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The fact that none of those Congressional members came out of the meeting and demanded the resignation of the targeting authority that committed the engagement was telling of this being little more than a political witch hunt. They want Hegseth to resign, and they want to have the fight in the court of public opinion only because they know it doesn’t actually meet the criticism that’s been levied out of “sources.” Democratic critics will happily use the term “war crime” and water down its meaning though just like they did racist and fascist for the convenience it provides to their argument. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

An expert legal analysis; https://www.dailywire.com/news/cornell-law-professor-shreds-entirely-unconvincing-war-crime-accusation-against-hegseth

Notice how they keep leaving the submarine out of the photo collections of released drone footage. Almost like they want to not acknowledge what that vessel would clearly have been because they can’t “allege ” it was a fishing boat. I stand by my assertion this has nothing to do with concerns about human rights and is a political big game hunt. Anybody that can put Hegseth’s scalp on the wall affords themselves the right to claim leadership of the party, and Kelly knows it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Swizzle Never stopped in the CAF. Still see pretty solid names, though obvious “super non-pc” ones aren’t going to stick. Still holding out hope in the 11th hour of my career that I won’t see VBF erased from the board!

Rand Paul is full of hot air. From everything I’ve seen, including the first strike video, there wasn’t anything that remotely even touched the line. It went down like thousands of strikes we’ve conducted for decades. Anybody who’s actually done this shit knows this is a total nothing burger. And if we want to get political, I can think of several strikes I’ve seen under Obama that would apparently have our cities on fire by leftist had they known about them (except they wouldn’t care since it was Obama and not Trump). And FWIW, nothing illegal about those strikes either, but the optics are a billion times worse than this boat.

What’s your point?

No organization will ever care about you, nor will it betray you, because it can't. The people in the system are what matters and you'll find good and bad people in every system. I had far more good than bad experiences in my AF time and I would absolutely do it all again, but I know that experiences will vary. I still think that there is a higher proportion of good dudes in the AF than in the airlines (I'm at a legacy) or in most other career fields. Timing and luck play a huge part of your AF career; I knew good guys that got repeatedly shafted and I knew guys that had a great career even though they were less deserving. But by far more common were good dudes that got some good deals and some bad deals. It sucks when your commander/boss happens to be one of the guys that shouldn't be there, but that happens everywhere, including at the airlines. The only difference is at the airlines it is often easier to distance yourself. If your career really was just one bad deal after another than either you were extremely unlucky (it happens, I knew a good guy like that) or it might be your attitude. Looking back at my career, I'm thankful for all my good deals. They made great friends, memories, and stories. But I'm also thankful for most of my bad deals because they helped shape my path to be where I am now.

Addressing the OP: If you thought the USAF screwed you over, just wait until you experience an airline during contract negotiations. It sounds like outside influences have been crafted your outlook for you. It may be completely true that you were actively screwed by the system, but getting bitter only means you're letting the system win. The airlines will happily assume the role of screwing you over if you let them. I can show you a large collection of 30-year widebody captains making millions of dollars who are thoroughly convinced they've been screwed by the system. They are no fun to be around. It's all perspective. Pick your's with care. Choose gratitude instead of trying to pinpoint who's screwing you over. The answer to that question will always be "someone and/or everyone". Conversely, if you focus on what you're grateful for, you'll find a lot of good things in life. Pick one, you can't focus on both. I punched at 17 years and joined the reserves for 3 years. Now I'm at a major airline. In all three of those locations it is VERY easy to look around and wonder why the grass isn't as green as advertised. Reality is that the grass on the other side is just a different kind of grass. Once you get into a new organization, you'll see all the warts. You get to decide if it's good or bad, but if you let the system decide, it'll definitely suck. Truths: The system (usaf or corporate) doesn't owe you anything. Your hard work will be overlooked, but it will craft your reputation among your peers. Once you're gone, the system won't care. Maximize your personal gain without screwing others over, ignore the BS, do your work will, keep your integrity in tact, find a niche you can enjoy. Focus on good things, and your next career will be great. Focus on the hate, and you'll hate it. It's a DAILY choice.

As always, I'm sure there's more to the story is being reported. Hopefully they had bodycams on to clear this up. That being said, I'm not a fan of this new trend of law enforcement wearing facemasks. That's something thugs and third world countries do. If I'm approached in my vehicle (or worse, at my house) by guys wearing facemasks, my first reaction is not going to be thinking that everything is fine.

Takeaway - never trust Red Crown, avoid as far as tactically feasible.

It was all fun and games till @Biff_T pulled out his "flying disk"!

I don't know any of this thing from the inside. But it isn't hard for me to imagine that the one person telephone game through a WaPo reporter would destroy the nuance of military decision making and org charts, especially if it's influenced by the SoW saying something chest thumping and kinda douchy in response to a CDE type of inquiry (my suspicion).

#Heaux. once a douche canoe, always a douche canoe. Cowher lays it all out. Why would a parent ever listen to anything this turd says and believe he will look out for their kid?

Well this got even more hilariously stupid. No DEVGRU on the boat executing people, just a target boat that wasn’t destroyed after the first shot (#hellfire, amirite!), so they shot it again to ensure a better F-Kill. OMG, that’s only happened hundreds of thousands of times across history. Guess many of us on here should also be convicted of war crimes. Absolute political hack job asshatery. See kids, this is why you don’t blindly believe fabricated political hit pieces masquerading as “factual news.”

Don't knock it till you try it. 😄

Never had a positive OSI experience - I feel like every single one I’ve interacted with, even in an unofficial capacity, is a total slime ball just looking to nail anybody and everybody, truth be damned. Do not trust OSI, ever.

I was an exec in my first squadron and a laptop went missing. I got a call from OSI asking me to come over they wanted to chat. I was completely naive mainly because I didn't take the laptop and thought that was obvious. I truly thought they wanted help figuring out when it went missing. I walked in and they took me to an interrogation room where good cop bad cop immediately started. It was very apparent they wanted me to confess. The idiot even said "I know you took it, how about you explain to me why I shouldn't think you took it. I replied, "first, you already screwed up because you are recording this and never read me my rights...second, my career as a pilot is not worth a laptop and none of your horseshit is going to change my answer. He looked extremely butt hurt, then read me my rights. Asked another question and got the same answer. You can go now. It was like they were reading (poorly), off a script.

Carnies. Small hands.

@disgruntledemployee Well a WaPo reporter claims DEVGRU was ordered to execute unarmed people (and did), so it must be true. You actually believe this bullshit?

Giant bunch of crybabies. ND.mp4

I think that would be as much of a deterrence as a nerf gun. Even if they owned 100% of our debt (which they don't), I think they'd consider that a bargain.

News The AviationistFirst T-7 Red Hawk Delivered to JB San Antonio - RandolphThe U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command received its first T-7 Red Hawk trainer at Joint Base San Antonio - Randolph, marking a milestone

Paywalled. I say threaten to delete our debt to them if they cross into Taiwan.

Cignetti had some excellent FCS playoff runs at JMU including a title game appearance. If they can beat Ohio State, they can beat anyone.

What about Indiana!? Holy smokes I never thought I’d see Indiana football mentioned in any discussion of possible college football Champions! Anybody think they can keep it up through the playoffs?

Some states, like Colorado, have removed qualified immunity for state claims.

Upside down bowling pin? https://data.irate4x4.com/video/660/660197-f280c25a4b0e73a426fdcc4d2e9b4b2e.mp4

I had to step away from the CivilRightsLawyer YT stream for a bit. It's too enraging. Just the same stuff repeating. Qualified Immunity needs to be changed somehow. I understand that a large chunk of cops are trying to do the right thing and removing protections dissuades good candidates but shit. The blatant violations need to harm the individual responsible versus the taxpayer.

A lot of albeit slow submarines head across the Atlantic to Africa where less than respectable types transport it North to Europe. There may be some feigned indignation on European countries part about how these strikes are conducted but not a lot of real heartburn since it's less they have to contend with. Not to mention I'm sure we tip off LE on that side of the pond when we see things headed their way. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm274lmg7m1o

For all you guys with liberal friends asking you to remember your oath, and these boats. Tell them to Google 10 USC 124, 14 USC 522, 14 USC 526, the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) and tell them to never miss an opportunity to STFU.

Yup. Like I said above. Theatre for political points.

The argument is the entire concept of striking drug runners by calling them terrorists, is over the line. And yes, Presidents doing this kind of thing isn't new. The war powers resolution became a thing for a reason.

It is wild how strongly the left sides with terrorist and criminals. But maybe it is just Occam's Razor: they’re so ruled by TDS that they’ll lose their shit over anything and everything they can even loosely connect to Trump, real or imagined. No capacity for nuisance and critical thought.

CDC reports over 80,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2024. Obviously, Opioids are a big part of that, but they are often combined with other drugs including cocaine. Lot of social costs and taxpayer money get sucked up in this problem not to mention health care. On a side note, the cartels covert PR machine will do whatever they can to shape the narrative.

@disgruntledemployee Sure, never said anything is impossible. But I’ve been around enough to feel pretty confident DEVGRU dudes didn’t execute people on live TV (e.g. the JOC) - that’s WaPo’s claim. And if that did happen, then by all means let’s have them in court; I’m not against that.

You're not wrong. I had that perception too. Similar experience, but I decided that the people who's opinions matter to me noticed important things in my life, all other's opinions don't matter.

my sq/cc didnt even know it was my fini flight and last day on active duty. just a O&B jet rescue for me and that was it. not even a handshake or "thanks" for 12 years. i just landed, got my shit, and left. not even a follow up from him when i showed back up three months later as a part time reservist. just a shoulder shrug. it was kind of funny actually. wasn't too upset about it cause he was an asshole and totally clueless. at the end of the day big blue doesn't care and will (has to) churn on. make the satisfaction the bros you meet, their respect for your work, and the mission you did together.

Not for us Gators!! 😁😁😁

Not getting caught diddling an E is a pretty low bar. Photo evidence submitted at Ratner's trial:

So you drank alcohol with the Es? Welcome to every guard squadron. WTF.

@fire4effect Lots of “credible” sources said the laptop was fake news. Lots of “credible” sources backed Russiagate. I’ve been around the block quite a bit in the terrorist killing world (as have many on here), and I’m calling complete bullshit on the whole thing. If a whole JOC watched DEVGRU execute a couple unarmed dudes who didn’t pose a threat at all, then we’ll be seeing war crimes charges and trials commencing soon. That hypothetical scenario is not something anyone (especially an E/young O) would walk away from unmolested (in the legal sense). Personally, I’ve been involved in four separate occasions where someone “credible” said something happened that was a complete lie. Thankfully every time there was data to prove them a liar and nobody got screwed.

Not a gun… but a really interesting training tool. https://www.acexr.com Current line is most of the popular pistols out in the ecosystem. Requires you to get a headset, but Black Friday deals are ongoing… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Once again I'll disagree with Ratner and do it in a less verbose fashion. Finding the right guard/reserve unit is an absolute game changer. This isn't just work for everyone and it only takes one or two bad leaders on AD to be the difference from the best 20 years of your life to 10+ years of "fuck this shit..." I know a number of CAF dudes that have had similar experiences. I've been there myself. That being said, there are guard/reserve units that have all the things AD should have (good leaders, commaraderie, purpose etc.). Good luck.

Hard to believe this was 12 years ago. For all of you out there deployed or remote standing watch...you are not alone, you are NOT forgotten. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. God Bless

Dibs.

A little squadron souvenir earned while protecting a TF-160 MH-47 one dark night many years ago. 40MM HE impact right on the RPG launcher (and shoulder/neck area of the bad guy).

A female flight doc at Lakenheath, Dr. Dick, went by "Senor".