Forum Posting Rules of Engagement (ROE):
If you have never posted on an online discussion forum, it is highly
recommended that you watch the
online
training video.
1 - Let's start with the Don'ts
Don't post the following in our forums: spam, self-promotion of your
own websites or your own business, promotion of someone else's
websites or business unless it is pertinent to the topic at hand,
real estate advertisements for rent or sale, anything inappropriate
or from a bad-neighborhood on the internet, useless drivel.
This is not a gigantic want-ads or classified ads listing.
2 - This is a military aviation forum, not a joke/video/ad forum
- The Squadron Bar Forum is the only off-topic forum. This is
the only place you can post off-topic threads without fear of
deletion. Standards of civility still apply.
- The General Discussion Forum is on-topic only. If neither
"Military" nor "Aviation" summarizes the thread, it will be deleted.
I don't care if it's the coolest flash game on the internet or the
funniest video you've ever seen, it doesn't belong here. Political
news stories sometimes walk a thin line - when in doubt, reference
the first sentence. When in further doubt, simply post it in
the Squadron Bar Forum. Useless waste of bandwidth and chaotic
bickering will not be tolerated.
3 - This is a military aviation forum, not a third grade
bickering contest
Nothing pisses me off more than a legitimate thread that gets
dragged downhill by by pissing contests that consist of idiotic
responses and dick measuring contests. If you don't have anything
constructive to say, keep your mouth shut. Opinions are great,
constructive criticism is encouraged, third grade retorts are right
out.
- Posting crap like "You're an [insert insult here]" with no further
comments will get your post deleted. Calling somebody an [insert
insult here] because they presented a completely unfounded statement
and you have the experience to argue otherwise is just fine.
- Humor in responses is encouraged, but make sure it contributes to
the thread and isn't a stand-alone post. Simply posting a picture of
a gimp kitten getting run over by a bulldozer with "OWNED!" across
the top isn't going to last long.
- In the past we've had to lock threads where the bickering
completely consumes the thread. I'm not a big fan of locking threads
- I prefer to delete posts that would lead to a thread being locked
and let the discussion continue among the adults. If your post
starts to drag a thread in that direction (I've been here long
enough that I can tell), it will be removed.
4 - Listen before you speak
A wise man once told me, "You have two ears and one mouth, so you
ought to listen twice as much as you talk."
My last squadron had a rule that you couldn't speak until you had
been there a year - NSTFS.
There's some wisdom in both of those ideas; don't just show up here
spouting your wisdom to dudes who are not only veterans to this
board, but veterans to the Air Force and flying. Read the profiles,
hang out a while, read the posts, and be a fly on the wall. You'll
see who's legit and who is generally clueless. This will prevent you
from a severe case in foot-in-mouth-itis when you try to tell a
combat proven pilot that he knows nothing while you sit at home
waiting to see if your UPT package has been approved.
Using the justification above, do not start a thread within one week
of your registration. If you do, there is about a 95% chance it will
be deleted.
5 - We've got PMs for a reason
This doesn't happen too often, but if your post is directed towards
one person and serves no purpose to the rest of the readers ("Hey
APTCadetStud, when are you going to IFT?"), send it in a PM. If
you post it for the world, it will be removed. There are some cases
where a question directed to one person would benefit the entire
group ("Hey Toro, what's life like as an FTU instructor?").
If somebody else could step in and answer that question, then it's
legit.
6 - Before you open your man pleaser, make sure the question
hasn't been asked
Search Function - know it, learn it, love it.
7 - If it's been talked about before, keep it in the same thread.
After you follow Rule 5 but don't find exactly what you're looking
for, revive one of the old threads instead of starting a brand new
one. In other words, if you're trying to find information on housing
at Del Rio and you find lots of old posts with Del Rio info, but
nothing specifically answers your question - post your question at
the end of one of those threads. This makes it easier for future
searches so that 690 threads don't pop up when they try to search
for "Del Rio Housing"
If you are opening a thread that's more than a month or so old,
preface your statement with "Thread Revival..." and why you're
reviving the thread ("This thread's a year old, just wondering
what's changed....", "Is this still applicable...", etc).
8 - Give it a subject line that makes sense
This seems anal, but there are several reasons. (1) If you have a
nebulous subject like "Serious question" you're potentially not
going to get answers from as many people as if your subject line was
"Rules for the coin check." (2) It makes it easier for serious
searches; the poor sap who types "SERE" into the search function
will have a much easier time with specific subjects like "What do I
bring to SERE?" vice just "SERE". If you have a bunch of questions
on one subject, then type "Questions on ASBC" rather than just "ASBC".
Get the hint? If you don't follow rule 7, you'll probably find your
subject line appropriately edited.
That all being said, let me tell you why I feel this way. Over five
years ago a great little site called
Student Pilot Network was started to answer aviation type
questions. It required no login, and over the years it became
overrun with trolls. Near (what I consider to be) the end, it was
too tough to discern the legit posters from the idiots. Many of the
posters, including Hacker and myself, migrated here and to other
forums. To appease the desire for political discussion, Baseops.net
also created the Michael Savage forum where scathing flame wars and
insults were the norm. When they started to get out of control and
filter over here, the entire Savage forum was removed. Several
stragglers tried to spam this site with porn and other indecent
material, but were eventually removed.
This site is an invaluable source for countless numbers of people.
Many people commit their own time and effort to pass great advice
while others try to take a giant dump on those efforts. That's the
kind of thing we're trying to stop. Without moderation, Baseops.net
is just another SPN or Savage Forum. If that's what you want, you're
out of luck.
That's the rules, if you don't like it, you can sign off right now
and we won't miss you.
I've you've got a complaint, CMH. If you have a suggestion and/or
constructive criticism, we welcome it in the form of a PM.
9 - Need help?
If you need help, admit that you need help. Then simply click
on the
HELP button in the upper right-hand corner. Our help files
are comprehensive and searchable. They should lead you in the
right direction regarding a certain feature, option, setting, etc.
When in doubt, click on
help. 10 - Legal Disclaimer
FlyingSquadron.com is not responsible for the contents of any post.
FlyingSquadron.com does not substantiate or guarantee the contents,
accuracy, completeness or usefullness of any post. The posts
are the views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the
views of this Forum. The forum will make every effort to
backup the forum data however is not responsible for any data that
once posted may become lost. You agree, by your continued use
of this forum, that you will not use this forum to post any material
which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive,
vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented,
threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violating
of any law. You further agree, by your continued use of this
forum, that you have understood and will comply with these
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