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Meh...you are dodging the issue or maybe you didn't watch what happened? Of course we want the FBI chasing these idiots back to their caves, but we are still a country of law and some VERY shady shit happened. "How many FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the events of Jan. 6?" Cruz asked. Sanborn said in response that she could not discuss "the specifics of sources and methods" of the FBI. Ok, valid discussing sources and methods is something we have to protect, although I don't think it was a big secret that the FBI had people in the crowd. HOWEVER: Cruz then broadened his question by asking if any FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the riot. "Sir, I can’t answer that" Seriously?!?!?! You think this is a source and method? Cruz then asked if any agents or confidential informants committed crimes of violence on Jan. 6. When he received the same answer, he asked if any agents or confidential informants "actively encouraged" crimes of violence on Jan. 6. "Sir, I can’t answer that." Come on brother, you have to know this is wrong. I am really curious to hear how you think the is a legal method that needs to be protected?

UPT select! 91 pilot/75 pcsm/No ppl

I got selected for ENJJPT! Luckily, I am on the other side of the dateline where my SR/FSS had more time to push it out.... 99 Pilot / 72 PCSM / No PPL, First Time Applying, Age Waiver, Non-rated

UPT select, third time applying on active duty with multiple guard unit meet and greets/interviews. 84 PCSM/85 Pilot/PPL w/ 80ish hrs/Flight Test Engineer (non-rated) with 250+ flt hrs Never give up, keep hammering!

Got the call I’ve been waiting years for last night…UPT Select. I really can’t describe how grateful I am to be typing those words! Hope everyone else gets good news soon as well. 57 Pilot/76 PCSM/PPL/1st time I’ve been able/allowed to apply/Rated MQ9 Pilot/IP

I think you mean he was straight up wrong…or he knew better and was lying. Either way, people still believe this nonsense that we can “beat” the virus, and whenever that doesn’t happen, it’s the fault of other people (often blamed on conservatives/Trump supporters) who are stupid, selfish, etc and who aren’t doing their part. Well, politics is a dirty game, and Biden is taking a big political hit with covid, which is funny I suppose since he used the issue to get elected.

Biden?

I don't give them the benefit of the doubt. They've overstepped bounds and done "shady stuff" too many times for me to trust them based on the FBI name. Additionally...if the FBI had folks in the crowd trying to get the crowd to storm the capitol, who will not face any charges...doesn't that diminish any rhetoric about trying president Trump for encouraging the crowd to storm the capitol? After all...he was the head of the executive branch. If we think people acting on his behalf were in bounds to exhort that sort of action, why would it be out of bounds if the president did it?

UPT Select! This was my second time applying. 86 PCSM/67 Pilot/No PPL/Currently Rated MQ-9 FTU IP/LRE Qual’d.. My stats are not the greatest (obviously), but God got me! Best of luck to all of you!

Concur - Leading a crew of 13 across the ocean to employ in dynamic CAS fights inside 25 meters while dodging AAA, MANPADS and avoiding clueless chodes in the stack is WAY different than flying around as Blue 4 making "Twoop", "Bingo", "Leads on Fire" and I'll take the fat one" calls.

UPT Select! (currently non-rated) 99P/96 PCSM/PPL — 2nd time applying, CSO-select last year. Congrats to all & for those that didn’t get the results they’d anticipated, don’t give up on your pursuit! Faith & Persistence BLESSINGS.

Pilot Select! 82 PCSM/78 AFOQT/PPL/Non-Rated Aircrew (FTE) with 169 hours/TFCSD ETP So incredible to be earning a slot back after losing my first out of ROTC to medical DQ. It's been a very long road. Never give up folks! #MakeThemTellYouNo

Yeah at this point I (and probably everyone on here who doesn't know yet) just want to know so I can move on with my life. Side note congrats on RPA!

We've been down this road before: Strong-arm tactics by the DOD, coupled with inadequate oversight and politically driven behavior by CDC and FDA, have resulted in the following problems. The final four points identify needed reforms. 1. The safety and efficacy of the currently used anthrax vaccine have never been established, either for cutaneous or inhalation exposure in humans. 2. FDA standards for use of an IND (experimental) product, which apply equally to civilian and military vaccines, were bypassed because of pressure from the DOD. 3. Anthrax vaccination appears to be one of the causes of Gulf War illnesses. 4. Vaccine manufacture has been substandard. For years, the vaccine manufacturer failed to meet current Good Manufacturing Practices requirements but was allowed to continue production. Over 6 million vaccine doses have been quarantined by the FDA, have failed the army's supplemental testing, or both. 5. Service members have been subjected to a CDC-sanctioned double standard of medical practice in which risk–benefit analysis does not apply. 6. The ability of military physicians to exercise their medical judgment has been suppressed. 7. Ill, recently vaccinated service members, who rely on military medical care and who are barred from filing suit against the government, find themselves reliving the plight of ill Gulf War veterans. 8. Medical professionals, who expect information from the CDC to meet the highest standards, have instead received misrepresentations concerning anthrax vaccine. 9. The CDC is supervising the conduct of safety and efficacy trials of the current vaccine, but its ability to be objective is in question. Furthermore, because the safety issues are unresolved, conducting a large trial of this vaccine in previously unvaccinated individuals is unethical. Retrospective surveillance to assess safety should be performed first on the recent vaccinees, as recommended by the Committee on Government Reform.20 10. Medical defense measures for biological warfare, including the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program, need independent civilian oversight, so that balanced medical decision making can occur, free of the influence of the chain of command. 11. The same regulatory requirements imposed on civilian vaccine and drug manufacturers must be met for military products. 12. Anthrax vaccine should be used only in the most dire circumstances. When employed for prophylaxis or treatment of inhalation anthrax, it should be under the conditions required for “off-label” use, including active surveillance for adverse reactions and obtaining free informed consent.

I'm putting this here since this is the main political thread, but it could easily go in the WTF thread or numerous others: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4995564/senator-cruz-questions-fbi-official-ray-epps-role-january-6 Cruz to senior FBI official: "Did the FBI have any agents or confidential informants in the crowd on January 6th? Answer: "Sir, I can't answer that." Why not?

Cargo more difficult to land? Maybe that's true, but it's a numbers game. Each of the Big 3+1 pax carriers have at least 10,000 pilots (correct me pax pilots). FedEx has 5500 pilots, and UPS has...3000? So there is exclusivity simply based on the size of the pilot group. It also doesn't help that FDX/UPS have maybe the most esoteric and antiquated hiring processes. While the pax carriers have shortened their respective HR processes and lowered hiring requirements, the big 2 cargo outfits have remained stubbornly rooting in past practices. Only in the last couple weeks has FedEx changed to virtual day 1 testing, then in person interview for day 2. While 500 TPIC is the published requirement for FedEx (down from 1000 TPIC), Delta etc is hiring a few guys with 0 TPIC. All those trends aside, don't undersell the value of your pedigree as a 20-year military pilot. As stated here, YOU are the target demo for all these HR departments. 20ish years of flying, upgrades, total hours of world-wide flying, etc. They already know the leadership piece is baked into normal military career progression. I hate to repeat what's already been said...that's why most of the time I just STFU on here. But cast a wide net with apps. If you'd be genuinely happy to receive an interview invite from a company, then put that in your top tier. If you could survive at a company while waiting for your top tier, then there's your bottom tier. You don't have a math problem to solve until you've been hired by two airlines. Until then, the decision is simple. You take the first job and grind it out. But it shouldn't be much of a grind if you CHOSE to put in an app. There are a few places that you probably already know are not compatible with your location/family/preferences. All these airlines have pluses/minuses. There is not one clear winner for every pilot. My personal line in the sand is dealing with FAs/pax. I turned down a Delta interview after being hired at FedEx after years of maintaining 7 airlines apps. Guys in my military unit thought I was nuts...mostly pax airlines being represented there. Those guys aren't crazy for loving DAL/UAL/AAL/SWA either. Those are great jobs! Just didn't crack my top tier of Purple/Brown. The subjective trash/treasure concept applies here. Every pilot wants to beat their chest about why their personal decision to go with airline X is DEFINITELY the best job...and it's not totally BS, but a validation of their pick. Nobody says "I'm a below average pilot and a crap interviewer, and I'm settling for Airline Y". You're going to end up somewhere awesome...just don't know where yet. And once your own eyeball sees how Airline X is run, you'll know if it's your final job or not. Sorry for stream of consciousnesses. Best of luck Tac Airlifter and all pilots in this decision region. Once you break free of the welfare mentality of the military, you'll see a massive QoL increase. We're all rooting for you!

UPT select! Second time applying 88P/80PCSM w/ PPL. Congrats to all that got selected and good luck to those that are still waiting. If anyone didn’t get selected for what they wanted keep your head up and keep applying!

Is an assignment to CVS going to drive me into homemade toilet wine production?

7 pilots, 1 CSO, 1 RPA select here so far. Congrats to all!

On Vandy's point: If you can't get a flying job in the Navy Reserves (orange/white, or VR) ...then I agree...reserve component is just a meat grinder to get to 20+ years, avoid (I believe that is not your intent but more for SA). This is based off of AD Navy, B-1 ANG (brief T&G there before I bolted before JSTARS), P-3 Reserve, and U-28 plank-owner flying (luckily D’Arg and Jay shielded us Navy peeps from the AFSOC suck...and we just did our job). Most fun I had flying was Draco followed by flying in the Reserves. ATIS

That’s not really the point. He’s asking about leave when you’re mobilized. Im currently deployed, and half the people I work with are “deployed” to Shaw. I think they fall under the same rules we do out here, meaning if you’re less than 6 months you can’t take leave. I’ll ask the guys when I go in.

Awesome post. ...but brown is better...

Because they did. It’s the obvious answer.

The interview is a little hard to follow based on Bourla’s accent, so I pulled up the transcript. I can’t find the “very limited protection” quote you posted. He remarks that the current three dose vaccine provides “reasonable” protection against “severe disease” and “hospitalization” specifically against the Omicron variant. The transcript is posted below. Is there something missing from the transcript where he says the quote you’re referring to? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/01/10/first-on-cnbc-cnbc-transcript-pfizer-chairman-and-ceo-albert-bourla-speaks-with-cnbcs-squawk-box-today.html

Got RPA! My number 1! 92P/66PCSM Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I'm curious if 1) The media will try to hide/censure that interview (it's already been removed from a few places), and 2) If vaccine proponents will continue to blindly follow whatever big pharma and the media propose for "protection" or if that single admission of failure is enough to have some of them start questioning their blind allegiance. I'm fearful it might not be enough because espousing their vaccine status and masking has become an identity for so many...

Third time applying for pilot and finally got it. 96P/91PCSM, PPL current CSO/NAV.

Congrats buddy!

CSO select! It was my number 1 so I’m stoked to say the least! Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

On a positive note, I "speculate" there were over twice as many UPT selects as last year

Doesn't matter where leave is, per AFI. If you're on leave, you can pretty much go anywhere you want. (Obviously follow the FCG, get APACS clearance as needed, shots etc, and communicate with your leadership.) It's not like OCONUS leave burns leave at 1.5x the rate of CONUS leave, lol. When you're on leave, you're on leave!

The CGO-network goes a long way!... Hope good news comes to you all as it did for me!

You’ve clearly never had to get your own atis and it shows! /s

ADMIN NOTE: I am getting tired of removing offending posts in this thread. If your post is missing, it either violated the rules or quoted a post that did (sorry about that!). A few more spirited individuals will also find their posting abilities restricted for blatant violations, which everyone was warned about. A couple also got friendly warnings to KIO as they were pushing it. The next step is outright bans, I hope it doesn't get to that but if the personal attacks don't stop, we won't have any choice.

Suddenly you have new arguments. Maybe just quote the actual argument next time, because “not 100% effective" and "only 40% effective" are not the same. Not even close. Perfectly reasonable? Based on what? It's been two years, dude. The layered strategy failed, even as there goalposts kept moving. And amazingly, what we know about COVID isn't dramatically different from May of 2020. You want to have the conversation, then have it. I posted a ton of unanswered questions regarding the duration and triggers for mandates, but instead of engaging you continue to reply with the supposed-absurd claims of others. So it seems like the only conversation you want to have is the same one everyone is obsessed with: your side is crazier than my side.

Well that certainly seems to be the attitude of many commenters here. “Vaccines are less effective than hoped - don’t put that poison in your body.” ”Masks are only 40% effective. No point in wearing them.” “Social distancing is marginally effective. I’ll take that as my cue to party like it’s 1999.” The truth is that there is no silver bullet, not vaccines, not masks, not monoclonals, that will get us out of this mess. All of those things have flaws that make it easy to poke holes in them on an individual basis. But taken in aggregate, they represent a layered strategy that is perfectly reasonable. Is it appropriate to talk about how far we are willing to go with these measures and what that means for economics, American ideals, mental health, and our very social fabric? Of course it is! I WANT to have that conversation. There is a lot of messaging on BOTH sides, however, that is making that conversation almost impossible to have.

Strawman. And there's a certain irony because your stance is all-or-nothing. If it helps at all, we do it, right? That's pretty inflexible. In reality, how much does it help, and what is the required threshold for mandating something? What are the metrics for taking away individual decision making, and what are the metrics for returning it? A lot of this is just ignorance. Most people are never involved in a process that determines the value of a life, or multiple lives. Funnily enough the military does it all the time with collateral damage. And insurance companies have life valued down to the dollar. But every time you get in a car you put other lives at risk. Is it the same risk level as COVID? No. But where's the line between driving and COVID? Isn't it strange that we don't know it, after two years? Who gets to decide? And if it's not up to the individual, does the individual at least have a right to view the process, the metrics, and the data? Most also don't realize how many people die every day. So you get absurd metrics like "1% of everyone over 65 has died of COVID-19." Yup. But over 4% of everyone over 65 dies each year. So what's the point? How many developmentally disabled kids who are *barely* able to comprehend human interactions will be irreparably stunted by the masking and isolation? 1? 100? 1000? How many old lives is that worth? How many fat lives? How many cancer survivors? If parents don't get to make that decision, what are the metrics being used by those who do? What are the government's estimates for childhood developmental damage, and what is their limit for saving the elderly? In the next pandemic, when we have an actually-scary disease, was it worth creating the division and distrust in expertise that we've created with this pandemic? How is it that two years in, the government is only now distinguishing between "died of COVID-19" and "died with COVID?" Do you really think they forgot? No one at the CDC thought that would be relevant until now? There's so much more to this than just "masks do something." You keep throwing the idea of tyranny back at conservatives as though they are making an argument for some sort of Machiavellian takeover of American society. Tyranny most often comes from the idiots and fools, so wildly underqualified for their positions, and deeply aware of it, that they will say or do anything to distract from their nearly-perfect track record of failure. Data and thresholds are the enemy, because they tie a politician to something that can be measured, scored, and held against them at the next election. I'm not concerned about Barack Obama secretly running the Democratic Illuminati from his basement. I'm worried about well-meaning Americans taking the fear mongering and scare tactics of politicians at face value, and sacrificing their Liberty and free will for a threat that is being almost entirely exaggerated and fabricated by politicians. I think I'm wrong? How is it that some of the loudest politicians on the left have been caught violating every safety measure they espouse? Newsome at the French laundry, AOC in Miami. The mayor of Austin going to a wedding. Pelosi going to the hair salon. These are not the actions of people who believe what they are saying. It would be one thing, and still bad, for us to give up our freedom based on the whims of politicians who do not have the data or the thresholds to present us with, but at least believe in their hysteria enough to submit to their own edicts. But we don't. Who are you going to believe? Them, or your own two eyes?

Put your app in! These companies need talent, and your military training and experience is a well known commodity to the hiring teams. I’m in a similar boat to you (950 PIC/1700 total) and Delta extended the interview invite two weeks after I submitted my app. It’s a plus if you can check as many boxes possible (IP, EP, Safety, etc.), but just know that as long as you meet the minimums, these companies are seriously considering all qualified talent.

As guys are saying here: Blast to all. Take the first one you get, then get picky. As a mil guy, you need to do one important thing: FLUSH the concept loyalty-based transactional employment. The military actually drills this into us, and we don't realize it. Yes, be loyal to your union and company, but in the end, it's all about the Benjamins. They'd furlough you, so don't feel bad about "wasting a training seat" or some such. Be civil about it if you need to drop out of a class, but don't sweat it either. Speaking to cargo. Yes, it's AWESOME. You'll fly nights, but it's not really that bad, and the pay is worth the disrupted sleep cycle. (by contrast many of those pax pilots are striving to get on a widebody...where you fly lots of overseas nights) Not dealing with pax is completely worth it. Don't buy the hype that cargo is a difficult one to land. If you're specifically looking at UPS or FedEx, yes the process isn't as simple as the pax carriers...but it's not rocket surgery and it's completely worth it. No one knows how UPS hires. Fill out the app and keep updating, it's an exercise in patience. FedEx still has the kick-in-the-shins 2-day interview process from hell. Oh yeah, and update that app every 2 weeks and start as far out (over a year is good) as you can. Both are excellent companies with outstanding pilot groups where you'll want to spend your career. It's the best part-time job in the world. Last bit: Don't be afraid to spend time at a last choice airline. I separated at 17 years while 3 years non-current, joined the reserves and a not-first-choice airline where I worked for a year. It got me a type rating that probably led to getting hired by my top choice. Experience is experience and it helps you get hired. That's happening a lot these days. I'm in training now at my second 121 carrier. We had several people no-show the training, and one guy quit training halfway through to go to another carrier...this is at a top-end company mind you. I saw that happen in both of the 121 training pipelines. It happens all the time. I've personally hear of guys no-showing to training (by taking a different job) at Delta, United, America, UPS, and FedEx. PM me if you want more specifics. I spent the last four years giving this whole process a very hard stare, so it's fresh.

Surprisingly some of the best naval aviation videography I've seen recently. Definitely worth a look, even with the CGI, the F-35 shots are pretty cool.

For that dementia patient, it probably still feels like the first week a la "Fifty First Dates." But at least there are no mean tweets. Of course, he couldn't figure it out to send one, but still...

C-17 background? Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

Yes, that's my typical oil I use. https://www.orville.com/kernel-popcorn-and-oil/popping-topping-oil It's butter flavored, not too expensive (for home use, or if you're squadron only makes corn occasionally), and easily found at the commissary or grocery store. But if you've got peanut oil or another high smoke point oil, it'll work similarly enough. Just gotta melt butter and add it afterwards. Vegetable/canola oil kinda works, but leaves a lot of gunk behind that's hard to clean and can smoke up pretty quick if you're frying up thicker jalapeno slices. On a different note, if you don't want to invest in a movie theater style popper for home use, this works well (I had an older version of this machine when many years ago in pilot training out at navy-land). https://westbend.com/collections/stir-crazy/products/stir-crazy-deluxe-1 Relatively cheap and effective if you're looking to make jalapeno corn for 1-3 people, and the popper lid is the bowl, so it makes cleaning easy. But I really like my popcorn (Saturday popcorn was a family tradition growing up), and as a single C-17 pilot back in the day, I had money to burn so I upgraded ($200-300 gets you a decent machine for home use, and about an extra $100 gets you either the cart/stand or a mini fridge for drinks to put the machine on). ETA: looks like I've come full circle from 14 years ago when I started this thread-gotta pay the knowledge learned forward!