Stretch
-
Posts
61 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Blogs
Downloads
Wiki
Posts posted by Stretch
-
-
There's some more context to add.
An FBI agent can't just open a case. You have to get concurrence from from a Department of Justice attorney in order to do so. They're the legal check and balance when it comes to whether something meets a legal threshold for burdens of proof. Likewise, a DOJ attorney signs off on absolutely every piece of paper that gets placed in front of a judge or a panel. It's easy to point the finger at the FBI here, but it's failure is exactly 50% of the problem, no more, no less. I don't expect the former infantry officer-turned-agent to be the sterling reviewer for burdens of proof, but I do expect that of the lawyers. I think most people are now seeing that some agents were set up to fail by some very senior influence who were just never expected to get caught.
Likewise, the agents I know classify the FBI in three buckets - The FBI, the FBI in New York, and the FBI in DC. When you think the Law and Order FBI that most Americans (used to) think of, that is the FBI. When you think the aggressive, cowboy ops, -the-locals-and-take-over FBI, it's the FBI in New York. When you think sleazy & manipulative FBI, it's the FBI in DC. The three parts don't really play well together, for good reason. The NY folks piss everyone off but that's the nature of an aggressive organization. The DC folks piss everyone off because their hyper-political bullshit slams, derails, and scuttles lots of good work while replacing it with bullshit (such as this). The rest of the FBI doesn't piss anyone off, because they're doing their job just the way you want them to.
Did it surprise anyone that the FBI in DC ran Hurricane Crossfire like a shitshow? Nope. Because it's run by political appointees and politicians, deeply ingrained in the shit-scented cultural winds of the moment. If you ask me, as a separate organization, the DOJ is even worse, because you have politically appointed lawyers. It doesn't take much for a few (very) senior folks to lean into a chain of command and skew priorities and processes.
Want to redeem or fix the FBI? Only put experienced agents in charge - no more political appointees with no LE/intelligence background, no more lawyers. Baseline it to profession competency, highest moral standards, and absolutely ing decapitate the leadership who was or is in place when this all went down, to include prosecution where appropriate.
Treat it just like you want the AF to be treated - the core mission has been rotted away by leadership completely out of touch with the line force, programs and politically motivated bullshit that takes time, effort, and resources away from your actual mission, and a system where dipshits promote other dipshits because they look the most similar to how the senior dipshit looked back in the day. You want a CSAF/leadership that is mission centric, teflon to the politics, and willing to push back on anything that doesn't progress the defense of the nation? The FBI wants that too. I actually believe the FBI has a better chance of doing that than the AF does, given the lack of rigid rank structure.
Soap-container dismounted. I've got a number of connections with the Bureau and this has been a topic of discussion for a while.
Edited for spelling and to add:
Just like the AF, I don't think anyone (who shouldn't be removed) in the actual organization will look at you and say that the Bureau is faultless or innocent in this. There's a tumor. Remove it with vengeance. I am on team Hold Those At Fault Accountable, but I don't see burning down the whole FBI as the solution. Public hearings, prosecution, and removals - sunlight destroys corruption, show the whole world.
-
1
-
-
Space guy here.
ADSC expiration is currently racing any mandatory Space Force transfers that will be in the works. My curiosity is currently high concerning the reserves, as that was my plan before this all came to be. Officially, Air Force Space Command is gone, US Space Force is one person (the Chief of Space Operations), and all other formerly AFSPC personnel are AF folks on loan to the USSF.
I've been wearing USSF tags on my OCPs every Friday for months for funsies, now it's not nearly as fun.
I am authentically afraid of what the leadership will decide to call the USSF members.
-
Re: Single-Stack 9mm for concealed...
I'll be the Walther fanboy and suggest the PPS. Single stack, light, thin, and competitve to several other options when it comes to price.
I've got some sizable mitts and between the swapable grips and the grip area afforded by the 8rd magazine, it's easy to hold and shoot. Several hundred rounds through my current PPS for very tight groups and no problems, regardless of ammo.
Between the gun and an Aliengear IWB holster, I'll carry at a 4 o'clock position all day and damn near forget that it's there.
-
2 hours ago, 08Dawg said:
EFSS is an absolute abortion out here. The lodging office has flat out refused to communicate or cooperate with the bomb squadron.
If it helps any, they won't communicate or cooperate with any squadron.
-
At least there is a reliable chance of food at a barbeque. I'm not so sure the same can be said at the chow halls, given the state of the last few meals.
(Background: They're switching over contractors for food services and don't have the people, processes, or supply chains unfooked yet. A major for EFSS was taking out the trash bags of disposable plates as SNCOs were manning scrambled eggs serving spoons this morning at the BPC for breakfast, trying to make up for the manpower shortage with 'leadership' and bodies from everywhere else on base. Strongly correlated rumor has something about the previous contractor's penchant for human trafficing as part of that bid change decision.)
The 'Deid - "You're complaining about housing again? Let's give you something to really complain about!"
Other items - the base leadership has directed that 'we' will work to co-locate those who work together (i.e. comms guys with comm guys, cops with cops, etc) so that commanders can do commander shit better. That will translate to waves of people moving out of their current room and moving into another room in the same or nearby buildings.
-
1
-
-
Caught this earlier today. Comm checks could be interesting.
Lifting an overzealous barrier or another body blow to the military for the sake of inclusion/diversity?
A lawmaker who advocates for the deaf is calling for a trial program that would allow a small number of hearing impaired to serve in the Air Force.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., introduced in the House on Wednesday legislation that would give 15 to 20 people who are deaf or hard of hearing but otherwise fit for military duty the chance to serve their country.
“It is from my direct experience that I can say it is entirely possible for deaf or hard of hearing Americans to serve in the Air Force. Obviously, certain accommodations and limitations would have to be made, but ultimately no more than for other individuals with unique circumstances who are already serving,” Capt. Casey Doane of Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, wrote.I understand how well deaf individuals can integrate - I went to a school who had 25% deaf/HOH population and have seen it first hand. But this?
-
Yikes.
AFROTC was always kinda heavy on dudes/dudetts who would step over one another to look good in front of the Detachement staff. And this is based on my experince during the days of "Everyone Goes to Field Training." Sounds like a whole other level of BS to put up with now.
They need to replenish those recently-culled missile squadrons somehow: might as well get them pre-conditioned.
-
Playing passenger on a rotator to/through AUAB and stopping in Ireland. The entire pax section is elated to have a beer, especially those heading further downrange for a long stint whom have always wanted to try some name brand stout from an Irish tap.
Wheels down and the troop commander (solo O-6) makes a decision - no booze. Anyone. Back to Little Boy/Little Girl rules. He proceeds to walk the entire airport holding area from end to end in order to make sure everyone is following direction.
FFS, its Ireland and the only thing open at this hour is the airport bar and an O'Quick-Stop. We sat there, unimbibed, for several hours. I hope this admittedly minor practical but dick-move morale decision was worth it for him.
On the bright side, we still continued to Camp Cupcake and most everyone had or has time to enjoy their beer(s).
TD:LR - Having to fly to an Islamic county in order to get a beer thanks to cultural AF squeamishness over alcohol and risk avoidance.
-
I think that the debrief culture and feedback is why the icbm wic was stood up. They're always looking to see how aircrew brief and prepare for sorties. Unfortunately, as was just mentioned, the most effective tool that we have is the debrief, and that will not happen unless you have a nearly complete gutting of the Sr. CGOs on up.
You can see the bleed-over into the 13S Space community as well. The commanders who have been of the CGO missile breeding baulked at the debrief process and did everything possible to sweep mistakes under the rug. Likewise, their recurring training and eval outbriefs spent more time weaseling out of their mistake rather than finding anything to learn from it. More than one officer in that room would defend the evasive actions and let it start occurring at the line-crew level. That led to a double standard where some of the 'chosen ones' would be able to dodge-duck-dip-dive-dodge a Q3 and for others not to. There in starts the breach of integrity for a commander that guts the morale of the crew force and corrupts the trust we have/had with the public we are sworn to defend (additionally: developing young officers who will some day be a commander themselves someday and continue to cycle).
Likewise, the leaders who happened to be a squadron commander (a different subset than the previous paragraph) were the ones to help turn that around. Nothing made me respect my at-the-time new commander than when an evaluator tried to give the man his "due" wiggle room out of a critical error than when he stopped the entire outbrief, picked up the phone in the conference room, and called all the offices required for him to be immediately restricted until retrained. At that point, we went into an hour long debrief concerning conduct, training, and evaluation - having my personal views (that the more senior CGOs and senior leadership had told me to shove) being up in bright blue on the whiteboard was a godsend. You can bet that I would trust that man from that point on. Training and evaluation in a small squadron stopped being a recurring check and became a chance to get *better*. "Retraining" was only a bad word if it occurred multiple times for the same thing. Outbrief and debriefs were seen as (appropriately) separate events. This mission set was a bit more dynamic than the one that the missile dudes performed, but not by much.
But to this day, when most of the guys around me get a new boss or commander, the question shortly come up of "How long were they in missiles?" The preconceived ass-pain being imagined from that point on is established there. Most missile folk I've met have been good dudes/dudettes who are very, very conscious of the culture they escaped from. Likewise, when they hear someone say "In missiles, we did it this way..." they understand the concerns that crosses the face on us non-missile guys. I'm not talking all day-to-day CGOs, but those who had leadership positions for a duration in the missile mission.
DISCLAIMER 1: That second commander was indeed a former missile guy, but having been in some very dynamic mission sets as a 13S and a WIC grad, helped break that stereotype to me. I've been lucky with a number of good commanders who also happened to be leaders.
DISCLAIMER 2: Not a missile guy - pure space bubba, inherent to my experiences and biases expressed above.
-
1
-
-
I dunno who it is, but there is someone rolling around BAB with a BFMKCCO license plate. Bad Ass.
White BMW? One of the dudes from my squadron, wish I had though of it. Chive on.
-
1
-
-
For a chuckle/sigh: One man's summary of the EO's (A bit much to cut and paste):
http://phelps.donotremove.net/2013/01/obamas-new-executive-orders/
-
1
-
-
We used to run two 12-hour days, two 12-hour mid shifts, and then have two days off before going back to days and rinse/repeat. Did that for almost two years. At some point, your body just says "###### it" and either deals with it or has a psycotic breakdown. Either way, no more worries. We switched to two 8-hour days, two 8 hour swing, two 8-hour mids, three days off schedule for a while but that didn't work out so well. Now I'm just an office drone and shorted a few years off my life.
(Yes, I know that's not an discussion point, none the less a good point, but my experience with shitty sleep schedules.)
-
Amplifying:
Single, no kids, O-2 putting on O-3 in May. I don't mind a fixer-upper. Reading what I have been and talking to the people I have, I am painted the picture of getting stabbed whilst in the process of falling to the ground after being shot on the southeast side of the city - I am skeptical of this opinion for obvious reasons. I've seen and worked in "bad" towns (pulled bodies off the streets the most murder-prone city of the US for years) so I have a difficult time taking horror stories from lifelong suburb dwellers.
I've heard just a bit of information about ASD20, all good as of yet. That's exactly the sort of information I'm looking to get/confirm.
-
The search function has been used.
Looking for opinions on the areas of reasonable commute to Peterson. I won't be PCS'ing for a few more months still, but looking to do some research in my down time.
In particular, the thought of buying isn't too far off the possibility list. I've spent time in the area for TDY and family vacation, but never for the purpose of exploring the actual housing part of the city/surrounding areas.
Thoughts? Opinions? Any input would be appreciated.
Stretch.
-
"No, I don't want to carry you from the club to the dorms."
That's why we just drank in the quads.
(Yes, I know what you meant.)
-
1
-
-
I know this is primarily a flyer's board, but for those Space/Missile folk out there (and in additional response to the original question)...
AFI48-123 was revised and released on 24 Aug 2012 as AFI48-123_AFGM3, but didn't make it down to my level until the last couple of weeks. Biggest thing to denote:
13SXA, 13SXB, 13SXD, and 13SXE AFSCs no longer required to be on a SMOD status. The coneheads are still required to do so. However, the requirement for normal color vision is still required for entrance into the career field (waivers still possible, as I can attest).
Also, retention standards for people with obstructive sleep apnea have been revised.
-
Badass? Your call. Still, a solid job by all.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/americanaerospace/2012/09/03/remarkable-airmanship/#comments
-
http://www.armytimes...mplaint-091212w
Not WTF for the calendar, but WTF for the complaint and its route of travel.
The question remains - how do we see the rest of the calendar?
Edit: The 'offending' pic.
-
George T. Stagg. I thought the bartender was kidding when he said that this was going to ruin me on other bourbans, but sure enough, I was floored.
The first sip has a kick, but the second sip? Completely different character. Love it. Highly recommended.
-
1
-
-
I have weak green/tan color vision. I am a 13S with a SMOD certifiction, waiver included. In conclusion - yes.
-
Yeah that whole theater scene in there...
Watched it the other day. I can see it wadding up panties something fierce, but if the theatre scene isn't even the worst/best part!
This is a great litmus test on where "gallow's humor" does and does not lie with an individual.
If I have a daughter someday and she talks like Roxy, I couldn't help but to be proud.
-
1
-
-
The "Not if, but When" clock on nukes keeps on ticking...
-
Shit, I'm a Space guy and I don't even know everything space does. Skip to the last line if you really don't want some rant.
Here's the rift - and this is all assumption because my ass has spent all its time firmly in an office chair: aircrew has community. It doesn't matter the type or mission, there are very core tenants to your world. Lift, grav, drag, thrust. Stay between the spacy and earthy parts of air. 2 gets the fat one. At least from the flyers I've met, they all have a pretty good, if not functioning, understanding of what each other do. From that, you build identity, history, and comradeship. Sure. The next CSAF or whomever gets crap for the type of mission he flew, but as long as its someone who's been there and done that as an operator, he might not be immediately dismissed. Look what would happen if a Logistics guy got the glance at the job - doubt galore. Why? He doesn't have that common thread available to the rest of the (still most visible) Air Force - aircrew.
Space isn't like that. In my impressively short time in this AF, experiencing nothing other than the Alcohol Sex and Booze Course, I was given a ten week course containing only three weeks of information about the rest of the Space world. It was barely in the secret level, and my instructors all deferred to ignorance for all details not contained in the lesson plan. I get to my first assignment and am promptly cut off from the entire space community at a geographically separated unit, like the vast majority of my and other wings. No Flags, no higher education unless you claw for it, and a four year tour doing something of questionable relevance to the last twenty years of war. If I stepped on Schriever for a little while and tried to shoot the shit with my 'peers' in Space, the disjunct between their ops world and mine would be difficult to bridge, what little information we could exchange for security or understanding reasons.
So, foul on the 13S guys for not being able to know ourselves enough to have that community. Without community, you can't build a heritage, for ourselves or as a part of the larger Air Force. Very few, without being burnt out by a few isolated tours and some bullshit staff work, really seem to have that span and connection to the rest of the field to have that community build - I'm thinking the Weapons officers and some of the really good bros that are here to get the job done (also, the only reasons I'm considering staying in). Its easy to drop into the trap of office days/crew shifts and not see the reason for doing all of it. Operators become checklist monkeys, myopic to the ripples that they could induce.
If we can't even get our shit straight, how can we expect you guys, an established community and force, with real and tangible results in your work, to follow our occasional frustration? Most of our guys couldn't care about getting praised for their day-to-day work, so making our efforts known is a low priority to the operators. Our photos and stories are the best and latest in Christmas Party planning, poorly coordinated exercises, and DWI abatement efforts. Our CGOCs are active as hell. In other words, the only parts of our work that most people see, to include many of us "on the inside", are the parts we hate the most. It's epidemic of the AF as a whole, but seemingly all the worse in our little part of the force. Others do the same thing, keeping the Silent Professional card close to the chest, but these people also know the connection and difference they make to the world. That's not an easy jump for some wearing the Space Insignia (I refuse to call them Space Wings or Spings).
I'm lucky. I had good mentors that have crossed my path and really set me straight. They got me to apply to WIC, to hunt down the best and most training I could outside of my lane, and recognize that shitty leadership comes and goes, but the bros get shit done because that's what we're here for. Space has a future, both in mission and community.
Gravedigger, I'll guess you've got more time and experience than me, so call me out if this is bullshit to you - it's what I see. I'll be heading to the Springs in the future, so maybe that will change my tune. Don't mean to step on your toes, man, but we've got to work on ourselves before anything else gets better. Unappreciated? Maybe. Sometimes.
But all I could give a ###### about is that somehow, somewhere, some ripple that I started in the process is helping some 18 y/o kid with a rifle lay waste to some stone-age ###### in the most expedient way possible. They don't (always) assume room temperature themselves.
Rant off.
-
2
-
-
Eh, whatever.
If any U-2/MC-12 folk need a couple of new 44L FDUs, they may just find their way down to the flightline. I don't need them anymore.
WTF? (**NSFW**)
in Squadron Bar
Posted
Attributing disagreement with fundamentally differing underpinnings of reality does not equal hate.
If you honestly see red where I see green and we disagree about what color paint is on the wall, I don't hate you because you see red. My advocacy is for you receiving proper medical consultation and help actually concerned with your medical condition (color blindness), not changing the color spectrum for everyone else with properly developed color vision. If a vocal minority wants to shout at the world that green is now red and any disagreement is hatred, it doesn't make it factually less correct.
What do I hate? Anyone who is using those people, who are very much in pain, in order to push their version of tearing down and rebuilding society. If someone (an adult) want to alter themselves, that's okay so long as the follow is also okay: acknowledging that the person who does so is in extreme need for help, and that not one single person otherwise is guilty of doubleungoodthink for not accepting them as suddenly a member of the other sex.