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CNN is running a story on how all the leaks about the operational details of the bin Laden raid are potentially putting the SEALs who took part in danger. They then go on to run down all the operational details that have been leaked recently, send a reporter to the supposed base where the team is stationed, and attempt to go to bars and restaurants "known to be frequented by SEALs" to get them on camera. WTF...YOU ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE REPORTING IS DANGEROUS!! Stop making it worse you idiots... Best quote: Ken "Former Special Forces Officer" Robinson, "The executive branch, the legislative branch, friends, relatives, and acquaintances; they need to shut the f*ck up." Well said Ken...or should I say Rainman...

We had some kind of deal where our work for Haiti counted for an inspection last year. Anyone else at HRT remember better than I do?

This whole RIF board thing is a cluster of paperwork. Create PRF-like folder, with 8 lines of narrative, for every 03-05 captain and every 00-02 major in our squadron...oh wait, that's about 69 folders. And I'm willing to 100% guarantee none of these people will be RIF'd since all of our VSP applicants were turned down and there isn't an overage of 11SX or 12SX folks anywhere. Son of a bitch air force...

I think there's credit due all around. The folks who gave the order and carried out the mission would not have been in a position to do so if there wasn't groundwork laid ahead of time. The desire to bring a ruthless killer to justice can and does transcend partisan politics.

I did see a KC-10 refueling a B-1 below me in a country with notoriously high terrain. Keep in mind we don't get up real high with one engine...thought that was pretty forward-leaning of them.

I've heard myself saying this exact same phrase before around 2003...

Looks like the idea to control at locations separate from where the birds are located is finally taking off. Eglin isn't exactly paradise but it's a hell of a lot nicer than the current UAV locations... Link

Also conjecture. Edit to add: awesome video of Obama's alternate speech from Sunday night.

CNN was talking about it just now...not really surprised we brought out the fanciest toys for the biggest missions.

I think that's the judgment call and it apparently has been made in the affirmative. I probably would have been inclined to release the pics, but then again we saw all the violence caused by the Danish cartoon or the Koran burning shennanigans. To me, it seems like a lot of the more radical Muslims out there get their panties in a wad easily and believe "being offended" means "rampage through the streets and kill people and break shit," so if there is a genuine belief that releasing the photos would cause more violence directed at U.S. forces and personnel then I guess it's the right decision.

"We don't need to spike the football. And I think that, given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk." Think that sums it up.

Well at some point you had to overfly Pakistan considering, ya know, Abbottabad is in Pakistan...not sure what you mean by this. Whether they actually launched the vipers to intercept or perhaps passively participated in the operation by letting us in is probably not to be known by us or discussed here. to the BAMFs who put a bullet in his face, dragged his body off, and dumped in in the ocean. AMF, I hope some of the SEALs tea-bagged you before throwing you overboard.

AFLt, PM me if you want a good contact. My best friend from high school is a -135 pilot down there and should have the latest gouge on where to live, the life of a -135 Co, etc. I visited him down there for a long weekend and we had a blast; give yourself a high-five for getting an awesome assignment.

In almost any degree program, in my opinion, you get out what you put in. Granted reputation matters, but if you put in the work to be able to speak intelligently and credibly about what you learned and can connect that with the job you're trying to get then you're doing it right. The stigma of "online" versus "brick and mortar/real" is slowing going away and honestly there aren't a lot of other options for frequent deployers/TDYers. Like some people have said on here, if the AF were truly committed to having its officers getting good educations, there would be many more slots for full-time study from high-quality institutions. The system now gives the illusion of the AF caring about human capital and education, but instead just gives them one more data point to rack-and-stack people and puts money in the pockets of "military-friendly" online schools.

Nice, let's hope so. I never went (many navs didn't b/c there wasn't a huge break in the pipeline anywhere) and was sweating out having to go. They were non-vol'ing dudes from my squadron a few months ago to fill empty seats at that joke of a course. Not that I have a pregnant wife, pin on captain in a few months and a 1/1.2 dwell ratio...that's what I wanna spend my time at home doing, AF second-lieutenant bullshit! I think the idea behind the whole "close the War Colleges" movement is that, for the cost, they do not provide a better education than civilian institutions and to the determent of those who attend, they breed a closed-minded, military-centric way of thinking. I have no idea if those claims are true and it's probably YMMV, but it's hard to argue that it would at least be cheaper to go the civilian route rather than running a whole institution internally. Same goes for the academies I guess...the burden is kind of on them to justify why the greater cost is worth it in terms of better products, a unique education, etc. Either way, I don't expect either the academies or War Colleges to go away b/c why would the military want to give up prestigious institutions and funding just to save a buck for Uncle Sam? They wouldn't.

You're channeling Tom Ricks circa April 2009. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 He even talks about closing the war colleges in the third link. I'm pretty sure we had a thread on this once too...

The AF is trying to get better ways to PID men/women/children when viewed by ISR/CAS platforms so you don't end up fragging women and kids. Reference this story. As a side note, sucks for those pred guys that everything they say is on tape for critical review by the media after the fact...and they didn't even take the bad shot!

Where do I sign up? On a side note, I totally forgot this thread existed; as my profile pic indicates I'm 100% being the armed crop duster idea, what a sweet machine.

That is not correct. If you come to where I work you will be called a CSO. As far as I know we're one of 2 platforms that calls their 12XX folks CSOs, so in the grand scheme of things it's weird but in my little bubble it's normal. As far as new vs. experienced, as far as I know we'll gladly take both and our training pipeline has turned out good products from both green 2Lts and silverback Lt Cols. Just don't suck or be fat.

There's another asset that is still pretty undermanned that I'm surprised didn't get any of the new studs. Their loss, greatest job out there for a CSO if ya ask me... Great drop though, congrats to all.

No. Many. 3 per year unless you're popping our kids or working at Group/Wing. That's what they tell us and follow-options are mostly AFSOC. Depends what your expectations are and which track you go. Most NSAV = Cannon. U-28 = Hurlburt. Correct and MC-12 stuff is unrelated (ACC asset) so not much worth looking there. As a generalization, I like my job a lot and am glad I went this rout. YMMV depending on attitude and expectations. Generally great dudes to work with and the squadrons here at HRT are mostly well run and morale is high.

Wonder if good ole' Prince William will make the cut /sarcasm

Just saw that on SWJ, very nice.

Man, surprised by the responses. I've never used the Eagle Cash card and don't think almost any of our guys use them either. I've never been required to even have a card at BAF and have paid cash in the past with no issues. You guys make it sound like a good deal but I guess I've never really bought more than like $40 worth of stuff out there so having a couple of Jackson's in my wallet before arriving in theater was the easiest possible system.

The first rule of being a ninja is don't talk about being a ninja. Since you've outted me though, I figured I'd post my educational video on how to become a ninja yourself. And remember kids, "Don't go ninjing nobody don't need no ninjing!" Edit to add: This has got to be the weirdest shit I have ever seen...another classic from the South African hip-hop scene. Truly, W...T...F...