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Been doing this long enough now to see the slide from something I dreamed of doing all my life to something that is absolutely unbearable at times. Dad flew for 28 years before me and both of my grandfathers lived into their mid 90s. Both were WW2 vets and I knew them both well. I listened and learned from them and their stories. There’s a reason BO.net has seemingly endless threads with countless pages devoted to the self induced shenanigans of the military/AF. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure which thread to post my response in. But, it’s the Tucker issue that has my attention so I’m posting here. Ben Shapiro has a really good take on the situation. Once again, he’s spot on. His point, as well as Tucker’s, is that the military has lost focus. The simple question is, what makes the military more lethal and more effective? There’s a reason we have standards. Those standards start at the very beginning of service. It actually starts in the selection process for service in the military and continues on through basic training. Those selection processes are designed to weed out people who are not fit for service. Am I saying that pregnant women should not serve? Of course not. But, I do agree with Tucker and Shapiro when they speak of this loss of focus - or misguided focus of our current military leadership. There’s a shitload of energy that is fired in the wrong direction by military leadership right now. I returned from my 6th deployment to the Middle East exactly 8 days ago. It was another 120 day deployment which is standard for my community. It was my 11th deployment if you consider other parts of the world. This time was much different though. I’m Guard so entitlements and pay matter. We didn’t get our tricare 6 months out. We didn’t get paid on time. We didn’t get hostile fire pay as we should have. The AF had NO consistent plan for dealing with COVID and how that related to getting to the theatre. There was a major battle between our home unit and the deployed wing commander as to who is responsible for the health of our folks and where they quarantine. We ended up quarantined for 2 weeks at an Army base. Other units didn’t have to. I could go on and on. And this was not on our local wing’s level of responsibility. This was absolutely the fault of big AF. Things were no better in theatre. Every mission we flew included issues with flight plans, local services (water, power), local pax services, local aerial port, local trans and the same could be said at EVERY stop we made around the theatre. It was a complete shit show from start to finish. Day after day after day. My point of all of this is not to sport bitch. It’s this. About a month into our deployment, the AF Chief of Staff, CMSgt of the AF and the Sec of the AF came to our base for a visit. I was one of the lucky ones who was invited to hear them speak. I couldn’t wait. I had many questions to ask based on the shit we’d been through leading up to the deployment and in the first month that we’d been there. There were about 5 questions asked that were pre screened. That was it. They spoke for about an hour. Only about 10 minutes of it were them talking about issues related to the theatre, procurement, budgets, manning etc. Nearly their entire speeches consisted of social justice issues. I was struck by the feeling of being preached to by two women and a black four star general about being held back. I really struggled. Everyone did. After a quiet ride back to the squadron we talked about it. I don’t see and have never seen issues that they spoke of. And their success proves we get it right as a whole. I get it. My view from a flying squadron isn’t the end all be all regarding issues in the military. I’m sure my squadron is very different than a ship in the Navy or a barracks full of 19 year old paratroopers in the Army. But, I am getting really tired of fixing big picture problems at the point of execution while being bitched at about things I don’t see my military having problems with. There is a lot of mis-directed energy in the military and our society. I think that was Tucker’s point. And I agree with him.

We've been needing to resurrect this thread...

If it’s that dangerous, but we aren’t flying any significant combat Ops....why are the crews there in the first place? It’s only a big deal when you find out every E-3 in finance or EEO has their own room, and this is your 12th 90 day trip there in the last 8 years. Not a big deal, but it gets old.

It’s not that I don’t think comfort is unimportant (my wife didn’t think the maternity ABUs were uncomfortable when she stopped wearing her flight suit, so there’s one data point)...rather that when this is bragged about as “real change”, it becomes a distraction from the other important problems that don’t seem to get corrected in a timely manner, if at all.

How it matters, and the point I think Tucker Carlson was trying to make (poorly), is that our president made it a point to talk about pregnancy flight suits, which have zero-to-nearly-zero effect on our military readiness, while failing to talk about the litany of real military threats that face us. This is the go-to move of the political left these days. When you are failing to accomplish anything of substance, or in this case, failing to address a real and escalating immigration crisis at the border, do some low-impact SJW bullshit and know that your side will trip over their equity erections to attack the conservatives tripping over their social-collapse erections, and both sides (of voters) once again completely miss the chance to unite against our shared enemy, the politician class. Both the GOP and Dems had zero appetite for dealing with the most glaring threat facing us: China. Trump, in all his clownishness, saw it clear as day. Now he's gone and the politicians can get back to what they really care about: enriching their families. China has been great for that. Taiwan will be a great pawn in this. The US will "recognize" them in a variety of venues (a can of worms Trump opened), while doing nothing of substance to support them. China will feign outrage so our "leaders" can look like they're being tough on China, but as long as we don't actually do anything, China will be pleased, and the money can flow. You and I won't see any of it, of course, unless you happen to be invested in the same stocks.

This is the golden question lol.

https://babylonbee.com/news/heroic-secret-service-agent-dives-in-front-of-biden-as-reporter-tries-to-ask-a-question?fbclid=IwAR3JH0kpCfv_sEHyHu6Z4mQ3dsuoFCHxFjucbZSKsi-ZLyHmmg9LwD2KYFo

As someone who currently identifies as a pregnant female pilot, of course! But seriously...yes, it is important for the same reason that it is important that my daughters can look at female astronauts, the Vice President, and other women in any career field and imagine themselves in that position.

Love the comment!

I think hardened is probably better than non hardened for threats. See Iraq base attack. Sure it probably won’t matter anyways but you know. It would look stupid if they targeted a bunch of soft buildings/trailers and left the hardened alone and you have a bunch of casualties in the soft facilities. Connex probably doesn’t count as hardened. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@ryleypav I've seen 3 months and I've seen up to 9 months for TFOT. Keep checking in every few weeks and make sure they're actually working on it. The most annoying feeling in the world is when you call to check in a month later to find out they had everything they needed to request TFOT dates but the A1C working your paperwork forgot about you (ask me how I know) I would also press them to request UPT dates prior to getting to TFOT. It's possible - because I've seen ANG pilot candidates get both TFOT and UPT dates at the same time. As always YMMV but feel free to DM and I can share more.

If you don't ask it to do too many things, I think three years would be reasonable. Maybe invite some competitors outside of Boeing and Lockheed? Digital Century Series... Or maybe advanced SAMs on subs? With that said, as China nears our capabilities it will become harder and harder to project power across the world. It is probably inevitable that we lose our ability to win halfway around the globe when they are only seeking to apply their power within the range of current tactical fighters. Its unfortunate for us maintaining the status quo, but despite the world "shrinking" due to technology, that is the tyranny of physical distance.

Just got an email. They said they are still going through the received packages.

To clarify, what Brabus is talking about is only an option if you turn down the assignment. Since your ADSC runs out in a week, accepting this assignment (and the PCS that comes with it) would extend your ADSC. Because that's the case, you have the option to either accept or decline the assignment. If you accept, you PCS and they extend your ADSC by a couple years. If you decline, it establishes a separation date, and the AF can still force you to PCS and serve out that assignment up until your separation date, but they can't forcibly extend your ADSC. Check out 36-2110 for details. P.S. Declining is only an option within 7 days of assignment notification, so don't sit on this for too long.

Just watched it. Thought it was great. Not necessarily the most original storyline. Definitely cheesy in parts. But thoroughly enjoyable. Hot tip: stay past the credits and listen to John Legend sing “she’s your queen to be”. It’s hilarious and stunningly good at the same time.

Do you have any current ADSC before this possible PCS? Because the AF can’t force you to take a PCS ADSC if it would take you past the longest ADSC you currently have. If this is the case, they could still PCS you, but you don’t incur additional ADSC.

Judging by how people here react to the idea of not wearing flight suits on staff tours, having callsigns taken away, or reaching way back, blues on Mondays...yes.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Office Space is the most accurate film about the Air Force ever made.

Who gives a shit? It makes people’s lives better and should have happened a long time ago. C’mon, man. Go drink some Ensure.

The maternity uniform updates are good. Just like the hair changes for women are good. Just like the grassroots effort (following the hair changes) to men’s shaving are going to be good. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Well, you didn’t answer my specific question...but that’s ok as I’m sure you don’t know the numbers (in fact neither do I, though I imagine it’s pretty darn low). But to specifically address your questions, the flight suit is most definitely a utility uniform, first and foremost. I know most of you guys aren’t old enough to remember when those in many non-flying jobs (both flyers and non-flyers) were required to wear blues, except perhaps on Friday. This was pre 9-11...things have definitely changed quite a bit since then. And of course there are still plenty of us who remember Monday’s blues. When that started and I was in an operational squadron, most guys would fight to get on the flying schedule to avoid wearing blues. Later on it was realized that guys would fall out of the schedule and we would have to ops cancel lines, so our leadership started allowing non-DNIF guys to wear the bag on Monday so as to not lose lines for wearing blues...but if you were attached in a different squadron or at the group or wing, you still had to wear blues. And then when I got sent to my staff job, yep, Monday’s blues were back until it went away. What I’m trying to say is that there is plenty of precedent for not wearing a flight suit if you’re not going to be performing (or possibly performing) flight duties that day. As to not buying uniform items, that’s definitely a perk of being a flyer...but again, it should definitely be tied to performing flight duties, hence while you’re only authorize limited/certain quantities. Once again this old guy typing remembers sequestration and when you had to turn in your old flight suits to get new ones...sad, but true. For the record, I think it’s messed up that flyers don’t have to buy their uniforms but the non-flyers do. So circling back to the pregnant piece, is this a readiness issue or an issue of people feeling that they’re being treated differently because they’re pregnant? If it’s the later, I think pregnant people are most definitely treated differently...no PT tests, limited duty hours if needed, DNIF at a certain point in their pregnancy, etc. I’m not at all against those occurring (makes sense actually), but let’s not pretend that wearing a maternity uniform was such a hardship, at least it wasn’t for my wife.

I haven't read that much MAGA/Q fan fiction since before the inauguration. Thanks for the chuckle. Is it hard to find an audience for this trash now that Parler is off the app stores?

Just remember. She doesn’t believe in equality per her own words. She believes in equity. Those who don’t have or don’t work for get more things then people who have and have worked for. Hence partially why so many votes came in for a candidate who didn’t even hit the campaign trail. https://youtu.be/w4kowE_YIVw

I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up elsewhere, or maybe I just missed it...Seems incongruent coming from the guy that is preaching "agility." There's nothing agile about the acquisition process; what are the odds we even see a basic design of said aircraft before his tenure ends? I want to give Brown the benefit of the doubt; I really do. Just like I wanted to for Goldfein...and Welsh...

Good article and although I am not a squid, the Proceedings Podcast is worth a peruse, just listened to this episode and it's relevant to the article and the greater subject of preparation / deterrence of conflict with China: Proceedings Podcast Episode 212: China's Desert Storm Education (usni.org) From the article: On a sober note, Hinote pointed out that the Blue Team force posture tested in the recent war game is still not the one reflected in current Defense Department spending plans. “We’re beginning to understand what kind of U.S. military force it’s going to take to achieve the National Defense Strategy’s goals,” he said. “But that’s not the force we’re planning and building today.” That's true (as to no significant change in AF force structure) and over-arching paradigm for air, space and cyber power into a joint/coalition fight. As there is likely no enormous increase in appropriation likely now or in the near future and it seems we are not well configured for a fight in a theater with the tyranny of distance and the long range/cyber/space capabilities of our foes increasing, what are we willing to give up to become that force that can deter/win this fight? Or more broadly beyond more of this iron and less of this type, as an institution are we willing to become that force? - How many of us (manned vehicle aviators) would be willing to re-train to Cyber, Space or RPA if the AF determined that growing that enterprise / capability was what the Joint Team required? - As of now, the AF is fighter-centric in terms of force structure, cultural hierarchy and operational planning . A fighter is a medium ranged at best platform (without AR but that carries risk & cost) and probably not the best platform for deterring a massive Naval and Amphibious assault with our current basing/dispersal operations capability. Are we willing to become an AF that changes from that? To an X-centric force, probably quite different in terms of force structure than now. Just rhetorical questions to spark discussion but I have seen this idea that we as an AF and the US military are generally ill prepared to fight China / Russia, so what are we as military professionals saying to policy makers, politicians and the general public that will change that? Are we willing to say, cut my MDS because it's no longer relevant for the Big Fight(s)? Change the AF radically even though it will kill X jobs in Congressman X's district? I feel like this guy is staring at us from history looking for a leader in the AF to break from the herd and say that which may be personally and professionally damaging but must be said.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a little hokey at times, but I will watch it again. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Wesley Snipes playing a Dictator/General is by far my favorite part of this movie.... the whole “story book time with child soldiers” had me nearly piss myself. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Problem is he is right. The AF doesn't care about those outside the top 25% or so. Only the top 15% will go to school and very few other people will command. The r ality is the AF doesn't need you to stay past major. They need a pilot, so they offer a bonus (unless your an 11R). But as an officer, if you aren't on track to command, you don't really offer a lot of value to the organization. So the best think you can do for you own sanity is determine early on if command is important to you or not. If it's not, divorce yourself from the strat/careerism game as early as possible and don't worry about impressing people with you superior christmas party planning skills. Come to work to fly and try to do little else. If you aren't a complete dirt bag, and check your boxes, you will still make Lt Col and retire, making the same pay as everyone else.