Leaderboard

I bought a fitted and measured, thick cowhide jacket at Pop's 13 years ago, and flew with it every flight since then. Yes, I even flew with it when ACC told us we couldn't. It has as many combat hours and almost as many combat support hours as I have. I am (was) a B-52 guy, and am heavily influenced by tradition, and not that tradition that each CSAF and CMSAF tries to make up every time a new one comes in. My forebears wore leather jackets when they flew and died over Europe, and I wore mine over Baghdad during OIF. My jacket looks used, with leather wearing off in the usual places. It has a few nicks and cuts where my plane bit me. It does not look like it's brand new, like some of the jackets worn by personnel who are in a more comfortable setting that are now issued leather jackets. When I did that job, I did not get a leather jacket, but the blue Gortex jacket they gave me served very well. Every blues day during winter, I proudly wear my leather jacket with wheel cap. On my final day in the Air Force, I will rip the stiffener out of my wheel cap and crush it, and will put on my newly modified jacket with nose art, mission bombs, and old bombardier wings on it. For that, my friends, is tradition.

No I got my UAV while I was in c-17 IP upgrade. And no im not a bottom feeder. I was first to upgrade to AC & IP out of my peer group. I just had a CC who didn't really "know" me b/c I was sent to the wing right before his change of command followed by FSO and then a ground deployment away from my squadron right after. I've just been a flying whore my first 3 years on station and never said no to the schedulers. Well guess who's the boss going to send to a uav? Not the execs, dudes who plan dining-outs/golf tournaments and booster club prez. He's going to send the guy who's not strat'd b/c he's been TDY the last 3 years. Funny thing is I volunteered for an ops assignment 6 months prior then later to go to altus. However at that time AFPC would not let me go OPS yet because I didn't have enough time on station and then later altus all of the sudden became a good deal and was hard to get... ridiculous Well I think I got my point across. I'm bitter. But life's not fair.. it is what it is. The air force doesn't owe me anything and I don't owe the airforce anything after my ADSC. until then embrace the suck!

Word. BTW, I like your profile pic.