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Spur38

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Posts posted by Spur38

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Check this out!

    On MSNBC "Morning Joe" news crawler! "President Obama announces Medal of Honor recipients, including Steven Spielberg and Willy Mays"

    Obvious typo but with this administration I wouldn't be surprised if it was true!

    The additional recipient name that was cut off the pic is Willie Mays!!

    Offensive to all that serve!

    image1.jpeg

    Fair warning on political posts

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    FINALLY, A DEFINITION OF THE TERM "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!

    For the last six odd years, almost all of the things I wanted to write or say, have been stymied by a recently coined term referred to as "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS"! Although I consider myself rather fluent in the English language, that term was not in my vocabulary. My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to do a little research and after two weeks of chasing fruitless leads, I found what I'd been looking for at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence Missouri. A unnamed source there sent me copies of four telegrams that were between Harry Truman and Douglas MacArthur on the day before the actual signing of the Surrender Agreement. The contents of those four telegrams below are exactly as received, not a word has been added or deleted!

    (1) Tokyo,Japan

    0800-September 1,1945

    To: President Harry S Truman

    From: General D A MacArthur

    Tomorrow we meet with those yellow bellied bastards and sign the Surrender Documents, any last minute instructions!

    (2) Washington, D C

    1300-September 1, 1945

    To: D A MacArthur

    From: H S Truman

    Congratulations, job well done, but you must tone down your obvious dislike of the Japanese when discussing the terms of the surrender with the press, because some of your remarks are fundamentally not politically correct!

    (3) Tokyo, Japan

    1630-September 1, 1945

    To: H S Truman

    From: D A MacArthur and C H Nimitz

    Wilco Sir, but both Chester and I are somewhat confused, exactly what does the term politically correct mean?

    (4) Washington, D C

    2120-September 1, 1945

    To: D A MacArthur/C H Nimitz

    From: H S Truman

    Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end!

    A week in Germany

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Neuschwanstein for a tour, any small town, lots of great food and beer!

    If your going to ski AFRC in Berchasgarten plus near the Eagles Den, Hitlers hNg out in the summer.

    All good, just stay in Byren don't go north!

    Aviator's Joke of the Day

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Frank Feldman one hell of a guy

    A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He

    gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, 'Perfect timing. You're just

    like Frank.

    Passenger: 'Who?'

    Cabbie: 'Frank Feldman. He's a guy who did everything right all the

    time Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like

    that to Frank Feldman every single time.'

    Passenger: 'There are always a few clouds over everybody.'

    Cabbie: 'Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have

    won the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros.. He sang

    like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should

    have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy.'

    Passenger: Sounds like he was something really special.

    Cabbie: 'There's more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered

    everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and

    which fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I

    change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman,

    could do everything right.

    Passenger: 'Wow, some guy then.'

    Cabbie: 'He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid

    traffic jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But

    Frank, he never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a

    woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back even if

    she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes

    highly polished too - He was the perfect man! He never made a mistake.

    No one could ever measure up to Frank Feldman.'

    Passenger: 'An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?'

    Cabbie: "Well, I never actually met Frank. He died and I married his

    fuckin' wife."

    • Upvote 6

    Badass of the Week

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Retired Marine Maj. “Fox” Sinke says he has received threatening phone calls from Arabic speakers since he stood guard at Canada’s National War Memorial last week.

    But as he told police: “If they’re looking for a fight, they came to the right guy.”

    Sinke said he received at least two phone calls on Tuesday from people who screamed at him in Arabic and then hung up.

    “The only words I recognized were ‘kill you,’ because I’ve heard them before,” he said.

    When Sinke told police about the phone calls, he added, “I promise you this: If they come here, they’ll die here.”

    Sinke is a decorated veteran who did tours in Vietnam and received five Purple Hearts. When Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian service member, was shot and killed last month while guarding Canada’s war memorial, Sinke felt obligated to honor the fallen hero.

    “The murder of the young Cpl. Cirillo was so despicable and craven that I just couldn’t find it within myself to do nothing,” said Sinke, a dual Canadian-American citizen.

    So Sinke, who lives in Canada, donned his Marine uniform and sword and went to the memorial to stand guard on Friday. He told local media that he came to pay tribute to fallen comrade in arms and he wanted to show that Canadians will not be intimidated.

    He also had a message for would-be terrorists: “I said, ‘Hey, you’re looking for a target, here’s a new one for you; give it your best shot; we’ll see how it works out for you.’ ”

    Sinke arrived at the memorial at 6:30 a.m. and guarded the memorial alone until 9 a.m., when the Canadian honor guard and eight Canadian police officers armed with fully automatic weapons showed up, he said.

    After the video story aired, questions were raised about whether Sinke really served in the Marine Corps. Those who run the Guardian of Valor website, which vets claims about people’s military service,posted a news release with Sinke’s service records.

    “...We did some digging and reached out to our contacts to find out more about Major Sinke, and we can tell you that not only did this man serve as a Marine, he was a highly decorated Marine!” the release states. “He is taking a stand for what he believes is right, and yes he has five Purple Hearts.”

    The Canadian troops were glad to see the Marine at the war memorial and allowed him to guard the northern side of the monument for the day, but the senior police officer was initially perturbed, telling Sinke he should not have been there by himself.

    “He says, ‘God man, you got more balls than brains don’t you?’ ” Sinke said. “So I said, ‘Well actually, sir, I was kind of hoping that one of those scum-of-the-earth radicals would show up and take me on because, to tell you the truth, I have always dreamed of being able to confront an evil-doer and run him through with this damn sword.’ So he kind of liked that, you know.”

    • Upvote 3

    USAA

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    It's only money...I've been with USAA since 1969 for everything and sticking with them...great customer service, quick responses and great advice is worth a few dollars more...no lizard gimmicks....

    Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

    D-Day 6 June 1944 Radio Actual Radio Broadcasts

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by Spur38

    As you may know the bulk of D-Day activity started 70 years ago today, 6 June 1944.

    However, the first 'element' of the invasion sailed not on 6 June but actually on 4 June. The element was composed of 4 miniature submarines that sailed at dark from England. Their mission was to approach the Normandy beaches and sit offshore, occasionally raising their periscopes to recon the proposed landing area. With over 7,000 ships, boats and other surface craft ready to embark there was the obvious concern to keep the advantage of surprise.

    The next duty of the mini subs was to surface at a prearranged time and shine a west pointing beacon so those 7,000 vessels would have something to guide them to the proper beaches. When the subs did surface in the early hours of June 5th, they received a signal from the Allied Supreme Command that instructed them to submerge once more and spend the next 24 hours at the bottom of the channel and to wait until the weather cleared. They sat all day from June 5th to June 6th and at 2:00 am they again surfaced and reported normal German activity which indicated that the element of surprise was still in effect. The invasion began!

    https://archive.org/details/Complete_Broadcast_Day_D-Day a fantastic site that has recordings of the actual CBS news reports and can be downloaded to hear the D-Day Invasion as reported as it unfolded!

    Cheers!

    • Upvote 4

    Army vs Air Force flying

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    And I am a RLO with 4 advanced (no I am not counting flight school) airframes and PC in three (just started flying the 4th). But I am not the norm and neither does your career appear to be solely on the fact that you made W5. Respectfully I think you missed my point. I was not advocating not going warrant in the Army, rather not having a similar system like it for the other branches. As for your statement about being in charge just to be clear. You were in charge of about 3 aircraft and 20 personnel? That is the equivalent to a platoon leader. I think that is a bit of over kill. Also I think you missed the point that to now make W4 or W5 you need close to the same requirements as a RLO needs to make O5 which negates most of the arguments you read in this forum about going warrant. My point restated, the reason most would want to go warrant officer for are changing. The W system closely mimics the O system now. I do not have an issue with W's (many are close personal friends and relatives). I do not think it is a good system as it exists today nor am going to comment on what it was in your day.

    I did miss your point OTQ! I reacted to your first sentence and off I went! I agree that a WO system for the other services is not a good idea. The Army, of course, went the cheap route to be sure....by the way, some of my "best friends" are also RLOs! Sounds almost racial! Of course Chuck is now SECDEF as a former enlisted guy, so leadership really depends on the ability. Therefore even a "Platoon Leader" could do wonderful leadership things if he chose not to fly anymore.....good discussion! Thanks

    Army vs Air Force flying

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Although there are some merits to the warrant system, I would not recommend it. Of the ones to make W5 this year half had masters degrees. When you are never in charge or are never going to be in charge, you conduct yourself differently. . And in the end Chida is right, the Army is just using them for cheap labor. Conversely as pointed out above, the O's (until Dick Cody and 13 years of wars) were not getting flight time that would lend to any kind of proficiency in aviation.

    Interesting statements OverTQ and as a retired CW5, Army Aviator I thought I'd put my .10 in....

    I thoroughly enjoyed my Army Aviation career as a WO.

    When I started out, in my second year of college and as a NROTC "Wanna fly jets" guy, a drafted (yes, there once was a draft) PhD candate; Vietnam Army truck driver E-4 came home and informed me that the "Army was letting high school graduates fly helicopters!"

    At 19 it seemed intriguing so I went to see an Army recruiter. I was had a "2S" college deferment and my draft number was in the high 200's...no chance of being drafted.

    The recruter said "Take the WOFT test, no obligation" I did and when he called back it was "You did great on the test! I can send you to Army Flight Training next week, if you sign up".

    I did, and then told my very dissappointed parents about what I did a week before my departure to basic training....they were pissed, but got over it...something about the certainty of going to Vietnam..

    My plan was to stay for the, at the time 2 year obligation, get out and to finish college.

    It didn't work that way. After Vietnam, each assignment as an attack helicopter pilot (AH-1 Cobra) became more interesting and the development of the greatest friendships....

    On the ground, I wasn't "in-charge". In the air, rank had no consequence, as an aircraft commander, I called all the shots...

    I was offered a direct commission to 1LT as a WO1 and again as a CW2 while fighting the "Hun" during the "Cold War" I turned both down because I realized that if I did, my skill sets of an aviator would diminish because of the additional command responsibilities. Over the years, I would see bright eyed RLO's, fresh out of flight school who were very anxious to be aviators have their flight careers be overshadowed by the competitive rank pyramid....worked well for some but for most not....

    I continued as a WO which much later, made me realize that I had made the right decision...because I became a proficient aviator. WO have always been in a strange dichotomy between the Officer and Enlisted.

    While the others were extremley rank conscious we would never salute senior WOs and excoriated any young W1 that did....we were the tactical, flying professionals and made thing happen and got the mission completed but could/would freely express ourselves and call bull-shit when it was necessary. We respected rank but intuitively disrespected poor airmanship, leadership, regardless of rank. Our best leaders were those who listened to our technical advice and followed our recommendations as professional aviators.

    Every service has dick-heads for leaders and we saw quite a few but those who stood out and were willing to take our advice were the ones who succeeded.....

    "Cheap Labor?" never really considered that, but it was true, but one shouldn't do anything just for the money. The aviation incentive pay "gate" system was instituted and flight pay went up considerably...but I was flying and that took precedence.

    Education? I was allowed to finish two degrees while on active duty, so those blocks were checked.

    Never be in charge? Wrong answer....finally, as a CW5, and assigned as a detachment commander for a C-12 unit I had full UCMJ authority both in CONUS and OCONUS and the best part of the command, (thanks to Dick Cody) was that it was all WO's aviators and an E-7 Ops specialist; E-5 mission scheduler. A cohesiive team that consistently had an OR rate above 92% (Easy for airplanes) and very rarely missed a take-off time....What a concept! All professional aviation WOs.....So end of my blathering but if you're in it for the rank and money be an RLO. If your in it to fly, be professional and have a great military Army aviation career, I recommend being a WO!

    • Upvote 1

    Afghan Plane Crash Kills 2 ISAF Troops, Contractor

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Spur38

    To avoid confusion this latest incident should go to another thread.

    Per news reports and the Aviation Safety Network: www.aviation-safety.net "Attaulla Khogiana, a spokesman for the govenor of Wardak Province, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that local residents reported seeing four people parachuting from a four-engine propeller aircraft before if went down in Dai Mirdad, a mountanious region that is blanketed by heavy snow"

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