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I'm about to finish Fat Leonard by Craig Whitlock. I had a pretty good handle on the Fat Leonard case, but this book is still a worthwhile read. The degree to which those involved knew exactly what they were doing is pretty galling.

Democrats are for they/them, Trump's for you. And derivatives of that message. A combination of effective messaging by conservatives and dumb policy obsessions by the Democrats have damaged their brand. That said, it's not really worth obsessing over. Politics is cyclical and the current actions...

Funnily enough, I came to the realization that the reaction against woke, DEI, whatever had reached its peak of stupidity when someone in the process of applying to the airlines said they were looking at Southwest in favor of United because the latter was "woke." A truly remarkable thing to utter.

What is the rationale for this? I’m trying to understand what the policy nexus is.

That is likely the biggest culprit when it comes to DOD excess, alongside healthcare. But neither of those will be reasonably reformed is my guess. I'd expect lots of quality-of-life stuff to get cut and huge battles over XYZ weapons systems.

100% - an underappreciated idea. The Mexican model.

Agree on the latter, but don't agree on the former. Our two parties would better serve the American polity if they didn't end up bending to the will of the most extreme primary voters. There's nothing inherently wrong with a two party system, and frankly the Europeans don't make multi party...

The road of history is paved with many a recently elected president who mistook their win for a mandate. Rewind to 2021 for one such example.

It is not elitist to say that many Americans don't understand how the government works. Using epistemological is, maybe, a tad bourgeois but the overall point still stands. People have become a lot more misinformed courtesy of social media and its derivatives. My wife - a highly educated...

Based on what I've read about recent proclamations, Ukraine is being left out of the talks and it's bilateral between Russia and US. For those history buffs, that's the same situation that led Ukraine to relinquish its nuclear weapons in the mid-1990s and, it can be argued, left them vulnerable...

This seems apropos.

What'll become interesting is if DOGE's efforts disrupt any of the above payments, whether on purpose or otherwise. Also Harry Bolz? YGTBFSM

Lol dude Twitter has never been influential. It has only gained prominence because journalists rely on and use it heavily, which has long given everyone a distorted view of how prominent or important it is as a social platform. And then journalists whined about it because Musk bought and gummed...

Apparently through Vanguard mutual funds and honorariums from speeches.

You can already find where most government spending is. You just have to look for it. It just seems like the light is being cast into the darkest corners of the government when someone Tweets a screenshot. And no I don't think Joe Schmoe needs a breakdown of spending that is compartmented or...

The average American's understanding of how much we spend on foreign aid is famously out of whack. So yes, many of them are misinformed on the facts. Doesn't mean they can't vote. Your point on the politics is 100% correct.

The gulf between people's perceptions of the civil service/government employees and the reality never ceases to amaze me. The 80/20 split with where federal workers actually work falls under that category. That doesn't mean the government doesn't need reform, but the genesis of that reform...

Two things can be true at the same time. In this case, that USAID was probably not a well-run agency that was often in conflict with State Dept and pursued some less than ideal grants/projects AND gutting it in the way it has been will be deleterious to the United States' position in the world...

My understanding re: Army aviation is that line (?) officers almost always have less flight time than an equivalent CWO.

I gather she was a White House Social Aide. It's a neat opportunity to put on dress uniform and attend some interesting events at the WH. Doesn't seem like it would be a particularly heavy lift for an interested officer.

While I'm not as experienced as any helo guy when it comes to flying aided, I'm genuinely shocked that de-goggling before landing in an environment like that isn't completely standardized. I'd assume that blooming + lack of depth perception would negate a lot of their benefit. Also perhaps...

Most interesting part about that is it that it’s a CW3 posting that. Seems like all services suffer from ground job creep, not just the Navy.

JFC what shitty advice. OP is flagging concerns about safety (among other issues) stemming from the lack of flight hours, not complaining that it isn't a rose garden. Anywho, I know little about the Marine Corps besides anecdotal stories of suck such as yours. I'd be concerned that turning in...

Wowzer, that's pretty unhinged. Keep on trucking if your recruiter is onboard, that is all I have to say. Those lawsuits - I would wager, as a non-lawyer - aren't going anywhere. Normally I say to have a normal dialogue with your family (mine wasn't jumping up and down with joy when I broached...

A few squadrons on the VAQ flightline brought the solid colorful shit hots out of retirement a few years ago. From what I've heard, they've been (mercifully) put back into the closet.

Probably because it's in a beautiful location and a cool/rewarding/impactful mission. Also, may have something to do with the really slick social media presence they have.

Congrats! Mind sharing what VTU life has been like?

Great info, thanks. As for travel, a better way to describe it is I'd like to decrease my frequency of travel. My two years as a SELRES has involved travel just about every month. Granted that's been driven by 3710 requirements, but it's still something I'm pretty focused on. On Zipserve, there...

Just finished Skies of Thunder which is about the China-Burma-India theater broadly, and flying the Hump in particular. The stories of the pilots who flew the route are harrowing, to say the least. And I didn't appreciate the extent to which the CBI was a repository of charlatans and misfits...

Reviving this thread with some VTU questions. Owing to a move to the East Coast and a new civilian job, I'm leaving my current unit in March and am exploring VTU as one path forward. Most of my experience with the VTU is folks running out the clock until retirement. If one were to be a bit more...

That website is genuinely unhinged. I remember thinking so as a high schooler interested in flying for the airlines.

The military has varying levels of suck. The Air Force has its flavor, the Navy has its flavor. It all involves being away from family/missing lots of important things.

Send them to Calcultta (or anywhere in India) to work in one of the many orphanages there. That certainly scared me straight as a 15 year old kid. Another option is working with the local hospital system. Almost all medical residencies are funded by the CMS and are designed to serve...

At least in VAQ land that's a post-TPS job and is still a flying billet (although not a ton of flying since you have to go to China Lake to get in a jet). Not sure how it's viewed within the galaxy of post-TPS billets but I don't think it's considered negatively.

I honestly cannot imagine what it is like to be selected as a Marine Hornet RAG stud in 2024. I'm surprised they're still taking folks. It seemed like an old (but pretty cool) platform when I was at VT-22 in 2014.

It is, but to be fair to the detractors of Clear at least TSA-Pre is government-sponsored. I will also say Clear is a godsend when I'm trying to catch a 7am flight from SEATAC after having driven down from Whidbey at 3am and the Pre-check line's a 20+ minutes wait.

I signed up for Clear after starting a regular, weekly flying commute. I agree that the whole thing is sketchy and I'm sure there's something sketchy going on with my data and yes it seems scammy that you can pay to cut to the front of the line. That said, when coupled with pre-Check it has...

Hmmmm, probably in the middle of the two options I laid out. In all seriousness, your decision seems pretty easy. Apply to the math PhD while you navigate the waiver process. That keeps all options open. If you get picked up, you can leave the PhD program. I'm not sure about math, but I know...

I don't know if there's any data to support that statement. Had plenty of older counterparts in flight school who did very well. There is zero reason to delay if you want to fly in the Navy/military. I certainly wouldn't delay to pursue a PhD to increase your odds of getting picked up for TPS...

You'll have better luck tracking down the recipe for Coca Cola. Japan/ROK have tons of billets. Plus plenty of opportunities to deploy out there. It's a high-growth area.

Alaska is the best. But really only works if you're a west coaster. Delta and United are the same, one has purple tones and the other has blue tones. That's about the biggest difference.

Nothing original to add but you're definitely not looking at all of the angles. A few things: you'll barely be home during your JO tour so where your based actually doesn't impact your life that much. Yes, Lemoore sucks, no bones about it. I guarantee you are getting only half the message from...

And often times a short, simple message is the best remedy.

My wife was living in New Orleans when they opened the new terminal. It was night and day. The old terminal was dark, dingy, and depressing.

@Brett327 hit the nail on the head. Even if you were able to change, you would 100% be sent to Norfolk or somewhere that isn't San Diego. Murphy's law and all of that.

European infrastructure projects cost about half as much as the costs in the United States. We are also seemingly incapable of massive projects like Crossrail or similar. It's not like Europe doesn't have sclerotic environmental and labor regulations. That said, American airports are getting...

For the first two, make sure it's something meaningful. I've gone full Marie Kondo as of late and put a lot of emphasis on things that hold a distinct memory for me. It's very easy (and I did this early on) to buy all of the swag. Just make sure you have an item or two from each squadron that...

I'm about 2/3 of the way through JPME 1. My experience is a bit skewed because I've been doing it at the same time as an in-person, full-time master's degree. That provides far more educational benefit than JPME 1. I've admittedly mailed it in, but you can easily knock out weekly requirements in...

I was actually pleasantly surprised at how many professional opportunities were available for spouses in Whidbey. It often involved trips to Seattle, but the proximity of that city helped immensely. The problem with places like Lemoore or Fallon is they are close to large towns (or biggest...

Not to distract from this delightful thread drift. But, I just finished The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam. Fantastic account of the forgotten war, Korea. Also a good reminder of what a monumental asshole Douglas Macarthur was (and how he's culpable for many, many KIA during that war).