FLEA

It's funny how we get discouraged when people arm chair general military matters but so many of us are willing to do the same with a health issue. In other news, I realised service secretaries have the power to extend bonus pay (I think up to $1000/mo) to individuals who are deployed more than 180 days a year as a result of unforseen circumstances. It would sure be nice if someone forwarded that up the staff to compensate all those Bros and broettes taking one for the team right now.

Yeah, Goldfein made some comments the other day that he saw it going until at least August. I immagine he wouldn have been in many of those talks determining the guidance before he said that. I have 2 married friends on seperate remote tours who are being absolutely screwed by this. A lot of lives being upset by this.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/germany/a-post-from-germany/ I'm living in Germany right now. I thought some people would be interested to know the civil Rights discussion is not exclusive to the US right now. I would like to accept that isolating the immuno compromised is a doable strategy but the more I run it through in my head, it really isn't. If my wife is immunocompromised, I would still have to go to work, buy groceries, take the kids to school, etc... Her chance of catching the virus is the exact same as mine now. If my probability goes way up because we open the flood gates than so does hers. Furthermore, because normally healthy people will flood the hospitals with what is still a very severe sickness for many younger people, when she does get sick, she will possibly be denied care on the basis of resource availability, all but ensuring her fate. I like many others on here find the erosion of civil rights concerning but as I eluded to earlier, we live in a country that cares more about how that bitch Carol Baskins hid her husband's body than pathogenic precautions. I'm not saying I have a right or wrong moral answer to this, it's a plague. Anyone who is naieve to think we can get through something like this with minimal suffering is wrong. People are going to suffer. Our only choice as a society is who will bear that suffering and how.

Got my stimulus check today. Honestly I feel like I hit the jackpot being in the military right now. Nice to be working, getting paid, and still get free money on the side.

One thing I've caught is people keep throwing the mortality rate of 1-2% around still. I went to look it up yesterday on google and the actual mortality rate is above 6% globally now and over 3% in the US. That's a pretty big difference no matter how you look at it. I think it's also understated that even healthy younger people who survive the virus often recieve permanent or lasting lung and cardiovascular damage from it. That's going to become an increasingly important issue, especially for many on this forum that turn 40 when theyll be required to pass an annual ekg.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/13/asia/china-coronavirus-aircraft-carrier-deployment-dp-hnk-intl/index.html A deliberate attempt to put egg on our face but I'm not sure it matters. China already has so much egg from this whole fiasco I'm not sure anyone on the world gives a fuck that they can launch a carrier right now.

Since this is getting heated let's all crack a beer and talk about something we can all agree on; like how that fucking bitch Carol Baskins killed her husband!

I know it's written in the AFI but in a lot of squadrons I've been in it's just not something you do. Certainly you can fight the fight and point out the AFI. You will get the time off. It won't be worth the fallout though.

Surprised they still have baggers. They did away with them in Europe. (Speaking on base here, and because of the virus).

On Mar 4th many people on this forum, (including myself) and talking heads on TV were convinced this virus was a hoax, over hyped, or a political ploy. We have been in isolation long enough that we have quickly forgotten how casual our attitudes were only a month ago. I hardly blame crozier for porting.

Amazed he got away with it! I've gotten the scowl before for taking off at noon on the day prior to starting leave! Seems rediculous since it's specifically authorized but so many people think it's exploiting the system.

We have no idea how it was transmitted to the press. It could have been forwarded by email, It's also just as easy to print it and hand it to a contact. It's also not hard to take an encrypted email and copy and paste the chain into personal email. Some additional thoughts, you are not REQUIRED to encrypt FOUO, only to attempt to. (You are required to encrypt PII, both of these rules are per the DoDIs on Information Security) Also, a lot of staffs are using org boxes now which can't recieve encrypted. Possible if one of the recipients was an org box it was removed to accommodate. Bottom line is, firing Crozier for someone else leaking the info sounds a bit off to me. At the end of the day his email was IAW all information security guidelines so long as everyone on the recipient list was a USG employee, which it sounds like is the case.

Wasn't it up to 90 at one point? And then they backed it to 75, then down to 60 again? I have 20 days I haven't used yet. Just entered a formal training program so zero chance of using them now. If they let me carry all 20, next year will be a great year! Do I take them all at once? Or do I just decide to work 3 days a week for as long as possible..... Oh the decisions!!!!

And possobly illegal. The memo was already marked FOUO which means someone already broke a law by leaking it. Yes, you could send via SIPR, but with the same recipient list the leaker would still have recieved it. It would still have to be marked FOUO on SIPR. Leaker can still print it and take it home. Marking it secret on SIPR when the contents are in fact FOUO is a crime. The direction or suggestion to move the conversation to SIPR indicates a lack of understanding on information control procedures by senior Navy leadership. Some other thoughts I've had though. 1.) What would public perception have been if we evacuated an aircraft carrier of demographically young/healthier people, when we are making cruise ships sit at sea for 2-3 weeks when they have outbreaks. 2.) What was the demographic of the outbreak? If it disproportionately effected officers you have some serious command and control issues to be weary of. Effecting certain sections like engines might jeapordize safety, etc...

This isn't entirely true. Just depends what you want to do. For me, I looked into med school but lacked the pre reqs from my undergrad. I would need a post bac program now which adds a huge financial and time hurdle.

Just learn how to take advantage of the situation. See how long you can go without shaving now!

I second this. I desperately wished I would have done a STEM degree as I want out of the AF but don't want to go airlines. Additionally, if the choice is STEM with scholarship or not STEM without scholarship, deeply consider taking the scholarship. Student loans will haunt you a long time and financially I've always felt I'm 5 years behind everyone else because I spent years dumping everything I had I to debt while they started investments. Money may not be important now but it will be later, especially nearing the end of your commitment when you want some safety net to explore getting out.

Well man, to be fair, at this point in time, you are going to look like an idiot being the person not wearing one. Honestly, I could hardly care. Masks were widespread in Asia while stationed there and I got used to wearing one daily in Korea due to the air polution. The Bird Flu/SARS/H1N1 outbreaks, all out of Asia forced a cultural change to normalize the wear of sanitary mask on a day to day basis and there is empirical evidence that it has drastically slowed the spread of COVID in those countries. I would predict a similar cultural change will come out of this and to be honest I'm happy about that because I'm tired of sick ass people coming to work and breathing all over the mission planning computers and what not.

Sure, no one knows everything that happened, but I would say based off the summation of my experiences, there is a strong enough possibility that the chain of command needed to/deserved to be embarrassed that I am willing to give the Captain the benefit of the doubt on this one. We live in an era of totally inept military leadership and in all likelihood his superiors were probably ready to sacrifice the crew to the pyre of readiness for a cause that quite honestly isn't matriculating. We have to remember our adversaries are impacted by these events as much as we are and its unlikely China or Russia step up and say "oh man! ONE WHOLE aircraft carrier is down for 2 weeks, I'm going to launch my invasion of Taiwan!" I think we also tend to overstate the firepower a carrier even brings to a major operation. Its not that its insignificant but a fixed air base can certainly generate substantially more.

I think there is more to the story but the fact that his immediate boss is on the boat with him leads me to believe that he was not getting the support he needed. At the end of the day though I think the smudge is still on the Navy's face. This dude was cheered off his boat and in the realm of public opinion he is a hero. He will find plenty of post retirement oppurtunities. But the common sentiment amongst Navy sailors now is that their service doesn't have their back, and that weighs on their morale and retention.

https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/ Another cool data driven resource shows the majority of people are complying with orders to stay in. Some interesting observations to be made here by comparing countries or states.

https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/this-is-discrimination-germany-seeks-income-taxes-from-us-airman-because-he-s-married-to-local-woman-1.624553 The fact that his command isn't aggressively jumping in to protect him is really dissapointing to me. Having been stationed in Germany, I don't feel like the German government strongly appreciates our presence and we'd be better off moving our larger bases and hubs to Poland.

I want to believe this but the reality is court cases aren't always decided straight up on the constitutionality of the outcome. The reality is courts are highly politicized and I could see even the supreme court upholding a state governments rights to enforce public health measures as a matter of states rights.

Great read. I believe everyone deserves redemption. We're all human, people make mistakes.

Uhhh wait.... "what's good for me is not for thee?" Is that your take on this?