StoleIt

Can you imagine how awesome it must be to be a pharmaceutical rep to the VA?

If those UPS pilots who took the early retirement still get their full benefits and there isn't any fine print traps...this seems like an easy way to get an extra $250k + whatever PSA's CA pay rate is + their full UPS retirement. But, I'd guess it would work out to being only slightly more than what they made as a 15 year UPS CA and then you'd have to deal with being the most junior pilot at a regional...which would probably be very painful at 60+ years old.

What do we think the headline will read when/if the IDF drops a bomb on them?

I'd use pork byproducts...but I only have that luxury because I don't keep kosher. 😇

Agreed. But, on the list of stupid shit we spend money on...there are a lot worse investments. Exhibit #1: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/us-taxpayers-may-funding-taliban-afghan-terror-groups-watchdog-says-rcna80446

Name looked familiar: https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/04/with-three-conservatives-dissenting-court-declines-to-intervene-on-behalf-of-air-force-officer-who-wont-get-vaccinated/

Every country spies on each other. You think we don't spy on our allies? Token Example here. Second token example here. But yes, I do think Israel is our ally. It's also the only legitimate democracy in that part of the world...which is generally the type of government we also like to support. Do we have a perfect past with Israel? Of course not...the USS Liberty incident being a great example. But I'd much rather support Israel than any other country in that region just based on values and morality alone. How often do you see Israeli citizens shouting "Death to America" or burning American flags?

The issue is Hamas uses civilian shields as a form of "lawfare" just like China does gray zone operations. The refugee camp also, according to the IDF, was sheltering "a senior Hamas commander" and caused the collapse of Hamas's underground infrastructure. So, probably a valid target according to LOAC, but arguably not a smart one in terms of optics. An issue is the western populace doesn't (justifiably) understand that Hamas uses schools to launch rockets, hospitals for their military HQs, and encourages civilians to enter buildings after IDF roof thumps. I don't think Israel wants to kill civilians, but after the events of this month, at this point they definitely aren't going out of their way to avoid them anymore. An old, from 2014, article on the topic that is still valid: https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf

Confirmed (thanks Google reverse image search!): https://atlantiku.com/albanian-american/first-albanian-usaf-pilot-edmond-smajli-makes-a-memorable-visit-to-kosovo/2023/10/14/ Wow, that idiot deserves to get crushed.

I'm confused. What is going on here besides some AETC dude wearing a bag to something he probably should be in blues for?

Seriously...those dudes are not Jews. Generally, quite the opposite, and can be very antisemitic and racist.

For all you savvy investors out there, your one take away should be: impending fire sale on RussianBrides.com

As more and more information comes out, including from POTUS, that it wasn't the IDF who bombed the hospital in Gaza...at least Rashida is keeping up with her pro-Hamas talking points: https://www.mediaite.com/news/tearful-rashida-tlaib-doubles-down-on-blaming-israel-biden-for-gaza-hospital-attack-and-genocide-at-d-c-rally/

If the Russians pull out (STS) and return all the occupied land to the pre-2021, aw hell lets make it 2014, time frame then I'm sure the conflict in Ukraine would be over tomorrow.

If anyone is curious, those grenades are basically designed for shockwave/concussion: think fishing with dynamite.

Doing one right now. Originally tried to close in 30 days and I'm already way past that...but that was mostly because the lender didn't have their shit together and was extremely disorganized paperwork wise. Otherwise, it's definitely the way to go these days. I got a condo at 3.5% and my buddy just got house at 2.75%.

True, where else can Ukraine trade "10 cruise missiles and three unmanned boats" and destroy an asset worth $300M (Improved Kilo list price)? And the landing ship and the dock. So definitely a big PR win. Perhaps this will help their grain export, but that seems like a stretch. Instead, probably more to prevent arms running/resupply of Russian forces.

And, while not as sexy of a headline, more importantly took out one of the few dry docks that support the entire black sea fleet.

So I'm not great at math but, maybe they should try retaining people rather than producing people. Because, it seems like that COA isn't working...and, in recent memory, has never worked.

Provided you don't have any skeletons in your record (or get a DNP) you should still make O-5, you'll just pin on later in the FY year (Sept is the last month) since it's all strat based now and not EAD. Only downside is that it effectively shorts you of the higher pay (O-5 base & BAH) for a couple months.

I know this is a troll account, but the lack of pilot-centric FGOs does have second and third order effects that ripple throughout the enterprise. In my little corner of the Air Force, we claim to hire the "best" and "most experienced" pilots because, after all, we are "AMCs only Selectively Manned Unit." In the last 2ish years, that I've paid attention to, our hiring boards went from 1-2 O-3's now to the inverse. This next hiring board has 1 O-5, 4 O-4s, and about 20 O-3s. The dynamic has changed, the experience level has drastically changed, but we claim "perfection is our standard" has not changed (oh yea, they dropped the hours requirement significantly to apply). So, we will continue to get our nuts crushed by WHMO (waves at Rainman) by an institutional issue because nobody wants to call a spade, a spade. Big Air Force might not value retention of skilled aviators but, I am going to laugh when it bites them because it starts causing major inconveniences to our Top 5 customers. My only regret is the people who set up the house of cards will never see justice for their mismanagement...and some poor CGO is going to buy a Q3'd for something silly that delayed a mission and they were never taught.

Why not look into getting hired at one of the AFRC T-6 units?

Speaking of bonuses...anyone got the details on FY23 (or FY24) ANG DSG pilot bonus? Curious if they still have the "good first year" $10k deal going on. I've only been able to find the AGR AvB bonus...nothing for part timers.