Clark Griswold
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Everything posted by Clark Griswold
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Not surprised about the cost but the idea that it will actually get funded at $550 mil a copy is surprising. Given the financial realities, that is just a bridge too far and I doubt Congress or anyone else believes that it will actually stay at $550 mil a copy, some new requirement will come up and the gold plating begins. Not opposed to us having nice things but we've got to break the habit of bending the budget around the next superstar while everything else gets screwed, the B-1 did this in the 70's and the F-22 did this in the 90's to 00's and the F-35 is currently shredding our budget and credibility to run our own affairs, hence the original theme of this thread, serious attack on the existence of the AF as an independent branch. This would either not be happening or have no credibility given to it if we had been able to get our projects on time and budget (Congressional and Contractor meddling not withstanding).
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Mass only in terms of massively over-priced USAF General: 'Of Course' Bomber Will Be More Than $550M Per Copy
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More reasons for the Poles to be concerned Belarus says Russia to send warplanes in response to NATO drills -
Yup - but slowly and reluctantly I think they are starting to realize that they actually live in a really nice neighborhood but with some really really bad neighbors... Europe Begins to Rethink Cuts to Military Spending Rethinking German Pacifism and Poland is not going to get run over by history again, at least not without a real fight... Don't Mess with Poland
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Return to course... more from Mr. Farley. https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/air-forces-and-asia-interview-with-robert-farley/
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Yup, that checks...
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True - but it indicates they are not going to let any naval asset operate without real threat anywhere close to the Crimea.
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2 Reading "Boyd" right now and the Mad Major was fighting the good fight for this long ago, we need someone there now (HHQ levels) who believes in the quality with quantity mantra also...
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Winds of War keep blowing... Russia to deploy Tu-22M3 'Backfire' bombers to Crimea
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Another article from the USAF's #1 fan: No, F-22's Can't Save Ukraine 22's by themselves would not be enough, but combined with a decent Combined Arms force (Typhoons from the Euros, Patriots & Armor from US/UK/Poles, etc..) might give pause to the Ruskies...
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1. SAPR 2. Disco belts 3. Professional Relations CBT 4. GTC CBT 5. LOAC CBT
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I wish I could go back and not Google what that term means too... pirates are sick...
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Thanks for the post - just watched it. Nothing new learned but interesting none the less, doesn't change my opinion (worth approx. $0.02) that it is too expensive, too many compromises and too far gone to completely stop. Even all that said, if we just stop the bleeding at some point, i.e. buy only 700 or so and learn a lesson to give up when you are 7 years behind schedule and 160+ billion over-budget, perhaps it won't pull AF, Navy, and USMC down the drain but I'm an optimist. Buy enough so that when inevitable shit storm comes up when the program is curtailed, whatever hapless leader (mil or civ) who is forced to go on 60 Minutes to explain what things didn't go as planned has some small amount of maneuvering room by being able to say we achieved some of our objectives, just not all and it just cost too much. Somebody put the screws to the F-22 and we only bought 187 of planned 650 buy, somebody can do the same thing here.
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This is bullshit... Beer-delivery drone grounded by FAA
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More good news https://medium.com/war-is-boring/2ef94297330d
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Return to course... Another screed from Mr. Farley... https://medium.com/war-is-boring/1a7733c66b52 Not that you should judge someone before you meet them but looking at his bio, he appears to have no real experience actually in the military, seems like a cheerleader/groupie. To have an iota of legitimacy on advocating for a MASSIVE shift in the Defense structure of the US, you have to have some real world experience. Reading a lot of Stephen Ambrose books does not count. Serving in some capacity, at a significant level to see the nuances, the strengths and the weaknesses of the culture and outlook of each of the branches is just a requirement.
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More anti AF propoganda and the main "intellectual" behind this... Robert Farley https://prospect.org/article/abolish-air-force https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140574/robert-farley/ground-the-air-force Pretty much his blather boils down since Strategic Air Power by itself didn't win the wars outright, it's all bullshit... therefore the Army is the only one who did anything in WWII and beyond, except Gulf War I, Allied Force, El Dorado Canyon, The Drone Wars, etc... This DB should expand his poor military history scope to oh let's say Israel vs. everybody in the Middle East and ask them if the Air Force is really not that important...
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Just adding this little gem... C-27J getting mothballed in 2013 after being delivered in 2008, because that made sense... but with the recent news hopefully it's getting pulled out (sts) soon...
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Investment showdown -- beyond the Roth, SDP, & TSP
Clark Griswold replied to Swizzle's topic in Squadron Bar
There's a good bit of risk but some of their CD products are FDIC insured. The main worry I see is the exchange rate, that is these countries like to inflate their currencies when they get into trouble; the high yield on the CD would be minus the inflation rate of the currency + change (+ or -) in value against the dollar + transaction fees. Looking into this, it seems longer term than I thought, people seem to keep the CDs for several rollovers and cash out when the time is right (currency strong against the dollar or at least stronger). Seems reasonable enough but I've just been thinking about it, looking for higher yield is great but the loss in potential return for keeping cash liquid is an insurance premium until things stabilize. -
Restless natives.
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Investment showdown -- beyond the Roth, SDP, & TSP
Clark Griswold replied to Swizzle's topic in Squadron Bar
On the subject of looking for greater rates of return on cash savings, I've thought about trying foreign currency CDs with Everbank Higher rates of return and diversification beyond the dollar but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Some currencies like the Indian Rupee can yield 6.25% for a 3 month CD but that yield come with a just a bit of risk. -
Another couple of critiques of the JSF / F-35 program https://medium.com/war-is-boring/ddccb57f0e43 https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/MG1200/MG1225/RAND_MG1225.pdf
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Investment showdown -- beyond the Roth, SDP, & TSP
Clark Griswold replied to Swizzle's topic in Squadron Bar
Yep, saw that and was that at one time (except as an Lt), had car loans, boat loans, all the things I despise now... about 10 years ago I read one of Dave's books and was hooked... what really got me thinking about my own finances was when i was asked by a SrA to sign a car note letter for him his bank and it was for a new Corvette, it was so ridiculous that I started realizing that I was doing the same thing he wanted to do (I wouldn't sign it for him) and that was when I started to plug the holes in the boat and bail the water out... -
Investment showdown -- beyond the Roth, SDP, & TSP
Clark Griswold replied to Swizzle's topic in Squadron Bar
Cool, sorry to be preachy about it and I try to keep it in perspective, there are plenty of people who have their shit together but it pisses me off that there is no sense of shame with some people that have an education and should have a shred of decency not to encourage financial stupidity out the sea of mouth breathers, they just take advantage of all the future guests on the Maury Povich Show by getting them to take out pay day loans, roll from one car loan to the next and keep pumping out that bullshit that lotteries are good because they fund eduction.. ok, rant complete... -
Investment showdown -- beyond the Roth, SDP, & TSP
Clark Griswold replied to Swizzle's topic in Squadron Bar
Yep, built in margin for error and Murphy's Law... Not a fanatic but a fan of Dave so I'll just have to disagree with you... listen to his show and you'll see how uncommon common financial sense is... We used to encourage savings and taught basic personal finance in this country but somewhere about the time we decided that "greed was good" we said f it as a culture and just went pedal to the metal with credit cards, car loans, lotteries and all the other shit we use to keep at the margins and to a minimum... so, someone has to say the obvious now and teach basic financial skills In reference to Dave Ramsey and Primerica, he worked for them for 3 months when he was 22 years old and before he began doing and teaching his current financial strategy, he does not recommend them now for financial or insurance products That's a whole lot of pro-Dave Ramsey pixels but I can see how he may not appeal to everyone, but his method is simple, clear, low risk, appropriate for the average person in that it encourages no leverage or speculation that would require a good deal of financial speculation and sophistication and keeps nutbergers from thinking they are smarter than the casino... Not that I have a strong opinion or anything...
