Slander

Sure. It worked didn't it? Why waste all our fancy toys and expensive weapons when a simple phone call will do? NKE doesn't have to just be cyber guys and EA. I can't wait to incorporate this into my next CT SEAD ride. "Alright fellas, today's scenario is that about 12 hours ago the US State Department called [country] and told them we're coming. They said they would leave their radars on for us to practice against but weren't going to shoot at us. They pinky promised. Sweet, well that's it. See you at step."

I did exactly that as a student at IFF at SPS. There are a few threads on here about the relevant JFTR sections but basically you get to spend up to but not over the amount of the cost of the hotel for the time you would be there. You can get a furnished apartment, cable, a maid, interwebs, etc all as part of it as long as it's less than the $53.50/day or whatever the AF Inns would have charged you per night. Personally I like eating food at home sometimes that isn't cooked in a microwave so that's why I got an apartment.

And I bet most of the other MDS guys won't have 3000 hours in RPAs and probably 20 or 30 kinetic strikes on their PRF. The boards aren't so stupid that they would look at only the last one or two OPRs and go "huh, this guy must be a total piece of shit he's only a co piglet. Pass him over." Weird, every community has people who are happy and people who are miserable. It's almost like pilots enjoy sport bitching...almost.

Ha. Noted. It'll probably be of "#X of 25" so I'll see if I can get you "#69 of 25"

The Chronospace movement is made in house by Breitling. In years past Breitling bought high end ETA movements but when Swatch Group bought ETA they raised the prices and Breitling decided to start self sourcing movements again. That was a few years ago and there were some growing pains. They've got it sorted out now and the B01 movement is a masterpiece. A Tourbillion it isn't, but this is a $6500 watch not a $65,000 watch. For anyone wondering, I did ask Breitling USA about a custom second hand and they said no. They haven't made a custom Chronospace with two custom dials yet that's why the example doesn't have it. Expect the Chronospace order I make to be serialized if they'll let me do it.

Oh yeah, also, if anyone else is interested, please PM me or post here. We're about halfway to the min for Aerospace and 1/4 of the way for Chronospace.

Ram - PM me so I can get contact info for you about the order...your incontainer is full.

I think that's the whole point.

Almost every on-speed landing I have I bounce...I'm 10 kts or more fast if I grease it on....

I think a real question here is what is her stance on F-35? If she falls in line with the AZ delegation, then they want F-35 ASAP for Luke. But if she decides she cares more about Tucson (and her combat roots) then she may try to kill F-35 and denigrate it at every opportunity.

Jesus people, you're insatiable. He said 7 months ago or so that he was going to mask the master's for major and fix IDE/SDE for officers. He did. These things take time, you don't make 4-star general without understanding politics and he had to do some politicking at a few coronas to build his coalition to make it happen. He's also fixing the EPR system, or trying his hardest to fix it. I have no idea what the problem with SNCO PME is, I'm sure it's as screwed up as anything else, but if it is I have some faith it's on his (or the CMSAF's) radar and he's/they are going to work on it when he can. Give the man some credit. He's following through with what he said he would. Are things better in the USAF now than they were 3 years ago? Yes. For at least the following reasons: 1) Mission focus -- he has consistently said his number one priority for performance reports is job performance. So, master's madness is on its way out. 2) Uniform improvements -- no more mandatory blues on monday, and he even did it in such a way that demonstrated delegation and trust in his followers vice micromanaging that we all hate. Although some of the people on this message board complained that he didn't just mandate no more blues on monday. And I can wear a red t-shirt on Fridays. And so can the MXG. And the MSG, and the MDG. I think it's cool that Friday shirts are back and even cooler than instead of it being only the primadonna zipper suited sun gods who get to look different on Friday now everyone can. Reminds me of the photos from the 90s with the baseball hats or whatever you silverbacks wore with BDUs. 3) Honesty and followthrough at the top. Nothing is perfect, but he is, in fact, doing what he said he would and trying to fix the USAF. His messages have been consistent and clear and at least in my little corner of the big blue world it's starting to make a difference. So I get it dudes, we love to sport bitch. But this is way better than we were 3 years ago. Way, way better. The dude has to keep a lot of plates spinning so there will be things you aren't happy with, but overall life isn't so bad, Really. <insert "BUT HE NEVER SENT OUT HIS VECTOR THAT HE PROMISED US 18 MONTHS AGO HE'S A LIAR AND AN ASSHOLE11!!111!!" comment here>

2. And it is a universal concept, but there's always "that guy" who would rather puff his chest out than be friendly and get paid. Here's another concept, if you run into brick walls and something is impeding your progress, do what you can and if that doesn't work elevate it. That's part of what your commander is around to do...make your life easier when you're stuck. "Hey boss...I tried being nice, I did everything I think I needed to do and my voucher isn't paid and it's been 4 months, here are the cliff notes and the data, can you talk to the comptroller squadron commander and help? Thanks."

Send my regards to the Glorious Commandant. He and I had a nice 2 zip-tie chat a few years ago.

"DOC" = Designed Operational Capability You may not have one, I don't know, that's why I asked. Your wing almost certainly does, it's the SIPR side mission statement of what your base is expected by the COCOMs for war making. If you don't...maybe you should get one. It might help your lack of mission focus.

2 on what Day Man said...call up the flying squadron scheduling shop, tell them who you are and what you want to do. They should find an Lt or young Capt to bring you out to a jet within a week. If they don't they're stupid. Nobody likes the zipper-suited sungod prima donna reputation and most guys actively try to fix it. We do pet the jet tours about every 3 weeks for the FTAC course at Spang for every FTAC class. I have given a couple of the tours and some of the Airmen had no idea there are fighters in the fighter wing...it's something. "So do you fly the big jets on the other side of the base too?" is a fairly common question. I've also heard that at a non-RoK PACAF base during the mandatory in-processing briefings they actually give the Secret // NO-FORN mission brief of the base and some capes of the jets at a classification higher than "overseas air show." Another thing that has started happening more and more recently is referencing the base and squadron DOC statement missions. I don't know if the CS has a DOC statement mission, I assume it does. Enabling X A/C to deploy in Y hours or something like that?

The Breitling rep is on vacation for 2 weeks, so no updates until she gets back. Sounds like more and more people are interested in the Chronospace so that's my plan for now. I'll work on a design. I asked about having more than one customized logo on the watch (like the viper swirl and an f-16) and that's when I found out she's on vacation. I also asked about trying to get the second hand have an f-16 on it like this one the swiss demo team got...it's pretty sweet.

Sure man, I can give you a quick rundown. Quartz watches rely on a vibrating piece of quartz that's powered by a battery. Its fundamentally the same whether it's a $5000 Bell & Ross or $5 Casio. The quartz piece vibrates at a given frequency, the watch has a little computer chip that counts each vibration and displays the time accordingly. It's quite accurate. This theory is how any digital watch works (to include your computer). An automatic-mechanical watch is powered by a vibrating spring that is wound up from the movement of your arm back and forth through daily life. There is an uneven weight inside the watch which winds up the spring. From a fully wound state, the Chronospace claims a 42 hour power reserve. I have a couple other automatic watches and they claim similar times and I get about 36 hours from them without keeping them on a watch winder. The reason I like mechanical watches better is because they are hand constructed by master watchmakers and are truly pieces of art. Until about 5 years ago, Breitling purchased its movements from a company called Eta which produces the majority of automatic movements. Breitling since has taken to supplying its own movements since the Swatch Group bought Eta and raised the price. A "chronograph" is a fancy word for stop watch. A "chronometre" is a watch which is tested by a Swiss governing body under stress and keeps excellent time. Early chronometres were used to measure the longitudes of the earth as sailors crossed the ocean (they were really big "ship's clocks" and not worn on the wrist, although your chronometre should be accurate enough to pull this off if you're a skilled enough navigator and sailor...or you could use a GPS). A "certified chronometre" watch will cost significantly more than a non certified, non-chronometre automatic watch. I forget the specific metric that's required, I think the watch has to keep time within 1" over a week or something like that. My other automatic watches lose about 1' per two weeks which is about normal, according to the jewelers I bought them from. Hope that helps.

Dudes - Here's verbatim the info I got from Breitling. Personally, after a straw poll of 2 red blooded viper drivers spreading democracy in Germany, we both like the Chronospace vs. the Aerospace. I realize it's double the price...but it's also 46mm and not quartz; it's an automatic movement the way watches are meant to be. CUSTOM MILITARY LOGO WATCH ORDER REQUIREMENTS: 2 models are available for logo printing: Aerospace and Chronospace Auto (Aerospace Evo is not available for custom dial printing) A minimum order of 25 pieces is required of the same model, same dial color and same logo design. No exceptions. Camera-ready artwork for your logo must be sent by e-mail. We require a high resolution jpeg file. Pantone color numbers (PMS) are required (A Pantone color is an international printing language providing an accurate method for the reproduction and control of color) – we cannot create an image or custom dial without these numbers Prepayment in the form of one bank check is required after the image of the watch has been approved by squadron – we do not accept credit cards or personal checks Delivery to one U.S. address, no individual addresses. We do not charge for freight. Shipments are sent via FedEx or UPS – signature required. APO addresses are okay and will be shipped via registered mail Sales tax is charged on orders shipping to CT, NY, FL, MI, IL, NV & CA only. Please provide shipping address and phone number contact information. Approximate 9 month delivery time - after image has been approved and payment has been received Custom logo orders are Final Sale - No returns or exchanges. Custom dials are the only product that Breitling USA sells directly to the consumer. Please refer to an authorized Breitling retailer from our website for any other purchase. Current pricing for each model: Aerospace on Professional 2 bracelet – Retail $4,095.00 – your cost $2,757.00 with logo dial. $2,857.00 with engraved caseback & logo. The Aerospace Evo is not offered for custom dial. Chronospace Automatic on Professional 3 brclt – Retail $6,975.00 – your cost $4,485.00 with logo dial. $4,585.00 with engraved caseback & logo. (you may choose an attachment other than what is listed above, i.e. bracelet, calfskin, crocodile, rubber. Pricing will be adjusted depending on attachment) TIMEFRAME OF CUSTOM ORDERS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: Squadron leader chooses watch model, dial color and attachment, then sends camera-ready artwork and Pantone colors via e-mail to: susan.mcdonald@breitlingusa.com Breitling USA sends artwork to Breitling SA home office in Switzerland to create an image of your watch choice with logo on the dial. This takes approximately 4 weeks Breitling USA e-mails logo image to squadron leader for approval. Squadron leader approves design and remits payment by one bank check for entire order made out to Breitling USA. Check is sent attention; Susan McDonald to Breitling USA, 206 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897 Breitling USA places watch order with Breitling SA Breitling USA delivers custom watches once they arrive from Breitling SA approximately 9 months after order date. Watches can be delivered all at once or as they are received in batches. Squadron leaders choice.

Cool. I'll do a bit more research and get back to you guys with updates.

Anyone interested in a Viper Breitling order? I want one...and don't know of anyone starting an order anytime soon so I'll do it. I have done essentially no research other than being envious of everyone else's cool watch. I'll do the leg work when it seems like we're close to enough people being interested.

Open sources says Dutch and Australian troops are going to secure the crash site. Open sources also say Russia is sending "heavy weapons" into Ukraine. Things are getting sportier by the day...

Is Yoshi's the place on the seawall that caters essentially only to Americans? If so, I thought it was better than most of the places I've ever been. But I never lived in Japan, only visited Misawa a couple times, Tokyo once (screw you Rappungi...) and Kadena for 3 weeks. For anyone visiting Spang or Ramstein, there's a Michelin 3-Star restaurant called Sonnora about 20 min from Spang. I haven't been but I'm going in about 2 weeks, everyone who's been says it's incredible.

I was at SOS when she spoke to us as the ACC/CV and she talked about this exact issue. Her recommendation was that "if two people are exactly the same on paper, pick the one who doesn't look like you or isn't your friend." Then a bunch of nerdy Captains asked the ACC Vice Commander about diversity and feelings instead of WTF is happening with the CAF, the F-35, the LRSB, and tiered readiness. That was eye opening.

The way it's "supposed" to work now, is your shitty OPRs reflect poor work performance. Shitty OPRs generate shitty PRFs and the board "should" see that your past performance is not indicative of successful future leadership potential at a higher rank and thus you will be non-selected.