quote:

Originally posted by AirmanJeff:

Mattis was also the guy declaring we need an 80% FMC rate for these old, broke, worn out jets, maintained by old, broke, worn out maintainers.

I did a couple of internet searches, no joy. What is "FMC?"

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by AirmanJeff:

Mattis was also the guy declaring we need an 80% FMC rate for these old, broke, worn out jets, maintained by old, broke, worn out maintainers.

I did a couple of internet searches, no joy. What is "FMC?"

Fully Mission Capable. Maintenance units live and die on this "MC rate" which can include FMC jets or PMC (partially mission capable) jets.

So basically if a unit has an 80% MC rate, 8 out of 10 jets on the flightline have no mission limiting discrepancies or minor discrepancies and are ready to go at any moment. PMC, partially mission capable, means the plane can fly but maybe a radio is broken or something minor, but it could limit what missions the aircraft can perform. FMC is king, PMC isn't terrible though. Both are considered flyable.

Mattis issued this 80% fatwa to an Air Force working with cold war era jets that have been in a constant state of war since 9/11. I could go on and on about this topic but I don't want to thread drift too much. When I heard it though the first thing I thought was "this guy has no clue."

quote:

What is "FMC?"

Fully Mission Capable.
_____

December 21, 2018
Mattis was no good

American Thinker readers were warned about General Mattis over a year ago in this article. Briefly, Mattis was and remains a supporter of global warming.

The issue of global warming continues to be a reliable and simple litmus test. If someone believes in global warming, then you can be sure he is a globalist who loathes Western civilization.

Then there was his support for the Islamist Anne Patterson, loathed by the Egyptian people for her support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Then there was the matter of allowing one of his underlings to throw Fox Company, of Task Force Spartan in Afghanistan in 2007, under bus so he could advance his own career.

Since that article, Mattis's charge sheet has expanded somewhat. Trump wanted to get trannies out of the military simply because of the costs involved in having them. Mattis pushed back and slow-walked the order. Gender dysphoria is one of the worst mental illnesses, with a 50 percent suicide rate. Who in his right mind would leave people suffering from this condition near weapons or machinery? Someone who ranks ideology above effectiveness and unit cohesion would.

Mattis argued the case for staying in Afghanistan, overriding Trump's gut instinct. There is no point in staying in Afghanistan. When someone stops paying for the imported grain that allows Afghanistan's population to double every 25 years, then Afghanistan will collapse. Mattis's reasoning for staying in Afghanistan is that we either fight them there or fight them here. The opposite is true. By continuing to feed them, we are creating more future terrorists. The way to keep this country safe is to forbid them to enter.

Mattis entered into a "suicide pact" with Steve Mnuchin and Rex Tillerson with the effect that if any one of them was fired, the other two would resign. Normally an employer, upon hearing that his employees have entered into such an undertaking, would fire all three straight away. The president didn't do that, and Tillerson showed how ineffectual he was. Tillerson won't be taking much of his time leading the Boy Scouts of America from now on; he allowed gay troop leaders, and now the venerable institution is considering bankruptcy in response to gay rape claims. Like Mattis, Tillerson rose through projecting an image. The reality fell far short of that.

Then Mattis did something that is either inspired or shows that he has a tenuous grip on reality: he ordered fighter aircraft availability to jump to 80% by September 2019 while at the same time reducing operating and maintenance costs. Mattis's order is looking delusional. For example, the F-35C had a 15 percent "fully mission capable" rate in 2017. For the USAF's F-35s, Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris said in a congressional hearing in March that "the newer F-35s with 3I or 3F software were available to fly 60 to 70% of the time, which is a good number, but that the Air Force's 100-block 2b and older F-35s' availability percentage sat in the low 40s. He said the cost of operation differed based on production block and usage but was approximately $50,000 per hour."

Mattis seemingly ordered the increase in availability without looking into the causes of why aircraft availability is so low.

What do we need in the next secretary of defense? For starters, someone who sees the need to kick Turkey out of NATO. All the money spent in Syria has been spent fighting proxy forces of our purported allies. Somone who has never ridden in a defense contractor's corporate jet and has no desire to do so. Someone who will tell the president to get rid of the secretary of the Air Force, who is an agent of Lockheed Martin. And the chosen one must not believe in global warming.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.co...d.html#ixzz5aKPyk8OI

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

And yes, Trump goes through people, I know. But I think many of them failed to perform up to his expectations.

One thing about the Trump presidency is that unlike any other in history, it is such a hot seat to be in involved in the administration. Literally everyone is against you and trying to undermine what you're trying to accomplish. We have people like Sanders facing a gauntlet in restaurants and the press room. These people are human, they read the press and at some point, they've had enough of the shit.

I don't think the above directly applies to Mattis, but Trump comes from a world that demands results. By hook or crook, he wants these results.

By hook or by crook is an interesting choice of words

Thank you chellim1.

Funny, it think if you ask anyone who has deployed to Afghanistan, Syria, or any of the other shit holes where we have been for YEARS, you will easily get 75%+ of them saying "Get us the FUCK out of here, we ain't doing SHIT".

The McCains and Generals of the world think a Hammer is the only solution to the worlds problems. Personally, the world doesn't appreciate us so fuck them. Lets quit wasting lives, time and money.

Fuck Afghanistan, we've been there for going on 18 YEARS and it's still a backwards, fucked up place.

Syria? We aren't going to solve that problem, nor SHOULD WE. We busted up ISIS, now lets GTFO.

Only the Generals, War Hawks, and Armchair QBs would rest in their Lazy Boys want to see us in these places.

ETA - I think Trumps long term play will be "Look, we just saved $50Billion pulling out of Syria, Afghanistan, and other places - that money is going to our Country's National Security - IE, the WALL."

quote:

Originally posted by Dresden:
Secretary Mattis resignation letter was a carefully worded message to the Senate. It was a giant FU to the President of the United States. He and General Kelly really did try and keep the Donald from destroying the United States of America. Godspeed General Mattis.

Do you get a hard-on every time you perceive someone to be giving a "a giant FU to the President of the United States"? What the fuck is wrong with people like you? You DO KNOW you aren't normal, right?

quote:

Originally posted by Dresden:
Secretary Mattis resignation letter was a carefully worded message to the Senate. It was a giant FU to the President of the United States. He and General Kelly really did try and keep the Donald from destroying the United States of America. Godspeed General Mattis.

Where do you get this shit? Leftists-R-Us???

Mattis would not be the first great military officer who became a disappointing politician.

I just hope he doesn't run for any national office.

I would ask him what good are we doing in A-stan, and make him defend his position. We can always come back and bomb them again IF they threaten our national interests.

To be clear on my POV.

I have no ill will towards Gen. Mattis.

He has served honorably and well. Anyone who believes that a good and effective military leader is neutral and unbiased has never served under one.

The best military leaders are often "hard bent" and that is the point that makes them most effective.

Most effective military leaders are many times the least effective in non-military leadership positions.

Gen. Mattis did not "McCain" himself.
He resigned in a dignified manner. Agree or disagree with his boss, he knows as a professional the correct response.

This is only a big deal, if people insist on it being a big deal.

And for two years, when he stepped up to the plate, the other team moved the fielders way back.

And speaking of baseball. What Yogi Berra said.

I think Mattis did a great job and should be commended for everything that he's done

remember how great it was to have Mad Dog as the SecDef?

that hasn't changed

however, quite often military objectives and political objectives are seldom the same

in some instances the military necessity wins out, in others the political necessity wins

I think there are points where everyone feels they can do good, and then reach a point where they feel they can no longer be effective so leaving isn't the worst thing to happen - it might be the best

Mattis set a high bar for SecDef

quote:

Originally posted by Badwing:
He opposed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord, decertify the Iran deal, slap tariffs on steel and aluminum, and move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He opposes the president’s proposed ban on transgender service members and has reportedly ignored requests from the White House to see plans for a military strike against North Korea.

Also, Trump tweeted his choice to replace the Head of the Joint Chiefs 10 months in advance, and hinted that the current Chief would step down before his term expired. That was a slap-down to Mattis, as his pick was someone else. This puts the new Chief owing Trump; not the SecDef. WaPo

It will be interesting to see what happens in the Middle East now. It's easy to predict the Kurds will be completely destroyed (as a fighting force and maybe also as a people). I wonder what else. I recently read the book "A Peace to End All Peace." With all that has happened it's time for an update or a volume 2.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

What is "FMC?"

Fully Mission Capable.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.co...d.html#ixzz5aKPyk8OI

"Mad Dog" Mattis is a liberal Democrat who thinks trannies belong in the military and women belong in the combat arms. I had forgotten about his buying into the "climate change" hoax. Again, I'm glad he's gone, and I wish it had been sooner. Thanks for posting the article.

Plenty of Flag Officers have come and gone in the political establishment - very few have what it takes to make the jump from military to political with any measure of success, aside from time in a cabinet - even then their time is usually limited.

It's not surprising that a good many of them are Democrats - the military is all about hierarchy, control, underlings doing what they are told, and expenditure without regard to costs / business rules. Same reason lots of them are pro-gun control; the military has very strict gun control, especially outside of deployed combat troop areas.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Plenty of Flag Officers have come and gone in the political establishment - very few have what it takes to make the jump from military to political with any measure of success, aside from time in a cabinet - even then their time is usually limited.

It's not surprising that a good many of them are Democrats - the military is all about hierarchy, control, underlings doing what they are told, and expenditure without regard to costs / business rules. Same reason lots of them are pro-gun control; the military has very strict gun control, especially outside of deployed combat troop areas.

Completely agree. Civilians have a high opinion of the military and I appreciate that because at the operational ranks that opinion is valid. Lots of hard working folks doing the right thing and our nation should be proud. But once you hit the rank of O-6 or E-9, few survive with integrity in tact. In the FOGO ranks, the number dwindles even more.

We’ve been losing for 17 years and doing the same dumb shit and parroting the same dumb lines; all with the most highly educated officer corps in world history. Our generals are at fault for the inadequate outcomes of these wars. Whatever tactical successes exist, and we’ve had many, belong to the line troops. All the strategic failures belong to the generals. I was hopeful when Mattis took over, but have seen zero positive change.

And to anyone who thinks the wars simply can’t be won- you’re wrong. Every adversary can be defeated. We aren’t willing to stomach what must be done out here to win, so we should leave ASAP. Also, our local allies are totally disgusting people.

I could write a lot about this place, but I don’t want to be boring. Suffice to say at month 7 of my 16th combat deployment I’m not shedding any tears over losing another liberal general (secdef) who talks a big game but fears embracing total violence. And that is unfortunately the only language our enemy understands.

quote:

Trump wanted to get trannies out of the military simply because of the costs involved in having them. Mattis pushed back and slow-walked the order. Gender dysphoria is one of the worst mental illnesses, with a 50 percent suicide rate. Who in his right mind would leave people suffering from this condition near weapons or machinery? Someone who ranks ideology above effectiveness and unit cohesion would.

If this and the other things are true …

quote:

Gen. Mattis did not "McCain" himself.
He resigned in a dignified manner.

Yes, he did.

Bottom line, and the one that matters; Trump made the correct choice twice again.


Mattis was a Powereball winning pick in the beginning.
He became a liability in the second half.
It's good business.


DJT is successful because he keeps on failing.

People are failures because they stop at the failure and quit.

Let that contradiction sink in.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Gen. Mattis did not "McCain" himself.
He resigned in a dignified manner.

Yes, he did.

Was it (notably dignified)?

Seems like a garden variety, thinly veiled, passive aggressive "fuck you".