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Leadership at the 'Deid


Toro

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Bombs on time on target and kill MiGs.

Wasn't that the quote on the sign that the aircrew would walk under at Ubon RTAFB during the Vietnam War?

As an example of how things have changed since; When flying C-17's from Rhine-Main AB to downrange locations (2002-04), the last sign we would see when leaving the ops building (which was near the flight line) reminded us to don our cover and to salute.

I haven't been downrange or to the Deid since 2004, but it seemed to me at that time we were trying to prosecute a war(s) with a peacetime mentality - not those on the ops side, but practically everyone else. From what I read, things haven't change much.

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New AUAB uniform regs released today. Highlights:

No more reflective belts while in PT gear in the CC/BPC unless you are running on a road.

You may also hang your sunglasses around the front of your neck.

Also, no more saluting while in PT gear.

However, while going out to fly, you may no longer wait inside the air conditioned PERSCO building for your bus/rest of your crew to arrive after you have emigrated out...you must now brave the heat and humidity for your bus/rest of your crew, and crew members will be processed one at a time making the whole dick-dance take 6-9 times longer.

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New AUAB uniform regs released today. Highlights:

No more reflective belts while in PT gear in the CC/BPC unless you are running on a road.

You may also hang your sunglasses around the front of your neck.

Also, no more saluting while in PT gear.

Very glad to see at least a little common sense return! I think these small changes will be great...taking away some key components of the shoe clerks' arsenal of harassment. Next target: Right Start empire.

However, while going out to fly, you may no longer wait inside the air conditioned PERSCO building for your bus/rest of your crew to arrive after you have emigrated out...you must now brave the heat and humidity for your bus/rest of your crew, and crew members will be processed one at a time making the whole dick-dance take 6-9 times longer.

That's not ideal. The whole process is particularly irritating for those of us who never land anywhere other than scenic Al Udeid. At least our crew is only 3 people so the process moves quickly, even at Qatari speeds. :beer: to the RJ/JSTARS crews for having to deal with this.

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Next target: Right Start empire.

At least our crew is only 3 people so the process moves quickly, even at Qatari speeds. :beer: to the RJ/JSTARS crews for having to deal with this.

The 340th is already battling this. We go to Right Start once a year and the rest of the times sit through a quick ppt during the commanders in-brief.

And :jd: to the tanker crew that gets to customs right after the JSTARS...during the Qatari dinner hour and a half.

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  • 1 month later...

newest news from the sandbox (the Deid at least) - for the foreseeable future no tobacco products will be allowed onto the base. I'm not a smoker and haven't been to the BX in the last few days but guys in the squadron are saying no more cigs/chew available. Even Nicorette is running low.

confirmed by my CC at a staff meeting. unsure of the duration/scope of the issue (i.e., can you have someone mail them to you, etc), but he says it appears to be a "semi-permanent, possibly permanent"policy and is being pushed by host-nation, not the AF

can only imagine how bad morale will get if this is in fact a total ban

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he says it appears to be a "semi-permanent, possibly permanent"policy and is being pushed by host-nation, not the AF

What a joke. The average person in that region of the world smokes - hands down - more than the average American.

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Another story of buffoonery at the Deid. My AC was running yesterday when he hears someone yelling at him to tuck in his shirt. AC keeps running and ignores the individual. Not long after, the guy begins running alongside to make sure he was heard. At this point my AC decided it's time to stop and confront this person. I'm sure the guy (LtCol) was expecting to have some great moment by laying his power down on some unsuspecting airman, but he instead found he was talking to another LtCol. My AC politely points him to a local reg that states something to the affect of ...while performing exercise activities, shirt does not have to be tucked..., and if you know or find otherwise, come find me in bld ###, rm xx.

Another sad point is the yelling, chasing LtCol had only been at the Deid since the day prior. He came out of the gates swingin'.

Where do these people come from and why have they lost focus on the real issues???

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newest news from the sandbox (the Deid at least) - for the foreseeable future no tobacco products will be allowed onto the base. I'm not a smoker and haven't been to the BX in the last few days but guys in the squadron are saying no more cigs/chew available. Even Nicorette is running low.

confirmed by my CC at a staff meeting. unsure of the duration/scope of the issue (i.e., can you have someone mail them to you, etc), but he says it appears to be a "semi-permanent, possibly permanent"policy and is being pushed by host-nation, not the AF

can only imagine how bad morale will get if this is in fact a total ban

Yeah, we heard the same thing from our CC this morning. He didn't have many details past that.

Looks like we are just one step closer to AUAB being a full-up prison where tobacco products turn in to the official currency.

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Email sent out today states that the host nation did not sign the tobacco waiver (didn't know we had one or required one...maybe to allow us to sell it on base). Leadership does not know when or if they will sign it. If you have every gone through customs here, you know they do things at their own pace.

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I can just picture our little Qatari friends sitting around a table thinking of the next scheme to F with the Americans.

"Hey Abdul, what should we do this week?"

"How about shut off the water supply to the base for 3 days, and make them take showers with the water bottles. Besides, the rainforests we have growing at all our highway interchanges needs some extra water."

"No no no no, we already did that. Boy they stank worse than we do after that!"

I remember the great booze shortage or early 2010. The waiver didn't get signed and slowly, the bra started running out of booze. First it was the good beer, then the good liquor. Then went the wine and finally we were down to wild turkey and raspberry Smirnoff ice. One of the low points in my life was coming back after a long mission to find out there was a few cases of Smirnoff left. Reluctantly, I ordered one, drank it in silence wondering if my balls were going to detach and make a run for the border. The talk on the boulevard freq was finding out who was at dafra and did they have booze. Which resulted in the dafra guys letting all the deid guys know what beer they were going to have after their sortie. My nav got the shakes and refused to navigate and instead said, "just fly fking east you ahole. Wake me up when you see the tanker."

Rumors were rampant. One day, there was a commotion in the hallway of the trailer. A flatbed was spotted with booze shaped boxes. So we bolted outside (but not without our reflective belts) to go check it out. And there in the bra, was 18 wheels of freedom. Loaded to the gills with cases of beer and and booze of all shapes and sizes. The line at the bra that night stretched all the way to the stage. The scene was similar to those WWII victory films from new york. With the ticker tape, cheers, and women everywhere. Except without the women and ticker tape. And shortly after that some Chiefs came around and said we were all smiling too much.

Edited by snoopyeast
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...First it was the good beer, then the good liquor. Then went the wine and finally we were down to wild turkey and raspberry Smirnoff ice. One of the low points in my life was coming back after a long mission to find out there was a few cases of Smirnoff left...

Man, that sounds like a real f*cking hardship right there :banghead:

All in good fun...running out of booze is a troubling development no matter what the circumstances.

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