nsplayr
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Posts posted by nsplayr
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4 hours ago, Polar Bear said:
Do they still have to work nights and weekends on T10 orders?
Indeed. Working weekends and shift work is the downside.
Still, our unit (and I think most) work 16 out of every 28 days, which is noticeably less than Mon-Fri. Plus on later shifts there are about 10 dudes in the building and I’m often in charge, so it’s a more chill type of work day.
I can complain because I’m aircrew and it’s our god-given right, but not too much, it’s a good deal.
Coming up on 10 years homesteading in a place I want to live and I’ll (inshallah) still get an active duty retirement out of it, staying at the FGO level in a flying squadron, no staff, etc.
There are way worse ways to spend the back half of your career than as a Major/Lt Col line dawg IP occasionally getting to sling hate at our enemies all while sleeping in your own bed every night.
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Yea they're jammin' more than Bob Marley out there in a somewhat-successful attempt to defeat Ukrainian drones and other GPS-aided munitions. Thanks a lot Vlad!
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2 minutes ago, BFM this said:
…now when the T-6 companion trainers show up on the flight line, you’re on!
I mean yea, that would be awesome, but it's never gonna happen, at least during the remainder of my career. There was some excitement about that possibility when light attack was seemingly going to happen, but that program was about 15 years too late and obv it didn't happen.
The AF really put the whole community into a box canyon with the 18X program. That should have ended YEARS ago and everyone should have been sent to UPT. Copy the limited capacity of UPT as we have it constructed today.
But the tradeoff is that if/when the MQ-9 goes away, unless there's a similar platform in terms of how we operate it (doubtful IMHO), all those rated officers are going to be hung out to dry. ~2,000+ people currently trained in AF flying, WX/pubs/class A international and CONUS + tons of weapons & systems experience.
The only way out of the canyon is an 18X to 11X transition course, but that for some reason has gotten zero traction. It won't affect me, but all my my young LTs who are 18Xers are going to have to figure things out when the mighty Reaper heads off to the boneyard. A companion trainer of any kind would go a long way to giving RPA pilots the airsense you gain from actually being in the aircraft, but again, zero traction.
To piggyback on a comment I made in another thread, give me the gov AMEX and I'll buy about 50x DA-62s, give RPA pilots the FAA instrument rating equivalency they deserve, and I'm betting 96.9% of them can be made in to competent manned pilots ready to be assigned elsewhere in Big Blue when the time comes. The biggest problem is many of them might just punch and go to the airlines if they had a manned mil companion aircraft to build time on 😅
And maybe while you're at it you can consider what's left of the RPA pilot job for warrant officers, seems like a perfect fit.
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2 minutes ago, AirGuardianC141747 said:
If they’re leaving four airports I wonder which ones?
It says directly in the article that was linked:
- Bellingham International Airport in Bellingham, Washington
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas
- Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York
- Cozumel International Airport in Mexico
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4 hours ago, DVT said:
I was discussing this the other day, after seeing what the USN pulled off almost overnight. AF buy a slew of the same darn Beechcraft and get on it NOW. All those turboprops can be delivered in 3-4 years.
Guys need real flying and learning in the real world and all the things one learns by doing that. T-6 onward to King Air onward to "Heavy Whatever" is WORLDS better than T-6 to F it, we do it live.
Kudos to the USN boys. AF...take notes and execute on a T-1 replacement.
It's not rocket science to look out at the civ aviation world, find a decent multi aircraft that you can buy at scale, and just buy it. Then send all your non-fighter, non-helo pilot studs to train with it. Wham bam, done.
I or anyone with half a brain could do it in a couple of weeks if Uncle Sam will loan me the gov AMEX Centurion w/ no spending limit. Too bad it "doesn't work that way" for...reasons.
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4 hours ago, BFM this said:
Where do I sign?
Guard MQ-9. And you don't even have to give up the rank!
We have, right now, 5x Lt Cols who just fly the line full-time on T10 orders and have for years. Shit, none of them are even IPs! It's wild. Best kept secret I've seen in my career so far. No leadership/management required, yet get paid (almost) the same as the AGR SQ/CCs and DOs who are busting their asses every day and twice on drill weekend.
Not a bad gig if you can get it.
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1 hour ago, gearhog said:
Give it a rest.
🫡 you too bud
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5 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:
But I have found your arguments to be fairly cookie cutter, cheerleader type DNC stuff. Rarely compelling, and I am not even remotely a die-hard conservative.
I have given lengthy, insanely lengthy, explanations and justifications for my views on numerous political and non political topics over literally 15+ years posting here. If this is what you take away, it’s more proof that it was all a massive waste of time! Thank you for confirming my belief that this is all a bad habit that we’d all be better off doing less of.
The truth is my beliefs have changed over time just like anyone else, but also that my values remain relatively stable and those values lead me to overwhelmingly support liberal, Democratic policies rather than ones proposed by the conservatives, libertarians, socialists, etc.
Believe it or not that’s a perfectly reasonable POV to have, just like it’s perfectly reasonable to be 69% consistently conservative GOP, libertarian, or grouchy contrarian and “politically homeless” like most of y’all here are.
Also believe it or not all of this type of conversation is much more effectively had in person. It works so much better when talking to my friends of all political stripes in person, over a late night shift or a beer. As you pointed out, too many people are miserable assholes online even more so than in real life. I try not to be too often, but hey, sometimes it’s hard (sts).
My resolution, although it hasn’t always been kept, is to stop typing political stuff here and to take those thoughts to places where they’re more productively heard and where I can better appreciate other peoples points of view - in person. Or just to STFU and talk about normal stuff like cars, airplanes, kids, sports, etc. Politics is a new national pastime 24/7/364 and honestly the whole country is worse off for it.
Back to step 1 on my BO.net AA journey, “I am powerless over my desire to talk politics with you miserable bastards here, and that waste of time and effort has become unmanageable.” 🤣
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1 hour ago, gearhog said:
That is how I feel about it.
Good thing you’re not a mil officer then! You seem to genuinely not like America very much. No mention that Russians have no rights under Putin other than what he allows. The brazen murders around the globe. Invading neighboring countries, etc.
🇺🇸 I for one find is to be the good guys the vast majority of the time despite our faults and I have hope for an even better future. I plan to work toward that rather than wallow in our faults and apologize for enemies. To each his own I guess!
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10 minutes ago, BashiChuni said:
this is such a tired trope.
correct the record for us then...is ukraine winning?
Hold on, let me check JuannaBlowMe.net for the latest “unfiltered truth data” from the battlefield…
Or maybe there’s another 4 hour podcast with 3 blurry guys from Cyprus that has some intel I’m not seeing at work?
F off man, this is not a debate worth having with you Chang. I hope you can pay for your next set of knee pads in rubles once your current set wears out.
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4 hours ago, gearhog said:
Yet here you are. Again. Claiming that participating in this forum is a waste while you, yourself, participate in the forum. How many times have you quit the forum forever now? 4,5? But I'm glad you're here. It means you read what I posted. I'm not asking expecting you to agree with it, only think about it.
Look, just because I’m a terrible addict doesn’t mean I can’t tell you that crack is bad.
You are 96.9% likely not convincing anyone of anything who didn’t already agree with you.
You’re also, IMHO, being both a weird contrarian AND a useful idiot for clear Russian IO propaganda, but that’s just my opinion. I admittedly haven’t read your entire library and carefully parsed the facts from the BS. And I don’t plan to.
There is absolutely room for debate on how, when, why and how much we should support Ukraine’s continued fight against the Russian invasion vs other possible policies we might choose instead. But not if the opening argument for that proposed policy change is based on what you heard on the PutinTV.net podcast, that’s just not gonna pass muster in this forum of what should be relatively informed mil personnel, nor should it.
Love you too though 😘
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58 minutes ago, gearhog said:
I'm not wasting my time here.
My man, I say this with more experience than 69% of the people here...you abso-fucking-lutely are wasting your time here. I would know!
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9 hours ago, gearhog said:
Yes, RT is an outlet for state propaganda. This is not new information and I thought it was so obvious that I didn't need to make a confession to you. We in the US, also have dozens of media outlets coordinating with government officials to censor dissenting information and distribute approved information.
Saying RT is the same as privately-owned US news outlets working with the government at times is laughable. Especially from a fellow military officer. This is exactly the point of view Russia would like you to have! So well done there.
Reminds me of the video below. While Trump is not technically wrong from a very cynical POV, the worldview is wrong IMHO in that in puts the U.S. government on the same morally equivalent ground as the Russian government, and again, as a mil officer I sincerely hope you don’t actually believe that!
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9 hours ago, gearhog said:
Would you rather have a little circle jerk with only the people who wear the same blinders you do?
Funny enough that’s a BO.net specialty! 🤣
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They really missed an opportunity to say "Britain's Greatest Penis," I think that would have been better 🍆
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Also gotta take my own advice...
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4 hours ago, M2 said:
The right to keep and bear arms is an alienable one, not "granted" by any government.
Given what you meant, this is a funny typo 😅
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We're all better informed by listening to Duran Duran than to reading straight-from-the-source Russian propaganda like The Duran. Agree with helping Ukraine, disagree with doing that, that's all fine; that particular source of "information" is incredibly bad. It's unmitigated BS and propaganda designed to entice Westerners to support pro-Russian policies.
Side note: IDK how some of you guys even watch 2+ hour long video podcasts where it's just 2-4 blurry guys babbling on and S-ing each other's intellectual D-s the whole time. It's literally the most mind-numbing thing I've ever encountered.
Here's a recommendation for what to spend your time with tonight:
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The incentive structure is off in non-ops-oriented units & work areas. They gain nothing from the mission going successfully or going at all. Hell, they may only be vaguely aware at best of what the mission of their installation even is. What inventive do they have to bend the rules, expedite, hell, even follow their own rules to ensure the mission gets done? Very little unfortunately.
Heck, I can say the same thing in some ways even for Ops. Too often your OPR / standing in the squadron just assumes everyone is relatively equally competent at the mission so, "Tell me what else you've done lately?"
Shop work and extraneous bullshit > flying prowess in most units in my experience, even some good ones.
Occasionally there's a no-shitter mission where things have to happen right or people die and then you get a small glimpse into who can actually fucking hack it and who, despite potentially being rated highly on paper, cannot.
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Y’all keep responding to this dude on all his burners and I’m still wondering why… -
Oooohh scary! You know who has two thumbs owns Alphabet shares through Vanguard? This guy 😎
I must really be near the inner-most rings of power, in that same all-powerful Vanguard account I also own shares in 499 other large American companies! Tune in next week when I explain how I amassed this power and how you might be able to learn the truth too. #tinfoil
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Ok dude, this is why I retired from this stuff. I’m not interested in these primarily political debates online anymore. What are you hoping to achieve here?
Believe what you want. I’ll keep doing my thing in my unit and you can keep doing yours wherever that may be; we’re good over here 🤙
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55 minutes ago, FourFans said:
In my opinion if someone is hard over "I'm a democrat" or "I'm a Trump supporter" or "I only vote ...insert party or single topic here..." should be exempt from any form of command.
I disagree. I mean, keep an open mind obviously to changing circumstances, but I've had plenty of good commanders, leaders, and fellow service members who I'm pretty sure vote straight ticket one way or the other.
Would you feel the same way about other things? What about professed and vocal Christians? Or atheists? Or vegans? Or Crossfitters?
IMHO having strong and consistent opinions and preferences on something should not make you "exempt from command." Command should be entrusted to those who can best execute the mission, lead people, manage resources, and improve their units...damn those sounds familiar...😁
59 minutes ago, FourFans said:It's not that you can't have strong opinions. But when those opinions are so publicly displayed that your subordinates are made keenly aware of their importance in your life, you become unapproachable to at least 50 percent of your people.
I hear ya here and sort of agree. The office is not the right place for politics, especially when it comes to commenting on your current chain of command.
That said, the best Commander and leader I ever served under was a huge Trump fan and everyone knew it. The guy just loved Trump; obviously I do not. BUT, he was an awesome leader and I'd follow him anywhere...except in the voting booth I guess!
One of my current favorite SNCO leaders in my unit is also a well-known Trump fan, and again, he's just a great leader of people, takes care of his airmen, is good in the seat, manages programs well, instructs well, great character and family, the total package. I'm proud to be on any team he is on, politics aside.
1 hour ago, FourFans said:You have has specifically stated that you agree with every policy that Biden has put into place. So you are in command of people. How has DEI impacted your command?
The first sentence isn't accurate. Not willing to debate it though - see my retirement post from arguing about politics.
I think my unit handles any DEI issues well, but then again we're like an ~85% white male Guard unit in the South and I'm a southern white male, so perhaps there are issues I'm not seeing. IMHO our unit is well led, lethal at executing the mission, and seems to manage resources & morale well, hard to complain too much. DEI is about the 69th most important thing I worry about at work.
1 hour ago, FourFans said:Beyond that, do you still adhere to the idea that a green transition is a good idea?
Yes. See above though. If it's a political discussion primarily, I'm not willing to bang my head against the wall anymore.
If you wanna talk renewable energy, EVs, solar, etc. I'd love to. I also live my values in this regard especially - I have solar on my house, batteries in the garage, and we have exclusively electric vehicles now. It's great! Let's take it offline or to another thread if you'd like.
Also FWIW Germany is far from the most advanced country when it comes to renewable energy. They weren't before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and they certainly aren't after it. I don't think anyone has ever claimed that other than maybe you.
1 hour ago, FourFans said:You lead people: your words. You are a hard over democrat: your words.
Do you recognize how declaring a hard over political line (regardless of party) undercuts your credibility as an approachable leader?
I'm not sure I've ever said I was a "hard over Democrat." The only thing I'm "hard over" these days is BQZip's mom.
I agree that being a hyper-partisan and vocal-about-it military officer is a bad idea, no matter what your particular politics are.
I'm not, and the big Trump fans I know in my unit aren't either. We're too busy killing the enemy and figuring out how to keep everyone paid and happy to do more politically at work than typical aircrew banter.
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If you're still under the age cap (seems like you are), you could go active duty. Otherwise the above advice is good - show up multiple drill weekends in a row at your target units. Ask if you can do that, don't just wait to be invited. Bring some beer.
Open your aperture too if you're willing to fly anything. Rush heavy units as well as fighters. And I hate to say it but you could consider flying Navy too; at least talk to a semen recruiter. Good luck!
USAF bringing back Warrant officers.
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by nsplayr
You old retired fucks are just haters, no worries 😎
I landed one plane downrange, took off another one, drove home & now I tucked in my kids and am watching NBA on my couch.
If I’m lucky the airplane I took off will be minus a couple of hellfires when I go back in and land it tomorrow 🇺🇸
All title 10 orders, no deployments, no PCSing, part of a great squadron. Life is good. Hit me up if any of you poor bastards on active duty want to rush the unit, we happily accept bottles of whiskey and cases of beer every drill weekend from pilots looking to be a part of one of the best deals out there.