A Sunday Respite — needs no words from me.
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Tag Archives: Air Force
Oh The Memories
‘Sweat, piss and hate’ — What it smells like to carry hundreds of troops in an Air Force C-17
“The Army can be very messy passengers, think toddlers hopped up on energy drinks.”
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. military flexed its rapid deployment capabilities by flying thousands of U.S. service members and their equipment to Europe aboard Air Force C-17 cargo jets in response to the Russian troop build-up around, and invasion of, Ukraine. But amid all the headlines, one key element of transporting hundreds of humans over an ocean in a metal can is sometimes lost: it stinks.
“It smells like sweat, piss and hate. The bathrooms get really really gross on ocean crossings,” said one C-17 pilot when asked what the jet smells like after carrying paratroopers over the ocean, as the Air Force did recently for soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.
“Hate is indescribable,” the pilot added, “but you know it when you smell it.”
Another C-17 pilot had a similar view of carrying soldiers. Compared to the other services, the Army is by far the most messy, he said.
“The Army can be very messy passengers, think toddlers hopped up on energy drinks,” said the second pilot, also on the condition of anonymity. “The Army has a bad habit of spitting their dip out on the cargo floor, leaving their trash everywhere and taking a piss in places other than the lavatory.”
You might be surprised which branch has a rep for being the cleanest passengers.
“Marines are usually the best passengers, they clean up their stuff and behave themselves,” the pilot said. Anyone care to guess why? Think maybe discipline and leadership may have something to do with it? “Navy is a mixed bag. One time a Navy commander asked about coffee service and inflight beverages. She was 100% serious.”
Go Navy! Wonder if Air Force troops asked if they really had to ride in the back of those things?
To the Navy commander’s surprise, Air Force C-17s are not built for creature comforts such as peanuts and in-flight movies. In fact, the aircraft has only one bathroom which starts to stink by the end of a long flight. 
“Even if just carrying like 30 to 40 people on a long flight the bathroom gets rank,” said one C-17 loadmaster, a member of the aircrew who is in charge of getting cargo and passengers on and off the aircraft. The cargo could involve anything from humanitarian supplies to main battle tanks. Also called “the Moose,” the C-17 made headlines in August when it played a key role evacuating 120,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies out of Kabul, Afghanistan as the U.S. ended its involvement in that country. In one flight, a C-17 lifted a record 823 people out of Kabul. It was the largest non-combatant evacuation in U.S. military history, and Moose crews drove themselves hard to get it done. Yeah, and that was all so unnecessary if Sleepy Joe had any military advisors that knew what the hell they were doing.
“Yeah, the C-17 community is burned out, never been ran this hard,” said one pilot who spoke on the condition of anonymity at the time. “Jets broken everywhere. But we got a lot of folks out. Hopefully, they can find better lives in the U.S. Maybe the silver lining to this whole thing.”
If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, the Moose may be faced with a similar challenge. Except instead of pulling people out of danger, they would likely be delivering U.S. troops into harm’s way. On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced it was moving 800 service members in an infantry battalion task force; F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; and 20 Apache attack helicopters already stationed in Europe to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Those troop movements are the latest in a series that have moved 4,700 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland and 300 soldiers with the 18th Airborne Corps to Germany over the past several weeks.
President Joe Biden stressed on Tuesday that the deployment of U.S. forces to the Baltic states and Poland is “a defensive move on our part” and the United States has “no intention of fighting Russia.” The night prior, a contingent of Russian troops invaded eastern Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two breakaway provinces: Donetsk and Luhansk. Up to 190,000 Russian troops have surrounded Ukraine, including Russian forces that have deployed to Belarus, nominally for military exercises. Whatever happens next, it’s likely that the Moose will be involved.
“C-17s are always in the mix,” said the second pilot.“ Globe masters are the lifeline of embassies and bases around the world. With the shifting dynamics of the Ukraine crisis, it’s difficult to say which mission the C-17s will take on, but they will be in the fight.”
And when they do, the crews will pull long hours not only in the sun, snow, rain or darkness, but also in the stink of humans on a diet of Meals Ready to Eat. But sometimes there are ways to avoid the worst of the smells. For example, C-17s and C-130 cargo planes can carry Air Transportable Galley / Lavatory Systems, also called a “comfort pallet,” a kitchen/bathroom combo unit that can roll on and off the aircraft.
“Flying in style on a C-17 with a comfort pallet is the move,” said one aircrew member. “No smell, hot meals, and two toilets!”
Aircrew on the C-130 Hercules may have it even worse than C-17 crews. At least when a C-17 is fully loaded, there are still aisles down which you can move through the aircraft to get to the lavatory. But a C-130 “gets cramped quick, and when you add cargo pallets to the seats, it’s a pain to squeeze by everyone to get to the toilet,” the aircrew member said.
“When carrying paratroopers you’re literally walking on seated troops to get from the front of the aircraft to the back where the toilet is,” he added.
Like many things in the military, going to the bathroom is an example of herd behavior. Once one person goes “number two” on a C-130, everyone else follows and “the aircraft will quickly start to smell like a porta-shitter,” the aircrew member said.
“Thankfully on the J-Model they have a blue toilet so that helps cut down on the smell,” he added. “But it doesn’t quite get rid of it.”
So next time you hear about more troops being deployed to a faraway land, pour one out for the stinky voyage they had to endure to get there.
Have ridden in both, will take the C-17 or the old C-141 any day over that damn C-130. We even fly the damn thing that’s been around for over 60 years
I thought Brandon said US forces would not fight in Ukraine. Now ole joey is asking for volunteers from southern border patrol agents to volunteer to go to Ukraine. The hell with the 100,000’s of scum crossing over to the US monthly. Maybe he is looking to immigrant a few 1,000 of these folks as they could become democrat voters as payback. Talk about priorities, his aren’t mine. He does nothing that will not benefit his party, the hell with the rest of us..
Go get them Putin, can’t wait to see what Brandon does other than shit his pants more than usual in one day. What the hell do we care about Ukraine? I haven’t lost a damn thing there since I’ve never been there. Is this the infamous “Military Industrial Complex” flexing its muscle. They need a war to help them on Wall Street. We should NOT lose one American in that place.
We Are Screwed!
First it was gays and lesbians,, then it was the transgenders, and now the nonbinary. Had to stop and think about that one . I mean I knew , or at least I thought I knew, what binary meant, but just in case I went to old Man Webster. He says the noun binary means: ” a system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation.” Got that?
Pentagon Quietly Looking into How Nonbinary Troops Could Serve Openly
The Defense Department has quietly begun looking into how it can allow troops whose gender identity is nonbinary to serve openly in the military, three advocates familiar with the situation told Military.com.
The Pentagon has asked the Institute for Defense Analyses, or IDA, which operates federally funded research centers, to study the issue, said the advocates, one of whom requested anonymity to disclose a sensitive topic.
Someone who is nonbinary identifies as neither male nor female, often using “they” and “them” as their pronouns and marking their gender as “X” on forms that have that option.
It is unclear exactly how long the research has been going on, but SPARTA, an advocacy group for transgender troops, put researchers in touch with several nonbinary service members this month.
SPARTA President Bree Fram, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, likened the effort to the study the Pentagon asked Rand Corp. to conduct in 2015 before lifting the ban on transgender people serving in the military. Bet this LtCol was fun to work for.
“Speaking with non-binary troops and defense officials to understand what regulation changes may be necessary is a great first step,” Fram said in a statement to Military.com. “We are hopeful this will allow non-binary individuals to serve authentically and realize their full potential in the military.” Why should they, do we need them?
Jennifer Dane, executive director of LGBTQ military advocacy group Modern Military Association of America, said members of her organization have also spoken with IDA and believes initial conversations about open service by nonbinary troops began last year.
Asked for comment, IDA referred Military.com to the Pentagon, which declined to comment “at this time as we do not provide information that may or may not be part of the Department’s research efforts.”
There is no explicit ban on nonbinary service members, but there is also no official recognition of their existence or guidance about how they should adhere to gendered policies, such as what uniform to wear or where to shower.
Advocates say policies allowing transgender troops to serve openly have made it somewhat easier for nonbinary service members, but add they still face hurdles because there is no official recognition of nonbinary gender identities.
If policies are changed to allow nonbinary troops to serve openly, it would be the latest move to make the military more inclusive for LGBTQ people. Again, why? Do we need them or do they need us to forward their agenda?
It’s been just over a decade since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the law that banned open service by gay, lesbian and bisexual troops.
In 2016, the Obama administration lifted a ban on transgender troops. Former President Donald Trump reinstated the ban in 2019, but President Joe Biden lifted it last year shortly after taking office.
Dane said she is hopeful the research on nonbinary troops will lead to policy changes, but expressed concern that “there’s going to be a lot of hurdles, more so than transgender, I think, because there’s no binary on it.”
But as more people in younger generations identify as nonbinary, including in official documentation such as passports and driver’s licenses, Dane said an open service policy will be crucial to recruitment and retention. A 2021 study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found about 1.2 million U.S. adults identify as nonbinary 76% of whom are under age 29. Don’t you just love it when they spout figures like this? How did they determine these numbers? Certainly one has to trust them, I mean look from where they came. Ha!
“To get the talent, obviously, you’ve got to kind of get with the times,” Dane said. What talent are we talking about. You mean men and women to find, close with, and destroy the enemy?
Dane also pointed to a recent Air Force decision to allow email signatures to include someone’s pronouns, including they and them, as “opening the door to further conversation” about nonbinary troops. “Aim High”
The Biden administration has taken steps to be inclusive to nonbinary people at agencies besides the Pentagon.
The State Department last year issued a passport with an “X” gender marker for the first time.
The Department of Veterans Affairs also recently announced that transgender and nonbinary veterans can identify as such in their official department medical records.
While stressing that he could not speak to the military’s current research efforts, Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, which researches issues of gender and sexuality in the military, said he believes there are three categories of policies the military might have to consider as it looks into open nonbinary service.
The first are policies that likely won’t need to change at all, such as nondiscrimination policies that already ban discrimination based on gender identity.
The second are policies that could be made gender neutral, such as some uniform standards – changes Belkin said would benefit not just nonbinary troops but also female troops.
The third category are policies the military can’t or won’t make gender neutral, such as where to shower. In those cases, Belkin said, commanders could consult with the individual nonbinary service member about which gender’s standards would be more appropriate to follow. Oh, that’s nice, As a Nonbinary I get to choose with whom I shower.
“The opponents to nonbinary service, just like they did for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and just like they did for Obama’s transgender policy, they’re going to insist that implementation is so complicated and so hard, in fact it’s so complicated that it can’t be done. That’s complete bull—-,” Belkin said. “Implementation is not complicated. Period, full stop. The military could easily pull this off tomorrow. It would not be a big deal.”
Aaron Belkin himself. Of course it would not be a big deal says Belkin. He knows this as a fact because he has experience in what military service? NONE!
Finally, you MUST watch this short video as it deals with the reality of the question, what is the DOD doing. Preparing the militaries for war or developing a national social club for the minority groups? Surely that will help with recruitments and retention. Watch and you decide. I believe we’re screwed.
Yes, I believe we are certainly screwed folks.
Is This The Plan?
For those unfamiliar, the Proceedings is a monthly journal published by the U.S. Naval Institute, which is a non-profit membership association serving a community of individuals who participate in an open forum to debate key issues in the Sea Services. There is no government support and they do not lobby for special interests. It is an independent, professional military association with a mission, goals, and objectives that transcend political affiliations. In other words it “ain’t” woke or non-woke. Every essay published in the Proceedings is very well documented and researched; they are strictly opinion pieces, but oh so interesting.
Please read this well thought-out and thoroughly documented essay that could very well be “The Plan.” Pay special attention to paragraph I have highlighted in blue. God help us!
Welcome to the U.S. Naval Institute
The home of influential debate since 1873
The U.S. Naval Institute provides an independent forum for those who seek to advance and strengthen the naval profession.
By Commander Norman R. Denny, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired)
Krulak was right in 1957, and what he said is even more true today. The Army, Navy, and Air Force are fully capable of performing the Marine Corps’ missions. The Army can assume the light infantry and amphibious assault responsibilities. The 1944 invasion at Normandy, the largest invasion in history, was solely an Army effort for the United States. As far as Marine Corps air, the Navy and Air Force are fully capable of close air support, while the Army can also execute the needed rotary and tilt wing missions. The nation wants the Marines. The question may be how to keep the aspects the nation wants, while eliminating the Marines as a separate branch and reaping the benefits of a simplified chain of command, smaller overall force, and another base realignment and closure (BRAC) evolution.
Deconstructing the Marine Corps
So, what aspects does the nation want? If the Marine Corps answers that question, the answer will probably be what it currently has, but with better funding. The informal Marine Corps propaganda apparatus, which President Truman begrudgingly complimented as second in the world only to Joseph Stalin’s, will demand the status quo. For the first time in a generation, the lack of significant numbers of former service members in Congress—coupled with national fatigue after fighting an unsuccessful, two-decade-long war—may allow this topic to be discussed seriously.
Perhaps the easiest part of the current Marine Corps to remove is aviation. There is unlikely to be a huge support community with the nation for Marine aviation, especially the fixed-wing aspects. For most Americans, their knowledge of Marine aviation is likely limited to watching Flying Leathernecks (1951) and The Great Santini (1979). Likewise, the average citizen may see no difference between Marine rotary and tilt-wing aviation and its Army equivalents. The average citizen likely sees no difference because the differences that do exist—primarily the ability to fly from ships—are minor. The nation does not need a separate Marine Corps aviation force and few in the nation likely know enough about it to want it. Eliminating Marine aviation by incorporating it into the Army and Navy would halve the size of the service, which currently is around 184,000 active-duty members.
The U.S. public is far less likely to accept the complete disappearance of the Fleet Marine Forces, the ubiquitous “Mud Marine.” Stripped of aviation, the Marine Corps would resemble the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, both in size (approximately 88,000 troops) and capabilities—both are light infantry, both are air-mobile, and both are capable of airborne and amphibious operations. Both consider themselves to be “elite” forces with strong esprit de corps. Transition of the Fleet Marine Forces into the Army’s yet-to-be created XIX Marine Amphibious Corps would retain the needed amphibious expertise, simplify the chain of command, and could be done in a way that retains many of the unique elements that make a Marine a Marine.
Establishing the Army’s XIX Marine Amphibious Corps at Camp Pendleton on the west coast would give the nation a light infantry “center of excellence” on each coast. Reducing the Marine Corps Commandant to a three-star general, mirroring the XVIII Corps commander, would help reduce the gradual increase in rank structure seen over the past 50 years across the Department of Defense (DoD). Army traditions are likely flexible enough to retain many of the cherished Marine Corps’ accoutrement, like the dress blues and the eagle, globe and anchor emblem. The Army airborne troops currently have their maroon berets and cavalry units have their cowboy hats and spurs. Also, if the XVIII Corps can informally use the term “top” for the command first sergeant, the XIX Corps might well use “gunny” for E-7s. Likewise, young men and women could enlist to be Marines and continue to go through Parris Island for boot camp.
Incorporating the Marine Corps into the Army would significantly simplify the DoD chain of command and eliminate the need for the Commandant to go to the Army and beg for future armor and artillery support. Likewise, the Marines of the XIX Corps would have an equal chance of obtaining any new capabilities integrated into the Army, while potentially allowing Army leaders to reduce the operational tempo of both Corps, although both will still be rapid-deployment units.
To say that Marines would resist incorporation into the Army and Navy is a gross understatement. However, there are concessions that might make it slightly less toxic for the Marines and less objectionable to the public and Congress. Allowing Marine fixed-wing pilots inducted into the Navy to finish out their career using Marine Corps ranks and uniforms would likely help and given the Navy’s history of mixed uniforms, would probably go unnoticed by the public. Similar concessions for the generation of current Marines incorporated into the Army could potentially ease their transition. But regardless of how successful these mitigation efforts are, the DoD would likely be looking at a decade of angst and occasional confusion. The key will be Congress, which will have to rewrite legislation, including U.S. Title 10. As mentioned previously, there are fewer Marines in Congress today than at any time since the early 1950s (there are 15 Marine Corps veterans in the 117th Congress). This, coupled with the inevitable savings from another round of base closures, might be enough to see the initiative championed by President Truman and advocated by Generals Eisenhower and Marshall completed.
General Krulak correctly stated the United States does not need but wants the Marine Corps. For the best interests of the nation, the DoD should at least learn if the U.S. public and Congress will accept a XIX Marine Amphibious Corps. If the answer is yes, then a myriad of questions will have to be answered: Does the nation need two separate light infantry corps? Which Marine Corps installations will be closed or reduced? How many Marine Corps military and civilian personnel, made redundant by the changes, will be discharged? And what, if anything, will remain as a Navy police force? If the topic is given a fair hearing, the answers may surprise us all.
Aim High
Welcome to a night of fun and frolic at the Nellis Air Force Base Top Three Club in Nevada. Don’t this just make you so proud to belong to such a fine, upstanding organization devoted to saving us from the mean-spirited Russians or Chinese? I bet Putin is shaking in his boots. And that Fat Clinamen is hiding somewhere safe. They don’t want to mess with us, because we are . . . . well . . . . . I can think of the right word to describe what we as a military have become. Help.
The Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada recently hosted its first-ever drag queen show at one of its on-base dining and entertainment clubs, according a base spokesperson.
Nellis Air Force Base and the 99th Air Base Wing hosted its first-ever drag show Thursday, June 17, at the Nellis Club. The event was sponsored by a private organization and provided an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the history and significance of drag performance art within the LGBT+ community.
Ensuring our ranks reflect and are inclusive of the American people is essential to the morale, cohesion, and (okay, are you ready for this) readiness of the military. Nellis Air Force Base is committed to providing and championing an environment that is characterized by equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion. LOL, You have to love the Air Force, they have quite the sense of duty to our country.
The drag queen show came to light after Air Force veteran podcaster “BK” posted a digital flyer for the event that read: “DRAG-U-NELLIS” and “CLASS IS IN SESSION.”
“Discover the significance of Drag in the LGBT+ Community at the Nellis Club,” it said.
It was scheduled for Friday, June 17, at 5 p.m. and “Sponsored by the Nellis Top 3.”
The “Top 3” at Nellis Air Force Base is a social and professional organization established to “enhance the morale, esprit de corps, of all enlisted personnel assigned to the Wing and to facilitate cooperation between members of the top three enlisted grades,” according to its private Facebook page.
“The base Top III will provide a forum for its members to meet, share personal experiences and expertise, and assist one another. It may function as an added channel of communication within the chain of command, between the commander, and the enlisted force on Nellis AFB,” it said.
One person who attended the drag queen show posted on her social media account, “Had a fun night … at a drag Queen show at Nellis AFB last night.”
The Nellis Club, according to the Nellis Force Support Squadron website, is a consolidated club offering a “versatile dining and entertainment experience for all its members.”
“We now serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a midnight meal from Mon – Fri as well as brunch, dinner, and a midnight meal on Sat, Sun, Holidays, and Family Days. All meals are open to Essential Meal Card Holders! There is something for everyone to enjoy here at your Nellis Club, come give us a try,” it said.
Nellis Air Force Base is home to the service’s Warfare Center where Air Force pilots undergo the most demanding advanced air combat training in the country. “The crews do not come to learn how to fly, but instead how to be the best combat aviators in the world,” the base website said. Really, the BEST at exactly what?
Postscript: I have another corporation to add to our Woke List. This time it’s Kellogg. Time to destroy this woke company. Please copy and paste and see what this childhood attraction is doing to our kids.
https://www.afa.net/activism/action-alerts/2021/tony-the-tiger-and-toucan-sam-lead-kellogg-s-gay-pride-parade/
