Odds and Ends

Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, and Patrice Bergeron on the Today Show:

Via the usual (hockey) source, where it was noted "Geez, a full two minutes for Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Begeron (sic) to talk about winning the Cup.  Wonder how much time they would get if the NHL wasn’t on NBC?"

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This photo made the Puffington Host and appeared in my e-mail twice yesterday:

My first reaction was "nice P-Shop."  Turns out I'm way too cynical, the photo is indeed real.  Here's the back-story.  (h/t: Deb)

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From the (other) usual source:

An End to RPA Incentive Pay?: House defense appropriators funded assignment incentive pay for remotely piloted aircraft operators at Creech AFB, Nev., only for the first quarter of Fiscal 2012, according to the report accompanying the House version of next year's defense spending bill. They said this mark is consistent with the Defense Secretary leaning towards not extending this pay beyond December 31 "without substantive and compelling econometric analysis to validate continuation." Since July 2008, Creech-based RPA personnel have been eligible to receive $300 per month for the first 36 months and $750 per month for service beyond that under this initiative. This pay was meant to offset the base's high operations tempo, austere location, and limited infrastructure. However, the House legislators wrote that conditions at the base have since improved, with new facilities constructed. (HAC report; caution, large file.)

For those of you Gentle Readers who don't know... those "RPA operators" at Creech are the guys and gals who fly the Predators, Reapers, and other RPAs over Afghanistan, Iraq, and various other garden spots on the surface of the globe.  

That incentive pay amounts to a nice chunk o' change, especially if you happen to be in that job for over three years.  Just for grins and giggles... assume you're a rated (pilot) captain (O-3) with over four years of service and you've been flying Reapers (breakin' things and killin' people what needs killin') for over three years.  Losing that incentive pay knocks 9,000 Yankee Dollars off your annual income of approximately $85,632.00.  Would you be upset?  I sure would...

(Full disclosure: "annual income" includes base pay, basic allowance for quarters with dependents, separate rations, and aviation incentive pay... all amounts obtained from the military pay tables here)