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FourFans

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    Hunter Biden Thread

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Mark1 said:

    Dude rightly comments that it's nothing but weirdo fringe bullshit around here, and the response is to point out the lack of non-fringe bullshit as if a point is being made?

    That's like the Grand Wizard at a Klan rally making the observation that there aren't a lot of black guys in attendance.  It kinda follows by definition.

    My guess is that you don't hear much from the 'pro-vax' crowd because people who addressed the pandemic with logic and composure, and without wrapping their identity up in it, moved on with their lives, like, 2.5 years ago.  But maybe I'm just out of touch and it's because they've all been converted to team 'Anthony Fauci is literal Satan'.  Could be that too.

    Baseops.net as a service died long ago.  Surely no later than 2014 and I'd probably date it more like 2010.  But since then it has been quite an interesting case study to watch a community of people that, if questioned on the whole, would rate themselves as anti pinko-commie-Russia as possible.  All while falling harder for Russian propagandists bullshit than anyone.  Willingly (or unknowingly) participating in the propaganda-101 game of dividing at the centerline and pushing each half toward the extremes, then pitting them against each other.  Becoming a stronger force in the quest for long term destruction of American society than the propagandists themselves by parroting (one half of) their bullshit with the legitimizing facade of red-blooded American veteran patriots.

    1000x more damage done by participating than any benefit rendered by standing watch in uniform against the threat of enemy military action.

    There are obviously other forces at play, and it's impossibly complex, but the extent to which the last decade has followed the Russian playbook is staggering.  They must be dumbfounded at their success in general, but especially in their ability to co-opt even staunch self-identifying enemies to their cause.

    Dude.  It's the SQUADRON BAR.  Get off your high horse and have a beer.  Better yet, don't, and leave.

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 4

    Biden recalls IRR

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    19 minutes ago, HeloDude said:

    Don’t know what you’re reading, but my interpretation is that the President can order military retirees back to AD under certain conditions.  Unless I’m reading the law incorrectly?

    Oh no, you're entirely correct.  He can.  That's not what's happening right now though.  The IRR is different than the Retired Reserve.  There'd be a bloody mutiny if he tried to recall the retired reserve right now.

    • Like 2

    Biden recalls IRR

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    8 hours ago, M2 said:

    10 U.S. Code § 688 - Retired members: authority to order to active duty; duties

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/688

    (a)Authority.—
    Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member described in subsection (b) may be ordered to active duty by the Secretary of the military department concerned at any time.
    (b)Covered Members.—Except as provided in subsection (d), subsection (a) applies to the following members of the armed forces:
    (1)A retired member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force.
    (2)A member of the Retired Reserve who was retired under section 1293, 7311, 7314, 8323, 9311, or 9314 of this title.
    (3)A member of the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve.
    (c)Duties of Member Ordered to Active Duty.—
    The Secretary concerned may, to the extent consistent with other provisions of law, assign a member ordered to active duty under this section to such duties as the Secretary considers necessary in the interests of national defense.
    (d)Exclusion of Officers Retired on Selective Early Retirement Basis.—The following officers may not be ordered to active duty under this section:
    (1)An officer who retired under section 638 of this title.
    (2)An officer who—
    (A)after having been notified that the officer was to be considered for early retirement under section 638 of this title by a board convened under section 611(b) of this title and before being considered by that board, requested retirement under section 7311, 8323, or 9311 of this title; and
    (B)was retired pursuant to that request.
    (e)Limitation of Period of Recall Service.—
    (1)A member ordered to active duty under subsection (a) may not serve on active duty pursuant to orders under that subsection for more than 12 months within the 24 months following the first day of the active duty to which ordered under that subsection.
    (2)Paragraph (1) does not apply to the following officers:
    (A)A chaplain who is assigned to duty as a chaplain for the period of active duty to which ordered.
    (B)A health care professional (as characterized by the Secretary concerned) who is assigned to duty as a health care professional for the period of active duty to which ordered.
    (C)An officer assigned to duty with the American Battle Monuments Commission for the period of active duty to which ordered.
    (D)An officer who is assigned to duty as a defense attaché or service attaché for the period of active duty to which ordered.
    (f)Waiver for Periods of War or National Emergency.—
    Subsections (d) and (e) do not apply in time of war or of national emergency declared by Congress or the President.
    (Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, § 521(a), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2515; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title V, § 502, Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1724; Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title V, § 509(a), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1091; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1840; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 924(b)(4)(I), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3822.)

    So, new English translation: If you RETIRED,  You're good.

    Any tips or advice for someone starting out?

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

    On 6/7/2023 at 10:54 AM, Mocephus5396 said:

    Hi all, I am slowly working towards, hopefully, securing a pilot slot. I just turned 22 and aim to build up my resume and experiences over the next three years. This is where I stand currently as far as scores, education, and experience:

    AFOQT: P:99/CSO:91/ABM:97/AA:44/V:37/Q:53

    TBAS/PCSM: (Taking it at the end of this month) 

    Education: Double major in Mathematics & Education w/ a 3.52 GPA

    Leadership: None

    Flight hours: 0

    My goal is to have a PPL by the age of 25 or 26 (financial reasons) and start rushing/applying by this age too.

    I know the last three scores on my AFOQT are a bit lackluster, should I plan on retaking? What can I start doing now to make myself more competitive over the next three years? What leadership/volunteering experiences should I look to? Where should my LORs come from (i.e. military personnel or civilian)? 

    Any tips or advice regarding this would be a tremendous help, thank you!

    What are your long term goals?  Screw the 5/10/15 year plan crap, what do you want to do in life?  Do you want to be the best fighter pilot that's ever lived?  Do you want to be a pilot that makes a difference in peoples lives?  Does it not matter at all what you fly?  This is important: don't hold back or logic eliminate something.  What's your dream?  You want to fly Marine One someday?  You want to be the first man to step on Mars?  What is it?  All the numbers and all the rest need to be secondary to the driving force.  When a measure becomes a target (such as the AFOQT), it's no longer an effective measure.  What's your real target?

    • Upvote 1

    USAF Finally found a way to get rid of the A-10

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    1 hour ago, FlyingWolf said:

    Simply put:

    Effective CAS requires and provides high situational awareness coupled with rapid, precise, and accurate fires.

    The AC-130 and A-10 reign supreme here.

    Other measures of performance matter a lot too, of course (range/endurance/magazine depth/hardened target legality/CDE/survivability/cost/etc). These additional factors all define how much, where, and when effective CAS can be provided, and some other platforms beat out the AC-130 and A-10 in some of these. This discussion is ultimately about how much do we buy in to a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none platform (F-35) vs specialize and diversify… as many others have already alluded to.

    I am a proponent of maintaining some specialization/diversification.

    That's nice and all, but the platforms need to change with the environment.  Permissive environment allows CAS, and I think we should keep the capability to do that, but specialization that doesn't take into account the evolution of new technologies is doomed to specialize perfectly to fight the last war.  If there's something the US is great at, it's fighting the last war.  I think the A-10 should say, but with an evolved role.  Likewise the AC-130.  I think we still definitely need them, but not as they were. 

    Neither of those platforms are going into the shit on week one of a high intensity fight with China.  Imagine an AC-130 over Ukraine right now...in YEAR TWO of that conflict.  Any Gunship guys here care to speculate how that would go?  I'm genuinely curious.

    13 hours ago, di1630 said:

    CAS is a tool to attack rear echelons

    I thought that was interdiction?  Do you think we stealth platform could do that properly?  F-35 simply doesn't carry the right load to make that worth it.

    • Upvote 1

    Was flying for the Air Force worth it?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    2 hours ago, Grabby said:

    I would be willing to bet there’s not a single person I served with who would think I had any pessimism or a poor attitude.  Quite the contrary

    But,

    On 7/12/2023 at 3:36 PM, Grabby said:

    the only reason the flying was worth it for me was getting paid to build my time.  I loved UPT but rather despised flying the C-17.  

    Gotta call a spade a spade: that sound's pretty pessimistic.

    If financial security and work-life balance were your known goals when you started...why the hell did you join the military?

    Let's be honest, we all made some rash quick decisions with long reaching consequences when were in our 20's.  But I'd say you're doing yourself a disservice with that hind-sight 2020 type of analysis where you say you hated it but imagine that you didn't have a poor attitude.  Being miserable is 90% perspective and attitude, and 10% situation.  What you choose to focus on is what you focus on.  If you focus on the suck, yeah, you'll be hate it. 

    So say that mil flying was only worth it to get to your civilian job is really, really, jaded.  If you were so unhappy, trust me, your peers knew it regardless of how much optimism you painted over it.  We've all known that guy.  I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it.  I was there too, and yeah, there was a LOT of suck.  But no amount of wallowing in misery ever improved it, so most of us chose to enjoy what we could enjoy, missed birthdays and holidays included.

    Frankly, dudes with the "get me out of here" attitude were the ones that poisoned the well and tended to bring morale down.  I've worked with enough of them to know that invariably it's something else going on in life.  Whatever it is or was, you're not alone.

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 3

    Recruiting Crisis: 9% want to serve

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    It's all perspective.

    Most of us here are either in or past our mil experience, and it's always easy to poke holes after you've seen behind the curtain and understand all the mis-steps and mistakes that you did see until you were inside.  In the end though, I think recruiting for the military will always be difficult.  It should be.  "If it were easy, everyone would do it" and we don't want everyone.  In the same right, the US military has routinely produced men and women with strong character and solid teamwork skills.  It has to do with volunteering to do for other what they won't or can't do for themselves.  That take nobility.  It always will.

    What is concerning is this line, which is ABSOLUTELY true.  

    16 hours ago, TreeA10 said:

    The damage that is being done by the current and prior administrations and is going to have very long lasting effects.

    The quality of the members of the military will continue to be of noble character simply because it requires volunteering.  The effectiveness of the force, however, can only get betrayed by it's political leaders...as happened in AFG and is still happening with the social woke experimentation bullshit. 

    If someone is joining solely for the benefits, yeah, they're gunna be sorely disappointed that it's not as benefit rich as working for Apple, Google, or Starbucks.  Frankly, it shouldn't be.  Baristas and coders are in the business of service and providing a product for the prime purpose of getting paid to do so.  Soldiers, sailors and airmen are in the business of visiting death and destruction on our nation's enemies.  Hardly a comparison there.

    As to who someone becomes after serving even one four year stint, the results are undeniable.  Sure, not all job skills transfer.  But self confidence, decision making skills, and the ability to work in a team always do.  

    At the heart of all this is that people need significance in their professional lives for them to care about what they do and who they are becoming.  I've definitely seen that need in people I work with in my civilian job.  Men and women want to know their work has made a difference.  Military operators rarely come out the other end of their service with that problem. 

    What we do matters and THAT is what will ultimately keep younger generation continuing to volunteer.  There will always be bad leaders, politicians messing things up, and GO's that are completely worthless.  That's what makes the good leaders stand out so much.  The work will continue to be awesome and unique in ways that you simply can't get outside the military. 

    I've been completely honest with my kids.  They're not at decision time yet, but my 14 year old son has already expressed interest in the cool things about the military, and even expressed that he'd love to fly the A-10.  I'm all about it, but I refuse to push him either way.  The best any of us can do is be honest and transparent.  The job will sell itself to those who we need.  It always has, and always will.  Hopefully, our political leaders will unass themselves, continue to fight for benefit improvement, and work for their people, instead of expecting their people to work for them.

    • Upvote 2

    USAF Finally found a way to get rid of the A-10

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    Had an interesting discussion with an Army 19D (scout) recently.  He said they are quickly becoming of the opinion that they want to do their own organic "CAS" with mini drones and switchblade type munitions that are not reliant on GPS or any other agency.  Makes sense for a scout to think that way.  It spurs an interesting conversation: When do we decide that man-portable tech has advanced far enough that CAS is no longer a USAF fixed wing requirement?  Look at Ukraine.  Lots of videos of drones dropping small/accurate munitions and getting it done in a contested environment without CAS.

    The Next President is...

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    20 hours ago, Prozac said:

    Awww geee. Thanks for being such a fucking humanitarian. So glad I’ve got guys like you offering to legitimize me! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

     

    12 hours ago, nsplayr said:

    Very few here ever give anything valuable back in terms of debate. It’s frankly not worth it anymore for me.

    If fellow military aviators (who happen to be liberal) aren’t sufficiently “humanized” for you, nothing I can say here will help.

    I have a great mutual understanding with all the conservatives I know in real life - some friends, some family, some squadron homies. I do enjoy debating & talking with those people, have learned some good stuff, and have changed some previously held views over time. Same with friends who are fellow liberals and people everywhere in between.

    I can’t say the same overall for folks here, and at this point, like I’ve alluded to previously, I’m just gonna stick to AF related stuff for the most part. 15 years of political sparing is a good run.

    I won’t be be perfect though…everyone is a little bit of a crackhead about something in life 😉

    Sadly, you both arrive: intellectually dissonant and unable to answer a straight question.

    Were this a formation debrief: You're both weak souls who don't even deserve the honor of a backhand.  Weak Dick.

    Oh, did that offend you? You both claim to be USAF aircrew members from the combat arms, yet you get touchy about political issues?  Really?  Get sack and man up you bitches.

    I've read much of what both of you have spoken here, while neither of your have even once asked about my values.  Both of you value family.  Sincerely and in ways that I admire.  Both of you purport to stand stanchly by what you believe, which I also admire. 

    I gather that neither of you would leave your children alone with any Biden, Trump, or Clinton male family member, yet you shrug when one of those same 'men' refuse to acknowledge their own offspring.  Neither of you would do that.  I have faith that both of your have stronger convictions then these individuals that lead our country, yet you defend your support of them.  Why?

    Please, be intellectually honest.  Why are you defending those asshats by denying a clear response here?

    You @nsplayr claim that you have good in-person relationships with people you disagree with when you are physically with them, yet when you are have no skin in the game, you cannot overcome differences.  That's not some relational virtue, that's being a coward about your real beliefs when physically present.  If you cannot see the cognitive dissonance there, you are either emotionally or cognitively impaired.  

    All men are reduced to their lowest form of maturity when allowed to be anonymous.   It used to be while driving.  Now it's on the internet.   You both were asked a very simple, direct question.  No one will come after you physically for your answer, yet you dodge like you might be mugged for what you say.  You claim you'll be bludgeoned.   Seriously?  Are you so emotionally weak that you can't express your true believes in a venue where NOTHING WILL HAPPEN YOU YOU?

    Your maturity is thus exposed.  I'm guessing at least one of you (if not both of you) is a captain at a major airline, and I find it sincerely sad that someone with such broad exposure and high responsibility would be so emotionally and mentally frail.  

    Be men.   Do Better.

     

    • Like 2

    The Next President is...

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    39 minutes ago, gearhog said:

    Homework? It would take you 5 seconds to give the blatantly obvious answer that there is a lack of basic human decency from the family toward the child. You wouldn't be bludgeoned for it, and I think many would give you kudos for acknowledging a real moral failing instead of attempting to protect your politics.

    Kinda what I was hoping for @Prozac.  If you haven't noticed, I'm one of the guys over here that routinely tries to toss softball questions to help you solidify the legitimacy and rationality of your positions.  That helps humanize you and helps all of us understand your arguments better.  It's a forum.  It's a place for questions, answers, and hopefully, mutual understanding.  

    • Upvote 1

    Lighten Up Francis!

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted · Edited by FourFans

    19 hours ago, arg said:

    Maybe I wont piss off four fans. If he's not a yankee

    123_1.jpeg

    I was born a yankee...now I live in Florida, but I don't follow the SEC.  I'm a man without a country.

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1
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