nsplayr

Saw an email today asking for CSO (i.e. Nav, EWO, or WSO) volunteers to become "UAS Pilots" (their wording). Had some TOS restrictions (> 2 years) but other than that you just had to be released from your functional. The training path seemed to be approx. 20 weeks at RND for Undergrad UAS School, then on to one of 3 bases for FTU, then you get the 18xx rating, I'm assuming new wings as well, and become a permanent UAS asset. Wonder how many takers they'll be getting?

Um...sweet, if not groundbreaking, advice man...isn't there another thread this can go in?

I think I did a CBT to get qualed on that...

+1...well played USAFPilot

Feel free to correct, but i think afnav was talking about guys who had been there for a 365, and on the ass-end of their tour were kicked to tents while waiting for a ride home. I'd imagine one's tolerance for tent living is exponentially greater at the beginning rather than the end of a year-long vacation to the desert. In that case, yea, it sucks and if I had a vote I'd keep the departing guys in real rooms until their ride was ready and have the new arrivals deal with tent city until their room was ready so long as it didn't take forever; obviously a smooth, on-time transition would be best but you know how that usually works out...

That's my man right there...keep shooting for 100% Seriously, shitty situation but either leave the girl or get out of the AF if still possible. If you SIE you will most likely end up Space & Missiles and a bachelor.

Sarcasm meter malfunction, attempt reset. Well congratulations...when the boss asks you do so things that break the 4 truths you can join the club and marvel at the irony of it all. sarcasm: on Wow, I didn't know you sat in on my last checkride and evaluated my performance. I also didn't know I was last in my class and didn't want to be here; all of this truly is news to me, thanks for the insight. Since you know me so well care to give me some advice on... /sarcasm off Oh wait, you're just some bitter dude who doesn't know me or my bros. Chill the F out with the high school rivalries man...SAME TEAM! Unless you carry a long gun and fight on the ground with the army we're all only as special as the guy next to us so get off your high horse. This is exactly what I did to get here and the same goes for many of the dudes in my timeframe. If you're such a SOF God and follow the truths to the T why don't you stop ranting and teach the young LTs something, especially when the process isn't exactly guaranteeing quality control the way it once did. I'm very eager to learn because of that guy on the ground, but you sir apparently have nothing to teach me. That's it, pissing contest over.

Wow, BURN...I feel butt hurt already. Yea, none of the other squadrons out there are taking dudes right out of UPT/nav school, none of you other guys are growing faster than is probably advisable, etc. etc. Look, we all have the same boss man and when he says "do more" and AFPC drops a bunch of LTs out of the sky, how is that not trying to mass producing SOF? Anyways, wow, get over yourself because we're all on the same team. Absolutely...from the limited understanding I have of the SOF truths they seem like sound rules to follow. It's just funny to learn them though because I know we (meaning AFSOC as a whole) are breaking them on a regular basis and I'm at least hoping the product we're putting out these days (i.e. me and my bros as young LTs) are as good as what the SOF standard should be because the guys on the ground certainly deserve our very best. Time will tell I guess...more motivation not to suck.

Dumbness. The four SOF truths are treated like gospel while we at AFSOC go and break them at will, so wtf will adding a 5th truth do? “Most special operations require non-SOF assistance;” that will just start a new pissing contest over dudes saying "Well my mission is the most special, WE don't need help and etc. etc. Every time I see a slide with the 4 truths I chuckle because me and my bros are the physical embodiment of their being broken.

Ugh...that was a mistake. Found this gem on "self-diagnosis" of a pinworm infection and how to proceed. So, if I feel an "intense crawling sensation" up my ass I should stick my finger up there and root around for worms. Truly a moment.

I'd say the opposite based on your logic. Since there aren't exactly new AFBs popping up all over the place, many of our bases are named for long-lost heroes of the past that most people probably don't personally remember. Those heroes who died in more recent times still live on in the memories of their friends, colleagues, and children. If the opportunity arose to name a new base, sure, name it after a Vietnam or even more recent fallen hero, but that doesn't seem likely. Also you implied that Onizuka was a bad choice for a base name even though it was named for someone who died in 1986 in the line of duty; why is that?

More research needed sir. Your example of Creech was particularly bad. Creech AFB was named after General Wilbur Creech who, while dying of natural causes after his retirement, did fly plenty of combat time in Vietnam during his career. M2 already pointed out the numerous other Air Force bases named after those who have fallen and while it's honorable to want to remember Vietnam vets in a more visible way, I for one think the Air Force is ahead of or at minimum on par with the other services who all have a mix of base names derived from people or geographic locations. Edit to add: Onizuka AFB was named in 1986...not exactly a recent decision either...

Thread bump (working duty desk late into the night and was re-reading classic threads) First off, I almost crapped my pants reading story and that would have been a serious issue while on the job. Here's my contribution: Flying T-1s at the end of nav school, we're on a low-level with two pilots, myself and another nav in the back, and my buddy in the jump (let's call him Bob). We had stopped at Hooks I think and had a nice lunch where Bob ordered an enourmas turkey sandwich. He knew his stomach was not the strongest in the world, but he only ate 1/2 the sandwich and turkey is pretty safe, right? So we're on the low level, "yanking and banking" as much as our crusty ole' reservists can muster in the tone, and we're getting close to our simulated air drop point and Bob is dutifully giving leg briefings and generally doing a bang-up job. We shack the IP and are crusing in for the drop and all of a sudden Bob goes quiet. Suddenly, he looks back at the two of us in the back and mutters "Gimmie a bag" in a barely audible slur. The other dude in the back reaches in his helmet bag, pulls out the brown envelope, and throws it frisbee-style at Bob up in the jump. Unfortunatly, Bob is still strapped in and my friend's throwing skills aren't exactly NFL quality, and the bag falls short. Later on Bob told us that "All my hopes and dreams died when that bag hit the ground." With the pilots questioning him for the second time on when to drop, Bob twists to the right and blows chuncks all over the right side of the jet, the mask he wasn't wearing, and the AC's open helmet bag. I was watching a stopwatch in the back just to pretend to be doing something useful and Bob had managed to puke +1 seconds from the briefed green light time and we were on course/altitude; complete shack. We're cracking up in the back, the AC realizes what's going on and calls knock it off, and brings us out of the low level route. Luckily Bob only had two good heaves in him, but there was puke EVERYWHERE and we had nothing to clean it up with other than our shirts. Being true pals, the two of us in the back pull off our black undershirts and help Bob clean up his puke as best we can at the suggestion of the AC. When we get on the ground we all head back into the squadron minus Bob who was explaining to the crew chief what happened. Never had the zipper on my bag zipped quite so high. Funny side note, Bob's puke actually smelled relatively delicious since it was pretty much 100% turkey sandwich that was less than an hour old even after he puked it up. Good times. Bob, if you're on here and read this, you're my boy.

Or how about Great Britain and Nazi Germany? God Save the King/Queen is the freaking national anthem (yes, I realize the King/Queen isn't actually the political leader of the country anymore), and kids sang songs praising Hitler when he was in charge. My entire point is that brainwashing does not equal communism! How is this freaking hard to understand?? The fact that many dictatorships/authoritarians have been communists (in name at least) in recent years is coincidental. Authoritarian leaders were ruling the world and having children sing songs about them long before Marx and Mao and Stalin were ever born. I don't remember elementary school that well, but when you sang songs about Reagan was he the sitting President? Honestly I wouldn't have kids sing about a current political leader because some A-hole would post it on youtube and start a controversy about it, but it's really not that bad. Kids should be taught to respect the President (no matter who it is) and elementary kids sing songs about everything in order to learn. Even if you think all of this is brainwashing and are calling the school district, I'm sure these kids will have plenty of opportunity to pick up their partisan views at home as they get a little older and either way by time they can vote Obama will be old and washed up. I think you're undervaluing having a positive role model for black kids. Everyone always complains that rappers and basketball players are terrible role models for kids, so how about a black guy who's actually accomplished something a little better than rapping or being good at sports? Anyways, you'll probably just think that's racist, but BL kids want to look up to someone who looks like them (should be their parents but that's not always possible). Sorry, did you miss all the books that come out every election cycle about the newly elected President? This is capitalism at work my friend...something significant happens that everyone's aware of (like an election), and people write books about it trying to squeeze a couple dollars out of people's excitement. Just look at Michael Crabtree who's demanding more money out of the 49ers when he hadn't done sh*t in the NFL yet...our country values the new and the highly-touted versus the proven and well-worn. Finally...why is no one else catching on to the teacher thing? Edit: Forgot to add...this should be about how stupid the teacher was and not about the President at all really...unless you think he's controlling all this behind the scenes. If so then I'm sorry.

Thank you for being intelligent. Being a communist and being authoritarian and/or undertaking brainwashing are not the same thing. I laugh every time people call someone they don't like a nazi or a communist or both because apparently they have no idea what those things actually are. Whatever...not what the thread is supposed to be about...here's what teachers should be doing:

Wow...what was the teacher thinking?? BTW brainwashing doesn't = communism...it makes no sense when people use "bad" terms interchangeably (i.e. communism=nazi=pol pot=facism=socialism). But none-the-less... on the teacher because the kid's don't know any better

Well played sir...a STS worthy of reporting

Clearly I gave my own opinion. After reading the SECDEF's opinion, I'll maybe rethink the implications of the changes to the plan, but I haven't changed my mind that the original aims of the plan were a move to contain Russia. If you don't like my opinion maybe you should drink more beer and/or let it go...no one ever claimed any expertise here whatsoever.

Um...I think joe was being sarcastic?

And when someone points out that it's unnecessary I'll usually back down and take it easy. It's so easy to get mad online when in real life we'd all probably be a lot more civil with each other. Long range missiles form where? Iran doesn't have them, the Russians have enough to completely overwhelm the stations, and if we're in a long-range missile war with Russia we're all f*ed anyways. So for all the cost and controversy of these stations, what exactly are we gaining? To me it makes better sense to attempt to improve our relations with Russia and get them on board with more sanctions/pressure on Iran than to piss off the Russians for no gain in terms of Iran. Pressure on Iran will not work if the Russians aren't on board, so why not give that a try rather than just putting on a war face to everyone who poses even a potential threat to us? Edit to add: Here's Gates on the change in plans Link

International Talk Like A Pirate Day Started by two guys 7 years ago apparently, mentioned in a Dave Barry column, now it's a thing.

slacker, I thought he was talking more generally about Obama's Ramadan message and by calling him "great leader," it was an obvious reference. I got the vibe of "Obama is pandering to Muslims..." so it was an easy kill to actually post the Rosh Hashanah video. If the reference was only to the policy memo at the Deid then I stand corrected, but I don't think it was; feel free to correct pitt. Anwyays, back to your regularly scheduled Deid bashing and I'll un-twist my panties...

Arr mayte! 'Tis a shame thee Captain of Captains has not acknowledged the most swashbuckling of all holidays, ITLAP Day! Shiver me timbers and etc... Too bad, I would give any President that send out a message for ITLAP Day one thumb and one hook up!

Lighten up Francis! How can I state this better...IMHO. If you don't like my analysis of the situation then present a counter-analysis. Seriously, this is not my primary area of interest or knowledge, so feel free to educate but save the condescending tone. This article I think presents a good look at how complicated the situation between Russia/Iran/US is and it among other things inform my view of this issue. To sum up, IN MY VIEW, the Eastern European missiles were a bargaining chip/reminder towards Russia and were not meant primarily to defend US interests against Iran...they would more likely mine the straights of Hormuz or lob missiles at Israel and/or US forces on either of their borders. Feel free to disagree but let's not get into a pissing contest over where we work and what everyone's qualifications are that allow them to speak on an internet message board. If you only want to talk to experts attend a panel meeting at a think tank or something like that.

Does every thread have to be an Obama-bash? Here's your fucking video idiot. This president, like those in the past, generally sends out message celebrating every holiday imaginable. Grow up. On topic...glad to hear some people have enough sense to make a mockery of reflective belts