brickhistory

Down goes Frazier, er, Comey... Left is screaming conspiracy while conveniently forgetting their anger/angst at Comey last October and even last week. Administration and defenders have gone defensive with no hope of regaining momentum. Too bad that whole serving "at the pleasure of the President" thing is glossed over. Comey porked himself multiple times in public including his latest one yesterday. By publicly commenting on the Clinton e-mail investigation, but laying out a case that was easily prosecutable (and would've if it had been any of us being so cavalier about classified) then saying she had "no intent" so no one would prosecute. Even if the statute doesn't give that sort of leeway, it was never his position to say so. Then his bumbling none answers regarding Russian shenanigans in the 2016 election made him look stupid. No tears shed at his leaving.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Completely mindless and fairly funny.

but it is time to call it complete knowing what is likely to happen and let the chips fall where they may. Yes. Tell the tribal/warlord/Taliban, etc., "We are outta here. F' all the goats you want here, but do anything to help those who want to do harm to the U.S. and we will rain MOABs down until you can't see straight. Or a few nukes. Which I advocated for immediately post-9/11. al-Qaida conducted an attack that had strategic affects on us due to our advanced infrastructure. I was/am all for doing the same to them but since they don't really have the infrastructure, a few mushroom clouds oughta give 'em something to ponder. As it would for several others around the globe. But, we tried to do it on the cheap under Dubya initially, then just let it spiral out of our control. UFB.

I learned something today about baseops during the recent shenigans on this thread prior to them being wiped: You can only give four (4) feedbacks on any one (1) day. I was going to town on the buffoonery of the NSA expert and got the notification. Thanks, baseops!

You rang? Homesteading is great for some who get their base of preference. Not so much for the Minot/Cannon/etc folks. If you want to move those folks, where do you put them? Same for overseas return folks. Where do you put them? What do you do with joint-spouse folks? Special needs? Pretty soon the pipeline gets clogged up beyond recognition. And for the current up or out construct, how do you show career progression for a dude who flies the line at Base X for 5 years? Not defending or attacking the premise, just stating the institution's viewpoint of the issue. Lots of butthurt when the bright shinys got to have their cake and assignment too, but Joe Bag o' got the sticks followed by a remote. Also, Congress drives the train for budget and MILCON. They simply don't care about efficiency or QOL. They care about votes and the what the various Committees of 50 or other vampires do for them. Not about you who most likely isn't a resident, i.e., a voter of their anyway. You'll be gone a few years and Joe Local will still be there expecting to make his money off Uncle Sam's troops. You are a commodity. Vote with your feet accordingly.

Perhaps a troll. Perhaps a Kool-Aid chugger par excellance until Big Blue decided he had gone far enough even though he swallowed with the best of 'em. 60 to zero in the results of one board does sting a bit, don't it?

"Gina" might disagree with your new perspective. Are you seriously proposing taking current, healthy rated officers and moving them into mid-level captain and junior FGO support mission positions? Since you and yours have done so well in keeping a lid on the rated manning levels such that we are in the state we are today, how will you solve the drain/acquisition of non-rated officers who see, under your scheme, that they have NO incentive to work harder or smarter in their selected fields since only rated will be chosen for the O-6 and above ranks. Mighty disheartening for any bright shiny Lts who want to serve their country. And never mind about the specialized training that both the rated officer needs for his/her performance, but also that of the support fields? You can't fill your beloved programs that you claim need "the best rated" to fill those turd slots. How are you going to get the manning to fill the non-rated support jobs that comprise the majority of the Air Force using rated officers? To recap, you want to put aviators into your beloved A1 personnel cubicles. How much to train the rated guy? What is one of the primary reasons for rated guys to be bolting at unsustainable rates currently and you want to increase the non-flying demands placed on them? How about supporting a culture where results regarding the primary mission matter? If you fly, you fly. If you are support, you support the flyers. And those that can't/won't hack the mission, regardless of the role, are culled from the herd. Those that do, are suitably rewarded/promoted. Instead, you and your ilk have created the current "everyone is special" climate. Again, I ask: if at Base X, the Wing Commander is a flyer and his/her MPF sucks and takes 1/2 days off, who is at fault? Ok, lil' Kim. Where are your troops and bases? All of them belong to us now...

It costs how much to train a zipper-suited sun god? How many short of requirements are we now? And the argument is that wings are a universal leadership badge? With another argument is that guys want to do what they are actually trained, at great expense, to do and fly? And you want Big Blue, having spent that kind of money, to put rated in all the support areas that suck? It would seem we have done that in the past and yet we are still where we are today. In fact, you can argue since the senior leadership is still nearly all rated officers, that they are not hacking the mission to include, especially, support. If the wing commander is a pilot, why does his MPF suck? Just a different perspective and/or be careful what you wish for...

You kids and your danged technology... Missed it. Sue me...

So a VADM will be working as a senior VP for some defense contractor shortly since the boys embarrassed Big Grey on the national stage (story ran in a lot of outlets, left and right). Also 100 guys will be getting a line number at one of the majors soon. Ballsy move.

Errr, it's springtime in Maryland. Weather today was high of 70. Lots of really brown, dry grass in the foreground and the trees in the background are pretty bare. The Ivan-wannabe that looks photoshopped is in a medium to heavyweight jacket. Pilot not interacting, at least in the one shot, with the photographer who probably was using his, wait for it... cell phone. Not buying it. Happy to be wrong, but it doesn't like right. Glad the pilot is ok.

Bannon is out, certainly. Some reports he accomplished what he set out to do regarding the bloated NSC. Others that McMaster booted him. I suspect the latter. But Bannon retains his clearances and ability to attend NSC principals' meetings. Just not as one of them. He still, apparently, has ready access to the Boss which is all that really counts in DC (or really anywhere...). I also note that Susan Rice just cannot help herself from going full retard. The frag pattern from "the Russia thing" is going to get some Obama people. Good. The DC leviathan is a threat to all of us, especially a partisan IC which in my experience, it is. I hope there are lots of political casualties on both sides. I hope some real oversight of the IC and individual privacy checks resumes and isn't pencil-whipped like it largely has been. Because the temptation to peek is too strong for nearly any political type, regardless of rank/position. People gonna be corrupted absolutely. My Georgia accent version of the famous quote...

Yeah. Re-posting a article originally written by a different news agency is such a right-wing thing to do... The by-line from the article in the link "By Cam Inman, Mercury News"

Ron Fogleman. Among other leadership considerations, the ability to organize, train, and equip the forces to carry out national strategy is dependent upon resources provided. Sure, there are finite resources. It is the responsibility, and more importantly, the duty of the CSAF to advocate for those resources necessary to conduct the missions given. If the necessary resources aren't provided, the CSAF has a responsibility, and more importantly, the duty to notify his civilian leaders of the consequences of the lack of those resources. Then, the missions are either reduced to meet the resources or the resources are increased to meet the demanded missions. Failing that, the CSAF has the responsibility, and more importantly, the duty to respectfully refuse to carry out those mission knowing that the risk to the personnel under his care is thereby increased with no benefit to the nation. Having refused, in our generally grand tradition of military subordination to civilian control, the result is resignation or firing. That tends to crimp post-uniformed service board memberships and the like...

Didn't go to UPT or marry an E. However, something to consider: If you got to UPT base X, and spouse gets an assignment there, you are there for a year-ish. She, on the other hand, drew the PCS commitment and sentence - two years if she takes an overseas gig afterwards, or at least three if it's CONUS. Possibly longer. So, in the long view, is her being there while you go through UPT AND she is doing her job with, I assume, it's own long hours and pressure at the same base, A) how fun would that be for both of you and B) what happens when you are winged and off to Base Y for B-course/MQT, etc? She's still stuck at UPT base X for a lot longer time.

Ooohh, a "joint task force." "The Pentagon has established a joint military task force to handle the growing investigation, said MaryAnn Cummings, a spokeswoman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Navy, Marine, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard investigators have "established a multi-service task force to expand the investigation," she said." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/17/marine-corps-commandant-robert-neller-marines-united-pornography/99306778/

Yes. Yes, I would like fries with that, Colin. https://nation.foxnews.com/2017/03/18/nfl-gm-some-teams-genuinely-hate-colin-kaepernick

Essentially "2" on M2's post. I do not know if it's "legal" to organize a petition on-base, but I do know it's a direct challenge to "The Man." Do so at your peril. Base commander has made a determination. Best bet, albeit a long shot and dependent on the political leaning of your elected representatives is to contact those offices and ask "How come?" Since DoD loosened the reins at the first of the year regarding on-base weapons by permitted individuals, it is still the installation commander's ultimate decision. Most don't have the guts to trust us. As a personal anecdote, I tried the congressional maneuver at Offutt last year. Stirred the pot and caused "The Man" to respond, but it wound up being the "study group" you mentioned in your post. Gave the examples of Dyess and other bases letting this happen as well as the specific DoD instructions. Results were the same as before I tried, however. I haven't even bothered here at Nellis since every single elected official in my food chain is anti-gun, i.e., a liberal Democrat.

And she/he/it is relatively correct. MSNBC (with it's own cast of tax scofflaws - I'm looking at you Al Sharpton, to name just one) can publish nearly whatever they want. But somebody leaked the partial return which wound up in the bearded never gets laid reporter who gave them to Madcow. That person or persons committed a felon. Which is my point - if next time it's yours or mine, will the rest of you be fine with that? To have the IRS continue to work for one ideology and/or party as part of it did in the Lois Lerner fiasco? This is out in the street ugly not just, in my mind, the usual political shenanigans.

Part of Trump's 2005 tax return gets revealed. And it shows.... he paid taxes. Leaking tax returns is a federal crime. It's all fun and political shenanigans until it's yours or the IRS is used a political weapon. Gold, guns, and ammo...

Not to derail the thread, but since "Fat Leonard" was mentioned already: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/admiral-seven-others-charged-with-corruption-in-new-fat-leonard-indictment/2017/03/14/faf01600-08da-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?utm_term=.afde467465bd NCIS must be self-actualizing in such a big way with all this publicity...

I am not amused by the GOP's Obamacare-lite shenanigans.

And the winner of her comparison shoot today was.... The Shield.

Finally, a practical use of baseops. A year ago, my wife and I found what we thought could be our forever home. We took the many recommendations from here on NBKC and although the guy listed here had moved up in the bank, he sent us to Jackie R. who did a great job. However, the very elderly sellers refused to even consider the offer because it was a VA loan. Not to mention they were pretty proud of their offering and set a very unrealistic, uncompetitive price on it. A collective WTF? from us and NBKC, but ok, if the color of our money is good enough, best of luck selling elsewhere. Fast forward 11 months and the house is still on the market. Funny how a year of nothing can change minds. The couple accepted our offer with no dickering. We closed this past Monday. Most painless closing I have ever experienced. So, a well done/bravo zulu/sierra hotel to NBKC and Jackie R. Texas hill country, here we come!