The Captain's Journal » F-22 Pilots Walk Off The Job Over The Stab

10 Sep 2021

F-22 Pilots Walk Off The Job Over The Stab

BY Herschel Smith

3 years, 3 months ago

I am sharing this with the caveat that I have no way of independently confirming this account.

Air Force,Department of Defense

Comments

On September 10, 2021 at 7:05 pm, 41mag said:

We won’t likely hear about it in the big news stations. But we could hear about massive numbers of active duty personnel being separated.

I didn’t think you could just “walk off” the job in the military.
On September 10, 2021 at 8:01 pm, Factions Speak Louder Than Herds said:

President Ron Klain is not amused.
But, but, but, exclaimed the faculty lounge WH staffers in between selfies.
Who will round up deplorable kulak untermenschen transvaccinated scum if people start walking off?
Too bad Biden is too old for one of those Hitler rants videos!
On September 10, 2021 at 8:07 pm, Herschel Smith said:

@41mag,

I think they can resign their commission, which sets a whole host of things in motion, including but not limited to paying back all of their education costs.

I’m sure there’s more, but I don’t know what it would be. I think it’s different for the enlisted than the commissioned.
On September 10, 2021 at 8:42 pm, Chris said:

Mmmmmm…
I’m suspicious of Everything now a days.

It has a smell.
I Do Hope, pray, I Am Wrong though.
On September 10, 2021 at 9:12 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

@ Herschel

Re: “F-22 Pilots Walk Off The Job Over The Stab”

Bearing in mind that this is “rum-int” (rumor + intelligence), if it turns out to be true, then the first comment that comes to mind for this reader is: “That’s not a bug, that’s a feature!”

The ancient Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu is considered essential reading for any warrior who seeks a deeper understanding of war and conflict. And rightly so. You can be sure the communist Chinese have well-worn copies of his books laying about. One of his best-known admonishments is that the wise general seeks to weaken and defeat his foe even before taking the field of battle.

Hypothetically-speaking, crippling the opponent’s military by use of a biological WMD disguised as a therapeutic agent (vaccine), would certainly fill the bill.

Anyone who is so naive to believe that the Chinese are above this sort of thing is dangerously deluded. If they were willing to lose 200-300 million dead in a war against the “western imperialists,” as one Chinese general boasted in the 1960s, should the U.S. and Red China come to a nuclear exchange – and they are – you can bet that they would have no moral qualms whatsoever about our side suffering that many casualties, or more.

And from their standpoint, a plague is much-preferable to the use of nukes, since the former kills only the people and leaves the enemy lands and infrastructure intact, whereas fallout would render them unusable for years, perhaps decades.
On September 10, 2021 at 9:17 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

@ 41Mag

Re: “I didn’t think you could just “walk off” the job in the military.”

Under normal circumstances, you can’t … but we probably all agree that whatever the circumstances today, they are in no ways “normal.” One individual or a small group committing mutiny or leaving their posts, the military high-command knows how to handle. A large-scale desertion of personnel, on the other hand, who “went on strike” so to speak, would be unprecedented and probably crippling to the armed forces. If it was big-enough, the powers-that-be would have a very large and delicate problem on their hands.
On September 10, 2021 at 9:23 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

@ 41Mag

Honestly, looking at history for guidance or some sort of precedent, I’m stumped – at least as concerns the U.S. military. The nearest I can get in anything like modern times would be the French Army mutiny of 1917. The denouement of that incident saw every tenth man in the affected units, whether innocent or guilty, executed by firing squad, under orders of the French high-command.

The French words “Pour encourager les autres,” have since that time become infamous. Translated, they mean “For the encouragement of the others.” The French general staff wanted to send a message to the men, and this is how they chose to do it.

The brilliant Stanley Kubrick film starring Kirk Douglas “Paths of Glory,” (1957) has this historical episode as its subject matter.
On September 11, 2021 at 7:47 am, The Old Freedom Fighter said:

Georgiaboy61: There was a mass desertion of the Russian army back in 1917 during the height of the First World War. The Bolshevik Revolution was in full swing at that time & the Russian Empire was on its last leg.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the International Encyclopedia of the First World War. I reference it because my grandfather was very much an active participant! As a matter of fact, he fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest Offensive which began on 28 September 1918 & ended on 11 November 1918. He was attached to the 90th Infantry Division aka Texas-Oklahoma Division but best known as the “Tough ‘Ombres” because of the large presence of Hispanic soldiers

By the way, I remember watching “Paths of Glory” some 60 years ago. Another great movie from 1957 was “The Bridge over the River Kwai”, one of the most beloved films of all time.
On September 11, 2021 at 10:40 am, Fr. John+ said:

I only hope that every element of the Biden coup fails miserably. When a sitting president is having the ‘f’ word and being called a ‘bag of sh*t’ in public appearances by the voting populace, the immoral nature and illegal rationale for accepting him as the victor last year, becomes pretty clear.

May God judge him.
On September 11, 2021 at 1:58 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

@ The Old Freedom Fighter

Re: “There was a mass desertion of the Russian army back in 1917 during the height of the First World War. The Bolshevik Revolution was in full swing at that time & the Russian Empire was on its last leg.

Yes, of course…. thank you… I was remiss in not thinking of that example.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the International Encyclopedia of the First World War. I reference it because my grandfather was very much an active participant! As a matter of fact, he fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest Offensive which began on 28 September 1918 & ended on 11 November 1918. He was attached to the 90th Infantry Division aka Texas-Oklahoma Division…”

A Meuse-Argonne Forest man, huh? Your grand-pappy must have been something, some kind of tough hombre. My late (paternal, father’s father) grand-father was also in the U.S. Army during the Great War, but he did not make it over to Europe before the war ended. Perhaps that’s for the best, as he used to smile and tell us young ones, because his job was to drive an ammunition truck! That’s not the best place to be with hot lead and shell fragments flying around….

And when it came time for my late father to join the armed forces in WWII, his parents – my grandpa included – insisted that he join the navy instead of the Army or Marines. Since my dad was seventeen in 1943, and required parental permission to enlist underage, that’s what he did. The navy had its hazards, too, but you got to sleep indoors out of the rain and eat fairly decent food most of the time. On the flip-side, yeah, being a foot-soldier or a grunt is dangerous duty but then again, they didn’t have Japanese Kamikazes aimed at them as a matter of routine!
On September 11, 2021 at 2:03 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

@ Old Freedom

Apropos of the film “Bridge on the River Kwai,” if the ‘real’ history of the infamous “railway of death” in Burma and Thailand during the Second World War interests you, consider reading the late James Hornfischer’s superb book “Ship of Ghosts,” which concerns the wartime service of the heavy-cruiser U.S.S. Houston, and the subsequent ordeals of her crew in Japanese captivity. They were amongst the POWs who build that infamous railroad. The Houston went down in one of the first large-scale naval engagements between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the forces of the U.S. and her allies, at the Battle of the Sunda Strait, 298 February 1942.

Hornfischer was a superb story-teller and naval historian. I was saddened to read of his death not long ago.
On September 11, 2021 at 6:42 pm, Gospace said:

Supposedly fact checked false- but currently I’m blocked from seeing your link or any other about it.
On September 12, 2021 at 10:42 pm, The Wretched Dog said:

“I think they can resign their commission, which sets a whole host of things in motion, including but not limited to paying back all of their education costs.

I’m sure there’s more, but I don’t know what it would be. I think it’s different for the enlisted than the commissioned.”

Retired Colonel. Resigned my Regular Army commission in ’92 to leave active duty at the eight year mark. Accepted a reserve commission and served another 21 years in the USAR, most of it in active (full-time status).

TL/DR: Yes, officer is different than enlisted. Yes, a commissioned officer can resign his/her commission, although there are numerous caveats. In this instance, the pilots are likely going to have serious incentive payments that will likely be recouped. If they are in their initial service commitment, they likely will not get approval to resign until the initial service commitment is complete. Plus – once you accept a commission – big.gov can always bring you back to active duty. This comes as a surprise to many.

Detailed response: First off, if you are commissioned through the Military Academy or an ROTC scholarship, you incur an active service commitment for four or five years, and – if you leave active duty at the end of your initial service tour – remain in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) through a minimum statutory obligation of eight years. This assumes you don’t accept a Reserve commission when you leave active duty and continue in the Army Reserve or National Guard. Many who leave active duty do; some don’t. One weekend a month and two weeks a summer: what could go wrong? ;)

I have never seen a case where an officer with an education commitment was allowed to resign early, with the exception that the big drawdown of ’93 allowed “early outs” – without requiring reimbursement of bonuses or tuition. This is rare.

If you get kicked out for cause, you are liable to pay back your education costs. If you get kicked out for cause in your junior or senior year at the academy you have to serve as enlisted for three or four years; not good for unit morale to have a disgruntled almost officer in the ranks.

Of course, a commissioned officer can always be recalled to duty; you are never totally out. This comes as a surprise to some. I had a classmate who did her five years obligation, resigned her RA commission, was three years in the IRR, and thought she had no further military obligation. Wrong. She was recalled for operations in Iraq in 2005 as a major (she left as a junior captain); big Army promoted her (on paper) with her year-group, despite that she was ‘out’. She was surprised at the orders to deploy, but an obligation is an obligation. Her civil engineering background was priceless in Iraq.

Air Force works the same as the Army. Couldn’t say with the Navy or Marines; they are different – although the statutory requirements are likely identical.

TWD

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