DUNBAR

I'm not certain how flippantly or seriously I'm taking my analogies, but I do know that with each passing month, this COVID thing makes my head explode, especially now that we're re-masking on base. I don't know how anyone can be contemptuous or condescending to non-vaxxers. Considering the survival rate of the actual virus for healthy people under the age of 70, and considering the track record of the science/government/media conglomeration of "experts", everyone should think long and hard about electing to get vaccinated. We can all compose a laundry list of examples in which something went very wrong with scientific "expertise", whether it be the imminent ice age of the 1970s, thalidomide, or the pitiful track record on COVID. ("Masks won't help! It's not an airborne virus! COVID won't be a big deal! The flu will be worse! There's no way it came from a lab! Yes it did! No it didn't! You should wear two masks! If you get vaccinated, you won't ever need a mask! Yes you will!" ) On and on it goes. And yes, I have been vaccinated, as has my family (and that second shot was not fun). I especially cannot understand the mindset of those who demand more lockdowns, mandatory vaccinations, and masks for elementary school kids. Everything in life is a risk/cost/benefit trade-off, and the world has gone so far off the deep end with this COVID thing that it's incomprehensible. Why not ban air travel? People die! Reduce the highway speed limit to 45! Ban swimming pools! And alcohol! And make sure your kindergartner is wearing two masks on the playground! No, wait! Ban playgrounds! Utter madness.

Regarding crossing the street, I'm fairly certain getting hit by a truck doesn't have a 99% survival rate if you're <70 years old.

Thanks Jon 2.375% almost seems too good to be true, but I guess that's the world we live in now. Thanks again

Hello to all. This thread has been really great info, and thanks to all who keep the information flowing, especially the real estate professionals. I think this thread saved me thousands of dollars when we first bought our house. I'm now 7 years into a 30 year VA fixed at 3.5%. My mortgage company called me today to offer me a VA IRRRL fixed at 2.375% for the balance of the loan with minimal closing costs. Seems like a no-brainer, but whenever someone offers to save me a lot of money out of the blue, my first question is how much is it going to cost me. Looking over the documents, everything seems legit. Any red flags or hidden costs I should watch for? Thanks in advance.

I think we're really missing the most noteworthy part of that AFPC news release. Specifically, there is actually a duty title called "Chief of Workforce Development for the Air Force Talent Management Innovation Cell." I wonder if there's a Deputy Chief as well.

I'd love to hear more thoughts/insights/experiences with Tricare Standard supplements. I've had one through my employer for approximately 6 months and I'm about ready to ditch it, but I want to ensure I'm not missing anything. Most of the retirees in my office said they had a supplement at one time and eventually cancelled it with no regrets. Right now I'm paying $165/mo (approx. $2K/year) in premiums for a family of 4. There is also a deductible of $200/family that needs to be met, so I'm guaranteed $2,200/year out of pocket. If I understand Tricare Standard, the catastrophic cap is $3k, so the most a supplement could ever benefit me in a year is $800. That's during a very bad year health-wise. During a "good" year, with nothing but sniffles coughs and physicals, without a supplement I suspect I'd be paying about $400 in various co-pays, at which point my Tricare supplement is costing me lots of money. I'm also factoring in the irritation of constantly chasing down people to get them to pay medical bills of $19, $32, $16, etc. Not worth the time and aggravation. Finally, I know there are a lot of Tricare Standard supplements that don't cover "pre-existing conditions." Mine does, but what a rip-off that would be. Anyway, sorry to yammer but I think it's a pretty important topic.

As much as I'd like to think the national anthem disrespect is driving fans away, I suspect the real issues are the officiating and the TV commercials. The NFL, unlike all the other major sports, is ridiculously vulnerable to the subjectivity of the officials. Crucial personal fouls, 60 yard pass interference plays, drive-killing holding calls, 10 minutes under the hood trying to figure out what a catch is....it's maddening. Entire games are decided by the refs. The TV commercials are ridiculous, and the Netflix generation is simply not going to sit through 25 minutes of Verizon, Coors and Viagra commercials every hour. I won't watch an NFL game unless I give it a 40 minute "head start" with the DVR.

I wonder if there's a Deputy Assistant Vice Chief of Staff.

Very important thread topic, thanks for starting it. I just finished my disability claims process and it seems my experience was pretty similar: - As part of the retirement/separation process, you should go to the medical records section on base and request an electronic copy of your records. If memory serves it takes about 4-6 weeks, so start early. - My VA disability claim was generated by an AMVETS counselor. It literally took 2 months to get an appointment, so once again, start early - Your records will be delivered on a disc. If you've never seen an electronic version of your medical records, it is astounding. Everything is typed, indexed, organized...truly top notch. - The AMVETS counselor did everything for me. I just had to bring basic records (bank routing info, proof of marriage/children). The appointment took less than an hour. - We kind of went around in circles regarding who does the separation physical (flight medicine or the VA--the process keeps changing). Ultimately the VA did the physical via one of their local contractors. - The VA E-Benefits website is very good for tracking what's going on with your claim. I actually called one day and a counselor told me it would take about 7 months to process my claim, but ultimately it only took 4 months. - If you read up on VA disability and concurrent receipt (receiving 100% of your military retirement while drawing your full VA benefit), you realize it is a very, VERY good deal, provided your final disability rating is 50% or higher.

Isn't there some kind of "soldiers and sailors relief act" or some such thing that says credit card companies can't charge active duty personnel annual fees? I thought it was too good to be true but I remember AMEX refunded me 18 years worth of annual dues (somewhere around $750?) when I applied for it. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the refund on my statement but it was real.

Housing around Langley can definitely be tough for families with kids in school. Smithfield and Carrolton are viable options; you will definitely get more bang for your housing dollar out there. You will have to commute across the James River bridge, which can be annoying but it's manageable. Take a hard look at the public schools out there. I don't know much about them, but I think they are pretty good and getting better every year. Happy hunting.

Minor clarification: York Country School District has the reputation for great public schools. York County is comprised of several systems, including Tabb, Grafton, York and Bruton. You can procure details from websites like greatschools.org/ Some other good school districts are in Poquoson, Williamsburg (some) and then if you want to endure the commute, VA Beach and Chesapeake have some reputable schools as well.

Does anyone know what percentage of rated officers make O-6 with no command experience? Sincere question, I genuinely don't know.

When a chaplain recommended "Unbroken" to me, I was pretty skeptical. I felt like I just didn't need to hear any more about all the brutality of WW2, and the whole notion of the book seemed like a snooze. Wow was I wrong. Please read this book if you get the chance. You can tell I feel strongly about it, as I have sacrificed my vaunted "69 posts" status in order to recommend it.

"A MIG-21 would hopelessly whip an F-35??" Yowza.

"I'm out meow"? Spellcheck really does hate us.

Sometimes leadership means simply having the courage not to change everything for the sake of change.

I would be interested in any insights or comments from folks with direct experience working at or with AFPC regarding Tony's article. I suspect there is much more plain old incompetence at work than evil Orwellian conspiracies.

In preparation for future 4-star lurking, please ensure future posts are properly formatted. A template is provided: BLUF: BACKGROUND: COAs: WAY AHEAD AND DATA POINTS:

If only we as an Air Force could attain the same level of clarity and transparency for force shaping as we've achieved for cuff links.

This is what I was yammering about back on thread page 46. The E-SERB eligibility matrix makes absolutely no sense.

The E-SERB vulnerable year groups are primarily in the 2002-2004 range. I thought the idea of a "SERB" is retirement, so one would think the year groups would be 1992-1994ish. Are they using date of rank? A monumental typo perhaps? What madness is this?

I thought your RDTM is just a 2 letter designation that AFPC uses to track which tribe you belong to per your MWS. If memory serves KC-135 folks are FA, KC-10 are FC, or some such thing. Another interesting aspect in all of this is the year groups for the major E-SERB don't make any sense. This is an early retirement program and they're identifying vulnerable year groups as 2002,2003, etc, WTF?

During our mass brief last week our 3 star said that even if/when our funding is hunky-dory for the next year or 2, the AF expects things will be even more gruesome in the subsequent years, and they just want to take our lumps now and be done with it.

Anyone have any insights into the newly enhanced E-SERB? I guess it's limited now to certain career fields TBD?