Nice shot of a Bone on its way out from Ellsworth (as captioned in today's AFA Daily Report):
Air Frame: A B-1B Lancer launches from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., to bomb targets in Libya as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn, March 27, 2011. (Air Force photo by SSgt. Marc I. Lane)
―:☺:―
And then there's this...
Prioritizing Quality of Life: The continuing resolution—and corresponding lack of an enacted defense appropriations bill for Fiscal 2011—is the No. 1 issue on airmen's minds today, CMSAF James Roy told House lawmakers Wednesday. "Our men and women are deployed to foxholes around the world, yet we are dangling this [CR] in front of them, saying we may or may not be able to pay you," Roy told the House Appropriations Committee's military construction and veterans affairs panel. From a policy perspective, the top three quality-of-life issues that have captured senior leaders' attention are building a culture of resiliency among airmen and their families, continuous support for those that deploy, and upgrading the Air Force's exceptional family member program, Roy said. "The quality of life of airmen and their families is an overwhelming factor in how long they will serve," he said.
CMSAF Roy's testimony is exactly on point about payin' the troops and I hope the congress takes his words to heart. It would be no trouble at all for Congress to craft a CR for DoD and continue to play games with the rest of the budget. One word of caution though. I wouldn't get too sanctimonious about Air Force "quality of life" issues if I were the Chief. There's already too much of this shit floating around:
We have a good thing goin' here, Chief. Don't fuck it up.
Love the pr0n. Woot!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't mess with the military's pay. Just do what needs to be done. Bunch of wankers (and much much worse) if they don't.
"Wankers" is far too kind, Kris.
ReplyDeleteDitto there Buddy!
ReplyDeleteLike that one time with old peanut farmer in 78. And if we didn't get paid we still had to show up.
Hey! It's ORPO1! One of my bookmarks. Gotta get over there one of these days.
ReplyDeleteThat's a classic comic. Navy's only ancillarily represented by "special ops" and "aviation."
Not sure how to illustrate it. Probably JimmyT (Voice from the Noise) has a rain story. I was briefly a Snipe, so no rain angle, though I have scraped some of that Snake Eater's food out of a condenser.
Glenn: I don't remember the Carter shutdown... weird, hunh?
ReplyDeleteBob: The Navy and the AF definitely live better than the other two of the big four, but the Coasties prolly live better than all of us. They're usually home at night, most of the time.
"The Navy and the AF definitely live better than the other two of the big four..."
ReplyDeleteI'll give you the Coasties, but, ahem, orders of magnitude, here, maaaan (as Lileks might write).
Yes, I've seen "Band of Brothers" and am currently queueing part 4 of "The Pacific" at Netflix. I've heard these are realistic representations of life in WWII for the Army and Marines respectively. Frickin' heroes, those guys.
So yes, you are technically correct in the quote above. But you sneakily imply an equivalence between Navy and Air Force life. Puhlease! Our "dorms" are a little smaller. Our "deployments" are a little harsher. (My three were twice to the North Arabian Sea one one to the Gulf of Oman-- variety, during port and starboard watches!). (Of course I can't recommend my mini-deployment to just off the Kamchatka, though I hear the DEW line sucked for the AF).
Anyway, just kidding. I did six years. You and your nippers are career. You are all my heroes.
Memory? Not what it used to be!
ReplyDeleteReese: Two on Indy to the Med with one side trip to the Norwegian Sea and North Sea. Two on Ranger to the West Pac and Northern Arabian Sea. One on Kitty Hawk to West Pac and the second one was a circumnavigation and membership in The Order of Magellan!
Bob: There's really no comparison between gun-toting grunts and jarheads and the rest of us (with the exception of SEALs, PJs, and a few others). I MIGHT have been able to do what they do in my youth, but I'll never know. I'm grateful I never had to do it, though.
ReplyDeleteAs for: But you sneakily imply an equivalence between Navy and Air Force life.
I didn't mean to imply that; I know we generally have it better than you guys. But, bein' a radar guy I can testify we had some nasty ass assignment possibilities (some of which were in the STATES) and we went to those places for a full YEAR, with one leave to break up the time. At least you guys got to put into port in the Med and West Pac. OTOH there's the submariners... and there's NO explainin' THOSE guys!
And thanks for the kind words about the boys!