brabus

DAL just hired a 23 yr old. He seemed like a good dude who has his shit together way more than I did at 23. So this isn’t to say he’s not “qualified,” but rather to say if they’re hiring 23 yr olds with just over a year at a regional, then many of you are well in the running for jobs at majors.

Diametrically opposed desires. The deficiencies of the A-10 have been answered, it’s called the F-35 - which lacks the strengths of the A-10. The DOD needs to accept that air superiority is a requirement for CAS performance at the level we’ve all become accustomed to in the last 20 years. So what we really need in the “perfect,” but realistic, world is exactly what we have now - a community/platform(s) that provide CAS expertise in the fight that has AS, and accept a reduced/nil CAS capability in the fight that does not have AS. Bottom line, we don’t really have a CAS capability problem (except maybe new hardware to replace aging fleets), we have a problem understanding/accepting reality of AS vs. no AS.

it does come down to the PSO for that vault. But I assure you, fenixs are allowed in very high level vaults (albeit with PSOs who aren’t douches). @Standby Did you switch MAJCOMs? I’ve hit ACC, NGB, PACAF, AFSOC, other service/org, and only come across one time I had to leave my fenix outside…and it was due to that specific PSO being a typical tight ass GS. There are industry places that dont allow smart watches (again, PSO driven), but usually not an issue since civ attire is standard/people generally wear more dressed up watches in business attire.

Garmin Fenix 5/6/whatever model they’re on now. Great watch all around. Just don’t get the model with wifi.

When I turned down school on AD, and the WG/CC made me come to his office and talk with him about it, the conversation ended something like this... "Well, Brabus, I'm going to non-concur and you really have two options. Go to school, do great things, blah blah blah...or get out and go to the guard." "Well sir, I guess I'm going to the guard then" "...what? Really?" He genuinely seemed shocked at my response. Best move I made in my career...until I made an even better move by going to the airlines! And all these years later, I'm living the good life while that guy is probably a 2 star pepper grinding and getting yelled at for not having enough whip in the 4 starts mocha latte.

@Jon - Trident Home Loans Intent was not to bash VA (I’m on my 3rd VA), just to highlight this is a factor to be aware of. Did not know about the low appraisal recourse option you mentioned, great info! I still will pursue VA in the future and recommend them to people, but I’m more eyes wide open than I was in previous situations.

I should be smarter on this, but was there ever a limit on scope/number of EOs the exec branch had in years past? Regardless of party in the WH, I agree we shouldn't be seeing rule by EO. But they're needs to be some capability for the times Congress is gridlocked and accomplishing nothing (which seems most of the time these days). I don't know what the "right" scope/number is, but I do know we need less govt power immediately.

This is a very general statement and certainly not applicable to every situation, but cranium's up to people using VA loans in this market - I know some people who have lost several home deals because the VA appraiser comes in way lower than "actual" market value, and the buyers don't have the cash on hand to make up the difference between appraised value and offered price. You may be setting yourself up for stress and disappointment if you plan on doing a low % down VA financing. Recommend talk to your realtor about this and get their feelings on the local appraisers. Yes, this could also happen with conventional loans, but anecdotally seems the VA appraisers are worse, which isn't surprising considering they're your "typical" government civilian employee. Just something to think about/research in your specific area.

The financial argument I’ve heard is the sustainment cost is where the “win” is. But other than that, it was not the best move IMO…still a shitload of money for a less capable platform.

You would love the Wolfman on the charger for sure. One thing to consider is find a company you think you’ll want to generally stick with. They all have their own mounting solutions (e.g. quick connect muzzle devices), so if you buy multiple cans you can use them with one muzzle device system. Of course this is N/A if you think you’ll just match a can to each firearm you want suppressed. But, I really like that I can use one can on every firearm I care to suppress.

Deadair Wolfman. I’m incredibly impressed with it; amazing on 300 BLK and 9mm. Haven’t shot it yet on .223, but it’ll work on any .30 cal or smaller round, full auto with subs, semi with supers. I used silencer co for purchase and NFA Trust (not all states accept their single shot trust version, so I went with old tried and true). Find a store with one of their kiosks for digital prints, and they have them for life when you buy more NFA items. They’re doing the e-forms now - 78 days for a guy here. Highly recommend silencer co for a one stop shop (and great customer service).

I can think of at least two DFCs that were laughable, but were absolutely ramrodded through for PA reasons. That said, neither are on the individual, they didn’t do anything poorly or wrong, just were used as a pawn in some politicized PA game. Also loved seeing command chiefs get bronze stars (who did nothing besides push queep inside the wire), meanwhile JTAC bros in the shit weren’t given squat because “well they weren’t here for a year like chief X”…go fuck yourself awards system.

That sucks, but honestly par for the course. Happens all the time in the AF…seen many DFC-worthy things go down, but not even a mention past a “good work, see you tomorrow.” Meanwhile someone else gets a DFC for doing something that amounts to standard daily ops. It seems to not matter much what happened, but if the boss and their bosses are hopped up to do paperwork and give out a medal. Personally, fuck it, your bros know the guy you are and what you’ve accomplished - their assessment means more than any mil award. Caveat: I know several people with legit DFCs, this is not an attack on those who did some seriously great shit and actually got officially recognized.

Must have ended, boo!!!

There have been a lot of recordings of conscripts calling family back home where it goes something like this: Con: "Fuck this place, I was supposed to be home a month ago and they're saying we're not leaving." Family: "But you're doing great things, you'll be a war hero!" Con: "Fuck their medals, I don't want that, I don't want to die here and I'm sick of all my friends dying" Family: "Yeah but you guys are kicking their ass!" Con: "The fuck we are, we don't even know if we're hitting anything, but they're sure as shit hitting us!" And so forth. Conversations like this seem to shed light on what the general population is being fed information-wise vs. what is actually being experienced in Ukraine. Surely there are groups of people who know better and are protesting, but seems like they're the minority.

Cranium's up, Aero Precision is offering 20% off for military right now. Also, I haven't personally seen in the .20s for 9mm. Now what you need to do, is get into reloading because you can "save so much money" (or spend the same and shoot more; but I tell my wife it's cheaper!)

O Face nailed it (pun intended?) I think most fighter units don't give a shit about the paperwork side at this point...are you a good dude they want to work with, appear to have the aptitude required to succeed in the fighter track training pipeline, and will contribute to the squadron's mission post-training at an "acceptable" level. Those are all fairly subjective criterion and will ebb and flow depending on current and projected manning. To manage expectations though, you do realistically have a much tougher mountain to climb than a current fighter pilot. That said, every unit is different in desires and needs, so you may find a brick wall at one fighter unit while another is very interested in you. If you're not completely tied to living in a specific location, recommend casting a wide net.

That’s awesome. While some places are definitely better than others, nowhere is safe from this crap. It is directed to the states from the federal level, so it is there in some form, even if “minor” in comparison to off-the-rail places like CA, etc. Bottom line is parents need to be vigilant and continuously demand full transparency and understanding of curriculum their kids are under. If there’s the slightest pushback from teachers, admin, or school board when you ask pointed questions and demand to see things for yourself - you have a much bigger problem than you think.

Why are parents surprised? This shit is everywhere. If any of you read this and say, “glad that’s not in my kid’s (public) school,” you’re 100% wrong. Time for everyone to get off their asses and fight this bullshit.

You know who else offers $35k bonuses…the guard.

At this point, the optimist in me is hoping this egregious abortion of the last 2 years (and especially the last year) has pissed so many people off that the far left has shot themselves in the foot 10 times over, and we'll see them and all of their bullshit shoved aside into the dark corner of the basement where they belong.

Magpul Zhukov attached (many thanks oh benevolent government for deciding to allow me to exercise my constitutional rights). Works great, feels great...definitely recommend for any scorpion owners out there.

As an IP, you’re always instructing/viewing performance through an IP lens, regardless if you’re writing a grade sheet that day. You should do the same as an evaluator, meaning you know how an individual is doing overall when they get to an eval. So, take the big pic approach and don’t be the douche who downgrades a guy on a mistake he just happened to make that specific flight. If you can’t take the big pic/is-it-a-trend approach, you’re a shitty SEFE. I hope this helps a young SEFE in the future be a good one. To answer the original question, I’ve seen one Q3 and one Q2 in my entire fighter career…both are patches after the fact and one is a graduated SQ/CC. Downgrades happen occasionally, but are fairly rare.

Age is the key limiting factor - my opinion is keep trying guard until you have to apply to AD to avoid age stopping you from UPT altogether.

Hopefully the 90 days wait claim pans out. It’s just the excuse I need to get another can!