FourFans

Considering the unbiased source and their historic proven track record of finding and then publishing all the details of the stories they cover, I'm sure CNN has gotten a complete picture of what's going on there. I mean, they obviously talked to at least one tank crew, so surely they've got a circumspect view. //Sarcasm - off// I was shadowed by two CNN crews for a day, once in Iraq, once in Afghanistan, against my will while flying C-130's with multiple stops in theater. My crew and I outright refused to talk to them. Both of those CNN teams published articles that were completely fabricated and included exaggerations of danger encountered and even went so far as to quote my crews and their supposed negative opinions of their experiences in combat. I had several other crews report similar events with both CNN and Fox reporters. Never trust a single word of their field reporting that you can't corroborate from a third party source. Beyond that, I've had several other events with CNN reporters. They lie outright. CNN and it's reporters have no integrity and they exist solely to push whatever agenda they choose that day. I have no doubt that tanks are bullet magnets. They're kinda supposed to be. Modern combat is evolving fast, and I have sincere doubts that Ukrainian tank crews are able to keep up. Enthusiasm can only get you so far. Tactical proficiency is mandatory. They're definitely behind the power curve right now.

I remember watching Harriers doing partial down vectored takeoffs routinely at Kandahar as well. Always puzzled me as the airfield should have been plenty long enough. I would speculate it's a procedural thing.

...sounds exactly like the USAFA offensive coaching staff. Run the option again, they'll never see it coming...

Why do you think that? It's not like we have a weak-on-international-policy presidential administration right now. I mean, come on...look at how secure our own borders are! I'm sure the world is more than happy with the limp-wristed enforcement of our international presence right now. Nothing to see here. /sarcasm switch - off/

No, he speaks like he understands the dynamics of modern high-intensity ground conflict. His points about non-static defense and breakthroughs are spot on.

Did you write that article a while back about the F-22 pilot not being able to fly because he was distracted by not being able to breath? Classic Chang

Thanks for the reminder of why I retired instead of staying.

Any and all occupations can feel like nothing more than a job after a given amount of time. How you view it is 100% up to you. If you're a pessimist at heart, you'll be pessimistic about it. Likewise if you're an optimist. It's all perspective. Choose yours, every single day, wisely.

UA new hire jumpseated with a SWA crew, then filed an ASAP on that crew without telling them she was doing it.

Move to Florida. Seriously. I've seen multiple CZ's at my local indoor range. And that's saying I've also seen guns that simply shouldn't be at my local indoor range. For real, the guys here don't care WHAT you shoot so long as you're professional about HOW you shoot. I haven't hit the less-than-local outdoor range yet...but it's 1000+m long. I'd imagine @ClearedHot could definitely say more to shooting around here.

quoted for posterity. Immensely. Maybe not FIVE airplanes....but yes.

Gotta second this statement. It applies in almost every situation. When I retired from the AFRC, dudes were calling me the next few UTAs wondering where the hell I was. It's my goal in my current airline job to retire and have the bobs see the paperwork and say "who?"

FIFY

We are, but not how or where you might think. A very good friend of mine was heavy into the test world while on active duty. He's now retired and teaching AI how to conduct aerial combat. In his words, he's now doing far more to help the war fighter than he ever did before.

...and kicking doors...

26 hours at 120 decibels. That sounds absolutely horrible. The things dudes do to build time for the airlines.

I buy in bulk. It'll be the best end of the world currency.

I still haven't found a holster that I thoroughly like. Currently an alien gear. Thinking of trying the vnsh. Any recommendations?

Encountered him at Ramstein while he was on staff. Immediate impression was that he's a back-stabbing douchebag turd snorkler.

source?

These are students and this is learned behavior. Punish the students, yes. They are adults and deserve adult consequences. But nothing will change until the source of the behavior is addressed. Parents? Teachers? Media? Political leaders? I don't have that answer. My gut says that until we get conservative, intelligent, and sincere leaders in our country, it won't end. BTW: This is precisely why you use corporal punishment with your kids when they are young. If you don't issue physical pain as a consequence to your kids, someone else will have to later.

You apparently haven't been paying attention to what's actually happening in China. They have none of these advantages anymore. The one thing they had going for them was being the world's workshop...but that was economics planned by central committee. It came at many costs, one of them being technological innovation, and it's over. They are in the process of a demographic collapse thanks to 40 years of the one child policy. Even if they implemented a national breeding campaign, it would take 30-40 years for them to reap the economic benefits...and they haven't. The wage 'advantage' is no more. Mexican labor is cheaper by almost three times now. Mexican production quality is ALSO better. China may be able to make things, but they can't do it cheaply anymore (their middle class wages have skyrocketed) and they can't produce anything of high quality. What's more, they never had a national unity advantage. Everything their government does it to control their people, not dominate the world. We don't have to do anything to beat the Chinese economically besides wait. Militarily, all we'd have to do is close the Strait of Malacca and watch them starve in the dark, as they import so much food and energy. Oh-by-the-way guess what kind of weapons we just leant to the Australians in Darwin: Cruise missiles that can hit ships in the strait of malacca from over the horizon. As for national debt? You think we're hurting? Go google Chinese hyper financialization. The dollar may or may not remain the reserve currency, but the Yuan will NOT be taking it's place in our lifetime. Yes, the Chinese are great at long term intellectual planning, but NONE of their execution has followed any of that planning. They are screwed and all we have to do is not save them. Multiple historians, demographers, and geopolitical analysts have reached the above conclusions. Ray Dalio would be one exception, but reading his work it's clear his love of china is underpinned by strong emotional ties that clearly color his analysis. But even he doesn't paint a very rosy picture for them, specifically because of their economics and debt. Don't listen to the rhetoric, look at the details and facts.

I run the Glock 48 MOS. No red-dot yet. Handy and dependable. I debated between one of the 365 models (likely the macro) or the G48. In the end the budget won out as I got a nice military discount on the 48. $450 out the door while the 365 macro was over $800 at the time. Still want to get the sig, but I also have teenage kids to feed. Choices.

The Hurricane Hunters strike again.