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This is a logical move though from the people who believe there are no differences in humans at all and as such you can just pick whatever identity group you want more representation from. The idea that you're going to find a bunch of recruits from a political demographic that fundamentally believes that America is more accurately characterized by it's flaws rather than it's strengths is silly. They're called Social Justice Warriors because they already believe they are in a war. They don't need a real one to feel like they are doing something.

I am old... not Dutch.

An aircrew friend went to work for Gulfstream. Said individual provided critical, pointed feedback to a coworker regarding substandard performance. Said individual was subsequently ‘counseled’ by HR. The quote: “Listen…this isn’t the military. You can’t verbally punch people, you have to pet them.”

Man, don’t ya just love watching videos of Ukrainians dropping $100 grenades on top of $2M Russian tanks?! Makes my Cold War-raised heart swell.

You guys are terrible at critical reading. I directly said the hypothetical dude is not getting a civ tank driving job. I’m saying the experience he gains is a solid resume builder to help obtain good jobs in the civ world post-mil. Employers want to higher mil-experienced people, even if only for the perceived value of the “intangibles.” Of course its even better if the AFSC/MOS directly correlates to the same job in the civ world, but that’s not the only means the mil experience helps build resumes and land jobs. Bottom line, it’s still a great way for a young person out of HS to gain some valuable experience, build a resume, and be a more marketable and better hire in the civ world when they leave the mil. If it helps your mental block, replace tank driver with SARM (who I know several with excellent jobs not linked at all to aviation or the management of it), maintenance (know several who aren’t doing anything MX related in the civ world), etc. The only way a mil person doesn’t walk away with a leg up on their civ counterpart (apple to apples comparison) is if they have self doubt and downplay their own value…probably because they were told bullshit about how there’s no opportunity out there for them because there aren’t tank drivers at Walmart.

Fixed that for you. I keed, I keed…

Ironically, his trolling is just the same mentoring any O-6 or GO would give a young aviator.

I've been seeing a lot of articles the last few days with some shocking statistics. Looks like we may have to sub-contract the defense of our nation to foreign countries. https://www.army.mil/article/260969/secretary_of_the_army_christine_wormuths_remarks_to_the_2022_ausa_opening_ceremony_october_10_2022as_prepared https://warontherocks.com/2023/03/addressing-the-u-s-military-recruiting-crisis/ https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/4087630-recruiting-the-all-volunteer-force-requires-a-whole-of-nation-approach/ The one that really caught my attention was a Wall Street Journal article (behind a paywall) that suggests that Veterans are contributing to the crisis by not recommending military service. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pentagons-recruitment-woes-army-military-navy-air-force-u-s-defense-11665664019 I've given my kids my thoughts on the issue and thankfully, they've recognized they have better options. If a young person has common sense, intelligence, and a work ethic, you can go out into the real world, name your price, and live freely. As probably most of you have experienced, when someone knows you're a pilot, they'll send a young person your way for advice. A lot. What you experienced is not going to be what they experience. Many of us had great careers, but it doesn't matter. Given the current state, an assessment of the trends, and attempting to forecast what it might be like the next 10-20 years, what do you tell them?

I mean, yeah. Jobs are different. 95% of SA is just knowing what’s going on around you.

The damage that is being done by the current and prior administrations and is going to have very long lasting effects. The "is the sacrifice worth it?" question is being answered by those currently in the military and will be taught to their children. Some will say "yes" but far too many will say "no" or even "hell no." Both my sons asked me about the military and my recommendation was other options are out there unless you really have a burning desire to do something military related.

He’s not. What you are saying tank drivers can do in the civilian world are the intangibles that pawnman listed; (self discipline, etc) Tank drivers can do well in the civilian world, but it ain’t gonna be by driving a tank. My brother in law was Marine artillery and he had a helluva time finding a civilian employer who needed idf. He did get a good job working with the VA though, mainly due to him being a smart, hard working dude.

Stealth jets carrying GBU-12?!?….how f-cking stupid…oh wait. We do that in the F-35. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Well the canopy bow serves the purpose of being fucking retarded and annoying to the pilot…as is tradition.

You’re wrong. You’d be amazed at how well mil people of all backgrounds can do in the civ world assuming they don’t shoot themselves in the foot with a deflated sense of value and skills.

What's that bubble-thing on the front do?

All I can hear is Morgan and Morgan lol Use all those sandbags we left behind to dam the river. Build a lake on the border and put all of the Afghan trash in there. Fuck them both lol.

What happens on deployment stays in deployment 🤫

If you pretend this is a Brit forum, then it’d be odd if you weren’t called a cunt!

So embarrassing...the guy literally needs to be in assisted living. Don't care what political party the president is from, this is just sad and unacceptable. Cut him loose and come up with someone else for 2024, that's the only decent move for the Dems. If they don't, it just further emphasizes all they care about is power...and yes, I'd feel the exact same way if it was a Republican in the seat.

I'm not sure there's a point in joining during the post-war periods. Obviously if you don't have other options, sure, but I started at the Academy in 03 when military appreciation was sky-high and the budget was booming. By the time I got out in '17 the silliness was outweighing the serve-your-nation pretty significantly. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the O-6+ cadre who seemed to think mentorship was telling you how awesome it was for them as CGOs and how they didn't understand why my generation doesn't want to stay in (without ever seeming to realize pre-9/11 O-club antics were long dead by the time we commissioned). Then of course the obligatory lecture on how you were a bad officer and bad person if you needed more than 3 drinks to have a good time, from the dude with a bottle of scotch in his desk. Unserious leaders in unserious times makes for a pretty frustrating experience. And if things get serious and scary, there will be limitless opportunities to join a freshly funded and focused military with a renewed appreciation for killing enemies and breaking things. So maybe do something else until then. I'm pretty content in my airline job that the military rolled me into, but someone starting off now would get to the airlines with less time and frustration if they just went to one of the pilot factory schools, and they'd have a better seniority number and higher income to pay off the loans. That wasn't an option in '03-'13. In retrospect, being told that all men are rapists and only women lack the capacity to consent to sex after having a beer was a walk in the park compared to the nonsense now. I had fun, but I don't miss it

In 2010 my son was excited to join the military and do badass stuff I was doing. By 2023 he is not joining, and instead on a pre-Med scholarship. None of his friends are joining. It's a tragic loss for our nation; he's a state champion athlete and top 2% scholar with no qualifying issues, whose dad was pushing him towards joining. But it's a shit deal to join after we wrecked a generation in IZ/AFG for nothing. Our humiliating exit from wars which defined his youth was decisive. He thinks the government will send you to die and never let you win. He's not wrong.

No, too dry and desert like, need a good tropical location. Let’s do Venezuela and set up Died 2.0 but scattered across St. Croix and surrounding islands.

It’s time for the Air Force to cut loose any ideas of retention, drop the bonus to $0, and focus on growing our way forward. You only need one-two gray beards at the top to run a flying squadron. The rest can be O-3 and below. Higher risk? Sure, a little. Push people through UPT in 6-months, FTUs in 2 months, double the output, and GROW our AF out of the pilot shortage. Retention is a useless fight at this point. Drop the bonus to $0. We will be just fine.

Reading through this thread, there seems to be a lot of wing commander hate over time. Certainly there are some good ones out there now.