Standby

SECDEF said on the first day that his #1 priority was the pandemic. This shit shouldn’t shock anybody.

I think I’ll be in a minority who disagrees with most of his points and find them hypocritical at times. 1. The military “sold” winning comm because all metrics were cherry-picked to meet the talking points of the administrations. Ask your average O-3 on the battlefield what the gameplan and military objective in AFG should be…probably the best strategy and would have yielded appropriate military successes. 2. Scaling down our forces while also saying we’d lose a near-peer fight…brilliant! We’ll just wait until shit hits the fan to activate our woke Army so they can sling words of affirmation and inclusion at the bayonet-fixed Chinese. 3. I’ve heard SEVERAL intelligent Marines (yes, they do exist…) say that Berger has irreparably damaged The Corps. Going to take their word and not dive deeper into this matter right now. 4. Letting our guys close with and kill the enemy requires you to trust the battlefield commanders…don’t handcuff them with bullshit ROE.

I recently read a scientific journal that said while the niche (alleged)delta variant is extremely lethal, the ranger variant is equally deadly due to its ability to spawn many more replications at high rate of movement. Unfortunately, the hearts and minds of the local fighters got in the way of widespread death.

Given that news, it makes PERFECT sense now. If I was a C-17 pilot, I too would be reluctant to put my gear down because the possibility of having to subsequently raise it and entrap some coward running away from his country may get trapped in it. Too soon?

I should have typed my OP in sarcasm font, that’s my b.

I don’t fault the military personalities who were given the bullshit task from on high. Most, in my opinion, were superb leaders but forced to feed poop sandwiches with PB&J labels on them. The military doesn’t decide when we go to war, but we definitely ought to have the right to decide how and where we do it. Senior military officials were given the keys to a Ferrari and told that it couldn’t be started and must be pushed everywhere. Final point: mission creep and the lack of a military objective. Not enough of one, and plenty of the other.

On the subject of cost: Afghanistan proved to be the worlds largest live fire range. Not sure what 20 years of continuous, largely uninterruptible hot range time would cost in the US (let alone the lobbying required amongst the DC elites)…but surely more expensive than staying CONUS, right?

A lot of people placing blame on senior military leaders who’ve commanded in the last two decades. There are always things to bitch about in war, but my perspective was always that our civilian leadership was to blame. Tried to straddle the middle ground which muddied the waters and then emplaced overly restrictive ROEs further cheapening efforts.

Investigating the heroes who went deep into the shit on the inverse of “Night 1” would be like not offering a bonus to a bunch of AF wide body, multi-engine jet pilots during a pre-emergent airline hiring boom who already probably leaning out the door. Wait, shit…

Can’t wait for the value-added comments he’ll provide. I get hard thinking about the heroism and “get it done” shit that’s occurred in past couple of days. Bravo Zulu to everybody actually getting it done.

When you have medical institutions listing cause of death as COVID, when in fact it was the fall and subsequent slide off their motorcycle into a guardrail…ya, I will rely on personal experience over some sensationalized and manipulated data set.

It’s also prudent to consider how the average person is affected by COVID, an that is certainly not it.

Too much media bias these days to trust any sort of alleged statistic. For reference, I’m in the under 50 demographic. I have 0 friends or acquaintances that have been hospitalized (let alone died) from COVID that are in the same age group. I recently met a three star who had a little over 40k active duty troops under his command. Of those, 0 deaths and approximately 300 that required SOME form of medical care. I’m not claiming this virus doesn’t kill people. I’m also not arguing against the effectiveness of the vaccine in potentially easing severe symptoms. I do find it odd, however, that none of my other family members or friends personally know of anybody in the typical MAM (military age male) demographic. I realize I’m one of millions, but I find it hard to believe that this is a matter of national security considering the generally short-lived nature of the virus for younger folks coupled with the lack of significant medical care required to bounce back. As mentioned earlier, hard for me to trust statistics these days, but combing through multiples sources: less than 50 deaths in our force from COVID. Let’s not compare that to our suicide and motor vehicle accident rate though…

Keep the bonus money AND get to the airlines earlier? That would definitely be a pro Air Force move.

My wife and I along with another couple are going to be there all weekend. We’re renting an RV and they are bringing their airstream. Got two spots at one of the RV grounds about 15 minutes away. If anybody else is attending we should setup a little BO meet.

Anybody going to the COTA race?

Huggy I’m surprised you didn’t know...he’s one of us now!

Nope. And nope for Navy/Marine at Vance. You’re best bet is to grow a mustache, become fluent in Italian, and start smoking heavily...then go to Sheppard.

Thank me later: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

If you’re a T-1 stud: 69% chance of a C-17 then rest is 1-2 AFSOC, couple wide body ISR, rest tankers. If you’re a T-38 stud with a pulse (even if it’s faint) probably a Viper but 33.3% repeating chance of a 5th gen; the other 1-3 studs will get a bomber. If you’re at Laughlin, 87% chance you get FAIPd. Better yet, if you’re at Vance or Columbus...you could FAIP to XL!

My googling has been limited, but why get the vaccine if you’ve already had the virus? CDC has no clue how long the vaccine will remain effective and has no clue how long the antibodies from COVID exposure will be retained by the body. Is it just to be extra “safe”?

Clearly this a polarizing issue and there’s only one way to truly solve this. SUPER DRINK OFF!

I heard that’s how you catch bass. Or was it bass?

“You’ve got to think of your own health, which is really very important, but you got to think about your societal obligation, including people close to you personally as well as other members of families of other individuals,” Fauci said. You’re coming in broken and stupid, say again.