Gravedigger

Ahh, the old USAFA/ROTC debate. Here's the bottom line, generally speaking, USAFA/ROTC/OTS/UPT/WIC will not make you any more or less of a douchebag than you would have been anywhere else. Some people are just douchebags. There are probably just as many shitty officers from both commissioning sources, and just as many good ones. I know some great people that are Academy grads, and that route worked for them. I would have despised the Academy and wanted no part of the Air Force, so ROTC was a better option for me.

God I'm glad I went to a normal school.

If you don't take your leave, you will kill yourself. Trust me, CBTs don't lie.

You must work for Liquid. Everything about the space ops business has improved under Gen Shelton and Gen Welsh. From the simple stuff like getting rid of flight suits and leather jackets, to the career field management (3-year tours and cutting ties with missiles), scrapping the ridiculous medical standards and paperwork and leaving it up to you and the mission commander to determine if you can pull ops, huge changes to IQT/MQT, and all of that while bringing on a lot of new systems and capabilities and during budget struggles. From my corner of the world, the last 3 years have been constant improvement. Hopefully the rest of you will be able to say the same in a few years.

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That is precisely the point. Even with boots on the ground and people dying, we were über sensitive to not involving China or the Soviets, despite their direct contributions to our enemy. We lost American lives in both wars because we were afraid to take actions we thought would draw the Chinese into the fight. Now they have substantially more technology/firepower, we depend on each other for daily life, and Chairman Mao is fading into history...and we are going to go to war? No fuckin way.

There are two types of people in this world; those that believe a war with China is on the horizon, and those that are younger than 45. Obviously, it is impossible to predict the future of international relations, but the idea of a war between our nations is preposterous in my opinion. I think our economies are too interdependent for that to ever happen and more importantly mutually assured destruction sucks for everyone. All of USSTRATCOM would disagree with that sentiment, but the vast majority of people that have lived/worked/traveled in China realize that everything they do is posturing. They are constantly playing chess with the rest of the world and their own population. Make a move, see how people react. Could that lead to very stern talks and warnings in the future? Definitely. War? Not in my opinion. During the height of the Cold War, when confronted with apparent aggression from our staunchest communist foe, nobody fired a shot. Now that we are all eating Happy Meals and playing on our iPhones, war between superpowers seems a bit like a modern doctor recommending blood-letting for cancer treatment. The counter-argument says this is myopic; we say that argument is archaic. Who will end up being correct honestly doesn't matter. We will either all die, or we won't.

That's what makes the joke better; Aunt Mary is one bad bitch.

That has all changed now. 13S is now the AFSC for only Space; 13N is for missiles. Near the end of your first assignment, you meet a board that either codes you as nuke or sends you to one of several career fields, PA, Mx, Intel, Airfield Management, Acquisitions, Space, Scientist, Engineer, etc. The crossflow to space has been eliminated, save the handful that receive that reclassification from the board. You can also still apply for Pilot, Nav, ABM, RPA, CRO/STO, ALO etc.

Gearpig nailed it. All things considered, I think being a missileer is one of the worst jobs in the military. Your 24 hour shift doesn't begin until you've done hours of worthless briefings, picked up all the crap you are supposed to deliver to the site, and driven sometimes up to 2 hours to your location. On top of that, you have zero job satisfaction because you know you are never actually going to be called on to launch. There is no career advancement, nobody respects you, and you are subjected to even more asinine regulations and restrictions than the rest of the Air Force. Also, they aren't sleeping in their own beds down in the LCC, not that it matters because that is the best part of being a missileer. Getting to sleep a couple of hours and forgetting that you hate your life. I've never met a pilot that wanted to be a missileer. Correction, I've never met anyone that wanted to be a missileer. If you do, I'm sure they'd love to have you.

And 28 people are completely full of shit.

This is absurd for a couple of reasons. First, grounding someone for 30 days is a stupid threat/reaction. Second, how fucking difficult is it to throw on your cover in the parking lot? Not zipping your leg pocket after removing the cover, fine. But not even wearing a cover at all, not on the flightline? I can't say I've seen somebody intentionally do that.

Here's the declassified history from the satellite side: https://nro.gov/history/csnr/corona/index.html The flyers would probably be interested in the Star Catcher piece. Catching falling canisters from space with a C-119/C-130 and being stationed in Hawaii, not a bad life.

So it's different if your next job is on Active Duty? When I was the OG Exec, my boss spent who knows how many hours on the phone with the Wing/CC and NAF/CC and others working his next assignment. Every other O-6+ I have ever been around has done the same thing. Hell, basically everyone I know works their own assignment. Somehow these people working active duty assignments are better than the guys working jobs outside the Air Force? Seems sort of stupid to me. Either you are 100% focused on your current job 100% of the time, or you aren't. Why does it matter what the next job is? I don't think people staying on Active Duty should be able to work assignments if the people getting out are not allowed to do the same. The message that sends is "people that separate suck."

I personally consider Francis Gary Powers to be one of the most important Americans to have ever lived. His fateful flight ended up serving as the catalyst that propelled our space-based surveillance efforts. Those early programs created not only valuable intelligence, but firmly cemented our place at the head of the table in space operations. The ability to utilize space for intelligence, communication, navigation, weather, etc. has helped America remain a super power economically and militarily. Without him being shot down, who knows what the future would have looked like. He's a hero in my book.

Yeah but we were just going to talk. Chris Harrison, it seems, is the host of the bachelor/ette. So, it's still a bunch dudes going over to a house to bang some chick. I wasn't too far off.

Say hi to Chris Harrison for me.

What's the difference between Michael Jackson and Neal Armstrong? Neal Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon... and Michael Jackson raped little boys.

I will speculate that it was both. I have done some flying with various doors open on a Cessna and objects/people hanging out. The movement of people changing the CG as well as the added drag from the doors open and people on the wing require a lot of control input. If you divert your attention for even a moment to watch the skydivers, you will very likely also divert from the attitude/altitude/heading you were initially holding.

I'm not an Air Force pilot, but I've been a civilian pilot for over a decade now, and have had friends and colleagues die in aviation incidents. In every instance, I learned something. The ODNI has been working for several years now to break down stovepipes within the IC, and foster information sharing and collaboration. The idea being that sharing intelligence within the IC ultimately leads to a safer America (and warfighter), and it allows us to better understand threats from a multi-INT perspective. It took 9/11 for people to realize that stovepipes weren't working. It's incomprehensible to me that an Air Force pilot would be prohibited from accessing and using the findings from an accident that took the lives of fellow Airmen. How fucking short-sided is that? This information should be readily available to every Aircrew member, potentially MX, Intel and OSS folks as well. Nobody is spitting on graves; this information could literally save lives in the future. I hope it wont take an air safety 9/11 for the Air Force to change course.

Have you spent much time in SEA? I would never give up my US citizenship, but I can still appreciate other countries. Pol Pot gave Cambodia a bad rep. The people are really great, the food is bueno, there's a lot to explore (Angkor), and you can live comfortably for very little money. How does that equate to pile of shit? I wouldn't live there year-round, and like I said, Thailand is better, but I really don't get all of this Cambodia hatred. Just go to TripAdvisor and read hotel reviews for SiemReap, pretty damn positive all around.

Hey, the dude was badass enough that he warrants an anniversary nod. :beer:

...one year ago today.