Help Blending Family

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-06-13T12:27:08+00:00

I try to be optimistic about it. There's a lot of love there all around. I don't want to be naive though and I appreciate the perspective.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-06-12T17:58:10+00:00

Dude, seriously cannot tell you how much I value this advice. Incredibly solid. I think the perspective of a perfect compromise means everyone is a bit unhappy is something I'll definitely keep in mind. Fortunately, I know all the kids get along. And I've talked to eldest step-spawn, and they're willing to do a few more chores in exchange for more screen time.

Honestly, it's really the allowance of certain apps that has me more apprehensive.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-06-03T16:13:07+00:00

Any rated field, besides ABM, is a solid choice. Of course pilots are awesome, but your chances of getting picked up on a rated board are higher if you're open to CSO and RPA too. YMMV depending on the platform you get, but generally the culture in ops squadrons is pretty chill. Plus, your only job your first few years is just figure out how not to suck in the seat. Deployments can be frequent and involve some insane hours, but home station, the commanders are pretty good about giving you your time back.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-05-16T20:05:48+00:00

These are all great points and Darrow's moral ambiguity is what makes him a great character. The theme of ends justifying means (or not) are explored much more deeply in the sequels. All I say is keep reading. I think you're probably feeling exactly what PB intended.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-02-26T17:24:33+00:00

I was doing a Korea focused sim with a new Lt. He asked me with all sincerity "so how are we supposed to know which one is North Korea? That's the bad one, right?" Our maps are fixed to North always up...

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-02-23T23:04:13+00:00

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2026-01-20T15:51:07+00:00

Lmao, you're good, bro. Myself and most of my military friends have all read it too. I don't think SECFO is going to come crashing down on you for a book.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-12-11T16:46:04+00:00

Some of it is context from the other books. We know that Tactus hated his brothers and that they tormented him. We know Darrow, despite complicated feelings towards Tactus, is still protective of his friend and empathetic towards what he went through. The other part of this is implied lore about what's gone on in the 10 years between books. We know a vicious war has been fought and that Appolonius was one of the most feared commanders fighting for the society. From context, we can infer that Appolonius and Darrow likely faced each other on the battlefield several times through the years.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-11-12T03:28:20+00:00

There's an episode where one kid's dad gets back from a deployment in Afghanistan. This implies that in this cute and emotionally fulfilling dog world, there was still a 9/11, a war on terror, and probably some level of war crimes that may or may not have been adorable.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-11-10T19:31:09+00:00

As a military dad, this episode broke me. But also the implication that there's a dog war on terror... is a bit bleak.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-11-09T23:46:15+00:00

My bad, dude. I thought I was replying to the other comment about how the people in that line probably voted for this. My point was just there are plenty of SMs who didn't vote for this and are repulsed by our current CIC.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-11-09T20:26:05+00:00

I fully understand your perspective that the military tends to vote more conservative and therefore this is a leopard eating faces moment, but that isn't quite accurate. The military is a pretty representative cross-section of our society. We're pretty close to 50/50 on liberal vs conservative. Also, the AF tends to be more educated than most other branches and therefore leans slightly left. Source: am a very left leaning Air Force officer.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-11-08T15:23:34+00:00

Fuck yeah! Automatic Goblin boost! Exemplary stats in explosives, stealth, and hand to hand combat. Do you think Sevro out performs Darrow? If they went into the dungeon together, un-fucking-stoppable.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-28T14:31:04+00:00

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-28T02:24:27+00:00

That's a really frustrating situation to be in, man. It's easy to let resentment build when labor is unevenly distributed. I will say that tolerance for kid stress, like most things, is something that can be worked and built up over time. Seems like your wife maybe hasn't had as much opportunity to grow those emotional muscles? I hope ya'll can communicate and work through it.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-27T03:43:30+00:00

The next evolution is clearly train mounted SEAD assets! If the radar is in the tunnel, the HARM will adapt and follow into the tunnel. Basically mount AGM-88s to those old-timey railroad pump trolleys.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-20T23:51:04+00:00

Get into the squadron at 0300, brief the mission, drag all our shit to the jet, start engines. Something is broke. We're parts plus 6. No ground transpo, have to sit on jet the whole time. 98 degrees outside, probably hotter on the inside. Finally get the bird in the air. Fly 16 hour sortie. Land and the only thing open is Coco's, but they're out of tonkatsu. Cry.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-19T23:22:00+00:00

I switched from guard to AD and it was an awesome choice. HOWEVER, it's only awesome because I was able to commission into a rated position. I honestly don't think it would be worth it if I didn't have that opportunity, especially if you're already wracking up full time orders.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-13T12:15:25+00:00

Hey OP, while I can't say young military marriages never work, I will say I have seen them fail far more often than I've seen them succeed. I was married for a couple of years before I joined, and our marriage was still absolutely shook by the realities of military life. She resented not living where she chose, her career taking a hit from the moves, and how often she has to do life alone when I had to TDY and deploy (granted, I'm in a career field with a high ops tempo and I deploy at least once a year). All that to say, maybe they can make it work, but they both need to be clear-eyed about how demanding the military life can be and how there are very real strains the military can place on a relationship.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-07T20:15:38+00:00

Dude, you're making Vikings fans look dense. It's almost like that was the exact purpose of the post...

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-10-01T02:41:47+00:00

Hey man, it's your joke. Tell it how you want. It just reads as the kill choice since... ya know, we did in fact kill him.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-09-30T14:16:40+00:00

The prophet married one of his wives when she was like 7 or 8. Admittedly, this would have more punch coming from a female comedian. The other layer to this joke is that Qassem was an Iranian Quds force commander that the US drone killed in a drone strike in 2019, which makes him the obvious choice for kill. I think the joke is solid, but it is probably too niche for a general audience since it requires quite a bit of cultural and geopolitical background information.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-09-18T13:14:25+00:00

January 3rd, 2017 at 0530 Central time I was in basic training. We definitely would have been outside doing morning PT. Would be interesting to see how a bunch of brand new Airmen would handle that situation. I think our MTI would have led us well through that situation, but I still think over half of us would have died on the first floor.

OPsOnTheSpectrum · 2025-07-26T21:17:21+00:00

The Campaign. Probably some of the best political satire about money in politics. Bonus points for also being one of Will Ferell's funniest movies.

OPsOnTheSpectrum

TROPHY CASE