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Their perseverance should be praised, and they should be pitied. They've endured more than I'd be able to.

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I'm writing this because I've seen a lot of people call the Abe sailors whiney bitches, and I take exception to that. 60 days out at sea nearly broke me. Those poor souls haven't stepped on land in 200+ days. The men and women on the Abe have endured more than we can ask of anyone.

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Thankfully, things mostly went back to normal after we hit port after a little over 60 days out at sea, but the experience stuck with me. We had a few more hiccups, but nothing compares to the pit of despair we were in when the extension was announced, and I don't wish that on anyone.

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become a danger to myself and others. The incidents of major near misses and minor mishaps skyrocketed as everyone on the flight deck became more worried about their next meal or next shower than their tasks on deck. And everyone was liable to blow up at any moment. Not a fun time to be on the ship.

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take care of themselves like they should. If you can't take care of yourself, then you'll never be able to take care of anyone else. My job directly supported flight ops, the entire point of the ship, but my job wasn't more or less important than anyone else's. If the ship isn't running well, then I

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a pack of tuna and some granola bars for dinner on steak and lobster day because the guy who usually brought my meals to the shop was so upset that he forgot to grab our bagged meals, and I think that exemplifies what a morale spiral is. People get absorbed into their own little worlds and don't

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Any sailor who has been on sea duty for a full cruise will probably experience a morale spiral at some point, and it sucks. For me, it came when an extension was announced and a port was cancelled on the same day. The steak and lobster meme is real, but I didn't get to experience it. In fact, I ate

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a hot meal at the end of the day, clean, usable showers and toilets, clean clothes to put on in the morning, and a port to look forward to. Things were mostly fine if those conditions were satisfied. If those conditions were not met, then things would get miserable.

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The most challenging aspects of ship life really didn't involve my job. Yeah, the job was difficult, but I knew that going in. We could handle anything the flight deck threw at us as long as we were taken care of when we weren't on deck. I'm not talking about anything radical here. I'm talking about

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being severely injured, so you don't think about your material condition all that much. Anyway, we did our jobs well and had a 99.something% success rate in getting jets meant to be in the air actually in the air despite the challenges we faced. I'm still proud of my guys all these years later.

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Another aside. Flight ops on the flight deck are uncomfortable. It's hot, it's loud, it's inherently dangerous, and you're constantly breathing in jet exhaust. One event generally rolls right into the next, so moments of peace are exceedingly rare. But your brain power is mostly being used to avoid

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and mentally taxing jobs on the ship. We spent between 14 and 15 hours per day working flight ops. The only breaks we got were periodic 10-minute breaks to eat a bagged lunch in the shop, hit the head, or smoke, and two of us had to remain on deck at all times. All three of us for the vast majority.

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I was qualified to sign off on their respective maintenance actions. They needed minimal supervision because they did their jobs well. I feel the need to remind you that I was only in for roughly three years at this point, in my early 20s, and was leading a small team in one of the most physically

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My role in shooters was flight shift supervisor with the supervisor part being mostly meaningless. The airframers and mechanics each sent two guys on opposite 12-hour shifts. The avionics branch sent me, a junior hotshot from my shop, and a junior hotshot electrician. I was the supervisor because

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Both are positions that only exist for workups and deployments. R&C are weapons release checks that need to happen constantly. I'd be leading a small team of guys, about half of whom I literally lived with, in doing the same inspections night after night. It sounded awful, so I went with shooters.

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I decided to play the game mostly to help out my friends and colleagues who were stretched thin. I became fully qualified for my shop in relatively quick order, and I was given a choice for my role in what would become my final deployment. R&C shop supervisor or troubleshooter.

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I was lucky enough or unlucky enough depending on your perspective to get promoted fast. I ended up being an E-5 for longer than I was an E-3 and E-4 combined, which caused some problems for me. I was an obscenely underqualified E-5 when I got frocked, and my squadron wanted me to perform as an E-5.

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As an aside, it's pretty easy to stagnate if you choose. You can find a role that you enjoy and refuse to get any further qualifications. Your command might have ways to "incentivize" getting quals, but that's usually reserved for the line shack or lifers. Most 4 and out are ultimately shop workers.

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You go back to being a junior guy doing grunt work when you go to your shop, but the work is more interesting and less stressful. It's mostly inspections, preventative maintenance, and random moments of emergency maintenance, but you gain deeper knowledge of the parts and pieces of the aircraft.

Depending on the needs of the maintenance shops, you might be in the line for anywhere between six months and a couple years. I know a few guys who spent their entire enlistments in the line, but that was by choice. Again, it's not a bad gig once you're a senior plane captain all things considered.

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You prep your jet for the day in the morning and need to be around when it's on deck. There are bunch of tasks, but if it's in the air, then you have some time do your own thing in the shop or around the ship. It's really not a bad lifestyle if you're talking about roles that exist for flight ops.

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The whole purpose was to make life pretty miserable as an incentive by forcing people to spend their entire shifts on deck to get qualified as a plane captain, and it worked. Life as a plane captain was much better. Instead of supporting flights ops in general, you are responsible for a single jet.

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My first deployment was mostly spent as a trainee and plane captain. As a trainee, I spent my 12 working hours on the flight deck supporting flight ops by servicing hydraulics, helping to fuel aircraft, tying down aircraft, washing jets, and generally doing menial grunt work that squadrons need done

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My job was nominally to troubleshoot and maintain the aircrafts' electronics, but I didn't spend much time in the AT (electronics) shop overall. I spent the majority of my enlistment in the line division as a trainee, plane captain, and later as a shooter.

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Because carriers are a hot topic right now and people mostly don't seem to understand naval deployments, I'll share some thoughts as a former airwing sailor. My experience was four years, and I was considered beyond qualified as an E-5 when I got out. Ask for more details about whatever if you want.

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 12/08/2026

Maybe shitting on long weekends is a bad idea if you're looking to sit in high political office

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 30/07/2026

I'm not a big fan of imagery that evokes people preparing to loot my retirement account and torch it, but at least they're open and honest about it.

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 29/07/2026

It's NYC playing with their own resources. Who gives a shit what they think?

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 29/07/2026

The commissary is on base and eats through subsidies. Is there some specific reason why undercutting existing grocers is better policy than just giving people money in your view?

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 24/07/2026

Does Little Caesar come with his little legions?

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 17/07/2026

I can't believe that a storyteller with a history of making some really good stories made a really good story. What I'm trying to say is that The Odyssey is excellent. It's my new favorite Nolan movie. The interludes at home were a good idea to break up Ulysses' breakneck pace.

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 15/07/2026

I can't believe that most black people would side with the group who consistently gives them a seat at the table and consults them about issues instead of people like this.

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 15/07/2026

"Your cardiac issues aren't service related"

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Reposted by Naner🌷🔰

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 08/07/2026

NEW: He was picking up a work crew to take them to construction site at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. ICE showed up. And now this small business owner, the father of three American citizens, is dead. www.thebulwark.com/p/he-lived-h...

thebulwark.com

He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was picking up a crew for a construction project when ICE shot him. It now claims he was the aggressor.

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A lot of protestant converts just took a very circuitous route to becoming protestant again.

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I'd call squabbles about bishop selection a tradition, but that's it.

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Is it even a crisis? These clowns were only in communion in the first place because Benedict took pity on them

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There's nothing traditionalist about trying to appoint your own bishops

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 30/06/2026

How tf is Pakistan the only nation in Afro-Eurasia that has birthright citizenship?

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 30/06/2026

Credit where credit is due. Roberts wrote a really strong decision for Barbara. There's a ton of hacky nonsense in the dissents and Kavanaugh's concurrence, but the decision is great.

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 21/06/2026

I'm getting ready to cancel my reds tv subscription for the same reason. I don't need to that when I'm trying to watch a game.

reds.tv

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Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 30/05/2026

Legitimately the funniest development to this nonsense

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 28/05/2026

They could always DM me. I want in on the massive payouts DOJ has been forced to fork over lately.

Naner🌷🔰 @bananarepublican.xyz · 28/05/2026

Stephen Miller's live reaction

Picture of the offspring from Alien Romulus