Catbox

Did you see or hear the excitement last night?

I'm trying this from my phone so not sure if the link will work A word of caution... this pic will infuriate you (no gore) Try again https://twitter.com/GlennRubin/status/325152817599901696/photo/1

He's not sh**ing folks. Thats somthing I would expect to see in Baghdad or Kabul.

very cool, airlifter...thanks for laying it out like that. exactly the logic I was looking for.

Thanks for the inputs... To clarify: I already met the the in zone board so my chances of making O5 are 0.69%. If offered continuation I will gladly accept it.

I just received an email from finance that because of my entry date I am eligible for a $30,000 Career Status Bonus (CSB) because I am entering my 15th year and I entered the service during the REDUX years (40%x High3) I have the choice to turn down the Bonus and be on the High 3 plan (50%xHigh3). Ordinarily, I would opt for the High 3 plan and reject the bonus...that said... If the AF decides to non-continue twice passed over Majors like they did in 2011, (which I think is about a 30% possibility in 2013-an educated guess only, I have nothing to back this up) and I reject the CSB then I am basically giving up 30000 that I could use for any number of things (almost 100% savings for now). Plus I would not have any retirement to look forward to in 5+ years. There would be the severance package of roughly $100,000 if I'm not continued and 30% on top of that sounds like a pretty good deal. Thoughts? Anyone ever take the CSB?

Thank you both very much...Motrin that was exactly what I saw this morning and appreciate having the text to refer to. Essentially my uric acid levels are naturally out of whack and while I'm on a med called Urocit-K (just pottasium citrate, same as in old fashioned cokes as I understand it) everything with my renal function is normal. One of the main issues that I've had with this is that I have probably seen 5 different urologists, both military and civillian. The civillain guys think its no big deal, the military guys can't ever imagine me sitting on an airplane again. Each one of them seems to have a different take on what would work, be it diet, meds, water, beer (yes beer was an official remedy perscribed by a doc in Germany) and often the completely contradict what a previous doc said. This most recent med seems to be working to keep me healthy and hopefully its enough to convince the SG that I can in fact do my job. I've got a great flight doc who is more than happy to press ahead with this which is a great first step. thank you again....

Hopefully we haven't chased away all the Docs and Med pros here yet because I could use some bro to bro advice. After 3 bouts of kidney stones and working through the Aeromedical Review Board at Brooks I was taken off of flying status in 2010. A decent flight doc gave me some "off the record" advice that if I was symptom free for 2 years she would start the process again. 2+ years later I'm making those initial forays into getting back to flying. This is the question...the AFI (and I apologize I'm not sure which one because I just looked at excerpts that the Doc had printed out and didn't catch the number) says in a table that multiple occurrences of kidney stones is not waiverable. However in another section the AFI says that 13 people have re-applied for flight status after having stones and 5 have been approved. Obviously this tells me there is some gray area that the AFI does not cover. Since gray area is usually up to interpretation is there any way to better make my case to the Techs, Docs and reviewers who will be looking at my condition and history? I'm happy to email, PM any relevant info if you have it...and I will ship beer across the country for help.

But you were best man at the wedding right? I've heard AK message boards were pretty tight groups of freinds.

Oh come on, our only problem is we have no sense of our own legacy and history, no idea where we are going in the future, subject to ridicule at all levels of government, our swaggering bomber and fighter pilot leaders with natural talents have been exchanged for a long string of cooperate types who still bow to things like TQM (or whatever the latest iteration of it is titled)...leaders who yearn for fashionable new uniforms above all else. If that’s all we have to worry about, we surely can tell the Marines how to do their mission. Seriously though, thanks for your take...the deployment time issue and the self-contained package is not something I'd considered. Still not sold but it does make sense.

But if they are buying the C model anyways, why the need for special amphibious operations? Can the amphibious ships get in closer to where the traditional MAGTF guys are going to be operating than a normal full up carrier? Agree because like I said, I honestly have no idea how the Marines expect to operate their jets but their requirements (which I don't think have been very well spelled out except for the "nice to have" argument) has seriously impacted the AF and the roll out of our new material. $160 million for the AF base model...B model is $240 million. Several edits later: I'm new at the internet.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/19/marine-corps-forms-squadron-to-fly-new-next-generation-strike-fighter-jet/?test=latestnews The Marines just broke ground on their first F-35 squadron at Yuma with flights planned before the end of the year. After all the ass-pain of the VSTOL variant, I'm curious if there as any real tactical viability (or even need) to operate from "unimproved surfaces at austere bases" and special amphibious landing ships (although I've heard the Marines are going to have to operate some C models because of their fleet commitments to the Navy). After 30 years with the Harrier has this tactical need shown itself enough to go through all the trouble we are going through with this specific model of the F-35? Do they really put everything they need launch fighters (fuel, MX, etc...) at austere bases? I have a couple of friends who are with the F-35 test squadrons and they say that the plane is a very capable platform but that the B model issues have had a major impact on the entire program. Just throwing this out there because I honestly have no idea but have my doubts...

Who is John Galt?

Slow down, slow down...

I had two LTs go through this board and I think its safe to say that no one in my entire chain really understood how this Captain's board was going to work, so I think speculating at how an ABZ board to Capt would affect you in the long term is exactlay that; speculating. However I will say that I have known a small number of guys get picked up for LtCol above the zone and one of them even got selected for O-6 when he was in the zone. Keep at it, slog through this knee deep BS as long as you possibly can.

I had no idea Rich was so young...a sincere thankyou for everything that BO.net was intended to be and everything it has become.

I know a guy who did exactly this. He SIE'd from ROTC summer camp and about a minute after signing the paperwork he realized he screwed up. Soon after he enlisted in the local guard unit and busted his ass (literally) packing chutes for a couple of years but his work ethic impressed enough people that they gave him a shot.

he's telling stories about when I was a boom student, that's whats wrong with him!

Everyone I know who was twice passed over was continued regardless of AFSC...my sample size isn't huge but does include the AFSCs (61, 62, 12, 11) that were not spared last year. I would think that if a whole bunch of people were non-continued like last year there would be way more grumblings here, AF Times, etc... Having said all that, my ABZ board is next year and I'm battening down the hatches because I have no idea what to expect.

This message just got sent out from the shirt and I'm curious from the enlisted perspective if this is really going to change that much? In 14 years I've only known one person to get affected by HYT and she dug her own grave when she lost a stripe and busted to SrA at 11 years which instantly put her over HYT. With the new policies are these the people we should be getting rid of anyways? Are your Airmen ready for HYT changes? Posted 8/21/2012 Updated 8/21/2012 Commentary by Dr. Todd Fore Executive Director, Air Force Personnel Center 8/21/2012 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Most Airmen affected by high year of tenure changes announced in December will have one more opportunity to test for promotion before changes take effect in September 2013. If they don't make it, they'll be separated from the Air Force. Are your Airmen ready? As commanders, first sergeants, supervisors, leaders and mentors, we all play a role in our fellow Airmen's success. Promotion testing is very strict - no group study or study support is allowed - so maybe you don't think you can do anything to help your people prepare. But, the fact is we have responsibilities, and with only one more shot at promotion, your Airmen need you now more than ever. Educate and communicate. Those are your responsibilities. Promotion tests are hard. They require serious, long-term study. To do well, Airmen must develop and stick with a study routine. Do your Airmen understand that? If they're approaching HYT, they may not, and they may not know where to start. You must educate them on how to develop, implement and follow through on their study plan. Have you spoken personally with your Airmen about this issue? Do you know why they haven't been selected for promotion? Do you know if personal or professional barriers are inhibiting them? If the answer is no, you are failing to communicate. Sure, it's a two-way street, but as a leader, your job is to grow and develop Airmen. You can't do that if you don't communicate with them. We cannot afford to lose valuable Airmen because they didn't know how to prepare or were unable to overcome barriers on their own. You can't study for (or with) your Airmen and you can't take the promotion test for them, but you can help them learn the formula for success if you take the time to communicate with them. Will you pass the leader/mentor test? For HYT details, go to the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil, select the "search all components" option and enter "Enlisted High Year Tenure" in the search window. https://www.afpc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123314903

Agree, but don't think that Iran learned and learned well from the very public Israeli strikes against Iraqi nuke facilities in the early 80s. To add (and to discuss the merits, sorry OP) there's a great article in the economist this week about how dire the situation is for the Iranian public. Official 24% inflation, (probably much higher), food shortages worse than during the Iran-Iraq war and a public generally fed up with Amaninjenidad and growing discontent with the actual leadership. I can be as hawkish as the next guy but if there was ever a case to let the other Instruments of Power (forgive me for getting into ACSC garbage) work, this would be the time. Call me jaded but no doubt we (or Israel) could roll over Iran but even if it was just Israel doing a anti-nuke strike, I think we would be drawn into another decade of peace keeping duties, complete with insurgents and IEDs and the overall sense of futility of what was actually being accomplished.

I'll preface what I'm about to say by thanking the admins for the removal of the dislike button... But I think whatever they are wearing is pretty cool and it would be nice to have a dress uniform that attracts women as opposed to them thinking we are wearing poorly fitted 50's bus driver uniforms. -ducks- edit: spelin' (see remainder of thread for indepth critique)

Nothing confirmed here but my gut tells me this guy was a hero who did whatever he could. Hopefully this story gets told someday. https://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/04/navy-veteran-killed-in-colorado-movie-theater-massacre-may-have-tried-to-stop/

I'm pretty sure my wife took a class from this dude when he taught at U of A. Everything you are thinking about him while watching this video is 100% true.

I'd be scared shitless if I was those dogs, for multiple reasons.