Smokin

Agreed. If you are looking at getting into a flying unit, it might be tough with the relatively bad timing of post-covid, especially if you are picky. Some units are obviously easier to get into than others, but there is also generally a reason for that. Usually either location or squadron reputation/culture or a combination of the two. There are multiple retirement options in the guard. If you just want a paycheck of the month at some point, you can do a min run non-flying guard job and still retire at 20 years total. But you won't get a paycheck until you hit civilian retirement age and it'll be roughly 75% of what your retirement check would be for active duty. Or you can try to do the airline thing for a year and then go on mil leave and finish out your 20 year active duty retirement, but in the guard. Timeline and paycheck is about the same as if you had stayed, minus the year with the airlines. That being said, many guys are trying to do that now, so that is probably the most difficult path to find. Overall, your guard opportunities open up drastically the less picky you are about your job and your status (DSG vs AGR). NGB (the Pentagon for the guard) is almost always short staffed and looking for people. Sounds miserable to me, but if you live near the beltway or can find one that is telecommute-able, that would be a feasible option. Get your foot in the door somewhere and once you do I think you'll be surprised at the variety of random guard jobs there are for someone willing to move or just not fly.

^^^ Option 3 - go to the airlines, then find a guard job to finish out the last couple years. Get the check of the month and be an airline pilot. Drop a trip a month since you have the check of the month and enjoy getting paid six figures (plus retirement) to "work" 10 days a month.

Absolutely put apps in anywhere you would want to work. I know guys that only applied at their dream airline and started within a month or two of the availability date. I also know guys that only applied to their dream airline only to get the "try again in a year". It takes time to build the apps, get references, for the airline to score the app, and then get the invite. Only applying at a single place is a great way to not get hired for a year after your availability date.

Initiating an IG investigation on his own is also a predictable move. If it's his IG, it gives him the ability to relatively control it while defending his organization from outside looks. An ongoing investigation allows him to tell any interested member of Congress that "it is under investigation" knowing full well that he'll edit the results before they're published or slow roll the thing until everyone forgets about it.

"It's factually incorrect"... "It's all rumor"..."It lacked context" ... "Singling out a fellow service member for public abuse is bullying and harassment" Deny, deny, deny, counter accuse. Classic and predictable response. I'm sure much of it is rumor. However, if even 10% of that letter is true, the entire chain of command needs to be fired. I'm not sure which is worse, the likelihood that it happened or the fact that I'm not even remotely surprised. Kinda funny how differently whistleblowers are treated depending on if their report upsets the social agenda. Had it been the other way around, that the SOF community was preventing a qualified female, some of those generals would have already been fired. Finally, if the dude that wrote that letter somehow reads this board: 1. Good on ya for publishing this. 2. Change your writing style if you ever need to submit anything in writing to the AF or even emails. I guarantee they're hunting you.

I would think that a ten year old could look at the available data with airline hiring and the lower production than desired and realize that a maximum bonus would be the only sensible decision. But, if the AF made sensible decisions all the time, then the bonus wouldn't be as vital to keeping people in anyway...

I'm glad it hasn't hit heavies as bad, but I have seen it in fighters. While most of the young guys seem to be capable mentally and eager to learn, they just haven't had the reps to get the depth of training that guys of my generation had. Many young pilots are showing up the squadron with literally half the flight hours that I had at the same career point. The training has simply shifted to the CAF, which just hasn't had the time with the ops tempo that most of us approaching retirement have known for our entire career. So you end up with CAF IPs (who generally have less experience and specifically less experience teaching the most basic blocking and tackling) filling in where the B-course has left off. Not a knock on either the students or the IPs, they are just being set up to struggle through it and hopefully not fail. If you have safety access, go look up the Class A from Shaw a year or two ago and tell me that those guys were not set up and it cost the student his life.

It is pretty senior for United, but pretty senior is relative these days. If you got hired today, I would think you could hold IAH as reserve 737 within a year. I would also imagine considerable movement in IAH in 10 years as all the CAL guys start hitting 65. For example, 50% of the current IAH 737 CAs hit 65 within 8 years. Also, while it is advisable to live in domicile if possible, not a bad idea to move to the domicile you want to live in even if you can't hold it yet. Lots of flights between the hubs, so commuting shouldn't be too difficult. Most of the flights I've flown to/from IAH had the jumpseat open.

I have previously been of the mindset of ammunition simplicity for logistics purposes. I had a single caliber of handgun, a total of 4 calibers of rifle, an only 12 gauge for the scattergun. The recent ammo shortage has actually pushed me in the opposite direction, so I've doubled my calibers. That way when the store is out of 30-06, I buy 6.5 Creed. When they're out of both, they usually have some for my AK or 300 blk. So, short story long, might be worth picking up the rifle if you're even considering it as maybe there will be the 22-250 when there is no 223.

Just because our country has survived before doesn't mean that we are destined to survive this time. Just take a look at how many other developed countries have changed governments multiple times since 1789. I'm not saying that we are going to lose our country in the next couple years, but if we are not careful, we just might.

I hope that article is right. What worries me is that our education system is so dysfunctional that the majority of Gen Z people are becoming habituated to brainless compliance rather than seeing the absurdity for what it is. The brainless compliance has somehow melded with what should be an opposite concept of individual relativism to an insane degree (they as an individual pronoun is now ok?) is a remarkably strange combination that could very well end our country as we know it.

Just type up something. The airlines are not looking for a reason to remove you from consideration once you show up for an interview; they're looking for an excuse to hire you. There was a guy that no kidding forgot his entire flight records folder at home and the airline bent over backwards to try to work with him. Asked if his wife was home to scan and email it, SARMs could fax it, or anything to give them a copy. I was floored. I fully expected them to tell him to pay closer attention to details and that they might call him back in six months. Obviously don't rely on this, but also don't stress if you have exhausted all possible fixes and just can't get the exact numbers to cover a small gap. Your flight records summary should have your total, so combined with the line by line of the before and after, I'm sure you'll be fine. Your interview and skills test are where they're looking to weed anyone out, not the fact that the AF switched how they keep records a couple years ago. The airlines all know the AF flight records system as well as the average SARM anyway, so I'm sure you won't be the first one that shows up with this issue.

So basically, you think you know what is best for my kids and anything that doesn't agree with your opinion is "poor risk decisions". No wonder this country is on the path it is on.

But that's a choice I get to make on the risk/reward. I know the risks of car crashes as they are well established and generally not altered to fit some political objective. My kids wear a seat belt or sit in a car seat because the risk of a car crash, while minimal, has a realistic chance of death. The cost/risk of wearing a seat belt is hearing them complain about it. The cost/risk of my kids getting the vaccine are not established. Could be nothing, could be a lethal blood clot; no one can really say for sure because they won't release the "science". The risks of serious consequences due to COVID for my healthy kids are basically zero, so why take any risk at all to avoid what is essentially no risk? If we were facing an Ebola outbreak with a 90% mortality, my kids would get the shot. Instead, we're facing a virus that I personally know multiple people that were sick and never realized it (based on positive anti-body tests).

Wow. I'm hesitant to believe the 'posed for a picture, thus good friends' argument, just consider how many people a politician is photographed with on a daily basis. But at his daughter's wedding is clearly an entirely different level.

The type 14 was actually a decent pistol. The one shown was made mid-way through the war or later (you can tell by the enlarged trigger guard). Clearly not in the same ballpark as the 1911, but much better than the POS they issued towards the end of the war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_94_Nambu_pistol

https://babylonbee.com/news/communist-rioters-scream-and-run-away-in-terror-as-rittenhouse-emerges-from-courthouse

Unfortunately, if he is found not guilty, the far left is going to argue the same thing. MSNBC and Biden said he was racist murder, so he must be found guilty or the city will burn.

That district 20 looks shockingly like the original Gerrymander district, just rotated and flipped.

Breaking news, congress doesn't care. They might ask 'did the 29% of fighter pilots that took the bonus complete their weekly CBT on transgender anti-racism training?'

The rest may be true, but I don't buy the inability to route due to military airspace. Jax takes airspace away from the military all the time.

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.

Is the German OG the reservists actual legal commander? If there were to be non-judicial punishment (which this is borderline), would a German have actual legal authority for that in the United States for a USAF IP? I've landed a fighter with an EP at an uncontrolled airfield. Everything turned out fine. Bit of a pain to get the fighter out of there because it required ACC/CC approval, but never heard anyone second guess me even though my leadership at the time was less than optimal. If it were me that this happened to, I'd be in the IG office, talking to the ADC, a civilian lawyer that knows military law, and my senator. The Q3 might stick, but it'll be so much work and pain that they would wish they never thought of it. Edit to add: in case it wasn't obvious, this Q3 is complete BS if this is indeed the true story. Also, if it is a true story, the reservists there should all be sick for the next month or two. Get it highlighted all the way up to AETC/CC when the whole base gets a month behind timeline to show that he has an exceptionally toxic commander that needs to be dealt with.

Taliban seem to be making a very smart political move. By hold the ring around the airport, they allow many of what would be the most problematic Afghans to potentially leave, and if the US doesn't evacuate them, they're consolidated for later... Meanwhile, the Taliban gains considerable good will on the world stage and suddenly seems like reasonable rulers. And, they allow us to keep looking like idiots. It's a win, win, win for them with virtually no risk. If they attack, everything changes. Smart move would be to hold the ring and allow us to get out everyone we are able/want to evacuate.

The overnight and relatively surprise shutting down of Bagram was likely a significant part in the collapse and not just because of the lack of force available. If you're an Afghan soldier and you just saw the superpower that has been propping up your government for the last 20 years effectively sneak away in the middle of the night, I'd question my future. If I was intentionally trying to set up the Afghan government to fail on my way out, I think this is exactly the way I would do it.