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Just got word today actually that the divorce is final and the judge signed the final judgement. There is so much to tell and I’m at a loss of where to start. The good news first. I got 50/50 custody of my kids through mediation. When it all came down to it all she really wanted was money. If we would have gone to court in our county in Florida I would have gotten reamed. I got unlucky and we got assigned a pro-mommy judge. So glad we settled out of court. The craziness is enough to write a book on, and maybe one day I will. During mediation, my lawyer asked me if I knew what “Borderline Personality Disorder” was. He said that my ex definitely has it. That actually answered a lot of questions I had about what the heck happened and I’m 100% convinced this is the case. Life is sooooo much better now. I didn’t realize how miserable me and the kids were. Now that I have my own place and my own life, I feel 100% free. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Trump is a piece of shit. He'll never be 10% of the man Mattis is, nor will he ever know what honor or courage is like Mattis does. But Mattis, like the others, has been wrong on the Middle East, and no amount of personal character will make up for the fact they are fundamentally wrong. In some sort of strange way we have ended up with two camps. The Bush/Generals/McCain camp, where personal conduct is dignified and policy is catastrophic, and the Trump camp, where personal conduct is alarming and shameful, but the policy is somehow pretty solid. Not sure why we can't have both, but you'd have to ask the electorate [emoji2369]

... Said the new RNAV arrival to KEWR - yikes!

You have a thing for bat shit crazy chicks, don't you?

The great gamble is whether the moderate Democrats can gather behind Biden/Warren. Several swing states are showing Democrats losing registrations, with independents (and some republicans) gaining ground. NC is hemorrhaging registered D's in several areas, and seeing a lot of first time voters, just as an example. Large portion of those are Eastern NC blue collar Democrats who saw the textiles vaporize after NAFTA. You tell me who they're registering to vote for... If it's Biden, Trump wins in a "biggly" way. If it's Warren, Trump wins, but not so "biggly." If it's Gabbard? It'll be a good fight and he'll lose by a large (historically) margin. If it's Buttigegggg, Trump wins. The ultimate irony is that Tulsi would wipe Trump off the map, but the Democrats are too preoccupied with Socialistic posturing and nonsense to notice it. She's been my dark horse in this thing from day one, and that's before Hillary said she's a Russian operative!

Bruh, cmon. Merely being a 4-star General means being political. McCraven merely represents elite foreign policy consensus. A "nice guy" ...maybe?, but I bet you he towed the line on some of our disastrous foreign policy mistakes over the past 20 years (Iraq War, Libya, etc.) Don't pretend he's anybody he's not.

UPT select! 89 PCSM, 99 AFOQT P, 3.3 GPA, 2/3 for the Wing, and PPL with 120 hours

Guys, just to be clear...as one of the few resident Democrats and as someone who follows politicos very closely as a hobby, there is just zero appetite for Tulsi Gabbard. She’s been in all of the debates except one (ie not being “totally ignored”), is an elected member of Congress (ie at least has some traditional qualifications), and she’s polling at less than 2% on average. No one polling that low this late in the primary has ever made even a bit of difference in the race. Her fundraising is basically non-existent for a Presidential-level campaign, and anecdotally of all the Democrats I know, I don’t know of a single person supporting her. I will give you than in an MFK of the Democratic primary, she gets my vote for the “F” category hands down. In all seriousness her oddly pro-Assad views are completely disqualifying in my book and I hope the good people of Hawaii make a difference choice for her seat in Congress in 2020. If y’all wanna like her as Republicans or conservatives because she’s hot and currently shitting on Hillary, go for it.

Retired GOFOs are like children; they should be seen and not heard. Unless he/she is willing to step into the political ring and run for office, then hiding behind the "I'm a general and therefore apolitical, thus speak truth to power" is complete bullsh1t.

Some people here are conflicted about his speech because they’re Trump supporters, and they like Mattis, but don’t know how to tap dance around addressing Trump’s clueless insults of Mattis. Also, McRaven apolitical? Sure 😂 http://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/opinion/trump-mcraven-syria-military.amp.html

My popcorn is getting cold. 🙂

Just got word...UPT select! No word on ENJJPT yet, though. Anyone else heard?

Money seems to be a common theme with divorces and the reason why most women want full custody is to get as much money they can get. The courts don't regulate where the money goes or what it's actually used for. They just want you to throw tens of thounds of dollars per year her way to be mismanaged and wasted. BTW, If you have never seen Bill Burr's "Gold Digging Whores" standup, Youtube it. It is classic. Anyway, from personal experience with this subject, as far as BPD and other things like ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder) and NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder), they are real and some people get totally sucked into relationships with these "monsters" and only find out after it is too late. Living with or even worse, being married to, a person with any one (or more) of these is a living nightmare. I would rather have testicular cancer than be married to someone like this because there is at least a way to treat cancer. Dealing with a person like this is a losing battle. You will never win unless you separate yourself from the person. Unfortunately, in this F'd up society we live in and legal system we deal with, men dealing with a women with any one of these disorders almost always get destroyed in one way or another. Mostly because the family law legal system favors women and because society does not recognize the fact that there are women out there with these disorders destroying their husbands lives. In fact, whenever you read an article about NPD, 9 times out of 10 it almost always refers to the person with NPD as a "he". People can't fathom the damage a woman with one of these disorders can inflict on her husband and their children and it is very easy for them to hide behind the image of being the "poor stay at home mom". Guys live with it because these women have bucket-loads of power. They can ruin careers, tear your family apart, destroy you emotionally and financially. Not saying there aren't dudes out there with these disorders, but the percentage of women out there with them is a lot higher than you would think and there's a lot of husbands out there just willing to put up with it because they don't want to say anything or do anything about it. I commend you for GTFO of there. Bravo!

Only on the weekends.

Congrats Duck. Here’s to finding your passion that has been stifled for years. Hears to getting to be the father you always wanted to be but the BPD wouldn’t let you! Here’s to being free of the BPD active duty Air Force. Cheers to Duck. If I ever see you in person drinks are on me.

We talk about failing strategy and then talk “immortalizing” guys who were at the tip of the spear during many of those miscalculations. I like Mattis, McRaven, mchrystal and what they taught us through exemplary organizational leadership....but that doesn’t mean they have the ing answer to every problem. like brickhistory said join the solution cause I am pretty sure making bank in your think tank you rolled directly to isn’t helping anyone but themselves.

Ehhhh........ If your worldview stops at the boundaries of Washington DC, and if you determine the health of the country based on what's on CNN/FOX/etc, then yeah, it looks kinda bad. Honestly, I think the majority of Americans are doing ok, and the country as a whole is going about their business. But that kind of narrative doesn't get clicks, so you won't normally hear it.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/466192-kinzinger-challenges-trumps-defense-chief-on-syria-in-closed-door-meeting Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I've had the opportunity to listen to Kit Darby speak a few times. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the airlines.

Absolutely apply anyway. Make THEM tell you no, don’t tell yourself.

To my understanding the official public release is mid November so advance CC notifications would be 7 days prior. Theoretically 8 Nov-ish. Just my interpretation though. if any of y’all have anything conflicting or more details please chime in.

Fair point. However, she’s had two major roadblocks to her success. One, the DNC actively kept her off the stage by manipulating which polls were used for admission, and have cut off major donor fundraising as punishment for attacking Kamala. Two, the polls being done (you mention 2%) are typically done with voter rolls of people who have voted D in the last 3-4 presidential elections (aka “highly likely voters”) which means you’re asking the deepest blue folks how they feel, not the rest of the Democrats. Her value is giving them a moderate base and hoping the rabid left still hates Trump enough to vote for her as a FU to him. Plus, she strikes me as the type of woman who wouldn’t hesitate to rub Trump’s face in his lack of military service/sporadic foreign policy decisions... all while wearing a smile. That’s dangerous. Trump could attack Hillary because she’s basically a man. The public will react differently when an attractive veteran woman stands there. For the record, I don’t agree with her foreign policy at all, and I don’t like that she’s embracing SJW stuff. But her answer on impeachment shows she’s rational and smart. It’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that I’d vote for her, but it would take some interesting circumstances. TLDR; she attacks the problem of winning by starting in the middle and growing outward. Warren/Biden do the opposite. For anecdotal reference, several moderate Democrats that I work with and know say they wish Tulsi would have a chance, but they know the system will pick a old white person instead. I also know never Trumpers who would love to cast a vote for her, but will either hold their noses and vote for Trump (but telling no one) or just skip the Presidential election.

Mattis: pensive, scholar of war. Trump: stupid. But yes, somehow Trump and I have wound up at the same Middle East policy. Let the mfer burn.

Interested in Trump by 300+. Not interested in Trump by 62 with 4 caveats. Interested in prosecuting crimes committed by anyone regardless of party or position. Not interested in debating the "Deep State."

I don't agree with many of Bernie's positions, but I don't know how you can make an intellectual integrity argument against the guy. Not only is he not on the list that you cited, but if you open up the full list past the top 50, it shows him in 423rd place in terms of net wealth amongst Congressmen. Some quick Googling puts his current net worth at $2-2.5 million. How could he have amassed such a fortune as a career elected official? Keep in mind, this dude is 78 years old. If we assume he started saving when he was 28 and earned the market's 10% nominal return over the past 50 years, you know how much he'd have to put away every month to have $2.5M today? ....$172

If you're actually being serious and not just talking out your ass, I'll take both those bets at any price.

This is a hypothetical, but wondering if anyone can shed light on it. If someone is medically retired from the Reserves, how does the rule set vary from AD? For instance, if someone is medically separated with 18 years service (for example) from AD, once all the wickets are worked through, they may be eligible for immediate retired pay at some multiplier based on their years of service and calculated disability. On the Reserves side, how would that work? Would they be eligible for some immediate retired pay, or would that wait until age 60? What if they’ve reached 20 years of AD time? (I’d assume immediate in that case) Like I said, this is all a hypothetical. I’m at 14 yearsish now, and considering if there’s a safety net factor that changes there. Thanks.

Meh. Very, very good, absolutely. "Coolest?" Not so sure about that: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7578761/F1-petrolhead-Lewis-Hamilton-tells-fans-vegan.html Luck and timing, as always. Imagine how some of the other drivers would do at Mercedes instead of the also-rans. Bottas is a great example of that. His fortunes (literally) greatly increased after going from nobody Williams (great pedigree but not competitive in a very long time) to current Mercedes drive.

Asked my CSS today, name is not on there yet 😕

Private insurance nearly broke me, it was equivalent to BC/BS, when I got seriously ill as an ART. Get the TRICARE for life, worry less. Oh yeah, you should also have $1M on your cranium in life insurance, unless you can self insure that. And only use term.

From my perspective I think Tricare in retirement is a huge benefit. I haven’t started at my next job yet but looking at their health options they are all about $3-4K min a year for a very healthy family’s plan. Add in some health issues or surgery it could rapidly go up to $10K+. Tricare Select has max out of pocket total of $3000 per year, per family, with no premiums, and $300 per year deductible limit for a family. One of the few things that got my attention during TAP was the offer to Airmen separating to buy some kind of Tricare for up to a year after separating: at about $1200 per month... Go to Tricare.mil for the source data, I’m convinced it will save retired people thousands over a lifetime.

Moose: Tricare For Life is a medicare supplement which kicks in when you get Medicare at age 65. Tricare Prime or Select prior to age 65: it is a benefit but it’s not huge. The premium for health insurance from my employer is $100 per mo. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A personnelist officer friend of mine told me that we could potentially find out if we were picked up or not for this year's board based on what is on the Loss roster. Apparently, before AFPC processes personnel for assignments, they first insert you into into MilPDS - this comes first, before any advance commander notifications, or PSDM release. So, theoretically, you could find out if you were picked up based on where you assignment is loaded -- ask your CSS to check the Loss Roster through BLSDM. Because this is done manually, this is why there is a long wait time between the board and announcement. And because there are normally upwards of a hundred or so total board applicants, this can take a month or so for a single Airman to hand-jam... so it is possible for some of us to be populated on the Loss roster without ever knowing. I have BLSDM rights, so you can bet I will be checking every day!

I agree with you, but decisions made in DC still have an impact. I'm looking 20 or 30 years out. Socialism never looks bad when it's implemented. But after the money runs out, and well after the geniuses who promoted it are gone, it's always a calamity. We have candidates legitimately trying to normalize the concept of wealth confiscation for the common good. Right now, just the billionaires. But do you really think the voting masses will just give up their new entitlements once they run out of billionaires to squeeze?

The best driver in Formula 1 turns 40 today.

I wonder if the Air Force truely saw this train wreck coming 15 years ago or not. Beating the snot out of our equipment, our people and going out of its way to kill all things morale in the operational units has had a devastating effect on all aspects of our service from UPT through senior levels of command. Very sad. People will talk with their feet. Deploy UPT IP's to make coffee and update slides and they'll eventually walk (they are doing it now). These are dudes looking for a "break" before they go back to an operational assignment (or won't after they separate). So... it is a lose/lose situation for the AF.

I stayed at the Turnberry last year. I've been stopping in Prestwick to/from deployments since 2002. We just tell the FBO when and how many people, and they make the arrangements. Last year we arrived right after a snow/ice storm that shut most of the major freeways for days. All of the hotels in Ayre (our usual location) and Glasgow were booked. The Turnberry, an hour drive away, had enthusiastically agreed to give us the government rate. The hotel itself was absolutely incredible and the staff thanked us profusely for our service. The bartender let us sample some of the local Scotch whiskeys. It was too cold for golf, but we toured the course which was an old WWII pilot training base, and some of the old runways/taxiways still exist on the course. The hotel called in a bagpiper to play us out the door as we departed for the sandbox at 5am. It was one of the best deployment sendoffs ever. There was nothing to it other than it was the only place with rooms available at the government rate, and the FBO was proud to have found a place that they thought we would enjoy. The media and politicians are idiots.

Self-inflicted with a handgun. Good dude. Would have never imagined it.

"Bring me...support dogs"

I encourage you to read everyone post in this forum. I have recently completed my FC1 at WP AFB. I landed in Dayton on Sunday afternoon. I rented a car( very very useful if you can afford it, my unit would only approve taxi fare reimbursement). I drove from Dayton International, about 25 mins to WP AFB area a to the Wright Patterson Inns. If you have a military Id, you will go thru gate and check in. If you’re guard or reserve they will ask you to pay it with a credit or debit card. I was booked from Monday thru Friday. On Monday, i showed up to the USAFSAM building 840 at WP AFB area B. If you google “building 840 parking lot wright patterson it will take you close to the actual parking lot. Go ahead and park and enter the building on the north entrance. Immediately after you enter, there is a hallway. Make a right on hallway and go to room W100. ( that’s what was instructed). A technician then briefs you on what to expect and hands over a folder with your info. In the front of folder there is a list of tests. Every time a tech completes a test, they will initial it. Day one, they did an EKG( fasting required min 4 hours), checked my blood pressure, dental exam, some eye exams (amsler, red lens, pressure test, color, etc) they also took dental x-rays, optometry check up, hearing test, medical history interview. We went to lunch, then came back to a 4 hour psych assessment. There were like 5 sections but each came with a break in between. Next day, I started at the area a hospital across from Wright Patterson inns reception. You must fast like 12 hours. They has us do a urine test, blood draw (9 biles). Then, they had us do a chest x-ray. Then back to area b building 840. There were additional eye tests, dilate pupils, more eye tests. They did the body measurements and weight. You get to sit in a chair without shoes or socks. It simulates the T6 seat. They measure your sitting height, arm length, leg length. Takes like 5 mins. Once you’re done, you get to see a flight doc who confirms with you whether any new stuff from MEPS to this exam. We were then told to hang in until next day by 9 am. The main tech called us to let us know we were good or if she needed us to retest. Luckily for me, i was able to be released same day and i took a flight home. Now just waiting till i hear from the NGB to get my TFOT Dates and hope for UPT info too. Tip: Definitely make time to check the AF museum. Worth every second of your time. It’s free and they do close at 5 pm. Another thing. Attitude is, in my opinion, the biggest thing to be conscious of. These technicians and doctors are there to hep you. Do not feel intimidated by them at all. These are people and love to talk. if you have a good attitude, and may assist you with completing the tests or give you an idea if you have an issue and whether is waiver able or not. Overall, we had one guy dq for some issue with his eye, but he will be able to get waiver and fly for the US air force. The optometrist was very frank with him and initiated all waiver info. We also had an ROTC guy who thought couldn't go for manned aircraft due to his eye sight issues and was set for RPA. However WP people told him his condition was waiverable and now will pursue a manned airframe spot instead of RPA. Also, for guard and reserve, they won't have any lunch purchased for you. You will either buy something on the cafeteria (Starbucks) on the second floor of building 840 at WPAFB area B. This is one of the reasons it is good to have a car (rental) because you can go off site and pick up lunch. All in all a very good experience. Good luck to you all.

lph1235, First of all, good on you for being as proactive as you are at such a young age. That will pay major dividends in your future. I believe having the surgery on your record does require a waiver, but is given so long as you meet certain eye alignment criteria. You can read up on these things in the Air Force Waiver Guide 2017. My advice to you is to get an updated evaluation done by an ophthalmologist who specializes in this surgery (mostly pediatric doctors) and make them give you every test they can, see what they say and compare that to the standards. I had posted this a while back in another thread, but it's fairly relevant to what you are looking for here. Lastly, keep a positive attitude! I know it may feel like a shitty hand dealt to you that was out of your control, but you can take some of that control back by being proactive (as you already are) in learning what needs to be done to obtain the best job in the world. Good luck!!

When was that? Those bush hats are pretty sweet.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1276693/remarks-by-secretary-mattis-at-a-troop-event-in-naval-base-kitsap-washington/ So you'll never regret, but you will have some of the best days of your life and some of the worst days of your life in the U.S. Navy, you know what I mean? That says -- that means you're living. That means you're living. That means you're not some pussy sitting on the sidelines, you know what I mean, kind of sitting there saying, “Well, I should have done something with my life.” Because of what you're doing now, you're not going to be laying on a shrink's couch when you're 45 years old, say “What the hell did I do with my life?” Why? Because you served others; you served something bigger than you.

She has been very popular for some reason

Look Broham, you are missing the point. You do not have an allergy unless the AF says you do. So, right now you do not have an allergy and do not care for the taste of peanuts. Repeat this five times in the mirror, watch top gun twice, and you'll be on your way.

Valid points. I don't have a rebuttal to that. I did enjoy his book "Make your bed" though, but my background is JSOC and he is pretty immortalized around these parts.

That article specifically is one I was talking about. Trump literally admitted on the south lawn that he gives f*** all about the constitution. He asked Ukraine and China for help with the 2020 election. Not to mention the Mulvaney shitshow in the past few days. Its binary ones and zeros...this isnt up for interpretation. I mean I think we're on the same wavelength, but I really think Mcraven is for the boys and has our best interest in mind. I still think he doesn't lean one way or another. I think hes calling out dangers to our democracy. Maybe im wrong, hopefully not.

I'll take link to revenge porn website for $69 Alex

It wasn't enough. I don't forgive him for joining that dumpster fire of a presidency then bailing. And that weird blood racket operation too... Mcraven is the hero here. He is calling it like it is, completely apolitical and just remaining loyal to the US.