JamesNoBrakes

Well, the servicemembers in Alaska here see all sorts of stuff that I never even dreamed of 20 years ago and it's been here all along. The MWR equipment and facilities are absolutely off the charts compared to what I knew back in the day and I would consider the current state to be "luxuries" compared to what I experienced. Not that things haven't changed...but the evolution is definitely interesting to watch. I was in the middle of transition between old-style enlisted barracks and new-style "apartments" where NCOs got their own setup. That was one hell of an upgrade in quality of life. We could even put the standing lamps right next to the thermostat to bring the air conditioning temp down to a reasonable non-government-issued amount...

paulcg77

I've been in two decades myself and I've seen plenty of change. The MWR lodging I speak of is at JBER. The hotel there (https://af.dodlodging.net/propertys/...orf-richardson) used to go for $45/night for a single room with a private bathroom, as recently as 2018. It's now $150/night for the same room (no, not a suite - just a single room, for $150/night), and although it's a wonderful 1980's era building that is an upgrade over the 1940's era building it replaced, it hasn't had a refresh for about 15 years. This is a problem common at a lot of AF Inn's throughout the system; some are actually new but many, particularly in the west, charge at or above market rate for a civilian Hilton/Marriott despite being 30-40 years old, and often very worn out/poorly kept rooms.

Normally, sleeping in a 40 year old hotel with a 15-20 year old refresh is not a big deal when you're paying 50% below market value during leisure travel; this used to be the best kept secret for AD, reservists and retirees because you could just stay at a local base for cheap instead of staying in a Hilton/Marriott for 2-3 times more. However, between 2018-2020, the DOD's military hotel system stopped receiving government support and were forced to become self sufficient. Some facilities couldn't make it work and ended up closing permanently (like the NGIS at Smokey Point/Everett) and others are trying to make it work but the only way they can cover their operating/capital/asset depreciation costs now is to charge as much (or more) than civilian hotels, and for that, you get an outdated, worn out product. Like I said, military hotels for leisure travel used to be one of the best perks we had, and now it's one of the biggest ripoffs at quite a few locations.

SonicFlyer

Looks like video of the crash was leaked:

https://popularmilitary.com/video-le...craft-carrier/

Excargodog

And the Navy confirmed the video was real and also released a few pictures:

Stan446

Crew? Pretty sure the F-35 is single pilot.

WhistlePig

Underlined Low Slow All the Way? Ramp Strike is better than the Jet Shop, so he's got that going for him

rickair7777

It is, I was speaking in generic terms about broken wires.

rickair7777

Yeah looks like ramp. That's pretty rare these days... and it was day CAVU with no apparent sea state. Gotta be more to the story

JamesNoBrakes

Counting it out, that's about 11 seconds max on final approach, more like 10 before they command more power from the engine. Is that short of a final normal?

rickair7777

Hard to judge power from the noise level as it approaches but it definitely did spool up in the last couple seconds, which is not surprising at all if he was that low.

Know nothing about F-35 ops, but that seemed much too early for the normal mil power application at TD.