BFM this

Way more interested in this half of the response.

We were allowed to go to the club and have a beer on Pendleton as of '93.

You hit the press-to-test on that? Silly human.

You mean to suggest that the media consider the intel value of information before they report? Blasphemy!

I'm a bit surprised they hadn't NEO'd a week ago. Seems to me that every resource not consumed by the base populace could be diverted to the relief effort. Very disruptive to Misawa/Yakota families, but at this point it's all relative.

Attitude. To the prior poster: I went to UPT as an MEII with ATP mins met. And I crushed it. What always bugged me though, were the IPs that can't wait to slip the above gem into a conversation. To be fair, yeah, even I had a fair amount to shake loose in terms of "regardless of what you know, the AF wants it done X way". But at the end of the day: attitude. #1.

I've experienced this profession vicariously through my wife for 13 years. Sadly, the answer to your question is on the same plane with the riddle "Can this Officer lead?" with our current OPR/promotion system. The system doesn't give a shit.

Slapped on the wrist and promoted to O5 two below the zone. Wait, what are we talking about again?

We give to Plenty of counttries that turn right around and boost their militaries. NK has made a sport of it. (although that's more of an extortion racket) If we haven't reviewed russias aid status for a ton of other reasons by now, something else is out of wack.

First draft. I'm sure they'll figure out that they can get the job done with ~180 planes.

Yeah, waiting around for your fourth re-engine really blows...

No shoes? Where do I sign?

No point trying to rationalize or get inside this guy's cranium; the whole idea behind his article was f'd up from the word go. His "there I was" story actually kind of fit in with the rest of his drivel.

Kid: "Mommy, where's Daddy? When is he comming home?" Spouse: "Daddy had to go away for a while, sweetie, he'll be back in a few months." Kid: "Hey, wait a minute, that's BS! I saw this on an after-school special. Daddy's in REHAB!!!" Spouse: "...yes. Yes, dear, that's right Daddy's in rehab, he'll be back in three months. Ok?"

So To Speak...

Quoted for truth.

Ok, I'll bite: what ever happened to the Comm/Inst requirement from the feds? Did we relent and agree that we were never going to use public airspace?

Your rifle just failed its function check. Unload and turn into the armorer immediately. If you mean that throughout an engagement you repeatedly selected safe/fire, then CONGRATULATIONS! You lived. Buy the foks that were there with you a drink every time you see them. And do not ever allow yourself to be in a situation where you could get fellow servicemembers killed again.

We all knew this was happening (some first hand, maybe?) but GAWD DAYUM!

Ok, let me see if I follow your math here: 1) Mil members are nothing special wrt to the rest of the job market 2) we fetch a handsom reward for our mediocrity compared to the civ sector And yet, there were so few ivy leaguer's trying to elbow me out of my pilot slot when I applied... There's a reason you went reserves. On some days, I would too without blinking. But my opinion is that the average 20y O5 might have put in as much time and sweat and training as his law firm counterpart at that point.

Zing!

There has to be retention data on this era somewhere.

Or it means that you weren't a non-vol. A little encouragement for more folks to "take the red pill".

10 years from now I imagine that this era will be referred to as BT2 (Bathtub 2).

Already hashed out. Ad nauseam. I don't have time to point you toward the discussion; look in the "Track Select/Assignment" thread circa 07-08 when UAV's started going to UPT grads. Though it was agreed that the concept was bullshit on a some levels, your argument boiled down to a "crybaby" approach to the problem. While added to the list of personnel-management shenanigans that I think are on the verge of biting the AF in the ass, it was well within the AF's rights to do so. And yes, those saddled with the assignment were duty-bound to execute. And by all reports, they have.