Afghan Ops

[SuddenStop]

while i fully agree with Johns observations and personal take on the deletion of the thread at hand, at the same time I do slighty agree with Mikes concerns (even though I am very sure he was motivated by outside sources stronger than his own personal concerns of comrades in the feild)....but lets be real, a forum is nothing unless people have a venue, free of recognition, where they can voice their opinions without repercussion from someone who holds the puppet strings of their career.

Don wants the anonymity gone, thats his choice, he is afterall retired and the master of his own destiny no longer held under a microscope. I for one do not trust my employer to allow me to share my personal views that differ from theirs and maintain employment. Therefore, I stay anonymous. those that know me don't need to see my real name attached to my post.

If the forum becomes over moderated by deletion of members who walk a different road and obvious censorship of those alternative views, it will die, or at the very least become the boys club that a select few would relish being a part of. Might as well just go to an invitation only forum at that point.

 

My only advice is to polish up your moderating team (and increase it dramatically so that there is likely a moderator online 24/7 and to take a full neutral stance regardless of their personal views and friendships formed. and be a little more on the ball and nip things in the bud before they get out of hand.

[Mike Reyno]

I appreciate the comments - good and bad.

 

To Don...I want to be clear...there were no outside influences from any company management whatsoever. I have never been influenced by a company and never will be. I have taken many of them on due to these forums with threats of lawsuits.

 

And, while you may think that I have been influenced by HAC and advertising companies in the past, this is simply not the case. Have you ever seen me personally delete any post that had to do with either? No! In fact, I took HAC head-on several years ago, and would not buckle to pressure despite the threat of lawsuits from the past president. And I can tell you that the current relationship is not all roses. So, I do take exception to the comment. I can't do anything about perceptions, but this is simply not the case. I have even had a long-term advertiser, and friend, ask to have a thread removed, and I have not.

 

To those that have emailed me, I appreciate the positive feedback, criticisms and suggestions to help make this a better forum. It is only through feedback can we make improvements.

 

Mike

[canukav8tor]

Was the deletion of the thread for what we in the military would call an "OPSEC violation"?

 

To be honest, I didn't seen any posts that provided any specific information (to include: callsigns, routes, planned flight times, SOPs, aircraft-specific tactics/procedures, enemy threat assessments, etc...) that would indicate cause for concern. I do recall one poster mention that one has to fly at times [much higher] than the surrounding terrain, but in no way did I see anything I would consider an information or operations security violation.

 

Mike, you said that a number of serving military members had also contacted you with their concerns about information in the thread? I would have thought I'd get a PM from any of them if they were concerned about the information posted, whether by me or by others.

 

That notwithstanding, it is without question the Management's right to moderate the site as they deem appropriate, and that often includes factors for consideration that not all are privy to.

 

 

Regards

AV8

[DARK HELMET]

Finally. Thanks Mike for ending this torture. Having held my tongue for so long,I have avoided lashing out at splitter for posting the obviously biased articles from the author of the Afghanistan chronicles. I also had to hold my tongue at some of the goofy replies to his postings. If the only reason to spew this stuff is to get hits on his posting then congrats. You got your hits now it's over. Move on. You're not getting any younger.

[Mike Reyno]

AV8,

 

You are right, there is further information that has been provided that I will not share here on the forums. It was because of this information that was cause enough for me to delete the thread, and I stand behind it - right or wrong.

 

Mike

[MMike]

[AH1]

[splitpin]

bump

[splitpin]

bump

[MMike]

why?

 

A thread that's 4 topics down in the list needs to be bumped?