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There’s also an assumption here that he’s spent some huge amount of time on this topic. I doubt he’s spent much time at all on it, and therefore all these statements of “he has bigger things to spend time on” are just pissing into the wind. I don’t think it’s realistic to think he personally has spent shitloads of time at a desk solely devising plans and then executing them himself. That’s not how it works.

Oct 7 eliminated the possibility of the two state solution for the next 35 years. The odd part is that was about how long the Israelis kept offering it to the refusal of Arafat and the rest of the Palestinian leadership. At this point, you’ve demonstrated for greater than a half century your inability to govern yourselves, so now the offer is assimilate or die in your open air prison. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So there I was: One of my last TDYs was to a small range for gun training. The last night of the trip, we cleared the range and checked in with the range controller. As a helo, we were typically below radar so the controller relied heavily on our position reports for SA. We were all fatigued from flying multiple sorties that day and night. During the process of setting up the first gun pattern, one of my gunners noticed the targets were moving (they weren't supposed to be). Turns out they were cattle. Due to my shitty navigation, I turned down the wrong split in the river and we had accidentally flown to some dude's ranch. We almost slaughtered a few cattle behind some poor unknowingly rancher's home. Not a moose but there would have been plenty of beef. Helicopters baby!

Tit for tat? 😂🤣 Bro you have no idea what you're talking about. Just another Westerner with no concept of how other cultures think. Ironically, this is the same misinterpretation of Islamic fundamentalism that brought us the forever-wars you seem to be (incorrectly) comparing this to. If only the Palestinians weren't under a blockade, there'd be peace! Thanks for the chuckle.

The Generals and Admirals are the cheapest C-Suite operatives of any company in America. Bar none. Secretary Hegseth has no idea the mistake he’s making. This policy is going to have senior talent impacts for decades.

"Naked gunner hugs????". Not sure if that deserves a "WTF is wrong with you people" or a Seinfeld "Not that there is anything wrong with that." The only naked Hawg driver I recall was one of the guys on an Atlantic crossing going to the tanker boom stripped down to shock the chick boomer who was not impressed and unphased by stunt.

Let’s flip the script, how many man hours were spent building radical ideology such as CRT into curriculums at all levels of the military; and said books into the libraries to begin with? CRT and other communist ideology should have never had a place in the military to begin with. Like I said before, most actions occuring now might seem radical but that will be the case when you aggressively course correct back to normalcy.

Here's what we do:. We set up prisons with safe areas on each corner of the UTTR or Nellis ranges and wall the entire range in. Get old military vehicles, clunkers, whatever and we handcuff these twisted humans into a vehicle with the assignment of driving to the opposite safe area during the day/night. If the dirtbag makes it, he lives to drive another day. If not, well, think of the great training provided to his/her former fellow warriors.

I remember partying with Tripp when he was the CO out in Osan and we did a 3 or 4 week det from Iwakuni. He was up playing some of their songs on stage and one of our guys went to the bathroom, wrapped himself in toilet paper, then lit himself on fire. He ran out, slid across the bar and we all threw pitchers of beer on him to put it out. We called it a "flaming carrier qual." Tripp stopped playing, said "Never has another squadron come into our O'Club and taken it over. This is your place tonight guys!" Hell of a night.

Perhaps you're right. The follow-on Boeing gigs have really sharpened up that company...getting that talent even earlier ought to really pay off for the civilian sector. Same folks who've "led" for Iraq, Afghanistan, Houti bombings I, managing the procurement of a new AF1, T-7, M10 "Booker" not a tank tank, LCS class ships, Boeing space capsule, no food at US Army posts, black mold in barracks, so much time on DEI, renaming installations, etc, etc, etc. Finest kind, I believe is the phrase.

Definitely agree! But you know as well as I we aren't going to do that.

Shed hunting from a helo - I’m in! As long as @Biff_T is flying and approves a 30 rack in the back.

Well, you see, uh, the Israelis had a blockade, so, uh, all that money *had* to be spent on building terrorist tunnel networks that civilians weren't allowed to use for shelter, and, uh, lavish penthouses in Qatar. Because it's like if you and your neighbor had dogs, and... The extent to which people will go to draw equivalence between any two groups of people is astounding. But seeing this new wave of neoconservatism embrace moral relativism is fascinating... I understand it from the socialists, everything is about power hierarchies and their entire philosophy requires people to have no agency or moral worth. But if the Palestinians and the Israelis are on some sort of equal moral footing, or even more hilariously, if the Israelis are somehow *more* responsible for the bloodshed than the monsters holding the machete and gleefully raping a woman before she dies, why concern ourselves with right and wrong at all, ever? Sure, if you took a Palestinian baby and raised it in an Israeli household, that baby would almost certainly grow up with no hatred of the Jews and a western Outlook on freedom, morality, individual agency. Now, aside from the fact that that premise *supports* the strategy of occupation and forced relocation, what does it matter? People don't exist as individuals, they exist as part of social communities. And social communities have unique characteristics that make some better than others. For example, since the enlightenment the West has had a historically unique appreciation for individual sovereignty and rule of law. That makes our culture *better* than say, a group of cannibals living on the Amazon. Or for example, a society motivated to rape and slaughter their neighbors based solely off of religious history and guidance from their political and spiritual leaders. It's perfectly reasonable to suggest the US shouldn't be involved in the Palestinian conflict. But to suggest equivalence is bananas. It's like saying we are no better than the Taliban. Somehow this entire twisted philosophy requires accepting that any mistake by the West justifies any response by our adversaries.

Whoops!! 3 Montana National Guardsmen Charged in Elk Antler Trespassing Case Via Helicopter "McMullen, the landowner, confirmed a conversation with a high-level National Guard official had taken place." "A lieutenant colonel said..." 🤣🤣🤣

The Palestinians voted for Hamas in 2006 - they can blame themselves for their shit sandwich.

It wouldn’t need SecDef energy if his predecessors hadn’t wasted time on it.

What happened to the billions of dollars poured into Gaza the last few decades? That place should be thriving..... oh wait

Of the three, prestige is the motivation I want my generals seeking the least. Pay them.

737 MAX 8 concept

BQZip's mom always did have a way with words

If it doesn't require SECDEF energy, then it doesn't require my energy / attention. Fair enough? Get rid of all the DEI nonsense. I never want to here another peep about it. I'd rather have a competent CSSs and finance shops than read another email from the CSAF or SECDEF about some eye-roll BS.

Long and distinguished lineage https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/naked-gunner-rescue-rabaul-1944/

What the heck is a naked gunner hug? Never mind, now I’m trying to gouge out my own minds eye.

Remember the mandatory DoD stand down day for DEI several years ago? How many millions/man hours/trng opportunities wasted sitting around in groups talking about this garbage...

The money that flows through that line of business is disgusting. Why do the sales people need to visit doctors and drop off all sorts of swag to incentivize them to prescribe said drugs. How about doctors honor the Hippocratic oath and simply do what is best for their patients.

*yawn* That sophist nonsense again? cool I'll play. Sorry about the GO thread derail: This isn't about generals, this is a larger austerity project than the author intimates. Yeah I see you (the royal you). I've heard that pitch at least 3 times before in my career as an AFRC baby. It's the same ol song and dance that if your position is primarily stateside, you shouldn't wear a uniform. And I got the same retort I've always had for these doublespeaking austerity hawks: FUPM. That expeditionary force myopia is not suprising, given this admin is the party of FAFO, but you're assaulting/gutting your Reserve component capacity with that kind of deployment-supremacist view. More to the regAF point, wildly overestimating the degree of active duty retention you think you have by attempting to extend that COA into AD end strength. Typical FAFO hubris from the "I won't be here when the grenade goes off" dum dum Willie types. To say nothing of AD largesee for me but not for thee run amok. Matters not. You think you can operationally staff DOD congressional pork barrel economy garden spots with 60 cents on the dollar 'local' blue suiters? Go right ahead, let me run to the microwave real quick and get the corn bag. Fact is nobody with a scintilla of existing corporate continuity/tactical expertise is going to do this job beyond the journeyman level (get the civilian transferable training and immediately bounce, brain drain jobs program) in present circumstances as an ART equivalent or worse, no military code GS, when they have to punch out of that 1960s decaying empire Boeing-betrayed POS. No buck no buck rogers homey. And there's a hell of a lot more to that buck than W2 wages. Serious people recognize than nuance, unserious austerity clowns don't. This not conjecture, they cannot staff ART billets to save their lives even if you threw in a free Oprah car with it. They gutted FERS with that multiplier nonsense (1.0 vs 2.5 or even 1.7 for LEO, good grief, and a 4.4 fee since '14 as of last reading), pushed the sunsetting of ART Tricare ineligibilily to FY30 (a fucking theft, when no such imposition is made of retirees who go straight GS employees). And you want to backstop your baseline regAF capacity with that kind of retail level turnover job offers? lulz. It's also the same reason you're not going to retain talent by trying to send career tactical experts (aka technicians, in the occupational meaning of the word) to warrant payscales. That's not a programmatic quip either, they're not doing that to end up paying operators *O(SP)-4/5 money to do the job. (*that's my ficitious O-4/5 equivalent to the ARMY exintct specialist SP tables, non-commanding track, latter which my late English-illiterate grandfather retired from the army in 1966). The point of their COA is the paycut. FAFO. The level of myopia in that austerity pitch is wild. It's all good though, we already got IPT early exit polls in AETC already brewing a real sweet track record on the FAFO front. Add some Boeing malfeasance on the T-7 side and you got yourself a real boondoggle. I could tell y'all what Boeing plans to do to meet IOC contract legalities this summer, but I'd straight up doxx myself at this point and betray the confidence of my sources, so I'm gonna digress. DOD management (leaders they are not) is starting to show their arsecrack once again when they bend over to pick up pennies while walking over dollars. Now back to GO officer drawdown kabuki theater potato.

Calling someone a general is really cheap if it keeps them in the service instead of bailing for a legacy CJO, for the Air Force's perspective. We certainly aren't paying GOs commensurate with the workload and job market competition. Which is fine when we are fighting an existential war with defined end goals, not so much if you want quality people to serve long-term during peacetime. It's easy to say people should sacrifice personal gain, family quality of life, and job satisfaction in exchange for the pride in serving their country, but realistically that has never been the case in the US during peacetime.

AMF's - We will be just fine without them. There are approximately 900 active-duty GFOs. The current number is low for the post-Cold War era and substantially lower than the number of GFOs in the 1960s-1980s, when the Armed Forces were much larger in size than they are today. However, while always very small in comparison to the total force, the GFO corps has increased as a percentage of the total force over the past five decades. GFOs made up about one-twentieth of one percent (0.048%) of the total force in 1965, while they made up about one-sixteenth of one percent (0.063%) of the total force in 2023, indicating that the share of the total force made up of GFOs is now increased by 31%. This historical trend is more pronounced with respect to four-star officers (which grew from 0.0014% of the total force to 0.0029%, a 107% increase) and three-star officers (which grew from 0.0045% of the total force to 0.0103%, a 129% increase). One- and two-star officers increased less rapidly (from 0.0425% of the total force to 0.0500%, a 17.6% increase). Sorry Chang - better start looking for a board to hire you to do nothing but bloviate on the outside. RSU's are a real thing, check them out.

Yeah they have it tough with drivers, cooks at their houses, personalized GO only healthcare and an accelerated retirement payscale. 99% of them will make up and pay deficit within 30 days of walking out the door.

A bit more color from someone who spent a LOT of time around that environment...including as an exec for the Deputy Chief of Staff. Not suggesting it is a personal chauffeur but home to work was the norm when I was there and especially in places like DC it is a HUGE deal, especially with the parking and special security lanes. Also, moving around DC while the rest of us use the METRO. Ironically, I once Slugged with a dude and when we got to the Pentagon drop off area he asked if I worked in the building...I replied yes and showed him my badge. He said stay with me I have decent parking. We went through security, zipped past south parking and down pat the memorial and corridor five where all the 3-4 starts had their cars parked. I got real nervous when we turned the corner and he drove up the ramp and parked in the second spot by the Mall Entrance...unbeknownst to me I just rode to work with the DEPSECDEF who insisted on driving himself. I was trying to replay the conversation in my head because he was asking me questions all the way down 395. The "assist" with entertaining is the most abused part of the program. "International agreements with world leaders and senior partners" is absolutely comical. At least half the time they are hosting old friends who happen to work in industry. I never once saw a"world leader" but I saw a lot of old bros coming over for dinner and drinks. You forgot to add the USAF is sending these assistants to culinary schools...usually private ones. When I was an exec the boss' were swapping out and the new guy decided the interview of his new in-home assistant was a test case hosting a party for other senior leaders. That prep included mowing the Senior GO's lawn...by the way, the interviewee was pregnant. That was a defining moment when I knew I didn't want to be a GO. You forgot the execs and enlisted assistants that DO personal stuff like dry cleaning, uniform setup, going to get breakfast and lunch...I used to fill out birthday cards (I know because I got yelled at for one misspelled word in a stack of 53 cards). Same docs or not as you note they have a special place and process that they get to use even when RETIRED. They don't wait for appointments and why do they need more privacy than HIPAA provides the rest of us. My first boss had some medical issues, I could call the GO office at Walter Reed or the In-Pentagon Flight Doc and get him in within the hour. C-21s and other aircraft for the 1-3 stars...white caps for the 4 stars. Being a GO is hard work with long hours but I don't feel sorry for them one bit.