RTB
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Posts posted by RTB
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4 hours ago, 1111 said:
Why?
It should be obvious but I'll spell it out for you.
The national museum that is supposed to highlight African American History and Culture chose to highlight a poorly conceived protest by a rich, marginally effective NFL quarterback, but not a black Supreme Court Justice who worked his way from nothing to the highest court in the land.
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2 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:
The insanity continues.
"The free-agent quarterback will have his own exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, according to the Twitter feed, @BlackToLive."
And yet Justice Clarence Thomas isn't recognized by this federally-funded museum?
An exhibit about Kaepernick?? That museum just killed their credibility.
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62nd is a lucky squadron, Juice is one of the good guys.
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1 hour ago, flyusaf83 said:
My commander tried to do this for our guys. Schedule a T-6 CT XC to Maxwell when we had guys there. Allow them to do some Saturday flying, at least once during their time there.
It got shot down by SOS leadership. Apparently, that "wasn't fair" for everyone else, along with the risk they could divert and he could miss class Monday.
Yeah, it wasn't too long after I went that the fun police at AU stomped out that practice. We never asked, just did it but they eventually put out a formal complaint and policy forbidding it. Never mind that we kept landing currency and actually logged a couple RAP counters. That's just mission shit...
A good deal, both for pilots and the AF was detected and therefore crushed.
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So you basically need a new Class 1. Hopefully I'm wrong and there is another way but I think your only options are:
Option 1: Find an on base doc who is also an FAA Class 1 AME - unlikely but there may be one
Option 2: Wait until you get home - January is plenty early with an October separation date.
Absolute last resort (if even allowed) and terrible Option IMO: Use one of the 3 Local AMEs the FAA says can do Class 1s.
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Back in the Good Ole Days, we were allowed to fly on the weekends during SOS. My squadron sent two jets to Maxwell for one of the middle weekends and I got 2 BFM sorties each on Saturday and Sunday, with the RON at Eglin to hit the Destin beaches Saturday night. It made SOS much more palatable.
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If that description is true, that Squadron Commander displayed total and complete incompetence. That kind of decision clearly displays a lack of qualification for the job. Big picture people, it's not hard...
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1 hour ago, gearpig said:
Looks like there are still some bugs in the site update. The .pdf appears as an unclickable link in chrome, and only as an image in Safari.
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1500/RR1530/RAND_RR1530.pdf
According to the "report", there is absolutely zero negative impact in the military providing: psychotherapy to confirm that the person has a "gender dysphoria", then hormone therapy, then gender reassignment, then hair removal... all while granting the member leave from their unit and paying for it. It's apparently inconsequential for DoD to change it's deployment restrictions and policies to accommodate "telemedicine" and increased laboratory access for transgender individuals at deployed locations.
Notice how they hide the costs as percentages of largest budget numbers available and don't specify average or expected costs per individual for medical bills, unit productivity lost, or accommodating the administrative workload. Sign on the dotted line, swear an oath, declare yourself transgender, spend your commitment completing the psychological and medical procedures, and leave the military debt free. Easy money.
This is not a balanced subjective report, it's an activist piece written by 6 authors who no military experience or expertise. Just because it says "RAND", it's not always credible.
Where would you draw the line with elective surgeries? If sex change operations are to be accommodated and paid for, why not allow all women who self-identify as very large breasted women to undergo operations to correct what nature has gotten wrong at taxpayer expense? What about the guys and gals who self-identify as having a 32 inch waist during the fitness test?
Exactly. What a ridiculous report. Apparently according to the authors, because there won't be many of them, the costs, when compared to the total force, will be small, so therefore inconsequential. Except they don't really mention how it will impact the units where they're assigned but barely work due to all the shenanigans required to appease their confusion about reality.
I also love the recommendation that the military should create transgender SMEs and "Gender Advisors" for commanders. Gender Advisors. Because apparently Gender is so complex and variable that we need specially trained advisors. GMAFB. What a joke and complete waste of time.
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8 hours ago, 1111 said:
From your study, see limitations of the study in the UCLA link in your link.
Quoted from your study:
"The results of this meta-synthesis are very preliminary and there are a number of limitations inherent to a study of this kind, relying as it does on datasets that are methodologically varied....The manner in which researchers inquired about sui- cidality is also concerning. For example, some research- ers63 note that yes/no questions, such as ‘‘have you ever attempted suicide?’’ tend to overestimate positive re- sponses from those who have self-harmed, but not attempted to end their life. This might be corrected by questioning participants’ intent to die through in-person interviews, which have been found to reduce attempt rates from 4.6% to 2.7% of an adult sample.109,110 Unfortunately, only 14% of the 42 studies included here collected data primarily from face-to-face interviews."
to be clear what I am saying is study in this field is very young and prone to generalization. The researchers from the study you posted highlights this in their report.
thanks for the feedback, so how prone are they really to suicide?
First off, it's not "my" study. That was just the first study I came across. There are plenty of other sources if you care to look. That study compiled results from 42 other studies over 19 years. So lots of data. You seem to be going out of your way to try to prove trannies don't have issues and should be able to serve. Why?
They have serious mental issues, and the condition has a name in Psychiatry, Gender Dysphoria. Those issues and confusion lead to higher cases of suicide attempts. So yeah, they're more prone to suicide.
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23 minutes ago, 1111 said:
So I can be wise on that literature, can you post a source on "significantly higher risk of suicide"?
I ask only because in the past when it comes to the military admission, folks have used all sorts of "literature" to say things like blacks lacked qualities to make them combat effective personnel, women are unable to fly fighters, gays will somehow lack the adaptability to be open and rainbow.
Here is a better argument that may work for you, I do not like (insert new group trying to gain accepted status in the military) because it does not align with the cultural identity I wish to uphold. But hey maybe you actually have a done a lot of research on your "suicide" claim.
Google:
55% have thought about trying and are 14 times more likely to do so than the general population
29% have tried and are 22 times more likely to do so
thats WAY higher than the rest of the population
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May not be an issue anymore
Trump announces ban on transgender individuals serving in military
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This sounds promising for those of you still toiling away at Human Trafficking and Sexual Harrassment CBTs...
"Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wants to overhaul military education and training to “regain” the art of warfighting following complaints by thousands of servicemembers that their time is being wasted by hours of mandatory training...The training that is the subject of complaints covers everything from alcohol use to active shooters to sexual harassment to stress management."
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On 7/21/2017 at 9:39 AM, YoungnDumb said:
In other news the person who got the MC-130 Kadena stormed out of the building in tears.
I'm sure that story won't follow him EVERYWHERE he goes.
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5 hours ago, flyusaf83 said:
So there I was. Doing paperwork in my office. I'm Flt/CC of ~60 folks, so I'm usually doing this about 7-8 hours of my 11-12 hour days. In walks the Sq/CC. He casually asks what I'm up to.
"Oh you know sir, just the normal queep. Awards, OPRs, EPRs, updating trackers, you know."
Sq/CC with disappointed face: "Oh, you mean taking care of your people?"
Then he turns and walks out without allowing me to reply.
That's how you take care of your people in the AF. With paperwork.
Your Commander is a fucking douche. And yes, I make that sweeping statement based on this one fact, because that one passive aggressive act pretty much spells out his poorly developed leadership philosophy. The EASY button reaction is to chuckle, say "yeah, tell me about it! But thanks for taking care of your folks."
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15 minutes ago, matmacwc said:
For those of you recently retired or remember, does it really take a month before anything shows up? I retired 28 June and just today my pay shows my "Separated Reserve Pay" account which just shows my last AD paycheck, when can I expect it to say something along the lines of "Retiree Pay"? Yes, its an AD retirement.
You get retired pay once per month at the end of the month. So your first retired paycheck will be 31 July.
I retired 30 April 2015. My paychecks were on 4/15/15 for the normal mid month amount, another on 5/20/15 for the remainder of my April paycheck plus the little bit of leave I sold back, and then my first retired paycheck was on 5/29/15. Monthly from that point on...
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2 hours ago, Ram said:
This is not about a dick measuring contest. My beef is that the porch is sending inexperienced wingmen to the Eielson aggressors because they supposedly have no choice.
Worse still, these wingmen are coming off only one year in Korea. A remote assignment they went to with the PROMISE of a follow on regular tour. Going to the aggressors essentially freezes their development as fighter pilots. It's not a problem to go as a senior 4FL or an IP, but it is a death blow to a young fighter pilot's development. A terrible breech of trust.
So AFPC breaks that promise and sends them to the 18AGRS. Fine...we "have no choice" and have a problem absorbing all the wingmen in the CAF. Needs of the Air Force and all that. Yes sir, service before self...got it.
Then, THE VERY SAME WEEK these guys are learning about the breaking of the promise, these wingmen are hearing about this crossflow. I'd be livid.
Worse still, if it were me, my mind about staying one day past my commitment would be made up. No fvcking way.
How many other young wingmen are watching???
AFPC's justification, btw, is some bullshit about a net gain of fighter pilots via this crossflow. Of course, they're not factoring the 36 CAF wingmen that just watched this happen.
Great job, fvckwits. YGBSM.
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network ForumsExactly. The message this sends is just baffling in this current fighter pilot "crisis". The net gain argument is also ridiculous and doesn't make sense. Send them to an F-15 or F-16 and you still have a "net gain".
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To pile on the comments so far, there are lots of things to bitch about and lots of stuff that drove me nuts before I retired. And you will have days that will suck for sure. But, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat! The flying and the bros were what made it awesome. Loved flying AF jets and miss that kind of flying and mission focus every day. It's something very few will ever get the chance to do. Perhaps even better, I worked with some great Americans who are life-long friends now and that's something that can't be overstated. That said, if you're going AD, you have to accept the fact that there will be some QoL pain involved. And that pain will vary greatly depending on what corner of the AF you end up in. But regardless of where you end up and what you end up flying, the good stuff (flying jets, drinking with the bros, doing the mission serving 'Merica!) will, in my opinion, far outweigh the bad.
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5 hours ago, matmacwc said:
What about when you retire?
Nope. And they find out surprisingly fast.
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5 hours ago, Duck said:
The whole technical only track scares me. It's already bad enough with the "careerists" who run the organization into the ground. The one saving grace for me has been the occasional Sq/Cc or WG/CC who was still a CGO operator at heart. As a result those were the best units, with the highest morale and the best retention. I've seen change of commands where the whole squadron went upside down seemingly overnight.
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network ForumsAgree completely.
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55 minutes ago, Termy said:
It is also apparent that the following announcement would hold more people than the bonus:
"No more 365's. Period. For anyone."
Big Blue would be smart to kill all non-vol 365s and offer targeted bonuses for 365 volunteers. Kind of like the airlines do for oversold flights.
Who wants a Baghdad 365 for $15k? No takers? How about $20k? $30? And so on.
Take the non vol 365 heinosity off the table, increase flight pay significantly for all flyers while also reducing home station queep and they might have a chance to keep a few folks. Someone who wants the cash will eventually bite on the 365 as the dollar amount goes up. FAR cheaper than dumping cash at dudes serving concurrent ADSCs.
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15 minutes ago, icohftb said:
But if youre concurrently serving a PCS commitment +/- a few months it wont matter.
+ a few months can make all the difference...
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4 hours ago, hatedont said:
An old guy is trying to ask me what I do as I'm moving to avoid him. It was very rude.
So an elderly gentleman saw you in uniform and was trying to talk to you about your service but you blew him off? And HE was the rude one?
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3 minutes ago, pawnman said:
I think you've got the right idea. This is what the Navy does, BTW...you are a flyer and also an OIC for a MX or LRS or similar shop, including all the enlisted guys that fall under it.
They also use LDO's a lot for support jobs. LDO's are former enlisted who were good at their support specific job, got promoted, maybe even without a degree, and lead support functions up to the O-4 ish level. No future of command but fill a niche in areas that a full-up O, or especially a pilot, might not be ideal for.
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1 hour ago, ThreeHoler said:
I don't know about the first dude who was not offered continuation, but the two dudes I know were "just" given the wrong letter by a GO. Turns out they were actually continued.
How on God's green earth does a GO and their staff screw that up?? That's a pretty glaring mistake that I'm sure caused a few days of serious angst for those dudes. UFB.
Leaving the Air Force for Something Other than the Airlines
in Squadron Bar
Posted · Edited by RTB
An old squadron bro of mine did his 20, half AD and half AGR in the reserves, and got his MBA along the way. Through networking with his MBA class (he went in residence) he got hired as a management consultant at Bain & Company when he retired and was making VERY good money. Through his contacts in that job, he was subsequently poached to a higher paying job and then poached again to his current job. Dude travels a hell of a lot (way more than me as an airline guy) but is making ridiculous money now. Seems to like it.
Going in as a defense contractor has it's immediate perks and is a good skills fit but, depending on the job, can also have it's downsides a few years later. Business Development is a common job guys jump into after AD. I know a few guys who went down that path only to discover that their time of usefulness to the company was directly proportional to their still-relevant contacts on AD. Heavywanabe has more direct knowledge as he's apparently living it, but I've seen several dudes get disillusioned by their jobs after a few years of stagnation. The farther they got from active duty, current tactics and missions, etc, the less valuable they were for business development . Upward mobility into higher level management was harder to do than expected. Those jobs tended to go to folks with the civilian education and experience pedigree. Of course there are tons of defense contractor paths besides just business development. Initially I didn't want to go airlines and was targeting the defense industry. What ultimately turned me away from that path was when I called to talk to a friend of mine who was living that life. He called me back on a Sunday on his way back to work. Turns out he was working his 7th straight day of 10+ hour days getting ready for a big presentation or something. He was going back to the office on a Sunday cranking away with the rest of his team. He thrived on that kind of work and pressure but it made me shudder as I was trying to get away from that kind of schedule!