fire4effect

Alright. I give. Please enlighten me.

Assuming this is directed at me (Un-scoreable SAT)? You got me LOL Admit it took me a little while to figure out what you were saying 0

In Iraq the biggest violators of GO1 were the GOs....usually during Thursday poker night. (here's my shocked face) The next day they're taking rank from an E-4 and E-5 for the same infraction

Especially given the age of the B-52 and the relatively small fleet of strategic bombers in the U.S inventory (Including the B-1s and B-2s) Obviously too early to say but a whole lot of different potential underlying issues that can be very expensive to fix

Condolences Tough losing such good friend. Did some Acro a few days ago in an old T-6. A good reminder why it's done in an area well away from the airport and why clearing turns are part of the SOP

Maybe let them rely only on fuel/oil from refineries/production in their own state. With no importation from or through evil red states. I know it's overly simplified but I would be very surprised with the amount of fuel consumed in California that they could meet their own needs.

Not sure if this was mentioned elsewhere. Hypocrisy, the one common denominator for all politicians.

OMG! This is how an engineer describes how he had sex the night before

Well played

I agree that a most things will stay the same. Lots of things are said in a campaign that have no chance of happening precisely because we do have robust checks and balances in the government. No mass deportations and I'm not a contracting officer so I can't say what is or isn't allowed in the AF1 case etc. But I still see some traditional boundaries tested by a very non traditional president. But point taken so now a little juvenile humor instead of big words.

Very much so but given what has happened in this country over the last several months not much would surprise me. Trump has just threatened Boeing with canceling the new Air Force One over cost. Can he? Good question. But as a very shrewd businessman he has absolutely no compunction with playing hardball.

Agree. It falls under the heading of "serious misallocation of valuable military resources" Break And if the DOD wants to REALLY get a recalcitrant (my ACT word for the day) pilot's attention they set up a process where they can get the FAA to suspend the Airman Certificate of anyone who faces a FEB or UCMJ action. Not sure if it would need a separate Congressional Action to make it happen though it would be hard to say if a Republican Congress would actually go along with it anyway. As everyone who holds a certificate knows it's considered a "privilege"

Question from the peanut gallery. With the apparent train wreck that is pilot retention and the likely increasing desperation the powers that be will be feel, how many of those who have completely severed their military ties have considered resigning their commission? As long as a commission is held recall is a possibility. As far as the Reserves a stroke of the pen and anybody can find themselves back on AD. I could easily see the conversation go like this sometime post 20JAN2016. President Trump: Secretary Mattis I have a list of targets I want to obliterate. Secretary Mattis: Mr. President we don't have enough pilots to execute the mission. Not enough are staying in even with the bonus we're offering. President Trump: Well dammit Secretary Mattis what do we do to fix this? Secretary Mattis: Stop-loss the ones still in and we can put our Reservists on AD. As far as the rest who haven't resigned their commission we can bring them back too. I do recall (one data point) meeting a separated (I think outside of 8 years) Captain back in good ol OIF who submitted his resignation paperwork when he saw all the recalls and wanted to get ahead of the game. They said thanks for your letter but you can't resign just yet. Also we thank-you for updating us with your current address so here are your orders and have a wonderful military day. I don't know but given the sensitive bedside manner that both Trump and Mattis possess I wouldn't really be surprised if it got bad enough they would do whatever was necessary in their mind. Guess we would find out the true power of the president's pen.

One other thing I tell people to get with their first handgun is a good flashlight like a Surefire. When things go bad it more likely the lighting will be less than ideal. I carry it in my pocket every where I go and it sits next to my pistol on the nightstand at night. Flashlight goes a long way in helping with target acquisition and a true threat assessment.

Totally correct on the first two issues. I guess I've gotten so used to it I didn't think about putting it out here. Definitely a technique to avoid getting appendages in the way of the muzzle and something a new shooter should account for. I like the idea of a training program for the M9 and hopefully for non manual safety weapons (i.e. Glock) too since so many being sold are of that type. A lot of the SF bubbas carry the Glock 19 and swear by it but in a minimally trained individual a negligent discharge is a real possibility.

G30 is nice and uses a .45 round. Does have thick grips. I used to carry a single stack S&W .45 for a very long time and the mag catch finally gave up the ghost and couldn't find a replacement part. Did love that gun. After a fair amount of internal debate I went with a Springfield XDM 9mm. Compact version has 3.8 inch barrel which is just under the Sig M-11s 3.9. OAL for XDM is 6.75 inches (pretty short for the barrel length) 13 round capacity with short mag (1.18 grip width). 9mm ammo performance has really improved over time and price and very ready availability is a plus. Use an Uncle Mikes IWB at only about 13-14 dollars and very thin material. Thin material means I can use with the pants I have. Even if it starts to wear out it cheap/easy to replace. 5.11 tactical has some concealment holster shirts you can wear under button dress shirt for deeper concealment. BTW LuckyGunner has some pretty decent ammo reviews for a large number of calibers/bullet weights including firing into gelatin. YMMV

In RC-East as most of Afghanistan the locals are well aware of those who aren't from the area. It just won't be a secret for long no matter how hard they try especially in the numbers being talked about.

If a pardon actually is in the works, my bet is none of us will hear about it until sometime on 20 January 2017. Right now it's a state secret.

BRILLIANT! Is there a way that the pardon can only be applied to the mishandling of classified information and not touch the whole issue of the Clinton Foundation? To me that lets you have your cake and eat it too.

I've been told the red passport is for official government business only just as it says. But granted that's my organization. ***break*** I think the other location is Tortuga. According to Captain Sparrow it's a partying place.

Word to the wise. Get everything in writing. Even when it's yours it's not really yours. May turn out down the road "we were just joking". https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-soldiers-forced-to-repay-enlistment-bonuses-la-times-report/ Adding insult to injury is having to pay back the full amount, including the 30% or so taxes that were taken at the time of payment.

While sometimes getting down and dirty is unavoidable in war the cost can go WAY higher than imagined if and when an American Servicemen ends up in the hands of the enemy. Used to remind (read: don't do anything stupid) my guys constantly that if somehow (doesn't really matter how) they end up in the hands of the enemy the combat power that will be expended in locating and retrieving them will be huge and take away from other missions. Not to mention the other lives that will be put at risk. Bergdahl is the most well known example though establishing if someone is dead or alive as happened in OIF as well can be no small feat with a huge effort required. As a matter of fact I've heard that assets including UAVs that may have otherwise been over watching COP Keating (prior to the Battle of Kamdesh) were re-tasked to try and locate Bergdahl. True or not you get the idea. In my mind if I can kill the SOBs from afar where they can't hit me then by all means let's do it. "If You Find Yourself in a Fair Fight You Didn't Plan Your Mission Properly" PVT Murphy

I recently worked with the spouse of a rated Air Force O-5 who made O-6 ABZ. They had accepted that his career was over and were making serious retirement plans. They just did a PCS on the way to finish the 3 years he'll need to retire as an O-6. To say they were surprised is putting it mildly. Their guess was that somebody on the board who knew him said WTF.

I think the deal for the Army (when they kicked a bunch of O-3s and O-4s to the curb a couple years back) went like this. If you want your Separation Pay you join a Reserve Unit for 3 years but if you stayed in until retirement the same deal to pay it back kicked in. Also, I quote "The three-year Ready Reserve obligation will begin on the active-duty separation date, unless the soldier has an existing service obligation. In such cases, the three-year obligation will not begin until the day after the existing obligation is completed in the Ready Reserve." Obviously more to the whole RIF process but you get the idea. The house always wins.

Know the area around Taji all too well. I had already rotated out earlier in 2006. To a Brother in Arms