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).

Do what the Navy did years ago in the S-3, A-6, EA-6B community, put an instrument qualified Co-NAV in the front right seat. For sure in the S-3 community they went the route of putting a NFO in the front right seat because keeping two single anchor pilots qualed around the boat soon proved too restrictive. I heard rumblings that even the E-2D community is looking at missionizing the front right seat and putting a NFO up there to assist in mission related tasks. I’ve got 1000+ hours in the S-3 riding shotgun with pilots. Other than physically landing on the boat or staying in the baskt (that takes more practice than I had time to master) flying the jet was a piece of cake. We were FAA dual-pilot approved so we could accept those lower mins. Don’t know if the USAF is that brave or already looked at this idea and dismissed it? Heck, “George” is flying the plane 80% of the time anyway right (except in the S-3, that autopilot sucked…but altitude Hold worked)? ATIS

Concur, even to the point of dressing up like a nina during off duty hours. Not joking. Full on ninja outfit walking up and down yellow brick road. I asked my buds in the CAOC if I was seeing things….nope. ATIS

Early days of DRACO ('06-'07)...Type 2 for sure. Saw that start to switch over ~2008. ATIS

Targeting pod is a nice touch. I’m sure there is a pallet of hate you can roll out the back/side on someone’s .ppt slide somewhere. As someone already mentioned, where does tactical and strategic/enabling/mobility mesh or separate? ex: AFSOC MC’s and USMC Harvest Hawk. Interesting discussion here IRT Agile, big wing Vs “other” tanker assets. Navy guy here learning still. I was fortunate enough to cruise with an Airwing of legacy platforms that could go forward and execute with organic tanking only. I then watched that degrade until one day sitting on the flight deck I look up at the Big-Wing above Mom knowing without her, we can’t execute the plan I had on my knee board. ATIS

This is at DCA. TWA tail feathers?

30 more days until I hit 30yrs/Retired Reserve/Grey Zone…so at least that is some relief. I’m walking back into my civi-Govt job next week following terminal leave and I think where I am…the rudder hasn’t fully swung over like a purely civilian company….but I see it coming. DEI is noise taking away from the end state/mission/goal IMO. I try to look past all of that and frame things as progress toward the end state. If you are a guy, dressed as a lady, in my briefing yet you are one of the few in the room that knows what they are doing and are producing….good category (actual situation). If you are a piece of FOD, I will explain why in the context of progress toward the product end state and steer to correct or work with the higher ups to have them do their job (eye roll sometimes) and council/remove under-performers. I try to set this context-based environment to limit turning room to exploit my comments in a different (read DEI) direction. Won’t turn this into a “life as a GS employee” thread input…but anyone that works in that world knows we have our unique quirks and goods/bads/challenges vice a purely “for profit” company. I try and leave personal opinion at the SCIF door….some days I leak a little around the edges. ATIS

Until it’s conveniently not over

ATIS

One of the first things I read when I got to the CAOC last year was their AAR after the TF rep recognized my name and pushed it to me. Very, very impressive. BZ to those crews. ATIS

I’m just a back-of-the-ready-room Navy guy here (and Scooters eye-rolling CAOC evil twin), but I find this a little odd that they are discussing cuts to USAF enlisted SOF-centric pay…while at the same time putting the honey-pot out for folks coming out of AFROTC and USAFA to join the SOF-centric community 🤔 https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/09/13/air-force-creates-special-warfare-program-cadets-help-fill-empty-spots.html Now back to shaking my fist at the Navy for high priority work they are doing (Navy has their lazy eye so off the F-ing ball it’s unbelievable). https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/09/13/navy-secretary-to-rename-uss-chancellorsville-usns-maury/ ATIS