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Sounds like you sat on the wrong uncle's lap or tortured too many house pets as a child and now struggle to escape the distortions of your own psychodrama. Do you hear your own theme music when you walk from your pontiac to the commissary door? Do you have nightmares about track select and wake up clutching your big blue wooby? Devaluing the service of a fellow veteran to enhance your own sense of worth is desperado territory. And if you need me to agree with you to feel better about yourself, then you don't even believe what you're saying. Maybe because you know deep down, in places you don't talk about at post-midnight interstate rest stop parties, you know it doesn't deserve belief. I know I argued it's best to prioritize substance over source. But once a source proves they have no substance, ignoring them becomes a useful shortcut. Something tells me you get ignored a lot, so maybe this will help you get why. Granted a lot of time passed between my visits to this place, but I can't stop being astonished at the sheer enshittification of dialogue. There used to be more balance. Defining oneself by MDS used to get someone kicked in the pills so hard their dead grandpa's wingman would cry out from the grave in pain. Now it's, like, what the cool kids do. It's normal to define yourself by residual inadequacy when you're young and still figuring things out. To still be engaging in popping your polo collar at this stage of life suggests a deeper vein of psychic sludge. Good luck with it, we're all counting on you.

I do speak for myself. Unfortunately, the president speaks for all of us. When he uses his power to shield child rapists, we all become complicit, because he has no power apart from that which we grant to him. When SecDef invites to the Pentagon someone who openly says slavery was cool, we all become complicit in that too. Bad news: we are no better than our enemies, and at our current rate of closure will turn them into the good guys very soon. Direct intervention might prevent Iran getting a nuke, at least for now. But this isn't a single-move game. It's an infinite game. What helps now might work against us later. Or it might not even help us now. I'm struggling with why, if the case for this war was such a slam dunk, it didn't get made in the manner required by law. I'm struggling even more to understand why a bunch of USAF officers don't think laws are important. If you can explain to me why we needed to conduct MCO to re-obliterate something we just obliterated, it would provide a theory at least as promising as us being captured by a foreign government, which is currently the leading theory. I think I asked it before, but I'll try again: what evidence would change your mind? I needn't argue that both Iran and the USA are immoral nations. We've been proving that to ourselves and the world for a while now. But moral sufficiency isn't the reason to go war, and representative republics that don't fight to keep their voice in matters of war don't stay representative for long. I'm not saying that applies to us. We haven't had representation for a long time. Elections are not about us or policies. They're about money and propaganda, which was again proven in yesterday's weaponized Kentucky primary.

USAF taking an operational pause on ALL T-38s pending an as of yet undescribed inspection. Someone knows something or at least has an idea of a mechanical failure. U.S. Air Force T-38 Operational Pause From the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs "ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- Out of an abundance of caution, the Air Force is implementing a fleet-wide operational pause for all T-38 Talon aircraft, impacting units across Air Education and Training Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force Global Strike Command. This pause in flight operations allows an ongoing Safety Board to locate and assess evidence from a May 12, 2026, T-38 mishap involving an aircraft assigned to Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. The pause ensures the continued safety of Air Force personnel and equipment involved in flying T-38 operations while the investigation progresses. The duration of the pause remains undetermined pending further engineering analysis and development of an inspection process to clear aircraft for a safe return to flight. Inspections are anticipated to begin as early as this week. Individual aircraft may resume flying operations once the inspection process and, if necessary, any corresponding maintenance actions are complete. This operational pause strictly applies to the T-38 Talon fleet. Affected major commands are actively working to mitigate impacts to operations, training and readiness. During this period, aircrews will maximize simulator training to maintain proficiency and currency requirements."

We had a rental van in Germany year ago. We were flying down the autobahn when the dude in the passenger's seat rolled down the window....the combination of speed, airlfow and age on the van was just enough to tear the headliner loose.....BOOM....we were all suddenly sitting there covered in a cloud of insulation, it looked like a scene out of a movie, all we could do was laugh. Took us a while to get all the insulation out of our hair, teeth and flightsuits. The next day one of the guys super-glued the headliner back into place. We turned the van in a few days later and never heard a word.

In the last 20 years? I've had nothing but issues with overseas rental cars in European countries. DO fought a battle with a compnay in Italy for a year over a busted bumper.

There are always USAFE AND PACAF jobs popping up that don’t require SDE or IDE in res. If you’re after multiple years of adventure OCONUS (and adding to your TAFMS), no need to do school to make that happen. Also, only have had one guard wg/cc who did in res school, the rest did SDE in correspondence.

Your use of indiscriminate here is at best willful ignorance, and at worst a self-serving lie. I suspect the latter. Again, I'm shocked that you're aghast the Commander in Chief would direct the objectives of the armed forces, and then voice those out loud to his constituents. There's no we there in relation to Trump. Although, I see we've finally admitted there's an argument going on. There's no circularity, other than the mental circle jerk one must go through to paint both Iran and US/Israel as immoral actors. You seem to think Israel's official or unofficial policy is to conduct terrorism, specifically target civilians, and wipe out a race of ppl. I know they both start with the letter "I" but I think you have Israel and Iran confused. The path to preventing Iran from getting a nuke is direct intervention, which is what is occurring. You're reading things I didn't type. I made specific references not to the Iranian people but to the leadership. I have a friend from Iran who still has family there, I'm well versed in the differences between the ppl and the immoral/evil cult in power. Check the name of the poster. I didn't say you were antisemitic. Although, white ppl that used HOAs to gentrify neighborhoods also claimed they weren't racist either so.. You're missing the point intentionally or otherwise. Maybe Google who Isaac and Ishmael were and why the Jewish ppl have been under threat from Islamists since that time. Speak for yourself.

I’ve returned a car OCONUS missing a door. Said “have a nice day” and left. Never heard about it ever again. Seen many GTC rentals returned all kinds of screwed up over my career, never seen or heard of anyone getting screwed (questioned by the CC is a different story).

Very true. The substance of your argument is purely theoretical and virtually useless in a real world sense. Sounds like you were a C-17 dude who touched down a couple times in Bagram. Or maybe an AWACS back seater. In any case, the substance of your argument reaches its useful limit at the door of the classroom where you heard it. Speaking of classroom, sounds like you didn't study that war or it's implementation very well. Sober up, go read "Dereliction of Duty" by H.R. McMaster, then reassess. Not even close to absolute or total war. While you're on that war, go read Flying Through Midnight...because every airman of our generation should read that.

I'm glad they didn't have a radar gun on the Destin bridge 40ish years ago.

I agree with the first sentence. But, what I don’t agree with is you stating opinions on LOAC/ROE as fact, and then determining everyone who doesn’t agree with your opinion is bordering on genocidal/war criminals/slept through “LOAC class,” etc. That’s the only argument I’ve made towards you - and it’s a bingo, as Hans would say.

I think this is the most important factor. We could stay here and I'd be in base for both jobs, but moving to where the wife's family & friend network lives also puts me in base for the airline job and a few hour drive from the Reserve squadron. I've met enough dudes that have picked up orders cool places I think I'll be able to find some cool gigs myself, if I feel inclined. I like reading folks' bios...checks out, lots of GOs did IDE/SDE in-correspondence. I'm 36, I think I COULD get an AD retirement if I hustle and string something together. Not sure how much that juice is worth the squeeze...it'll be nice going back to a legacy. Thanks for the advice!

best officer i ever served with

Nothing from my wing yet, either. I assume it'll be pushed in June/July, especially since the application due date is pushed to October

If only you knew how many times I've argued exactly what you're arguing. But being effective at your job does not require you to fantasize false applications of the law of war or embarrass yourself or the service by proving you slept through LOAC and sniffed glue before taking your oath. You don't need to kill non-combatants to be tough. You don't need targeting to be convenient or unconstrained. Which is good, since it isn't, and that can't be interpreted away.

The details of my life are quite inconsequential. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring, we would make meat helmets. When I was insolent, I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty typical really. When I was in the Air Force, I wasn't supposed to talk about it because we don't do that. When I was out of the Air Force, I wasn't supposed to talk about it because I wasn't in it, so what did I know. It's a great recipe for zero discussion about anything, leading to decelerated learning, a sludged OODA loop, and the exact institutional entropy we've watched unfold under "leadership" that made the same noises you do. Very few people have combat experience. But everyone is eligible to care about it and discuss it. Better to judge the substance of an argument than get caught up in who is making it. Or worse yet, cultivate unwarranted doubt about their credibility to marginalize them and avoid contending with the substance altogether. When you attempt that with me, it tells me you're Winchester. You have nothing else effective to argue. That makes me feel better about the merits of what I've argued. Not a lot better, because hey, it's you. But a little. So thanks for that. But as a bonus, yes, I have plenty of experience downrange. 500 hours in the air, a tour on the ground, and many instances of TF integration as a planner. Commanding a squadron in combat and bringing them home safely was the cherry on top. I don't need any of that to the sort gnat shit from the pepper in your BS, but it doesn't hurt.

When stationed in Europe, we usually just bought the full car insurance from the rental place. Guys with little experience driving in small parking garages and such equals scraped up vehicles. We would turn in vehicles with huge gouges up the sides and the rental employees would look pissed but didn't charge us extra. The no extra paperwork at the end was nice, especially when as many guys were in it as BQQips mom and no one remembered who scratched it up.

Or more importantly put your arse in harm's way, dodging missiles and AAA while interpreting said ROE with the 6,000 mile screwdriver chirping in your ear because they have a soda-straw view of your fight from one sensor and obviously know better.

They certainly are. Have you actually done anything in war? How much ROE have you written? From what you’ve argued, I’d say the honest answers to those questions is somewhere between none and a very close to none.

America didn't forget annihilation strategy, collective punishment, or burning down the village to save it. We did all that in Vietnam and it went really well. Love the soldier hate the war. Hate the lawyer, love the law. Despite the seismography of your philosophical brain detonation, the law defies you by continuing to exist. It binds us. It's a pain in the ass, but that's the point. Because absent limits, the enmity and vitriol of war careen into oblivion, eventually destroying whatever we were fighting to protect. I got that from Clausewitz. Or maybe it was a Cracker Jack box. With my margarita habit, there can be no way of knowing.

In a just world, lawyers wouldn't exist, and they certainly wouldn't be involved in combat. Combat is supposed to be brutal beyond the pale to the point that anywhere a combatant hides is a valid target until there are no more targets or until the enemy gives up. America seemed to have forgotten that fact somewhere right around 1946. Somewhere along the line we decided to be "nice" when we use military force, which is how you end up with a military doing 'nation building'...the complete opposite of it's function.

Ok ok ok, my bad, I thought that you might have been trolling before but now I see the bit. Still not up to the standard of general Chang back in the heyday, but I should have caught on earlier all the same. Bravo! 😂🤣

Because exchanges about important stuff should fit onto the back of a bubble gum wrapper to make life easier for dilettantes. This is a surface-skimming debate. If you can't chew sirloin, good luck with the rare rump steak of a real debate. What's that you say? You were merely pretending to care? Well, in the immortal words of Felix Barbosa, "you grew balls, now you have to wear them."

They're not disagreeing with me. If they think a house automatically becomes a valid target when a combatant shelters there, they're disagreeing with the law. In a just world, they be disbarred for incompetence or, if the advice given was knowingly unlawful, tried as war criminals. Lucky for them, we're not in a just world.