ClearedHot

Heard some intel out of the five sided wind tunnel that OSD is shopping a plan to consolidate from 11 to 5 Combatant Commands...SOCOM survives as one of the five. That would be a LOT of GOs left looking for a chair.

Understood. I have seen malfeasance by some of the bigs and I am happy when they get caught...reference Raytheon getting fined to the tune of $950M. I will always be in favor of stopping corruption, my concern is the universal belief that Industry is printing money off government contracts when in fact the norm is about 8% profit. I am very concerned when these sweeping changes don't account for the 2nd and 3rd order effects that actually REDUCE competition and lower the bar on what capabilities are delivered to the warfighter.

In recent years some have seen the impact and argued to fund some companies in order to maintain the industrial base. Kind of scary that there is only one U.S. company than can build submarines. Even more concerning when Virginia Class subs were on the list of 17 cut exclusions because they are so integral to INDOPACOM, especially in the Defense of Taiwan scenario. One way they government has tried to encourage innovations and growth is through (Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA), architectures where the government is not vendor locked to a single OEM software/hardware solution. Meaning, most new systems have MOSA from the start so if someone invents a new widget that increases capability, the government does not have to go back to the OEM and pay them to integrate it. It is supposed to be plug and play as long as they comply with ICDs.

I COMPLETELY disagree with that statement. Having worked in that world for a number of years now I am guessing you don't know what is really happening. The government has been pushing a LOT of risk to industry for years then pulling the rug out from under them at the last minute, which is one of the reasons we only have three companies than can produce a new fighter. At one point a few years ago OSD actually tried to tell industry that THEY would decide how individual companies spent their IRAD $...pure lunacy. I am not saying these companies are perfect, they are not, but at the end of the day they are publicly owned, failure and waste is passed on to your 401K. For the last 10 years the government has been trying OTA contracts that push all the risk to industry. Great in concept but when you move the goals posts these companies will stop playing the game and you will end up with one or two bidders...not the best for innovation or price. Look at the Lite-Attack program...run under and OTA where multiple companies got a small amount of IRAD $ to develop a solution. They ran an experiment and numerous companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars only to have the government say....never mind. AND, they did it TWICE. The same thing is happening with NGAD, three flying prototypes which costs HUNDREDS of millions to develop and now USAF is taking a pause to re-evaluate...those loses have a horrible impact on operations, IRAD investment and stock price. It is not a perfect system and we need changes but the government has to have some skin in the game as well if the want to push the innovation boundary and get the best product for the warfighter.

I think the goal was to restore free speech, and yeah, it worked.

I must have missed your outrage when Biden killed thousands of coal miner jobs...his flippant retort for all those people was "learn to code". Not defending what is happening as I think it is unneeded chaos....but the other side has done things that are equally insensitive and I never heard a peep out of you.

Trump names right-wing commentator Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director

Yes, but popping missiles at Vipers is somewhat new (at least int he news).

MSNBC cancels Joy Reid’s lefty show as network makes major shakeup The pendulum swings hard. This "lady" is a pure racist lunatic, maybe the rhetoric (on both sides), can start to die down...pipe dream I know.

We were majors together in the Five-Sided building years ago. She was a C-130 Nav then went to UPT which explains a grand total of 1800 hours as a three star, all though I do believe she deployed a lot. She made her career outside the cockpit as an Aide, Exec and LL rep. She was being pushed/postured to be first female CSAF. She was Hegseth's senior mil advisor and the story says SD29 did it not POTUS and there is no cause listed.

Houthis target US fighter jet, drone with SAM missiles for first time Artcile just says "SAMS", no mention of MANPAD or something more nefarious....but they engaged an F-16 and a Reaper.

Brother it is smooth as silk. I've found the Weller Special Reserve to be very close to Pappy, only recently found out they use the same recipe but age for a shorter period of time (I stopped being a bourbon snob and became a rum snob about 10 years ago). I lucked into a few bottles of Weller at retail a while back, still have a few unopened in my bar. I will likely finish the pappy if they get a kill shot on Cat 5.

Put a bit of a dent in it last night celebrating.

Friday was rough on the S&P, nearly a trillion ($900B), in market cap was wiped out.

True....but in this case, a Kill is a Kill. I will allow it!

I just cracked open my bottle of Pappy to enjoy this wonderful evening of karmic justice.

Word inside the beltway is CQ Brown and a few others get the axe tomorrow. List likely includes CNO Admiral Lisa Franchetti. Hoping Slife is on the list as well.

Why would I defend calling for a 40% cut, I don't agree with it AND I don't believe that is what is happening. I know you are smart and you don't believe everything the press says...you took a lot of time to do the math, I am sure you actually read the memo as well...right? For the record, the Washington Post reported the potential 8% cut as an annual reduction for five years. But the memo sent out yesterday morning does NOT say that. Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said the goal was to find “offsets” in the fiscal 2026 budget plan, with a goal of finding at least $50 billion to transfer to “programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities.” Obviously some chaos here which is very unfortunate but the memo and other things I've seen sound more like another sequestration drill, albeit twice as severe. I worked in SECDEF's office during the sequestration abortion and it was beyond frustrating. One of the issues with senior leadership (and likely an issue in this case), they have to process so much information their staff waters things down (happens in industry as well), so the don't get the details that matter. If I were SD 30, I would NOT let the senior GOs brief, I would insist they bring the smart Majors/LtCols from the Engine Room to get the details, truth data and most importantly the nuance. Let me give a quick example of the sequestration chaos I lived through. During his tenure SECDEF Gates directed a huge shift to fighting insurgency (screw those F-22's - we don't need more than 187). He sent out guidance he "thought" was helping everyone including SOCOM which was growing to a topline end strength of 69,000. In short he said as part of the drill the services (and SOCOM is both a combatant command and a service as it has its own funding line MFP-11), could keep anything they cut from "tail" and converted to "tooth". Meaning he thought the system was too bloated and he wanted a focus on capability at the pointy end of the spear. Sounds great right? Unfortunately SOCOM leverages a LOT of support form the other services and combatant commands...everything from weapons, to transport to beans and bullets that are service common, SOCOM by its very nature is skinny on tail and heavy on tooth. In order to meet the cut bogey and attempt to keep as much as possible, SOCOM has to break down individual SEAL, ODA, and squadrons....then stand them back up as new units. I will stop here at the risk of complete diverting the conversation, but suffice it to say it was a complete abortion because it was not well thought through and I suspect that is what is happening here, especially given the pace of action and decisions. I believe what is happening it a realignment of priorities and now funding, but we shall see. I believe in other reported things Trump as said he called for halving the DOD budget in future years as the world calms down...obviously a pipe dream. Also, that does not align with other things he said. Earlier this year, Trump publicly suggested that all NATO countries spend at least 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, a figure that would mandate a nearly $1 trillion military budget for the United States. Bopttomline, read the actual words and details, buckleup and hang on.

Tell us you don't understand PPBE without telling us you don't understand PPBE Of note, it doesn't work the way you think it does. DoD is currently working on a CR that expires in March. POMS are built using a topline number derived from POTUS that is then negotiated with Congress. Congress in typical fashion will add pet projects and cuts others but the top line number always starts with direction from POTUS to SECDEF.

As U.S. and Putin negotiate, intel shows he's not interested 'in a real peace deal,' sources say Say it ain't so.

Too Soon? IMG_8335.MOV

I was quite honestly shocked at the SA provided. In the AC-130H for many years we did not have a moving map or access to the nav data other than tuning TACANS and the ILS. Around 9/11 they added another screen up front and we were hoping it would be a repeater of the PFPS moving map the Navs had but we only got sensor imagery on it. H model pilots tended to be very good (not me, I sucked), at building a mental picture of the AOR and what was happening on the ground...we had no other choice. The U-Boats had the Tactical Situation Map but dudes tended to stare at it rather than look outside. You are probably right...I am at the end game of a big career (or end career decision). In reality, without intervention the fund is depleted in 2034 right when I am trying to collect peak fundage. Crazy huh, not bad for a ham-fisted gunship pilot. I am extraordinarily lucky to have made some very wise financial decisions. That being said, I do not enjoy writing quarterly tax payments in the amount of $33,000 to the government....that in addition to the withholding on my retirement, salary and 40% of all most bonuses. I already do pay more...a LOT more. Never any hard feelings, you are welcome to come break bread at my house anytime, I've told you that before. Whatever liberal brainwashed lunacy is rolling around in your noggin is offset by the fact that you are part of the less than 1% who stepped forward to serve...and I know the things you did for this nation. You do provide a great perspective. I've said it before, I think framers wanted great long debate. We might get a little loud at times but I will happily buy you a beer anytime...before I fall in the grave.

Shut up Nav. ADS-B was not a smoking gun and I didn't latch on to the ADS-B issue as casual, but as a dinosaur who now uses ADS-B religiously, I see the enormous SA benefit offered by the capability. I think if it was in use it could have been a glove save. On at least two occasions ADS-B has "saved" me. Both times were I was where I was supposed to be and others were not. I already do pay more....how much is enough? I already pay 35% AND Social Security that I likely won't get. The progressive tax schedule is pure punishment to those who are successful. Please save the progressive liberal crap justification. It is blatantly unfair and now you want more...shocking...not. I am so glad my "extra" contribution could pay for these items. - $59M for ILLEGALS to stay at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC - $10M for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision" - $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop "a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills" - - $2.3M for "strengthening independent voices in Cambodia" - $32M to the Prague Civil Society Centre - $40M for "gender equality and women empowerment hub" - $14M for "improving public procurement" in Serbia - $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for "inclusive and participatory political process" in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India - $29M to "strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh" - $20M for "fiscal federalism" in Nepal - $19M for "biodiversity conversation" in Nepal - $1.5M for "voter confidence" in Liberia - $14M for "social cohesion" in Mali - $2.5M for "inclusive democracies in Southern Africa" - $47M for "improving learning outcomes in Asia" - $2M to develop "sustainable recycling models" to "increase socio-economic cohesion among marginalized communities of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egypt" - $1.4M contract to physically observe mailing and clerical operations - Over $32 million from various other government departments for Politico Pro, which then wrote nothing but positive stories about Biden and negative stories about Trump.

Take that runway!

Looks like it was more of a shit landing than anything else...welcome aboard ensign. RJ Landing.mp4