WTF? (**NSFW**)

[McJay Pilot]

5 hours ago, DirkDiggler said:

I'd like to know where all these dream makers were when I was in HS....

Preschool… 

[Mole]

Vance enlisted dorm life is living large.

[M2]

Airman celebrates her promotion in controversial fashion

https://www.thesaltysoldier.com/2025/06/24/airman-celebrates-her-promotion-in-controversial-fashion/

To save everyone from scrolling...



Now to see who calls 'Dibs!' first!

My money is on Biff...

[Biff_T]

54 minutes ago, M2 said:

Airman celebrates her promotion in controversial fashion

https://www.thesaltysoldier.com/2025/06/24/airman-celebrates-her-promotion-in-controversial-fashion/

To save everyone from scrolling...



Now to see who calls 'Dibs!' first!

My money is on Biff...

That is correct kind sir.

Dibs!

[M2]

Tim Kennedy Admits To Stolen Valor

Tim Kennedy may be one of the most decorated military men to ever compete in mixed martial arts, but that didn’t stop him from making false claims about his awards over the years.

Kennedy competed in MMA for a decade and a half, rising to become a middleweight contender in Strikeforce and then the UFC while still serving in the U.S. Army as a Special Forces sniper. He has a whole whack load of military medals for his service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, including a Bronze Star.

But he does not have a Bronze Star with Valor, and that’s a big issue.

The unearned distinction got worked into his bio over the years until a number of current and former military members took issue with it. Kennedy has spent the last six months arguing it was due to mistakes other people made listing his credentials.

“I do not have, nor have I ever claimed to have, a Bronze Star with V device,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the start of 2025. “I acknowledge that there are a handful of articles on the web, to include a third-party speech booking service that annotate that award. I did not realize those articles were out there, and I have taken immediate action to correct them.”

But recently an interview popped up where he clearly claims to have a Bronze Star with Valor, and now Kennedy is apologizing...

(Full article at title link)

[uhhello]

Have any of these military influencers ever turned out to be good dudes?  Even his apology is wishy washy.

[brabus]

Good question. I used to listen to one guy’s podcast that was generally good and entertaining, but in real life interactions it became rapidly apparent he was a self-loving douche bag who I’m sure was credible in his former life, but he lacked all other “decent human” skills. I no longer listen to him because I know what a douche he is in real life (once off the mic and not pretending to be a good dude). Unfortunately, there’s probably a lot of guys like that out there. 

[BFM this]

The record scratched for me when TK started to go off on anti-2A rants.  That said, there's some stories coming out of the woodwork.  It's the internet/X, so taken with a grain of salt...

 

[SocialD]

I don't really have an opinion on Tim Kennedy because I don't really follow him or know the story.  I didn't even know who he was until recently.  I'm just truly skeptical when stories suddenly come out of the woodwork about people like this.  He's become a political figure, and when you do that, hate will follow as your opposition tries their level best to discredit you. 

 

When it comes to military haters, the hate really flares up if your service is used to propel that gain, especially if it puts you in the spotlight.  Then all the dick measurers come out to compare number,  suck factor and duration of deployments, as if they charge the machine gun nests at Utah beach.  

 

Of course many have no problem using their service to get them a high paying civilian job, often one where they continue to suck off the government tit while collecting a pension and VA...100% of course because their sleep apnea and plantar fasciitis flared up at year 19. You must do all this quietly without any fanfare. 

 

I've never bought into the idea that the government gets to exploit you for all your worth, but you must not exploit your service to get ahead in the civilian world.  Based on their actions, many who tout this don't really believe it either.   

 

As far as claiming medals, ya that ain't cool.  I truly despise our medal system as it's become more of a check box or a system to help propel the shiny pennies.  The ribbon rack on my blues collecting dust in the closet is still the ribbon rack from when I was a SSgt. 

[arg]

 Suicide by jet.

On July 8, 2025, around 10:30 a.m. local time, Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old man from Calcinate near Bergamo, died after reportedly throwing himself into the left engine of a Volotea Airbus A319 (flight V73511) preparing for takeoff to Asturias, Spain, at Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY).Russo, who was neither a passenger nor an airport employee, arrived in a red Fiat 500, abandoned his car, bypassed security through an emergency door in the baggage area, broke free from two border police officers pursuing him, and ran onto the tarmac toward the aircraft.  Passengers on the plane heard a loud bang; crew instructed them not to look out the windows due to the graphic scene, and all 154 passengers and six crew were evacuated safely, with psychological support provided.  Local reports indicate Russo had a history of drug problems and was fleeing police at the time; the incident is being investigated as a suspected suicide, with an autopsy pending.

 

[brabus]

I’m actually surprised how intact he mostly is after that, at least from that camera distance. 

[icohftb]

Wonder what the autopsy will reveal as the cause of death. COVID?

[Biff_T]

Adios!

[fire4effect]

On 7/12/2025 at 7:07 AM, SocialD said:

I don't really have an opinion on Tim Kennedy because I don't really follow him or know the story.  I didn't even know who he was until recently.  I'm just truly skeptical when stories suddenly come out of the woodwork about people like this.  He's become a political figure, and when you do that, hate will follow as your opposition tries their level best to discredit you. 

 

When it comes to military haters, the hate really flares up if your service is used to propel that gain, especially if it puts you in the spotlight.  Then all the dick measurers come out to compare number, suck factor and duration of deployments, as if they charge the machine gun nests at Utah beach.  

 

Of course many have no problem using their service to get them a high paying civilian job, often one where they continue to suck off the government tit while collecting a pension and VA...100% of course because their sleep apnea and plantar fasciitis flared up at year 19. You must do all this quietly without any fanfare. 

 

I've never bought into the idea that the government gets to exploit you for all your worth, but you must not exploit your service to get ahead in the civilian world.  Based on their actions, many who tout this don't really believe it either.   

 

As far as claiming medals, ya that ain't cool.  I truly despise our medal system as it's become more of a check box or a system to help propel the shiny pennies.  The ribbon rack on my blues collecting dust in the closet is still the ribbon rack from when I was a SSgt. 

Tangentially related.

On a trip to Europe in January I got to spend a day in Normandy. BTW a day alone is nowhere near long enough. Please put a visit on your bucket list. Standing on the beaches of Omaha and Utah to the Cemetary at Colleville-sur-Mer to the D-Day aid station in the 12th Century Church at Angoville-au-Plain that still has blood-stained pews 80 years later I felt like I hardly deserved to be in the presence of such greatness and sacrifice. Our guide (former British Military so he could discuss it from a military perspective) not surprisingly said not many tours come by in the cold winter months, but the silence afforded in his mind allowed a proper solemnity for the time and place. One fact he mentioned was that only 550 or so German troops were on duty at the time of the initial landings which dumfounded me because we all know the carnage inflicted on the American troops.

[mp5g]

6 hours ago, fire4effect said:

Tangentially related.

On a trip to Europe in January I got to spend a day in Normandy. BTW a day alone is nowhere near long enough. Please put a visit on your bucket list. Standing on the beaches of Omaha and Utah to the Cemetary at Colleville-sur-Mer to the D-Day aid station in the 12th Century Church at Angoville-au-Plain that still has blood-stained pews 80 years later I felt like I hardly deserved to be in the presence of such greatness and sacrifice. Our guide (former British Military so he could discuss it from a military perspective) not surprisingly said not many tours come by in the cold winter months, but the silence afforded in his mind allowed a proper solemnity for the time and place. One fact he mentioned was that only 550 or so German troops were on duty at the time of the initial landings which dumfounded me because we all know the carnage inflicted on the American troops.

Truly the greatest generation  if you’re interested in the minutiae of D-day at Omaha beach, highly recommend Omaha Beach by Balkoski. This book delves down to the second when things occurred and gave me a whole new appreciation of the hell those guys went through securing the beach head.

 

Edited Monday at 12:06 AM by mp5g
Stupidity

[Herkdrvr]

2 hours ago, mp5g said:

Truly the greatest generation  if you’re interested in the minutiae of D-day at Omaha beach, highly recommend Omaha Beach by Balkoski. This book delves down to the second when things occurred and gave me a whole new appreciation of the hell those guys went through securing the beach head.

 

Concur. 

I'm suspect of the 550 German figure as Balkoski cites around ~2000 at Utah IIRC and Ambrose's book on D-Day placed the initial force around 7,500 or so. 

Nevertheless, Normandy is not to be missed and I hope to return one day for a more in-depth guided tour. 

 

[uhhello]

Been there three times and each time is fantastic.  Made it one year on the anniversary.  Got to talk to some D-Day vets.  Pointe Du Hoc is absolutely bonkers what was accomplished.  

[fire4effect]

1 hour ago, Herkdrvr said:

Concur. 

I'm suspect of the 550 German figure as Balkoski cites around ~2000 at Utah IIRC and Ambrose's book on D-Day placed the initial force around 7,500 or so. 

Nevertheless, Normandy is not to be missed and I hope to return one day for a more in-depth guided tour. 

 

I never would have guessed 550. When he asked what I guessed I did a wild out of A$$ number of 3000 at Omaha. I think in hindsight he may have been referring to only those on duty in the actual strong points. I just looked and I found a list of 37 strong points for Omaha Beach so I could see 550 as not beyond the realm of possibility. 

I guess it would all depend on what area was defined for the duty area by Ambrose or anyone else. I think the weather had most in Normandy thinking not happening today. From the German perspective they picked a helluva time to minimum man.

I'm sure Eisenhower knew the Germans were blissfully unaware thanks to the codebreakers at Bletchley Park and the fact if they suspected anything was afoot the airways would have been burning up with radio traffic.  

I did pose the hypothetical question to our guide of what would have happened had Hitler not invaded Russia and he saw no-way we could have breached the Atlantic Wall given how deep they could have stacked their forces. The Russian Front certainly sucked up a whole lot of resources to say the least.

 

From a practical perspective it takes a bit to get to Normandy. We took a train from Paris to Bayeux where our guide met us early in the morning and he dropped us off at Carentan in the evening to catch the train back to Paris. As mentioned most tours shut down in winter so summer has its advantages. It was 28 degrees and the wind off the channel was brisk so if you go in the winter plan accordingly.

Any questions message me and I'll do my best to answer.

P.S. to Uhhello you are spot on about Pointe Du Hoc. 

[Lord Ratner]

On 7/12/2025 at 11:52 AM, arg said:

 

 Suicide by jet.

On July 8, 2025, around 10:30 a.m. local time, Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old man from Calcinate near Bergamo, died after reportedly throwing himself into the left engine of a Volotea Airbus A319 (flight V73511) preparing for takeoff to Asturias, Spain, at Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY).Russo, who was neither a passenger nor an airport employee, arrived in a red Fiat 500, abandoned his car, bypassed security through an emergency door in the baggage area, broke free from two border police officers pursuing him, and ran onto the tarmac toward the aircraft.  Passengers on the plane heard a loud bang; crew instructed them not to look out the windows due to the graphic scene, and all 154 passengers and six crew were evacuated safely, with psychological support provided.  Local reports indicate Russo had a history of drug problems and was fleeing police at the time; the incident is being investigated as a suspected suicide, with an autopsy pending.

 

A friendly reminder to any airline pilots here, if you look out the window and see someone approaching the plane when they shouldn't be, just shut the engines down. The passengers will survive the 30 seconds of darkness as you wait for the Apu to come online, and aside from saving a life, you may be saving a whole lot of people a whole lot of trauma from seeing something most people can't handle seeing.

[Biff_T]

Does this count as a kill?  

[disgruntledemployee]

29 minutes ago, Lord Ratner said:

A friendly reminder to any airline pilots here, if you look out the window and see someone approaching the plane when they shouldn't be, just shut the engines down. The passengers will survive the 30 seconds of darkness as you wait for the Apu to come online, and aside from saving a life, you may be saving a whole lot of people a whole lot of trauma from seeing something most people can't handle seeing.

Engines don't exactly stop on a dime with shutdown.

[Lord Ratner]

1 hour ago, disgruntledemployee said:

Engines don't exactly stop on a dime with shutdown.

Thrust production (and the associated vacuum pressure in the intake) drops off very quickly without combustion, while inertia keeps the fans spinning for much longer. Besides, what point are you making? Fuck it, let him die? You think you're going to continue taxiing to the runway after they wipe his brains off the acoustic panels? 

 

Christ, are you this obnoxious in real life? 🤣😂 I know you're putting it out there with your user name, but still...

Edited Monday at 06:43 PM by Lord Ratner

[mp5g]

14 hours ago, Herkdrvr said:

Concur. 

I'm suspect of the 550 German figure as Balkoski cites around ~2000 at Utah IIRC and Ambrose's book on D-Day placed the initial force around 7,500 
 

 

12 hours ago, fire4effect said:

I never would have guessed 550. When he asked what I guessed I did a wild out of A$$ number of 3000 at Omaha. I think in hindsight he may have been referring to only those on duty in the actual strong points. I just looked and I found a list of 37 strong points for Omaha Beach so I could see 550 as not beyond the realm of possibility.

Just looked up the figures in Balkoski’s Omaha beach book. His research states,

”the invasion plan had assumed 600 Germans would initially resist the assault on Omaha Beach.”

”Instead of 600 defenders, the real number would be more like 1,100–and made up of troops the German high command rated in its highest combat category, meaning they were fully mobile and capable of launching large-scale attacks.”

Intelligence had missed the redeployment in March of the 352nd Infantry Division to reinforce Omaha. Intel also declared only a single enemy battalion was posted in reserve behind Omaha, but with the redeployment of the 352nd, “that reinforcement number was increased to at least five.”

[FourFans]

4 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

Besides, what point are you making?

He's making the point that if the pilots had toggled the engines as soon as that guy approached the plane it would have made no difference given the time-span of this event.  Those motors would still be spinning plenty fast enough to chop a skull.  Hence him saying: "Engines don't exactly stop on a dime with shutdown."

It has nothing to do with his attitude about the guy and more about recognition of physics.  Stop trying blame pilots for things they can't control.  They likely couldn't see anything until it was all over.  If you've sat in a pilot's seat, you'd know that.

You you this ignorant in real life, or are you just a Nav?

Friggin' tourist

Edited Monday at 10:02 PM by FourFans

[Lord Ratner]

1 hour ago, FourFans said:

He's making the point that if the pilots had toggled the engines as soon as that guy approached the plane it would have made no difference given the time-span of this event.  Those motors would still be spinning plenty fast enough to chop a skull.  Hence him saying: "Engines don't exactly stop on a dime with shutdown."

It has nothing to do with his attitude about the guy and more about recognition of physics.  Stop trying blame pilots for things they can't control.  They likely couldn't see anything until it was all over.  If you've sat in a pilot's seat, you'd know that.

You you this ignorant in real life, or are you just a Nav?

Friggin' tourist

Except you're wrong. If that pilot had shut down both engines as soon as he saw someone running towards the plane, they would have spooled down dramatically, and while they probably would have hurt the guy, they wouldn't have chopped his fucking head off, and they absolutely, positively would not have been sucking him in towards the core. So instead of just getting close enough to let the vacuum pressure do the rest, he would have had to climb into the cowl, crawl forward, and shove his head into the (decelerating) spinning blade. Watch the video. You'll notice I didn't say "wait until he's sticking his head in the cowling before shutting down."

 

And I have to ask again, exactly what fucking point are you making? You're just going to keep him running cuz "maybe we'll get to depart anyways?" I'll be explicit here, if you think that's a good idea, You have no business being an airline captain. Stick to the military where you don't have to worry about crazy shit like this. 

I swear some of you guys are so locked into the internet that you forget that being "technically right" is not the same thing as being right.