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Thanks for responding, and I agree with the desire for better choices. I won't be holding my breath. I think a fairly large disconnect right now between Republican voters and Democratic voters is summed up nicely above. You can't see how Republicans aren't as horrified as you are about the occurrences on January 6th. But the truth of the matter is the Republicans have been horrified for quite some time, and January 6th was just the ultimate instance of what-about-ism. Democrats danced gleefully, rationalized, or at the very least looked the other way while dozens of cities in the US burned over the overt lie that police were massacring unarmed black people. A whole lot of well-intentioned but foolishly gullible liberals, and a whole second cohort of people who just wanted to burn something down, destroyed the livelihoods of small business owners, looted bigger businesses, and literally set fire to government buildings. Crickets. Major political figures, including the vice president, made statements that implied these rioters were in fact heroes. Go ahead and dig around now, it is almost impossible to find any prominent liberal figures who made unqualified condemnations of the riots. "Yeah, stealing is bad, but....." So by the time January 6th happened, for a lot of people like me who have no sympathy for Donald Trump losing the election that was absolutely his to lose, and no sympathy for the fools who bought into his narrative and stormed the capital, it doesn't jive that I'm supposed to lose my mind over what happened simply because it's the first instance of unjustified rioting that you or the Democrats are upset about. Welcome to the party. I've said this for 5 years, and in 5 years I've been proven wildly correct. Donald Trump was the response from conservatives to a political system that had become cartoonishly dishonest. And the imbalance in Washington and the media that covers it created an environment where conservatives were regularly characterized as evil, bigoted, backwoods, stupid, ignorant, racist, sexist, imperialist, redneck, hyper religious, anti immigrant deplorables. Objectively good men like George W Bush, Mitt Romney, and (after Trump was elected) Brett Kavanaugh were treated like reincarnations of Hitler. Kavanaugh was openly accused of being a gang rapist on the basis of zero evidence and quite a bit of counter evidence, so if you want to know where the final straw was from the conservative side, that was it for a lot of us. Now, and what I can only interpret as a tragedy for the country, the right has seemingly decided that if you can't beat them join them. The left doesn't seem particularly fond of their own medicine, and maybe with some time that will be what's needed for us to find a better way. But really this is just a long way of saying we agree on January 6th, but you've been ignoring all of the January 6ths that came before, and since I am not particularly fond of anything that has come out of Washington DC for many, many years, I don't see why I should be more upset that people vandalized the capital over when people vandalized the true lifeblood of this country, small business and entrepreneurialship (the icons of individual liberty and freedom) all while attacking the rule of law, another institution that sets us apart in the world.

You do realize the Antrax vaccine has been around for a long time, in it's earliest form the late 1800's. The Russians (not helping the argument), started giving it to humans int he 1930's, the U.S., to certain workers in 1940 and it was officially licensed by the FDA in 1970. Despite being a vaccine used to counter a bacteria, it still uses the same methodology and technology as virus based vaccines. I am not anti-vaccine, I got it after having a nasty time with COVID. That being said, mandating a vaccine based on new technology with what I think can all admit is a limited time period to examine side effects is a different animal all together. Honestly I thought Fauci was in a tough spot early on, working for Trump and trying to stick to science with trump as a press conference had to be a difficult experience. However, as it turns out Fauci is a complete fraud and a liar. From conflicting mask guidance, changing science on vaccine requirements and effectiveness to outright lies about gain of function testing and the origins of the virus, it is very clear there is a lot more to the story.

They won’t lose their job. The gov civ is the most protected worker on the race of the earth. uS mil is the least protected. Biden will get what he wanted by tricking 10% of gov civs to get the vax. But he won’t be able to do anything to the ones that don’t. Watch.

No, by the time I had taken those, they he actually been tested/in use for years/decades. This whole covid thing is a scam. And 70% of people are loving it and everything it has done to the world. we have a “vaccine” that mitigates symptoms for those who want it. That should have been enough. But this will never end until the collective WE, stand up. through this all, the rich have been made richer. The small biz population has folded. Governments have taken more authority. More division has been caused. All part of the plan, IMO.

What’s legal about forcing a brand new vaccine on the military population who is largely unaffected by the virus? the long term effects of the vaccine are still unknown. history will be on my side. I have no doubt. We are living through a Marxist hostile takeover right now. And many (like you) seems to be able to see that. the vaccine is there. People should have a choice. I have missed at least 6 flu vaccinations during my career. I was never forced out. I’ll remain the control for this “experiment” as long as I can. I’ll let you know if I’m forced out. So far, I’m still here. this isn’t political, except that it’s a freedom thing, and biden wants to take that away. Trump got the vaccine, that didn’t make all of his followers automatically want it. He’s old. He probably was a higher risk and needed it. WE DONT need it as the military demographic. Neither do kids.

Wurstfest in New Braunfels...

Living in domicile trumps all commuting (at pax airlines.) Life is especially good at DFW if you qualify for specific military plates (Air Medal…) and get permanent Princess Parking. AAs problem is a CEO hellbent on a minimum viable product and our CBAs Scheduling language combined with some seriously near sighted individuals on the company’s side of Crew Scheduling and Strategy. Eventually they will be fixed, but not gonna lie, it can be painful. In the mean time, I trade/drop most of my trips and rebuild with a lot of soft time (free money), which is quite nice. Still significantly better than Active Duty though, by miles.

Hopefully the policy of letting a couple million illegals waltz across the border won't affect you and yours.

I tend to base my voting choice on how I think policies will affect me and my family, and to am extent, the country. I don't base my vote on the sexual escapades of the candidates.

The problem wasn’t becoming an anti-Trump Republican. The problem was that in becoming an anti-Trump Republican he hilariously took on lots of the traits of Trump himself, including tweeting epically dumb shit. His “you’re only a patriot if you fought in the revolutionary war” tweet probably taking the cake. He had an opportunity to take a level headed approach and provide a straight forward, no nonsense, conservative opinion, and instead decided he liked the instant gratification of likes on his tweets from people with TDS and appearances on left leaning talk shows. Go look at his Twitter now. It’s almost entirely shit talking Tucker Carlson and focusing on Jan 6th and Michael Flynn. Meanwhile there are serious policy issues facing this country, including an out of control border, massive inflation, supply chain crisis, that could really use some no nonsense leadership to solve and he refuses to talk about it. That is why this guy is a clown.

Maybe it wasn’t an issue until the conspiracy nuts made it one?

Okay, the name is different but it's the same. Try using that logic and putting a part on a jet that is exactly the same but doesn't have a mil-spec and use the argument "it's the same, just the name is different" and see how that works for your career. If those two vaccines are the same, why do they not solve the problem by using the same name and make it official? Sure would solve a lot of issues.

Yeah details don’t matter. “Legal distinction” is meaningless. Continue to outsource your logic to the talking heads. Only Trust, but never verify (never more than 5 sec google search).

Agreed. A strong moral compass is required of any politician (to do a good job).

In some ways, it seems the AF pulled a sleight-of-hand by pulling BPZ while stating they were moving to a five-year window. In effect, you now have one look much like the other services, notwithstanding the single digit odds APZ.

Ah. I got like 12 over my career because I never completed the full sequence.

Look, if people want to have a real conversation, I’m all for it. If they, however, want to spew lies, mistruths, and misinformation that has been debunked for months, they should be prepared to have their shit jumped upon. If I came out of the blue and said there was a secret ingredient in Cheerios that cures COVID and makes the male member grow by at least one full inch, I’d expect a vigorous and stinging response. Cheerios don’t cure COVID btw. Still hoping for some previously unknown long term effects on the other thing.

While at the same time, the military is bullying it's members to take an experimental vaccine with unknown efficacy "because I said so". If the military were truly ok with non-conformity, I wouldn't hear about first sergeants yelling at troops to stop asking questions and get the shot. At heart, the military wants people to innovate, but only in a small box. In the same right, congress and the president want a military that is agile and creative, but not one that might buck their authority...even if it should when congress and the president are acting unconstitutionally. Having a soldier, who is also his/her own authority as a congressman can clearly get sticky when the soldier sees things he/she wants to change based on personal opinion, which then translates into policy decisions as the congressman. A STRONG moral compass is required.

Well, that oughta take care of any more flybys... Sure am glad you are appointed the arbiter of what is and isn't useful information. Ditto for deciding for everyone else what's best for them. Good gig. How'd you get it?

If I recall correctly, 5 looks isn’t official yet and there is not a date it will be as of now, although they’re targeting a couple of years from now.

A simple google on Pfizer vs Comirnaty naming convention:

Your points are all non-sequiturs. Drawing parallels between a literal military campaign and a vaccine policy is absurd. By that (lack of) logic, everything is readiness. I know a lot of shitty commanders who agree with you. Second, COVID, the illness, is not a readiness issue. "Sweeping through the ranks" ≠ incapacitating military personnel. If we weren't testing everything with a pulse, something never before done, you wouldn't even notice a disease "sweeping through the ranks" unless people were dropping like flies. That happened in the nursing homes. Not in the military. Now, the government policies surrounding vaccination have absolutely become a readiness issue. But that has little connection to the actual mechanics of the disease at this point, since the vaccines do not effectively limit COVID spread. More importantly, and to your last callous and unimpressive statement, none of this is about the vaccine. This is about a society that is increasingly bullied and manipulated by politicians, bureaucrats, and "elites" who think they know best, and who get caught repeatedly lying and distorting in order to scare their "subjects" into compliance, while flagrantly violating their own mandates. Those subjects are too busy maintaining the functions of modern society to research every claim and dictate of the anointed leaders, so after catching them in overt lies over and over, they've just decided to say "let's go, Brandon" and take every subsequent claim as a lie. Five years ago they decided to elect their own liar when civility and coexistence failed. So now we have a bunch of people who think a largely safe vaccine is a threat to their family's health. But by all means, keep calling them whiners while simultaneously whining about their lack of conformity. That'll fix things. Freedom is good as long as you're only free to do the things I agree with, right?

Round and round with some of you guys. What do you think would happen to you if you refused any other vaccine? It’s absolutely a legal order & regardless of your wider views on civil mandates, I expect members of the United States military services to follow the legal orders of the officers appointed over them. If you can’t do that, GTF out or suffer the consequences. Don’t expect me or anyone else to have any sympathy or listen to your lame bullshit excuses.

Normally, I've flown pax at AA but in September I had 3 cargo flights DFW to LHR with 50 hour layovers. No passengers causing boarding issues, no leaving the cockpit door locked, and no taking 45 minutes going through security with flight attendants with 5 bags containing grocery items they bought in London/Paris/Madrid because we don't have butter/olive oil/yogurt in the U.S, apparently. For peace and serenity, cargo might have the upper hand. I was seriously enjoying those trips. If you like travel, non-rev flying can be hit and miss but I've taken the wife to France, Spain, Ireland, Chile, and Australia plus a huge number of places domestically that I've also taken my kids. So, I'd give passenger flying the edge in that regard. The grass always appears greener somewhere else. Don't worry about that and you'll be fine.

People committed to a position they didn't personally verify based on the assurances of experts (if the word has any meaning left), then called the people who challenged their position idiots, paranoid, viscously uncaring, and hysterical. Now reality is quite obviously different than it was portrayed, and they look a bit stupid in retrospect. That's a frustrating position to be in. I've been hearing a lot of "well you couldn't have known that at the time so really my position made more sense." Sure, except we knew about the susceptibility of old and fat people, the impact of good ventilation, the nearly-perfect immunity of young children, the airborne nature of covid spread, the Wuhan lab connection, and the rapidly mutating nature of coronaviruses back in May of last year. Couple that with a general understanding of basic human nature and it was not at all "shooting in the dark" to take the positions that deviated from the "expert" consensus. But as with everything these days, being wrong is never an option for politicians and bureaucrats, so we will be gaslit into believing that the skeptics were just lucky guessers and they were gambling with people's lives.

It was pretty clear it was a transactional marriage. Totally their business and I honestly don't care, just like I don't care about fraternization or adultery in the military. Why the American public has such an incredible fascination with who people are banging has always been beyond me.

The guy (assumption) answered the question. I appreciate it. I pretty much disagree with his position, but at least he answered the query. Attacking him won't change his mind. It will probably make him dig in even deeper. We can debate the actions and policies of the current Administration, but personal attacks won't change his past or future vote. I'd like to hear from other Biden voters and see your opinions.

Wow. So much stupid in one post.

"I'm hearing talk of..." "A lot of good people are saying..." "It's been said that..." I was hoping this mealy-mouthed bullshít had said farewell, but it's clearly parasitic. So, go on, where did you hear about mandatory booster shots, and from whom?

You're right. Certainly don't have to worry about your kid's listening to Biden's sex scandals when the media covers it up. Or are we just not going to talk about Tara Reade?

Just finished indoc at American. They are definitely hooking up the mil guys who had CJOs & class dates that got COVID'd. To my surprise, we are getting full benefits...so I now have a seniority date, pay date, travel benefits, and hacked my 401k clock. So now when I get off AD I'll start at AAL with damn near year 3 seniority and pay. I'm pinching myself.

I thought a lot about your question last night and to be honest I don't have a good answer or even know if there is one. I've said it before but I personally felt that Milley and McKenzie should've resigned for the way the Afghan withdrawal was conducted. That isn't really an answer to your question though, because they just happened to be the guys in charge when everything came crashing down; tough to blame them for at least 18+ years of official fallacies we (both State and DoD) were telling ourselves and the American public about how the war in Afghanistan was going. My thoughts in no particular order. 1. Part of this is cultural, both in our military and in our political leadership. We (in the officer ranks) all should bear some responsibility for this. On the military side, we rarely (almost never) want to or will actually say "no". It's in our DNA that if we're given a task or mission, we'll figure out a way to get it done. And nobody gets promoted for saying they can't accomplish something (see the Navy's destroyer mishaps as the latest example of severe consequences of this mentality). We've grown and groomed our leadership this way. Almost no one from the top generals/SESs down to probably the at least the FGO level wanted to admit that things weren't going well and that the goal of an independent, democratic Afghanistan free from most Taliban/VEO interference (if that was the goal) wasn't attainable (at least not in any reasonable timeframe). 2. We (talking the royal we, USA at large) tend to have a belief that the US is capable of accomplishing anything if we set our minds to it. And in the late 90s-early 2000s we were still coming off of the rapid, smashing success of Desert Storm. The American public was willing to keep things going so long as the casualties were relatively low and they didn't have to personally pay anything for it. Our public is also as separated from the military as it's ever been and our political class hasn't voted for "military action since the AUMF back in '01. A lot of us also mistakenly hold the belief that everyone in the world wants our version of democracy. 3. "Sometimes you have to let things fail". Don't know how many times I've heard senior leaders say this one in my career but I've rarely seen it actually utilized. I get that "failure" with something as large as the entire Afghan campaign is orders of magnitude different than some new process at the squadron level but it feeds back to point #1. Nobody in our senior leadership wanted to be the guys holding the bag when things ended in the Stan. They would have rather kept the war going indefinitely than admit our ever shifting goals were unattainable. Honesty was less acceptable than the static quo because no one could admit that we were going to fail. 4. Tactical success vs. Operational/Strategic failure. This one goes without saying. If our Operational/Strategic goals were unattainable from the get go, 20 years of killing people and spending money was never going to translate into a win. To answer your original question about who to hold accountable, I honestly think it's probably the bulk of the DoD and State leadership chain for the last 18 years (from at least O-6s all the way to the top, maybe lower). I don't believe the US military was able to be honest with either itself or our civilian leadership about the war. I understand that's probably not a popular opinion. I know a lot of vets were having trouble (a lot probably still are) processing what happened two months ago. The bulk of the rhetoric/messaging has been aimed at us doing our duty, no more attacks on the homeland, etc. That's all well and good, and probably appropriate for the time, but we lost, and I think we need to figure out how to avoid these sort of mistakes/failures going forward. I don't think anyone is going to get fired over this, so to your question over accountability, it'll probably be hashed out in the history books versus public hearings, resignations, some GO/FO or retired GO/FO actually saying "I'm responsible". Not a very satisfying answer I'm afraid.

But havent you seen the Kentucky sCiEnCE paper?