Blue

Yeah. Saying that the EOs intent was "only the Pres and AG can interpret the laws" is a shitty take. Didn't stop all of social media from running with it yesterday though. This was my interpretation as well. For all of the screaming about Trump, DOGE, firings, Ukraine, taxes, etc, a large portion of what is happening is a long overdue attempt at reigning in the federal bureaucracy. This EO is just another step in that direction, and I think it's a reasonable approach. I'm anxiously awaiting the implementation of the "Schedule F" EO, which is intended to put some guardrails around civil service employees working in policy-influencing positions. As can be expected, many in .gov land are not supportive.

What @Clark Griswold said. Air Force trainer aircraft acquisition has been the next-to-last priority, for a long time. When the AF went to replace those aircraft, they didn't care enough to put the proper resources behind it. Leading to today's inevitable state of affairs. Also, my hazy recollection - folks can correct as necessary. The T-41 had worked well for a long time, until McPeak became CSAF in the early 90s, and decided people needed to train in something aerobatic. The AF procured the T-3 Firefly, which was pulled from service after three fatal accidents. After that, the Air Force vacillated between several different solutions: sending people straight to T-37s with no prior flight time provided, paying for people to get a certain amount of hours at a private school of their choice, sending people to get their hours at a school designated by the AF, and probably other options over time that I don't recall. The T-37 had worked well for a long time, besides being old and outdated. The Air Force tried replacing in in the early 80s in a competition eventually won by Fairchild Republic's T-46 Eaglet. They went over budget, and the program was cancelled. Just goes to show you - even during the height of the Reagan era military buildup, the Air Force didn't care enough to get a new trainer built. The AF tried again in the early 90s with the JPATS program, and ended up with the T-6, which were delivered between 2000 - 2009 or thereabouts. And, based on this thread, the Air Force can't seem to keep them flying, for whatever obscene reason. The T-38 had worked for a long time, but was old, outdated, and wearing out. In the early 90s, the Air Force began procuring the T-1 Jayhawk, and split pilot training into a track for T-38s and T-1s, with part of the reasoning being to extend the life of the existing T-38 aircraft. In the early 2000s, the AF began the T-X program with a stated goal of replacing the T-38. That program proceeded in fits and starts, but generally really sucked hind tit when it came to funding over the years, with some years having no funding at all. Finally, in 2016, the AF released a formal Request for Proposal, and in 2018 selected Boeing's T-7. And Boeing has basically been Boeing, and fucked it all up.

This. Also, isn't the latest "Take over Gaza!" comment just Trump 101? When he's struggling to get the needle moving on a particular situation, he throws out the most extreme option. The press laps it up, and broadcasts it as far as they can. Frenzy ensues. It's chaotic, but often the end result is that stubborn needle begins to move, as Trump quietly walks back the original "extreme" plan.

So it turns out the CIA and larger US intelligence community was heavily involved in the Maidan Uprising and subsequent regime change in Ukraine. I'm losing count - how many "Conspiracy Theories" of the last ~10 years have subsequently proven to be fact?

My (cynical) assumption is that Boeing was given the T-7 in order to keep their St Louis production line open (where the F-15 and F/A-18 had been built).

From Reddit: Army Aviation leadership killed 67 people today Text copied below.

Reports I've seen only mention Trump criticizing DEI initiatives in the FAA and ATC, with no blame pointed towards the crews. WSJ link. Granted, I haven't listened to his remarks myself. But while pointing fingers at this early stage is clearly crass and bordering on vulgar, Trump is also not wrong. The FAA's push for DEI in the ATC ranks over the past several years is well documented. https://www.tracingwoodgrains.com/p/the-faas-hiring-scandal-a-quick-overview

Yup, this. I've found that, when looking at a potential solution to an existing problem, ask yourself: "Does this make money for the big defense contractors." If you can answer "yes," then that solution will probably be implemented. If the answer is "no," then you're probably not going to see things happen. New trainers just aren't an attractive proposition for the big defense primes. Sure, they're some $$ when you're building them. But there just isn't enough money in upgrades and support throughout the life of the aircraft like there is with a new weapons system (F-35, B-21, etc). So the big primes don't really care. Which is partly why you see so many trainer aircraft leveraging work from foreign partners (Pilatus for the T-6, Saab for the T-7, etc). To a certain extent, it's always been this way (or at least the entire post-WWII era we live in). My main heartburn is that, up through the 80s or so, there was still enough around the margins that everyone still got taken care of. Now, those margins are so eroded, you end up in our current situation. There is always money to throw at Lockheed for more F-35's, but fuck you if you want more flying hours for training, or anything else that doesn't somehow lead back to the big primes. Related, the relentless pursuit of quarterly earnings, DEI, and everything else besides, you know, actually designing and building aircraft has led to the current hollowing-out of the defense industry. I've watched it first hand when working development programs. If you're ahead of the schedule, behind the schedule, succeeding or failing, no one cares. Just as long as you got all the money spent. Any why should they care? If things go haywire, Uncle Sam will always just write another check. It's been equal parts alarming and saddening to watch this develop over the past 20+ years. And it doesn't appear to be getting any better.

34 to 40 - six years to go from hired to showing back up at a squadron?

This is about a two and a half hour video from Tucker Carlson. It honestly looks to be pretty interesting, but can you give us more than just a link? Some cliffs notes or something?

Flying hour shortage? Or more accurate to say a shortage of aircraft to fly those hours? If someone could wave the proverbial magic wand and put a fleet of T-7s at every UPT base, and plus-up the FTUs with as many aircraft as they wanted, that seems like it would go a long way towards helping the issue.

Am I missing something? I just see a handful of tweets, basically saying "poor coordination between supporting LEO agencies?"

ZeroHedge with ongoing coverage, including this tweet from the BBC, interviewing a guy who states he saw the gunman get into position. According to him, he watched the gunman crawl across a roof with a rifle, and take the shots. Also,

Good. The only airline flying I do is sitting in the back. But I work with enough of the 65+ crowd on a daily basis to know that I don't want them flying me or my family around. Age-related cognitive decline is real. And those who deny it the most are typically the ones most affected by it. Which is not to say you can't be 65+ and still be capable. But for every 10 guys who think they're "running circles around all those young whipper-snappers," 9 of them are full of shit.

From the AP I'm gonna withhold judgement on this one. For now, at least, until more info comes out. It sounds like this is a case of family members battling after a death. If you've ever witnessed it, you know. Reasonable people do unreasonable things when a death happens in the family. Even more so if a step parent is involved.

I like Matt Taibbi'a reporting, and it sounds like this is going to be the beginning of a series of stories exposing the entire Russiagate hoax. CIA Had Foreign Allies Spy On Trump Team, Triggering Russia Collusion Hoax, Sources Say United States Intelligence Community targeted 26 Trump advisors for foreign spy agencies to “reverse target” and “bump” Many Reporters Paid for Covering the Russiagate Story Media figures who exposed illegal surveillance, manufactured intelligence, and other abuses in the Trump-Russia investigation almost always paid a price

My understanding is that if a candidate drops out after winning the primary, the DNC gets to "appoint" whoever they want to assume the role of candidate in the general election. That always sounded like a likely possibility: Biden rides his incumbency to a win in the primary, then drops out shortly thereafter (citing health concerns, etc), and the DNC gets to play king-maker and appoint the candidate of their choice. That said, the Democratic convention isn't until August, and the recent attacks from the Democrats on Biden make it seem questionable that he'll survive another six months. I'd heard the Michelle Obama speculation somewhere, but didn't give it much credence. I do think the DNC has had their short list of successors for some time, and have been crossing people off as they stumble, fail, or otherwise show they've succumbed to the Peter Principle (as in, they've already been promoted to their level of incompetence). Kamala Harris for one. At one point, you couldn't find a single negative word said about her in the press, even as she did nothing but spew meaningless, cackling word salad everywhere she went. Then, all of a sudden, you never heard about her at all. It's like they flipped a switch on her level of public exposure. Pete Buttigieg was another. He was touted as the next big thing, rising from Mayor to Presidential Candidate. Then a detour into a Cabinet position as the head of the DOT. Seemed like he was being stashed away for future greatness, until he started getting criticism for being relatively ineffective is what should be a relatively straightforward role. His public exposure has also gone to almost zero.

Didn't we have some long-standing record that US troops had not been attacked from the air since sometime during the Korean War (70 years ago)? Does this latest attack in Jordan end that record? We've dumped metric tons of money into development of anti-drone technology over the past 20+ years, with much of it to defend against this exact scenario (protecting a remote outpost against small drone attack). Does that technology not work? Or was it not even in place in this scenario? Why, exactly, do we have outposts with 300+ troops in Jordan?

I thought the only "recent" change in MWR funding was ~35+ years ago when everything was moved to non-appropriated funds (NAF) - meaning all MWR activities had to be self-funded. Was there something more recent? Or am I not understanding the history of MWR?

Sounds like the trend of Air Force golf courses closing has been going on for the past couple years. Relevant Reddit thread here. I know golf in general as a sport has declined in a lot of places around the country, due to the usual suspects (lack of free time, shrinking middle class, changes in people's interests, etc). The fact that the AF golf courses have to be self-funded just make it that much more difficult. Interesting to see "inclusivity and diversity" weaved into the official press release. It seems like people in command get extra points anytime they can invoke the holy trinity of DEI. Perhaps this is just the Barksdale Wing CC being savvy and tacking on "inclusivity and diversity" to anything and everything. Need to repave the main road? It's going to be the most inclusive and diverse pavement we can get, utilizing asphalt from underprivileged areas. Need to replace a snowplow? We're going to ensure the new plow implements the highest standards of equity, and drive it around in the summer and winter.

What does that mean, exactly? Did your application get lost somewhere in the admin world within your Group? Or did your leadership tell you "Thanks for the application, we'll get it submitted," and just never did?

Will hold judgement on the movie until it comes out, but that trailer didn't look promising. Supposedly it's A24's first foray into making big budget action/adventure movies, after long being more of an "art house" outfit. Which, is great and all, and I sure love me some good dystopian action flicks. However, the trailer made it look like another "Don't Look Up." Like, it will have some "Progressive Left Good, Everything Else Bad" message that it'll continually beat you over the head with. And, even if you can set aside the politics of it all, underneath will be a mediocre movie. I'm amazed at the movies that get fielded with lazy plot holes, weird subplots that go nowhere, and just kinda crappy storytelling. I used to love going to the movies, because even an average movie could hold your attention for a couple hours. But so many recent big name flicks have been such crappy movies. Civil War looked like it was headed that way, based on the trailer.

"A source familiar with the matter" seems to be the most cited reference by CNN over the past seven years or so. I wouldn't consider it "tin-foil" territory to be a bit skeptical.

What's the saying? You're always 3 flights away from washing out? Hook a check ride, 88 ride, 89 ride, and you're done? Some opinions, all worth what you pay for them. The anxiety and stress is real, and it's something you have to overcome. Pilot training is an interesting animal, and people arrive there from different paths. One one extreme, you have people who arrive at UPT somewhat ambivalent about being a pilot. They're fresh out of ROTC from Random State School, and flying sounded like "something cool to do." Others have made pilot training a lifelong goal, and fought tooth and nail at every step of the way just to get there. Waivers for whatever, many failed applications via various avenues (active duty, guard, etc). People fall somewhere in between these extremes, but it sounds like you're much closer to the latter bucket. All that work and pain to get to UPT is a double-edged sword though. Clearly you want it and are ambitious, but it also means that you're putting all of that weight on you every time you go fly. It's a lot of pressure, pressure that the student fresh out of school may not have to deal with. I know the solution is to "brush aside all of the anxiety," etc, but that's obviously much easier said than done. I don't know the solution here, but the first step is to recognize the source of the anxiety. You also kind of have to come to terms with the fact you gave it your best shot, and let the chips fall where they may. Some things are meant to be, others aren't. Maybe you pass this hurdle, graduate UPT, and get hit by a bus. Or some random medical thing pops up. Some might say "God's plan" and all that, but I think it's more accurate to say "it's just life." Some times things work out the way you want, sometimes they don't. If a commander recommends reinstatement, I believe they can also provide some limited additional rides as well. As in, you're back in, and you get 2-3 additional rides to get to where you need to be. Not sure how the holidays work, I believe there is some history of all students getting an additional ride after coming back from break, or something to that effect? Either way, give the CR your best shot. Don't know how your wing does it, but in the past I've seen the CC ask that you write a memo or something that outlines your case. Lay your cards out there, and see where it goes. Hopefully your IPs give you some guidance in that regard. Hope for the best, and see where it goes. If you don't get the outcome you want, go out and do something else with your life with the knowledge you took the shot and it didn't work out. Let that part of your life be something to grow off of, not something to hang onto in bitterness. Related, this thread got me thinking about all the folks I've known who didn't complete pilot training. I'm not very well traveled or well connected by any means, but this is just after bouncing around the Air Force and civilian service for a couple decades. I reflect on this list, and think about the people who held onto their bitterness for a long time, and others who just kinda moved on. You get to choose how you let it effect you (like many things in life). A Lt who was doing well through IFF, had to punch out of a T-38 and got bad back injuries. Can't remember if he was going to be permanently DQ'd from flying, or medically retired from the service. It was bad. Fought tooth and nail to be allowed back in, and was allowed to proceed as a non-ejection seat pilot. One ROTC instructor (Maj) who was washed out of pilot training and had a sob story about it. Was on a T-37 solo flight, and did intentional stalls on his own. Didn't think it was a problem to do stalls solo, his IPs disagreed. Was reclassed into a non-rated field. Went through some long process to "get his record changed," or something to that effect, with no success. Probably all for the good, because the guy was kind of an idiot. Another ROTC instructor (Maj) who washed out and was told he had three choices on his next career field: Nav, Nav, and Nav. Seemed to go on to do good things, but was a bit cringe-y in how he seemed to still have not come to terms with it. One co-worker who washed out, but still had a T-37 hanging from his office ceiling. He seemed to look back on his time fondly. Another co-worker who SIE'd early on after putting "pilot" on his ROTC dream sheet as a lark, more or less. One O-6 Air Base Wing CC who was respected, well liked, and seemed to be good at his job. At his retirement ceremony when he talked about his career, he briefly mentioned that he "Started his career with six months in pilot training. Unfortunately, pilot training is a 12 month course." He smiled and moved on with his speech. Along with all the guys I knew who fought for the chance to go, got close, but never got there for one reason or another: One guy who came in to the Air Force non-rated, and applied for board after board, and didn't get anywhere. He was crushed at not being able to fly, and even more crushed at being stuck in a support role. One old timer who was all lined up to go to pilot training with a waiver for being slightly over the age limit. Vietnam drawdown happens, waiver rescinded, and he was out of luck. Anyway, good luck OP. Thanks for providing the opportunity for an old man to neglect his day job and reflect a bit.

Copy of the chat posted below, pulled from the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page. Fox News obviously has their own bias, and they love to rage-bait their audience. But I really love how the SFS (and to a lesser extent, the MDG) really step all over their dick on this, for all the world to see. This could have been: "Hey military members, there is a large political-related gathering downtown this weekend. If you go, please use caution, as these things can get sporty Also, don't be a dumbass and wear your uniform at the rally, because UCMJ." Instead, they let their bias show: The Turning Point Action group is "Alt right?" "Confrontational to military members?" Says who? Along with a veiled threat about attendance could "jeopardize their military careers." And in the interest of just kinda throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, they try to tie the rally to some random shooting elsewhere in Minot. 5SFS/CCF is the First Shirt, right? Used to be that being posted as a Shirt was something special, reserved only for those SNCOs with superior levels of knowledge and judgement. I'm going to take a wild guess that this First Shirt who chose to shine his/her ass for all the world to see is your typical diversity posting, promoted to a level and a position beyond his or her skill. And nonsense like this is the inevitable result. Kudos to the Air Force amn/nco/snco page. It's 75% memes and other nonsense, but buried in there is a lot of real-live shining the light on the stupid, idiotic, and absurd. This is an exceptionally good example - the chat was posted to the page about noon on Sunday, and made it to Fox News less than 48 hours later. Look forward to the Minot Public Affairs folks releasing their inevitable back-pedaling statement.