Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
LOTS of good commentary from everyone. Much appreciated for your input. If I had to make a call, I’d say 80% NO GO and 20% GO on the percentages.
Thing is I talked with the guy today. Turns out this was a formality… “Your reputation precedes you… when can you start?” Turns out this guy is the PM for the overall Small Arms Maintenance Support and Repair project, and that he’s a Marine, as well as a Master Gunsmith as well. It went from an interview to “Who do you know and where have you been?”
Seems we chewed a lot of the same turf and never crossed paths. Apparently it’s a Kuwait Job only. And yes, he’s putting that in writing. It’s for the APS-5 Contract which just got renewed. That would be the Army Pre-Positioned Stocks that we have stored in the Kuwaiti Desert. The same place I worked the GMASS contract doing the vehicles back in the day. The conversation went so well I even asked him what his favorite flavor crayon he preferred? It went that well.
Going to be an interesting few weeks ahead.
The I.T. Commissar told me to GTFO while the getting is good.
That’s saying something as HE was the one who got me on there.
SO
LOTS of pre-deployment ‘stuff’ as well as medical prep to do over the next few weeks. Even IF the People’s Glorious Tractor Factory makes me an offer I can’t refuse, I need to do this stuff anyway.
You do not want to go to Kuwait without having your medical shit straight. When I got MedEvacc’d there back when my knee got shattered, the Orderly? Doctor? who didn’t speak English in the Hospital I was in at the time? He mimed what they wanted to do to fix my knee with a Black and Decker drill with a hand full of fucking wood screws. Thank God for my female coworkers who got me OUT of there and to a good hospital, who then decided the repair was beyond them, and had me sent home.
So yeah. Going to be interesting here as I’ll be doing a lot of writing about the local goings on. As well as my usual aecerbic commentary.
Which brings me to this:
Watch to the end…
I’d say a fairly accurate situation IMO.
The Krainians are full-on getting their kollective shit kicked in by Ivan. Which is what I fully expected, as all the Wunderwaffen turned out to be vaporware. Talk about embarrassing. Even I’m a bit shocked about the Abrams. Apparently the crew has a hell of a lot to do with the performance… I mean I want to say I’m not surprised, but well… It is what it is I suppose.
Now, lastly, a lot on twatter about the supposed “Patriot Launch Vehicle” spotted –somewhere– in China:
Couple of issues I spotted
One: The rear of the ‘launcher’ Notice the difference between that one and a real launcher:
Yeah…
That one in the top picture doesn’t have like any of the launch/fire control cabling on the one being serviced by ‘Joe’ like it should. Just a couple of way-too-thin rando-black cables… In fact another thing, lets do a close up of the two ass-end parts of the launch tube(s):
This’s the “Wish Dot Com” variant:
And this’s the Real Deal:
Lots of plugs, 2x per tube, that we know of.
Just based on these two pics alone are enough for me to throw the bullshit flag on this play. Even the earliest models of the Patriot ALL had the same heavy cabling… it absolutely has to as there’s a LOT of electricity needed to light off one of them bottle rockets.
To the point that it has that BIG assed genny up on the front of the trailer, which also seems to be missing from the “Wish Dot Com Patriot”.
I think our slant eyed brethren decided to punk the DotMil and the various Ministries and Political Organs of State, and put them in a full scale pantshitting panic. I mean credit where credit is due… they made a pretty fair-to-middlin’ reproduction… enough to induce panic in Normies, Retards and Shitheads at the various Departments… I mean the vast majority of General Orificcers and Civilian Bootlicking Political Lackeys wouldn’t know a Patriot from a fucking Popgun.
Jes’ Sayin’
I’d hate to be Pvt2 Shmedlap on the Hotline when the Gen’ruls start calling in demanding information about the ‘stolen-maybe-sold-by-the-Krainians’ Patriot System that “… the God-Damned Chinks got ahold of!!!!” That particular duty-to-explain has to purely suck. It’s a great operation. It casts mad shade on the Krainians who may or may not have sold off one of the supposedly Premier ADA weapon systems to our theoretical enemies for Vodka Money… then when it comes out that No, this was another head-fake, it makes the Intel Community as well as everyone else currently running around like chickenz with their heads cut off look like the fucking retards they are?
Well Played Joe Chink
Well Played.
More Later
Big Country
“…handful of fucking wood screws..”
That’s basically what Vanderbilt used to put my knee back together in 2008. Sure, they were fancy titanium, medically sterile wood screws, but shit, even the thread was the same. The longest two are about 3″ (out of about 10 total in the knee, plus the small ones to screw the plate to the femur).
Krain to Chinkland doubtful. My question is were poopypants and Millicent were dumb enough to leave any in Affy? Or at least enough parts for the Chink mockup.
My thoughts, exactly.
Besides, NATO equipment – and conventional war fighting doctrine – has been proven to be inferior to the Russians. So why the fuck would the Chinese have anything other than a cursory interest; assuming they bought some from the Taliban.
BTW, something else to file away. Cuckservative Israel Firsters would watch this and panic at a Red Dawn scenario. In reality, these training drill in interoperability of weapons systems is geared towards supporting allied Central Asian Republics in the event the CIA succeeds at fomenting a civil war there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk5X93V78uI
“And, yes, he’s putting that in writing” .
Make sure you get AT LEAST one hard copy (preferably 2-3-).
Dare I add signed/notarized?
Big Gooberment has a tendency to forget/delete/erase/renig on promises made, promises not kept.
But you knew all this, didn’t you?
I agree with you.
If I remember correctly that you, BCE, were told by the VA that you had missed appointments even you had it all printed out and the next second all of it was gone.
So, be extra careful.
This offer sounds to be good to be true.
Remember one of the Moscow rules:
If it feels wrong, dont go!
BC can you go over the Tractor Factory HR cnut’s head?
I’ve run afoul of those cunned stunts too and I learned that with women, you gotta stomp on them when they start pulling shite or it’ll just snowball and get worse and worse. They’ll draw others into their idiot feuds and the whole place will go straight to hell. Instead of canning one crazed feral bitches – you’ll have to punt half a dozen when they get revved up. I’d sit down with one of the higher execs and tell them what’s going on and give them a chance to fix it.
Congrats.
Dude:
Please skip jumping into the fire. Try this, as the IT dude said, they are running the place into the gorund. Set up your own shop with IT dude and the best workers there currently. Start out subcontracting to the competition your special special talent. With you in the sand box, who is going to take care of the home place, immediate and extended families? How do you explain to the nuclear red head that you’re going bye bye for only a short time. In plain language: Don’t fucking do it. They are shipping an Air Nat Guard unit to Jordan Memorial Day. Pre-positioned troops for the shit-fest they are planning. And this go round smells of canned sunshine. If that happens Sapper is not going to be able to a good enough job to hold off the hordes. Family first, fuck the rest.
Semper Crayola;
Spin
Just when you thought you were out, they drag you back in. – paraphrasing Don Corleone (Pacino). God bless and good luck, every day’s a holiday.
BCE, Only you can decide what is best for you but I am going to play “devils advocate” here and ask questions to make you think so you can make an informed decision.
I get that this is a cool opportunity for you and if you had never met Gretch and had your grandkids then I’d say “screw it, GO”.
BUT you do have a wife and grandkids who depend on you and for a hell of a lot more than money.
Besides money and working on cool gear, what does that Kuwait job offer besides ?
What will you miss out on by taking that job ?
Will Gretchen take care of herself while you are gone ? Who will keep an eye on her so if the cancer comes back they’ll spot it ASAP and get her treated ?
How tough will it be on you and the gran for you being away and not seeing each other for a LONG time ?
What if DC shows up and starts some shit and you aren’t there to deal with it ?
What if DF falls back to his old ways and you aren’t there to get gran #2 the hell out of there ?
What if there is serious civil unrest like we fear while you are gone ? Can Sapper protect your family by himself ?
In Kuwait you are right next to Iran and not too far from our “pals” in Israel. If some shit starts between them, you’d be caught in the middle.
Honestly the job sounds cool but you really need to think about these questions and weigh the pros and cons of being half a world away for a long time right now.
One more question to go along with the above…. Do you miss the ragheads that much to leave your family without you at home during these interesting times? Sorry to be a dick, but it’s a fair question.
BCE, I have to echo 110% of the above. I know you are disillusioned with the glorious people’s tractor factory gig right now (though obviously I can’t really know exactly how bad it sucks first hand) and your financial needs are not (or are barely) being met by that gig, but to go headlong into a .mil related job now, even if it is one you are perfectly cut out for, strikes me as too damned risky, all things considered.
Given all the personal/family stuff on your plate, as well as the fact the FUSA govt is completely brain fucked and I’d not trust them not to leave you high, dry, and proper fucked in-situ over there, it seems like a really bad call to me. This isn’t the .mil (or the US empire) of your previous heydey in the military. It’s a watered down, barely functional outfit run by an out of control psych ward at the top of a dying empire with a budget that is rotted through like an AIDS infested faggot.
Look at the shit show exit from Affy, and I’m sure you know better than I with your connections, that the competence and capability you’d be dependent on for defense and evacuation just ain’t there anymore. I’d hate to see you stranded (or worse) over there when shit goes hot, and no possible chance of getting out in one piece. Yes, that’s always a risk in military service, but right now we are at a point in history where the US is poised to get its scrote kicked in abroad while fighting from its weakest state in our lifetimes, and once that happens I am confident in predicting any assets left in the field are SOL and on their own. As resourceful as you are, I’d not want to face a situation like that, if I were in your place.
Maybe I lack the testicular fortitude and sense of duty you possess, but I know a bullshit deal when I see one, and right now operating under the thumb of anything the USGOV is doing stinks from 10 miles out with nary a breeze to carry the stench downwind. I guess my point is, please think long and hard on this, because it’s unlikely to end well given all the other factors presently in play. In the end, it is your decision, and I can only advise based on my gut. My gut says all manner of bad shit is incoming, and you will want to be front and center at your base of operations when it hits. Worse than getting stranded and fucked over by Uncle Sam would be finding out you have nothing to come back to. And I figure that’s within the realm of possibility given they way things are trending. We are well outside normal historical peace time boundaries now, and that only looks to get worse from here.
Leave it to the chinks to make a world class shitbox of a weapons system.
I almost wish those fuckers WOULD invade. It’d almost be like Kapyong Hill all over again.
“… handful of fucking wood screws…”
Excuse me, but those were official government
Fully metallic, Torx driven, Tapered thread, Fiber intrusive, Material securing units.
It is nice when your skill set is called for. And a lot of manufacturing is being run not the ground for no obvious reason.
I would second the in writing. As you might have the money to solve a lot of issues you will be a long way from home,
But you know what you need to do better than we. Good luck.
When I saw the various analyses of the Chinese Patriot mock-up I thought of the inflatable tanks in WW2. If there is one, there are probably dozens, or hundreds and when viewed from an ISR system, they probably look pretty real and will require dealing with….which involves risk. As the fishy Star Wars Admiral Ickbar said… “it’s a trap”. Good luck on the gig, stay safe, the concern comments are very valid.
Well enjoy Fahahill. The supermarket there is pretty good. Avoid the Chinese hookers hanging out in the second floor canned goods section. No joke.
I recommend digs in Mahboula, or Mangaf vs Fahahill, unless you like lots of Sri Lankan and Indian smelly neighbors.
Also hope you get the PROPER WORK CONRTRACT. Which means that you HAVE to get your work visa outside of the country. We got ours in Bahrain. Also you WILL have to get a Kuwaiti drivers license but you can squeak by on a intl license for the beginning.
Also your Kuwaiti sponsor is putting away 1/12 of your monthly salary away in a escrow account for your end of contract completion bonus. You MUST get a copy of your Kuwait contract. As you will get part if not all your salary paid locally.
IAP my employer there, the manager tried to pocket our contract money. Everyone else in the company got it but us. We started wondering where our money went. We ended up lawyering up, and they coughed up roughly 25 grand per guy who had been there the full contract. (minus tax) the Brit manager we had was embezzling money there left and right. To include selling tanker loads of us military fuel to the Iraqis thru the old Safwan crossing.
Hey Forrest, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And the Angel you think is putting this all together is the Bad One. You participated in the fuck up a family and are now going for round two? Shit, did you fall down and hit your head. Your immediate AO is hanging by a thread and you think leaving is gonna make it better.
I did the away from home work gig for 5 times your money for 8.5 years. Retiring with a million dollar house and mega bank today does not fix the relationship with Pretty Daughter. I wasn’t there from 9 to 17 and regret the crap out of missing that. Can’t build on no foundation.
I get that Tractor Factory fucked you over but there are other solution sets. FIND ANOTHER JOB IN A BETTER AO. But maybe you can’t, maybe you’re bluster and unicorn farts and running away is the best solution for you. I always thought you were smarter, made of sterner stuff and learned from your mistakes. You must be mainlining Crayolas.
Anyway these are my thoughts on this.
Spin
I hate to be the turd in the punchbowl, but someone has to ask. Weren’t you arrested the other day?
1) What about the pending charges? Are there any? What happens if you leave the country and they decide to hammer you?
2) Having held a TS/SCI in the past, I know charges pending will effect your clearance.
3) You need to get this handled before you do anything that brings you out of country.