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Europe has spent a combined 91 billion in monetary aid to Ukraine and while short of the 2% mark Germany pushed its military budget up a couple billion (largest increase in a half century) in a single year in the midst of 3 straight quarters of a recession. France cranked in its largest increase in decades, Poland is spending nearly 4% of its GDP and outfitting its self with our latest stuff (economic gain to us). These are just a few examples of what is and has been a wider immediate wake up call to reality for them. It’s disingenuous to imply we are going it alone here. So what exactly is the threshold Europe has to meet for us to be allowed to get off the bench? Because the EU has roughly half the GDP combined we do and they aren’t simply letting us come to their rescue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Please support that statement. Preferably with facts. You would have been a riot to listen to during the Blitz in England, or during the Battle of the Bulge, or during the seige of Stalingrad, or right after Pearl Harbor. You are taking a very short and narrow view of a very broad and deep problem. Maybe try a wider breadth of media coverage. Ukraine is winning. Ukraine is losing. Both sides have valid arguments, yet you're only choosing to listen to one side. I don't know what bias is driving you to that, but I recommend some self-analysis.

“Historical Ties to Russia/USSR.” Well that’s an incredibly stupid point to stand on given the argument. Most of us are arguing the necessity of stopping Russia in this fight to avoid them invading the next 5 nations who are all in NATO and apparently have “historic ties to Russia.” And yes NATO kicks in… against an opponent who is as you described justifiably fearful we will simply destroy them and likely to retaliate early and immediately with Nukes or Chem to immediately force us to stop short of a full exchange. That’ll only cost Stuttgart or Antwerp or something… no big deal right? Earlier in this thread you were screaming about the dangers of escalating with nukes because of our political support, now you’re telling us to pick the best COA likely to lead to their employment. God damn 4D-Clyde’ian-strategery right there gentlemen. Make that man a flag officer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well that's just absurd, you can't really mean that. Here's a short list of groups who disagree with you: the Taliban. The third Reich, the Japanese imperial army, general Ulysses Grant, the native American tribes, Cortez. GMAFB. I'm not sure what you were trying to say, but this is one of those squishy hearted axioms like "violence never solves anything" that we must reject as an outright falsehood. People win in war and people lose. More than any human endeavor war has very specific winners and losers. Your sentiments are a result of our soft and protected lives here in the modern west, a lifestyle made possible by wars we have won. And someone will win the war in Ukraine. Right now it appears Russia is winning, because they are not bothered by the people and material lost thus far provided they attain their objective which grows closer daily. I don't want them to win, but I am also unwilling to deplete our treasury in pursuit of stopping them. And what's more, I'm disgusted at people who cannot have a logical discussion about what actions the US should take in the Ukraine war to best serve our interests, people who claim anything but blind support to the Zielinski Dictatorship is somehow pro Russian.

It's hard to write a statement as short as this but which contains as much truth as it does...

Had to double check this wasn't Chang.🙂 Unnecessarily burdensome? No. Unnecessary useless bullshit? Yes. This was done at Hurbie, 2008ish?, to stop DUIs, lasted a short few months. How about this idea. Reverse the hours and stop selling during the day because it promotes day drinking. Same logic eh. Planning is cool but you do get a bit of the stink eye walking out of the express at 0630 with a 30 rack of natties on your way to crew brief. That being said I lived in Santa Rosa county for many years with alcohol sales restrictions. You learned to plan around those. Got to the Navarre Winn Dixie one night after a flight at 1155 got to the checkout at 1159, just made it. Not saying you agree with the restrictions

The non-stop drumbeat of propaganda crowing Russia's (exaggerated) losses while never speaking of Ukraine's has gotten very tiresome. UAF are space marines that inflict casualties 30:1, yet they're chronically short of manpower and their average serving age is 45. Like, who actually falls for this? Can they at least be less annoying about it?

Story comes from Elmer Bendiner’s 1980 memoir, The Fall of the Fortresses, based on some light research. Googling the aircraft led to a facebook post about recovering the tail gun that had a comment with the story below about the aircrafts ultimate end it would seem. The crew of an 8th Air Force B-17 has been recovered from a crash site in the Harwich Estuary. The wreckage of B17G Flying Fortress 43-37516 'Tondalayo' was recovered from the River Stour by the US Army CHLLI team, led by Major Todd Heussner, and assisted by Royal Navy clearance divers. The sole objective was to recover the remains of the aircraft's missing pilot and co- pilot, Lt Col Earle J. Aber & Lt Maurice J. Harper. Both men perished on the night of March 4th 1945, when their aircraft was shot down by British anti- aircraft defences .The tragedy unfolded around 9.15pm, when the Tondalayo , returning from a leaflet drop on Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, was crossing inland over the east coast. At the same time two enemy aircraft, homeward bound after a sneak raid, were heading easterly at a lower altitude, which no doubt confused the defenders. At 12,000 feet, over Clacton-on-Sea, exploding shells set the aircraft alight in the area of the waist gun positions, severing control cables and injuring the Bombardier, Lt Connie Morton., who sustained injuries to his eyes and right leg. The aircraft rapidly descended to 8,000 feet, and was heading for an emergency landing at Woodbridge when the aircraft was hit again, crippling her further and this time injuring the tail gunner. It was at this point the 'bail out' order was given. All the crew abandoned the aircraft apart from Aber and Harper. Captain Stonerock (navigator) was the last crewman through the hatch at 5,000ft, and later reported that both Aber and Harper had their harnesses on, but not their chutes, so it can only be assumed that they had insufficient time or altitude to do so. This all matt black special operations aircraft was attached to the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron based at Cheddington, and was the personal aircraft of the unit's commander, Lt Col Aber, being retained by him when the squadron converted to Liberators. Aber was on his 51st mission when he was shot down. Lt Harper had flown Spitfires with the RCAF, before volunteering for a tour on 'Heavies.' Recovery work began on June 9th 2000, when a salvage barge was positioned on the crash site located on the low tide mark off Wrabness. First attempts at clearing the mud from the site using giant vacuum hoses were soon abandoned due to technical difficulties, primarily with pumps and filters becoming clogged by heavy clay in which the wreckage lay. The recovery continued with a large tracked excavator. The operator worked blindly as the site was only visible for short periods of time. A vast quantity of wreckage was eventually recovered using this method. Parts included one of the aircraft's Cyclone engines together with several super chargers, propeller blades and an undercarriage leg. It was established that the entire tail section and rear fuselage was compressed into little more than eight feet, all of which was painstakingly worked through and sorted until the remains of Lt Col Aber and Lt Harper were found in the area of the bomb bay. Work finally ceased on June 28th when it was thought that sufficient remains of both men had been found. DNA tests later carried out at the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii proved their identity. Both men now share a joint grave in Arlington National Cemetery, with Colonel Aber having an additional grave at Cambridge in the American Cemetery. Pilot Lt. Col E.J Aber Co-Pilot 2nd Lt M.J Harper Navigator Capt P.S Stonerock Bombardier 1st Lt C.R Morton Radio T/Sgt C.P Valley Top Turret T/Sgt M.Silber Ball Turret S/Sgt S.Dombrowski Tail gunner S/Sgt R.W Ramsey Waist Gun S/Sgt F.W Thomas Waist Gun S/Sgt J.A Trexler Waist Gun 2nd Lt R.W Billings

Here we go: I know this is a longshot, but if I can envision it, I'm going to make them tell me no or die trying. I got into UPT a short while ago via the active duty UFT board. Into Phase II, I self eliminated. I had a good reason: my spouse has a specialized career and requires re-credentialing with every PCS which results in 3-6 month processes per move and lots of out of pocket fees, which wasn't sustainable over a period of 10 additional years. Additionally, I have a sick grandparent and FIL, and my spouse and I both felt it was a priority to move closer to home. Yes, I'm looking to go back to UPT via a Guard or Reserve unit. Yes, I'll need an ETP since I self eliminated and possibly also an age waiver. I'm leaning forward HARD on this process, as I've got a projected separation date of June 2025. Yes, I also have an alternate plan in the event that this doesn't pan out and I'm willing to grind as hard as I need to in order to set myself up for success either way. However, my spouse and I both feel as though the stability and opportunity to put some roots down will be good for our family and personal lives moving forward - family was the main motivator here for making the decision I did, which was absolutely gut-wrenching and took a huge toll on my mental health. Guard might be ideal, as my wife and I love to be involved in our community and would be more than willing to create ties to an area and make the squadron our family. PCSM: 76 | AFOQT Pilot Score: 96 | 63 total flight hours (although PCSM does not reflect this, although not sure I can add IFT hours) | UG GPA: 2.7, Bioengineering/Business | No PPL **Please also let me know if you're aware of anyone that has successfully obtained this sort of ETP to head back. Thanks in advance and let me know if you need any more info.

It'd be worth reaching out to AFPC to ask about your situation. There's also a policy letter at AFPC that isn't published that affects short tour vs long tour credit. I had pieced together enough overseas time TDY from conus to warrant both per the AFI, but AFPC only awards one or the other if your short tour is based on the 300 days/18 months. I had to ask to take the "lesser" award of short tour credit instead of the long tour credit the policy defaulted to.

AFI 36-2110 table 6.6 says you award short tour credit from going CONUS to OS for a period of 300 days within 18 months. I went from US OCONUS to a CENTCOM short tour location that I will be at for 12 months. I get short tour credit, right? I mean the reg says CONUS to OS, and technically I went OCONUS to OS? This isn't some severely messed up loophole I just found myself in where I don't get credit is it? LOL. If you ever want to gouge your eyes out reading an AFI this is the one. Also, my Short Tour is a PCS to a CZTE, unaccompanied. Do I get dwell time out of it? I honestly can't make enough sense of 36-2110 to know.

That's where I see much of the disagreement. You aren't replacing or backfilling a capability if the replacement isn't purchased in sufficient numbers to adequately accomplish the task. Getting rid of 500 Gen 4 fighters to buy 100 Gen 5 fighters (made up numbers) is not modernizing, evolving, or replacing. It's dumping one ability (supported by numbers) for another (supported by tech). This also seems to be why these divestiture plans always collapse. The Air Force comes up with some sort of bullshit math where we get rid of an old fleet worth a certain dollar amount, and apply those dollars to the new weapon system at a much lower quantity, because obviously new stuff is more expensive. But then in some congressional hearing where a congressman is fighting to keep a base or a weapon system in their district, the general is forced to admit that the new weapon system, in the quantity planned, will not adequately replace the capabilities of the old weapon system at much higher quantities. Then surprise surprise, we don't get rid of the old weapon system, which means we have even less money going forward for the new one. It's a vicious cycle of stupidity and disingenuous arguments, and it's so short-sighted that the obvious result in the long run is an overall weaker military.

Buyer beware, they run narrow. Short story: I gave myself a bunch of stress fractures in my right foot doing a ruck program in these. My foot being scrunched up coupled with a long, heavy ruck was a magical combo for a world of pain.

@HuggyU2 So the short answer is you don’t want to pay for them yourself. Now we’re all going to have to not only Go Fundme sunglasses for you, but also boots!

what's up guys, sorry for the surplus amount of questions. to keep it short, i'm trying to decide if I should pursue a BS in psychology or a BA in psychology. I am planning on applying for the guard and I know GPA weighs heavier than major, but there are a few factors that are in play. I am confident if I pursued a BA that I could graduate with a decently higher GPA than a BS as a result of less math, physics and science classes. However, a BS instead of a BA would challenge me more, improving studying skills and work ethic. ultimately my question is, would it be worth it in the long run if I pursued a BS, improving my studying skills and possibly preparing myself for UPT, but lowering my GPA, or should I stick with BA? I understand that it's up to me to test my capabilities, but I would love some information from your guys' own experience. what did you major in and do you think it helped you? I would appreciate any input. thank you guys! 🙂

I didn't even know this was happening. Looks like only a few others did as well. But for your scrolling pleasure - (Edit- found this buried in the ACP thread. Delete if not helpful)

It has been my limited experience that "30 minutes of straight misses to eventually have an MQ-9 do it", does not typify the gunship community I was a part of for 20+ years. You are certainly entitled to use your observations and experience to form an expert opinion, kind of like when I heard about the C Model dude screwing his Crew Chief at Kadena, that obviously means all Eagle Drivers (past and present), swing the other way... I like you bro but the plank holders from your community are old friends (many from my community), and they hold the #1 moniker. As you can see below I've given you a more appropriate designation. It is one of the most maddening observations one can make if you dedicate your life to this endeavor, as good as we are we constant run to the latest crisis and in haste we forget the lessons of the past. 14 short years after the great aerial battles of of WWII the mighty F-4 launched on it's first flight, sans a gun. As a reward for forgetting that history the lads initially paid a heavy price over Vietnam. The AIM-7 had a sub 10% kill rate, in total 452 Sidewinders were fired during the Vietnam War, resulting in a Pk of 0.18. Years of gun pods to get them through until the E model came along with a gun...we will never repeat that mistake right...here we are in 2023 and Fat Amy Charlie does not have an internal gun. I am guessing you don't know how this went down. This whole thing started not because the SOCOM masters wanted out of the CAS business (quite the opposite), but because Slife was harvesting manpower from Ops squadrons across the command to man his pet project. When Slife tried to cut the gunship crew further he was stonewalled by the Gunner union and A1. Keep in mind that community already paid a price when another herbivore was at the helm (Wurster), and convinced Congress he could cut the gunship crew from 13 to 7 in order to replace 8 H models with 16 J's and keep it manpower neutral. Think I'm kidding, go look at page 23 of the 2009 QDR, actual airframes and numbers are rarely called out in a strategic document but it is there in black and white. When the union said "No" to Slife he immediately replied, "Ok, get rid of the 105MM". There was no analysis on employment history, just a shoot from the hip response. There is much more to the story, I feel bad for the folks that continue the day to day in that toxic HQ building. Keep in mind, this was NOT a Big Blue decision. I REALLY wish the system worked as you think it does but SOCOM is a different animal. In the history of the command there as been exactly one Airman running the show. Slife badly wanted the job but was denied and sadly survived long enough to worm his way into the VCSAF job (god help you all). Because this was a SOCOM decision and the CC is a ground pounder, the boss looks to his air power experts to shape his decision. Keep in mind the proposal is coming from his air power component commander so he turns to his USAF aviator SOCOM/CV for expert advice and validation. Said SOCOM/CV is a Slife's puppet, he is an herbivore who wants the AFSOC/CC chair next (and gets it), does understand kinetic airpower and most certainly does not push back. Again SOCOM is different and components get a vote so when this idea surfaced the component commands representing the ground parties pushed back VERY hard, but if you know SOCOM you know the components fight each other for resources. The Purple Pot battles get ugly and if you think USASOC is gonna give AFSOC support, especially when the TF is fighting to resource 160 rotors of their own that are running around with guns and rockets...they will quickly stab a brother in the back to get $. Big Blue could give a rat's ass, they are completely focused on China so there was no debate or actual thought put into the impact this decision will have. Well done, but as pointed out above just a bit different from the fight I was in. I would also point out that because last days of AFG differs from the early days does not mean fights like the early days will never happen again...thus I would actually prefer to have BOTH options. The gunfight I ended up in was far more typical of Al-Fallujah, supporting a team fighting a crap ton of bad dudes literally across the street. Chaos everywhere as the bad guys tried to flank, got on the roof to throw hand grenades, popped in and out of windows, doors and alleys. Thank god both guns were humming and we were able to shift fire in a second or two to stop every attempt to over run the good guys. PGMs would and the time it takes to employ them would have been useless in that particular fight. Point and click CAS is cool and offers another tool in the container but it has limits and dangers all it's own. Professionally I would ask you keep in mind the actual definition of CEP...it means HALF of your munitions will fall within those parameters, there are consequences when they land outside that circle. 26 years of flying and a little bit of combat time, the most focused and SCARED I've ever been (including two MANPADS guiding on me at the same time), was when I pushed that button that close to the friendlies. 8 seconds TOF felt like an eternity and I will freely admit some quite moments of reflection the next morning over some bootleg brown liquor. There was no chest thumping, just a quiet thanks upward that I didn't F it up...and I say "I" because it was me that had the A code, it was my decision and my responsibility. I recall a training sortie as an O-6 when I was flying with the W's working AGM-176 employment on movers. Obviously I won't get into tactics but it was an exercise in frustration as we tracked farmer brown driving his truck around Clovis. Numerous turns over a 10 minute period repeatedly tumbled gyros tumbled as the crew rode the struggle bus trying to reset the LAR. I could not watch them hump the bowling ball anymore and finally said "Shoot TWO if you want a high Pk, but for the love of god shoot something before he gets away." Point being, there is a benefit of deep magazines. A couple Griffins is cool, a crap ton of candy corn is even cooler and useful in big fights. I am not trying to be a dinosaur, I was actually an early adopter and advocate for SDB and incorporation on on the gun pig, but as a whole I see USAF and AFSOC forgetting our history and drifting away from core capabilities like CAS. I have great concern when we take away the 105MM (and maybe the 30MM...yes it has been discussed), and retire the A-10...the two greatest CAS platforms that have existed, all in the name of a pivot to peer near-peer. God help us if we do these things and end up in another dark night over Jalalabad and all we have is Fat Amy with 181 rounds and some PGMs.

I will reach out Monday. I don't care if I get long tour credit. I will have 300+ days unaccompanied short tour within 18 months. Per the AFI because I didn't go from "CONUS" to "OS" I wanted to ensure I still get short tour credit. Also want to get Dwell time as now it looks to be bumped up to 1:2. That said because this short tour isn't a "deployment" (it's a PCS) I don't know if I get any dwell time. It's pretty unfair to be away from my family for a year in a CZTE country where everyone on a base gets deployment credit. That said I don't live on base, but would gladly if it meant I get 1:2 dwell time.

Is there still a T-1 sim only (no t-6 phase) UPT syllabus? if there is, is it only for high civilian time pilots? Been to a lot of air force training programs, a short UPT would be nice I will be going reserve heavies if that helps.

As someone stationed in Japan that has seen a lot of military members denied for EFMP, I personally would call the gaining location myself and see what care is available at the location, and if it is covered and available, I would do everything possible to make the EFMP application as "clean" as possible. Obviously you want to make sure your wife is taken care of and appropriate care is available, and hopefully she is doing well. But I've seen people denied EFMP for very silly things, in my opinion. A couple of weeks ago I was TDY in Hawaii and an Army Major we visited with was denied to bring his family to Hawaii, because his daughter had seen a counselor a couple times for depression. His wife is a medical professional, a nurse I think, and there's obviously plenty of care available in Hawaii. He was denied by EFMP and did a 2 year unaccompanied tour instead of a 3 year accompanied tour, his daughter who is now 18 feels guilty for stopping the PCS, and is moving out to Hawaii on her own for College next year anyway. In my opinion, EFMP has become a bloated, power hungry entity that abuses their power and doesn't care so much about the health of the force, but rather covering their a$$ for liability sake. They'll say no to reduce risk and liability for the DoD, vs looking to find healthcare solutions. Take that for what it's worth, but it's just one example of many similar examples I've seen in Japan.

I mean, at least your bone nerds don't get convicted of B&E, brutally assaulting exes in the shower with a lead pipe after a multi-hour out of state drive with body disposal kit in the car; serve nine hard time, with another 40 pending on parole, then get hired by a blue LCC (for a short while anyways), like the buff nerds do. #fightclub

Calling my ins company to up the value of my -8. Business Announcement From Van's Founder Dick Vangrunsven - VAF Forums (vansairforce.net) From the above forum link: Long story short, we are seeing the end of an era. That’s not to say the new era won’t be OK, but this was really the last kit manufacturer that could be built on an average middle-class budget. With all of the other component prices increasing exponentially, like engines and avionics and props, I think we are really seeing the end of the traditional budget home building era.

You're telling me. It's in absolute shambles. I'm actually in the process of finding salvage/firesale for my carcass of a plane. Inflight engine issue, got touchy there for a second, long story short, PEL'd that bitch barely back to a runway. thank heavens I was solo, didn't put my family through that stress. An anti-climatic end to a 10 year ownership affair, but I guess everything comes to an end. 2/10 would not recommend again, but I'll always have the family trip memories with me. I'll take a lap for a while, take advantage of the increased savings now that I'm planeless in order to lick my wounds from this loss and bolster my seed money for the pivot. I'll find the right replacement when the time is right, and get back on the saddle. I am d.o.n.e. with certified. 100% EAB for me going forward, more than likely 6a or Glasair 2 FT. done with retracts too. As to Vans. Yup, the interim CEO selected is the guy who did Glasair's chop and spinoff. My money this goes down as Glasair 2.0. winnie the pooh will likely be in the picture now.

Sorry if this has been covered but... I PCS for a short tour overseas unaccompanied soon. My wife will be living in the conus while I'm gone. I'm currently OCONUS but still in America. I would like my stuff to stay in storage for the full 1 year tour, as she will be living with family near my duty station once the short tour is over. Finance is saying I will make BAH so the government will not cover the cost of NTS (non temp storage) and I will have to pay that out of pocket for the year I'm overseas. When I asked TMO they said the gov will pay for non temp storage. She is listed as a dependent on my orders and will be allowed to move to a designated location. What doesn't make sense is if she wanted to move to state X while I was gone and then move to my next duty station after my short tour, the gov would be moving our goods twice. If the goods are kept in non temp storage, they will only have to move them once to my duty station after my short tour. Does anyone know the answer to this? Can you point me to a AFI or reg that covers this so I can go to finance and explain their regs to them if need be? Any help appreciated!

American rider Matteo Jorgenson wins Tour of Oman today. Up and coming talent who had some decent results at last year’s TDF. Should be one to watch over the next few years. Video & commentary of the finish in Oman: