ClearedHot

Agreed

Really? Your posts are laced with passive aggressive insults to anyone who disagrees with you, which leads to the "BL: ToughShit" response and you get all butt hurt when someone replies...really? Grow a pair of stones. You want to have a debate, fine with me, but your bias serves comes out as sanctimonious elitism. There are huge fiscal issues facing this country and of course no one wants to have their ox gored. A litmus test to determine levels of military retirement based on your type of service....really that is what you have? While the military retirement system is expensive, it is not the problem. From a military budget point of view, the issue is acquisition costs, (O and M for USAF), and Tricare. Spend all the brain-bytes you want fixing those programs but the real issues are the social entitlement programs. Medicare (it will break us), Medicaid, and Social Security (now in the red while leveraging a non-existent trust fund).

BL: I don't like you. You serve no other purpose than to validate retroactive birth control.

No doubt! Stop feeding the troll folks.

Memorial Service on Monday Him Him

Not really a USAF fuck up, more a function of our system and the slowness with which the gears grind. Giving airplanes to another country is a function of Foreign Military Sales (FMS), which is unfortunately a program managed by the state department. Light-attack has the stigma of the F-20 program which in theory has some parallels...how can we expect another nation to buy something we won't. This is complicated by the fact that countries like Iraq want F-16s... The real issue is what can we afford to buy AND operate in our current and future fiscal environment. Does anyone really think we are going to get 2000 F-35's? Put the blue koolaid aside for a minute and answer some honest questions; Do we need stealth for EVERYTHING? As I recall the A-10 did just find in OIF/OEF? Not saying light-attack equals the A-10, but is there utility in a platform that has 80% the capability at 1/100th the operating cost. Starbaby is thinking out of the container like some old school dudes we celebrate on this board, maybe we should think before we mock him. Yeah I get the point about the current state of strike eagle manning, but building a corps of aviators for this type of platform is NOT an impossible task. How many guard/reserve units are in danger of losing or have already lost their F-16s/A-10s/F-15s? Something tells me we could think out of the container and find a way to stand up a cadre and build up from there. In this kind of scenario we might even increase pilot production...we might marry light-attack units to Reaper units...so many possibilities to advance the art and thought of airpower are crapped on because of myopia.

Argh...small minds...

Can you build a model of my desk, for my desk...well actually it is more of a cube complete with useless staff packages.

Where to start...perhaps with some empathy, I get it, trust me...I get it. I could tell you horror stories about getting banked, no fighter slots, nonsensical rated force management, and on and on. Bottomline brother, sometimes life is not fair. I will not throw service in your face, I won't patronize you with the "satisfaction from the mission" speech, and I won't ignore the fact that you got a bad deal. Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to deal with it and move on. Not trying to tell you tough love is the answer, just saying that if you can't change it, do the best you can and move on so you can enjoy your life. Having myself been a victim of some past rated force management issues (banking), I watched some of my friends go through some very destructive over a three year period. When I showed up to my non-flying job I was lucky enough to have a navigator as a squadron commander who listened to my sob story and gave me a few minutes to play the martyr. He understood my situation at the end of the meeting he told me I had two choices, I could wallow in it, or I could make the most of this assignment and forward. I went home that day and spent the weekend doing a little soul-searching. Ultimately, I decided to make the most of it and I while I wanted to be out flying, I actually enjoyed my banked job and it ended up opening a lot of doors for me down the road. If there is one constant in the Air Force it is "things change". We probably change too much, but situations change, policies change, and people change. Don't let your bitterness prevent you from making a difference and being ready when things change. I wish you the very best.

1st and foremost, everyone gets the math wrong. The 10 year commitment starts AFTER you complete UPT, so in reality it is a 11 year commitment. Today, most pilot will continue flying at the 11 year point, some will go to school and staff jobs, but the priority is to fill cockpits and the needs of the warfighter. Your question lacks some logic..."is it bad to get out?"..."commissioned officers are never really out?" #1. the grading of good or bad when getting out at 11 years something you have to decide. Financial matters and career opportunity are the driving factors, not what someone else thinks. #2. When you get out you are technically in the inactive reserve, but it has been a LONG time since anyone was called back from that status. Realistically, at 11 years you will be a pinned on major making good money and at the height of your aeronautical skills. Uncle Sam is not dumb, they know getting you to this point increases the odds you will stay out of a feeling of security if nothing else. In the end, it is a personal choice you should make with your family.

Well played.

Similar issue as I am out of the normal channels. If anyone has a link or other method please PM and I will provide a .mil address.

I sent Esnacko a note last night and they replied that they do not do visor covers.

Nonsensical drivel from a lying FUCK. The Marines are crying as loud as the Air Force when comes to aging fighters. Their F-18's are the oldest jets out there and they are falling apart. As a result of the age of their jets they have waged a war in the Pentagon and on the Hill to keep their version of the F-35 alive when it should have been cancelled several years ago.

A little fact checking goes a LONG way... March 10, 1956, Over the Mediterranean Sea A B-47 bomber carrying two nuclear weapon cores in their carrying cases disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea. The aircraft, on a nonstop flight from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, to an undisclosed overseas airbase, was lost with its crew. After takeoff the B-47 was scheduled for two in-flight-refuelings before reaching its final destination. The first refueling was successfully completed, but the aircraft never made contact with the second refueling tanker over the Mediterranean Sea. Despite an extensive search, no trace of the aircraft, the nuclear weapon cores, or crew, were ever found. July 28, 1957, Over the Atlantic Ocean A C-124 transport aircraft that was having mechanical problems jettisoned two nuclear weapons without their fissile cores off the east coast of the United States. The C-124 was en route from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware when it lost power to its number one and two engines. The crew determined that level flight could not be maintained with the weight of the weapons onboard and decided to jettison the cargo. Although neither weapon detonated, both are presumed to have been damaged from impact with the ocean surface and to have sunk almost instantly. Neither the weapons nor debris were ever found. The C-124 safely landed at an airfield near Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the remaining weapon and nuclear warhead aboard. February 5, 1958, Savannah River, Georgia A nuclear weapon without a fissile core was lost following a mid-air collision. A B-47 bomber carrying a nuclear weapon without its fissile core collided with a F-86 aircraft near Savannah, Georgia. Following three unsuccessful attempts to land the plane at Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia, the weapon was jettisoned to avoid the risk of a high explosive detonation at the base. The weapon was jettisoned into the water several miles from the mouth of Savannah River in Wassaw Sound off Tybee Beach, but the precise point of impact is unknown. The weapon's high explosives did not detonate on impact. A subsequent search covering three square miles used divers and sonar devices, but failed to find the weapon. The search was ended on April 16, 1958, and the weapon was considered to be irretrievably lost. Some accounts of nuclear weapon accidents list a February 12, 1958, accident involving a B-47 near Savannah, Georgia. "The best estimate" of the weapon's location, an earlier DoD narrative noted, "was determined to be 31 degrees 54' 15" North, 80 degrees 54' 45" West." The B-47 was on a simulated combat mission from Florida's Homestead Air Force Base. September 25, 1959, Off Whidbey Island, Washington A U.S. Navy P-5M aircraft carrying an unarmed nuclear depth charge without its fissile core crashed into Puget Sound near Whidbey Island, Washington. The weapon was never recovered. January 24, 1961, Goldsboro, North Carolina In what nearly became a nuclear catastrophe, a B-52 bomber on airborne alert carrying two nuclear weapons broke apart in midair. The B-52 experienced structural failure in its right wing and the aircraft's resulting breakup released the two weapons from a height of 2,000-10,000 feet. One of the bomb's parachutes deployed properly and that weapon's damage was minimal. However, the second bomb's parachute malfunctioned and the weapon broke apart upon impact, scattering its components over a wide area. According to Daniel Ellsberg, the weapon could have accidentally fired because "five of the six safety devices had failed." Nuclear physicist Ralph E. Lapp supported this assertion, saying that "only a single switch" had "prevented the bomb from detonating and spreading fire and destruction over a wide area." Despite an extensive search of the waterlogged farmland where the weapon was believed to have landed, the bomb's highly enriched uranium core was never recovered. In order to prevent any discovery of the lost portion of the weapon, the Air Force purchased an easement which required that permission be obtained before any construction or digging could begin in the area. Three crew members were killed in the crash. The accident was apparently so serious that it was reported to newly-elected President John F. Kennedy. According to Newsweek, President Kennedy was informed after the accident that "there had been more than 60 accidents involving nuclear weapons" since World War II, "including two cases in which nuclear-tipped anti-aircraft missiles were actually launched by inadvertence." As a result of the Goldsboro accident, the U.S. placed many new safety devices on its nuclear arsenal and the Soviet Union was encouraged to do the same. December 5, 1965, Aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) in the Pacific Ocean An A-4E Skyhawk strike aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon rolled off an elevator on the U.S. aircraft carrier Ticonderoga and fell into the sea. Because the bomb was lost at a depth of approximately 16,000 feet, Pentagon officials feared that intense water pressure could have caused the B-43 hydrogen bomb to explode. It is still unknown whether an explosion did occur. The pilot, aircraft, and weapon were lost. The Pentagon claimed that the bomb was lost "500 miles away from land." However, it was later revealed that the aircraft and nuclear weapon sank only miles from the Japanese island chain of Ryukyu. Several factors contributed to the Pentagon's secretiveness. The USS Ticonderoga was returning from a mission off North Vietnam; confirming that the carrier had nuclear weapons aboard would document their introduction into the Vietnam War. Furthermore, Japan's anti-nuclear law prohibited the introduction of atomic weapons into its territory, and U.S. military bases in Japan are not exempt from this law. Thus, confirming that the USS Ticonderoga carried nuclear weapons would signify U.S. violation of its military agreements with Japan. The carrier was headed to Yokosuka, Japan, and disclosure of the accident in the mid-1980s caused a strain in U.S.-Japanese relations.

Is anyone else still encountering forum errors? Within the past hour I've seen three errors related to disk allocation...something about line "360". I ask because I notice the same errors early each morning around 0530. I usually get up to work out and check the forum with a cup of coffee. For the last few weeks the forum fails to load about 50% of the time. It usually resolves by 0600. Perhaps they are doing a back up?

Who is JSOC?

Homestead AFB B-58's Fridays at the O'club Lingerie shows at the O'Club Everyone going through UPT flies the T-38 Roosevelt Rhodes NAS Patches on ABUs Humor

Translation to herbivore brevity terminology; No Slugs = Howdy

Given the current environment several folks will want to "talk to you", but I don't think they will ground you like they did in years past. As a select you've made the top 25% cut and people have likely been looking out for you. Once you decline, expect the support to evaporate. The danger as I do the rough math from the situation you described, they may PCS you to a crap job to finish your time. Obviously you will be on the list in to PCS in the fall of 2011, but you will have to decline in the spring, leaving you with almost two years of ADSC. How is your relationship with your CC?

I truly miss those days… just killing the bad guys. Can we go back?

From the man; 1. Cut services and support contractors by 10% a year, for the next three years. 2. Freeze on size of OSD/COCOM staffs for the next three years. 3. Freeze number of General Officers and Senior Executives at FY10 levels. Tasked DOD to provide plan by 1 November to eliminate 50 General Officer positions and 150 Senior Executive positions. 4. Consolidate all DOD IT services. 5. Freeze the number of DOD studies at FY10 level and develop plan to cut number of studies by 25%. 6. Review of all outside boards and commissions, as well as cut their budget by 25%. 7. Cut DOD intel functions by 10%. 8. a. NII and J-6 go away, functions transferred to AT&L. b. Cut Business Transformation Agency. c. Close JFCOM, JT Staff to assume duties.

Gates to kill JFCOM

Wow...just wow.

Asymmetric thrust is a bitch.