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daynightindicator

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Posts posted by daynightindicator

  1. I wonder if we (DOD) also happened to make this mistake at the worst possible inflection point. When requirements were being drawn up and put under contract, the internet was a novelty, cell phones were just moving out of he zack Morris era, computing power and data storage was very limited, concepts like cloud storage, social media were in their infancy, and end-to-end encryption was still the sole property of major world governments.

    The democratization of data and technology unfolded at a blinding pace while this machine was moving at the speed of government. Bad time to get caught in bureaucratic quicksand.


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  2. Does anyone have an idea of where AFPC is on summer VML assignment matching? I've heard that the matches are complete but waiting to be loaded into a computer system. 
    Anyone have a spy on the inside?


    I'm in the process of getting orders. School/staff matches are complete. Regular moves are in the works now.

    If you're expecting something, check vMPF every day. I saw my assignment about 3-4 days before the robot email.


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  3.  

    This sounds like a really good point. Have you seen this shift in perspective be the case for other/most older guys as time goes on and families start coming into the picture? It sounds like it's just a fact of life.

     

    Also do you think guys see OIR as not as much of a "meaningful conflict?"

     

    I've seen and experienced the shift as time goes on for exactly the reasons stated. I was dying to go on my first deployment, but honestly I reached my lifetime USAF goal as a 1Lt when I heard a JTAC tell me our bombs saved his life and he didn't think he'd make it back to the FOB that night. That was it - career validated in that moment.

     

    On subsequent deployments, my satisfaction with the larger mission waned, but I was able to find satisfaction in other things. First and foremost, I saw it as my mission to protect US lives on the ground above all else. Regardless of the politics, I was there to help get that 18 yo private back home safely. I was fortunate to have a mission that allowed me to rationalize that way.

     

    I also found satisfaction in teaching young dudes and watching them excel in combat. While I would never turn down a mission lead or mission commander opportunity, I was more than happy to see the young guys get their turn. I also found some level of satisfaction in things like Top 3 and other ops-leadership jobs.

     

    I don't have kids yet, but I did several deployments with SO's left back home. The ups and downs of that don't necessarily get easier, but they do soften a little bit, which sometimes turns it into more of a grind. Id imagine that is different with kids, as I've seen that with my bros.

     

    I still enjoy waking up and going to work most days. Once that balance changes to the negative, I'll look at my options.

     

    YMMV.

     

     

     

     

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  4. Anybody get one of these from Barclaycard recently? Looks like they're not going to hook it up anymore. I just hope they don't try to come after a retroactive annual fee..

    e63b9750c990f01038b537d3ff41d41a.jpg


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    Looks like their not trying to collect retroactively - someone I know was told that when the card is up for renewal they will charge the fee, but not until then.


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  5. We have our 5th gen F-22 in the AO stacked in with RPAs dropping jdam just to keep them busy....I think we have the Air to Air threat covered for now.


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    That won't be the case for any war with a near peer. I know those wars (thankfully) haven't materialized but we have to prepare for them.

    I'm not a 5th gen groupie but the day we face off with Russia/China I'll be their biggest fan.


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  6. I know a guy who lapsed by three days. Finance messed up the stop pay order from the HARM and backdated his stop to an entire year prior. What should have only been a few bucks turned into thousands and an issue that took months to resolve.

    I hope your finance office doesn't mess up like this.


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    I think finance did it correctly and I already have the "flight pay resolution" email stating that it started up again after my physical.

    FWIW I told the doc and hinted at backdating the date of the physical to the date of expiration, but he didn't bite. Overall I lost ~$500 - not the end of the world but stung a little.


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  7. Did a search but it didn't turn up anything specific for this...

    I'm in the NCR on a non-flying assignment (school).  I got an email from the servicing HARM office at Andrews saying my physical would soon expire and that I would begin losing flight pay.  The email was sent on the day my physical expired, which of course didn't leave me any time to get a new physical.  I made the earliest possible appointment at my servicing flight med clinic (JBAB), which is in late Feb.

    Andrews HARM told me I will lose flight pay for the duration of time I am "disqualified" (about 3 weeks).  They said there is no waiver process or really anything that can be done to avoid losing money.

    Anyone else ever deal with this?  Am I just hosed on this?

    And yes, I know ultimately I'm responsible for ensuring I don't let the physical expire, but to be honest, I don't usually keep that date locked in my crosscheck (got used to ground scheduling taking care of that in the ops unit), and since the reminder email was sent on the day of expiration, it's kind of shitty.

  8. 4 hours ago, tac airlifter said:

    Do you think it would be better for our nation if Trump said he didn't respect Putin?  Would edging us closer to open hostilities with Russia make us safer?  And what exactly do you guys want to happen with the US - Russia relationship?  We can't influence him if we isolate him, and I certainly don't want to fight them.  We would lose.

    i just can't figure out why so many democrats (not necessarily you) are seemingly pushing Trump towards hostilities with Russia while simulataneously blocking hostilities with Iran.  

    I'm not advocating a WWE-style rant about how terrible Putin is.  Rex Tillerson made a tactful reply during his hearing when he stated that he couldn't state that Putin was a war criminal (he is) because of the international legal implications of that statement.  You can say things that get your point across without stating "I don't respect him."  You could simply state that you respect the Russian people and that you do not condone the actions of their President, and that his actions are massively destabilizing.

    I don't want to fight them either.  I'm well versed on the threat and I disagree with your assertion that we'd lose, but I agree this isn't the forum to discuss it.

    There are other ways to pressure Russia.  They are exceptionally dependent on hydrocarbons and they have terrible internal issues (demographics alone may bring them down without our help).  I also don't want to see Russia collapse entirely due to the effect on the European and international economy.  We have other tools to bring to bear to influence their decision matrix.  Sanctions have been effective, and there are ways to exert our own influence in a similar manner to how they've influenced other nations in Eastern Europe.  We need to step up our own information operations in that region to counter their propoganda.

    Russia is Putin...for now.  The Russian people like him because they see him as having made their country powerful after the humiliation of the 1990s, and something in which they can take pride.  The history of Russia is one of nationalism and patriotism - for the state, not for the individual leader.  Since their history is also one of monarchies and authoritarian rulers, it's easy to confuse that with blind loyalty to their leaders, but the fact is they support a great(er) Russia, and will support anyone they think can effect that end-state.  Putin is that person right now, but won't be forever.  The reigns of Russian leaders usually meet abrupt ends.

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  9. Yes, the recruiter is full of it.  AOs are under no AFI/policy guidance to get AD members stationed at guard/reserve bases to be with a part-time reservist.  That isn't to say it couldn't happen since the March assignment is always a possibility, just know that the AO doesn't have to answer for not doing it.   AOs only have to station AF AD members married to AF AD members (or get AFPC CC approval to not do it).  Yes, I am a join spouse...


    All true, just want to add that a good functional and supportive leadership can go a long way to helping out that situation. But Helo is correct, they're not obligated to help you out.


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  10. Which is why I am enjoying the consternation being wrought on both sides of the aisle by the current occupant of the White House.
    I hope he shakes things up, shuts things down, and causes people to be fired and defeated at election time.
    ® and (D).


    Burning down the house because the living room is messy isn't my preferred solution, but to each his own.


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  11. For your last paragraph, valid, it was a general purpose comment as opposed to directed at you.  I should have been more clear.
    To your first point-- I don't disagree in principal.  Our country is experiencing extreme partisan polarization right now.  It sucks.  Ideological obstacles are increasingly challenging our ability to get along with each other.  My point is, this NSC discussion isn't the core issue here; the core issue is we're at each other's throats about everything, and no institution is immune from collateral effects.


    Totally agree there. The anger on both sides and hyper-partisanship is pretty bad and discouraging.


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  12. 2 minutes ago, tac airlifter said:

    Is your position that international politics is not connected to domestic politics?  That nations make external decisions totally separate from internal pressures?  

    Also, I can't help but be reminded of the previous administrations handling of Benghazi...... 7 weeks before the election and they were running on a platform of "al Qaeda is dead because we killed UBL" when in truth AQ had just murdered our ambassador.   You don't think Obama factored re-election into the calculus of his response and that invented narrative about a video?  

    I just can't figure out what the issue is, or why it's an issue now.

    My position is that it's not the intended role of the NSC to inform policy decisions based on domestic or partisan political considerations.

    The administration can do whatever it wants with the advice it gets, and can act based on whatever considerations they want.  All administrations have done that, and that's not what I'm arguing.  I'm specifically talking about the role the NSC plays in the process.

    Also, I never brought up the Obama administration in any of my posts, nor did I mean to imply that any past admins or past NSCs have always handled things well.  I only noted that no previous administration has ever appointed a political strategist as a permanent member of the NSC's PC.

  13. 2 hours ago, matmacwc said:

    Somewhere in the cobwebs of officer school I remember learning that military action was an end to political means.

    Huge difference between international politics driving decisions to go to war (as they should and do) and domestic political strategists bringing up poll numbers and re-elect-ability when national security decisions are at stake (and I'm not suggesting we're there yet, but that's the slippery slope).

    It's completely true that the President can make whatever decisions and listen to whoever they want...and I understand that in the past some presidents have marginalized the NSC or other agencies/positions when making their policy decisions.  But the fact of the matter is that the NSC is supposed to provide non-political advice on what's in the best interest of national security, which is why there has never been a political strategist as a permanent member of the PC.  In fact, as the article posted earlier shows, most of the time, when a political staffer attended meetings, it was met with strong rebukes from others in the administration/NSC.

    Edit to add that the NSC works for the President, so obviously he's free to appoint whomever he wants on the council.  I just disagree with the judgment.  Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

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  14. You don't like Bannon.  Got it.  Neither do I for that matter, but this doesn't pass the sniff test, unless your indignation applies across previous administrations as well.  Do I need to name names?  I could go back to at least Reagan off the top of my cranium, but I'm sure the Google machine will help me find earlier examples.
    Copy: the WH has been running the first few weeks like a rally car race, with fender scuffs to prove it.  The article that you provided was that at the end of the day they are adults and found their designated lanes.  Like the author said at the end: a tie.


    Please, name names. As actual NSC PC principals. In the 70ish year history, the NSC has not had permanent PC members that were political strategists.


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  15. It's worth noting that for the first time in history, a political strategist will have a permanent role on the principals committee of the NSC.

    You can be as cynical as you want to be, and say that all decisions are political, but the facts of the matter are that no other NSC regularly included a political strategist. And in those cases where one was invited to meetings (I.e. Axelrod) there was significant consternation.

    Politics has no role in national security decisions, and past presidencies have borne that out in the constitution of their NSCs.

    This is a new, and concerning, twist.


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  16. I've got enough gate months that I would have to think REALLY hard about strapping into a BUFF.  Especially since I attended electronic warfare school, so I'd end up in the EWO seat.


    They'd probably just put you in the old gunners seat. Also, not sure they'd give you the option - wouldn't look great to the deployed squadron if a support unit dude refused to fly with them.


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