Am I working or Not?

[George Grand]

Maybe you're aware of the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). They are voting on recommendations made by the Dep't. of Defense (DOD) as to whether certain military bases and/or organizations should be re-aligned or closed.

The DOD recommended that all 16 of my wing's KC-135E air refueling tankers be retired, and they did not specify a replacement aircraft such as the KC-135R.
Well, the BRAC just voted on the entire tanker deal across the nation. I watched it on C-Span. These guys can talk up a storm and say NOTHING!!! I have no idea if they voted for or against retiring ALL 16 of our tankers, only 8 of our tankers, or none of our tankers. What a crock of ****. About 1,250 people that are members of my unit, the 108th Air Refueling Wing, are all sitting in their living rooms wondering the same thing. Do we have jobs, or what?

Why do we pay these people?

I will actually benefit in a small way, through a early retirement buy-out, if they voted to retire all the tankers. There's no way I want to do this stuff much longer anyway, as tanker stuff (and military flying in general) is a young man's game. But I feel for all the people I work with who are not as close to retirement as I am. They're ****ed.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

[Dennis Gardner]

Does that mean that you would spend even more time on forums giving people **** and righting wrong statements made by self described know-it-alls? :D :D

Actually GG, I hope it goes whatever way you are ready for. I know that each year I tow the line for my company, it gets a little heavier or I get a little weaker, I don't know which it is. ;)

DG

[George Grand]

I don't have much of an argument against your first sentence Dennis. I guess I would.

I would probably divide the rest of my time up between being a for hire male escort and this...........

"Hi Mrs. Young housewife, welcome to Wal-Mart. Suuure we have that stuff here. Aisle 5. Love that outfit you have on."

"Sorry, buddy, we don't have fishing equipment here at Wal-Mart."

"Hi there Miss Bombshell Single woman, welcome to Wal-Mart. Oh yes, aisle 14 for cosmetics, but surely you don't think with that face you NEED any? LOVE that color nail polish on you. Have a nice day."

"Nope sorry pal, no automotive stuff here at Wal-Mart. Try Star Auto Supply. See ya."


What do you think? Did I pass the audition?

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

[Dennis Gardner]

At my Walmart, all you gotta do is pass the "pee test" and you got a job for life. The wife and I always see those ads on TV for Walmart with the happy employees that are dying to help you and wonder where in the hell is "that" store. It isn't anywhere I have shopped.

[George Grand]

I stopped in there a couple times and there were a few customers I wanted to work with real bad.

"Yes maam, chloroform is right over here in this aisle with dim lighting. Want to borrow my handkerchief?"

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

[F1nut]

GG, if you guys aren't refueling the planes, who the hell will?

[MacLeod]

This whole base closing thing is pissing me off. I realize sometimes you need to prune the bushes and all but this seems like a lot to me.

What kills me is the chicken **** congressmen. They dont have the balls to come up with the actual base closings themselves so they appoint a "blue ribbon commission" to do it. That way if theyre ever called on the carpet for it they can always claim "hey, we had nothing to do with it". Cowards!

[spwuinmk67]

Unfortunatly, the base my dad works at, Fort Monmouth, NJ, is one of the one's that are supposed to close. As far as I know though, won't be for at least 6 years or so.

[ND13]

I like the interview I saw with some "base Closing Expert", where he's trying to pacify the communities where these bases are being closed. He was saying for them not to worry, that there's life after the closure for these communities. Then he goes on to cite one success story, where the base was turned into a "thriving" industrial park. Well, from personal experience, that's the exception to the rule. After they closed Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, Fed Ex was looking to purchase it so they could utilize it for their maintanance hub, but it hasn't happened yet. It's been over twelve years now and that community has yet to recover. I just can't believe that we're even entertaining the idea of base closures during a time of war, even if it's virtually over for the most part. That region is still very volatile and could erupt all over again, without notice, at anytime.

George, I hope everything works out for you, but I also hope that they don't eliminate bases that, I believe, are still necessary for our physical and economic security.

[dragon1952]

The place I work at in San Diego is on the BRAC list also, although the plan is to move everyone that works there to other local installations. This compound is on very prime bayfront property downtown and there have been rumors of the Navy selling it for the entire 20+ years I've worked there. We'll see what happens. I'm also considering an early buyout like GG, which for us is a totally separate issue from BRAC. I just got my 30 yr pin and I just can't seem to get motivated to get up and go to work anymore and I certainly don't want to move to one of these other sorry-ass installations. I hate going to work anymore and I hate S. Cal. I'm ready to go to Oregon and sit on the balcony of my new home (in the rain probably) and enjoy the beautiful view and drink beer for the rest of my life.
BRAC sucks though. They're not saving any appeciable amount of money anyway. It's all to make it look like they're doing something constructive to the public. All it does is take more jobs away from hard working Americans and make the politicians look good in the process like they're saving the government all this money. And then they just go and piss it all away anyway in ****hole places like Iraq. What a crock of ****. Screw 'em George....take the money and run.

[Jstas]

Official BRAC website:

http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/


Stop speculating and read what is going on. It's all there.

[ND13]

That's what we Americans do, speculate. ;) :D

[disneyjoe7]

GG, if you guys aren't refueling the planes, who the hell will?

Good question, It's has to be near by are this idea was thought out to well ;)


Sorry to hear George I hope all works out ok for you.

[danger boy]

here is the news we just received about our local AFB.

About eight Washington Air National Guard air tankers should be moved out of Fairchild Air Force Base,a federal commission ruled Friday evening.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to uphold a Pentagon recommendation to move the KC-135 jets to other bases.

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the defense department recommended realigning Fairchild by having the 141st Air Refueling Wing associated with the 92d Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild. The 141st Air Refueling Wing's eight KC-135R aircraft would be distributed to the 185th Air Refueling Wing at Sioux Gateway Airport in Iowa.

Members of the 141st would not be moved to other bases under the Pentagon's proposal. But it's not known what would happend to the ground crews that maintain the planes at Fairchild.

[reeltrouble1]

Hope you get what you want George as far as a buy-out or at least an answer. The folks in the Puzzle Palace always confuse the hell out of me. Oh, I could see them say something like, "Well, we bought the fuel but have no budget now to pay for the refueling"!!! Its not our fault blame appropriations.

RT1

[George Grand]

We are to receive 8 KC-135R tankers, with the possibility of 4 more down the road. Jobs for everybody.

There is also talk that one of two air refueling squadrons we have now in the 108th Air Refueling Wing, will someday convert to a C-17 "associate" squadron. What that means is a squadron that doesn't own it's aircraft, but comes in and flies the aircraft that belong to the Air Force. That would destroy our maintenance squadron, as the Air Force would provide all maintenance personnel. It would also destroy a good flying squadron, as those C-17's are on the road all the time (including places where they shoot at you all the time) and are real home wreckers. The Kid is definitely not interested in THAT program, I'm allergic to bullets.

Hope you do okay Dragonman.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

[disneyjoe7]

Great too hear George :)

[George Grand]

Thanks Steve.

[Mike682]

George, my uncle is in the 106th Recsue Wing in West Hampton. I was thinking about him and others as the list was coming out..

[HBombToo]

I cought a little bit of this on the news this morning and was shocked. I have no clue why or why not but thanks for the links above.

I may be going through this very same thing with the Sprint/Nextel merger. As the press would have it Sprint may buy my company out. I spent 5 very long years with Sprint and can NOT imagine working for them again. It is a meat grinder that I care not to spend anymore time with. So I'm thinking this is the perfect oportuninty to cash out and begin career #2. My title will be "Bar Fly that would not leave".

Henry

[George Grand]

Hey Mike,

My Uncle Benny, easily one of the top 5 wackiest people I have ever had the pleasure..... was the flight line chief for the 106th for many, many years. Ask your uncle if he remembers Ben Lojo, or has heard of him. I'm sure the legend lives on. He lived in Brentwood till he retired. Outside Tucson now near the Mexican border. I visited him a couple years ago and STILL completely insane.

That base, Gabreskie Airport now, will be safe for many years to come because of the 106th and its very necessary mission.

George

[Mike682]

Hey Mike,

My Uncle Benny, easily one of the top 5 wackiest people I have ever had the pleasure..... was the flight line chief for the 106th for many, many years. Ask your uncle if he remembers Ben Lojo, or has heard of him. I'm sure the legend lives on. He lived in Brentwood till he retired. Outside Tucson now near the Mexican border. I visited him a couple years ago and STILL completely insane.

That base, Gabreskie Airport now, will be safe for many years to come because of the 106th and its very necessary mission.

George

George,

I will ask him

Mike