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You know, Joe, the "military life" isn't for everyone. You're certainly not the only one that has made a similar statement/post, and it is certainly not my goal to poke you in the eye. I simply have a different outlook I'd like to share. While you consider my decision to stay in "fucked up", I certainly didn't, and I "wore the bag" for 28 years. It's a "service to the country". There's sacrifice involved. And my family got to be a part of that experience. No, my kids didn't get much of a vote. The career decision was mine to make. You're right: I could have improved my "income" had I separated at the end of my 6-year UPT commitment, but more money wasn't my goal. As for "improved quality of life"... that's a personal matter. Serving as a USAF pilot was my dream... and I was living my dream. The satisfaction I had in doing my service was my "good QOL". And my kids relish their time living on base. They were very happy times. I signed up to serve. And when I got married, she agreed to it too. Oh yeah... she was a military brat who never stayed anywhere more than 3 years while growing up. I guess the lifestyle rubbed off on my oldest kid, who is now a Lieutenant, and commissioned despite outsiders saying it was a stupid decision, based on civilian career potential due to graduating from a prestigious private university. Said Lt is apparently fucked up like dad. As for me, I could have been an civilian engineer like my dad, who had a PhD. I went to 4 different high schools in 4 years. Is that fucked up QOL in your book, and is my dad to blame? I meet people now that say "my oldest is in 7th grade, so we need to stay h ere until he graduates". Really? Well, ok. If that's what they need, then so be it. To me, it seems odd when they only reason is that "they are established in football" or "with their friends". But I respect it. They know their family's needs better than anyone (hopefully). Having spent 18 months as the Executive Director of a very interesting civilian group after I retired, I can tell you the experience was worse than being on active duty in many respects. The AF isn't the only organization doing things terribly wrong and inefficient. If you want the money, and hate the QOL, then don't join the military. And if you make that realization while you're in, get out at your earliest opportunity. Many of my friends did just that. But in my case... as bad as things had become in the AF by the time I left in 2014... I still looked forward to going to work every day.

I feel bad for whoever gets fragged for this SIB. Not only do they lose a month+ of flying, but they have to listen to Raptor dudes refer to their jet in the 3rd person. ("And then, Raptor did....")

T-Pain, I'm not arguing with you one bit. Please understand I'm not pontificating and stating you must have the job satisfaction I did. My career was exceptional... and unique.. and I spent a lot of mental time planning through various things to make it go my way. No doubt I was fortunate in things I couldn't control. Even my U-2 cohorts will tell you I had a charmed career. Had things gone for me like they went for some other people on here, I'm sure I would have separated or retired before my 28 years. I remember sitting in front of the Alconbury MPF (CBPO for you old guys) when my UPT commitment ended and the bonus was offered. "Get out or stay in?" I sat in my car with the engine running for about 30 minutes questioning the decision. In the end, I went in and signed up for 6 more years (or whatever it was). Glad I did. Here's the bottom line. My overly-long post yesterday was simply aimed at Joe's statement: "it's pretty f*cked up to turn down a massive improvement in income and quality of life to drag your family from base to base, suffering through deployments and taking a massive paycut just because you want to wear a bag and go fast." That rubs me the wrong way. Big time. I've heard this sentiment from others, and I've heard it often: that my selfishness and unwillingness to leave the military has caused my family pain and suffering, and a reduction in their quality of life. I'd be a rich airline Captain, had I separated at the 6 year point, right? And my lack of seeing the big picture financially has prevented my family from being wealthier. And my time away from home negatively affected my kids... as opposed to the 18 months I was Executive Director and when I was home, I was in my office working from 1900-2300 most nights, and unable to do stuff on the weekends. There's more to QOL than meets the eye. I really don't think that's what Joe's message really was intended to be... but that's what I hear when I read people that post "you're crazy and doing a disservice to your family if you stay in 1 day past your commitment". I've had U-2 guys seek my advice, and in some cases I've told them they should leave the AF at the end of their current commitment. If I was in their shoes, I'd certainly do it. And had I gotten the fighter I wanted out of UPT, I doubt I would have lasted beyond my 6 year commitment. It turns out the U-2 Program was the perfect fit for me. I only left because they threw me out. I do not begrudge anyone that leaves when they are done. They gave 6, 8, 10 years of their life to the country, and deserve every ounce of my respect. But don't tell me I'm fucked up because I decided to stay for 28.

In the Marine Corps Hornet community there are single and two-seat squadrons. Our East Coast Hornets and now all going to composite single and two seat squadrons. This is not occurring because of a better way to manage flight time on the few flyable airframes, but simple because there are not enough company grade officers to fill all of the ground billets so WSOs are now going to squadrons where there will likely be no jets for them to maintain currency simply to do ground duties. Picked up my DD-214 this morning.

Lost in all of this is just how corrupt and partisan the FBI has become. The FBI just released the IG report on McCabe and it states he lied to numerous senior officials, he lied under oath to BENEFIT HIMSELF, and he was the source of a leak during the election. Comey's book excerpts are flowing and I could care less about the insults and hand size drama, but he admits he the following: He failed to tell Trump he knew Hillary paid for the Dossier, he decided to release the late breaking info on Hillary only after he noted she was ahead in the pools, and he released potentially classified information through a friend to drive the appointment of a special prosecutor. Bottomline, love or hate Trump, the top two "Leaders" of the FBI leaked information. Sickening.

Because Raptor will become self aware, travel back in time and try to kill your mom.

Ummmm, I did a 170kt break this afternoon in my RV which was paid for by my job flying 136kt ILS finals.

What goes around comes around. TAMI 21. No remorse for what the AF did to itself and continues to do.

Maybe Trump will have more latitude after his re-election

My dad was a pilot but my Mom thought we would butt heads if he taught me to fly so she arranged for a close family friend who was a senior Pilot at Delta to be my first instructor. The guy was a legend who did many incredible things in his life and wrote books about his adventures )sailed a six foot boat across the Atlantic by himself.) I really looked up to him until the day after I soloed. I was in his hangar on his private flying ranch when he pulled me aside and said "you needed to get that military flying thing out of my system and get a real job." He went as far as to show me his paystub which was incomprehensible money to a kid in 1986. I was kind of taken aback, when I looked around the guy had several planes, cars motorcycle and boats, he obviously had a lot of money but he did not value military service. Oddly I ran into his years later when my hometown made a big deal about getting some medals in Afghanistan, he was all smiles and handshakes, "you done good kid!" I never looked at him the same. As for Huggy, how about as a dedicated American who served his country he also taught his children about service, sacrifice, and something more than the almighty dollar. As a senior officer I routinely met with folks who decided to get out. I never required a meeting if someone dropped their papers, most of the meetings were requested by folks I had mentored and decided to get out or through chance interactions. My first statement was ALWAYS "thank you for your service, what can I do to help with your next chapter." As Huggy noted, giving any period of your life to military service buys my everlasting gratitude, you have done more than 99% of the population and I am honored to shake your hand if it was 2 years or 28. In my humble opinion, Huggy is a fucking hero and though we are not close friends, I dare say his family has done just fine, in spite of his 28 years of service.

Nope. His cyber awareness training expired and the jet locked his account at a very inopportune moment.

Let’s cut to the chase then. If he wasn’t Green Dot current, look no further.

Goose does not approve

Although I encourage my mil friends to come over to the airline side every chance I get, I will not criticize them for deciding to stay in. I have a few good friends who are truly on the good guys’ side that are in their prime to make the jump to the airlines. And yet, despite the increase in pay and quality of life they have decided to stay. I had lunch with one of these guys a while back and he told me that he felt that he had a responsibility to stick around in order to provide the same mentorship to the young guys that he had experienced years ago. My hat is off to the guys who make that decision despite the continued sacrifice and the state of the USAF today. These men and women have far more patience than I do. Of course I’ve made sure they know that I will walk their resumes and rec letters into HR The moment they decide they’ve had enough.

Anyone looking to game the system should do themselves and anyone looking to leave the military for airline flying a favor and forget trying that bullshit. You are literally screwing all your buddies down the line because the airline that you (perhaps legally) are taking advantage of is going to look at every potential mil new hire through the brown colored water that you just shit in. Additionally, mil guys already on the property who are doing their best to do things ethically are going to get caught up in the ball of dung that you just insisted on starting downhill. As if all of that isn’t enough, do not underestimate the fact that there are varying levels of animosity festering amongst your non mil co-workers. Don’t be the guy that confirms their suspicion that it’s your fault they’re sitting reserve over their kid’s birthday while you’re off doing whatever it is you do.

Wow, lay off the MSNBC bro it’s getting to your head.

RVs are awesome planes and I had the order form filled out for an RV-7. However, after talking with quite a few builders I decided to hold off, maybe down the road. Orbit gave a pretty good description above about the various RVs. I'll add that I really wanted the RV-9 but after lots of research figured you're much better off with the RV-7. They're pretty close to the same plane, but the 7 is aerobatic. This is huge for resale value! If you like the Kitfox, you have got to check out this guys videos. His day job deals with filming/expensive cameras, plus he lives near a bunch of BLM land, which means he can land anywhere can make awesome videos. Also, check out the Rans S-7 or S-20 if you're interested in an alternative to the Kitfox. I've flown with a few Captains recently that have built the S-7 and they love them. I've flown both, they are a blast to fly and they're essentially the same plane, but the 7 is tandem and the 20 is side-by-side. I ended up going with the Rans S-21 and my wing kit is showing up to my garage in a few hours. I don't really care to fly aerobatics in an aircraft that doesn't have an ejection seat, and would rather bounce around the local dirt strips, with the occasional weekend trip. It's relatively new, but much of his stuff is being reused from other kits he has designed. It's STOL-like but will cruise around 155mph @ 75% with a 180hp motor. For me the build time/complexity was a huge factor, and that's another place this plane excels. Given that it's all aluminum (CNC milled parts...read very little drilling/deburring) and built mostly with blind rivets, they're forecasting 500 hours, not including paint. Based on a few bloggers that have already started their wings, that seems fairly accurate. On top of that, there are very few times where you need another person there to help you, which is key since I live by myself and don't want to have to always bribe my buddies to buck rivets for me. Here is one that is already built. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the doors and roof are all lexan...great for visibility. Cargo space is pretty awesome and is easy to access due to the large door and seat that fold down quite a bit.

and then offer him a 10% discount to the nearest Trump hotel like a boss

So.....you're asking (for your friend) if it's ok to be full time active duty military (which is what an AGR is doing), without any intention of stopping full time military service, while starting employment at an airline under the auspices of going to work for them by taking some of your leave, only to leave the airline once your seniority number is secured? All by using USERRA protections to screw the company without ever leaving or intending to leave full time active duty service in the military? How on God's green earth does someone think this could possibly be OK?

Seems pretty excessive to me, especially given the light punishments that accompany actual wrong-doing so often. The message is clear - fuck up all you want, but don't embarrass the Air Force in public.

FWIW the 118th OG is a flying unit all day every day and twice on Sundays Negative ghostrider. 16 years of service and a PA/customs & courtesies fuck-up means you should be shown the door? Crashing airplanes negligently, getting others injured/killed, losing your weapon, etc. will all get you stars on your shoulder from what I've seen (no shit), but something like this means you get the boot no questions asked? I agree with pawnman above - this is an ass-chewing punishment, not a lose-your-retirement punishment. I know the internet outrage machine is turned up to 11 and it's a nice neat narrative that, "Haha, look at those POGs in the ANG with their fucking sock puppets!" and I cringed and face-palmed too, especially because this was right down the street from where our guys are sitting and taking the fight to the enemy, but zoom out a little bit and realize we've all made mistakes that would probably severely embarrass the Air Force. Luckily for most of us there weren't any cameras around.

Saw on Facebook that the LtCol BSC board that met with the ‘09 Maj LAF Board has been split off and sent to the SecDef without the 09 Major results. Sorry guys, I think I broke the Majors board...

While it is true that a precedent has been set over the past couple of decades regarding the President’s near limitless power to get us into conflicts, does that precedent make it ok? It seems that many people are opposed to this idea only when the “other” party holds the executive. Some of us have been opposed to this idea for the last three administrations.

"Raptor, may I touch you on the throttle?"

Fvck you my friend... fvck you.

Actually, that was most of it.

The entire situation is of course a chocolate mess. Do we intervene in every situation around the world, most would agree no. Are we seen as world leaders and do our actions send a message, most would agree yes. I believe if Obama had thumped them when they crossed supposed Red Line and previously used WMD, the calculus for Aasad would have been different this time. I could be wrong. All of that being said, it is exceptionally difficult to see women and children being hit with chemical weapons.

Or you could say nothing and wait for the SIB. Rule #1...anyone...anyone?

Doubtful...Regardless, if the spineless messiah grown a pair and hit them when they crossed the "red line" there might be a lot less dead women and children.

Ohhhhh... he meant gear door drag as in actually dragging on the runway. That could cause problems. As far as losing an engine at brake release?......... and not realizing it?......... lots to say but I'll refrain..... other than a general observation. You've got a kick-ass set of engines if you can't even tell you've popped one between pushing up the power and rotating. Just sayin'

If pilots did more of that and less of everything else, they wouldn't be stampeding the exit door for a job flying 136kt ILS finals.

Disagree. Twice the regime has used chemical weapons, twice they've been subject to US airstrikes. This sends a message not only to Syria, but to other countries around the world, that breaking international law will have consequences above a sternly worded memo from the UN.

They even worked some JASSM-ER into the mix.

I'm just hoping JPRC has a quiet night. One of these days we as a country will learn what "not our fight" means.

They helped chew through the bulkheads. Both parties are broken. What they really want is power and status. That's why Democrats supported an obvious liar and apparent criminal who would keep the status quo over Bernie, and why Republicans would squander away the best legislative opportunity imaginable because of some worthless drama. Remember, these are the people who molest kids, cheat on their wives, don't pay taxes, use campaign funds for bribing pregnant mistresses (while the wife dies of cancer), solicit gay sex in airports while fighting gay marriage, expose classified material to avoid FOIA, use inside knowledge of future legislation to game the stock market, sext 15 year olds AFTER getting caught, lie about terrorist attacks, secretly support racist spiritual leaders, use methamphetamines, interns then cast them aside, think islands could tip over, need I go on? Trump is in NO WAY worse than these people, both sides. The only difference is the way he talks/tweets. And the most amazing part is that it was "dumb America" that recognized it, while the smarter, successful people (like say, military officers) somehow convinced themselves he was an anomalous threat. If you think Trump is bad, great. He is. But if you think he's somehow worse than the alternatives, you're ignoring some pretty egregious evidence.

While I agree with just about everything else you said, this is a hard no. USERRA has no such requirement and no one should be expected to do this. From the USERRA website:

Agreed. Maybe when the most common O-6 story about the good old days isn't about how SF used to let them drive drunk after a night at the O Club, they can start kicking people out for stupid judgement lapses.

Duck congrats on your soon to be major select status. At least you won't need a 2x passed over waiver for the ARC.

I guess I'm saying not all players in this game have been consistent in their advice, Paul Ryan included. Both of us seem to be a little more consistent in calling for action in both cases (2013 and 2018). I also appreciate folks, like Helo above, who are consistent in opposition. The typical political hypocrisy bothers me more than either consistent position, with allowances for situations being different over time. And that being said, I don't totally disagree with Ryan's advice in 2013...limited strikes that show basically "this is the best we can do" that ultimately don't provide a deterrent aren't necessarily worthwhile and can even be harmful in that they demonstrate the limits of our political will compared to actors like Assad that are clearly willing to go all the way in order to stay in power.

When I was the Chief Pilot at my unit I briefed my guys I would back them up 100% on MLOA disputes with their airlines UNLESS they were gaming the system over the holidays, then I would side with the airline. You are screwing over the buddy who has to fly the Xmas trip and you are screwing over the buddies in the unit who may be trying to get hired by that airline. Fly your damn Xmas trip.

I believe that the use of WMD crosses a significant and serious line. While I agree that we jump into too many fights, this is one I believe we should stand up for, and I am willing, as an American citizen, to accept the consequences. Additionally, it has the tertiary advantage of putting notice to the rest of the world that, despite the Obama administration's hollow threats of a red line, the current administration isn't going to be bullied by the Russians or anyone else. The more the Russians scream and shout, the more satisfied I am. Hell, if they wanted to influence the election, I'm sure they would have supported Hillary, and kept the status quo of American inaction towards Russia's aggressiveness. BTW... Trump should personally call Assad and let him know a bomb is going to be dropped on one of his palaces on Monday, and that he might want to find a hotel for a few evenings. Then on Monday, do what he told him he'd do.

Send the WSO to go call the crew van on his 02 mask tester in life support and step without him?

In with the first C-17 reference.