ATIS

'Don't know for sure"....."might have been a factor"?? A lot of two-stepping around the one thing she didn't discuss or put forth; did the member(s) have C-19 and what was the VAX status of said expired member(s) of society in the 25-44 year old age group. "What we do know" is when the transition from pure reporting of the data in the study went sideways into the unverified. IMO, you can't draw a relationship between C-19 and the increase, it's still an unknown. But I guess that's doesn't stop this from being broadcast to the masses. Her husband situation makes this discussion more interesting, although on a personal level I am sorry for her loss. ATIS

Restaurants, jobs asked for proof of COVID vaccine. So did it increase DC’s vaccine rates? - WTOP News “Their intended outcomes were to raise vaccination rates, for people to get more vaccines; and consequently, the expectation was that COVID cases and deaths would go down,” noted Vitor Melo, a postdoctoral fellow at the Mercatus Center. As compared to cities that didn’t implement mandates, Melo said his study found “there’s not much to show for it.” “COVID cases were not affected, COVID deaths were not affected, and really, there’s no evidence that people got more vaccinated because of these mandates,” Melo said. While admitting the mandates had an impact on people who wouldn’t get vaccinated, Melo added “there really doesn’t seem much to show for it.”

😞 I deserve that

Devotion? Book is a must read but any feedback on the movie? ATIS

Gun porn. My babies have been in my buddies (F-111 WSO) safe for over 10+ years since I moved to Cap Hill. Finally got a chance to get down there and inspect/clean what was needed. Other than running a patch through a shotgun and my S&W M19 2.5” .357…..the rest of the family was as pretty as the day they went in there. Lesson: clean/oil before storage is you friend. Need to get out to the Quantico range if they will let us. Nothing like the feel of an M1 Garand or a Browning High Grade Ultra O/U, along with bro talk over morning coffee. Cheers ATIS

Agree. BK Going through the process now after a 30-year career both on AD and flying/non-flying reserve. I stayed away from any claiming until statutory retirement/years of service. ***If you have any ache/pain/issue, get it in your med record in some form now or just before you separate (go back and read this sentence again)*** If you saw a non-Mil doctor about any issue while you were still in uniform (sports med, colonoscopy, appendicitis, emergency room visit for a garden tool accident, loud VTCs…the list goes on) ***get it in your record***. That should invoke a service connection relationship even if you are perfectly fine today. VA benefits comes down to two things…is there an issue/potential issue you incurred during your period of service, and is the issue something you have to deal with. I’ve got hearing loss (both ears and a really bad right ear), tinnitus, kidney stones, excess protein in lab work (had no idea about that one), PF in one foot, and I had my appendix out while on AD years ago (they actually measured my scars in the providers office). You go to independent VA appointments to check on all of those conditions with a VA provider (PITA but that’s the process…so embrace it). In my case all of those are service connected (except my left ear hearing loss which I am asking for a higher review because I am like ??WTF??). I really didn’t have a say in any of that determination (but if you don’t like it you can push back). What draws you compensation (now or later) is if that service connected issue is something you deal with (currently or in the future). Tinnitus, affects my current work and life everyday…yep (10%). PF, every freaking day…yep (but still waiting to see how that is going to be rated). Right/left ear hearing loss, no rating (but I will have hearing aids later in life so those will be paid for because of their service connection). Kidney stones, no rating. I find that funny since they absolutely suck and I’m a ticking time bomb. You have to pass X amount (3?) of stone(s) per year to get a rating…I only passed one this past Summer so I didn’t make the cut. I love that waiting game. VA a long process but you get through it. Start the VSO review about 4-6 months out if you have an established retirement date (I used the VFW office out of Fort Belvoir and she was great). If you start afterward, not a huge deal but you have a year to start the process (they will back pay your rating $$$ to your retirement date if eligible). Another note: Check your VA paperwork. At the end of the process, you receive a data package about all your issues and the VAs determination of service connection and rating (which equals potentially $$$ each month). That’s where you learn the criteria of your conditions Vs compensation. I’m pushing back on the hearing for two reasons. Left ear not service connected; no idea how they got that determination. Second, my really bad right ear: The data package sent to me had nothing about the worse hearing levels in that ear…they just cut and paste the left ear info/paragraph into the right ear paragraph (not joking, exact cut and paste). I immediately called the VA and had them add that observation in my higher level review request. Would have never caught that if I didn’t read over the package. Like everyone else here I know some really broken people that don’t draw anything/hardly anything…but yet others (that “seem” outwardly fine)…draw 80+%. I try not to judge but it’s hard not to in some cases. It’s not a perfect system, but you/we have earned it. Since hanging up the uniform on a massively dynamic and non-standard career that kept me in the “fun” much longer that I could have imagined, I’m more interested in having care established for my long term self than worried about being NPQ for flying or mobilization to do the mission. I blame Scooter for the hearing loss. His Tanker love fest SVTCs were so loud in the CAOC, the MARLO and I can both make the service connection with ease (Congrats on your fini flight and long career buddy, even though you wanted to fly Navy all along). Cheers All ATIS

“Shack” and a head nod to the pilots/NFO’s and maintainers/SNC folks that kept it working on station. Cheers ATIS

No Joint Credit, just bragging rights and a place in DC to crash and drink beer whenever you are in town. ATIS

You forgot to mention “hang out with cool USN and USMC buds in the CAOC”. ATIS

Highly recommended. Just don’t open your eyes underwater. ATIS

The 11 Days of Christmas Should be required reading for everyone/anyone even remotely involved in fighting the air war on basic leadership and strategic thinking that went sideways. Those BUFF gents hand a hand and foot tied behind their backs, but hacked the mission. Unfortunately with more losses than there should have been. I’ve talked to a few A-6 folks who carried hate inbound and delivered on the deck dodging all kinds of shit…some remarked how they couldn’t believe the BUFFs above were flying their predictable profile into that same iron shitstorm. ATIS

CMP program M1 Garands or M1 Carbines (they might have Enfields as well). You can pick up some nice shooters if they are available. ATIS

Unless you have a viable/solid candidate to counter (with a firm believable message), you will never overturn Newsome. I think that same message is going to be the outcome of last night. Red wave was more of a ripple, and I think a lot of that has to do with less-than-adequate R candidates put forward to compete. ATIS

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-gun-law-restricted-concealed-carry-rights-blocked-federal-judge Nice to see this BS nullified today. ATIS

Scooter knows me. He would be the first one to endorse pilot/NFO (WSO/CSO/whatever you want to call them in the USAF) up front like we had in the Navy. Let's go for a ride Scooter....don't worry...I will get that switch for ya so you don't pull your back muscles reaching over here. I kid....I kid. As we all know, it comes down to money. Nav's are cheaper and faster to produce than pilots. I saw someone mention EP's before. I had to pass the same NATOPS as the pilot, attend the same instrument rating school and had to complete the same boldface as a pilot sitting up front. I did everything except physically fly the jet while guarding handles, pulling levers and flipping switches just like a rated non-flying co-pilot would do, because the Navy trained us like that. Dual pitch-channel disconnect 10 seconds from crossing the ramp at night, Single engine fires off and above the boat, dual gen failure off the cat at night off of Korea (that one really was bad), "CLARA" approaches to the boat where we had no HUD or functioning autopilot to assist, nugget pilot going out for his first round-robin flight in Japanese airspace (those were always fun...the pilots were basically an ATIS-activated autopilot [no smart a$$ comments Scooter] on those since they just did what I told them to do). I will give you one sea story. Black as ink night in the Pacific. I was standing the duty in the ready room, when my roomy PeeWee (NFO) comes in white as a ghost. I see the XO (05) come in from the flight...white as a ghost. Didn't speak a word, very unusual. I cornered PeeWee in our stateroom and asked WTF. XO got vertigo off the cat as he raised the gear, wasn't looking at his horizon gyro and the plane leveled off and started rolling left. PeeWee grabbed the stick and righted the aircraft into correct attitude while telling the crew (XO and the two back seaters he had the jet and what he was doing). Back at the beach a few years later my best friend and I were flying test in the goo one evening and he got the leans way bad. I saw it and asked if he was OK....he fessed up right away and I took the jet while giving him a verbal on what the aircraft was doing. Few minutes later after his grey matter gyro caged...he took the jet back and no issue after that. I know plenty of my NFO buddies that pulled the handle while the pilot continued fighting the jet beyond hard-deck or other not so favorable situation. We were doing front seat pilot/NFO flying before CRM even became the norm. It works. Standing by for wire brushing/return fire. ATIS side note: "CLARA" means the front seat crew can't see the boat after calling the ball at 3/4 mile, but the LSO's on deck can see the aircraft/lights. Typically their comeback after I state "CLARA" is "Paddles contact, you are XYZ-low-slow-high, continue, left or right for line up...power Power...POWER"...whatever they need to tell us to keep us tracking to the landing area. I can count on 4 fingers those approaches, and never want to see those again (three were off of Korea/Japan in the Winter, one in the Arabian Gulf).