B52gator

Wasn't advocating for fraud...I guess I just figured we all had it. Happy that you don't, it fucking sucks.

I forgot: PACT ACT is huge. Because of the PACT ACT a lot of conditions/disability claims are presumptive, basically meaning the VA assumes you already have this due to service. Basically if you flew anywhere or were stationed other than CONUS (more specifically OIF/OEF/Syria related) over the past 25 years, you are eligible. Doesn't matter if you landed in country, even flying over those countries (I'm looking at you BUFF guys flying out of DG) you are eligible. So do you research PACT ACT stuff, related conditions, etc. Tying disabilities/conditions your claiming to the PACT ACT is gonna be a huge win for a lot of folks. ALSO: You have one year after separation to make claims and get them service connected w/little to no trouble. By that I mean after you're out and you get diagnosed w/something the VA considers that "in service" making it much easier to get a claim done. After that one year, it is much harder to get service connection for conditions that are diagnosed post service.

The VA...the benefits side anyway...wants you to go away/not put up a fight. So they either: don't allow for service connection or they underrate your service connected disability. They are counting on you not putting up a fight. I've been out for 16 years now and I'm still claiming things/battling the VA. If you get denied, appeal. Get more evidence, submit applicable research studies and VA case law, get doctor(s) to submit medical opinion letters. If your appeal gets denied, submit for a higher level review. Again, the VA wants you to go away and is expecting you're not gonna put up a fight. Here is what has helped me: -Document everything while you're in. You don't necessarily need to go to the flight doc, but it does help to get documented and makes it easier. When writing a personal statement for each claim, you absolutely should write a personal statement. Because I never went to the flight doc for fear of DNIF, I wrote in each personal statement something to the effect of "because I didn't want to risk a career in flying, I did not go to the flight doc for this condition" in a couple I even wrote, "flight doc advised me not to discuss these symptoms because it would mean removal of flight status". When writing your personal statement, I'm not saying to lie but embellishment can help. Also, research the rating schedule for the condition you're claiming. Bumps from 10% rating to a 30% or 50% rating can be huge. Make sure the verbiage in your letter and your symptoms match up with the different ratings. If you're close to a higher rating, that's where the embellishment might come in. Again, not saying to lie or commit fraud, but you have to fight for yourself and describe your symptoms when they have been at their absolute worse. -VA docs will diagnose you with whatever you might have going on, but they will not write an "in my opinion" (IMO) or nexus (memo connecting your condition to the service) letter. Go to a private doc for that or there are services you can pay to have that done. -Speaking of letters...get friends, co-workers, fellow flyers, family, to write "buddy statements" for you. There is even an offical VA form for this. Have them state that they witnessed you have symptoms related to the condition you're claiming. -Secondary conditions are where you can really do well. For example everyone should claim and get service connected tinnitus. Let's say you get migraine headaches, but didn't necessarily get migraines while you were in. You can claim migraines secondary to service connected tinnitus. There are many many examples of secondary conditions connected to service connected disabilities. -r/veteransbenefits on Reddit is an excellent source of info. I've used it primarily for my research and help filing my own claims. Have never used a VSO or paid service. There are also a lot of good YT channels. DO NOT pay for a service like VA Claims Insider. I'm not a smart guy by any means and I was able to do all of my claims myself through dedicated research. -You have to look at researching and building good claims as a second job, it can be a lot of work, but the benefits are worth it. You have to know your condition and related symptoms inside/out, you have to know the VA rating schedule for that condition, you have to know how to write a personal statement, you have to know how to prep for your C&P exam, ultimately you have to be your own advocate.

Any BUFF dudes/dudettes know if the new engines will have cart start capabilities? I imagine there has be some sort of OP8010-12 (SIOP for the old heads) requirement for that.

Interesting Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-aircraft-crashes-mediterranean-sea-after-training-mishap-no-indication-hostile-activity Interesting that they haven’t even released which aircraft it was. They usually get that info out fast. Is it me or is the military being “tight lipped” a little out of the ordinary? Anybody have unclass intel on this?

She’s airborne https://x.com/d_great_white/status/1723001325351305510?s=20 https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/b-21-raider-has-flown-for-the-first-time

Awesome job by those FedEx dudes, ATC too…

We’re not that bright Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Dude that's not true at all...I've seen this guy's myspace profile pic, he was for sure a FF

That reminds me of that great line from Blazing Saddles: Charlie: “They said you was hung” Bart: “And they was right!” Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Man…another tragedy at Reno https://mynews4.com/news/local/emergency-crews-responding-to-incident-at-national-championship-air-races-at-reno-stead-airport# Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

chase car driver must have been running late (sound on and up)

Whoopsie. Flanker and Reaper trading paint. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russian-jet-collides-with-american-drone-international-airspace-black-sea

50th Anniversary of LB2 missions. I post this every year, but it's a well put-together video with some great audio and info graphics. I highly recommend the book "The 11 Days of Christmas" about the BUFF LB2 missions. Enjoy!

Ha! i remember her. Interesting things she has to say.

But who’s gonna cook? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

true...but if ya gotta go, which way is down doesn't matter does it? One of my first IRs at the 11th was the nav that ejected at 90 degrees bank on that AZ mesa. Wild shit. In regards to what Biff_T asked, is there any chance of the BUFF getting rid of the N and letting the RN handling it all like the BONE? I've been out of the jet for almost 13 years now so I haven't heard if they would do that or not.

Check out the sleek BUFF. Dropping the EVS pods has got to give her at least another 5-10kts! https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-first-look-at-what-fully-upgraded-b-52-bombers-will-look-like

Ivan goes for a ride Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/air-force-academy-diversity-training-tells-cadets-to-use-words-that-include-all-genders-drop-mom-and-dad.amp TLDR: The USAFA is teaching cadets to not use words like “mom” and “dad”

B-52J has a nice ring to it... https://www.airforcemag.com/b-52-will-get-at-least-one-new-designation-with-radar-engine-upgrades/ The B-52H will be redesignated the B-52J or possibly B-52K when it gets a new radar and new engines, but the Air Force hasn’t yet decided what will constitute the new B-52 variant, according to Col. Louis Ruscetta, senior materiel leader for the program. The program has also developed a new estimate of what the re-engining will cost and is about to submit it to Congress, as directed under last year’s defense bill, but Ruscetta said reports of a 50 percent overrun are far overstated. In fact, he said he sees no overruns on the horizon. The radar and engine program represent “the largest modification in the history” of the B-52, Ruscetta told reporters at Air Force Materiel Command’s Life Cycle Industry Days conference in Dayton, Ohio. The change from B-52G to B-52H in 1961 was mainly the switch to the TF33 engine, but the new package includes radar, engines, communications, pylons, cockpit displays, and the deletion of one crew member station, meaning “it makes sense” to have a new designation, Ruscetta said. The question is whether there will be two designations, because some of the new APG-79B4 radars will be installed on the bombers before the new Rolls-Royce F130 engines, Ruscetta said. The B-52 pilot operating manual and maintenance manuals will be re-written for the version with the new radar; and will be re-written again when the engines are changed, Ruscetta said. “What the Air Force, along with Global Strike Command, needs to look at, is how do we define” the new variant, he said. The decision will be made sometime within the next two years, before installations begin, Ruscetta added. Ruscetta described the new active, electronically scanned array radar as a “game changer” for the B-52, especially as the Air Force migrates toward the two-bomber fleet of B-21s and B-52s. The APG-79 is effectively the same radar as on the export version of the Navy F/A-18 fighter, with the array turned “upside down” so it looks more down at the ground than up at the sky, Ruscetta said. “We will have fighter-quality radar … to support air-to-ground operations,” he said, and be better able to operate “with other coalition partners” because the bomber will be able to use the same sensor format. It will be able to scan farther, “guide weapons in flight,” and improve the bomber’s situational awareness, he said. The B-52 today is still flying with its 1960s mechanical-scan radar. The radar mod just passed critical design review “a few months ago, so we are now in the next stage of this program,” he said. That entails “building up the systems integration lab” (SIL) that will vet the radar as it affects the other parts of the B-52, to ensure no harmful or unintended side effects of the new equipment ahead of flight testing. The SIL will be a full representation of the system, minus its cooling equipment. The new radar will be “segregated” from the B-52’s electronic warfare suite, Ruscetta said, but the new gear takes up less volume than the old and “gives us some growth space” for additional EW functions. The program office is working on how the installations of the radars, engines, and other gear will be staged. Some bombers will get new radars before they get new engines, but later, when both are available, the preference will be to do the mods together, organically, during regular depot visits, when the aircraft are already “opened up,” Ruscetta said. “We have an integration team looking at … the dependencies” of all the new equipment from the perspectives of size, weight, and power, Ruscetta said, to fashion the most logical sequence of installations. Minimal downtime is necessary to make sure Air Force Global Strike Command doesn’t dip below the operationally required minimum numbers of bombers. “We are looking for those friction areas” that could spell logjams in the process, Ruscetta said. “We’re looking to minimize and reduce what could go wrong,” he said, “and if things do go wrong, how can I still operate?” At some point, there will be an aircraft that will have all the new mods on it, and “we may do some regression testing” at that point, but the goal is to have shaken out any problems before that milestone. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base pushes out about 17 B-52s per year, Ruscetta said. “It does not make sense to have multiple [installation] lines, with multiple aircraft down at once,” Ruscetta said, so the plan is to do as much of the mod as possible at once, during depot. Flight testing with the new radar will start in late 2025, and the first production versions should be built around the same time. They’ll be installed in early 2027, Ruscetta said, and initial operational capability (IOC) with the radar will consist of 12 aircraft as the required assets available for the declaration. The first aircraft will be operational with the new engines circa 2030. A major acquisition program doesn’t usually have to submit a Selected Acquisition Report until after Milestone B—and the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) isn’t there yet—but the program has developed a cost estimate and submitted it to Headquarters, Air Force, and it will go to Congress “in the very near future,” Ruscetta said. Reports of a 50 percent increase in CERP costs were “taken out of context,” Ruscetta said. The business case analysis done in 2017 wasn’t comprehensive and didn’t anticipate all the ramifications of the upgrade, and cost-estimating models have been updated. The Air Force used the KC-135 re-engining as its model but is now using the more recent C-5 re-engining as a guide to costs. “I don’t have one program related to the engine replacement … that is in overrun,” Ruscetta said, “and I don’t foresee an overrun … in the future.” In a later email, Ruscetta said the program “has seen minor cost growth … of about 12 percent” since the first Air Force independent cost estimate in 2019. “The FY22 NDAA established a cost baseline for the CERP program using the FY’20 cost estimate. Currently, we have seen estimated growth of 3% from the congressionally mandated baseline.” The report will “give Congress a full update on the status of the CERP,” Ruscetta said. There has been cost growth discovered due to the complexity of integrating the new engines, controls, and displays needed on the B-52. “It is more than just new engines,” he said. It’s “new pylons … generators … fuel lines … cockpit displays.” It is “a much bigger effort than just Rolls-Royce.” Boeing is the integrator of the all the B-52 upgrades. “We just held our engine subsystem preliminary design review at Rolls-Royce … it was a very successful event,” he said, and showed a strong partnership with Boeing. The full system-level PDR will be held later this year. “The design is fairly stable,” Ruscetta said. The engine and radar upgrades were intended to have almost no new development. The major challenge to program schedule now is not design, but the supply chain, Ruscetta added, “just like any program managing in a … COVID environment.” Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:20 p.m. Eastern time to include the Air Force’s estimates of cost growth on the B-52 CERP as well as the required assets available necessary to declare initial operational capability with the new radar in 2027.

Not a fair comparison my dude. Mav is not dumb, he could quickly see what Charlie was becoming, a tired old hag who spent more time on her career and let her looks quickly fade. Sure she had the smarts, maybe Mav was intimated by that...maybe she could have even showed how smart she was by appearing on various aviation shows (ala Dr Rebecca Grant). She is probably somewhere high up in the pentagon right now and people who don't know Charlie probably say "that dude is squared away." Charlie chose her career over Mav. Enter Patty Benjamin, sure she was underage and an admiral's daughter when her and Mav first meet...but she kept her looks and she owns a fighter bar...so she's the winner in my book.

TG: Mav obviously wasn’t made for the seasoned military aviator, but damn I thought it was really well done and enjoyed it beginning to end, even the stuff that was not “true to life” for military aviation and tactics. 8/10 from this guy Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app