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Cool, they should also charge an extra $200 for anyone with a BMI > 25, to keep it equitable. And if they were truly genuine, they should probably charge $400 for BMI > 30, which probably accounts for 50% of their workforce

This will 100% happen again…

Well if you ask the White House all those Americans still there just must not have "wanted to leave." They're just having a nice summer sabbatical hiding in the closet to avoid the stonings and beheadings.

For anyone looking for solid books on our Afghanistan experience, I'd recommend the following: The Outpost by Jake Trapper The Hardest Place by Wesley Morgan Directorate S by Steve Coll All these can be very tough reads at times and since they were all written prior to us leaving the history/historiography may change with time but I found them all worth reading.

I think if 2020-2021 has taught me, or better yet, has “reassured me” one thing, is that most people in this country actually don’t want or love freedom. They’ll tell you they do, but then caveat with, “but…”. This is on the right and the left. ”Freedom for me, but not for thee”

One of the challenges we have as a nation, is our love of freedom, and assuming everyone in the world wants our version of society. Do I think there’s anything better, no. But if your country has never known “Western Democracy”, you won’t embrace it like we do. I’m my opinion, the civilian and military leadership, ascribe to that US dominate worldview, and it shapes the decisions they support. We need to divorce ourselves from endlessly “spreading democracy” across the globe. And just perform, limited and targeted ops. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

So standing your ground makes a person a "bully?!?" If so, we need more bullies! You are suggesting he ever started in the first place?!?

Looks like every airshow I've ever worked. Are you sure this wasn't taken at Oshkosh? I bet the guy in the right seat started crying when mom said he had to get up so the next group of nice people could sit in the pilot's seat.

I believe the "Chinooks" are the DOS Air Wing CH-46s. Word was they were "rendered inoperable" prior to being abandoned.

It's absolutely not too late to talk about this stuff. We had covid essentially beat back in May to the point the CDC lifted masking guidance. Now hospitals are a dumpster fire again. Things change, new variants emerge, and public health guidance/medical best practices should change accordingly. What was a good idea in May might not be a good idea now. If you think we can just let the delta variant run its course and that'll be the last we have to deal with covid, I would love some of what you're smoking.

My first Rum and Coke in 4 months. To the fallen 🥃

The administration informed us today that hundreds of US citizens were left behind. US citizens… The last US military personnel left today and the war has been declared over after 20 years. Yet, nothing today from the President. Nothing. It’s truly astounding.

What in society is not open right now? I do think there is validity to what you're saying, basically those who want the shot can get it, those who don't should just go mask free and if their gunna get COVID, get it over with.

Let’s see, there’s some C-130 gouge on Baseops.net, maybe that will help?

Learning to fly their “new” C-130

I would sure like to render more Sh!t inoperable preferably with Haqqani and his Badri 313 clowns close by. If anybody thinks these savages aren't going house to house killing people they're not seeing reality. We as a country need to make a statement. I would imagine regular Afghans are trying to avoid close proximity to the Taliban for obvious reasons. We have plenty of golfers in the military that already know how to aim for the little white flag

Steve Coll is a fantastic author! He wrote another great book called Ghost Wars; about the CIA's involvement in the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and gave rise to bin Laden's al Qaeda. I'll definitely check out Directorate S.

I like the Desantis a lot. But at the end of the day he's just a white guy. He has no hook. Nikki Haley is a minority woman, and Dan Crenshaw may be a white guy, but he's a white guy with an eye patch. And a Navy Seal war hero. He has been very clever in wearing that when he has perfectly serviceable fake eyes that he could be using instead. But a boring white guy needs a hook, and an eye patch certainly draws attention. No one gives two shits about the vice president, so I don't think Nikki Haley as the running mate will make a difference. Besides she's got the experience at this point, she should run for the big seat. All the have learned the real lesson of Donald Trump, which is never to apologize or be weak with the media. They are able to do that without the ridiculous clownishnes of DJT, and they have an intellectual argument for their positions.

Yep. We need to very narrowly define victory and then effing stick to it. Cheaper, and more effective militarily and strategically. Since when has the US military been an armed version of habitat for humanity???

Sure..."for that"... Context clues say that Gates didn't like the way AF leadership was trying to prep for high-end fights at the expense of another couple dozen Pred CAPs over Iraq.

I agree with you. I'm also hopeful (though it's way too early to tell) that maybe the experiences of the last 20 years in Afghanistan shape the next generation of military leaders (similar to Powell and Schwarzkopf after Vietnam) and that we don't get involved in nation building, "spreading democracy", etc anytime soon. Unfortunately a lot of the retired generals that occupied top positions during OEF are already spouting "it was sustainable, if only we had another year", blah blah blah. I frankly think it's face saving bullshit and they don't want their names associated in the history books with commanding a lost war. I'll be very curious to see what the current sitting generals' narrative will be (if any) moving forward.

We are trying to get there. I mean, everything is pretty much open up here in the northeast and the hospitalizations are pretty low because…get ready…. We have a ~70% vaccination rate up here. But what do I know. Nerd lol!

Then open up society and remove all restrictions no masks. “One more time for the people in the back”…..nerd

So are we...finally done in Afghanistan?

Thank you for agreeing with me.

Trick is to tell them you are final outing in a couple days despite what the checklist says. Shit starts flying off that list with ease.

Desantis is a bully (my opinion) and I despise bullies. And the next President should be under 60yo. Biden is done. 1. He is incompetent and I'm being kind with my words right now; probably well into dementia. He will get heavier and heavier to prop up. Any decision he makes is dangerous because he lacks the mental ability to make them. 2. The fucked up AFG exit will stick to him and his administration forever. There isn't a story or image available to paint a better picture. From people falling off the C-17 on takeoff, to the picture of the Marine holding a baby that was then killed in the Kabul attack, to the story of former operators going in on their own to rescue people they worked with and promised a better life, this complete and utterly inept group must go. Every time I see Bidens picture ...... When he said he will make them pay in regards to the Kabul attacks, he should include himself. 3. No leader of any country, organization, company, or political entity will, nor should they, ever trust Biden and his inept administration ever again. He is completely ineffective. Zero influence, or more accurately, zero positive and most likely just negative influence. Out

There should only be one big ass thread on BO.net Just one. The topic of this thread is “The Next President is….” and you guys are talking about Test Pilot School and ARMS products. This place is just one big argument.

Some of you guys are just looking for shit to be mad about. I flew one flight in a Japanese UH-60J, I made sure that ARMS folks put that thing in my flight records cause I thought it was cool. Should I feel terrible about it? Give me a break.

If I got Q3’d by a Luftwaffe pilot. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQ_8sGU8CN5brp0VkxW-2XxLDOy2SfqjonDw&usqp=CAU Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then Ruh Roh, is what ill potentially say to that. With Lawton open, the only justification you'd have left to pull that stunt is a right gen no cross situation (left gen no cross might not even make the cut honestly), making you a no trim no flap jet. That one requires a checklist stipulated outsized urgency and the longest qualifying runway you can find on the way down, tower or no tower, second only to total DC out or, engine compartment fire. That AND/OR the rather exceptional compounding happenstance of being in such a degraded fuel state that it would have put you at emergency fuel a mere 35nm north. That itself would be a source of scrutiny on its own if true, given SPS was not the intended destination in the first place. BL, the guy is gonna have to demonstrate a compound EP here. If LAW was open, and he landed fat on gas at tower-closed home plate, with a good cross? Oof. Good night Irene. I hope for his sake one of those three can be answered in the negative. Now, taking my 38 SEFE hat off for a second and putting a hypothetical OG hat. Would i Q3 the guy if the above 3 strike hypothetical was true? Nah. Not if the jet didn't get bent. Id retrain the guy notionally, have him do the slut shaming rounds. Id understand not sharing further details to protect those being currently scrutinized. Happy to keep this in the realm of the hypothetical. Cheers.

Well, I said it before and I'll say it again. Sounds like the reservists and any other IP worth a damn need to take a page from the old airline union playbook and start having a sick out if the leadership does not fix this. 'My neighbor just tested positive for COVID, and we had some beers Friday night, so I should quarantine for a couple weeks.' Then make every flight an NE-WX or NE-MX or anything to put the program behind timeline and draw higher leadership attention to the brokenness of the the unit. If the OG can jump the SQ/CC and demand a Q-3, the WG/CC can just as easily trump the OG and revoke it. Minus not having a barrier available, what good would it do to have the airfield manned as long as the runway is clear? And, the T-38 still needs the net barrier right? Don't recall any net barriers available at any SPS divert. Also, not once has someone on the ground been of actual use to me in the air during an EP. I know that sometimes the SOF or someone else chimes in with some critical info and can save the day, but I doubt a civilian controller is going to be helpful. Fire and crash rescue would be desirable if the EP is serious, but unless I think I might go off the end or something, I'm not going to overfly a landable piece of concrete for that.

That's fucked up. Kuddos to the Sq/CC though for standing by his guys and not getting forced into giving Q3s he didn't believe were warranted.

Oh boy...

Similar boat as well, except for my first child. On top of that, it was a difficult/complex childbirth resulting in a weeklong hospital stay, during which my boss considered my duty location to be the hospital while mom and our newborn were there. Access to the military chaplain helped us get through/talk through some significant emotional events during that hospital stay. It was great having the 3 weeks of (paid) paternity leave to help care for my kid and take a lot of the burden off of my wife so she could have an easier recovery and not feel overwhelmed.

Bit of an update after a couple busy months. Just got my Training RIP for UPT right as I was finishing up IFT! AFOQT/TBAS: December 2018 UPT Board: May 2019 (selected as alternate) Alternate to primary: got the call for the big leagues February 2020. MEPS completed and signed off: May 2020 Enlisted and gained by the unit: June - July 2020 NGB approval for FC1 and OTS: 01 Dec 2020 FC1: 09 Feb 2021 OTS: 06 Apr 2021 - 28 May 2021 (Class 21-04) IFT: 7 July 2021 - 13 Aug 2021 (Class 21-16) UPT: UPT 2.5 at Vance AFB T-6 Phase: 1 Nov 2021 - 17 Jun 2022 T-38 Phase: 20 Jun 2022 - 05 Jan 2023 IFF: ??? FTU: ??? Feel free to hit me up with any questions about the training pipeline up to UPT! Happy to help where I can.