tac airlifter

Do I think Ukraine should exist as a country? If they can keep it, yes. If they can't, then no. Thats the answer I'd give regardless of the nation in question. The Aztecs no longer exist because they could not keep their country, communist Cuba still exists (where I just came from) because they resisted us successfully. Whether I think a place should exist is irrelevant, it can or cannot based upon its merits. As a practical matter, I do not think we should continue supporting Ukraine financially at the scale we are because I believe it is a bad investment. Germany is the richest country in Europe, why are we doing so much more than them despite them being closer to the threat? The simple answer is they don't feel threatened by Putin which should cause us to reconsider our own conclusions. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is terrible. It has created massive human suffering and death. They are brutal. However, I am personally unconvinced it is more than a regional dispute, and I don't think it's good policy for us to get involved in every regional dispute. Also, there is value in being able to understand your adversaries position. 99% of people blathering about Russian misinformation every time grown-ups try have a serious discussion are simply retarded. "The first casualty in war is truth" is an ancient concept. I get it, there's bullshit on every side, words are weapons, etc. But if you cannot hear a different perspective because you are convinced it is acidic enemy propaganda that will poison your resolve, you are an idiot and your opinion is unworthy of further consideration. We have those people posting here, who claim a self-righteous halo for their willful blindness. People who don't question their own assumptions while being sure other positions are wrong, who insist there's a morale obligation to act regardless of consequences because it's worth the risk even though we don't fully understand the risk, certainly we don't owe citizens a COA analysis but of course we're doing this for democracy, and if it doesn't appear to be working just shut up and keep doing it! Eerily similar to what our country saw during Covid, BLM, climate "crisis" .... but I'm sure that's just a coincidence and not an indication we are being manipulated for political reasons.

In Russia's eyes NATO has been encroaching on them for decades despite promises not to, and they started this war to prevent Ukraine from further aligning with the west and threatening them. Additionally the area they invaded are full of ethnic Russians who claim mistreatment by Ukraine. you asked the question so I'm answering it, not endorsing Russian actions. Although I would add that my non-US friends are quick to point out that a preemptive invasion to deter a threat to their homeland.... is exactly what the US did to Iraq. my opinion: we need to end the war in Ukraine. It would involve Ukraine giving up territory. That sucks. However, that is preferable to me than getting the US involved in war against Russia to settle a regional dispute.

Don’t be a hard ass; he obviously just wants to know the pulse of the force bra. He’s totally not a non-aviation front office worm that told a GO he had inroads with the cool kids. He even said “fr tho” so you know it’s a young “enthusiast.” Super common word for kids to say. And his username says Butt: so edgy, trust high.

Injured in AFG flying Pave Lows (while commanding their detachment) as an O6 female in the 2001-2004 timeframe? Nope.

I get where you’re coming from and if circumstances surrounding the shot were different I would agree with your logic. However the conspiracy theorist isn’t encouraging me to give this shot to my pregnant wife. Whoever is (FDA, Pfizer, CDC, etc) should sell me on both necessity and safety. If you’re buying a car and someone tells you “that car is unreliable” the salesmen could reply “you prove it!” But you don’t have to buy the car unless you want to; if the salesman wants to make a sale he should probably convince you to buy it. To continue this analogy, in the crazy world of C19 vaccines the salesmen have convinced the government to force you buy it while also censoring true facts indicating the car is unreliable.

Flu shot: minor inconvenience anthrax: there was a huge dust up about this, and it is no longer mandatory. malaria pills: bro, I throw those in the trash every deployment; nobody is making me take them. I disagreed with Covid mandates for military, but I got my shot when ordered. I was doing cool shit and uninterested and making that my hill to die on. But it was wrong. Curious if anyone here supports mandates for the rest of the country: Schools forcing it on kids, businesses forcing it on employees, etc. The whole conversation changes if we talk about mandates inside of the military or outside of the military.

Honestly the world would be a better place with more cookie monsters; don't kill that dream.

Awesome, we finally agree! And I don't care how many boosters you take or how often you double mask your kids. Have at it. Freedom of choice has traditionally been a shared value in the US; it's only recently tyrants tried forcing us rather than convincing us. If you've switched away from the mandate cultists, then I welcome you on the side of freedom regardless of your opinion on vaccine efficacy. Live and let live.

The "data" doesn't support all the young athletes dying suddenly, yet it's plain as day that's exactly what's happening. turns out when you lie to people, they don't trust you. I notice you didn't engage on whether you'd have your pregnant wife/sister/daughter get vaxed and boosted. I don't blame you for avoiding the question, it's quite uncomfortable to realize you're the bad guy in a narrative.

Butte MT is a fantastic summertime OST location with great flying in all directions, a well equipped FBO, a few nice distilleries in their small downtown area and easy hikes in close proximity. Unfortunately you'll have to watch out for the former SEAL actually asking people for free drinks because he shot UBL.

You're quite right, the burden of proof rests with the person making the assertion. The assertion made is that we must get vaccinated, it is the safe & effective way to "stop the spread." You should be prepared to convince a pregnant mom, not presume to order her. You pro-vaccine zealots don't get it; 100% of the burden to prove vaccine validity is on you. This isn't a tit for tat discussion, you need overwhelming evidence from impartial sources and total data transparency or no one will believe you. You don't have it. Would you force your wife to take the clot shot while pregnant if risk of miscarriage increase was only 1%? Which is greater: the risk a young woman will have and spread covid so severe it threatens her life and others, or the risk this shot will harm her unborn baby? Since you can't answer those question, you shouldn't be shaming people misreading data to err on the side of cautious prenatal care.

Your article does not provide any actual data, it merely alludes to mathematical errors in the assertion that C19 vaccine causes a higher miscarriage risk. If you want to "debunk the conspiracy" then we'd need to know the number of miscarriages in a non-vaccinated control group compared against the number in the vaccine group, then curate for other factors (lifestyle risk choices, age, overall health, etc.). This should be easy to debunk given that data exists, I wonder why that wasn't part of your article? The only relevant information your linked article provided for those questions was the Pfizer comment that they did testing and do not assess miscarriage as a risk. Except they've lied about many things during the pandemic, including efficacy of the shot. **Edited to add: I did read the linked Sep 21 article claiming to prove no relation between vaccine and miscarriage; too old & not good enough, I want the Pfizer study data.** So good luck debunking conspiracies, I mean that genuinely. But denial & counter-accusation does not actually debunk it. Release of all raw testing data might. The appeal to authority is unconvincing in light of complete failure, uncovered deception and corruption by the authorities.

That voter ID and legitimate traceable ballots aren't the national standard speaks to the depth of crisis we're already in. Time for a candidate who takes the issue seriously, although I grant I'm not in favor of a civics test (who will test the testers?). Imagine we're watching enemy targets & you stood up in a JOC full of prevaricating pussy Colonels and said "let's just attack these guys and eat their hearts!" I'd support your enthusiasm, agree in principal that attacking is my preferred COA, and get with you later to revisit & tweak the whole cannibalism thing (which I don't support). But let's get things moving in the right direction. That's how I feel here. Addressing boarder chaos, firing our disgraceful SECDEF then purging the military of his acolytes, and ensuring elections are run legitimately are my 3 top voting issues.

I agree with many of your points, but I totally disagree with your take on voting. Our elections are a national crisis, something radical must be done or our system risks illegitimacy. I think fraud is widespread enough to impact results, and I am not alone. Whether this is true or not we do not know with certainty, because credible investigations are stymied. However, like many things with authority, the perception of impropriety is as damaging as actual impropriety itself. I think voter ID laws and paper ballots are a minimum requirement moving forward.

Yea I get that you're 100% pro-Ukraine war and every downside is worth it to you. I'd submit the shit we gave Afghans is not as good as what we've given UKR, and the volume of their loss is significant according to Army O6/O7s I speak to. You don't agree and that's fine, but the concern is out there. I realize what we left in AFG.

100% valid. And often overlooked are low dollar (comparatively) individual systems: white phosphorus NVGs, precision machined sniper rifles, optics, composite IBA materials, IR illuminators, etc. All of which RUS gathers from dead Ukrainians (or buys from shady Ukrainians, we have little oversight) then shares with the Chinese who reverse engineer it. These are big issues, as the myriad infantry kit improvements we painfully learned during hard years of GWOT are given to our global adversaries. The rest of my family is Army and this issue is a huge area of risk from their perspective.

Job well done to Obama for ordering the UBL DA, despite a lot of pressure to approve an air strike. Tough call, but it went better. Job well done to Trump for the Baghdadi DA. That thing was spicy and a lot of GO advisors wanted an air strike. See- it’s easy to give credit when you care more about the mission than partisanship. Biden 100% failed in every aspect of the Kabul evacuation; Miley & Austin would have resigned if they had any honor.

Hey bro, I really appreciate when you reply because I enjoy reading your viewpoint. I 100% get that you do not have time/desire to get into an internet back & forth... that's me a lot if times too! My downvote was purely out of principal: you do it a bunch without commenting what exactly you disagree with, so I must reciprocate. But don't take it wrong. Free drinks to any forum participants I meet IRL 🇺🇸

Biden ordered us out by the end of August, last C17 left 30 Aug. There was much confusion on the ground about “end of Aug” vs 11 Sep (which was original target) and those extra days would have allowed us to evacuate more US citizens. After Abbey Gate we received a clear order, relayed to us that it was directly from POTUS, that everyone would be out by the end of Aug.

Biden 100% had a say in the execution of the withdrawal. As the President of our nation, he bears ultimate responsibility for the endeavor. More importantly, he personally set the date for Kabul mandatory departure time against recommendations of senior GOs. The "31 Aug" arbitrary target was a huge driver to chaos at HKIA, and was a direct order from Biden. Even after the military demonstrated the order would make ensuring all AMCITs escaped impossible, Biden was steadfast. DOS also bears responsibility and they encouraged this decision.

There’s nothing to wonder about regarding a rated O-6 plus with less than 5 AMs: They actively worked their career path during a time of great need to avoid deployments; they are consequently unworthy to command. AMs (minus SAAMs) are similar to tally marks on prison walls. There’s only one way to earn them which is packing your shit up, leaving your family, and putting in time. Yes it’s a participation trophy but that counts for something when you’re a leader. Of note on Eagle dudes without them- I’ve met plenty who wanted so much to be part of the war they volunteered for Advisor gigs or MC12, etc. If you were a rated aviator during the GWOT and wanted to fly in combat you could. It’s that simple.

I'd forgotten about the hands! Best part about AFPAK hands was neither the AFG or PAK sides wanted it, leaving us literally not knowing what to do with our hands. It may have been the most out of touch program our forever war wonder strategists dreamed of, which is saying something.

Valid, AFSOC is not a clown organization & I should have worded that better. I just hate mandatory service dress, PTSD from post-deployment blues Monday.