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DirkDiggler

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Posts posted by DirkDiggler

    Nordstream pipeline sabotage?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by DirkDiggler
    Clarity

    15 hours ago, torqued said:

    Brother, I get it. I'm not rooting for Russia and Putin. They're absolutely shitty. But I never was in danger of living under a Russian totalitarian state.

    What I am concerned about is truth, deception, righteousness, and minimizing the loss of life. I love my country and I truly appreciate the service of everyone who wants to defend it. But what enemies are we sworn to defend it against?

    It is uncomfortable to consider that my side, the good guys, could possibly be involved in making poor decisions that result in a worse end state. But I also can't turn a blind eye to the fact our current leadership has fucked up nearly every issue it's faced with. This current leadership engages in relentless propaganda and deceit surrounding the pandemic, the economy, our justice system, democracy, AFGHANISTAN?.

    I don't want to believe that we or our allies would risk escalating conflict and plunging millions of european citizens into insecurity and a dramatically reduced standard of living for an unpopular agenda, but the trends indicate otherwise.

    I simply don't know... but the probability certainly isn't zero.

      With any luck that new RAND corporation look alike whose reports you found so interesting in the Russia-Ukraine thread will publish a paper confirming that the US is indeed responsible.  One can further hope that they tie it to whatever the global Monkeypox conspiracy currently is and we can revive that thread over in the Squadron Bar.

      FWIW, I've read several convincing reports on the dark web claiming that Jurgen Procknow has re-joined the Kriegsmarine and is gunning for one last shot at glory.  Lotta people are speculating he hit the pipeline since he's old and doesn't drive so great anymore.  It'd be pretty tough to get him down the ladder of the conning tower at his age but let's be real, you just can't replicate that experience level. 

    • Like 1
    • Haha 3

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

      Bad day to be a Russian pilot yesterday.  Seems the situation in the Kharkiv region is bad enough that the Russians are willing to accept high attrition of aviation assets to try and blunt the Ukrainian advance.  

      Good to see the Stinger is still a leading distributor of MIG/SU parts across the globe.

    • Like 4
    • Upvote 2

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Lord Ratner said:

    Old man lack vision, and vision wins wars.

     

    So does overwhelming force, but it seems like the entire world was wildly overestimating Russia's overwhelming force.

    It's obviously not worth gambling on, but it has made me wonder just how functional their nuclear deterrent is. 

     

     

    I’ll be the first admit that prior to the invasion I didn’t think the Russian military as a whole would perform this poorly.  In retrospect it’s kinda not surprising given that Putin’s entire system is a kleptocracy; I’d imagine a good portion of military funding over the years actually purchased mega yachts and West London real estate.

      Overwhelming force is great until poor logistics, low morale, and precision fires fuck up your weekend.

      Couldn’t say on the nukes, don’t have any window into that world.  I think the bigger question is whether there’s enough Putin loyalists in the launch chain to ensure preemptive nuclear strikes are carried out.

    • Upvote 1

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    https://apple.news/AskpqBgwBTwSZ79CZZsr42g
     

      Not a good time to be a pro-Russian puppet in the occupied territories.

     

      Also find it interesting that fighting has flared up again on the Armenia-Azerbaijan front.  Meanwhile apparently Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are resolving old territorial disputes with tanks and heavy artillery; Russia doesn’t have the schilz to weigh in on their traditional sphere of influence (right across their border) that it did 9 months ago.  Mr. Putin isn’t looking like the “strategic genius/very smart guy/chess master he was claimed by some to be in early January.

      

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
    • Upvote 2

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Best-22 said:

    With the Russian lines rapidly collapsing what's everyones predictions for the outcome of this conflict? Clearly the predictions that Russia will never give up what they already have were way off. It looks like Ukraines offensive capabilities are adequate so I would be surprised if they're motivated to make territorial concessions at this point. 

      Don’t know that I have an overall prediction at this point but the Ukrainians definitely seem to have the initiative/operational momentum.  If you look at Oryx on Twitter the amount of equipment Russia has lost up north over just the last 3-4 days is pretty significant.  Russia still has pretty large reserves but their manpower and morale problems, as well as logistical limitations, are starting to really show.

      Maybe the Russians might decide it’s time for a change in who’s in charge after this absolute abortion of a military operation.  It’s going to get increasingly difficult to hide the scale of this disaster, even if the Russian military is able to stem the current Ukrainian advance.

      In any case I’m happy to continue to watch the Ukrainians kick the shit out of the Russian bear with the help of my tax dollars.

    • Like 4
    • Upvote 3

    Iran Shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, StoleIt said:

    Didn't see a similar thread for Iranian Tomfoolery.

    Besides them being in the news recently for trying to steal US Navy Saildrone Explorer USV's (new acronym to me: unmanned surface vessels)...looks like they just put in an order for 24 Su-35's that were originally tagged for Egypt.

    https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2022/09/04/iran-buys-24-sukhoi-su-35-flanker-e-fighters-produced-for-egypt/?fbclid=IwAR3BeYvM_22ZO2vRPgDaftw7WYRFZVJ9_q3Jljh4gv04-YjOI89sfuxbxxI

    Those -35s will give the Raptor guys (or Israelis) something to do if the ballon goes up.

    • Like 1

    Aviation Continuation Pay (ACP - The Bonus)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 8/18/2022 at 1:43 PM, Homestar said:

    I feel you there. Though I didn't have a lifetime dream of flying in the Air Force growing up.

    There is more to flying in the Air Force than a paycheck. I enjoy my job. I like my coworkers. Job satisfaction is high for me right now. I'm also at the end of my career and am transitioning to the civilian sector where my flying training will be properly valued (at least by second year pay--I don't believe that the airlines pay well out of the goodness of their heart). I'm proud of what I've done in the Air Force, I'm grateful for the places I've been, the people I've met, and the missions I've flown.

    So many people in life are just angry. Angry at "the Air Force", angry at "the libs", angry at whatever. I also understand that many have had negative experiences in the Air Force. I have too. I was non-vol'd to Afghanistan for 364.5 days during a time where Greens were killing Blues. But I also had doors open from that experience that served me well later in my career.

    I wish I made $300/hr plus profit sharing in the Air Force. I'd stay longer. But the money has been good enough and now I'm moving on. And a great big "thank you" for those who leave after their UPT commitment is up too! You served. Most Americans can't say the same. Go make that bank. Buy that boat, plane, or second wife. Enjoy life. Be happy.

    Staying in the Air Force isn't for everyone. But it is for some.

    Great post and very well said.

    Latest Movies

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    1 hour ago, MC5Wes said:

    Watched the new Predator movie on Hulu this weekend.

     

    I wished they had done a Hunt for Red October language scene. But overall, a very good movie.

     

     

     

    There’s a dubbed Comanche language version if you really want to go nuts.

    AF Light Air Support Aircraft

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, ClearedHot said:

    I think they flight them occasionally for test but that's about it.

    That would be very interesting and a complete abortion since the AT-6 doesn't meet several of the objective requirements (it actually failed part of the assessment).

    I’m in no way, shape or form associated with AO so I can’t speak to the capes of the aircraft.  I can say that this guy’s reasoning/data analysis on why he thinks it’s gonna be the AT-6 made a lot of sense to me.  Official announcement is supposed to come by the end of the month.

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