Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/13/2021 in all areas

  1. Agreed. Has anyone ever filled out a GO initiated survey that mattered? I spent an hour on the pilot retention survey years ago only to hear, 10 months later, AFPC had “lost” the survey results. None of these are worth the time.
    3 points
  2. Found on not being taxed without representation, not just a blanket not paying taxes period. In other words, we wanted to have a say in our destiny as states and as a country
    2 points
  3. Actually there is a right answer. Free and fair market shouldn’t punish those who do well with their talents. Because the rest of the system depends on them.
    2 points
  4. MX is not for a person who is sensitive and needs time outs. To be successful you have find your own way of personal accomplishment. The guys who are good and the ones who make the schedule happen are treated like rented mules. The ones who get the recognition suck in mx but are allowed to do all the things that will make them perfumed E-9s. Just keep them away from the flight line so they don't screw us up. I don't envy a MX Sq CC, her senior enlisted leadership E-9's probably did not give her the support or loyalty needed to be successful. Since those E-9's are part of a culture of only looking out for themselves and were trying to become super E-9's instead of supporting the mission of the Sq. If I was the incoming SQCC I would clean house and made sure these guys had the EPR's to match being a POS. Seek out the guys always wearing coveralls, who's suede boots are black and have a talk with them. The B-1 is the most MX intense jet there is in the inventory, you need good mechanics not flashlight holders.
    2 points
  5. Along those lines... every aircraft the military has with a GPS based navigation system capable of dropping bombs within close range of troops, but not certified to fly into an international airport. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1 point
  6. I also have a CSD of 19 Feb at Vance...but I’m not sure that that’s right. 19 Feb 2022 is a Saturday. I asked Mr Hornburg about it and he said that’s strange but that’s what his schedulers gave him. Guess I’m waiting for my RIPs to know for sure.
    1 point
  7. Ask and ye shall receive... used @beef16's method, called the css who got right back to me and assignment dropped this evening. Heading to Columbus NLT 15 Nov to start class 28 Jan although we are going to look at pushing the departure date to the left. See you guys there!
    1 point
  8. Well, hell...let's make it fair and set all the tax rates to zero.
    1 point
  9. Have we moved beyond the need for taxes as a source of revenue? Do they now solely exist to balance some perceived unfairness in the economic stratification of the country?
    1 point
  10. It’s actually relatively simple: do you believe the “free market” is fair? Or do you believe the “free market” has inefficiencies that unfairly benefit the wealthy? Those that think it’s “fair” will support a “fair” tax. Those that don’t will support a structured progressive taxation policy. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/04/partisans-are-divided-over-the-fairness-of-the-u-s-economy-and-why-people-are-rich-or-poor/%3famp=1 Spoilers, republicans are more likely to think it’s fair, and democrats are more likely to not. There’s not really a right answer here, it’s all based on feelings.
    1 point
  11. So your original problem was that rich people (supposedly) pay less of a percentage of their income in federal income taxes...and yet you’re against the Fair Tax which literally taxes everyone the exact same amount for what they purchase. But I do agree with the first 5 words of your last paragraph, so there’s that I guess.
    1 point
  12. Nope, not at all. It’s a regressive tax on poor folks that’ll push more poverty because they’re paying higher taxes (similar to VAT) on necessities to them. I’m actually more of a fan of the tax rate schedule under Eisenhower when we invested heavily in infrastructure/science/space exploration/defense/etc. over the continued hopes of trickle-down. But, I’m a dirty lefty that thinks corporations and ultra wealthy can afford to pay more in taxes/have their tax loopholes closed/bring their stashed cash back to the US. I think they’ll survive.
    1 point
  13. Disagree.. an income tax taxes my productivity while a sales tax taxes my consumption. That’s what I see as the major benefit. Sure, luxury items have a higher price so the quantity of tax paid is higher, but not percentage. Hard for me to buy the argument that a basic sedan/minivan should be taxed the same as anything Audi or Mercedes makes. Not married to the progressive tax idea, but I think it’s worth exploring.
    1 point
  14. Even if you took all the money from every billionaire...every last dollar from Bezos, Gates, and Musk, and ignoring the market inefficiencies in liquidating their stocks...you STILL wouldn't fund the government for a year. It's not a revenue problem. It's a spending problem.
    1 point
  15. Thanks for the considered post. I don't agree with the assessment that a 5-10 year capability gap existed between the F-111 and the Tornado. The Tornado IDS was on par with the F-111E (operating in Northern Iraq out of Incirlik) in terms of capabilities. These 1-11s dropped at night from medium altitude, alone and without ever seeing many of their targets (and they weren't running against Saddam's airfields, either). I am not sure how effective they were, but as one of the guys who there recently told me, "no one really cared about what we were doing". As for the F-111F with its PGM capability, they still went in low against airfields and other targets in the opening nights. So, they chose the exact same tactics. Sure, they didn't overfly the runways, but I think I have already established was not the cause of the initial Tornado losses. In fact, the F-models were extremely lucky not to eclipse the Tornado force's losses - three of them were badly damaged by AAA on night one. The F-15E, which had a PGM capability, went in low for the first couple of nights. One was downed by AAA on night one. At the time, it was the newest MDS in the Air Force inventory and was, in the same way as you characterise the IDS, optimised for a European conflict. But the capability gap didn't stop the same tactics being chosen... The F-16 had no PGM capability (some squadrons with LANTIRN did, but they were in the monitory), and they went in at medium altitude and dropped dumb bombs without any idea whether they were going to hit the target. So, no, not convinced that capabilities explain the disparity between sortie numbers and loss rates.
    1 point
  16. I wish I had a track close by because I'd definitely do more interval training. I like that the Marine Corps balances our tests. In the spring we run the PFT (3 mile run, pullups, situps) and in the fall we do the CFT (880m run in boots, 35lb ammo can presses, and a 2:45-5 min, dependent upon fitness and strength, maneuver under fire dill with sprints, buddy carries, ammo can carries, a grenade toss, and some low crawling). The skinny dudes typically do pretty well on the PFT - Not too many 200lb + dudes running 3 miles in 18:00 to max the test or doing 23 strict pullups, but those little guys tend to struggle in the fall when those 200lb dudes carry those ammo cans and other people like they're nothing. Bottom line, do a combination of dedicated strength based training, crossfit-like workouts, eat healthy and you'll be fine on pretty much anything.
    1 point
  17. Hornets don't always land on the boat. Most Marine Hornets are expeditionary (land based). My first two-ship flight in the Hornet my lead asks me about 5 min prior to landing - "Hey dude, want to do a section landing?" "Sure" I answer. We land and he walks up to me and says not to say anything to anyone because it's not authorized unless its briefed. They're not difficult - Fly parade, maintain your side of the runway, lead keeps the power up for a few seconds. That's a shame. I understand why - Its a massive investment. We started cutting CQ for poorly performing students or passing them to land-based squadrons only if they failed CQ when I was a Hornet FRS/FTU IP. It also use to weed a lot of the poor performers out before the fleet had to start spending so many extra sorties training "qualified" wingmen. Shame it hasn't been so in a while. Probably has something to do with the fact that only about 80 or so of our F-35s will be C variants as well. I wonder if that'll effect numbers of Marines signing up to be aviation contracts hoping to be fighter guys. I remember sitting down during my T-45 CQ indoc and being told, "This is it, you each have passed Weapons Phase, ACM, etc... And you can be the best at dropping bombs or shooting down another airplane, but if you can't land on the boat you're just another Air Force guy." 😆 Regarding the Tomcat, I'd venture a guess because with their wings spread they might be too wide to do a section landing on typical fighter bases like Miramar, Oceana, etc...?
    1 point
  18. Formation landings are still taught in the F-18 FRS/FTU. You must also demonstrate the ability to fly them as lead during one or two of your 2-Flug sorties. Good thing because I've used it a handful of times due to maintenance issues with weather. Plus they look cool af.
    1 point
  19. Let my start by saying it depends, every unit is different. We all have different expectations for our part time guys and those expectations likely change due to manning, deployments, natural disasters, sickness, health, blah, blah, blah. There are other options besides AGR for full time employment including Technicians and ADOS (if the squadron sits alert). All these answers are for my F-15C squadron, so take that for what it's worth. How many times a month will you fly? You need to make RAP (Ready Aircrew Program) - for our inexperienced pilots that is 8 sorties per month. Sometimes you can get two sorties in one day with a tanker or by double turning, but that's not the best training and can't count on that necessarily. We also ask our DSG's to sit a minimum of one 24 hour alert tour each month. When we are deployed or gone on a two week trip we ask our DSG's to either go with us or sit more alert at home since that mission never stops. All commuting is on your dime. I wouldn't say we let you pick and choose which days you work per say but we do work together to get the types of sorties that our DSG's need and try to get them in town when there's more flying so they get more for their trip as well as work around other life events and jobs. It's mutually beneficial to work together on the schedule. If you are an out of town commuter the unit will pay for a hotel for your drill weekends (or makeup) as well as AT (annual training) days. All AFTPs are on your own. If you are on an alert day you'll be sleeping at the alert facility so no hotel then. You only get paid for days you are on "a status" aka on orders. Your travel day is not included in that other than in some circumstances - but it's few and far between. Each airline handles things a bit differently as well. I'm a Delta guy so my answers are from that point of view (also I've been on mil leave since the fall of '15 so I don't have the most current info). Anyway, it behooves the pilot and the unit to not totally piss in the Cheerios of every airline out there because we don't want you to be the last person from our unit to get hired at Delta/FedEx/United, wherever. Most of the major airlines only count your mil leave against your 5 year USERRA limit if your orders are more than 30 days. In theory you could drop mil leave on 7 or 8 days per month and only work the remainder but in actuality that would be hard to swing. Particularly as a young guy (you are asking about right after UPT right?) you'll be working a lot of weekends at the airline. Other than drill weekend (or alert) most ANG guys aren't working weekends. You'll also be working a lot of holidays - federal employees don't work those (other than alert). When I flew the line you could drop one day in the middle of a 3 or 4 day trip and it would drop the whole trip. Not always the case anymore; I've heard of guys dropping a day of mil leave in the middle of a trip and the airline expecting them to be there to fly the other days of the trip. Not a place you want to find yourself. Also airlines are busiest when you want to be home with your family (Holidays, etc) if you drop mil leave over a long holiday (Christmas, Superbowl Sunday, Labor Day, July 4th, etc) they are going to call your commander and make sure you are actually working those days in the ANG. As a commander, I'm not going to put you on orders unless you are actually doing work for the squadron so those days likely won't line up as much either. Like I said, in theory it's possible but not likely that it'll work that way. If you drop any mil leave some chief pilots will be pissed. There's no magic number. Hope this helps.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...