Skitzo

No, they haven’t but that doesn’t stop them from trying when the alternative powers are not friendly. I think things would have been much different had the UK and USA had not been on good terms post WWII. During the Civil War, England recognized the Confederacy’s “Belligerent Status,” stopping short of recognizing the sovereignty of the Confederacy. The Confederacy had envoys on British Naval vessels, Ala the Trent Affair. At risk were lucrative trade deals etc, but you could also argue that fomenting conflict between the two sides by respecting a belligerent status and remaining neutral was sacrosanct endorsement that either the South could win or a stalemate could emerge. Otherwise they would have supported the North. Neutrality equates to not caring about a return to the Status Quo - Ante. Applying a realist view to this, smart on the part of England because a divided America would have reduced the overall power balance by shifting it two nations instead of one. Thus increasing or safeguarding its status as the leading world power at the time ala Pax Brittanaca. Also we are not an empire. IMHO. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What is the alternative? Do we leave the Pacific except for remaining in Guam? What position does that put our allies in the Pacific in vis a vis an ever growing China? If we leave the Pacific we will resign our status as a Global Super Power that has sustained the current International Order and acknowledge a bipolar or multipolar world. Is it in our nations best interest to do so? In Ukraine, do we give up and allow Russia to take it? If we did nothing at the start isn’t that akin to Neville Chamberlain and Hitler? I’d argue each nation with interests has its own agency in the matter and is acting in accordance with what it believes to be its own best interests. John Mearsheimer 101. It’s a zero sum game — it’s all about power and security. Both domestically and internationally. You could make an argument that we are already at a low level of or run up to Word War currently with Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Hamas, Iran and Israel and the Houthis. The only powder keg that hasn’t kicked off yet is in the Pacific. But, it could easily. Imagine a scenario like the P-3 colliding with a PLA aircraft in today’s geopolitical landscape. I think the best case scenario is a rapid realization that we have deliberately set up our military to be sized for a war in one theater and deterring in another. We did that because we were still the leading superpower. We are facing a challenge that calls into question our ability to win with our current force structure given the problems around the world. Whether our politicians are marching us steadily towards wider conflict isn’t as important as whether or not our politicians are equipping us to win that conflict and if we will have the political will to see that conflict through. If we are successful we delay or defeat the pattern of Great Powers not remaining Great Powers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Leonard Cohen was more of a poet than a singer but when he did grace the stage the results were outstanding. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I cannot see base commanders being O-5s in the USAF. That would eliminate FSS/MSG O-6 billets. But I guess it could work somehow. I had a US Army Infantry Company as my Security Forces at CADJ. I definitely agree with your sentiment—they were squared away (at least the team I got) and any/all issues were handled swiftly. What we will need is to develop our officers to take that on. Flight Command will need to be a no kidding command with a big change to how discipline is run. It’s going to be an interesting couple of years! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To any of the old heads out there… we’ve done the “no groups” thing before and have arrived at the present structure for reasons. While this missive addresses organizational change histories it uses relatively bland terms. Off hand I can reason that it will be difficult for a single wing commander to deal with discipline issues as well as there being difficulty being an operational war fighting wing dealing with a base commander who may or may not be in your chain. Anybody out there care to comment? https://usafunithistory.com/usaf-structure-and-lineage-history.html Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Try emailing the CARF they should at least be able to point you in the direction of a POC. Possibly could help out the formation in an ALTRV for the event. https://www.fly.faa.gov/carf/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He nails what I would call country meets the blues. Very talented. Tennessee Whiskey is my fav from him and his voice is very reminiscent to SRV. Speaking of SRV if you haven’t seen this you should. SRV and Albert King from the vault 1983 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, Wurster signed that off I believe. It’s the only time I’ve seen that. He actually told the Wing in person IIRC. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. He’s pretty talented Clapton approves. Buddy Guy is still around touring at 87… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It must be being in my 40s or something, or I was just sick of playing the same old music (average guitarist here) but I’ve been doing a deep dive of the blues. Started when Jeff Beck passed on, led to discovering Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa (among many others) Lots of good blues artists out there besides the standard names and besides these two but here’s some of their best together. I’d Rather Go Blind I’ll Take Care of You Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s a careful dance…how to respond properly without escalating vertically or horoztonally. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They also produce 80% of solar panels, 40% of all wind turbines and 90% of all rare earth elements used in EV production. North American EV production is est at 1.4M in 2028, China produced 3.3M in 2020. Source: Kevin Rudd, The Avoidable War Chinese Teslas are being sold in Canada. BL: China is profiting from global desires to reduce Climate Change while occupying the distinct advantage of a country whose own economic rise has been on the back of the environment Green Energy consumers are looking to help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right, actually Xi’s axe to grind is “The Century of Humiliation,” starting with the first of the opium wars. Whether or not they have a right to China is not really the question—it represents where Chang Kai-Shek led the Nationalists after their defeat in their Civil War on the mainland. I’m sure you know all of that based on your experience but it seems to be a driving factor for Xi to remain in power especially if the economy goes down the crapper. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed, and if this is what China is saying publicly then imagine how bad it ACTUALLY is. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you’re looking to delve into the topic or international relations Peter Zaihan is pretty good. He takes a topic and distills it down in about 10 minutes or so in a way that doesn’t confuse me or make me feel stupid. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk