FLEA

In all honesty, collapse of the DPRK will probably result in a decades long insurgency. DPRK has a robust special operations capability filled with fanatics who will be held before criminal courts had the slightest hint of regime train. These dudes are western educated, and we'll off in nK, they have a lot to lose; they also have a lot of followers.

I'm going to be honest. I read the title, and saw a memo attached, and immediately thought this was about reduction in force measures. I'm a bit disapointed 😞

Isn't this what we've been asking for? Compensating pilots as pilots, doctors as doctors, lawyers as lawyers, etc.... And that as a Major/Instructor, I should be making significantly more than a Public Affairs specialist or personnelist, with significantly less training and transferable skills?

This is a really good point. Most AF GO's I've worked for were more interested in how to get airplanes airborne and thought Cyber was someone else's job. In all honesty, Space Force should have taken EW, and Cyber and created a new branch of ulterior domain warfare.

It was 3-4 years ago. I was a mid level captain. i tried it twice over 3 years. The numbers came direct from the functional. I forget where I found them. I believe our functional put them on our road show slides. I gave up at it. If they offered now I would say no. I'm on my 3rd MWS now and tired of new quals, being a copilot every time for a year, etc... I'm set on getting out after this tour is over. AF lost me because they couldn't provide me a pathway to a rewarding career. Didn't even have to be AFSOC. Just something other than what they had me doing.

I tried to switch to AFSOC when 11R manning was 120% and 11S was 70%. I was told no, because 11R manning might tank in the future. That's about all you need to know about AFPC logic.

To keep the markets healthy for boomers or to kill them all off before they sink?

I would guess white jets, followed by a healthy dosing of dudes to 11R airframes for follow-ons, since that is the collection pot of every other community's runoff.

No. Actually there is not a limit. Sorry.

Was surprised to learn my 72 and 74 year old parents were both called to Jury duty in this debacle. Like really? That wasn't an obvious thing to dismiss people over 65, hell maybe even 55 for?

You can also serve to help the economy and yourself by blowing the money as quickly as possible on a small or struggling business. This money isn't entirely intended to directly help those in need, but to also influence some people to make wreckless spending decisions they wouldn't normally be comfortable to make. If you simply take the money and invest it in a 401K though, (and there is nothing wrong with this, it is YOUR money) then you aren't meeting the desired intent.

Yes! I have some great information of a place you can stay for free! All you need to do is listen to my "90" minute presentation! Haha JK. But I feel ya man. I hate the snow too. Used to love it but as I got older I realised the cold, the shoveling and wearing a closet of clothes, just wasn't fun.

I loved being stationed in Rapid City. Fantastic place to raise children. It's like a village from a Hallmark movie. Winters are brutally cold though. But the scenery is 10/10.

I saw this video on the death of public intellectuals a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty good. The discussion you guys are having reminded me of it: https://fb.watch/2D-2IP9Z6X/

Just watch every video this guy ever did:

I mean in a lot of ways the French 🥖invented modern spycraft, so that doesn't surprise me. We are actually relatively new at it and had no spy services prior to WW2. While technologically we've come very far, I don't think we are as adept at the nuances of it compared to older states.

You can be a global superpower without an enormous conventional military though. I would argue that China is already there. There are 4 instruments of power and China is already globally leveraging 3 with extraordinary success. Further that with their non-conventional military capes (read Cyber and InfoOps) and they are slowly reprogramming the world to adhere to their narrative. Something interesting happened post Cold War. The worlds 2 largest super powers began using assassination (and still do) to accomplish political objectives. Why is this noteworthy? The taboo against assassination began in after the 16th century Peace at Westphalia. Sovereignty had been established as a political concept and big states realized they could easily exert power over small states with enormous standing armies. The problem with this model though, was a King Slayer could take your billion dollar army and make it worthless by removing the reigns of power overtop it. Because of this, the European Great Powers (as in UN 0.1 alpha) began advocating that assassination was morally evil, that heads of state were inherently civilian, that they only acted in the states interest, and therefore should be protected from the belligerence of war. The point to all of that is, all of that was upended in the Cold War. Nuclear war, by nature, is not conventional. Special Operations Forces, became a thing. Cyber is now a thing. Information Warfare is now a thing. The power paradigm that existed between 1575 to 1945 is shifting. The large, professional, standing army, is losing its appeal as the means of projection. I think China has this figured out. I think Russia is figuring it out now. I think we are REALLY slow to the plate with this. Largely because we have the largest, most impressive standing army in history. We've invested too much in this strategy to began thinking differently now.

I didn't really disdain Esper. He honestly made a lot of decent changes; and the dude wasn't unqualified. He was an Army officer for over a decade, and took his skills to the worlds largest defense supplier. Given that the US war machine runs on industry, this isn't a terrible perspective to hold. So many people acted like just because he was a Boeing exec he was going to sell out, but the dude never resigned the rank of Major. Are people on here really so jaded that they believe once an officer separates they can't be professional enough to resume their Hippocratic duties if they ever return to the government fold?

I think one of the great things about the AF is I've lived everywhere from South Dakota to downtown Seoul. Really helps illuminate different lifestyles for you and set expectations on what you want in life. I'll probably be getting out after this tour, bit the expereince definitely made me recognize I want a city with good access to the outdoors. Something like Seattle is perfect for this. Then I can have the best of both worlds. Sip coffee in pioneer square on Monday, do some tent camping in the cascades on the weekend.

Doesn't make a difference to me. It's all junk. You just have to know what that publication is junk for and read between the lines.

Hence why best to just not trust journalist, politicians, or corporate spokes people of any affiliation.

I grew up in a blend between rural and suburbs. I won't go back. While self sufficiency is great and I certainly appreciate the skills I got having to be self dependent, the fact is rural life is extraordinarily isolating; and human beings are meant to be social creatures. People just aren't motivated to drive 30 minutes out to your house to hang out with you. Making a 30 minute drive to town to hang out with other people is a struggle and eliminates certain activities (read alcohol) from enjoyment. No neighbors, no community, nothing to do. Its honestly boring to me. I guess the point is, its really just what you prefer. I love being able to walk out my front door and simply walk to restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc... and never have to worry about getting into car. I love having a 10 minute commute (if that). I love how my neighbors just mingle on the rooftop balconies and chat for hours while sipping a beer. I love that when I call off work sick and can't leave the house neighbors bring me by soup, or magazines. When you have some self sufficiency sills, this helps even more as neighbors learn they can ask you for advice if they want to patch a wall, or retile a floor. I think everyone has the cabin in the woods dream, with the cozy fire, and not a neighbor in sight for miles. For me though, that's an awesome vacation. Wouldn't want to live that lifestyle.

Seriously. Just go to a RED FLAG with some of our "partners".

Oh cool. I haven't read the report on the potential long term effects of the vaccine. What did it say?

I don't believe they will force you to take it right away though. Remember seeing something from SECDEF a while ago that troops wouldn't be forced to take it until it had a full FDA approval. (Versus the Emergency approval its on now) That full approval is at least a year away.