Jughead

Ouch, and, guilty as charged.... OK, let's say I concede it's "a real sport"* (I don't, at least not yet--but, for argument's sake): why in hell would I want to go to a stadium setting to watch it on a jumbotron? Doesn't the very nature of beast lend itself to streaming? If the "low barrier of entry" is the draw, wouldn't I actually prefer to be more "involved" by watching it on my own screen? If the group event is the goal, wouldn't that be better achieved in someone's living room or a corner bar (corner internet café?)? I just don't get it. Is this my first true "I'm over 40 and don't understand these damn kids these days!" moment...?? PS: Get off my lawn! *EDIT: I get that a league like this could be a hell of a lot of fun. I just don't think it's a "sport" in any sense of the word I understand (I don't think poker is, either, but it gets shown on ESPN). I *really* don't get the stadium aspect....

OK, I don't have a subscription, and my Google-fu is failing to locate this outside the SI.com site--so, bear with me.... Not a regular Sports Illustrated reader, so I'm a bit late on this. Anyone else look at the 2 Nov issue (with the Royals' Lorenzo Cain on the cover)? One of the cover stories: "Gaming the System: The E-Sports Revolution." Inside (p. 64), the article's title is "Game of Throngs." If you get further than two paragraphs into the 8-page (!!!) article... well, you & I don't live on the same planet. What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck?!?!?!!!? This is a real thing?? People buying tickets to sit in a stadium 12,000 seats deep, to watch nerds play video games?? I've wasted more than few brain cells, more than a few quarters, more minutes of my life than I care to think about playing video games... but, this is a "sport"? Worthy of an 8-page spread? (For comparison, that's the same number of pages dedicated to the World Series cover story--which had more space dedicated to pictures.) In Sports Illustrated? And--worst of all?-- people pay money to be spectators??!? The apocalypse is nigh....

Well played...!

Pics or didn't happen....

A kick in the groin coupled with feelings of desperation, abandonment, and hopelessness, if I've been reading this board correctly....

OUTSTANDING movie...! Going to have to read the book now....

Rookie mistake. Everyone knows the chemtrail mixture is adjusted by the boom operator at the boom station in the -135....

You are never required to drive beyond the nearest airport with scheduled service--in fact, in order to do so, you would have to request it & get approval, demonstrating that it's advantageous to the government (much as you did with the self-procured travel arrangements). Your constructed cost calculations are all based on from where you started (AL); how you deviated in the middle, for whatever reason, is completely irrelevant. Both points above are directly supported by the JFTR (or, they were as of about 4 years ago, the last time I pressed-to-test on any of that). I'm an ORF now, so you'll have to research the applicable paragraphs on your own--but, Finance is flat-out wrong on this one (imagine that).... ETA: If you want to give an example to the Finance troop that may save you having to beat them over the head with the JFTR, ask them how they would handle, for example, someone based at Peterson AFB traveling to Base X. I chose Pete since I was stationed there, but the same would hold true of any base in a medium-ish city within striking distance of a large airline hub. Living on the north side of C. Springs, it was almost a wash for me to drive to DEN instead of COS--so, if the schedule was better, I would usually do so. Since the government fares were almost always cheaper than departing COS, I had no issue doing so (could demonstrate advantageous to the govt)... but I could NOT be required to do so. This sounds precisely like what you're describing, leaving from BHM vs DFW....

Wow... maybe RPAs don't suck as much as I've heard?? The unmanned percentage is actually bringing the average UP....???

This may be your trouble--whatever metric the Wing King used for "top 5%," you were really either #1 / 2 or #2 / 2 to the board. Shitty system, I agree....

While I gather they have since been removed, when I was flying the MC-12 out of Balad, they still had the standard King Air "relief tubes" installed (one at pilot station, the other by the "lav" (a porta-potty in the aft end of the cabin). I had a female crypto operator who was thrilled to get a Shewee & use the relief tube: "I peed on Iraq!!" was her battle cry for the rest of the deployment....

Also: Unless I'm missing it, the "Go to first unread post" (which may or may not be on the last page) button is no longer there.... I used that all the time (typically when I fat-finger the wrong link on a mobile device), any chance of getting it back? NOTE: I'm not talking about the first-unread link on the forum page; that's working as advertised. I'm referring to the link that used to be just to the right of the page listings within the topic, looked something like this: |<<| |1| |2| |3| ... |69| |Next| |>>>| |Go to first unread post| EDIT: clarity

How is that? Let me admit up front that it's been many moons since I went through UPT--but, the SIE process was always "automatic," since policy is (was?) that one must be a volunteer for any rated career field. Prior to graduation (i.e., getting winged / becoming rated), a UPT student can withdraw that volunteer status--thereby invoking the SIE process. Has the policy changed? EDIT:

On the one hand, the controller used the word "immediately".... On the other hand, he muddied the waters by encasing the instruction with "IF you don't see...," etc. [emphasis added], instead of simply giving the instruction. I suspect a lot of the investigation will focus on the ambiguous wording of the instructions. Sad results, no matter the chain of events or where/in whom fault is found.... [DISCLAIMER: I know nothing about this accident beyond what is posted here & elsewhere in the public domain; my knowledge of what was/wasn't said over the radios is limited to the linked article.]

Just saw Spy last night--funny send-up of the 007 genre. Definitely worth seeing.

You're getting warmer...: http://www.hulu.com/watch/4183 ETA: I give up on trying to embed vids on this site....

I'll let the Deuce guys take care of this one, but I'll bet they can't wait to hire a guy who plans to separate within months of getting qual'd....

Agreed the movie was great. They glossed over a lot of details--usually that's a negative for me, but they did it in such a way to only focus on the story, vs asking for audience buy-in to something. Pretty thought-provoking, I've had it on my mind for days.... Disagreed on the best-looking chick (you posted #2); #1 is Alicia Vikander:

From the comments section of JQP's blog about it: "SAPR training obviously hasn't worked because every time I see McSally talk about A-10s I get a tent in my flight suit." Posted by "Jim Young"; you, sir, have won the internet for today!!

I was at Edwards when that nonsense was going on. Reminds me of a good laugh we had a wing safety day: the F-22 (pardon me, "F/A-22") test squadron guys were presenting. They started with an "aircraft recognition slide," where they had a composite pic of a bunch of the different aircraft the wing was currently flying on it. Left it up for 15 seconds, then asked "How many aircraft could you identify?". They then answered their own question in order: first was the F/A-22; then the F/A-16; then the F/A-38, then the F/A-135, then the F/A....

Yep. I may have posted this story before.... Circa 2006-7, when all the LTs were being RIF'd (pardon me: "selectively retained"), I knew a guy, motivated new officer / USAFA grad / 1Lt. As much as the USAFA curricula allowed, he had taken all the right classes to get him to where he wanted: OSI*. Needs of the Air Force supposedly dictated otherwise, and upon graduation he was sent to MPF. Fast forward ~3-ish years, he's caught in the thick of the RIF. He has continued pursuing the OSI angle, and had a BNR from a Wing/CC to come fill an OSI billet. OSI was undermanned; MPF was not undermanned, but through some quirk in the policy I didn't understand then or now, MPF officers were not allowed to cross-train. You guessed it: motivated young officer wants to go to a field he's prepared for and has the support of the gaining unit (to include Wg/CC), is told he can't cross-train--and, sorry, your services are no longer needed in MPF, buh-bye..... *Insert OSI joke here, fair enough--but, my point stands.

I feel the same. Unfortunately, mine is for a KIA service member, so no chance of such a meeting. We can still hope for a return & positive ID of remains. Maj Whitt, you are not forgotten!

M2!! This is real progress! You've actually managed to prioritize your son's education over an addition to your arsenal. This could be the first step in your addiction recovery..... We're proud of you, man, really proud!!

"No-bra November"...?