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Respect your opinion but I think you are wrong for a host of reasons. 1. While not a treaty, in 1994 we negotiated and signed the Budapest Agreement. We promised to provide security for Ukraine in exchange for them giving up the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world. This agreement made the world safer for almost 30 years. Were you upset when we threw our promise to Afghanistan away and fled in the middle of the night? We gave our word and at some point if we want to be respected as a world leader we have to honor our word. 2. For pennies on the dollar of our annual DoD budget we have enabled Ukraine to bleed a near-peer Superpower and relegate them to chump status. Russia has taken STAGGERING losses. Putin's grand plan to rebuild the Soviet Union died on the battlefield of Ukraine. A lot of independent agencies have validated Russian losses. Russia started the war with 3,000 operational tanks, in just over a year over 1,000 have been destroyed and a further 500 captured. Half of their armor gone...HALF. The UK Defense ministry estimates Russia has lost 200,000 soldiers in the war with Ukraine, with 60-80,000 of those being KIA. I almost feel guilty for the average Russian soldier who was lied to by a despot dictator. My sympathy ended when they started murdering civilians. This conflict and our $113B investment has humbled Russia for generations to come. I can't stand this administration for breaking our word to the Afghans and running away during the night but I applaud them for holding the line against Russia. I think this also sends a strong message to China. Again, all of pennies on the dollar and no blood from American soldiers (minus people who volunteered to go fight).

I do seriously think Putin invading Ukraine, porking it away massively, and doing more for NATO unity than any western leader in the last 20 years… …staved off China invading Taiwan. If I was a Chinese general, circa right after our Afghan debacle, I would’ve been screaming that there was no better time than right freakin’ now to cross the Straight in force. The US just took a massive black eye, had very little national unity, and was sapped militarily. Conditions were ripe for national “reunion”. Then Putin goes full retard, invades and galvanizes world opinion against him, gets a tremendous economic bitch slap, and makes himself a pariah on the world stage. I don’t think anyone expected the unified response we saw, and I think that made China sit up and recalculate whether invasion was worth it or not.

Behold lads and lasses, a legend is born with the best Selfie ever! Free beers for life my friend!

Which country invaded which again? I cannot believe the amount of Putin simps in the military. A major near-peer adversary is getting their ass handed to them militarily, economically, and culturally, but because your guy isn't in the White House you're upset about it.

You mean this guy @pawnman? How dare you go calling people out for words they said!

Sucks, right? Military much?

IFT is 25 Apr, and then Laughlin after that! Don't know my RNLTD or class start date yet.

Here’s the thing though: There is a good chunk of conservative media (and therefore a good chunk of conservatives) that are eager to paint everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) the Biden Administration does as a misstep. They are so blind in their desire to demonize the current president that they would rather see him fail than the United States win. Incredibly, there has arisen a contingent of self professed Reagan loving conservatives who are now willing to spread Russian propaganda and misinformation in order to to discredit the current president. Look, no one is saying you have to like the Biden Administration or vote Democrat. There are plenty of valid criticisms. But the narrative that Joe is somehow the world’s biggest criminal and that every single decision he’s made in office has been an abject disaster is a bit hyperbolic, no? Worse than that, this attitude is damaging to our nation in numerous ways, not the least of which is letting the camel’s nose that is Russian misinformation under the tent.

Are you referring to the guy on here who proudly said that if he was a commander that he would give Article 15s to those who didn’t have a covid shot and weren’t wearing their mask when required to do so? No, he won’t apologize.

It's almost like part of the president's job is engaging foreign leaders...

That’s what it’s all about. also those weren’t Ukrainian nukes

Found it https://www.instagram.com/p/Co7iNLOr91t/?igshid=MjkzY2Y1YTY=

It's difficult to take your posts seriously when you start off with juvenile nonsense like "Putin simps," and then proceed to categorize every disagreement into some bullshit "red vs blue" narrative. Be better.

Some perspective from flight test and performance engineering on the C-130J and C-5. Both include reaction time in the decision speed (VREF) and VCEF numbers, based on flight test. So a malfunction (typically assumed to be a critical engine failure) can occur up to VREF or VCEF. Other multi-engine aircraft handle this differently. However, flight test reaction times can be misleading since the pilot knows that a critical engine failure will occur during the takeoff run - just not when. Another key assumption in VREF is a 3-point ground attitude. If the aircraft is rotated, then the refusal distance is invalid since the time (and distance) to lower the nose is not included. Regarding C-130J Block 8 and carbon brakes, the only change in charted performance is maximum brake energy and cooling times. This is the primary performance benefit of carbon brakes since the flight tests showed minimal change in stopping distance.

Let me give you an example of the bullshit dealt with just this week. For context, the member is activated stateside, but away from home. This is real life in the military... Finance: Sir, one of your members has an unauthorized purchase on his GTC. Me: What did he buy? *thinking this dude went to a strip joint* Finance: He bought a fishing license with his GTC. Me: *OK this dude clearly isn't as cool as I thought, but fishing is fun too...just not as fun as strippers* Me: *laughs then thinks....oh shit, this guy is serious.* Me: Does he have per diem to cover it? Finance: Yes. Me: Ok, then what's the problem? Finance: It's not an authorized purchase location? Me: Can I authorize it as his CC? Finance: Ummm.... Me: I mean, the dude could have done a cash advance for the same amount, right? Finance: Yes Me: Then he could have walked from that ATM with said cash and bought said item, right? Finance: Yes Me: ...and that's authorized? Finance: Yes Me: ...............silence.......... Finance: ............silence............ Me: the why the fuck are we having this conversation? Finance: The purchase location on his GTC isn't authorized. Me: But an ATM at the same location would have been fine? Finance: Yes sir. Me: *stares through phone muthafuckingly* Me: How much are we talking here. Finance: $25 dollars. Me: $%$%#&#*#((# Finance: Sir? Me: OK, what do you need? Finance: I need this form filled out, which requires an investigation. Me: WTF? Over $25, that is more than covered by his per diem? Finance: Yes sir...we have to have it for the auditors. Me: Can I just send you a memo that says it's good to go? Finance: No sir, the auditor requires this form. Me: Sure, I'll just clear my schedule of that unimportant shit like flying and launch an investigation into this great travesty that will certainly bankrupt the AF! Finance: Is that some kind of joke, we weren't issued a sense of humor at finance school (ok, that part might be made up...10% rule applies). So I spent a morning "investigating" a $25 purchase, where my comments were a veiled, I can't believe you made me do this and this is basically fraud waste and abuse of my time. Meanwhile, at DAL... Stuck out in a wx event where I can't get ahold of anyone from the company, and without any approvals/questions/forms filled out (gasp). I slap my credit card down for 2 cabs and 5 hotel rooms for the crew at the nicest hotel I can find. On the way to the airport the next day, I file the receipts with a note saying that we got stuck and I procured transportation/lodging for my crew. I was never questioned and paid out within a few days. Crazy talk, I know!

Years ago, in Iraq during the summertime when the AC wasn’t working too well, I once rolled up my flight suit sleeves when it wasn’t allowed. Good thing my commander didn’t give me an Article 15.

I just had a flashback of circa '04 at the Deid w/ reflective belts/cargo shorts in the chow hall and other such orders which I apparently blatantly "violated" Lol

The great game is always full of twists, turns and backroom deals. You just never know what the final outcome will be. I want Ukraine to regain it's pre-2014 invasion borders, partly because it honors our word, mostly because it will remove Putin from power and relegate him to the pile of failed despots and will likely stop any Russian aggression for a century. If you play long-ball, Russia failing could lead to several more generations of relative peace in Europe.

works both ways. wasn't the democrat phrase during trump "RESIST!" and didn't democrats falsify the steele dossier to hamstring trump with investigations of his alleged "russian ties" that turned out to be false allegations? a lot of "blind desire" to destroy the trump administration from the left. TDS...liberals lost their minds during the entire trump administration...when a lot of his foreign policy (if you can ignore his childish theatrics) was sound. biden has been an abject disaster. afghanistan, inflation, mandatory vax still to enter the country, fighting in court to bring back travel mask mandate, ukraine escalation...etc etc etc

Yahtzee!!

The Great Power game, don't play checkers when others are playing chess. And? Possession is 9/10ths...The FSU was in disarray and the agreement took them out of play, a HUGE win.

A bit of a distraction from the POTUS visit back and forth: I found this an interesting read both in terms of some analysis of the past Russian Military failures so far and prognosis going forward. Some highlights on how the huge convoy north of Kyiv came to be are the use of maps from the 60's and 70's for land navigation, carrying maps showing the plan in metal boxes labeled secret, and having the wrong tires on the vehicles for the season. How Russia's 35-mile armoured convoy ended in failure - BBC News Going forward, it may seem logical to think that Russia still has plenty of "mass" to pour into this that will eventually overwhelm the Ukrainian forces. A counterpoint to this is that the Lend-Lease program in WW2 was a big reason why the Soviets won (even Stalin and Krushchev seemed to agree). 'We Would Have Lost': Did U.S. Lend-Lease Aid Tip The Balance In Soviet Fight Against Nazi Germany? (rferl.org)

Did you pitch the same fit when Trump visited Israel and the West Bank? No US troops there either. I didn't know a US military presence was a prerequisite for diplomatic visits...

It was a photo op, nothing else. Stop pretending otherwise.

No lessons will be learned by far too many people in the govt and this country in general.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html

There's no easy answer to solve this problem but I'd rather restrict the viewing age of content than give the government full control. Don't let children under 21 consume beer or social media. 🤔

Explains a lot, she told me that too 😂

Exactly. Prior to the internet. Laws became necessary with each technological revolution. Fortunately with the internet we acted with great discretion to see what the new technology would become, and now almost 30 years later, I think we know enough to decide what is and isn't ok. It's easy to just stick your fingers in your ears and call on "personal responsibility," but do we really expect 13 year old girls to just be responsible and not consume content that makes them suicidal? But Seth, what about the parents!? That's their job!! Well what about kids with no parents? Or shitty parents? We just doom them to the predations of corporate sociopaths who will do anything to sell more ads? We need laws that protect children because we have decided as a society that they can't protect themselves. Adults don't need the same protection, but they do need to know the rules of the game, and that the game is fair. Expecting everyone to read dozens of EULAs and consent to selling their personal data to advertising giants to use software that is expected by most professions now is a broken concept. I do not trust the government, like many here. But I think people are forgetting *why* it's bad to trust government. Too much power in the hands of too few people tends to create tyrants who act to enrich themselves and lock out competition to their thrones. The tech "oligarchs," as this thread is titled, seem to fit that description a little too well these days, and I don't trust them either.

The same people in EUCOM who are currently running humanitarian relief efforts in Turkey had to deal with a PR distraction so Biden could get his photo op in Ukraine..don’t see a problem with that? Oh and later this week FLOTUS is taking a Safari to Kenya that precious resources get to be wasted on. You probably don’t see a problem with that either.

Military "BOP" lol. ...and my exwife told me she loved me too. 😄

The military having to do a lot of work at the behest of the commander in chief…ya really hate to see it.

WTF did anyone expect? I mean this administration's primary selection criteria to choose people to run something is what color skin they have, what type of genitals they've got, or what type of hole they shove their 8ick in. Note: Use of the term '"they" in the above is in the old sense of the word. Not the newfangled and imposed genderless nonsense it is now sometimes used to denote.

Not as heroic as prior posts, but a night I’ll always remember. It was either Jan or Feb 1991, Desert Storm was raging. Took off in my C-141 from Daharan AB on my millionth flight during that timeframe (over 1000 hrs in 7 months). Anyhow shortly after takeoff, a bright flash explodes off my right side, looked similar to a July 4th firework, the cockpit gets real bright for a second, and as I looked to my right, my Co is ducking down in reaction to the flash. After a few jinks, we hear that the base is under a SCUD attack and the Patriot batteries were responding, hence the explosion, but we’re airborne anyway, so we get outta Dodge ASAP. After the excitement is over, I start teasing my Co about ducking down, and we basically had a good laugh about what happened. The co-pilot was a good squadron Bud, named LeRoy. He looked at me and said “I guess those A-rabs didn’t get ole LeRoy tonight” we just laughed and flew back to Ramstein. Fast forward to 9/11….I’m watching the news, and I read on the bottom news crawl that the crew on flight United 93 that crashed in Shanksville PA included my good Bud..LeRoy Homer (the FO) I still remember the laughs we had after that Scud attack, and his words that night were prophetic. RIP LeRoy

Follow up on a post I made 10 years ago... about an event that took place 17 years ago. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/killer-at-70000-feet-117615369/ Dave Russell was instrumental in this event while he was the U-2 squadron commander. Dave was laid to rest a couple hours ago. He died much too young following a 4-year fight with Multiple Myeloma... a plasma cell cancer. Dave owned HighFlyer Arms, a specialty gun store in Warrenton Virginia, and I believe the family will keep the store going. https://www.highflyerarms.com/ To Super Dave...

This has been a pretty common misconception by many of my squadron mates. The only ones who come back on orders, are the guys who are within 5 years of their 20. The rest have gotten a taste of the QOL and are now DSGs for life. It's funny is seeing the "I'm never going to the airline" types, especially the ones who gave airline guys shit, who are now DSG for life because of how good the QOL is for them. Unfortunately, I had to go on orders in early December and I forgot how bad being full time sucks. I've worked more in the last two months than I did in the last 5 months of 2022 at Delta...never mind the massive pay hit. I guess if all I did was show up, fly and go home, it wouldn't be terrible. But I don't think people realize how much of life in the military is fighting one self-imposed (by the AF) roadblock after another. It's completely maddening and what makes me dread getting up and going to work almost every day right now. It's something you don't grasp until you have a job where all you have to do is fly and you're not constantly fighting just to get basic shit done. Then the huge added benefit is that you don't take work home with you! The end of these orders can't get here fast enough! I'm nothing close to a weapons officer, but "it depends..." My recommendation to all our young guys is that if you even think you may to the airlines at some point, I'd get hired ASAP because seniority is everything. If you're within 5 years of a 20 year retirement, depending on how far you'll go for orders, then I'd imagine it wouldn't be all that hard to get to 20 while out on MLOA. Lots of orders floating around the system...ask Brabus

Nah bud you didn't have the SA. Not we, you. Everyone else did and was trying to explain that--and we were examining public data with a finer degree of granularity and recognized the data available was based on assumptions that weren't compelling enough to justify the length of policy measures being made. This wasn't high level college statistics. It was basic data 101. Instead we were gaslighted, shut down and dismissed. You're advocacy permanently damaged lives and will go on to upset many more as we walk into a recession that will likely see a growth in homeless populations, and a correspondent rise of substance abuse. Trying to dismiss yourself of responsibility for it isn't going to fly.

My point is there was a huge time and resource cost for Biden to go into Ukraine, where no US troops are stationed, so he could get a photo op. I’m glad we are supporting Ukraine but this stunt did nothing to advance Ukrainian defense objectives. No one in Ukraine gives a shit that Biden shows up for theatrics. So let’s stop sitting around and acting like this is such a huge strategic deal because it’s not. In no way shape or form does this change Russia’s calculus. They probably would’ve never invaded Ukraine had Biden not been President.

Theatrics that doesn’t help the Ukrainians in any way possible, and caused a lot of work for military folks in the AOR. All while in the middle of a massive HA/DR effort for Turkey. Biden probably thought he was in Moscow. We don’t need to parade this dude around anymore than we have to. Our credibility as a nation has suffered enough in the last few years.

Were I commander, I'd just take note of anyone who didn't wear a mask. When they make the covid shot mandatory, anyone not wearing a mask who pops red on IMR gets an article 15.