tac airlifter

lol Skitzo! Valid

I can’t grasp your analysis, it seems at odds with itself (or I’m too dumb to understand). AA got rid of jets which is bad, there are less passengers (which means their fleet is right sized?), they’re overstaffed but if they hire less that’s bad. I’m confused. If there’s less passengers then wouldn't it be a smart decision to decrease fleet size so they aren’t paying for parked jets? Unless you’re saying they suck at competing which does seem true. I think AA needs a massive leadership shake up. Glad they fired Vasu, he clearly wanted AA to be king of ULCCs, which is fine if it’s profitable but that business model appears to be imploding. They read the room wrong post-Covid by dumping the 757 which would have filled the (planned future) role of the XLR very well. Curious if the 73 to PHX, 320 to ORD, 78 to LGA, etc. signals growth or simply shifting of existing personnel.

Wow bro, great find. His description of the paradox of democracy (we must rig it in order to save it) is the best and most succinct explanation I’ve seen. Starts about 6 minutes in.

Financially incentivize domestic oil & gas energy production. Deregulation and disempowering unaccountable federal bureaucracy. Close the border. He wants those things, he made moves towards those things, Biden/Harris did the opposite. Embrace brevity.

All good points Pooter, Harris baited Trump and he fell into it time & again. However what she (and the slavish “moderators”) failed to do: convince me she’d be a better POTUS than him. There’s a misunderstanding on the left that all Trump supporters are trapped in the gravity well of his personality cult. Sure some are, as some are for any POTUS candidate. But I trust Trump to seek policies important to me, and conversely I’m certain Harris will pursue policies I hate. Why? Because unlike other elections we have years of experience watching each of them in office, and actions matter more than spin (which they both do constantly). Harris embarrassed Trump (or rather, set him up to embassy himself) but is that a difficult task for someone so egotistical? Who cares. Did she convince anyone she’d be a trustworthy and competent POTUS? She performed better, but I don’t think either of them won the debate.

Spot on dude. The rainbow Taliban loves their hypocrisy.

They had an obligation to fight, and they didn't. There were certainly individual acts of valor and individual members who were invested (one dude was shot down, disguised himself as taliban and walked 90 miles back HKIA and continued fighting; he's now a sensor operator for a firefighting company in Montana). But in aggregate, GIRoA and the ANA/AAF were not good faith partners. And not just in some ethereal policy level strategic sense, I mean at the member level they'd use A29s to bring honey back from their bee farms in Fayzabad instead of sitting alert for TICs. And when the city was invaded they left their families to the fates, stole planes and fled. Can you imagine doing something so cowardly yourself? Guessing you'd struggle to even comprehend that level of douchebaggary. I typed a long response and realized I remain to angry about the situation to have a constructive discussion. Suffice to say 1- 3% of people evacuated meet your above criteria; the vast majority were criminals (purposefully bussed from prisons by the Taliban to flood the airfield), AWOL military members, government bureaucrats, and randoms. Imagine watching 50 commandos throw down their weapons and run from 3 guys in a truck and I'm not allowed to shoot the truck... WTF. Same thing happened in Mosul when ISIS invaded in 2014 (large & well equipped Iraqi army threw away weapons and ran from a minimal enemy force) although this one was more dramatic and at scale. I feel nothing but contempt for those people, and certainly no obligation to bring them CONUS.

I have a controversial take on this, so I’ll just ask: did we ever have an obligation to evacuate them? Did they have an obligation to fight for their own country? Why did anyone have the impression we would take them to the US if they failed to secure their own country?

Splash of cold water? The USAF needs a sledge hammer to wreck bureaucracy, a firing squad (figuratively) for many layers of cultivated pussy officers, and a promotion system directly linked to proven combat success (versus current "future potential" BS). But it won't get either because there's no accountability in government and therefore no incentive to change. I like where your hearts at but you misunderstand the organization if you think another multi-million dollar program with numerous stakeholders and fuzzy immeasurable outcomes versus a single commander with clear objectives is the right path. But respect for your consistency & desire to keep the force flying.

This is a terrible idea. If MC12 taught us anything, temporary MDS is a recipe for disaster unless overwhelming GO support exists to chaperone the program through all the gatekeepers and roadblocks from established corners of the bureaucracy. For so many reasons this would not work: no one cares about it (senior leadership sponsorship is critical), the only people gameplanned to lead are folks who wouldn’t have gotten a chance in closely scrutinized communities (not intending to disparage here, but it’s true), everyone else is competing for scarce dollars for programs already proven, the line flyers are focused on their next assignment… bro, it briefs well but in practice would be a horror show. Not to mention we have actual MDS that could gainfully employ these pilots for 3-5 years. Or forever. If a random staffer is lurking on here for ideas (doubtful) please don’t pick this one.

That's 100% right. Many cops believe a mag dump into an innocent person in their home lawfully carrying was justified. It's why I (emotionally) think a murder charge should be pursued although I acknowledge logically it would not likely be successful in court. For clarity: I have no issues with multiple rounds fired. If I've made the decision shoot, then shoot until threat is neutralized. My issue is there was no threat; anyone who has completed basic shoot/no-shoot training would not have shot. However, police departments intentionally teach that shooting if a weapon is "in hand" is appropriate. People who teach that should be in prison, but I'll settle for their students.

You’re right. Pisses me off though, cops shouldn’t be spring loaded to shoot anyone holding a weapon otherwise we have no right to bear arms. “Officer safety” before “constitutional rights” is tyranny. Not in Florida: Under Florida Statute 782.04(4), a person is guilty of murder in the third degree if they unintentionally kill another person while committing or attempting to commit a non-violent felony.

It should be Murder 3 minimum.

Whoever answered you that way is shortsighted. It's true the command is experiencing an identity crisis, as is SOCOM so trickle down is natural. And it's true GWOT TTPs were crafted with uncontested airspace assumptions But an aggressive, creative and risk accepting culture (which thrives in AFSOC despite attempts to squash it) will always be relevant in every fight. And there are many exciting COAs just waiting for circumstances befitting their use.

You have an intriguing perspective but your hubris and delivery is off-putting. Is every conversation in your life a lecture or do you dialogue at all? If “everything is always politics” then we can disregard all your points as political spin meant to manipulate rather than educate.

I hadn't seen that, but he's absolutely deserving. Macho was a true hero.

Wow, I thought you guys were joking but sure enough, gayer than a fanny pack full of dicks. Not that there's anything wrong with that... 😬

Copy. I was hoping there'd be gambling for booze between BO members. I jump at every chance. One of the many things that makes this forum awesome! So far everyone has paid up, minus one dude who I let off the hook because he was salty 😂. Remember, if we aren't having fun in these posts we're doing it wrong. You're welcome!

Are we gambling for booze???

Matt exemplified everything good about America and the US military. Patriot, warrior, God fearing husband and father. Everybody who knew him is better for it.

I tend to think the same. The main caveat being that the Iranian regime is not a monolith: some of them are hard-core enough to pull the trigger. regardless, it's fair to say that their nuclear status remains an open question. And that uncertainty introduces additional uncertainty to calculations about preemptive strikes and response and things of that nature.

You guys think Iran already has a nuke?

100% same. Pre-Covid I only partly paid attention to or cared about politics. Now I feel like my eyes are open, and the coordinated big media propaganda is an active, obvious, and evil presence in our country.

Ok, thanks for the explanation. So your issue is that you took his statement seriously. I took his statement as tongue in cheek. I find the lawfare conducted against him as far more threatening to our constitutional republic than a few joking tweets. So yes, I think we're pretty far apart on this issue.