Tonka

They stole this idea too:

You think cargo loading is hard, you've never tried refueling: https://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/transport-m/c141/pics02.shtml

Now we know why we really conducted a "Light Attack Experiment" - to put $ away claiming we would purchase them... get congressional buy-in/support (bait), and switch to 4.5 gens at the end-game... timing is too good. OK, I'll put away my tin foil conspiracy hat. Of course, what did we expect hiring a Boeing dude as the SOD: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/03/13/shanahan-faces-ig-complaint-over-boeing-ties/ “Mr. Shanahan appears to have participated in the decision to include more than $1 billion in federal funds in the 2020 budget cycle for the F-15X fighter aircraft,” the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in their ethics complaint. “Mr. Shanahan’s reported conduct and comments appear to violate federal regulations and his Ethics Pledge, and CREW therefore requests that you investigate his alleged conduct.”

Fake news [/thread] https://taskandpurpose.com/stocks-marijuana "A recent story that troops and Defense Department civilians cannot hold security clearances if they invest in companies that legally sell marijuana and cannabis products has turned out to be half baked" Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Not only can we leave, we (all of us!) will make some money when we do! https://thehill.com/policy/defense/432681-paul-udall-introduce-bill-to-end-afghanistan-war $2500 each... Thanks Sens Paul/Udall

What does smoking it with joe rogan do to your security clearance?

Sad news...

It is/was only a matter of time... I doubt we're ready (as a country) to have this debate properly. I'm also interested in how the communal bathroom/showers will go in a few years (if sexual orientation is irrelevant, then modesty? is no longer guaranteed/possible). Either everyone in a single one (a la starship troopers... highly unlikely) or individual stalls/showers/etc. The eventuality won't be as nearly entertaining as the transition. Interesting thoughts from 20 years ago: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8b33/c03ad294f32207a5a2ad0deecf1f4a16d8a8.pdf "If Professor Wasserstrom is correct, then sex-segregated bathrooms provide an order that fosters a heterocentrist society. Why else do bathrooms segregate by biological sex? Trans men and women, homosexuals, and bisexuals confound the purpose of sex-segregated bathrooms. Trans persons introduce the possibility that the anatomy of the "opposite" sex is present in the bathroom; homosexuals and bisexuals introduce the possibility of same-sex sexual attention. If we recognize that we are all truly pansexual, however, then there should be no need for bathrooms segregated only by biological sex. Preserving both the anatomical mystery (as if anatomy is really a mystery in this day and age) and the heterocentrist focus is no longer a priority. We may want to have individual bathroom facilities or private stalls in communal facilities that allow for personal privacy and modesty. Similarly, separate stalls may serve to reduce the incidence of violence against women in bathrooms, but our current system of sex-segregated bathrooms makes no sense from a pansexual perspective."

I agree with the sentiments on some levels, but i thought the "weapon" was from the MWS acronym. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

"Interning"= not getting paid? Would probably work, i don't recall anything about working for govt agencies... as long as your not getting paid. Id ask the mpf. Terminal leave also includes leave you earn while on terminal... i believe most folks combine their PTDY with it (typically up to 20 days, AFI36-3003). But its intent is for house/ job hunting, so be careful if you already have those.

https://af-form-215.pdffiller.com/ ?? save it then add the signature after? Whoever is requesting should be able to tell you how to do it.

Its an entry level understanding to some top level human motivations.

1) Take a look at Freakonomics, perhaps the economics of drug dealers/crack cocaine... (and no, there is not a 1-1 comparison between drug dealers and fighter pilots). When you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, a few typical answers include - fire fighter, cop, fighter pilot... the first 2 typically or traditionally don't pay well. Why? Read Freakonomics. 2) Now thankfully you'll never be able to demonstrate this, but if you could - go down to the local fire house and find the first non-fire fighter (NFF) there and tell them (and the rest of the fire fighters) that the NFFs are just as important as the Fire Fighters... that their high school diploma and 2 weeks of OJT is as important as the years of training, studying, testing, learning, working out, and fighting to be luck enough to get an interview and to do well on the exam and to make it through probation, etc... that the fire fighter went through... then give the NFF a patch, even call them a "fighter", give them awards/medals/promote them for doing stuff that seems important in the station while the real work/sacrifice is being done on location, put them in charge of the fire house because you have to be "Fair" to everyone. Tell them that they can take 2 hours for lunch, 8 hours every other Tuesday to get better at their job because they don't have time to get better at it while they're doing it, tell them 9-3 is pretty decent work hours... then tell the fire fighters that, sorry we don't have enough of you so it will be 36 on/12 off, sorry if we put you away wet and put you back in before you can go home and see the family (you know they love their job, that they live for it, so why make life better for them?). Make up tremendous amounts of accolades for crap that means nothing and give it to the NFFs with great pomp and circumstance because we're all equal. Oh and their jobs? those jobs that NFFs do that are meant to support the fire fighters? Yeah, let them write instructions/rules that pretty much puts the responsibility on the fire fighters. When the fire fighters come back after a 36 hour blaze, delirious from the excitement and exhaustion, wanting to celebrate with their fellow fire fighters - force them to let the NFFs be a part of it. When they push it up too much - criticize them and kick them out for frivolous reason. Don't allow them back into the station until their uniform meets regulations,. When they save 3 kids but step on a cat - make sure you publicly flog them for it... when the NFF fails to show up on time for weeks on end and never gets the job done, be sure to do nothing about it. Obviously a bit black and white/extreme example... there are plenty of non-fighter pilots (myself included) in the AF that do amazing and incredible things for the fight and deserve the accolades and spoils (not myself) and this is not a bashing of support roles... this is an attempt to show you were the rot started. You/they/we can try to fix the symptoms (is it $, is it additional duties, etc.) but until you address the rot - the dis-mantling of (for lack of a better term) the glory, prestige, and respect that goes with a professional doing a professional job, that takes probably a decade to get good at (including a degree or 2, USAFA, ROTC, UPT, IFF, etc...) WE WILL NEVER FIX IT. Do they want medals and be on the front page news? No - they want the respect/honor for doing what they do, something the AF stopped doing a long time ago. There are important roles everywhere, I have no doubt that we need 99% of the people in the AF to do the job... but I can not think of another organization in the world that would try so hard to put everyone in the same lime light, all the time. What if Taylor Swift had all the roadies, ushers, back up singers come up and be on stage for every performance and give them a microphone? Do we diminish their jobs if we don't? To some extent everyone is replaceable, but I'm guessing there are not too many fire fighters serving excessively long commitments to be fire fighters. I have a few in my family, some of the most humble/honest/best people I know... I have never once heard them complain about being a fire fighter... why is that? 3) Fighter pilots are just the first and most prolific demographic... the rest of the pilots, the rest of the pointy-end-of-the-spear isn't far behind, add to them the maintainers, engineers, doctors, nurses, and any other professional that would be treated as a professional outside of the AF... appreciated for their knowledge, years of education, years of sacrifice to get where they are, etc... they'll be gone too, unless/until there is another recession.

I'm already on my 3rd RILO, and they keep calling me fit! If I had known the Flight Surgeons would try so hard to keep me in/flying, I would have gone to them much sooner in my career. I'm really surprised the light bulb hasn't come on for them yet... I think that is the rub, how and when... 20 years, 20 plus a little less than my ADSC, or 20 years + my ADSC? I believe anything besides the last one will require a "hardship" explanation on the website before I can submit (haven't tried it yet) and I wouldn't want to stay in longer if they deem my medical worthy of further exploration.

Would love to fly but I'm also a realist and 20 years of flying has broken me... im not really close to a domicile and the thought of commuting doesnt sound fun to me (yet!) either. @threeholler- we needed to get out of a bad situation (family was really struggling)... i agree i would probably be out the door if i was in a flying billet, but im in a desk job - out of my community. Not sure how i "volunteer" to get out to help make the OSD mandate.

Anyone have good advice/examples on what qualifies for "Hardship" and/or "Best interest of the AF"? PCS ADSC is ~7 months past 20 years. Probably not looking for much, just a little over a month off... which will move retirement date up ~60 days (ADSC is early in the month and have to retire on the 1st of the month... which effectively adds an additional month to ADSC?) With FY changeover effects (have to use 30 use/lose this FY, before hitting terminal) - will make the transition a whole lot more enjoyable. Can medical issues for the member be spun as "hardship" for them (pain management) or would that be more of a MEB concern? If permanently non-deployable would it be "best interest of the AF" to get rid of someone to make the metrics better?

Are we talking evolutionary or revolutionary? Not next year, but the technology is there (probably not to the extreme of your examples) to defend/hide/use a tanker in such environments... no need to refuel bombers that close as they typically have the legs. 2 things to focus on - slow, long endurance (unmanned) and fast, short endurance. Both are dramatically benefited by a tanker that can get close(r).

A counter simplification- the closer the tanker is to the fight, the more effective the offensive aircraft (more time employing, less time getting gas). The future of the tanker needs to be different then our past. Might not see a stealth tanker soon, but we need to start thinking that way...

let's see - they have 3 business days (of course Boeing doesn't really understand the concept of days off)... to deliver an airplane. https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2018/12/21/report-boeing-to-deliver-first-kc-46-tanker-by-the.html Might be a few people missing holiday leave to make it happen. Boeing will push for a 30th arrival, Air Force will balk, Boeing will go to a few Congressmen, AF will be directed to accept it on New Years eve (or weather will delay it)... it shall be glorious.

I'm pretty amazed no one died... " The report made recommendations for the base to improve its communications about drill exercises, and inter-operability with state and local first responders. "

Key words being "ton of money" It is freaking expensive to modify airplanes. Especially FAA certified ones.

Im no expert in human physiology... but i would imagine/speculate the forces involve would be incapacitating. i dont know what the force required to liberate the whole prop assembly is, but it has to be high.

In this case, no. Been too long since they built a boom and took too much for granted, designed it wrong. And they cheaped out on the vision system and they're not ready to fix either the right way... Yet. Somehow the AF really isn't to blame on this one.

For those of us with a safety shop that doesn't believe in using the safety process to prevent mishap and won't let you read mishap reports: https://www.militarytimes.com/2018/12/05/investigation-blames-air-force-and-navy-for-systemic-failures-in-fatal-marine-corps-c-130-crash-that-killed-16/ The horrific KC-130T plane crash that killed 15 Marines and a sailor last summer was caused by a deteriorating propeller blade that was corroded when it entered an Air Force maintenance depot in 2011, but workers there failed to fix it and sent it back to the fleet unrepaired. This neglect allowed a routine corrosion problem to metastasize into a crack that went undetected for years until a mundane cross-country transport mission ended in flames. On July 10, 2017, that worn-down blade finally failed and came loose from the propeller 20,000 feet above Mississippi farmland, as the Marine Corps Reserve plane was en route to California under the call sign “Yanky 72.” It shot into the side of the aging aircraft, one of the last 130Ts still flying, a model set to be retired in the next few years. The blade’s impact set off a cataclysm that killed everyone on board and left the aircraft in three pieces, creating inconsolable heartache for 16 military families and an inferno of wreckage scattered for miles.

Terrible...