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Mind re-posting that memo?

Any word on interview invites with Duluth MN?

Just took a "Desert Eagle .50" to the range. 'Merica. Pretty heavy and concealed carry may be difficult, but that thing is a beast.

If you’re having doubts as to whether or not to pursue fighters .... fighters might not be for you.

I totally agree it’s depressing, but it was nice to see someone who was realistic enough to admit how bad things really are. I don’t think he was speaking in terms of giving up, but blind optimism that we can out climb this issue isn’t going to help either. At some point we need to figure what commitments need to start dropping off. Pilot bonuses haven’t fixed the problem. Reducing the pilot training timeline hasn’t either. Granted, one solution won’t solve everything, but at the end of the day you can only shove so many people through the pipeline and only prevent so many pilots from leaving. Are we going to carry on with business as usual with the smaller number of pilots left between those bookends, or will the Air Force (and DOD as a whole) accept that it can’t do what it could 17 years ago?

Nope. That board is currently @ SECDEF. Expecting release 3rd week of Aug, like last year.

You have no idea how much I was worried about that.

Imagine being a four star and having to deal with this shit. Or any male to cross this psycho's path. Army needs to figure out how this person made Colonel https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/05/exclusive-air-force-report-hyten-accuser-has-history-of-unsubstantiated-allegations/

Cut up BOne parts roasting on the desert floor at DM as B-21s roar overhead...Thats the future. The crews are staying put for the most part because of assignment cycles (systemic reaction is slow), and because the initial AFGSC plan to take care of them was unrealistic - things that take a lot of time/money/approval/basing decisions and/or are competitive. It’ll likely be a mix of most of those options, but no one place will get all the BOne dudes - you’re not all going to school/staff/UPT. That takes time to settle. And just because your airplane takes a dump doesn’t earn you any extra points in the eyes of big Air Force. Luck and timing. Make your choices appropriately and remember rule #1. Chuck

tl;dr summary, you'll probably get to stay and you'll probably get to fly a more normal amount, and you'll probably look back on it as being worth it You're young. Have patience. I wasn't at that OG/CC call, but the previous WOM I'd heard was that brand new B-Course grads are *not* being sent off to do other things. The temporary crew force redux is hitting the middle tier of experience (broadly speaking), spread out across year groups. The whole point of drawing down manning is to ensure that those who stay can fly, gain experience, and upgrade on a more normal timeline (and not get bottlenecked as has happened a lot recently) given reduced sortie availability... While those that go elsewhere use their experience to add value elsewhere in the CAF, and learn things that will add value to the B-1 when they return. The circumstances suck, but the community has weathered worse and bounced back to bigger and better things... e.g. the early 1990s trying to figure out if it still had a mission after the Cold War, and the early 2000s when the fleet and the crew force was permanently reduced by 1/3rd. You can look at this as "I missed the 18 fat years, and arrived just in time for the lean ones," or you can look at it as an opportunity to be on the ground floor of creating something great. I spent 8 years on the Octobomber, arriving a few years after the "Nukes Across America" incident when it was nuclear exercise after nuclear exercise occasionally punctuated by Guam. People that were short term thinkers looked for the first opportunity they could get to punch to something else (ALFA tours, green door assignments, rando non-flying staff gigs, etc.), and missed going to combat. Those of us who stuck around and tried to make our corner of the AF better eventually led the way when we went back to CENTCOM. Likewise, I suspect the B-1's finest hour is still ahead of us.

I'm a late to rate guy, with a kid, dropped Vipers and I'm at the B-course now. I know of four other Captains who went 38s of them they dropped RC-135s, B-2s, F-15Es, and F-16s. Just some data for you. I think that is bad gouge that you got. Being a Capt will not and should not prevent you from dropping a fighter if that's what you want.

I dropped a Viper at 30 and my wife had our third kid during phase III. Be a good dude, help people out, realize your classmates aren’t the competition - the syllabus is, put in the work. Do that and you’ll do as well as possible. Most of all, enjoy the process. It’s a hell of an opportunity.

Thanks! We were glad to help you flex between the two assignments...always a stressful time. We never charge you guys upfront for the appraisal like other lenders do. If you end up walking away or it doesn't close you don't pay for it. Just another Trident perk. Jon jk@mythl.com 850-377-1114

Thanks, man! That's the best compliment you could give me. We honestly want to help everyone save money and get the best deal. If what we have is not for your best interest I'll be the first to tell you. We don't buy mailing lists and spam people with trash advertising like all these other companies. We make money by saving you guys money. Marty, Tim and I were all military pilots and are all airline pilots now. We can help you guys better than anyone else that calls us because we all have the same background. Refi's are big right now because rates have come down so much. Some states are better than others to do a refinance...most of the cost for a VA IRRRL comes from the new title work and state taxes/fees. In the cheaper states, we can typically pay for all these costs for you so the refi can basically be "no cost" (not talking about rolling anything in, just our company paying it for you). The bigger the loan, the easier it is for us to cover your costs because there is more wiggle room. The other cost is the VA funding fee, but if you have VA disability you don't pay that. Again, depending on the size of the loan and in a cheap refi state we can even pay the funding fee in many cases. If you're sitting above 3.75% you should really take a look at doing a refi especially if we can cut most of the cost out. No reason not to be at or around 3.25% and skip a mortgage payment in the process if it doesn't cost you much of anything. We've even been doing VA jumbos at 3.25%. Here is a list of the 26 states we're licensed in order from cheapest to most expensive refi states based on new title work and state taxes/fees (based on a $300K refi). We can quickly figure if it's a smart move for you if you provide the following: 1) A copy of your last mortgage statement 2) Whether you have VA disability 3) Credit score No need for paperwork, sales pitch, or credit pull to run a rough estimate/assessment. If you like the numbers, then we'll do the formal stuff. If not, no harm or wasted time for you. Cheers! Jon jk@mythl.com 850-377-1114

You could do far worse than to “end up” in a bomber...

I'll pile on to the numerous positive reviews of Trident. I gave Jon a call based solely on the reviews here, and that turned out to be a great decision. We did a VA IRRRL that brought our rate down from 4.25 to 3.25. Total savings about $150 a month, or 90K over the life of the loan. From first call to closing was less than 30 days and much simpler than the initial purchase. Paperwork required was minimal and minus a few phone calls here and there, the process was pretty hands off for me. Jon is a total bro, he'll give you the honest answer and not try to sell you on a loan you don't need. Above all, he gives a hoot about giving you the best deal because he's one of us. Bri worked the paperwork and numbers, and she's got some of the best customer service I've seen anywhere. She worked diligently at getting the title company to get their ducks in a row, including evenings and weekends. Make Jon and Trident your first call for a home loan. I know I will from here on out.

Heading to mediation soon. The story got crazier and crazier after my original post. One day soon when the dust settles I will entertain you all with the story. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

This "new normal" of guilty-until-innocent-but-still-treated-guilty is in large part a result of politics becoming team sports, where winning is the desire, instead of compromise. I think... How many Republicans defended Al Franken when he was drummed out for nonsense? How many excuse Trump when he says things that are obviously false? Both sides are doing this because we've prioritized winning over the truth. I don't think it's a new phenomenon, but the internet, social media, and the 24 hour news cycle has made it worse. Each side is convinced the other is stacking the deck, so they take their wins wherever they can, even when it's disingenuous.

"I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins. It was Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering. And they were blazing that shit up every day."