especially new folks, a plan to move away from responding firetrucks in case of an emergency. On more than one occasion a crew dog was nearly run over by an emergency vehicle.

No. They really aren't. They're happy to see us step on our crank, but they're also very not happy to see how lethal our forces can be when partially unleashed. Russia in particular is very unhappy with the results of their own air and EW defenses. China, well, best indications are that China's leadership doesn't actually comprehend what our absolute and lightning fast decimation of Iran's defenses really means for their Taiwan plans. I'm willing to bet the rank-and-file PLA get's it, but the one-man command structure probably doesn't. Is the US stepping in it right now? Yup. Is it really hurting our strategic capabilities? Not unless we commit conventional ground troops.

ELT

Probably Regime alter Venezuela, regime change Cuba, keep pressure on Mexican cartels, keep Russia from taking more of Ukraine, make amends with Canada & Europe, build an asymmetric thread to hold at risk a cross Taiwan strait invasion from multiple axes… secure the greater peace with strategic blocking moves.

Talking with a controller friend, it's not all that uncommon for that time of night. Technically two controllers "on duty," with one off status resting while one controls the entire show. I know I've been at the busy early morning push in EWR and we couldn't raise anyone on clearance for a full route clearance. Jumped over the ground and the controller apologized, "I'm the only one here right now." Dude was reading full route clearance after full route clearance, then asking guys to read back only their squawk, because he was busty issuing taxi clearances. I assume he was issuing T/O and LND clearances as well, but I wasn't on that freq. Our controller staffing hasn't recovered from the hiring freeze during rona, among other reasons... I still have no idea why they won't accept military controllers who over >30, seems like they're leaving out some qualified candidates. Relatively small pool, but seems like a terrible policy with the current shortages.

Totally valid point, in my fever dream this basic flight training would be on an AF base(s) or a flight college(s) Uncle Sam would buy

Was landing FA was thrown 330 feet from aircraft and survived with only broken leg.

Pilot confirmed dead, looking at the front of the plane hard to believe others didn't perish. The ATC audio is very telling...Even when cleared to cross I still visually check.

nice AI copy and paste. the actual license is here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/935376/download?inline of note, it allows the US to import Iranian oil (😂) and China is not restricted from purchasing per the license

Huh? When did I say they would stop attacking? I believe we fully expect them to continue to attack, which is why we have destroyed their big Navy and are currently waging a campaign against their swift boats...You might have heard A-10, Apaches and other assets are now in that fight. We have also shifted the air campaign to attacking launch sites and storage for anti-ship capabilities. The price of oil is just as much perception as it is supply. Selling 140 Million barrels will have a small part on both factors. The real issue as BOTH sides know is getting ships flowing through the straight. Killing the swift boats and launchers is part two, a coalition (which it appears is now forming), to sweep the mines is the final stage.

100% and what these nutbags above fail to mention is the U.S. is blocking Iran from receiving the funds for the sale. The move helps stabilize the price of oil, specifically blocks the sale to China, North Korea and Cuba, deprives Iran of the revenue...sounds like 3D chess to me.

New York spent $81,000 per homeless person last year and will spend more this year. It's the duty of every patriotic New Yorker to give their money to the state to not solve this problem but feel good about "doing something."

I'll hop in on the fun 26-07 Drop 2 x MC130 3 x RC135 EWO 3 x F15E 1 x C130H (Guard) 1 x RPA 1 x B52

Point of order… body cams like dash cams have been more of an assist to police in action than they ever have to finding the bad apples and line cops have wanted them for years. Dash cams were a godsend as well. A whole lot of videos stopped or corrected legal action in complaints by people because they closed the your word vs mine problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

Maybe reform is needed for cops, but reforming society is the only real fix. I don’t envy these guys’ operating environment one bit - between a rock and a hard place is a major understatement. That said, I know power tripping asshole cops are out there, who give little fucks about treating people like shit and misrepresent situations to justify their actions. I also don’t believe those guys are the majority.

VIDEO-2026-03-23-11-05-05.mp4 Discretion if you need it.