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StoleIt

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Posts posted by StoleIt

    The new airline thread

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    On 11/4/2023 at 4:45 PM, artvandelay43201 said:

    UPS now joins purple 

     

    image000000.jpeg

    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.

    World War III Updates

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    5 hours ago, LookieRookie said:

    Israel isn’t a friend to the US. 
     

    The Israeli government is interested in exploiting the US for their own ends. (To be fair, this is what any country should be do so I don’t blame them.)

     

    We should feel no moral obligation to support them.

     

    Do a cursory search and you can see the Israelis has their intelligence apparatus targeted towards America

    https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/12/israel-white-house-spying-devices-1491351#:~:text=The U.S. government concluded within,with knowledge of the matter.

     

    https://amp.dw.com/en/israeli-pegasus-spyware-used-to-spy-on-us-officials-reports/a-60015869

     

     

    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?

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    World War III Updates

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, gearhog said:

    I dislike CNN as much as anyone here, but what does it say when the corporate mainstream media propagandists refuse to reinforce the narrative when they've loyally carried the water for this admin on every other issue?

    Blinken and Austin were begging Congress for $100 Billion in support of Israel, on the same day CNN airs this.

    Support for Israel is declining, even moreso with reports like this. Be it the economy, border security, public health emergencies, the Afghan withdrawl, the failed UKR counter-offensive, the trend is failure. I don't like to think that. But we've gotta face facts. This administration is positioning a massive fighting force, all that is needed is a defining moment or event that justifies using it while re-galvanizing public support. Then, they're gonna fuck it up. Again.

     

    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

    • Like 2
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    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 10/14/2023 at 8:47 PM, BashiChuni said:

    with all the clamoring for a cease fire in gaza why no appetite for cease fire in ukraine?

    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.

    VA Loans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Fly4five said:

    Gotta ask, has anyone done a VA loan assumption and had success?

    Sent from my SM-S918U1 using Baseops Network mobile app
     

    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%.

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 hours ago, uhhello said:

    Seems like there possibly could be some more actual high value targets to be hit with such limited precision assets they have.  The Russian Navy isn't doing a whole lot to affect the war effort as far as I can tell.  It looks good on the news so maybe that's a boost for the people I guess.  

    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.

    Recruiting Crisis: 9% want to serve

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Quote

    Hundreds of Airmen Stuck Waiting To Start Pilot Training As Shortage Persists


    ...As of Aug. 25, more than 900 Airmen are waiting to enter the pilot training pipeline, according to 19th Air Force data. Roughly a quarter have been waiting less than three months, but most are between three and nine months. Another quarter—around 220 people—have been stuck even longer...

    ...In fiscal 2022, the Air Force produced 1,276 pilots. In 2023, that number increased slightly to around 1,350, but still short of the goal of 1,470. With demand from commercial airlines strong, the need for new pilots to replace those leaving the service is persistent. The 19th Air Force’s goal will be 1,500 new pilots in fiscal 2024, a spokesperson said...

    ...Quinn said the overall pilot shortage remains at around 2,000, roughly the number it has been for the last several years. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin previously told Congress that the Air Force has taken steps to ensure the shortfall doesn’t mean aircraft aren’t flying...  

    https://www.airandspaceforces.com/airmen-waiting-pilot-training-shortage/

    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.

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Khruangbin33 said:

    words

    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.

    Aviation Continuation Pay (ACP - The Bonus)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 hours ago, General Chang said:

    Risk to fill squadrons with nothing but Lieutenants and Captains is acceptable.  Enough FGOs will stick around to adequately fill the commander positions.  The research is conclusive.  People on this forum don’t want to hear that, but not wanting to hear something doesn’t mean it’s not true.  The Pentagon is 100% focused on production ramp to 1500.

    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.

    • Upvote 1

    Air Force is hiring for civilian T-6 IPs

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, One_Tilty_Boi said:

    Is the program taking former military pilots?

    Serious question. I am a current Marine Corps V-22 pilot with around 650 hours. Due to current manning across the V-22 community, it is extremely unlikely I receive orders for a second flying tour. Headquarters Marine Corps does not want to send pilots to be Navy flight school IPs unless they are water-walkers because it is considered a non-career enhancing assignment. HQMC actually leaves flight school IP billets gapped rather than send people there who they know are just going to leave and go to the airlines immediately after.

    The airlines are the eventual end goal for me, but I legitimately loved flying the T-6 in Primary training and would do a lot of dirty things to get back to it and instruct.

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

    • Like 3
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