Matt

Curious and like to read. Engineering degree, retired military and lifelong aviator. Views here are my own.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@MCCCANM Ahem…minipack. Combine tomorrow’s trip with the current one. And then they can reduce the time between flights to the minimum “in the operation” layover.

Hope that they don’t even have the time for that.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@dave_beaty @MCCCANM 99-15. Last name does not ring a bell. I was a west coast gun squadron dude my entire time. Heard the whole story not long after it happened when going through a refresh syllabus on my way back to a gun squadron out west after a staff tour.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@dave_beaty @MCCCANM Not a jeep and the vehicle wasn’t the problem. It was the driver of said vehicle that had been huffing. 😂

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@dave_beaty @MCCCANM

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

Not “needed” all the time. We calculated performance numbers for both “wet” and “dry” numbers.

Same for STO’s off the boat. Sometimes we “needed” the water injection to get off the boat with a heavy load or shorter takeoff distance. Max takeoff distance was 800’ off of the LHD’s.

Either way, there was enough water for one takeoff and one landing except for some rare circumstances that generally occurred due to pilot error.

[InfantryDort @infantrydort]

I Owe My Men an Apology, And I’m Giving It Publicly

A lot of you hear me talk about accountability on here. Well, I don’t want to be a hypocrite. So it’s time I take some of my own. Everyone in the Army who knows me, knows who I am on here.

I’m a Soldier. I fight where I’m told and win where I fight. That’s what I’ve always believed. I grew up in the military trusting that no matter how chaotic things got, senior leadership ultimately had our backs.

In 2020, that belief shattered.

I was a battalion XO at Fort Hood when the COVID restrictions hit hard. We were told the vaccine was voluntary. That if we got it, we could ditch the masks, leave base, live like normal again. No strings attached.

Then came the formation at the vaccine site. Two groups. Those willing to take the shot, and those who weren’t.

Some senior leaders pulled me aside and said, “Hey Dort, you’ve got a way with words. Talk to the dissenters. See if you can bring them around.” So I did. To be fair, the leaders I'm talking about were just as ignorant as me to all of this.

I got those young men into a horseshoe around me and told them not to worry. I told them Big Pharma wouldn’t risk lawsuits by putting out something dangerous. I told them we’d get our freedom back.

And a lot of them believed me. They got the shot. So did I.

One week later, the goalposts moved. New CDC guidance came down. Even vaccinated Soldiers had to mask up and live under the same restrictions. I was livid.

Then I stumbled across information that explained something I never knew: pharmaceutical companies couldn’t be sued for vaccine injuries, because of a deal struck in the 1980s. My stomach dropped. Everything I told my men that day… was wrong.

I hadn’t lied. But I had been wrong. And in that moment, I realized: I didn’t just feel betrayed. I felt like I had betrayed them.

I had COVID twice, even after the shot. I watched as barriers went up in neighborhoods, base access was controlled like some dystopian movie. I watched the Army start kicking Soldiers out for refusing the vaccine.

I never processed a single discharge packet. I never punished anyone. I wasn't a commander. But I still live with the guilt of convincing my brothers to do something I never should’ve spoken on with such certainty.

Now? I’ve got cataracts that need surgery, at an age where that just doesn’t make sense. My resting heart rate is higher than it used to be. I’m still in shape, still in the fight… but I’m not the same. I know others are like this too.

So here I am, saying the thing no senior leader seems able to say:

I. Was. Wrong. And I’m sorry. From the depths of my soul, I apologize to the men who trusted me that day. I didn’t know. But I spoke like I did.

And unlike most generals/admirals or DoD civilians, I can admit that. I don’t need to preserve some spotless image. I’m a man. A leader. And I owe those men the truth.

I don’t expect this post to spark a revolution in the Pentagon or people with stars. But if it helps just one other leader step forward and do the same, It’s worth it.

And maybe now, I can sleep a little better. I doubt it though.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@MayorFrey Today we remember the men and women who raised their hands and selflessly served this great nation with the “last full measure of devotion” you twit.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@EMBurlingame Otis, Megan & Bradley. Semper Fidelis.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

Here’s how it goes for an average person like me - zero trust in the FDA. None. Nada. Zero.

No one in that agency will ever admit that some harm may have come from the mandated Covid shots. Even to the young males at the highest risk … even after other countries have admitted to that risk.

I was a person who got every recommended shot and the annual flu shot. Now … I trust nothing and I’ll skip the flu shot. Maybe when I’m 60+ and there’s some robust data on the flu shot, I’ll get one.

They forced out Prasad, Makary and Hoeg for what appears to be trying to apply some rigor to the FDA.

No one will question Covid mandates or any cost/benefit analysis of those mandates will occur.

And now I have zero trust in the FDA which appears to be fully captured by industry and the media.

Congrats to those fighting against accountability. You won.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@Kevin_McKernan More important than rational, the data-driven EBM folks are being removed.

Can’t have that at the FDA.

Big 💵 to be made!!

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@jonfavs Which is worse - tweet supporting Alex Jones or a tattoo memorializing Nazi’s?

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@jonfavs Fascinating.

What’s the expiration date on a Totenkopf Nazi tatoo?

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@RxRegA No explanation because the FDA is fully captured by industry. Period.

Some good people tried, but the system chewed them up and spat them out.

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@CarterElliottIV They sure did. And the Democrats violated the state constitution.

Could another legislature create an unconstitutional amendment that would call for imprisoning all Dem affiliated legislators and if it passed >50% imprison all of them?

Or would that be unconstitutional?

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@Supersonic_Red 💯

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@RSE_VB @CowboyShepherd2 Article says these folks get the “stuff” votes an the legislation;

U.S. Space and Rocket Center Commission in Huntsville, Alabama

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@WiLLx386 Congrats, huge accomplishment to become a SSgt of Marines.

Semper Fidelis Devil Dog!!

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@RSE_VB @CowboyShepherd2 Any different than the CAF flying old warbirds?

Seems this is just legislation authorizing the release of 3 planes and parts to a civilian group.

Other posts seem to question the “wing boxes” being cut on all the airframes. I guess some sort of effort to preclude future use???

[Matt @Heed_AV8B]

@mkhammer Nubi crossed the rainbow bridge 6 days prior and lived like a king on Tues 4/29. Wolfed down his steak dinner shortly after this pic and now it’s my Home Screen. He is missed.